Publisher’s Ponderings

My pondering this month has a lot to do with having a long attention span... or not. So, if you have a very short attention span and relish that behavior you can stop reading right now and move on to your next curiosity. I have always had a very long attention span to...

There are a lot of things about our mountain community to be upset about, especially if you are recently from California. However, the one characteristic of our community that we all might agree upon is that it really does feel like a small town. I have said, since I...

Last month, Holly and I took her mother’s Ford Fusion in to get the rear turn signal fixed. Seems pretty simple. Replace the burned-out bulb, right? Are you sitting down? Because of the fancy new LED design, the entire assembly had to be replaced at a cost of about...

From an old Sam Cooke song performed by the Kingston Trio… “Way out West they got a name for rain and wind and fire. The rain is Tess, the fire is Joe and they call the wind Mariah.” Hmmm… There’s no name for snow? On today’s morning walk, the mountains whispered to...

It seems like I frequently feel like giving thanks a month earlier than the traditional day of Thanksgiving. It must be the appearance of the golden aspen leaves of October, which by November are only a brown mess underfoot.  The Rocky Mountains in Colorado offer...

Well, Holly and I are finally married. I actually proposed and gave her a ring in December of 2019. But then Covid forced us to reschedule our originally planned 2020 honeymoon for this next month. We are so looking forward to a long­awaited and well deserved nine...

Peggy Noonan recently wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal titled “The Lonely Office Is Bad for America.” Based on the title alone, I was pretty sure that I would be in agreement. On the surface that might seem odd since I walked away from the corporate...

As a person with a lifelong passion for scientific pursuit, I found it quite perplexing that I became so annoyed with the pandemic rally cry of “Follow the Science.” In times past, I would have considered it a dream come true to have so many unscientific people...

Today’s a good day. Spring has sprung. I love spring because all of nature is coming back to life. The meadow is green with new grass. The aspens are turning green as well. The little creek on our property has recovered from its winter slumber. And today for the first...

Just this morning, while out for my usual walk, I ran into the crew taking down trees in the Xcel right-of-way on our property. Turns out, the crew boss lives in Conifer. I should not be admitting this, but he and I burned at least 15 minutes of rate payor time going...

I don’t know about everyone else, but this directive always fills me with dread. Just to let you know in advance, I consider this a problem without a solution. So, the purpose of this Pondering is to simply reassure all of you sharing the same dread that you are not...

I’ve always liked winter for its lessons in being human. But surviving being caught in the backcountry by a raging blizzard is where the lessons really count in what could be a life and death battle.  Nobody plans on being surprised in the mountains by a blizzard....

My greatest fear of a wildland fire is losing my forest.I have spent enough time above timberline to know the experienceof returning to the comforts of the forest below.I will never lose that bonding with the forest.I’ve counted the rings on my largest treesand they...