Cartoon by Jack Chivvis
Modern Life – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
2005 February
Curtis Imrie dances with semi on New Year’s Day
Column by Hal Walter
Local Legends – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
CURTIS IMRIE DIED in a spectacular automobile accident New Year’s Day, 2005 — just ask him.
Following are the facts as supplied by the 57-year-old “deceased,” well known in Central Colorado circles for making somewhat quixotic (although the image of a squire on a mule is somewhat fitting, my dictionary defines this word as meaning “extravagantly idealistic”) runs at public office, winning the World Championship pack-burro race three times, and producing artsy independent films. He has also been a friend of mine for nigh on 25 years.
Redneck hippies and the creative class
Column by George Sibley
Local Prospects – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
THERE’S A LOT OF BUZZ these days about a “Creative Class.” This alleged socioeconomic class is the discovery of Richard Florida, a professor of Regional Economic Development at Carnegie Mellon U. in Pittsburgh, one of my old alma maters (I schlepped around in my school years).
If you’re going to Sparrows
Sidebar by Lynda La Rocca
Poetry – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
If You Go :
Tickets for the 2005 Sparrows: Colorado’s Performance Poetry Festival cost $10 for each evening performance (Friday, February 25 and Saturday, February 26); $15 per individual workshop; $5 each for the Poets’ Party and Poets’ Reception, February 24 and February 27.
Sparrows: the festival keeps getting better
Article by Lynda La Rocca
Poetry – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
SO HAS IT REALLY BEEN just five years since Sparrows: Colorado’s Performance Poetry Festival first burst upon the local poetry scene?
It’s already hard to remember a Salida winter without Sparrows, which has grown into a four-day gathering of poets and poetry lovers who come together to celebrate the written and spoken word in humorous, dramatic, memorable, original — and most of all, entertaining — ways.
Priscilla Fowler: Abstractions from nature
Article by Rayna Bailey
Local Artist – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
WILDLIFE, deer, elk, rabbits, bobcats, eagles, hawks, and the landscape, forests, mountains, meadows, wildflowers, make the Wet Mountain Valley a desirable place for artists. And regardless of their preferred medium, most artists working in and around Westcliffe look out of their windows and paint or draw what they see, beautiful landscapes, wild animals, and occasionally, buffalo or cattle.
Anza and Cuerno Verde, by Wilfred O. Martinez
Review by Ed Quillen
Local History – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Anza and Cuerno Verde: Decisive Battle
by Wilfred O. Martinez
Second Edition
Published in 2004 by El Escritorio
ISBN 0-9628974-9-3
Under the banner of heaven, by Jon Krakauer
Review by Randy Russell
Mormon History – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Under the Banner of Heaven
by Jon Krakauer
Published in 2003 by Anchor Books
ISBN 1-4000-3280-6
When the dying speak, by Ron Wooten-Green
Review by Lynda La Rocca
Death – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
when the dying speak – how to listen to and learn from those facing death
by Ron Wooten-Green
Published in 2001 by Loyola Press
ISBN 0-8294-1685-4
Western Lives: A biographical history, edited by Richard W. Etulain
Review by Ed Quillen
Western History – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Western Lives – A Biographical History of the American West
Edited by Richard W. Etulain
Published in 2004 by University of New Mexico Press
ISBN 0-8263-3472-5
Birds of Western Colorado, by Robert Righter et al.
Review by Virginia McConnell Simmons
Wildlife – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Birds of Western Colorado – Plateau and Mesa Country
by Robert Righter, Rich Levad, Coen Dexter, Kim Porter
Published in 2004 by Grand Valley Audubon Society
ISBN 0-9743453-0-X
Why the Jews emigrated
Sidebar by Martha Quillen
Local History – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Assuming that we couldn’t be the only ones with scant knowledge of Jewish/Russian history and culture, we thought we’d expand on some of the things Nancy Oswald refers to in her article.
By the time the Cotopaxi colonists arrived, Russia had a very long history of repressing Jews. In 1791, Catherine II restricted Jewish residents to an area called “the Pale of Settlement.” Jews paid higher taxes, couldn’t lease land, run taverns, or obtain equal educations. In 1827, Nicholas I established the Cantonist Decrees which called for the conscription of Jewish boys between the ages of 12 and 18, to serve in the military for a period of twenty-five years, during which time, every effort would be made to convert them to Christianity.
Hard Times: The Jewish colony at Cotopaxi
Article by Nancy Oswald
Local History – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
ON MAY 8, 1882 a group of Jewish Russian immigrants disembarked from the train at Cotopaxi to establish an agricultural colony. They thought they were leaving the hardships of Tzarist Russia behind, but as it turned out they were exchanging the privations of “home” for new hardships, which included non-arable land, broken promises, and the difficulty of living in a culture where language, religion, and terrain were foreign and inhospitable.
The Tool Trap
Essay by Ed Quillen
Modern Life – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER, I knew guys who loved to work on their cars. They spent so much time on their cars that they seldom had time to drive anywhere, and often, their cars were in various states of assembly and disassembly which meant they couldn’t be driven anyway. As hobbies go, that’s no worse than many and better than some, but it rather defeats the whole purpose of the car: to get you from one place to another.
More news about land preservation
Sidebar by Marcia Darnell
Land Use – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Preservation is, ironically, the hot new trend. Land trusts, easements, and other means of maintaining open space, wildlife, and historic landmarks are growing, especially in rural Colorado.
In addition to the Everson Ranch saved by the Orient Land Trust, other good land in the San Luis Valley is being preserved from development.
LTUA manages small parcels for wildlife corridors
Sidebar by Ed Quillen
Land Use – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
The Land Trust of the Upper Arkansas (LTUA), which works in Lake, Chaffee, and Frémont counties, will turn four this year, and it now holds 12 conservation easements that cover about 800 acres.
A conservation easement is in some respects like other easements. A utility company, for instance, might purchase an easement from a property owner so it can run a power line across the property.
Valley View becomes Orient Land Trust for preservation
Article by Marcia Darnell
Land Use – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
VALLEY VIEW HOT SPRINGS has been a local landmark for over 30 years. The clothing-optional, natural pools resort has drawn people from around the region and around the country for fun and relaxation.
Now it is more.
Sheep don’t need a Bill of Rights
Letter from Slim Wolfe
Church and State – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
Maybe when we’re looking at schools, religion, and the first amendment we should fully define the terms. “Respecting an establishment of religion….” Well, if you don’t prohibit the free exercise thereof, aren’t you in a sense respecting? And what is religion? The study and promulgation of belief systems or a bunch of colorful displays and popular tunes? And if religion is well enough established to maintain millions worth of real estate, does it need to further establish itself through taxpayer-funded schools whose attendance is compulsory (except for the right or the diligent?). Maybe if some of our religions didn’t have such a consistent history of conquest and conversion and persecution of dissidents we wouldn’t find such a bad taste in our mouths at the very thought of them.
Watch out for those seiche waves
Letter from Paul Martz
Geology – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
The Boxing Day tsunami which resulted from an offshore earthquake is not something we in Central Colorado would ordinarily have to worry about. However, there is an earthquake related type of event that can occur in our lakes and reservoirs.
On the verge of offense
Letter from Peter O’brien
Colorado Central – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Dear Martha and Ed,
We enjoy the intelligent writing and choice of subject matter in the magazine. I’ve been on the verge of responding to some of your letters from the editors and correspondence etc., but unfortunately my natural reticence and time constraints have kept me from doing so so far. Keep up the good work in times like these.
The lore of the Cornbinder
Letter from Robert Lawson
Machinery – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Ed,
As an owner of several “Cornbinders” over the years I wanted to comment on your brief write-up of the new Navistar 7300 CXT (December 2004). This vehicle is indeed very big and will no doubt end up being driven by a few athletes and affluent types — strictly as a status symbol. There is a real market for this type of vehicle, for example, those with large fifth-wheel campers and business owners requiring a vehicle with more capability than a 1 ton truck. Ford, GMC, Freightliner (and maybe others) are also offering trucks in roughly this size.
More about woda and wòdka
Letter from Dick Bulinski
Water – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Ed,
In his fine article about sources of water and the risks of contamination and pollution of those supplies, John Mattingly touches on the derivation of the name vodka.
This is a very trivial addendum to what he wrote. Voda is Russian for Water. As is true in so many instances, there are cognates in related languages. These comments relate to the Polish names. In the Polish language, water is woda — really, the same name if one remembers that there is no v in the Polish alphabet, and that w is always pronounced v.
Regional Roundup
Briefs by Martha Quillen
Regional Roundup – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Weather Woes
A change in Central Colorado’s weather has brought both welcome moisture and additional misery this winter. According to The Mountain Mail, chances for a good spring run-off — and consequently for improved reservoir storage this year — are good.
Last year, a long-term drought had depleted ground water and left reservoirs half-empty, despite better rainfall in 2004 (and the San Luis Valley was still getting inadequate precipitation). Thus recent heavy snows have brought optimism.
Not everything is getting privatized
Brief by Central Staff
Outdoors – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
With the transfer of the Baca Ranch to the federal government as part of the process in making Great Sand Dunes National Park, 14,165-foot Kit Carson Peak has apparently moved from private to public lands.
Lynx produce more kittens
Brief by Allen Best
Wildlife – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Wildlife researchers have documented the birth of 36 Canada lynx in Colorado this year, spurring hopes that the species will become established. At least 85 of the 166 cats released in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado five years ago are known to be alive.
The Crud That’s Going Around
Brief by Skye Ridley
Public Health – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
It seems like everybody gets sick this time of year; do you know anyone who hasn’t? We call it either a cold or “that crud that’s going around.” But most of us aren’t really sure what we have, and it seems like everyone has different symptoms.
Briefs from the San Luis Valley
Brief by Marcia Darnell
San Luis Valley – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Dunes Roll On
The Dunes saga, like the dunes, is apparently endless. The newest National Park is still the subject of water spats.
The National Park Service filed a claim for water rights, seeking all unappropriated groundwater under the park. This action pleases water watchdogs on a local, state, and national level, as they see it protecting the water and holding future brokers at bay. In fact, the Rio Grande Water Conservation District helped with the filing.
Pine returns to being Pine Grove
Brief by Central Staff
Geography – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
A mountain town on the old Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad line has regained its old name.
The spot, on the west edge of Jefferson County, has for years been known as Pine. Its not on any major route now, but logically enough, you get on the road to Pine by turning southeast from U.S. 285 at Pine Junction.
SouthArk Funnies
Comic Strip written and drawn by Monika Griesenbeck
Mountain Life – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
My jeans grow on trees
Essay by Lissa James
Silviculture – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
My family owns a timber company in Washington state, and for us, money grows on trees.
Every time we buy something, we see the physical signs of our consumption in our backyard. Paying for my recent college education, for example, took about 300 log truckloads of second-growth Douglas fir, cedar and hemlock trees. A $60 pair of jeans equals a log of doug fir that’s eight inches at the top and 36 feet long. When we pay medical bills or leave our town of 200 to go on vacation, we cut more trees.
Western Water Report: February 2, 2005
COLORADO HYDROLOGIC CONDITIONS
As of 2/1, the 30-year of average snow water equivalent by basin is: Gunnison, 152%; Upper Colorado, 105%; South Platte, 90%; Laramie/North Platte, 89%; Yampa/White, 90%; Arkansas, 129%; Upper Rio Grande, 159%; SAN MIGUEL/DOLORES/ANIMAS/SAN JUAN, 159%.