Essay by Alan Kesselheim
Energy – August 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
WE’VE HAD SOME MINOR FLOODING lately in the Gallatin Valley in southwestern Montana, the consequence of a good mountain snowpack and a two-day heat wave, followed by a big rain. It reminded everyone of the way things used to work.
Some local landowners, however, were “shocked,” I read in the paper. “I’ve lived here twelve years and I’ve never seen anything like this!” one said.
Essay by Alan Kesselheim
Transportation – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
I ‘VE BEEN MARKING DAYS off the calendar with a black X, like a prisoner might in a jail cell. Only I’m not counting down a sentence, I’m celebrating days of liberation. Liberation from the alarming gas pump, from town traffic, from sedentary, bad-posture travel. X marks the days I don’t drive at all. Days I never turn the car key in the ignition.
Essay by Alan Kesselheim
Small-Town Life – November 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine
I TOOK A LONG TRIP with my family last summer, six weeks away from home. Well before we left, during the school year, we found some ideal house sitters. A young couple my wife knew who needed a place during that same time and who were eager to trade some yard work and house upkeep. One of those rare win-win situations, a relief to all.
Essay by Alan Kesselheim
Wildlife – September 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, spring last year. Marypat and I have stopped for a picnic break on our annual April ride through Yellowstone. We prop the bikes against a bridge railing, take our sandwiches and stroll to a grassy patch near a creek. It is quiet and tranquil in a way it never is during tourist season. The sun is warm. A herd of bison grazes in the distance.
Essay by Alan Kesselheim
Modern Life – January 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine
THE FIRST HEATING BILL I got was for October, and it jumped from summer levels right up to what I was paying mid-winter last year. Mind you, I didn’t even light the furnace pilot light until Oct.10, and because the weather was nice, it only kicked in the thermostat on a handful of days, less than six, I’d say.
Essay by Alan Kesselheim
Fishing – June 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
NOT LONG AGO, a friend told me a fishing story. He and his son were paddling the Big Hole River, one of Montana’s renowned trout fisheries. Along the way they decided to catch some dinner. They cast over those legendary waters until they had three trout, which they bonked on the head and stowed. Then they quit.