Southern hospitality
My friend and I met Raleigh a couple of weeks ago in the delightful little town of Redstone. I wanted to share with you how much my friend, Jodi, and I enjoyed meeting you and Gina. Jodi and I were college roommates over 40 years ago and have remained good friends throughout all of life’s ups and downs. We love to travel together, not only to explore new territory, but to meet new people.
People like you and Gina are one of the reasons we are passionate about traveling! You were welcoming and kind. You shared your photos of the marble-carving event. We learned that marble is softer than we expected. You personally delivered to us (and signed) copies of your paper. Gina asked us what Southern hospitality meant. SHE (and you) is/are the definition of Southern hospitality! Her breakfast burrito was already more than we could handle. Still, she piled on Rainier cherries, a homemade cinnamon roll AND popcorn to go (because crunching on the road will keep us awake).
Our road trip from Louisiana through Colorado, New Mexico and Texas was delightful and included the Great Sand Dunes, Palo Duro Canyon, Hayes Falls, Earthship homes, a fantastic Mexican dinner in an 18th century adobe home, the Rio Grand Canyon, leaving our marks at the Slug Bug Ranch, visits to a couple of fantastic hot springs resorts and more beautiful countryside and sky views than I can count. Still, with all of that, you and Gina remain one of the highlights of this trip! Thank you for making memories with us!
If either of you are ever in the Baton Rouge/New Orleans area, you can count on a homemade gumbo or jambalaya and a personal chauffeur and tour guide(s) to the French Quarter!
Cheli Saucier
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Re: Bison
A recent Sopris Sun article included a claim that “A recent study in Romania showed that a herd of 170 bison can offset the annual carbon dioxide emissions from 43,000 gasoline-burning cars.” This seems vastly exaggerated. A quick search finds this is in a press release about a study which was not peer-reviewed and a few more details are provided. The bison are grazing 20 square miles, supposedly “drawing down” 54,000 tons of carbon annually. That’s five tons per acre or about ten times more “drawing down” than realistic estimates of carbon removal from most forms of regenerative agriculture. Even the www.wildideabuffalo.com site claims one ton/acre of carbon sequestration due to buffalo grazing.
Also, it seems they don’t drive much in Romania; the typical American car emits five tons per year, not one and a quarter.
A solar farm covering an acre offsets about 200-300 tons of CO2 per acre so it has over 100x more effectiveness per land area. The CO2 emitted in the manufacture of these systems is paid back in under a year.
I buy food from local “regenerative agriculture” operations. They create multiple benefits, but some boosters are making excessive claims about its impacts on greenhouse gas emissions. They are stating or implying that this can substitute for deploying “industrial” renewables, batteries, heat pumps, etc., and avoid any need for nasty extraction or materials. IMHO, that’s a fantasy.
Fred Porter
Carbondale
Digging Sweet Jessup
That Oklahoma summer of 1971, or 1972, I toiled at Caston Lumber pounding together prefab trusses for houses; hot, sweaty, boring work. One of the worst jobs I ever had. Looking back though, it might not have been so hot and sweaty save for all that hair on my head.
Anyway, an Oklahoma group named the Medicine Park All Boy Derelict Band helped me survive. There were five guys with hair as long as mine. They played blues, rock and country. Today they might be called Americana. They were contemporaries of The Ozark Mountain Dare Devils and my favorite local band of all time.
Until now.
I think I’ve seen the Dirty Buckets exactly once, maybe twice. I don’t know how to describe their sound — maybe unique Americana. Their lineup consists of: Morgan Williams (guitar/banjo/tiny piano/vocals), Deborah Colley (vocals/penny whistle/train whistle/vibraslap/timbre drum/slapstick/axe), Brian Colley (fiddle/vocals/saw/accordion/ukulele), Brad Swart (trumpet/harmonica/vocals), Ashton Taufer (upright bass/vocals) and Alex Reginelli (dirty buckets/wine bottle/washboard/child’s camping chair).
Williams writes most of the songs, with Colley and Taufer also contributing, including one about tequila and one in which Deborah bawks like a chicken. The only cover I’ve heard them do is “Enjoy Yourself (It’s later than you think)” from the 1950s.
Sweet Jessup and the Dirty Buckets kick off Mountain Fair on July 26. See you there.
Lynn “Jake” Burton
Glenwood Springs
Bikers, get with the program
I’m an enthusiastic biker. I ride my bike just about anywhere in town when I don’t have to haul large amounts of packages. Biking is good exercise and — along with walking, public transportation, and buying an electric vehicle (EV) — it’s an important solution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector.
It’s encouraging to see more and more bicycles on the streets of Carbondale. We haven’t achieved the level of China in the late 20 th century yet and it doesn’t look like we’ll equal them in EV proliferation, either. Currently, cheap, efficient EV’s are produced and driven at record levels in China and they’re not allowed in this country due to protectionist tariffs.
However, not all bikers in Carbondale are following the rules or using good sense. Bikes aren’t supposed to be ridden on sidewalks. In the absence of a bike path, bikes should ride on the far right-hand side of the street. I must admit, I’d be reluctant to tell a child to take their bike out into a street.
On the bike paths, bikers are supposed to call out “on your left” when they pass a pedestrian or another bike. Few do. County Road 109 northwest of town has bike paths stretching beyond Iron Bridge. Many bikers ignore them and ride in the road. CR 109 is narrow so giving the bike three feet clearance as the law requires can be difficult without moving into the oncoming lane.
Fred Malo Jr.
Carbondale
A successful fire camp
From July 8 to 12, the Aspen Science Center (ASC) held an exciting “Fire Science Camp.” Campers (age 10-13) learned about the components of fire, the behavior of fire, various fire fighting techniques, tools and equipment, Wildland fire and vehicle extrication.
The week was quite successful and, on behalf of the ASC, we would like to thank and acknowledge the Aspen Fire Department, Roaring Fork Fire Rescue and Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District for their enthusiastic support.
In addition, Kevin Smiddy of Aspen Luxury Limo donated vans and drivers to shuttle our campers to the different fire stations in the Valley.
Each of these departments offered their expertise and experience to help these young people understand the complex topic of fire and the challenges that firefighters encounter. Every single employee at each station worked to make this week a success. It was extremely gratifying to witness such community involvement and cooperation.
Remember to thank a firefighter!
Mark Munger, El Jebel
Wabs Walbert, Aspen
Fire Science Camp Instructors
Clay Center gratitude
The Carbondale Clay Center (CCC) board of directors would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who attended and generously supported our first-ever gala, Clay & Moonlight. Your contributions have been instrumental in raising critical funding and awareness for the variety of offerings CCC provides to the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond.
We are immensely thankful to the numerous artists who donated to our silent auction and our business sponsors — including Alpine Bank, Reese Henry, McClain Inc. and Umbrella Roofing — and Spring Creeks Ranch for providing the beautiful venue.
Special thanks go to Mark Fischer for serving delicious dishes, Alleghany Meadows and Sam Harvey for crafting beautiful dessert plates for guests to take home and to Thunder River Theatre and Mt. Cirque for their fabulous performances!
Lastly, a huge thank you to our dedicated and mighty staff, led by Executive Director Angela Bruno, our amazing volunteers and our special events committee chair, Susan Muenchen, who made this “sold out” event a reality.
For 27 years, CCC has played a pivotal role in the Roaring Fork Valley arts scene by offering adult and youth ceramic classes, master class workshops, outreach programs throughout our Valley, artist lectures, numerous free community events, a community maker studio space and rotating gallery exhibitions. We couldn’t do what we do without the support of the community. Thank you!
To learn more about the Carbondale Clay Center, please visit our website at www.carbondaleclay.org
Board of Directors
Carbondale Clay Center
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