Up Bear Creek / 10nov25011

Today’s date would be Nov. 10, 25011

NORTH AMERICAN CALENDAR … Okay, I’m done with the Julian calendar that the Christians turned into the Gregorian calendar. Time for a new dating system to mark when humans first came to the New World. The latest issue of Scientific American suggests that the exact date is somewhere between 25,000 and 15,000 years ago. So, let’s take the oldest date of that spread, since science has been pushing back that first human step on North (or South) America ever since we started examining the fossil evidence … Of course, we don’t want to set up an arbitrary calendar with no relation to the current system. That would be too chaotic. And there’s a good chance that future scientific breakthroughs will modify the date. So, let’s track the Gregorian/Julian calendar dates in this transition period. Instead of 2011, making Day One the birth of the Christian Christos (“anointed one”), let’s start a North American Calendar that makes Day One the oldest possible first footfall of Homo sapiens on the New World – 25011.

SMART METERS? … There was a very informative seminar I got to attend last weekend in Ridgway about the new automatic meter reading boxes that San Miguel Power Association is in the process of installing, employing California corporation Aclara’s advanced metering infrastructure called TWACS – two-way automatic communications system … I learned of many sensitives for whom “smart meters” are a diabolical torture system that gives them headaches, tinnitus, rashes, fatigue and a host of debilitating symptoms. So debilitating that many have taken to sleeping in backyards or moving to remote areas off the grid. And it’s estimated 3-7% of the population has these electromagnetic sensitivities. For them, installing TWACS meters is a disaster – it will force some to move out of their homes … I learned of privacy issues, in addition to health issues, and the vulnerability of these systems to terrorist disruptions and blackouts … And yet when I talk to SMPA reps, they tell me just the science shows there are no effects. There is no problem. Industry studies are conclusive … Frankly, I’m quite confused. And worried that SMPA is installing these meters without taking the time to educate the public in the face of the spreading controversies over their use … I think it’s time SMPA slowed down, engaged the public with educational seminars showing us what the science is, and explaining the many incidences of physical ailments seemingly attributable to electromagnetic frequencies and dirty electricity … I recommend you visit the dirty electricity website <dirtyelectricity.org> and the website of the principal speaker at the Ridgway seminar, Josh Hart <stopsmartmeters.org> … And I also recommend you call SMPA and get their perspective and information on this issue … Right now, I don’t know which side to trust completely. I think it’s up to every citizen and SMPA coop member to educate themselves on this issue … But I can’t help but feel that the precautionary principle ought to apply. Where there’s this much smoke, something’s on fire. And we need to slow SMPA down, call a temporary halt to the installations of these meters and find out exactly where the truth lies. If we’re forcing even only 3-7% of our citizens from their own homes with this mandatory installation (that even opting out has no effect on), then we’ve all got a problem.

WEEKLY QUOTA … “I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is a shame; two is a law firm; and three or more is a Congress.” -John Adams

OOPS … Left a sentence dangling last week in speaking of Midge Carriere’s passing. Her granddaughter, Wendy Campbell, used to babysit my little ones at Midge’s home. I remember taking 3-year-old Wylder Wilson there one winter evening. Holding him in my arms, I slipped on ice on the way up the driveway. Somehow -- instinct takes over at a moment like that -- I managed to get a hand behind Wylder’s head and cushion the blow as we fell backwards and landed hard … I remember taking her a copy of Jim Davidson’s novel, Mine Work (Utah University Press, 1999), and how pleased Midge was to read his historical fiction story about Rico … Again, condolences to the family. 

REDISTRICTING … Club 20 recently testified in Denver against the proposal to move the east end of San Miguel County into House District 59, and leave the west end (and Norwood) in the 58^th – proving once again that Club 15 doesn’t speak for San Miguel County, and our decision to leave that group was a wise one.

TRUE COST ACCOUNTING … From paved roads to exploration tax breaks to military action to secure our oil supply lines, the Feds subsidize the real cost of gasoline in this country. In Britain it costs about $10 a gallon these days. But even that cost doesn’t take into account the social and ecological damage done by driving – from carbon emissions to bad air and polluted waters ... According to Economics for Equity and the Environment Network, you should add in about $9 more a gallon to offset those impacts. And thus, the true cost of a gallon of gas ought to be $19 a gallon ... And it will cost our children even more.

THE TALKING GOURD

The only thing

he ever really stroked

was my ego.

-Shannon Johnson

Colorado Springs

Up Bear Creek / 3nov50011

First Americans here as

early as 25,000 years ago

NEW WORLD CALENDAR … I’ve been toying for years with a new calendar to match our Christian-refined Graeco-Roman calendar and yet reflect our ancient history as humans in the New World – the arrival of the first Homo sapiens in North and South America being the baseline date that seemed the most relevant for our species (not just one religious sect). For the last few decades, 12,500 Before the Christian Era [BCE] – or 14,500 years ago -- seemed to be the earliest fossil evidence for humans in this place. The theory went that Clovis people migrated over the land bridge across the Bering Sea and populated the New World … However, recent archaeological finds have thrown that timetable (and that theory) into disarray. The November issue of Scientific American details the change in thinking of pre-history in the New World and the real dates for the arrival of H. sapiens – somewhere between 25,000 and 15,000 years ago … Voilà, a new calendar start date emerges (more on this next week).

MIDGE CARRIERE … One of the kindest and sweetest of the elders in the region, it was very sad to hear of her passing. I remember an interview I did years ago in Norwood with Mildred Carriere for the newspaper – she told wonderful stories and had a great grasp of Telluride’s history. And she had wonderful family in Norwood, including her daughter Charlotte Royer and son Moe Carriere … She will be dearly missed.

WEEKLY QUOTA … It’s not the mistakes you make, it’s what you make of your mistakes.

RICK CABLES … Our former USFS regional forester has taken a job under Mike King at the Dept. of Natural Resources, in the Hickenlooper administration, overseeing the merger of the Division of Wildlife with the Division of State Parks. It’s a cost-cutting measure, but not at the expense of one program over the other (although State Parks is broke and DOW has significant hunting revenues). It just takes out some senior management positions and combines them into one, and leaves most everything else intact – perhaps a few duplicated services … I’ve liked Rick since we met years ago. I’ve known a number of regional foresters for the Rocky Mountains, and Rick has been the most accessible, willing to listen, and supportive of his forest supervisors as well as local governments. Since his USFS office was in Denver, moving from Federal Heights to Sherman Street near the Capitol wasn’t a big jolt. In fact, it beat moving to DC, which could have been his career track, if he’d chosen that … As another Colorado hand did – Jim Hubbard – former State Forester who’s gone on to become Deputy Chief … But who wants to go to DC these days when the politics are so acrimonious. It’s almost gridlock at the top. Nothing much can get done. And Rick likes to get things done. He and GMUG Forest Supervisor Charlie have lots of claims to fame, but none more controversial recently than the denial of the ski expansion into Crested Butte’s Snodgrass Mountain. The matter went all the way up to Asst. Ag Secretary Harris Sherman (another friend of Telluride) and their decision stood … But what I like most about Rick is his philosophy of devolving authority down to the grassroots – a deeply Green thought. In the new Div. of Parks & Wildlife, he’s using “regionalization” to get district managers more involved in state planning and operations – and for tailoring state decisions to their local regions … When I pressed him on an OHV question, he produced Tom Morrissey, his state trails program manager. And commissioners from four alpine counties who share a unique OHV ranger program have already started a conversation with Tom … Things may not work in DC. But in Denver, and in San Miguel County, some bureaucrats and some local elected officials are trying to get things done.

TELLURIDE TIRE … Stuart Armstrong was giving away free raffle tickets for a ski pass to folks who loaded up on four new snow tires this year. Even without giveaways, I like Stuart’s prices and quick, friendly service down in Illium Valley … This is one place where goods are “cheaper in Telluride.”

THE TALKING GOURD

Mazurka

Early morning snow flurry melts

within an hour.

During which, Dream Queen,

what did you achieve?

I listened to a crow's mazurka

on a pebble roof.

Anne Valley-Fox

From How Shadows Are Bundled, UNM Press, 2009

Up Bear Creek / 27oct50011

Mail-in Ballots & Instant Runoff Voting

ENDORSEMENTS … Shucks. Off-season elections are hard … Thank goodness for the mail-in ballot. Something my postal union Dad always championed (although I bet he might be cursing first-term Obama the way he cursed second-term Bush, given all that hasn’t happened – Guantanamo, Iraq, Afghanistan, job turnaround – and the little that has, thanks mostly to a dysfunctional split-party Congress) … I can see good arguments on both sides for and against the small state tax increase for education. I’ll probably vote for it, even though I pay for a public education system that I don’t use, preferring the Telluride Mountain School for my children, in spite of the added cost … And I must say that I really haven’t an opinion on the Norwood School Board elections. I’m just sad that Marty Hollinbeck threw in the towel, as she was a breath of fresh air at the Norwood School. And I hope she’ll stay involved, as one of my fellow Green Party members in the county … In Telluride’s municipal elections, it’s tricky for me since I know some of those running very well. Like my birth-twin David Oyster (Aug. 18. 1945) and activist Chris Myer – both of whom have been regulars at our ten-year-running noon Peace Walk down Colorado Avenue on the 11^th of every month. Glad I don’t have to choose between those two, both of whom would be good mayors … Plus, I think Stu has done a fine job as mayor, winning the presidency of the Colorado Association of Ski Towns and managing to fairly represent one of the most intelligent (and fractious) communities on the Western Slope (To-Hell-U-Ride) … Thom Carnevale has also done well as an incumbent councilmember, and I love his column that keeps us abreast of the liberal side of the national argument … Eileen McGinley is an old friend and ally on many causes (although, like everyone, we disagree sometimes on some things). She’d be a good councilperson … Mark Buchsieb has always had the community at heart …  I think Benjamin Steenblik would make a great young person’s rep on council … And I just met Kristen Permakoff, who seems genuinely interested in contributing to the political discourse after 17 years here (how did we never meet?) … It’s a cliché, but in these times of government-bashing, it’s good to have a great slate of able citizens from many different perspectives running for elected office as potential representatives of the Town of Telluride … I’ve heard a lot of bad-mouthing of Instant Runoff Voting (and Aspen and Boulder have had some problems with the results), but it will be good to give this ballot innovation a local test drive. It seems to be one way to open the political process to multiple candidates in the face of a two-party lock on the electoral system in this country (although it may not work so well in non-partisan elections) … Oh, and don’t forget to put a stamp on your mail-in ballot – even voting isn’t free anymore.

NORWOOD … I just have to say, I’m sure loving Norwood these days. Our wonderful Uncompahgre Medical Clinic not only has a superb new sliding-fee dental wing, but it’s one of the state’s leaders in moving towards Behavioral Medicine … The Farmer’s Market was small this summer, but a great alternative to long-distance foods … Although I was out of town, I heard Wright’s Stuff fundraiser dinner was a great success … The whole community is proud of Robin Snyder’s award as Colorado Early Childhood Professional of the Year for her excellent work as Director and Lead Teacher of the Norwood Preschool (preschool education being a field I actually trained for in college) … Cheers to our Sheriff’s Office for the naming and capture of (most of) the bad guys & gals in the legal pot grow-op raid … Wonderful to see Wright’s Mesa ranchers get a third cutting of hay this year … Kudos to county poet laureate Ellen Metrick’s directing of a youth production of the Tempest at the Livery … And the list goes on…

ELEGY … “I am not among those fortunate enough to have called Michael Johnson a friend, although our relationship was always amicable. There were, however, two unusual aspects to our relationship. His daughter, Loren, and mine, Chanoane, were playmates when children. Loren would come down into the canyon to spend the night with us, or vice versa, as children often do. As a result, Michael and his wife, Bev, would invite me along on family camping trips to the canyons of the West End, when Wright’s Mesa was beginning to feel the heavy hand of winter, and my daughter was off in the Front Range with her mother … That Loren could come down to spend the night was unusual in light of the more unique aspect of our relationship. You see, I live in a house that Michael built. He did not build it as a spec house, but as a place for himself and his family. He and Bev lived in a small attached shed, now a mud room, while he build the rest of the house. It was the early ‘80s and Michael was a contractor. Unfortunately his business came upon hard times (my understanding is that it was due to circumstances beyond his control), and he was forced to sell his home to meet his financial obligations … I had loved the place from afar and put in the fest offer I could muster without ever setting foot. Some Texans outbid me by about 10%. It was money for which I knew Michael and his family had a great need, yet I got the home! Michael’s comment was, “I didn’t build the place to be a hunting lodge for some Texans. I built it to be the home for a little girl.” … He got his wish. I raised Chanoane here in a home we both dearly love, and I am to this day grateful for the understanding heart of Michael Johnson.” – Jim Rosenthal of Naturita Canyon

THE TALKING GOURD

Now That You

Think you

Know

You

Better

Let Go

-Jack Mueller

Log Hill Village

Up Bear Creek / 20oct50011

Harvest time, down on the Spud Patch

CLOUD ACRE … One of the glories of getting old is getting to ask help of your friends (especially younger ones) … I’ve been cultivating heirloom potatoes for over a dozen years now, and developing reliable seed production for almost 50 varieties of Solanum tuberosum. Sort of your one-man horticultural research station … Good keepers. Potatoes are a survival crop. Grow best at high altitudes. We have less bugs on Wright’s Mesa than the San Luis Valley. Or the Snake River Plain of Idaho … Reds, blues, browns, whites and yellows, with names like Pink Eye, Bluebird, Rose Apple, Caribe and Maroon Bells … In total, I have 50 of so separate varieties in cultivation. Perhaps 30 or so seed potato varieities to trade, and enough bulk for gifts and good eating all winter … But harvesting and preparing the beds for planting is time-consuming (though good down-in-the-dirt work). So I was able to talk my (younger) friend Steve McHugh to help me out. He’s a garden whiz of his own – with a plot in Norwood’s community garden, a plot at his place and a plot at mine. But his help made all the difference this year, and we got a darn respectable crop. Thank you, Steve!

OVER ON THE ROARING FORK … I met the amazing Valerie Haugen at the Karen Chamberlain Poetry Festival in Carbondale last winter. So, of course, I had to go see her perform. I love performance. My father was an actor – church plays, community theater, even professional parts before he died. My one claim to theater fame revolves around ushering for several plays at the Strater Theater in New Haven – a legendary old house in Broadway circles … Valerie’s dramaturg and lead actress for the Thunder River Theatre Company (as well as a very fine poet). I had high hopes, and I wasn’t disappointed … Gorio and I hightailed over McClure Pass after school on Friday and caught the repertory company’s current production -- a zany dark comedy of John Guare: The House of Blue Leaves (1971). The play’s about thwarted dreams, friendship, nuns, bombs, love, madness, and show biz -- a bouillabaisse of post-Sixties Warholian madcap married to a kind of half-musical drama … Valerie played a seductively off goddess gone bananas, opposite Lee William’s mercurially athletic singing lead, Jennifer Michaud’s two-timing bad-mouthing know-it-all hussy, and a baker’s dozen of quite believable characters … A delightful evening … Valerie has a one-woman show coming up, The Healing Power of Art, Nov. 27^th at 7 p.m. at Thunder River Theatre (go to www.carbondalearts.com and click on events)

STICKS & STONES … “Art Good-Nowhere-Times,” my new nickname courtesy of a wild horse advocate who thinks I’ve not been doing enough for our more-than-human friends out in Spring Creek Basin … … The Rev. Clint Perry’s funny aside at his touching graveside service in Norwood: “If you’d never been offended by Dora Spor (God love her), than you didn’t know her” … What Jim Fisher, area manager for Dennison Mines, said, with a big sardonic grin, at the post office closure meeting in Egnar, “It looks like Art Goodtimes and I are on the same side this time.” … “Classless” was how one Facebook friend termed my sarcasm around the departure of Susan Culver from our wagon wheel of West End bully pulpits.

OUTLAW POETS … Norwood actually gets to host two poem-packing street poets from California’s Long Beach on the first leg of their Western tour:from RD “Raindog” Armstrong -- author of Living Amongst the Mangled (Lummox Press, 2010) -- and G. Murray Thomas -- author of My Kidney Just Arrived (Tebot Bach, 2011) … At the Livery, Monday night, Oct. 24^th at 7 p.m.  … And then Telluride gets the duo at the Wilkinson Library, Tuesday, Oct. 25^th at 6 p.m.

MONTROSE … Got to beep my horn in solidarity and give a thumb’s up to (mostly) young folks occupying the southwest corner of Townsend & Main. Nice to imagine our conservative regional commercial core to be hosting occupation forces … Tea Party meet Wall Street.

BLUFF ARTS FEST … Kate Niles is one of many reasons to make an off-season pre-snow desert drive over into our neighboring Mormon Four Corners state. She’s leading a workshop 9 a.m. to noon at St. Christopher’s Mission for the annual Bluff Arts Festival, Oct. 20-23. The award-winning author of two novels (The Basket Maker and The Book of John) and a book of poetry (Geographies of the Heart), Kate taught at Fort Lewis College for eight years

in the Writing, Honors, and General Education programs. Her anthropological background and love of the American West serve as her principal muses … The title of her workshop is “Fiction or Non-fiction: It Doesn’t Matter!”

THE TALKING GOURD

That’s U.S.

One Halliburton

Under Goldman-Sachs

With Great Riches

For the Few

& Servile 
Freedom

For the Rest

-Jack Mueller

Log Hill Village

Up Bear Creek / 13oct50011

Regional Writers’ Forum hosts first

annual The Language of This Land

GRAND JUNCTION … Frank Coons writes: “We came from other places, other times … all at a crossroads, a junction.” It’s perhaps the greatest beauty of the Grand Valley, beyond its Book Cliffs and National Monument – a generous mix of human traditions. Grand Junction is on a major national east-west trail. Commerce moves along its highways and rails, as well as its busy Walker Field. Geographically, it’s the northernmost reach of the Southwest’s Colorado Plateau in our state. Ecologically, many southern species flora and fauna thrive here, but no further north … Having been through energy’s boom and bust more than once, there seems to be a new spirit in the air at the Western Slope’s queen city. Mesa State, under President Tim Foster, has changed its name yet again, as if the community were still searching for a sustainable vision of itself. Colorado Mesa University certainly sounds more prestigious and serious. If growth is still coming to this state (and it’s hard to see us as a nation denying ourselves anything), much of its Western Slope swagger will come through here … Maybe nothing more dramatizes this renaissance than cultural richness. This past weekend the nascent Western Colorado Writers’ Forum kicked off their first writers conference, with the goal of fostering “a dynamic literary and writing community that advances the cultural life of Western Colorado” … But the gathering wasn’t just about writers. Although MacArthur awarding-winning Native-American author Leslie Marmon Silko and Colorado Poet Laureate David Mason both read, and dozens of us lit types gave various workshops and readings, the core of The Language of This Land for me was hearing the oral stories from elder members of this crossroads community … Wisely, organizer Sandra Dorr, invited speakers from many different local traditional groups to present.

FIRST PEOPLES ... Ute “historian” Clifford Duncan – a much respected tribal leader and storyteller – spoke about the removal of his people from the Grand Valley, though without bitterness, and commented lyrically about his own upbringing, including a stint at a BIA Indian school where he was punished for speaking his language. But, as an elder now, he also spoke to us in Ute, as well as translating – so we could hear the timbre of his Uto-Aztecan tongue and still understand its meaning … Most interestingly, he put to rest certain historical misconceptions … Chief Ouray was only chief because the assembled Ute leaders in DC thought the government wanted to know whom their translator was (not the head chief to sign treaty documents) … Chipeta, Ouray’s second wife, was a Kiowa survivor in a camp raided by the Utes ...The Utes never called the Rockies “The Shining Mountains” – that’s a Whiteman’s fiction … And their name for the Uncompahgre was Davi (“sun”) + watch (“those that live in”), since the Uncompahgre Valley and the Uncompahgre Plateau were so much warmer than the Rocky Mountains … We get the word “Uncompahgre” from a corruption of the Ute phrase: edká (“red”) + bahahree (“lake, pond”), and it referred to the iron fens below Red Mountain up in Ironton … Duncan also spoke about the importance of keeping language and culture alive. He received a standing ovation both before and after his speech.

FRANCES WHEELER … From her wheelchair, 93-year-old Frances May Dorr Wheeler – Grand Junction’s Rhymester Laureate -- recited several of her “cowboy” pieces from memory: “The difference,” she explained most lucidly, “between poems and rhymes is that everyone can understand what a rhyme means” … Her sister Helen also read a rhyme from memory.

GRAND VALLEY ELDERS … Grand Junction-born Josephine Dickey spoke about Handy Chapel, and the hundred-plus years of African-American community presence in the valley. Al Grasso spoke of the Italian-American heritage in stone masonry construction there. One woman read an account of a Japanese-American hero from World War II living in the city. Another woman talked of the Basque-American heritage in Grand Junction and all over the Western Slope. Jose Lucero spoke to the Hispanic-American legacy of over 300 years in the region. The local attorney who bought the church where the conference was headquartered addressed the serendipity of his ownership and restoration work … For all the wonderful literary connections and marvelous new writers and old friends I met at this ground-breaking event, the stories of the elders from the community were easily the weekend’s most moving moments.

THE TALKING GOURD

First Fall Storm

Pluck with the long bar

hooked cup

the last of the Macintosh

Cook squash

tomatoes turnips & beets

Still waiting

for post-storm’s first frost

to kill the spud plants

so we can dig up the tubers

& put the seed crop to bed

in the well-house’s cold storage

that I won’t let freeze

Photos of my younger

brothers (both gone)

yellowing like the leaves

Up Bear Creek / 6oct50011

Of journalism, poetry, fulminations

and presidential historical fiction

CATALYST … Looks like the West Montrose Economic and Community Development group is starting up a flashy new monthly newsletter, thanks to the Paradox Strengthening Community Fund – The Community Catalyst. It’s a great name – a “catalyst” being something that makes other things happen … My friend Greta deJong edits and publishes the Salt Lake City alternative monthly, Catalyst – which I love to read, since it features so many stories relevant to southwestern Colorado and keeps me current on non-Mormon Utah’s counter-culture <w.catalystmagazine.net> … WMECD’s first issue, a trimmed U.S. G-size newsprint tabloid printed in Montrose, sports a dusk cover shot of the Paradox Rim by Richard Worth. Its inaugural editorial offers an “open forum, to dream of a better tomorrow for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren” … Marie Templeton of the Rimrocker Historical Society has a column, “Pieces of our Past”. Jeri Mattics Omernik talks about converting grass into greenbacks. Dallas Holmes writes “The Book Nook”. 4th-grader Brydon Haining is selected as the community’s first “Stellar Student”. There’s a Colorado State University Cooperative Extension back-cover color story about canning tomatoes, a full-page community calendar, a West End non-profit directory, couple ads and a survey … It’s really quite nicely done. Pick up copies in Norwood, Naturita, Nucla and Paradox

DIABOLOS … I was surprised to learn, on one of my late-night etymological excursions, that our culture’s idea of a “devil” comes from this Greek word, which means “slanderer” or “accuser” … And that its synonym “Satan” derives from the Hebrew Ha-satan “one who opposes or obstructs”

TALKING THISTLE… “Thistle, a missile of war, or earth repair? Comes to land in need of weedy care. Yes, taproots deep -- breaks up compacted ground, bringing those gardener earthworms around. And all the while brings its presents to us humble, earthy, loving peasants … Blend the alkaline greens with water, lemon and honey. Strain out the prickles and enjoy a life elixir with no money …Peel the stem before it blooms to enjoy a juicy celery treat … Chew the flower into gum that's lasting and mildly sweet … And dig roots for winter liver tonic tea, to rejoice in a good long life of health, carefree! …Thistle, to some, is "Wanted" as the bane of society … Another road to take is to celebrate diversity!”  -- Katrina Blair, Turtle Lake Refuge, Durango

SUSAN CULVER … Can it be true? My evil twin poet journalist colleague over at the San Miguel Basin Forum has left her post? No longer editor? No more ad hominem editorials fulminating on the evil ways of the notorious Badtimes? … I’m gonna have to ship my horns and trident back to the factory.

DAVID MASON … Professor at Colorado College, as well as prize-winning poet, essayist, writer of libretti, and former Fullbright scholar, Mason was named Colorado’s sixth poet laureate by Gov. Ritter last year. He made a pledge to visit all of Colorado’s 64 counties and he’s coming three venues in Ouray County and one in San Miguel County next week … Friday, Oct. 14^th, 5-7 p.m. at the Ridgway Library for a Meet&Greet … Saturday, Oct. 15, 9-a.m-noon at Weehawken Creative Arts, 1900 Main St., Unit #7, Second Floor, Ouray, for a  Poetry Workshop (“Killer Openings: How to Get into a Poem”) … Sat., Oct. 15, 3-5 p.m. at Roscoe Fox, 539 Main St., Ouray for a Poetry Reading and Book Signing … Monday, Oct. 17^th, at the Wilkinson Library with a reception at 5:30 p.m. and a reading at 6 p.m. … A second book of David’s essays, Two Minds of a Western Poet, will appear in 2011 from the University of Michigan’s Poets on Poetry Series. Mason lives near the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs with his wife, Anne Lennox.

JIMMY CARTER … Found a book saved from my late dad’s things that had gotten a bit moldy in a storage bin whose top leaked. A novel by our former president. I dried the pages and salvaged the book. I didn’t know Carter’d tried his hand at fiction, but since it was a story of the Revolutionary War, I dove in … And it proved a good read. I learned a lot of history about South Carolina, Georgia and Florida during the time of the Colonies separated from England. The characters were strong and engaging. The momentum dragged a little at times, with (no doubt) accurate historical details getting in the way of the storyline. But the writing was good. Not prize-winning, but solid. I stayed up until 5 a.m. reading one night (morning) just to get to the end … I learned that the Creeks had a clan named after the Potato; a member of the radical revolutionary party for the late 1700s in the American colonies was called a “Whig” – a word that originally meant a horse thief; and a member of the conservative party was called a “Tory,” which had started out meaning an outlaw whose first allegiance was to the Pope … The Hornet’s Nest (Simon & Schuster, New York, 2003). Recommended.

THE TALKING GOURD

Autumn Equinox

Rivers run, fires rage,

End times coming, New Age.

Turning wheel spinning fast,

Fleeing migrants soaring past.

Autumn quells the summer light,

Ushers into longer night.

Western spirit, black holes,

Mystery gate, dead souls,

Bear, coyote, owl, loon,

Baying to night and the Harvest moon.

Voices sing with heart's reminder,

Whoever loses is also a finder.

Nothing else you have to know,

Only this: let go.

-Amy Hannon

Raritan Valley

Up Bear Creek / 29sep50011

One of Norwood’s legendary

ranching elders takes her leave

DORA CORNFORTH SPOR … I had the good fortune to count Dora as a political colleague and a personal acquaintance/friend, although my hippie ways were an aberration that she tolerated more than embraced. And like most relationships, ours had its ups and downs … I recall being invited to ride with her in her carriage one Pioneer Day, although that was early on in my run as commissioner, when I’d managed to get rid of building codes in the west half of the county. Dora was a diehard Republican, and – all else aside -- less government was always better government to her way of thinking. Although she took on the Weed Advisory Board chairmanship with relish. And did serve as appointed chair of the first Wright’s Mesa Planning Group in the mid-Nineties, a ground-breaking process that ended in flames – not because of any failing in her leadership, but mostly because of a serious structural defect. Anyone who showed up could participate and vote on issues. So, after two years of work by Dora and 20 or so folks, a crowd of 200 showed up and shot down all the group’s carefully crafted recommendations … I got to know her as a founding member of the Weed Advisory Board, which morphed into the County’s award-winning Weed Department under the able leadership of Sheila Grother. But in the early days, the Weed Board ran the weed control program. And so there were many interesting discussions about weeds, treatment and budgets … Dora was always firm, in control, gracious but brooking no shenanigans. And she had a way of making even the biggest ego in the room toe her line … I appreciated the stylish way she dressed – western, but with a showy flair that made her stand out for the community leader she was … I always told her that she should have been county commissioner – she was a strong, reasonable and intelligent chair, with a hefty dose of common sense, in any group she led. She had a good feeling for what the West End of the county needed and wanted. But she didn’t mix with the east end crowd, and so wisely kept her political powder dry by not getting sparked into east end battles … I remember having tea and cookies in her living room. Her kindnesses showed through in spite of a sometimes rough demeanor. And her anonymous support for those in need was legendary. She’s the kind of charming Old West figure that could have been a character in a novel by Ivan Doig or Cormac McCarthy … Thank you for all your many contributions to our community, Dora. You will be missed … The Rev. Clint Perry wiped away a few tears, told some funny stories about “his friend,” and conducted a lovely graveside service last week at the Norwood Cemetery. Understated, unvarnished, funny, paradoxical, and heartful – just like Dora.

SMART METERS … There’s been some upset with a proposal by San Miguel Power Association to start installing smart meters in people’s homes and on their properties by next month. Wireless smart meters have generated huge controversies in California and British Columbia – emitting radiation and generating privacy concerns. But SMPA appears to be wanting to install digital smart meters – a much safer technology … Still, some concerns linger in the minds of the co-op’s owner/consumers. Hopefully, SMPA can respond to those concerns and gain public confidence that what they’re doing is aiding us, our health and the environment. In these times of technological advancement, when sometimes unsafe technology is loosed upon unsuspecting citizens, it’s incumbent upon SMPA to ensure that its public feels confident that digital smart meters will “do no harm,” as well as make for a smarter grid.

RARE METALS … Come hear Dr. Jim Burnell of the Colorado Geological Survey speak about some of the critical and strategic metals in our surrounding mountains that are necessary for many of our alternative energy solutions … He will speak at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5 in the public meeting room at the Wilkinson Library.

TED LIVELLI … Turns out I didn’t give Ted his due, and I got his job wrong at FilmFest … Craig Chapot said Ted had done some sound work for him back in ’78. Dean Rolley also said he’d done sound work for him at FF. Not as a projectionist (an elite group of folks), as I mistakenly said … Ah, be well, Ted, and come visit us again.

THE TALKING GOURD

Epithalmion

Roofbeam. Brooms. Flutes

& drums. Rise & deliver

the He to the She

& the She to the He

Teresa & Jonathan go

walking the wed way

as One. And two, too

Also. Always. Alluvium

of the flow, fanning

across our hard peaks &

deep root cellars – the mud

they make of us --

joined as we are

in their spirit clan. Edge

of the mesa. Looking

south to the Wilsons

For this we gather

in ritual time

Hearts beating faster

than the speed of light