On a warm and breezy Tuesday afternoon, The New Falcon Herald spotted resident Dan Pyhtila, age 70, enjoying a meal with his longtime friend, Chuck George, at Descarís Roadside Bar and Grill. Enjoying the relative quiet of the restaurantís bar area, Pyhtila shared bits and pieces of his full life.An Air Force veteran with an extensive 56-year background in judo ñ- including working as a judo coach at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs ñ- he also has a background in security and security management.Pyhtila, who has been a resident of Black Forest since 1984, talked about his reasons for moving to Black Forest, what his ideal weekend looks like, his favorite superpower ó and more.NFH: What brought you to Black Forest?Pyhtila: When I left the Olympic Training Center, my wife was working for a realty place here.We loved Black Forest, so we moved here.NFH: What is your favorite spot in Black Forest?Pyhtila: All of it; I like the country. I like trees. I was raised in a small area. I donít like the city, and Iíve had to deal with it a lot in my career. Itís a pleasure to be in the woods.NFH: What is your favorite thing about Black Forest?Pyhtila: The woods, freedom and nature; I raise animals, and I was able to raise my kids (four kids) out of the city. Theyíre all in their 30s now, and theyíre very happy to have been raised here.NFH: What is your favorite thing about spring?Pyhtila: Itís nice to see the plant life. Thereís also more activity amongst the wild animals we have out here, like deer, foxes, coyotes and sometimes bears, during berry season.NFH: What is your ideal weekend?Pyhtila: Staying in the country; if we go someplace for the weekend, we like to go somewhere thatís small. We like to see what America used to be.NFH: What is your favorite movie?Pyhtila: Thatís a hard one. I have many. Really, anything having to do with history or where I can get a little bit of learning involved while Iím watching ñ- not just acting and theatrics and unbelievable scenes that donít happen in real life.NFH: What was your best subject in school?Pyhtila: Well, when I was in high school, it was history and philosophy. When I got to college, it was linguistics and also the histories of different people. Iíve been to Finland a few times and Iíve studied a number of different languages. And from judo, Iíve learned a lot from being involved in that industry, including different philosophies. Itís a multi-faceted answer.NFH: If you could have any superpower, what would it be?Pyhtila: The ability to take life as it comes.NFH: If you could learn to do anything at all, what would it be?Pyhtila: You donít have enough paper for that! I say that because weíre all ignorant in many ways. Iíd definitely keep learning about languages, different cultures and different philosophies.
