Cartoon by Jack Chivvis
Modern Life – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Month: March 2005
Sledding turns from free to fee at Minturn
Brief by Allen Best
Recreation – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazines.
Near the old railroad town of Minturn, across Tennessee Pass from Leadville, is a place called Meadow Mountain. It once was a downhill ski area, but the Forest Service got the property in a land exchange. And so locals used it for several decades as a sledding hill, with parents taking their small children to the hill on weekends for cheap, outdoor entertainment.
Uniquely American: Multiple jobs in the new west
Column by Hal Walter
Modern Life – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
IT SEEMS I HAVE a new career. After years of poking fun in my writing about the realities of living full time in the Wet Mountains, I’m ironically making a good portion of my income caring for small ranches owned by people who don’t live here full time.
Ginger Ferris loves the magic of weaving
Article by Jayne Mabus
Fiber Arts – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
“Follow Your Bliss,” we are exhorted in popular bestsellers. “Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow.”
Yeah, riiight!
Learning how to spin and weave
Sidebar by Ed Quillen
Fiber Arts – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
WEAVING, AND THE ASSOCIATED crafts of spinning and dyeing, are among the first technologies that humans developed. Although scholars are divided as to whether woven cloth or fired pots came first, both were here in times that precede written history.
Old as the fiber arts are, though, they’re not skills that come naturally. They have to be learned, one way or another.
Cashmere from the range
Article by Sunnie Sacks Agriculture – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine WHEN SUZANNE ROTH was operating her home interior design company, Red-bird Design, in Evergreen, she never dreamed that one day she would be living in Guffey, or that she would be raising goats, combing them and selling the cashmere, the winter undercoat or …
The Morphing of the Dunes
Article by Marcia Darnell
Recreation – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
It’s not easy morphing. The Great Sand Dunes National Park has gone from being a national monument, to a park and preserve, to a national park in the last five years. Composed of park, refuge, and private holding, it’s become an amalgam of land, water, sand, flora and fauna, under three management entities — the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and The Nature Conservancy.
More Life with Pickle, by J.C. Mattingly
Review by Ed Quillen
Mountain Life – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
More Life with Pickle
by J.C. Mattingly
Published in 2005 by Mirage Publishing Co.
ISBN 0-9710430-1-9
The Woodburner’s Companion, by Dirk Thomas
Review by Ed Quillen
Mountain Life – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
The Woodburner’s Companion – Practical Ways of Heating with Wood
by Dirk Thomas
Revised Edition
Published in 2004 by Alan C. Hood & Co.
ISBN 0911469249
Colorado: A history in photographs, by R. Ellis & D. Smith
Review by Ed Quillen
History – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Colorado: A History in Photographs
by Richard N. Ellis and Duane A. Smith
Revised EditionPublished in 2005 by University Press of Colorado
ISBN 0870817892
The most important of the freedoms
Column by George Sibley
Liberty – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
ONE OF THE ENDEARING THINGS about our president is his way of using high-falluting words without concern over the complexities of what they really mean. And when he says things like “the American people need to understand that the war in Iraq is about peace” (shortly before “Mission Accomplished”), there seems to be a tacit agreement that the major media won’t bother him for an explanation – the least they can do to ease the burden of office.
The growing perils of anthrocomputerization
Essay by John Mattingly
Technology – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Ed Quillen’s Letter From the Editors (Colorado Central, January) brought to mind my own family tree of computers, starting with the 512K Mac box I proudly brought home in 1984, and still have, high on a closet shelf in the office. From that first small box, the genealogy went to Lisa, Performa, Mac II, iMac, and X.
Making the best of progress
Letter from Slim Wolfe
Technology – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Ed,
I enjoyed your account of your high-tech wrenching; I think it is analogous to fixing your harness or maintaining your saw for the modern-day writer and it’s good to gain an understanding of the tools of one’s trade. As you have previously explained, you’re compelled by your industry to use these tools, and the magazine continues to be an attractive product whereas today’ computer-generated graphics sometimes (in the hands of the less-tasteful) take a bit of getting used to. Short of being a contrarian like Dean Coombs who also puts out an attractive publication (the Saguache Crescent) on the old-fashioned Linotype, you are making the best of this thing called progress.
Good article and sidebar
Letter from Ken Jessen
Cotopaxi Colony – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
I could not resist commenting on the fine piece by Nancy Oswald on the little-known Jewish colony at Cotopaxi. Diversity of race and religion reflects one of the fundamental strengths of our nation. Although the Jewish colony failed and their effort was abandoned, Oswald’s article clearly points out the many problems faced by these people.
Confirmed sighting of a mountain unicyclist
Letter from Adam Krom
Recreation – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Confirmed sighting of a mountain unicyclist
Editors:
I read with interest your short feature on mountain unicycles in the December 2004 issue. I instantly remembered the first time I came across one in its habitat. My wife and I were in Colorado Springs for a get-together with friends and family when we stole away for an afternoon in Fox Run Park, which is tucked into the Black Forest north of the city.
LTUA thanks and clarifies
Letter from Bruce Goforth
Land Trusts – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Dear Ed,
Thank you for the coverage in the Central Colorado Agenda for the LTUA sponsored book signing of “Saving the Ranch: Conservation Easement Design in the American West” on January 21st. The event was attended by approximately 50 people, including a half dozen ranchers, several of whom are now talking to LTUA about doing conservation easements on their land.
Where’s the rest of it, and who are those people?
Letter from Andy Burns
Colorado Central – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
The Post Office is ripping out parts of the cover and whoever is writing page 2. February had an extra barcode glued to the back, vertically, randomly. When Hal Walter gets ripped out I guess I’ll have to complain. If Curtis Imrie tilts at the insurance racketeers won’t he be taking on the entire industry? Who is Randy Russell? Virginia McConnell Simmons?
No child left behind?
Essay by Martha Quillen
Education – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
I’D BEEN MUCKING AROUND in the backwaters of my mind trying to think of something to write this letter about, when Ed and I went on a local radio show.
Then, on the air, Ed said he thought Colorado Central should do something about the regional effects of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
Poetry on a Platter coming in April
Article by Central Staff Poetry – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine POETRY ON A PLATTER IS all about Poetry; it’s about reading, writing, studying, performing and enjoying poetry. PoP is rural Colorado’s yearly celebration of National Poetry Month. Festivities include a program of presentations and workshops put together in a collaborative effort …
Learn to cherish aridity
Essay by Allen Best
Climate – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
ARIDITY IN THE AMERICAN Southwest has always been axiomatic, nearly a point of pride. It’s how we define the region. But evidence trickling in suggests that we have not yet begun to appreciate water scarcity.
Quarquicentennials: 125th birthdays
Brief by Central Staff
Local History – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Several area institutions are turning 125 this year: Salida, its Mountain Mail newspaper, the Chaffee County Times in Buena Vista, the Saguache Crescent, and the town of Poncha Springs.
Salida celebrated its centennial in 1980 with many events, starting with New Year’s Eve fireworks from Tenderfoot Hill, but if any municipal festivities have been announced for this year, we’ve missed them.
Homelake Veterans’ Center an endangered place
Brief by Central Staff
Preservation – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
The Homelake Veterans’ Center, featured in the November 2004 edition of Colorado Central, is one of the state’s “most endangered places,” according to a list issued in February by Colorado Preservation, Inc.
Dating back to 1889, when it was opened as a “peaceful place for aging and displaced Civil War veterans,” the Center suffers from “lack of maintenance and a high water table,” causing the closure of the chapel; the post office may soon follow.
A dog that does something with garbage besides roll in it
Brief by Central Staff
Outdoors – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Dogs, perhaps by their nature, seldom leave a place cleaner than they found it – a trait confirmed by all those “Pick up your dog’s doo” signs along popular walking trails.
But there’s one pooch who’s an exception – a five-year-old retriever mix named Timber.
A working vacation on the Colorado Trail
Brief by Central Staff
Outdoors – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
If a few days of hard labor for a good cause sounds like a good way to take a break this summer, the Colorado Trail Foundation wants to hear from you. The foundation is looking for volunteers to join both week-long and weekend trail crews.
Being in headwaters no guarantee of water purity
Brief by Allen Best
Water – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
The old joke in the headwaters counties of Colorado used to be, “Be sure to flush, because Los Angeles needs the water.” Or perhaps it was, “because Denver needs the water.” But new evidence shows that being at the headwaters doesn’t remove you from tainted water.
If it has 2 wheels, it’s coming to Salida this summer
Brief by Central Staff
Events – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Salidans may remember the warm months of 2005 as “the summer of the two-wheelers.”
For one thing, the Denver Post’s Ride the Rockies tour is coming through again, so the town will be full of cyclists on Thursday, June 23. There are 2,000 riders, and many of them will be accompanied by friends or family in support vehicles; so the town’s population may double for a night.
A lot of gate for just some cows
Brief by Central Staff Local Politics – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine In our experience, the usual ranch gate consists of wooden fence posts and barbed wire to keep the cattle where they belong. In more prosperous operations, the gate might be metal, and a cattle-guard could be part of the installation. But if …
Sledding turns from free to fee at Minturn
Brief by Allen Best
Recreation – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Near the old railroad town of Minturn, across Tennessee Pass from Leadville, is a place called Meadow Mountain. It once was a downhill ski area, but the Forest Service got the property in a land exchange. And so locals used it for several decades as a sledding hill, with parents taking their small children to the hill on weekends for cheap, outdoor entertainment.
Has biodiesel’s day come and gone?
Brief by Allen Best
Energy – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Biodiesel has been a trendy fuel in mountain resorts for the last several years. From Telluride to Jackson Hole to Breckenridge, the diesel fuel used for buses, snow groomers, and other vehicles has included a 20 percent component made from vegetable matter, mostly soybeans.
Starry, starry nights on the way to Gunnison
Brief by Allen Best
Astronomy – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
There’s a value to being out in the boonies – lack of light pollution. Because of those clear skies, two amateur astronomers several years ago set out to create an observatory in the sagebrush near Gunnison.
High-school students read too much, or too little
Brief by Allen Best
Education – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
High school literature classes in Colorado mountain towns were in the news nationally recently for very different reasons. In one case students had read too much, and in another case parents worried that students read too little.
Ski resorts urged to diversify
Brief by Central Staff
Recreation – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
The American ski industry has been flat for the past two decades, averaging about 54 million visits a year after it grew rapidly in the 1960s and ’70s, thanks to Baby Boomers taking up the sport.
Both deer and plow can deter incoming birds
Brief by Allen Best
Wildlife – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
After trying rubber buckshot to keep animals off the runway at the Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport, airport officials will be looking for more sophisticated, or at least successful, methods.
SouthArk Funnies
Comic Strip written and drawn by Monika Griesenbeck
Mountain Life – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Wolf Opponents just don’t get it
Essay by Ben Long
Wildlife – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
TIME FLIES when the sky is falling. At least, we were told to expect the sky to fall in 1995. That’s when federal biologists snatched a bunch of Canadian wolves, hustled them south of the border and cut them loose in central Idaho and Yellowstone.
