Cattlemen’s Days: Let’s Rodeo

I have this friend named Mark. Well, I have several friends named Mark, but this particular Mark is frequently responsible for changes in my direction, often after he volunteers me for things. He was responsible for my short-term adjunct teaching career, and also my stint as “faculty advisor” for the then-college’s rodeo club. And he […]

Cattlemen’s Days: the 4-H Years

It seems like every town has some sort of festival to celebrate its heritage, and Gunnison is no exception. We have Cattlemen’s Days, and some years back I could tell you it always took place on “the third full weekend of July.” It’s actually more than a week of activities, starting with horse shows the […]

We Have a Plan

Today is July 11, which is good news for you if you are near a 7-11 store. Free Slurpee! If you go from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Get it?) I’ve never had a Slurpee, so I don’t know what I’ll be missing out on, but around here it’s just Trash Day. Our trash service […]

Boxed in by Books

I don’t know what I was thinking, but when it was my turn to select a book for my history book group, I picked a book that was two inches thick. Generally people measure their books by page count, and it’s just as daunting there: 657, plus notes. We were supposed to discuss this book […]

America’s Last Stand, Part II

In the late spring of 1876, several portents of doom struck the women of the Seventh Cavalry, most of them attached by marriage to the soldiers and scouts based at Fort Lincoln in the Dakotas. One of the most striking portents was witnessed by George Armstrong Custer’s wife Libbie, who watched her husband’s column depart […]

Long Road Home

When I worked at the newspaper, I was often the last to arrive for work (kind of like now in the screen printing biz), but I was also usually the last to leave (kind of like now). On the one day it mattered, though, I went home early, so when Valli Funk called to tell […]

America’s Last Stand, Part I

Today was a busy day to get ready for an even busier day tomorrow. This may have to tide you over for a couple of days. On July 4, 1876, citizens of the United States of America celebrated their nation’s centennial, all of them oblivious to a huge military defeat to their west. Not until […]

It Pays to Play

Despite living in what is defined as “rural America,” I lead a completely urban existence. This was pointed out multiple times this weekend, as Mosquito Season has officially begun out at Riverwalk. I saw my Some Day neighbor and HOA president the day after he had the county spray our area for the little blood-suckers. […]

Company at the Company

My work schedule, such as it is, was even more fluid than usual yesterday, so I can’t tell you what time it was that I finally rolled into the shop, other than that it was — fortuitously — about 30 seconds before Scott and Jenny Parsons came through the door. When out-of-town visitors are looking […]

This Old House

Warning: self-imposed word limit exceeded, exceedingly. A couple weeks ago, in a text, my sister Tia asked me how I felt about our house sale, noting that it could be sad leaving a place I’ve been at so long, and wanting to know if I was okay with the buyers. I told her my answer […]