David Feela

The Trailers of Montezuma County

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Essay by David Feela

Rural Life – June 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

IT’S LIKE A SOAP OPERA romance, this ongoing affection of mine for the old-style single or double-wide mobile homes, more commonly known as trailers.

To me, their appeal is strongest when I’m driving a gravel county road, and out in a field I see one, perched like an alien spacecraft on a few open acres. Or, I’m turning into the shaded niches of a well-worn trailer park, and it’s there, like a time machine, made of corrugated tin and glass. Sometimes it’s been repainted, not the bland manufacturer’s color from 30 years ago, but a fresh swath of purple, or yellow, or even turquoise and pink.

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John Muir, Go Home

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Essay by David Feela

Recreation – August 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine

ANY EXPERIENCED SUMMER TRAVELER through the West might have pointed to my wife and me as classic examples of clueless tourism: “See what you get when you travel without an itinerary? When you think camping has something to do with owning a tent?” I can hear them stifling their snickers, trying to sound sympathetic but finding no compassion.

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When whiteouts seem like forever

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Essay by David Feela

Mountain Life – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

SOMETIMES IT CAN’T BE HELPED, that long drive across the West, rolling the odometer like a slot machine that promises to pay off with just one more spin. The gas gauge hovers around “half” and it looks like you’ll get there without stopping again in the middle of who knows where. Home is all you think of, the familiar walls, the mattress that remembers the curve of your hip.

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Nature is as close as your telephone

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Essay by David Feela

Recreation – September 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

MAYBE THE HOUR IS TOO LATE; maybe nobody is working the desk, but someone should dial for a wake-up call.

Hopefully the switchboard operator will send it directly to any national or state park employee who is responsible for implementing the 1-800-reservation system used for campers attempting to stay overnight in public campgrounds.

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