Columns

He took his own life in the year 2000. I knew him for 40 years. We were climbing buddies and best friends in the ‘60s, but our bond of respect extended over a lifetime. He wasn’t that easy to know: contrarian by nature, and belligerent. He bucked the tide for the sheer pleasure of it. Sometimes he angered […]

Barefoot, I step quietly through waves and drifts of green. I can hear heavy birds scratching in the underbrush. With one wary eye at a time, they peer about, swiping their beaks back and forth through the decomposing duff. Concealed within a filagree of aspen leaves, I finally spot them. Angry chatters fill the air […]

Despite a childhood marred by divorce, frequent moves and a parent’s attempted suicide, I have never gone hungry. And until Mary Kenyon mentioned it in a March meeting, I had never heard the term “food insecurity”. According to the Colorado Health Institute, half a million Coloradoans experience “food insecurity.” That means that they “lack consistent […]

Turns out I am an introvert.  I like staying home, and there’s nothing like a little self-quarantine to get that spring cleaning started. I’ve been busy: clearing out drawers and closets, sorting through old photographs and papers, binge watching classics like Knight Rider. Best of all, I’ve worn nothing but loungewear for weeks! When this […]

Last week, our paper was practically out of date by the time it hit stands. Next week, we may not put out a print edition at all.  At this awkward moment in the middle, we’ve made some unusual choices that probably warrant explanation.  We have opted not to include a calendar. There may be a […]

“Oh, a storm is threat’ning my very life today If I don’t get some shelter oh yeah, I’m gonna fade away…” I’m quarantined, listening to a 2011 recording of Gimme Shelter produced by Playing for Change, which seeks to “connect the world through music.” It’s a sublime recording, uniting musicians in places like Jamaica, Senegal, […]

On March 21, Saturn will ingress into the sign of Aquarius, marking the end of one mini-epoch and our collective entrance into another.  Saturn has been in the sign of Capricorn since December 2017, bringing attention to the structure of our institutions and “the establishment.” Saturn’s shift into the sign of Aquarius will shift the […]

Driving by the sign “Hitchhikers may be escaping inmates,” took me aback. Making an illegal U-turn in front of the medium-security WS Key Correctional Center on a rural Oklahoma highway this February, I drove back to snap a couple of pictures of the sign. Reflecting upon many hitchhiking journeys of my own, through Europe, Canada, […]

With a lifetime of working in nature, I feel like a “holder of secrets” at times. My second favoritest job ever was as an arborist, working for my friends Mickey and Susan as an undergrad. Each morning at a new job site we’d step into our saddles, gear clinking just as it did on the […]

My maternal grandmother was Canadian and lately I find myself contemplating about the bureaucratic process to obtain dual citizenship, along with the cost of gear needed to survive a Canadian winter. If it really comes down to fight or flight, I may just flee. Because I love this country, I don’t want to watch it […]