Herd Immunity

Sometimes the deer come into our yard one or two at a time, but other times, like this morning as I pulled back the curtain to come eye-to-eye with a grazing buck, there are more of them than you’d think. Following an unexpected rain and in the pre-dawn, the deer were the same color as […]

The Science of Belief

I didn’t forget you all, honest: I’ve been working on this for three days. It’s not worth the wait, and yesterday I read that “science” is only 400 years old, which sent me to the dictionary, where I learn that science is “the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural […]

God’s Football Team

While the rest of the country marks the solemn occasion of the 20th year since the terrorist attacks along our East Coast, those of us in Gunnison have a second sad event to commemorate on this same day. Fifty years ago, a bus carrying the Gunnison High School junior varsity football team set off over […]

All Part of the Game

Fall has fallen upon us, whether I’m ready for it or not, and with it comes a school year pretending to be normal. This includes sports, which includes middle school volleyball and football. While I have threatened, every year for at least 10, to retire from my officiating duties, I somehow always pull my whistle […]

Logistical Nightmare

Let’s say I could use an easy $10,000, so I decide to head to Texas and find me a woman in her seventh week of pregnancy getting an abortion so I can sue her provider and get my 10 grand, because I imagine she has harmed me and I thus am entitled to the money. […]

Demographics

I haven’t quite achieved my birthday this year, but recently I have been made to realize just how far out I already am of that most desirable 18-45 demographic. Of course there was the driver’s license trauma of leaving my blondness behind, but I took two other hits last week, both of them from the […]

Stream of Television

In the old days, if you are old enough to have old days, TV came in three and a half: ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS. Three networks and one “public” television, which addressed the funding mechanism rather than who could watch it. When it came to viewing, they were all public and free but for […]

Renewal (Sort Of)

Somehow, I find myself on the cusp of a birthday, yet another trip around ol’ Sol nearly complete. Perhaps that calls for contemplation beyond “Where does the time go?” but this year it instead (or maybe alongside) made me think, “Shoot. I need to renew my driver’s license.” We have a driver’s license office here […]

They Thought They’d Make a Park

My first of not-very-many activist poems got written in the 9-12 age range. I don’t remember if I used this as the title, but at least two of the lines were: “They thought they’d make a playground.” The “they” in this case, although I didn’t realize it at the time, was the City of Gunnison, […]

Travails with Pat’s: The Creede Edition

I almost had more travels to report to you today, but instead all I have for you is travails, hopefully with a happy ending. While I perhaps have given you an impression of the remoteness of Gunnison, we serve as the hub of even more remoteness: Crested Butte to the north and Lake City to […]