Champion the Enemy’s Need
by Kim Stafford, former poet Laureate of Oregon
Ask about your enemy’s wounds and scars/
Seek his hidden cause of trouble.
Feed your enemy’s children.
Learn their word for home.
Repair their well.
Learn their sorrow’s history.
Trace their lineage of the good.
Ask them for a song.
Make tea. Break bread.
Illène Pevec
Carbondale
Shared responsibility
Dear Carbondale friends, neighbors, business owners and property managers — now that winter has finally arrived, it’s time to buck up to our shared responsibility of maintaining safe walking surfaces in our lovely little town. Are you aware that we have a municipal ordinance requiring people to remove snow from all sidewalks abutting our properties?
That means not just in front of one’s doorway or gate, but the entire length of the property adjacent to the sidewalk. Snow not removed gets packed down and becomes icy and when melting, causes ice, water and slush that refreezes, resulting in treacherously slippery walkways. Please, let’s be considerate of one and others’ well being by shoveling our sidewalks!
Appreciatively,
Laurie Loeb
Carbondale
Postal Service
I once had a Prime account with Amazon, but no more Amazon for me. Think about the impact of Amazon on small businesses trying to survive.
And now, because of Amazon’s contract with the Postal Service, packages pile up at post offices and take priority over delivery of first class mail. This is a national crisis.
Then I read the following in the New York Review of Books (May 25, 2023): Among the most revealing sections of the book (“On the Clock”) are her (author Emily Guendelsberger) accounts of surreal (Amazon) orientations, in which she and other recent hires were given cheerful but blunt overviews of the hardships they could expect in their new jobs.
“Another day in paradise!” begins her Amazon trainer, a recent immigrant from Cuba and a former warehouse worker himself. After explaining that employees will be on their feet for eleven hours per day, he describes the draconian attendance policy.
Workers accumulate points for being slightly late or missing shifts. Six points and you’re fired.
“Let’s say it’s Saturday, 4pm. You’ve been working since Tuesday. You think you cannot make it anymore, your feet are killing you, you want to go home. And you’re free to go home!” Without pay, and at the cost of a point, of course. This luxury can’t be indulged too often, because, as the trainer explains, there are very few exceptions to the six-point rule: “I have a doctor’s appointment, I have court — it has to be more serious than that.”
When he discusses the importance of rest, he seems to veer off script: “The funny thing about it is that, where I come from, they talk about this country as the American Dream. Then we come here and we find out we cannot sleep!”
Jim Bell
Rifle
CKF thanks
The Chris Klug Foundation would like to humbly thank everyone involved with Summit for Life 2023 — both the original scheduled for Dec. 2 and the rescheduled one on Dec. 9! We are deeply appreciative of the kind and gracious support of our participants, sponsors, volunteers, fundraising donors and vendors. With 450 registered participants overall, we are happy to report almost 250 still showed up on the new date!
Thank you to our sponsors: The Aspen Times, Paradise Bakery, Aspen Square Hotel, Aspen Snowmass, The Little Nell, Aspen Valley Hospital, Duck Company, Aspen Snowmass Sotheby’s International Realty, Kahtoola, the Brodsky Family, Alpine Bank, Donor Alliance, Clark’s Market, WCR Legal, Deep River Snacks, Ute Mountaineer, ObermeyerWood Investment Counsel, Aspen Sojourner, Whiting-Turner, Land+Shelter, Timberline Bank, Bank of Colorado, Top Dog Repair & Towing, New York Pizza, Corbeaux, Nite Ize, Osmia, Mantis BBQ, Yerba Mate, Bobo’s Bars and the 28 businesses that provided prizes!
Special shout outs to Joey and Natalie with Aspen Snowmass, Taylor and Chef Matt with The Little Nell, Mark and Dyan with Paradise Bakery, Midnight Lightning, Joe with Six Productions, Cath and John with CJ Timing, Adam with Brooks Production, Michael Bond, Todd and Melissa with Mountain Creative, Zach Hooper, Aspen Ski Butlers and DJ Natty Spice.
Endless thank yous to our volunteers. We absolutely could not pull off this event without them: Kayla, Christine, Kirsten, Ned, Bryce, Ben, Hunter, Colton, Sara, Kate, Debbie, Donna, Ellen, Leary, KK, Temple, Heather, Peter, Leslie, Jessica, Barb, Mary, Kylie, Charlie, Dylan, Chase, Olivia, Maya, Kathy, Lewis, Thomas, Justin, Debbie, Jared, Christian, Tristin, Allan, Quinn, Olive, Trevor, Rachel, Kip, Kevin, Joe, James, Sienna, Kristin, Warren, Katherine, Rosemarie, Kerrie, Christy and Stephanie.
We were honored to present the Michael Wells Inspirational Award to Cat Mellum from Kahtoola!
As of Dec. 11, Summit for Life 2023 fundraising totals over $120,000! Fundraising is open until Dec. 18, so there is still time to donate!
We are grateful for this community and its tireless support and commitment to organ, eye and tissue donation awareness. See you Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 for our 19th annual Summit for Life!
With respect and gratitude,
Anna, Chris and Jessi
Chris Klug Foundation
Democrat dilemma
I feel sorry for Joe Biden as an abused elderly victim of the D.C. swamp. But then I recall that for almost half a century, Joe was a willing incubator of our present-day political cesspool, and my empathy fades.
Sadly, Joe Biden now is a puppet who can’t complete a full sentence sans teleprompter. Obama used Joe as a conduit to white votes and money. Biden used Kamala as a bridge to minority and women’s votes. It’s identity politics from opposite ends of the spectrum.
The liberal mainstream media let Joe campaign and hide in his basement. With their help and big tech suppression of facts, Biden eked out an electoral college win with a grand total of 44,000 in three states.
With this questionable “mandate,” Joe turned the USA and his approval ratings upside down. The ’24 election has Dem political identity chickens coming home to roost. His negative polling has the DNC’s lap dogs making all kinds of negative media noise.
He’s too old, Bidenomics sucks, Hunter, the border, crime, wars; lions and tigers and bears, oh my! What to do? Normally, the VP would be on deck if Joe abdicated the throne ala LBJ. But Kamala’s less popular than a root canal. Greasy Gavin from the Peoples’ Republic of Californacation? Hochel, the scourge of NY state? Michelle, as a third-term front for Barack?
It makes little difference who the party with a jackass as a mascot chooses. People vote with their wallets and two-thirds of voters are living paycheck to paycheck. An immaculate recovery is not on the menu.
So, let us cheer on those chickens coming home while I revel in my schadenfreude.
Bruno Kirchenwitz
Rifle
Letters policy: The Sopris Sun welcomes local letters to the editor. Shorter letters stand a better chance of being printed. Letters not appearing in other papers are particularly welcome. Please cite your facts and include your name and place of residence or association. Letters are due to news@soprissun.com by noon on the Monday before we go to print.