Durango Telegraph - April 11, 2019

Do you hear banjos?

elegraph the durango

FREE April 11, 2019

Vol. XVIII, No. 15 durangotelegraph.com

inside

T H E

O R I G I N A L

I N D I E

W E E K L Y

L I N E

O N

D U R A N G O

&

B E Y O N D

Power struggle

Unspoken words

Major Meltdown

Amid renewables push, buyout just one of LPEA’s options p8

Author sheds light on Chicana womens stories p14

Bluegrass Meltdown turns 25 with lineup for the ages p17

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lineup

8

4 La Vida Local

Power struggle LPEA explores options for buyout and beyond

4 Thumbin’ It

by Tracy Chamberlin

Body by Don 5 Word on the Street

12-13

6-7 Soapbox

Thick skin

Canyoning – a perfectly good way to waste a warm, sunny day photos by Stephen Eginoire

11 Mountain Town News 12-13 Day in the Life 16 Flash in the Pan

14

17 Top Shelf

Unspoken words Riding shotgun as author sheds light on Chicana women’s stories

18 On the Town

by Zach Hively

20 Ask Rachel

16

21 Free Will Astrology

Lotso matzo

22 Classifieds

Turns out, most cultures have their answer to Mom’s matzo ball soup

by Ari LeVaux

22 Haiku Movie Review

17

23 End of the Line

Major meltdown

On the cover: Morgan Sjogren goes off piste somewhere in the southeast Utah desert./ Photo by Stephen Eginoire

Songs From the Road Band highlights lineup for a Meltdown to remember

by Chris Aaland

boilerplate

EDITORIALISTA: Missy Votel (missy@durangotelegraph.com) ADVERTISING AFICIONADO: Lainie Maxson (lainie@durangotelegraph.com) RESIDENT FORMULA ONE FAN: Tracy Chamberlin (tracy@durangotelegraph.com)

T

he Durango Telegraph publishes every Thursday, come hell, high water, beckoning singletrack or monster powder days. We are wholly owned and operated independently by the Durango Telegraph LLC and

Ear to the ground: “The mistake he made was pulling them down too fast.”

“Was he circumcised?”

– Two men critiquing another man’s attempt to pull a full monty at Purg’s pond skim before getting apprehended by the authorities

STAR-STUDDED CAST: Lainie Maxson, Chris Aaland, Clint Reid, Stephen Eginoire, Jesse Anderson, Zach Hively, Ari LeVaux, Tracy Chamberlin and David Feela

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We’re only human. If, by chance, we defame someone’s good name or that of their family, neighbor, best

friend or dog, we will accept full responsibility in a public flogging in the following week’s issue.

Although “free but not easy,” we can be plied with schwa, booze and flattery.

PHONE: 970.259.0133

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thepole

RegularOccurrences

Feeling the spring break bloat? Longtime local fitness and nutrition guru Don Roberts wants to help you get over the hump.

Roberts, an FLC alum has lived in Durango since 1985 and owns 24/7 Fitness in Bodo, recently published a new book, Wellness Toolbox, based on his 27 years as a personal trainer, nutrition coach, weight management consultant and bodybuilder.

The No. 1 mistake people make, according to Roberts, is thinking they can treadmill or stairmaster their way out of poor dietary decisions.

“You can’t outexercise a poor diet,” says Roberts, who is well-experienced in watching people work out for years, accomplishing only minimal results.

In his book, Roberts helps debunks the “out-exercise” myth – in fact, 13 minutes a day is all most folks need to start reaping benefits – using sciencebased information, anecdotes, humor and client success stories (including the always popular “before and “after” photos.) There’s also a simple at-home workout and nutrition tips, including “Don’s Food Pyramid” (alcohol is third from the top, but hey, at least it’s on there) as well as photos from Don’s bodybuilding heyday.

However, as Don points out, one need not be a bodybuilder or extreme athlete to benefit from his book – although it might turn you into one (or at least help you keep up with the pack.) “You can apply the principles of this book to become a better climber, biker, skier, mountaineer or kayaker,” he says. “Perhaps you are a parent trying to figure out how to stay healthy and raise healthy kids. Maybe you are tired and unproductive at work and want to feel more energetic and think more sharply. This new book teaches us all how to work smarter, not harder.”

Wellness Toolbox is available at Maria’s Bookshop, Nature’s Oasis, 24/7 Fitness and Amazon.

Do it for Mike Speaking of out-exercising, the Death Ride returns to the scenic San Juans on June 8-10. And it’s a good thing the scenery is good – the ride covers 235 miles over three days with 17,000 feet of elevation gain over five mountain passes. (why do you think they call it the “Death Ride?”)

This year marks the 10th anniversary for the ride, which is not just a self-indulgent sufferfest but a fundraiser for ALS, aka Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Even more reason to ride, this year will honor beloved three-time Death Rider Michael Cimbura, who recently lost his battle to ALS. For those not up for the full ride or still recovering from the Iron Horse, they can do the oneday “Death Ride Challenge” on June 9 – 111 miles from Telluride to Durango.

To register, go to deathridetour.com.

April 11, 2019 n

3

opinion

LaVidaLocal Wreck-creation Prompted by pure nostalgia, I pulled in for a closer look at the abandoned M&M Truck Stop south of Cortez. For over a decade, my wife and I ate breakfast there every Friday before I rushed off to complete my teaching assignments at our local high school. The restaurant’s doors have been closed since 2001. Behind the building an updated Colorado Port of Entry still monitors commercial truck traffic, 200 truckers a day on average pulling in, off the old scenic Highway 666 which in 2003 was renamed Highway 491.

When the truck stop first went out of business, I hoped it was only a matter of time before some enterprising investors would reopen it.

The location is situated perfectly, just off the only major north-south highway through the Four Corners region. Commercial traffic, and especially tourists, check their fuel gauges before or immediately after an encounter with open country.

Nineteen years later, I am abandoning all hope.

If the State of Colorado had a registry for historical wrecks, this derelict of a truck stop should appear near the top of its list. Unlike the Titanic, the wreck is not hidden beneath miles of impenetrable ocean. Every person who drives by has little choice but to gasp at the enormity and longevity of this monument to neglect.

The pumps are gone, many windows broken, wide open to incoming weather, birds and vagabonds. Two plate glass entrance doors remain boarded over after having been kicked in. The glass, never cleaned up, lies scattered like immortal ice cubes across the entry.

Young trees reach up through the asphalt, a few of them leaning toward the outside walls for support. On a sill where I remember a gas pump cashier once sat, I spotted (but didn’t touch) a row of plastic bottles lined up like bladders in the sun, filled to the neck and capped, a yellow liquid reflecting the light.

Gatorade they were not. Graffiti adorns the outside building surfaces. I didn’t have the nerve to go in and see how the building fared on the inside. The owner(s) of this truck stop of horrors ought to be required by our county court to sleep there overnight at least every Halloween.

Derelict buildings don’t only occupy war zones. You can find them in nearly every town, both here and abroad. Each property starts life as an ambitious structure, then years of trying to run a business or make a home matures them,

but eventually their pointless neglect ends with abandonment. Rather than leveling the old sense of purpose before moving on to better things, the past is left standing, deteriorating bit by bit, even infecting other buildings in the community with its strain of architectural leprosy. Just west of the truck stop, you’ll see collateral damage has crept across the highway where three former business buildings also stand empty, all signs of life support disconnected.

In one sense, some historical structures fit into a niche that are worthy of protection. I suppose the truant or distracted owners rationalize their derelicts qualify as historical and by leaving them fall to pieces some kind of contribution toward educating the locals has been bequeathed. Or better yet, they’re just lazy. Hard to explain the kind of thinking that stubbornly turns the past into a festering boil.

Another miserable wreck leers at travelers between Cortez and Mancos along Highway 160, a former gas station/convenience store/tourist attraction/stocked-fishing-pond-sorta-camping facility which imploded over a decade ago.

Local gossip suggests a gasoline storage tank leak followed by a required State of Colorado cleanup prompted a dispute. The place closed down, and the property owner now uses it to vent his anger at passersby, going so far as to taunt spectators by crudely painting “toxic site” in large letters, allegedly “sponsored by the State of Colorado.” All we see is the eyesore, caught between the State of Colorado and the property owner, an unresolved derelict of a dispute, the public saddled with another festering boil of an ex-business that promises to rot before any rule of law is applied.

But there is always hope. After several years of wrestling with the high price tag to remove environmental hazards while demolishing our abandoned 1960s era Cortez high school, its deconstruction and disappearance has finally been completed. A GOCO grant provided the City of Cortez with some funding to help purchase a 14-acre site where officials plan to install a south-side park for city residents.

As a former teacher from that recently demolished building, I applaud the city’s efforts and look forward to sitting under a shady tree, or stretching out on the cool grass, perhaps over the exact spot where a reincarnation of my old classroom might materialize from my dreams after falling asleep. If any former students walk by, please, please don’t wake me up.

Sign of the Downfall:

Thumbin’It

4 n April 11, 2019

– David Feela

The Center of Southwest Studies agreeing to return hundreds of artifacts collecting from Native American gravesites to Native American tribes for repatriation

Mother Nature continuing to show her wrath in Durango, with mudslides from Missionary Ridge burying County Road 250 in several feet of thick muck

Quick action to rein in gun violence in New Zealand, with parliament voting to ban most automatic and semi-automatic guns and enact rigorous background checks barely a month after mass shootings at two mosques that left 50 dead

More signs that the effects of climate change are accelerating, with a new study finding the Earth’s glaciers are melting five times faster than previously thought

The rare and recently unheard of occurrence of natural run-off making for boatable flows on sections of the Lower Dolores even without releases from McPhee

A lack of vaccinations leading to the return of measles, once thought eradicated for good, with close to 300 cases reported in New York City

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Healthy Jerks Statistics for the annual New Jersey beach cleanup are in, and even though a staggering half-million pieces of plastic were collected during the event, the type of trash found at least says something positive about our species. The number of cigarette butts collected was way down, but the number of condoms skyrocketed 56 percent. So, yeah, we’re all making slightly healthier decisions, but that just means we’ll all live to see the consequences that come from throwing those “decisions” into the ocean.

WordontheStreet

Q

YOUR NAME HERE

With the seasonal onslaught of pollen in full swing, the Telegraph asked, “What are you allergic to?”

Brian Davis

“Literally everything.”

This ad space could be yours.

Jacob Wells

“Drama.”

Zeke Swilley

“The B.S.”

Call Lainie @ Mike Ford

“Pollen and people who chew with their mouths open.”

970-259-0133 or email

Marcus Meyers

“Shrimp and bees.”

lainie@durangotelegraph.com telegraph

April 4, 2019 n 5

SoapBox Vote Turner and Mannix for LPEA To the editor, Here in La Plata County, we buy almost all of our power from Tri-State, a generation and transmission company based on the Front Range.

Tri-State relies heavily on fossil fuels, and they are the single-worst emitter of carbon dioxide in the entire country per unit of energy produced. Maybe that made sense years before, when coal was the cheapest energy source, but it doesn’t anymore.

The cost of renewable energy has plummeted, and the price of coal is high and rising. Coal has never made sense environmentally. Now, it doesn’t even make sense economically.

The advantages of renewables are clear. Lower prices and cleaner energy benefit us all.

Jeff Mannix (D2) and Jack Turner (D4) are the best choice for people who want LPEA directors that will advocate for clean energy and low rates. They both have strong backgrounds in community advocacy and will push the board to examine all of LPEA’s options, instead of just blindly tethering themselves to dirty, expensive energy.

Ballots were mailed April 2. Please vote for Turner and Mannix.

– Brett Oliver, Durango

of school and demanding a future livable planet. They remind humanity of the responsibility to take care of our only home planet for their future, and the future of all living beings threatened by a climate crisis and the sixth extinction.

These young citizens know their elders aren’t acting responsibly and don’t have as much at stake in the future as they do. Today youth are concerned about a planetary, climatic holocaust. I hope students walking out of school expressing concern for their future and the planet’s will have impact on elders not paying attention. They follow in the footsteps of 12-year-old Severn Cullis-Suzuki, who spoke to the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, saying, “if you don’t know how to fix it, please stop breaking it.” When will we listen?

I am moved and inspired by the youth climate actions “Fridays for Future” (www.fridaysforfuture.org) and “Our Children’s Trust” (www.ourchildrenstrust.org). I invite concerned people to learn about Citizens’ Climate Lobby (citizensclimatelobby.org ) to take positive, respectful action to provide a livable planet for the future of our descendants. Find your local chapter under the “Take Action” tab. As 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg said, “The one thing we need more than hope is action.”

– Andrew Zeiler, Durango

Time for climate-change action

Embrace change – vote Mannix

To the editor, How will you remember the student climate strikes last month? What will you hold in your memory? You have a choice!

I hold the inspiration and hope of thousands of young citizens worldwide expressing themselves by walking out

To the editor, A little over a century ago an orphan from Bologna, Italy, came to America to mine coal in western Pennsylvania. Mining coal was an opportunity for a better life for him and his family but it was also his death sentence.

That man, Emilio Crini, was my grandfather. He worked

40 years in the mines before dying of congestive heart failure resulting from “black lung” disease. He had no formal education, and I never heard him speak a word in English but his guidance to his children was simply “el mundo cambio” – the world changes. And change it has.

Coal, which powered the industrial revolution of the last century, has been surpassed by gas as the fossil fuel of choice for energy production.

Once again, we are witnessing change. The generation of electricity is moving beyond fossil fuels despite the subsidies that the industry enjoys. Wholesale costs of renewable electricity are now below that of electricity generated from fossil fuels. Renewables will be even cheaper in the future. The electric generation industry is in transition. Unfortunately, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association is not a part of that because it relies on its coal-fired power plants for generation of electricity.

Regrettably, in July 2007, the LPEA Board entered into a long-term contract (expiring Dec. 31, 2050) that makes all of us underwriters of Tri-State’s unwise business decisions.

That contract forces LPEA to purchase 95 percent of our power from Tri-State regardless of its means of electric generation or the price per kilowatt hour we are required to pay. There is nothing in that contract requiring Tri-State to benchmark its energy price to market rates or to prevent Tri-State from raising the prices it charges LPEA members.

If Tri-State is not going to change with the rest of the industry, it’s time for LPEA to find a way to lower its members’ electricity costs. The election of a LPEA Board of Directors with this vision is the key to such change.

Ballots for the Board of Directors elections were sent to members and must be returned by May 1.

Jeff Mannix is running for the LPEA Board in District 2.

Jeff is a cattleman with a unique vision for LPEA’s future that will benefit both ranchers and the rest of LPEA’s members. He would like to see more energy generation here4

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6 n April 11, 2019

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on underused ranchlands. Doing so will provide a variety of opportunities for the local economic by way of jobs, income and lower electricity costs.

Mannix knows that the world changes and that energy generation is rapidly changing. Jeff knows that LPEA needs to take a long view of the situation we find ourselves in and to move toward a future that can ensure lower costs for its members. If we do not make the most of this opportunity, we will be held captive by Tri-State for 31½ more years. Please take a couple of minutes to vote Mannix onto the LPEA Board for District 2.

– Eugene Creany, Durango

Vote Turner for energy resiliency To the editor, Jack Turner is running again for the LPEA Board of Directors. We are lucky to have someone with his experience and leadership skills. He has opposed every rate increase as a director. I admire his support of policies that protect our land, keep our dollars local, and strive for energy resilience. Vote for Jack!

– Liza Tregillus, Durango

Leaders need to act on climate To the editor, In the summer of 2018, we watched as smoke filled the skies, and the San Juan Mountains were scarred by the 416 Fire. As our climate warms and dries, wildfires become more common and more destructive. But not everyone is alarmed; some see aggressive oil and gas development as a priority despite voluminous scientific accounts of it accelerating and exacerbating climate change. In Durango, we rely on tourists coming to enjoy the outdoors, so it is imperative that we put nothing above our health, safety and environmental protections.

Wildfires have become more prevalent and our precipitation is highly variable. It is up to states like Colorado to take action and address the most important issue of our time. We have the opportunity to not only address a changing climate, but improve our quality of life and protect our planet. There is time to act and that time is now.

Thankfully our Rep. Barbara McLachlan, D-Durango, is someone who agrees we need to act. As a conservation champ, she has the chance to act by urging her counterparts Sens. Donovan and Coram, to vote yes on SB 181, so that she will have the opportunity for the same yes vote in the House. This will be a small but important step in the right direction to prioritize our health, safety and environment over the profits of the oil and gas industry. Thank you Rep. McLachlan for starting to tackle the problem of our generation!

– Kara Armaro, Durango

Zero suicide: more than just hope To the editor, I’ll start out my letter with a question: How many of you who are reading this know someone who has attempted or died by suicide? I suspect there was a lot of head nodding, some anguish, some tears, much grief, constant worry and a whole lot of questioning why this happened. Why did 1,175 Coloradans die from suicide in 2017? A simple question with many complicated answers.

The gut-wrenching statistic in our state is that suicide is the leading cause of death among 10- to 24-year-olds, and we have one of the highest suicide rates in the nation. It is estimated that up to 50 percent of those who die by suicide have seen a primary care provider within the previous month. Thirty percent have seen a behavior health provider within the previous month.

In 1999, The Henry Ford Medical Group in Detroit im-

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plemented a “Zero Suicide Prevention” system of care within their Department of Behavior Health Services, which was named the “Blues Busters.” The plan had lofty goals: screen everyone using an evidence-based screening tool, then determine who is at risk for self-harm or suffering from other behavioral issues, such as depression or anxiety.

Their protocols also included an integrated and coordinated system of care that also emphasized evidence-based therapies.

The results were astounding, and within a few years, the system was implemented within their primary care departments. From 1999-2009, they had an 80 percent reduction in suicides including zero suicides in 2009. The North Central Health Care System in Wisconsin, which cares for 10,000 lives, saw zero suicides in 2015 following implementation of a similar system.

In 2016, Colorado Senate Bill 16-147 passed, which allowed for the creation of a Colorado suicide prevention model based on the Zero Suicide model. Regretfully, there were no funds appropriated for this bill.

Zero Suicide is more than just a hope. I urge all of you to call or e-mail our Joint Budget Committee members and ask them to approve funding for this important first step.

– Dr. Jonathan Gordon, Mental Health Colorado Board of Directors

“We’ll print damned-near anything” The Telegraph prides itself on a liberal letters policy. We offer this forum to the public to settle differences, air opinions & undertake healthy discourse. We have only three requests: limit letters to 750 words, letters must be signed by the writer; and thank-you lists and libelous, personal attacks are unwelcome. Send your insights by Tuesday at noon to: PO Box 332, Durango, 81302 or e-mail your profundities to: telegraph@durangotelegraph.com. Let the games begin ...

April 11, 2019 n 7

TopStory

Capped Out As members push for local renewables, buyout just one of the options on LPEA’s table

by Tracy Chamberlin

T

he real issue is the cap. In its contract with Tri-State Generation and Transmission, La Plata Electric can only produce 5 percent of its own power locally. The coop is required to purchase the other 95 percent from TriState, its wholesale energy provider.

“Our members have said, ‘We want to see more local, renewable energy,’” LPEA’s CEO Mike Dreyspring explained.

With little room before tapping out on the 5 percent, LPEA’s Board of Directors and staff have been looking for ways to make it happen.

They’ve asked Tri-State to expand the cap to 10 percent, only to be told reducing the amount of power purchased would mean higher rates for Tri-State’s 42 other member cooperatives.

They’ve looked at qualifying facilities, which are a special category of renewable energy producers allowed under federal law. “So far, our proposals have gone nowhere,” Dreyspring said.

In light of the roadblocks, some members have been pushing for a contract buyout. It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened.

In 2016, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative in Taos, N.M., bought out its contract with Tri-State in order to pursue local projects, like a large solar array in the desert.

Kit Carson’s goal is to supply 100 percent of its customers’ summer, day-time power by 2023. The remaining power is purchased in an energy marketplace, where electricity is bought and sold much like stocks on Wall Street.

Another member of the Tri-State cooperative looking to buyout its contract is Delta-Montrose Electric Association. Although, things aren’t moving along there quite the way they did with Kit Carson.

Delta-Montrose first clashed with Tri-State in 2015 over what are called qualifying facilities. These are renewable energy projects – like hydroelectric, solar or biomass – that fall under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, or PURPA. When a qualifying facility came to Delta-Montrose – specifically a hydroelectric project – and wanted to provide renewable energy to its members, the coop was required under PURPA to do so. But, that meant it went over the 5 percent cap.

Tri-State responded by changing their policy in order to recover costs it said were lost when Delta-Montrose no longer purchased 95 percent of its power from Tri-State. Delta-Montrose turned to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to settle the disagreement, and to almost everyone’s surprise, the commission ruled against Tri-State.

This unprecedented ruling seemed to open the door on qualified facilities for other coops, like LPEA. Well, almost.

Tri-State requested the federal board take another look at the case, and that request is still pending. It could be considered at any time or not at all. With that uncertainty, any qualifying facility interested in working with Delta-Montrose – or any other electric association – would be taking a risk. If the

8 n April 11, 2019

Solar arrays, both small and large, contribute to the local renewable energy offerings in La Plata Electric Association’s service territory./File photo initial ruling were reversed, parties would have to cover the cost of going over Tri-State’s cap.

In the meantime, Delta-Montrose voted last year to pursue a contract buyout.

Tri-State told the coop how much it would cost – a number that has not been released publicly. Delta-Montrose claimed the total buyout cost, or exit charge, was unreasonable and discriminatory. This time, the coop turned to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.

Tri-State argued that the Colorado agency had no jurisdiction over the dispute since it represents cooperatives across four states in the Rocky Mountain region. Recently, however, the commission heard initial arguments and disagreed with Tri-State, saying they’ll take on the case.

“It looks like the (Public Utilities Commission) will try and wrap it up by the end of the year,” Ron Meier, LPEA’s manager of engineering and member services, explained.

LPEA staff are all keeping a close eye on the case because it could affect the coop and its membership directly – since, they too, are researching what it would cost to buyout its contract with Tri-State.

The first step for the LPEA Board of Directors was to select members for a Power Supply Committee tasked with getting the details. The committee worked with firms who know the industry and understand the energy marketplace.

Their findings will first be presented to the Board of Directors April 15 in an executive session, then to the public April 17.

The committee will likely offer details on what it might cost for LPEA to buy out its contract with Tri-State, including what it could cost to enter the energy marketplace. However, it’s unlikely all those details will be released publicly because it could impact future contract negotiations.

Since LPEA’s goal is to increase local renewables and keep rates low at the same time, the coop is looking into other options as well. The answer may not need to be a complete split.

Other options started to materialize during Tri-State’s annual meeting last week.

Forty-two of the 43 coops in the Tri-State membership voted to change the bylaws, opening the door to what’s called partial contracts.

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Ballot breakdown for LPEA Board of Directors election All ballots must be received by the La Plata County Clerk by 4 p.m. Wed., May 1. Postmarks will not count.

Drop-off boxes are located at: the La Plata County Clerk and Recorder’s office in Bodo; County Administration Building on 2nd Avenue; Farmer’s Fresh Market in Ignacio; Bayfield Town Hall; and LPEA offices in Bodo and Pagosa Springs.

Election results will be announced at LPEA’s annual meeting Thurs., May 2, at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College. Registration for the meeting starts at 5 p.m., and things get under way at 6:30 p.m.

For more information, visit www.lpea.coop or call 2475786.

Several municipalities and cooperatives – including United Power serving 200,000-plus members in Denver – came to Tri-State recently looking to get some electricity from the power supplier, but not all of it.

United Power’s customer base is growing fast, but it still wants flexibility to seek energy alternatives, like renewables.

Rather than purchase power in the energy marketplace or from Tri-State outside of a contract, Tri-State is considering the partial contract option. It cuts out the third-party broker and could benefit both parties financially.

It could also be an opportunity for current members, like LPEA, to look at partial contracts with Tri-State.

In addition to opening that door, Tri-State also announced it would restore its contract committee, which begins meeting in May. This committee is where LPEA might be able to reintroduce the idea of expanding the cap on local, renewable contracts beyond 5 percent.

It’s unknown if any of these recent changes at Tri-State are associated with the power supplier’s new CEO Duane Highley, who is also scheduled to speak at LPEA’s annual meeting May 2 at the Community Concert Hall. It’s also an unknown if any of the recent moves will lead to concrete changes.

“Tri-State is on the precipice of change – or it needs to be,” Dreyspring said. n

Unplugged: LPEA Candidates speak out on a possible Tri-State buyout With the possibility of LPEA buying out its contract with Tri-State, the Telegraph asked: “Do you think LPEA should pursue a buyout with Tri-State? Why or why not?”

“I do not feel that a buyout of Tri-State at this time is a prudent move on LPEA’s part, because Tri-State is adding more renewables to their mix now at far lower prices than we could do ourselves. Besides Tri-State is a cooperative, and it takes 43 members to vote a rate increase. A broker has no controls on them.”

– Dan Huntington, District 2 candidate, serving south and west La Plata County

“Discussing a buyout is premature. If LPEA’s vision, mission and carbon goal lead to a buyout, we can then seriously consider it as an option. LPEA is both a business and science-based organization that requires data and facts to run soundly; there is no room for ideology.”

– Jack Turner, District 4 candidate, serving north and east La Plata County

“LPEA and Tri-State have a long partnership providing reliable service to member-owners. Out of respect, we must be open minded yet deeply understand the developing energy market and wait for the newly installed CEO to signal his intent on direction in leading Tri-State forward before this decision is made.”

– Holly Metzler, District 1 candidate, serving Archuleta County

“You’ve asked my opinion and I’ll take the liberty to suggest that you’re asking the wrong question. Members need to ask themselves if they still support the LPEA mission statement promising safe, reliable electricity at the lowest reasonable cost while being environmentally responsible. Our Tri-State affiliation may imperil those goals.”

– Jeff Mannix, District 2 candidate, serving south and west La Plata County

“Tri-State will now allow different levels of membership, and their new projects will make them the number one G&T (Generation and Transmission) cooperative producer of renewables in the nation. Guzman is seeking to buy more coal assets and their rates constantly fluctuate, while Tri-States is investing in more renewables and has stable rates.”

– Sarah Ferrell, District 4 candidate, serving north and east La Plata County

“As a director for LPEA, my most important job will be to work in the best interest of coop members. The board would be negligent and out-of-step with members if it did not study a buyout. Coal has many costs.

Less expensive, clean energy sources are available.”

– Joe Lewandowski, District 3 candidate, serving the City of Durango Editor’s Note: Lewandowski is running unopposed

Editor’s Note: Metzler’s challenger Michael Whiting did not respond to requests for comment.

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April 11, 2019 n

9

Quick’n’Dirty BuRec hosts Dolores River meeting Will it or won’t it? And if it does, when and how much?

Inquiring boaters can have all their burning questions answered – or at least get good guesstimates next week. The Bureau of Reclamation will host its 2019 operations meeting for the Dolores River at 7 p.m., Thurs., April 18, at the Dolores Community Center, 400 Riverside Ave. “This meeting is a great opportunity for our partners and the public to find out how the 2019 water year is shaping up and to have any related questions answered,” Western Colorado Area Office Manager Ed Warner said.

Meeting topics will include a review of 2018 operations, projected water supplies and runoff for 2019, and the forecasted possibility of a boatable release on the Dolores below McPhee.

The meeting will also include presentations and representation from several agencies, including: Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, Dolores Water Conservancy District, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Dolores River Boating Advocates, American Whitewater and Fort Lewis College. There will be opportunities for questions, comments, and discussion during the meeting.

For more information, contact Robert Stump at 970-5657232 or rstump@usbr.gov.

Party planned to christen mural It’s hard to miss Kroeger Hardware’s new colorful backside.

And next Wednesday, you’ll be able to meet the artists responsible for this downtown beautification project as well as those who made it happen. Local First, which implemented the project, will be hosting a mural celebration party from 5 – 6 p.m., Wed., April 17, at the mural in Town Plaza.

The project was made possible by a grant from the City of Durango’s “Durango Creates!” program. It was created by local artists Hayley Kirkman, Lexis Loeb and Matthew French-Holt, with the help of more than 30 community volunteers. The scene, depicting a colorful outdoors scene in Southwestern hues, was completed in November 2018.

Kroeger’s Hardware wholeheartedly supported the project; spiffing up the wall was something the store had been considering on its own.

“After looking at our blank wall from main street, we decided it was time for something new. It gave the wrong impression of how Durango should be represented to our visitors,” Kroeger’s spokesman Joel Krueger said. “The timing of Local First approaching us to use the wall as a canvas was perfect. We were extremely happy to support them, and they did an outstanding job. The mural adds so much to the appearance of downtown Durango.”

The mural is part of Local First’s Creative Arts Initiative to connect Local First members with artists to enhance the local creative economy, provide living wages to artists and enhance Durango’s surroundings. Another mural was also

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A celebration and dedication of the newly finished mural on the backside of Kroeger’s Hardware will be held next Wednesday. The mural was coordinated by Local First and made possible by local sponsors, a $5,000 grant from the City of Durango, and dozens of artists and volunteers./Photo by Stephen Eginoire done last year on the wall of Durango Joes on College Drive.

In addition to turning a blank brick wall into a work of art, the Town Plaza mural also resulted in another serendipity. Near the end of the project, lead artist French-Holt went from muralist to newfound owner of the nearby Art Supply House (which also sponsored the project).

“Public art projects serve as a tangible, visible sign of the community attitude toward art, innovation and differing points of view,” French-Holt said. “We knew this mural would benefit the visitors who get to see it, and those of us who live here and experience it on a daily basis. Now that the mural is completed, I go out of my way to see it – seeing the color coming down 10th Street brings a smile to my face.”

Katie Burford, owner of Cream Bean Berry, which neighbors the project and also sponsored it, said she appreciates what the mural brings to downtown.

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“Literal trainloads of people pass through the Narrow Gauge corridor each day in the summer, and it’s easy for us locals to forget what our city looks like from their perspective,” she said. “How sad it was for them only to see dumpsters, parked cars and loading docks. The artists who conceived of this project had a real stroke of genius when they realized the potential in the hardware store’s expansive back wall. I’m grateful for the wildly creative artists who made it and for the wild, natural beauty that inspires them.”

Taking the mural idea one step further, in the last year Local First has spearheaded an effort to designate Durango as a Colorado Creative District. It is hoped the certification will bring greater economic diversity to the area and open up statewide marketing opportunities.

Other sponsors of the mural include Town Plaza merchants and the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

– Missy Votel

MountainTownNews Jackson Hole’s Mexican town connection JACKSON, Wyo.– Jackson has at least a couple of formal sister cities, one in Austria and the other in China. It also has an informal sister city in Mexico, a place called San Simeon.

Many of the housekeepers and others in Jackson Hole come from this small town of about 3,000 people located east of Mexico City. At one time the road between Mexico City and Veracruz ran through the town. Now, the highway bypasses it, and most storefronts sit vacant.

Residents can stay in their small state of Tlaxcala and work long hours, move to Mexico City and make a bit more, or immigrate to the United States and make enough to live a more financially stable life with the possibility of returning home one day, reports Brennan Hussey in the Jackson Hole News&Guide. She visited San Simeon last fall while on a vacation to Mexico City.

“The connection between Jackson and San Simeon is so tight that residents in the Mexican community affectionately call Jackson ‘Jack-Simeon,’” she says.

Teton County immigration attorney Elisabeth Trefonas said nine times out of 10, when a Spanish-speaking client walks into her office, it’s somebody from Tlaxcala.

“There’s a rough estimate that about 30 percent of our community is Spanish-speaking,” she said. She guesses 75 or 80 percent, maybe more, come from Tlaxcala.

This wave of immigration to Jackson began in the mid-1990s, a little later than Aspen and Vail, but has slowed since 2007, as worker visits have been harder to come by. Then, she said, Jackson started to rely more heavily on students from Eastern Europe with work visas.

The residents of San Simeon have changed Jackson, but Jackson has also changed Sam Simeon. There’s a Teton Tavern in the Mexican town, for example. At least one of the houses in San Simeon also has granite countertops.

That house belongs to German Marquina Sanchez. In Jackson Hole, he had first worked at the Dairy Queen, then a motel, then the very-upscale Four Seasons Hotel before forming his own cleaning business. He met his wife, who was also from the same Mexican state, in Wyoming. Their two daughters attended public schools in Jackson.

But he chose to return to Mexico. He was working all the time and spending little time with his family. “I don’t want to be a rich person,” he said. “I just want to have enough for whatever I need.”

How Working Joes get the lesser deal CRESTED BUTTE – Recently the editor of the Crested Butte News walked around several construction sites at the invitation of a local contractor. Mark Reaman, the editor, said they talked about building contractors who hired immigrants who are in the United States without legal documentation.

“I couldn’t tell who was ‘legal’ and who wasn’t, if anyone was, at the places I visited,” Reaman wrote. “None of the guys I talked to said there was a tidal wave of undocumented workers in the valley. But all said the influx of such workers was a factor and becoming more of an issue as the construction boom continued.”

The demand for labor is such in Crested Butte that some people commute from the San Luis Valley, two hours distant. The wage differential between the two places, one of Colorado’s wealthiest and one of the state’s poorest, is $25/hour vs. $12/hour.

“My ‘host’ said everyone in the local trades knew who in the valley used undocumented workers and who didn’t. Those who did could undercut legit bids and pocket more profit at the expense of employees.”

The undocumented workers from Mexico work for lesser wages and live in cramped quarters, sending their money home.

The bottom line: use of undocumented labor undercuts those who are operating legally and also reduces the income and quality of life of those playing by the rules.

“I appreciate the idea of these guys reminding us all that if we have compassion for those fleeing a horrible life and trying to tap into what to them is a great pay, we should have compassion for the average blue-collar Working Joe trying to make it on the upand-up in a valley where it is expensive to have a house and family,” Reaman wrote.

“Why should the rich people building a second home save

money while the working stiffs pay the price of that savings through a lower paycheck? I understood that as I listened last week.”

High school logo questioned near Banff

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CANMORE, Alberta – The principal of Canmore Collegiate High School has started a community conversation about whether to change the school logo, a shield such as used by the crusaders in the Middle Ages. Teams from the school are known as the Crusaders.

Chris Rogers, the principal, told the Rocky Mountain Outlook, that he was provoked most strongly to begin the conversation by the apologies that were made to the indigenous peoples, who in Canada are called First Nations. Many were forced to attend schools designed to cut them off from their languages, traditions and culture.

The first apology was made in 2008 by Stephen Harper, then the prime minister. In 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued another apology, this time to those in Newfoundland and Labrador who were forced to attend the so-called “residential” schools as recently as 1980. He called it a “shameful part of Canada’s history, a legacy of colonialism.

“It was wrongly believed indigenous languages, spiritual beliefs and ways of life were inferior and irrelevant,” he said.

Carole Picard, a trustee of the school board, told the Outlook that she understood the link that bothered the school principal. Crusaders of the Middle Ages were known primarily as military expeditions sponsored by the Catholic Church in an attempt to retake lands in the Middle East, then controlled by Muslims. The Catholic Church was also the primary operator of Canadian residentials schools. “So offense could be taken,” she said.

Carbon taxes on stage as gas prices rise WHISTLER, B.C. – Gasoline prices have been rising in recent months across most of North America, including Vancouver and Whistler.

In Vancouver, fuel prices have gone up 12 cents per liter. That’s equivalent to 33 cents a gallon in the United States. AAA reports U.S. gas prices in the last month have gone up 28 cents.

There’s no single reason, but in British Columbia the carbon tax is part of the discussion. The province implemented North America’s first broad-based carbon tax, $10 per ton of emissions. The tax was elevated to $30 (Cdn) in 2012.

This month, it was raised again, to $40 (about $30 US), adding 1.1 cents per liter to the price. Altogether, it’s about 7.78 cents, or a nickel, in U.S. money.

Perhaps mindful of the yellow-shirt protests in France, British Columbia Premier John Horgan has been talking about reducing the taxes.

But the carbon tax has been in the news for other reasons. On April 1, the Canadian government instituted a lesser carbon tax in four of the 10 provinces that had not adopted such a tax. The New York Times last week described Canada as having one of the most ambitious carbon-pricing programs in the world. The emissions covered by the tax range from 47 percent to 90 percent, depending upon the province.

What difference does a carbon tax make in reducing atmospheric pollution? British Columbia may offer the best laboratory.

Nic Rivers, Canada Research Chair in Climate and Energy Policy at the University of Ottawa, tells the Canadian Press that the tax reduced emissions by between 5 and 15 percent when the price hit $30 a ton.

Similar to the proposal promoted by Citizens Climate Lobby, the revenues are returned to taxpayers. The intent is not to fatten government treasuries. Rather, it’s a way to steer choices to ways that don’t pollute the atmosphere.

Rivers told the Canadian Press that one study found that people in the province were buying more fuel- efficient cars because of the tax.

But at what price point the tax becomes persuasive in causing people to take buses or ride bikes varies from individual to individual.

Testimony on behalf of B.C.’s carbon tax also was found in the Toronto Globe & Mail, where Jill Tipping and Maximilian Kniewasser pointed to B.C.’s robust economy during the decade it has had a carbon tax.

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hat could be a better warm spring weeken through an icy, wa non-appearance of direct sun Some call it canyoneering, for canyoning. But let’s be real her swimming and possibly rappell

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– David Lee, First Poet Laureate of Utah, Pulitzer-prize nominated author

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April 11, 2019

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lippery When Wet

by Stephen Eginoire

r way to squander a beautiful, nd than to spend it sloshing ater-filled canyon where the nlight is the only guarantee? r the more distinguished, its re. Does the pursuit of hiking, ling down a desert/mountain

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creek really warrant such formal nomenclature? Perhaps it’s a way to justify the “uncoolness” of wetsuits, heavy backpacks and helmets. Nor are the participants particularly glamorous when wading through a cesspool, covered from head to toe in a water-logged rubber suit. But one thing is for certain: it can be outrageously fun and mindbendingly beautiful, so who’s complaining? Here’s a look:

April 11, 2019 n 13

thesecondsection

Her stories Kali Fajardo-Anstine returns to Durango with powerful collection

by Zach Hively

D

urango is a notoriously difficult place for finding and maintaining a career. Author Kali Fajardo-Anstine, though, moved here in part to finish off her short story collection Sabrina & Corina, just released last week and already racking up the acclaim. She will hold a reading and signing of her book Mon., April 15, at Maria’s Bookshop.

“I was finishing up these stories while I was in Durango,” FajardoAnstine said. “There were things that I didn’t know about until I lived in the region. So it’s really special and meaningful for me to get to come back and read my work in the place that ended my journey around the country.”

Fajardo-Anstine grew up in Denver and lives there again now. In early adulthood, she followed literary opportunities around the country, from San Diego to Key West and Wyoming to South Carolina. She moved to Durango about five years ago and taught in the writing program at Fort Lewis College. Her roots, though, extend deep into this region: her forebearers, Chicano people of an indigenous ancestry, only migrated to Denver in the 1920s.

Such ancestral biographies might seem superfluous when discussing many authors. Yet this familial history is integral to Fajardo-Anstine’s work. The stories in this collection focus on the relationships within families and between generations, and especially on the women in those families: sisters, cousins, mothers, daughters, great-grandmothers and their extensive broods.

“I come from an incredibly matriarchal family,” Fajardo-Anstine said. “I have five sisters. I grew up with a lot of female elders, my great-grandmother, my great-aunts, my godmother. There was just a huge amount of feminine power in my family.”

However, she said writing a volume about women

14 n April 11, 2019

wasn’t something she intentionally set out to do. “A lot of the times, the characters would just start speaking to me,” she said. “They all happened to be strong women.”

Even though she didn’t intend to make her stories about women, she still embraces the contribution she’s made to the literary world: books with women characters, especially women characters who share an ancestry similar to her own. Such stories are rarer than they should be, with so many books about and for women relegated to the “chick-lit” sections of bookstores.

In fact, when Fajardo-Anstine was working on her graduate degree at the University of Wyoming, the lack of books that reflected her worldview frustrated her research. “I don’t know if there’s ever been a book like mine,” she said.

The 11 stories in Sabrina & Corina, set in contemporary and nottoo-distant times, afford readers humanizing, agonizing, humorous and startling experiences. These aren’t mere glimpses, even if the stories are short. It’s more like we’re riding shotgun with the characters, feeling the sense of an entire life in just a few days or months.

Fajardo-Anstine avoids the trap that many writers fall into when writing about non-dominant cultures: she doesn’t parade her characters’ histories and customs before us like puppets wearing ceremonial dress. We are nearly effortlessly welAuthor Kali Fajardo-Anstine comed into their experiences without the need to be schooled on how their families set expectations or what gratuitous JusttheFacts Spanish words mean. In fact, the gringo characters Author Kali Fajardo-Anstine, author of Sabrina & Co(such as the prospective beaus in “Sisters”) are the rina, is holding two events on Mon., April 15: ones who feel like intruders.

• A “chit-chat,” reading and signing at El Centro de But she also avoids the trap of “us” and “them,” Muchos Colores, Fort Lewis College, 12 noon -1 p.m. even if the characters feel those divisions at times.

• Reading, signing and Q&A at Maria’s Bookshop, This reader found the stories to have that oft-applied 6:30 p.m. and seldom-meant quality of universality. I was 4

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halfway through the book before I even realized that all these primary characters were female. I am not female, and I am neither of Chicano nor indigenous ancestry, yet these women did not feel a world apart from me.

And I am not alone in that sense.

“That’s been the coolest thing,” Fajardo-Anstine said.

“In a lot of the (messages) I’m getting from readers, there’s a lot of women and even male readers too, people are saying it’s so refreshing to read something that’s so raw, that feels so true. They’re saying, ‘I’ve never seen myself in a book before.’ I always felt like I was alone,’ so the fact that there are other readers identifying with this, it’s such a gift for me, too.”

The stories read like oral narrations, too – which she attributes to the fact that verbal storytellers, from gossipmongers to jokesters, have to hold an audience’s attention raptly for a short amount of time, just like short story writers. She grew up among such stories; besides family tales, her mother was a professional storyteller, traveling to schools and events around the Denver area.

Therefore, Fajardo-Anstine knows how to keep her audiences engaged. She’s a performative reader, she said, full of the same emotion she had when she first wrote the words.

She’ll be reading from Sabrina & Corina at Maria’s Bookshop, and the store is practically humming in anticipation of her arrival. Several booksellers at Maria’s are raving about this collection, which tickles Fajardo-

Anstine, because she felt so loved and supported herself going to Maria’s during her time in Durango.

“When I lived in Durango, I would go into Maria’s all the time,” she said, “and I actually joined a book club with some of the staff.”

She is also appreciative that they embraced the book when she sent them an advance copy. “Thank you guys so much for supporting me even when I didn’t have a book,” she said.

Fajardo-Anstine will be holding a luncheon with students at Fort Lewis College on Mon., April 15, from 12

“People are saying it’s so refreshing to read something that’s so raw, that feels so true.

They’re saying, ‘I’ve never seen myself in a book before.’ ... so the fact that others are identifying with this, it’s such a gift.”

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– Kali Fajardo-Anstine, author of Sabrina and Corina

noon to 1 p.m. at El Centro de Muchos Colores, before her Maria’s event later that night. Whichever event you can attend, you’ll be treated to an animated author and some purely beautiful storytelling.

“When I first started writing these stories, I didn’t envision that I would have a book,” she admitted. “I just thought I was making art, and I had these deep yearnings to create something beautiful and memorable, and also provide representation for my people in literature. As I wrote them, I learned about myself.” n

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FlashinthePan

The international language of matzo

by Ari LeVaux

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hen I was a restaurant critic in Albuquerque, I reviewed a small Mexican establishment named Dahlia’s, tucked into a strip mall on the city’s west side. The meal had its ups and downs, but the highlight was as unexpected as it was impressive: a bowl of matzo balls worthy of my Jewish mother’s respect.

Technically, they were albondigas, Mexican-style beef meatballs served in a shallow bowl of tomato-based vegetable soup. But they felt like Mexican matzo balls.

Mom’s matzo balls were always my favorite part of Passover. They have a mellow, soothing flavor and a supple structure that absorbs broth without softening, and I could always count on the juicy, savory satisfaction of a matzo ball dunked in her dilly chicken soup.

Albondigas don’t always taste like good matzo balls, especially Mom’s, but Dahlia’s had that general quality. I wondered if they had anything to do with the secret Jews of the Southwest.

For centuries, rumors have persisted of so-called “crypto-Jews” in New Mexico, old Mexico and Texas, and historians have gradually come to a consensus that the crypto-Jews were indeed real. And that they had good reason to keep their faith and rituals a secret.

The crypto-Jews are descendants of Spanish Jews who converted to Christianity – sometimes by force – to escape persecution during the 1300s. Many of these marranos, as they were called, continued to practice Judaism covertly, and some migrated to the New World with the Spanish colonists.

During the Inquisition, Spanish officials would go from village to village, asking residents if they had seen evidence of Jewish behavior among their neighbors, such as the lighting of candles on Friday nights or avoiding pork. This attitude, understandably, kept Judaism underground.

Dahlia, the owner of the restaurant, was a small, energetic woman with a head of sunny blonde hair. She circulated the dining room chatting with guests, and soon after reaching my table mentioned having a Jewish

16 n April 11, 2019

grandmother. I wrote it off as a coincidence, as we had been discussing pork.

In hindsight, I wish I had asked Dahlia the question that truly burned in my belly: “Is there matzo meal in the albondigas?” Matzo meal being the pulverized matzo used to make matzo balls. At the time, I was working in my capacity as a crypto-journalist and didn’t want to attract attention.

After my review ran, Dahlia threatened to sue the newspaper over comments I’d made about her chiles rellenos. And even though she eventually abandoned the effort, I had lost my chance to ask her about those albondigas.

I decided to find out for myself, by using matzo meal in a typical albondigas recipe in place of the rice or masa (corn tortilla flour) that are traditionally used.

My plan: make matzo albondigas, with chicken instead of beef, because they would be floating in chicken soup, like a matzo ball should.

I conducted side-by-side comparisons of my matzo albondigas against versions made with rice, masa and even a combination of matzo and masa. Only the pure matzo meal-based albondigas had that special quality, reminiscent of Mom’s matzo balls or Dahlia’s albondigas.

If you are attending a serious, traditional Passover sedar, I don’t recommend bringing these albondigas and attempting to pass them off as matzo balls. Not all Passover veterans are as tolerant as my mom. But you could bring them to a Mexican party, call them albondigas, and be fine.

This recipe is meant to be made in concert with chicken soup. A few tablespoons of the broth are added to the meatball mixture, and the balls are then simmered in the broth.

Most albondigas recipes don’t include pecans, which are abundant in crypto-Jew country, or parsley, a Passover staple. But then, most albondigas are not crypto-Jewish Passover albondigas.

Matzo Albondigas Makes 15 golf ball-sized spheres ¾ cup matzo meal

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½ teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon garlic powder Pinch of nutmeg powder 2 tablespoons crushed pecans 1 lb ground chicken or turkey ½ cup minced parsley 1 tablespoon minced garlic 2 eggs, beaten 4 tablespoons hot chicken soup broth Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, and the parsley, garlic, meat and egg in another. Combine the contents of both bowls, and mix well. Refrigerate for several minutes. Form the batter into walnut-sized orbs. Drop them in the chicken soup and simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes.

Next up, I have my Mom’s chicken soup. The only alteration I have made to the soup is the addition of lemon. She respects the change but does not endorse it.

I use a removable pasta boiler, which is basically a strainer that fits in the pot, for the chicken bones. That way I can cook the bones in the stock and easily remove them. Otherwise, pick out the bones or let them settle to the bottom of the pot, and be careful not to serve them with the soup.

Mom’s chicken soup Serves a whole party 1 baked chicken (could be a store-bought rotisserie chicken if you’re pressed for time) Salt, garlic salt and pepper to season the chicken 5 quarts water 1 onion, unpeeled, cut into quarters 2 carrots, chopped for soup (about 2 cups) 3 celery stalks, cut for soup (about 2 cups) 3 Tablespoons dried dill Parsley stems leftover from matzo ball making Juice of one fresh lemon 1 teaspoon salt, plus more for the final seasoning Sprinkle the chicken with salt, garlic powder and black pepper, and bake at 325 for about two hours, periodically turning and/or basting until it’s as soft as a rotisserie chicken from the store. (Or just bring one home). When it’s cool enough to work with, remove the meat from the bones and refrigerate.

Heat the water and add the bones, along with the attached cartilage and tendons, and as much skin as you wish, as well as the pan drippings (or bag drippings), and simmer for an hour minimum. Add the vegetables, lemon juice, salt, dill, and any chicken meat you haven’t already devoured, and cook for another 60 minutes. Season with salt and dill. n

TopShelf

Meltdown goes big for 25th

by Chris Aaland

parts. Here’s David’s list: 1. “Traveling Show” – I’ve had the honor of witnessing several he sweet sounds of banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dobro, guitar bluegrass bands in the early stages of songwriting, traveling, gigging and upright bass will fill the air this week as the Durango and finding voice: Broke Mountain, Steep Canyon Rangers, Town Bluegrass Meltdown turns 25. The Meltdown rolled out Mountain… I’ve heard these stories from those who lived them. all the stops for the big anniversary, too, by booking one of its The words and melody of “Traveling Show” create the hopeful finest lineups ever. Like an old-fashioned country wedding, the dreamscape and unknown bends of musicians on the road.

Meltdown chose something old, something new, something bor2. “Rake Out the Nails”– It took a few listens to realize the depth rowed and something blue in selecting bands. of this tale of forlorn love. Has arson ever been spoken of with such Headliners include Meltdown veterans John Reischman & beauty? It’s no coincidence the Jaybirds and Junthe first two songs on this ior Sisk & Friends, the list are sung by Andrew newgrass pioneers in the Marlin of the band ManLarry Keel Experidolin Orange. Marlin renence, and up-and-comders lyrics of the utmost ing traditionalists Songs sorrow with a calming from the Road Band. presence that carries you Reischman and company through the song, offering are purveyors of that assurance of outcome. clean, West Coast style of 3. “White Rose of Abibluegrass forged by the lene” – It’s not easy to likes of David Grisman, write a modern-day cowTony Rice, Rob Ickes and boy song. Have all the stotheir peers. Sisk has long ries been told? This song been one of the strongest of meeting in a western voices in traditional saloon is so true that I can bluegrass, from his work hear Red Greer singing with Wyatt Rice & Santa lead with the Blue Moon Cruz through the years Ramblers as the Belle’s pawith BlueRidge, to his trons are silenced in anticmany albums with his ipation of the own group, Ramblers Songs from the Road Band is one of several headliners for this weekend’s Choice. Keel is quite simconsequences.

25th annual Durango Bluegrass Meltdown. ply one of the best flat4. “Margaree” – How picking guitarists ever to shred six strings. And Songs from the about ol’ Robert Greer singing of a Mardi Gras experience? About Road Band, albeit one with four albums to their credit, are rela20 years ago, I went to New Orleans over Halloween and this tive newcomers as a full-time working band since Charles song sounds like what went down. It’s always worth reading the liner notes of SFTRB albums, as the co-writers are often heavy hitHumphrey III left the Steep Canyon Rangers a year ago.

Local music fans will certainly recognize regional acts like ters in the business, such as Shawn Camp.

Halden Wofford & the Hi*Beams, FY5 and Jeff Scroggins & Col5. “By the Banks” – Like the powerhouse co-writers by Charles orado. Then there are those that they may not be as familiar, inHumphrey III’s side, lead vocalists are the best in bluegrass (includcluding the New York duo Richie & Rosie; Minnesota-based old ing full-time singer and guitarist Sam Wharton). Following Andrew time string band Steam Machine; Front Range group Masontown; Marlin and Robert Greer on the list is Phil Barker, up front and and the Wrecklunds, a Denver-area quartet that previously played powerful, with a legitimate anthem for a 21st century South. the Meltdown last spring.

6. “Taxman” – Sticking it to The Man, bluegrass style (perfect Of course, all the local favorites will be there, including the time of year for this one to be sung).

Badly Bent, Six Dollar String Band, StillHouse Junkies, Lawn 7. “Take My Cup and Fill It Up” – If “By the Banks” is an anChair Kings, Robin Davis Duo, La La Bones, Last Nickel, Sunny & them to the south, then, “Take My Cup and Fill It Up” is your anthe Whiskey Machine, Blue Moon Ramblers (who have played them for letting booze lead the way, for better or worse. every Meltdown from the beginning!), Lost Souls, Fellowship of 8. “Just Let Go” – SFTRB is a gathering of friends. From album Strings, Chokecherry Jam, People We Know, Smelter Mountain to album, you’ll recognize musicians and songwriters from the Boys, Crooked Measures, Shaky Hand String Band and High tight-knit family of western North Carolina bluegrass. As menCountry Hustle. tioned, Wharton often shares singing duties. Here we find rare Meltdown’s commitment to local, regional and national bands lead vocals from banjo player Andy Thorn, but it’s the instrumenalike is pure genius. Get a seat early at one of the primary venues tal interplay between Thorn and fiddler Bobby Britt that puts this (the Hank & DAC all three days, the Wild Horse on Saturday and one on the list. Turn it up and just let go…

Sunday, or the ACT on Saturday only) and you’ll get to sample a lit9. “Blue Flame Waltz” – Equally as difficult as writing a good tle bit of everything. Saturday’s evening shenanigans include the 7 cowboy song is writing a good waltz. Already mentioned for his p.m. Super Jam at the Hank hosted by Mike Finnders of FY5; a lead vocal skills, Barker is also high on the list of co-writers. This two-hour Halden Wofford dance show at the DAC; and an oldone captures his poetic rasp. “The strength of good whiskey is time barn dance featuring Steam Machine at the Elk’s Lodge. hidden in proof, touch it to flame, it dances anew … .”

Since the festival turns 25 this year, it’s appropriate for a voice 10. “Hitchhiking Freewheelin’ Hobo” – Humphrey’s inspirafrom Meltdown past to provide a list of his favorite Songs tions are the twisted, experimental, unique, and legendary: Gram from the Road Band tunes. David Smith continues to serve Parsons, Jerry Garcia, John Hartford. The roll-off-the-tongue, the Meltdown as social media coordinator despite living afar. He good timey feel of “Hitchhiking Freewheelin’ Hobo” sure has that was a longtime board member, performer in such bands as Rock Hartford feel. & Rye and was notorious late-night Green Room personality. He Yee-haw! Email me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net. n also knows more about bluegrass history than anyone in these

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April 11, 2019 n 17

onthetown

Thursday11

Plursday featuring DJ Hakan, 9 p.m.-close, Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

“Yoga for Good,” proceeds donated to a different local charity each week, 8 a.m., Pine Needle Dry Goods, 858 Main Ave.

Friday12 Durango Bluegrass Meltdown, April 12-14, downtown Durango. www.durangomeltdown.com.

Here to Hear: Office Hour with Councilor Dick White, 9-10 a.m., downstairs at the Irish Embassy, 900 Main Ave.

Durango Early Bird Toastmasters, 7-8:30 a.m., LPEA, 45 Stewart St. 769-7615.

​Baby Meetup with Durango Café au Play, 9:30-11:30 a.m., 2307 Columbine. 749-9607.

Free yoga, 8:30-9:30 a.m., Lively Boutique, 809 Main Ave.

Drop-in tennis, 4 p.m., Needham Elementary School courts, 2425 W. 3rd Ave.

BID Coffee & Conversation, 8:30-9:30 a.m., TBK Bank, 259 W. 9th Street.

“Three Farmers” free lecture on August Sander and Adam Kirsch, 4-5:30 p.m., Durango Arts Center Theater, 802 E. 2nd Ave. www.durangoarts.org.

Zumba Gold, 9:30-10:15 a.m., La Plata Senior Center, 2424 Main Ave.

“Doc Swords,” PTSD Social Club for Veterans, 4-6 p.m., VFW, 1550 Main Ave.

Women’s Idea Exchange, noon-1 p.m., Thrive Chiropractic Studio, 202 W. 22nd St. www.womensidea exchange.com.

Shaky Hand String Band performs, 5-7 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.

Symposium on Social Work in the Four Corners, featuring keynote presentation on “Historical Trauma and Unresolved Grief Intervention” with Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart, 2-5:15 p.m., reception and retirement celebration for University of Denver professor Wanda Ellingson, 5:30 p.m., Sky Ute Casino and Resort in Ignacio.

Register at 303-871-2531.

Submit “On the Town” items by Monday at noon to: calendar@durangotelegraph.com

Tim Sullivan performs, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave. Keynote Address with author Chris Bohjalian, part of the Literary Festival, reception begins 5:30 p.m., author talk, 7 p.m., Durango Public Library.

STEAM Lab: CD Hovercraft, for ages 5-12, 3:304:30 p.m., Durango Public Library.

Sitting Meditation, 5:30-6:15 p.m., Durango Dharma Center, 1800 E. 3rd Ave.

Spanish Speaking Parents & Littles Fridays, 4-6 p.m., Durango Café au Play, 1309 E. 3rd Ave., Room 201. durangocafeauplay.org.

“The Big Picture: Wildlife Protection Laws & Regulations,” part of the Life Long Learning Lecture Series, 7 p.m., Noble Hall at Fort Lewis College, Room 130. www.fortlewis.edu/professionalassociates.

Durango Bluegrass Meltdown Free Concert, 5-7 p.m., Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Grange. www.durangomeltdown.com.

Robby Overfield performs, 7 p.m., The Office, 699 Main Ave. Smelter Mountain Boys perform a special Bluegrass Meltdown warm-up show, 7-10 p.m., 11th Street Station.

Jessica Fichot performs, 7:30 p.m., Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College. www.durangoconcerts.com.

Open Mic & Stand-Up, 8 p.m., El Rancho Tavern, 975 Main Ave.

Drop-in tennis, 9 a.m., Durango High School courts, 2390 Main Ave. Introduction to Windows 10, 9-10 a.m., Mancos Public Library.

Record Store Day Vinyl Swap, hosted by the 4 Corners Vinyl Record Club, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., VFW Hall, 1551 Main Ave. Henry Stoy performs, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Jean-Pierre Restaurant & Wine Bar, 601 Main Ave. VFW Indoor Flea Market, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., 1550 Main Ave. 247-0384.

Sensory Storytime, for children on the autism spectrum, 10:30-11:30 a.m., Durango Public Library.

FLC Graduating Senior Creative Writing Reading, with Fort Lewis College students and professors, 6-8 p.m., Durango Public Library.

Adam Swanson performs, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.

Violinist Lauren Avery Heuser and pianist Mika

575 E. 8th Ave • The corner of 8th & College • durangonaturalfoods.coop

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Durango Bluegrass Meltdown, 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Durango Arts Center, Henry Strater Theatre, Wild Horse Saloon, Animas City Theatre and Durango Elks Lodge. www.durangomeltdown.com.

“Nomadic Soul,” works by Lara Branca, 4-6 p.m., Olio in Mancos. 533-1381.

Specializing in Local, Organic Produce & Groceries Full Service Made-to-Order Deli

18 n April 11, 2019

Saturday13

La Plata Quilters Guild, 6 p.m., La Plata County Fairgrounds. 799-1632.

Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is!

$$$

The Ben Gibson Band performs, 8 p.m., Billy Goat Saloon in Gem Village.

Fiesta on the Ski Beach, featuring music from Mariachi Sonidos del Monte and DJ CodeStar, 2-4:30 p.m., Purgatory Resort. www.purgatoryresort.com.

A member-owned food co-op where everyone can shop.

&

An Evening of One Act Plays, presented by Theater Ensemble Arts featuring “Tuesdays with Morrie,” “A Way Back” and original work by New Mexico playwright Dennis West, 7:30 p.m., show also runs April 13 and 2:30 p.m., April 14, Totah Theater in Farmington. 505-3262839.

Joel Racheff performs, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.

Alex Blocker performs, 6-9 p.m., DJ Hakan, 9 p.m.close, Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

Karaoke, 8 p.m.-close, Wild Horse Saloon, 601 E. 2nd Ave.

&

Durango Bluegrass Meltdown, 6 p.m., Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave.; 7 p.m., Henry Strater Theatre, 699 Main Ave. www.durangomeltdown.com.

Free Legal Clinic, 4-5 p.m., Ignacio Library.

Open Mic Night, 6 p.m., Eno Wine Bar, 723 E. 2nd Ave.

#!

Inouye, finale performance of 2018-19 St. Mark’s Recital Series, 7 p.m., St. Mark’s Church, 910 E. 3rd Ave. 3rdave arts.org.

! "

telegraph

The Ben Gibson Band performs, 6 p.m., Down the Rabbit Hole, 640 Main Ave. Leah Orlikowski performs, 7 p.m., The Office, 699 Main Ave.4

Comedy Cocktail open mic stand up, 8 p.m., Eno Wine Bar, 723 E. 2nd Ave. DJ Affex performs, 9 p.m.-close, Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

Sunday14 Run the Rim, annual race hosted by the FLC Exercise Science Department, 10K 9:45 a.m., 5K 10 a.m., Fort Lewis clock tower. www.fortlewis.edu/5k10k.

Henry Stoy performs, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Jean-Pierre Restaurant & Wine Bar, 601 Main Ave. Ohana Kuleana Community Garden informational meeting and registration, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., meet in lobby of the Durango Recreation Center. okcommunitygarden@gmail.com or 259-3123.

Durango Bluegrass Meltdown, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Durango Arts Center, Henry Strater Theatre and Wild Horse Saloon. www.durangomeltdown.com.

Traditional Irish Music Jam, 12:30-4 p.m., Irish Embassy, 900 Main Ave. Bolshoi Ballet: The Golden Age, 12:55 p.m., Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive. www.animascitytheatre.com.

DJ CodeStar spins, 2-4 p.m., Purgy’s Beach.

Around the world with song Fichot stirs French, Chinese, Spanish and American into magical mix What: Jessica Fichot and her band When: 7 p.m., Thurs., April 11 Where: Concert Hall Tickets:$42 (general) available at www.durangoconcerts.com, 970.247.7657, or in person at the Durango Welcome Center, at 8th & Main. Tickets are limited.

It’s not many modern-day musicians who can sing in French, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and English. But the Los Angeles-based, multi-talented and multilingual singer Jessica Fichot does just that. Accompanied by her accordion, toy piano and fiery band, Fichot draws from her multi-ethnic French/Chinese/American upbringing to create a true melting pot of international folk music.

Her unique sound has been heralded as “enchantingly original” by L.A. Weekly, and “a glittering testament to L.A.’s multiculturalism,” by the L.A. Times.

Born in upstate New York to a Chinese mother and a French father, Fichot spent her youth in and around Paris.

Following graduation from Lycée, an international high school in France, she moved to Boston to earn her degree

at the prestigious Berklee College of Music.

While still in college, she polished her songwriting skills by composing songs for a local children’s theater and educational materials. More than 100 of her children’s songs have been featured as part of English as a Second Language programs in a variety of countries.

Following graduation, she relocated to Los Angeles, where she further embraced her international influences and continued on her music-making journey. Now, with three acclaimed albums, she has taken her talents around the world – performing in China, Mexico, Canada, Europe and across the U.S. Thursday’s Concert Hall show will be an intimate affair, with the audience actually sharing the stage with Fichot. As such, tickets are limited and available online at www.duran goconcerts.org.

Check our Fichot performing al fresco in the mountains of Crested Butte at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=glB3NyNYNcs.

Blue Moon Ramblers, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.

Rob Webster performs, 7 p.m., The Office, 699 Main Ave.

the San Juan National Forest,” 6:30-8 p.m., Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College, Lyceum Room.

Joel Racheff performs, 7 p.m., The Office, 699 Main Ave.

Contiki Party with the Aussies, 9 p.m.-close, Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

Trivia Factory, hosted by Ben Bernstein, 6:30-8:30 p.m., The Roost, 128 E. College Dr.

Monday15

Tuesday16

Yoga Storytime, 9:30-10:45 a.m., Smiley Building Studio 10, 1309 E. 3rd Ave.

Zumba Gold, 9:30-10:15 a.m., La Plata Senior Center, 2424 Main Ave.

DJ Crazy Charlie, 6:30-10:30 p.m., Billy Goat Saloon, Gem Village.

Watch Your Step class, 10:15 a.m., Durango Senior Center, 2424 Main Ave.

Drop-in tennis, 4 p.m., Needham Elementary School courts, 2425 W. 3rd Ave.

Joel Racheff performs, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.

Terry Rickard performs, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.

Meet the Author featuring Kali Fajarado-Anstine, author of Sabrina & Corina, 6:30 p.m., Maria’s Bookshop, 960 Main Ave. www.mariasbookshop.com.

Rotary Club of Durango, presentation by Judith Reynolds on Durango’s Victorian architecture, 6 p.m., Strater Hotel. 385-7899.

“Taking Control of Your Health Care,” free presentation by Southwest Colorado patient advocate Christy Deem, 6:30 p.m., Durango Public Library.

Super Ted’s Super Trivia, 6:12 p.m., Henry Strater Theatre, 699 Main Ave.

Tim Sullivan performs, 7 p.m., The Office, 699 Main Ave. Latin Social Nights, 8-11 p.m., Wild Horse Saloon, 601 E. 2nd Ave. 375-2568.

Wednesday17 Free Trauma Conscious Yoga for Veterans and Families, noon-1 p.m., Elks Lodge, 901 E. 2nd Ave.

Colorado Native Plant Society Talk, featuring “Habitat Suitability Assessment of Ligusticum porter (aka Osha) in

Trivia Night, 7 p.m., Blondies in Cortez.

Open Mic Night, 8 p.m.-close, Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

Tween Time: Game Café, 4-5 p.m., Durango Library.

More “On the Town” this way4

Free Simple Wills Legal Clinic Presented by Colorado Legal Services

Tuesday, April 16th, 5:30 - 7 p.m.

Durango Public Library For more information, call: 970-247-0266

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# April 11, 2019 n 19

AskRachel Interesting fact: Grok is a neologism from Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land. It sort of means “to understand,” but with a whole lot of nuance that I just don’t grok yet.

Dear Rachel, Soooooo I just watched a clip where Trevor Noah called Bernie Sanders the OG. Now I think I’m pretty with it, but I had to look up what, exactly, OG is. It’s the “original gangster,” and in the way that the brains of youths make no sense, that’s a compliment of the highest order. Or else, it’s entirely ironic. My brain’s confused, because Bernie is a crusty white guy, so it must be facetious, right? But he’s also old, so he could be original. Thoughts?

- Literally Confused Dear Square, Bernie is totally OG. And that was the highest sort of compliment for him. I don’t really know how to explain it, so just trust me on this one. Bernie is OG. Michael Jordan, OG. Sarah Jessica Parker, not OG. The Dude, OG til he did that beer commercial with SJP; now, not OG. J.R.R. Tolkien, OG. Ellen DeGeneres, OG. Lady Gaga: super cool, but not OG. Missy Votel, as OG as it gets. Do you grok it yet?

– Livin’ in a gangster’s paradise, Rachel

paper laced with foil. She is the reason that whole loads of recycling get thrown out. I want to call her over and educate her about the recycling guidelines. Should I, to do my share to save the environment? Or does that just make me a mansplainer?

– Eco-misogynist Dear Cat-man-don’t, Ah, the age-old conundrum between preserving the planet for future generations of life, and not bending vaguely understood social mores. What you must do is clear as day: never say anything! Oh my god, can you imagine how mortified your cat sitter would be to have some man with a cat telling her how she should dispose of her garbage? It wouldn’t matter that the planet is wrecked, because neither of you will want to live with yourselves.

– Well actually, Rachel Email Rachel at telegraph@durangotelegraph.com

Dear Rachel, My stepdad isn’t doing so hot these days. He’s not on death’s door or anything, but he has a debilitating disease that requires intense bloodwork and daily PT. My half-sister and I alternate weeks visiting him to care for him. His two occupational therapists are lovely women. Quick and compassionate, and hey, chicks in scrubs. Is it weird for me to flirt with them, considering they live in another city and they see my stepdad in hospital gowns?

– Playboy

Dear Hef, I think you’re writing the wrong magazine with your love saga. Yes, of course it’s weird, you goof. These occupational therapists are professionals at work, not profiles on a hookup site. They’re there to help your stepdad’s health, not to meet out-of-town guys like you. That said… when is it NOT weird to flirt? Pick one, go for it, and keep it harmless. Or, if you’re really an OG, keep on flirting with both.

– Your wingwoman, Rachel

After-school program, 4:15-5:15 p.m. Wednesdays, Mancos Library.

7:30 p.m., April 21, Durango Dharma Center, 1800 E. 3rd Ave. durangodharmacenter.org.

Town Plaza Mural Celebration Party, hosted by Local First, 5-6 p.m., behind Town Plaza. www.local-first.org.

Karaoke, 8 p.m., Thur-Sun, 8th Ave. Tavern, 509 E 8th Ave.

Trails & Ales Party, hosted by Trails 2000, 4-7 p.m., April 22, Carver Brewing Co., 1022 Main Ave. www.trails2000.org.

Durango Young Progressives meet, 5-7 p.m., R Space, 734 E. 2nd Ave.

Upcoming

Dear Rachel, I just got back from vacation, and based on the contents of my recycling bin, my cat sitter has no idea about how to recycle. Tubs with yogurt still caked on them, plastic bags, wrapping

OntheTown from p. 19

Greg Ryder performs, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave. Thank the Veterans potluck, Peter Neds and Glenn Keefe perform, 5:30-8:30 p.m., VFW, 1550 Main 828-7777.

Terry Rickard performs, 6 p.m., The Office, 699 Main.

Durango Diaries Season 3: Bullying, three locals share experiences and offer advice, 6-7 p.m., Durango Public Library.

Loki Moon – Raw Experiments, 6-8 p.m., Eno Wine Bar, 723 E. 2nd Ave. Bassoonist Daniel Nester performs, Willowtail Springs artist-in-residence, 7 p.m., Mancos Public Library.

Terry Rickard performs, 7 p.m., The Office, 699 Main.

Karaoke, 8 p.m., Blondies in Cortez.

Karaoke with Crazy Charlie, 8 p.m.-close, Wild Horse Saloon, 601 E. 2nd Ave.

Ongoing “Imprint” by Andrea Martens, thru April 27, Friends of the Art Library at Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave. www.durangoarts.org.

20 n April 11, 2019

Animas High School Spring Friendraiser, 5:30-8:30 p.m., April 18, Henry Strater Theatre, 699 Main Ave. “Oddville,” presented by the Community Concert Hall, 7:30 p.m., April 18-19, Mainstage Theatre at Fort Lewis College. www.durangoconcerts.com.

Rev. Horton Heat with Legendary Shack Shakers and the Hootan Hallers, 9 p.m., April 19, Animas City Theatre, 128 College Dr. www.animascitytheatre.com.

Free Admission to National Parks, including Mesa Verde, April 20. www.nps.gov.

Bill Engvall Live, 6 and 9 p.m., April 20, Sky Ute Casino & Resort in Ignacio. www.skyutecasino.com.

Kirtan, 6-8 p.m., April 20, Studio 10, Smiley Building, 1309 E. 3rd Ave. Veterans Breakfast, 9-11 a.m., April 21, Elks Club, 901 E. 2nd Ave. 946-4831.

The Pete Giuliani Band performs, part of Durango Nature Studies’ Earth Day Festival, 1-4 p.m., April 21, Rotary Park.

Writers’ Workshop, 2 p.m., April 21, Ignacio Community Library.

Buddhist Meditation Group for People of Color, 6-

telegraph

“State of the State Department and Diplomacy,” part of the Great Decisions International Affairs Discussion Program, 11:45 a.m.-1:45 p.m., April 23, Durango Public Library. www.fpa.org.

Making A Difference Speaker Series on depression, bullying and suicide with keynote speaker Monica Lewinsky, hosted by the Community Foundation, 7 p.m., April 23, Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College. www.durango concerts.com.

Ranky Tanky performs, 7:30 p.m., April 24, Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College. www.durangoconcerts.com.

“She Kills Monsters,” presented by DHS Theatre Troupe 1096, April 25-27 & and May 3-4. durangohigh schooltroupe1096.thundertix.com/

Deadline for “On the Town” submissions is Monday at noon.

To submit an item, email: calendar@durango telegraph.com

FreeWillAstrology

by Rob Brezsny ARIES (March 21-April 19): The Qing Dynasty controlled China from the mid17th century to the early 20th century. It was the fifth biggest empire in world history. But eventually it faded, as all mighty regimes do.

Revolution came in 1911, forcing the last emperor to abdicate and giving birth to the Republic of China. I’m inclined to think of your life in 2019 as having some similarities to that transition. It’s the end of one era and the beginning of another; a changing of the guard and a passing of the torch. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to be very active in deciding and visualizing the empire you want next.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): I hope that sometime soon you’ll acquire a new source of support or inspiration. Now is a phase of your astrological cycle when you’re likely to attract influences that are in alignment with your deep values. This addition might be a person or animal. It could be a vibrant symbol or useful tool. It may even be a fantasy character or departed ancestor that will stimulate vitality you haven’t been able to summon on your own. Be on the lookout for this enhancement.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Poet David Hinton analyzed the Chinese word for “poetry.”

Its etymological meaning is “words spoken at the fertility altar.” Let’s make that your theme, even if you don’t write or read poetry. I suspect the coming weeks will be a favorable time to take a vow or utter a solemn intention in front of a homemade fertility altar. The oath you speak might express a desire to boost your use of your physical vitality: your lust for life, your adoration of the natural world, or your power to produce new human life. Or your vow to foster your fertility could be more metaphorical and symbolic in nature: the imaginative intimacy you will explore or the creativity you’ll express in future works of art or the generous effects you want to have on the world.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Christopher Robin Milne was the son of author A. A. Milne, who wrote the Winnie-thePooh stories. He said there are two ways to navigate through life. Either you “take a bearing on something in the future and steer toward it, or take a bearing on something in the past and steer away from it.” So in his view, “There are those who look ahead and pull and those who look behind and push.” I’m hoping that in the coming weeks and months, you will make a delighted commitment to the first option: taking a bearing on something in the future and steering toward it.

I think that approach will inspire you toward the most interesting success.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The national animal of Finland is the brown bear. The national insect is the ladybug and the national instrument is a stringed instrument known as the kantele.

As for the national author, it’s Aleksis Kivi, who produced just one novel that took him 10 years to write. He also published a short collection of odes and a few plays, adding up to a grand total of less than 800 pages of work. I think that the efforts you make in the coming weeks could have a disproportionately large impact, as well, Leo. What you lack in quantity will be irrelevant compared to the sheer quality you generate.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I follow the blogger Evanescent Voyager because she makes me cry with sad joy and exultant poignance on a regular basis. One of her other fans wrote her a love note I could have written myself. It said, “Your emotional brilliance and thoughtful passion break me into pieces and then weave me back together with more coherence than I had before reading you. I revere your alchemical talent for undoing me so you can heal me; for lowering my defenses so I can be open to your riches; for demolishing my habitual trance so you can awaken my sleeping genius.” I believe that in the coming weeks, life itself will offer to perform these same services for you, Virgo. I urge you to accept!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “Love is no assignment for cowards.” That’s a quote attributed to the ancient Roman poet Ovid. What did he mean? Was he foreshadowing the wisdom of pop singer Pat Benatar, who in 1983 told us, “Love is a battlefield?” Was Ovid implying that to succeed in the amorous arts we must be heroic warriors prepared to overcome fears and risk psychological dangers? Probably. But I will also point out that it takes as much courage to create fun, interesting togetherness as it does to wrestle with the problems that togetherness brings. You need just as much bravura and panache to explore the sweet mysteries of intimacy as you do to explore the achy mysteries of intimacy. Keep these thoughts in mind as you marshal your audacity to deepen and expand your best relationships in the coming weeks.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The literal meaning of the French term jolie-laide is “pretty and ugly.” Bloggers at wordsnquotes.com define it as follows: “It’s a fascinating quirkiness that’s irresistible, like a face you want to keep looking at even if you can’t decide whether it is beautiful or not.” Jolie-laide overlaps with the Japanese term wabi-sabi, which describes a person or thing that is lovely because of its imperfection and incompleteness. I bring these facts to your attention because I think you have ex-

traordinary potential to be a master embodier of both jolie-laide and wabi-sabi in the coming weeks.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22Dec. 21): As Czech playwright Vaclav Havel (1936–2011) matured, he became a political dissident who opposed the Soviet Union’s authoritarian grip on his country. Eventually he was a key player in the Velvet Revolution that banished Communism. When Czechoslovakia emerged as a new democracy, its people elected him president. Havel later thanked Lou Reed and the band the Velvet Underground for fully awakening his liberationist leadership. He said their unruly music stoked his longing to establish a culture where total creative freedom was possible. I mention this, Sagittarius, because now is a favorable time to identify the music or art or films or literature that might fuel your emancipation in the coming months.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn author J. R. R. Tolkien toiled on his masterpiece The Lord of the Rings for 12 years. Once he finished, it wasn’t published for more than five years.

So 17 years passed between the time he launched his precious project and the time when it reached an audience. I don’t think you will need that much patience in shepherding your own venture to full expression, Capricorn. But I hope you’ll summon as much faith in yourself as Tolkien had to rouse in himself. To do so will bring out the best in you!

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Released in 1998, The Prince of Egypt is an animated film that tells the story of the Hebrew prophet Moses. In the climactic event, the hero uses magic to part the waters of the Red Sea, allowing his people to run across the sea floor and escape the army that’s chasing them. To make that seven-minute scene, 28 professional animators labored for 318,000 hours. In the coming months, you could create your own version of that marvel, Aquarius. But you’ll need a team to help you, and that team is not yet ready to go.

The coming weeks will be a favorable time to get it ready, though.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Piscean businessman Steve Jobs testified that taking LSD was “one of the two or three most important things” he ever did in his life. It opened his mind in ways he felt were crucial to his development. What are the three most important things you’ve ever done, Pisces? I invite you to revisit at least one of them, and see if you can take it to the next step of its power to inspire you.

What if it has even more to offer you in your efforts to become the person you want to be?

telegraph

April 11, 2019 n 21

classifieds

Deadline for Telegraph classified ads is Tuesday at noon.

Ads are a bargain at 10 cents a character with a $5 minimum. Even better, ads can now be placed online: durangotelegraph.com. Prepayment is required via cash, credit card or check.

(Sorry, no refunds or substitutions.)

Ads can be submitted via: n classifieds@durango telegraph.com n 970-259-0133 n 777 Main Ave., #214 Approximate office hours: Mon., 9ish - 5ish Tues., 9ish - 5ish Wed., 9ish - 3ish Thurs., On delivery Fri., 10:30ish - 2ish please call ahead: 259-0133.

Wanted Needed: Someone to Write Letter $11/hr Call for info, 719-651-4114.

Small Electric Wizard To repair lamp, table fan that have both mysteriously stopped working and/or has a short. Would rather fix than trash. 970-749-2595.

Turn Vehicles, Copper, Alum, Etc. Into Cash! at RJ Metal Recycle, also free appliance and other metal drop off. 970-259-3494.

HelpWanted Work off Rent/Caring for Sled Dogs!

Room for rent at Durango Dog Ranch.

20 mins W of town, La Plata Canyon. 2BR apt to share w/female. Must love dogs.

Ability to work off rent (feed, etc) $450 mo.

Bookseller Avid reader wanted to share great books with our customers. Permanent, part- to full-time position w/ fun, hard-working team. Must enjoy some evening & weekend shifts and chocolate. Excellent customer service and computer skills required.

Management opportunities for the right candidate. Applications available at Maria’s Bookshop, 960 Main Ave., and online at mariasbookshop.com Deadline: 9 pm Wednesday, April 24th, 2019.

Downtown Ambassadors Do you love Durango? The Durango Business Improvement District seeks friendly, outgoing and knowledgeable people who love our community to be Downtown Ambassadors. Candidates must have great interpersonal skills, be familiar with our community and have strong communication skills. Seasonal, part-time position, apply: Downtowndurango.org/jobs. Deadline April 12.

22 n April 11, 2019

Reruns – Sales Associate High energy person needed to start in April. Approximately 30hrs/week. Stop by and drop off a resume. 572 E. 6th Ave.

Classes/Workshops Hope Chiropractic and Yoga Presents New grace, gravity and grit pain relief workshops: A new paradigm for helping heal head, neck and shoulder issues, including headaches. Sat April 20th 9:3012:30 Smiley Studio 10. $55 Early bird ends Sat April 13th. Must pre-register.

Class size limited. More info Dr Keneen Hope DC 970-305-3239 www.hopechi royoga.com

Tame Your Inner Critic Find Peace Mindful self-compassion Date: 8 Wednesdays: 5/1 - 6/19 Time: 5:30 8pm The Smiley Building, #105 Sliding scale fee- $250 - $350 - Payment plan available Register by e-mail - MyahMindfulness@gmail.com or by phone970-946-5379. Myah Lee, Certified Mindfulness Teacher Energy Awareness & Yoga classes Parent + child (age 2-6) Tuesdays 10301130am. Mamas-only Heart-Mindfulness class Tuesdays 12-1pm. www.energy awarekids.com Mommy and Me Dance Class Come join the fun! Now registering for classes. Call 970-749-6456. mommyandmedance.com.

Services Child Care Mature, stable, day care in your home.

Reliable transportation. Stellar references 970-946-8602.

Garden, Writing, Herbalist offering work trade for queer housing. minerals@riseup.net 47 Years of Carpentry No job too small, trim work preferred 970-799-4103.

Low Price on Storage!

Inside/outside near Durango, RJ Mini Storage. 970-259-3494.

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House Keeper Professional, detailed, reliable local references Barbara 516-480-8343.

Marketing Small and Local Businesses Media, social media, website content, SEO, etc. for small, local, independent or startup businesses.

Email jnderge@gmail.com Harmony Organizing and Cleaning Services Home and office 970-403-6192.

Advanced Duct Cleaning Air duct cleaning specializing in dryer vents. Improves indoor air quality; reduces dust and allergens, energy bills and fire risk. 970-247-2462 www.advanced ductcleaninginc.com

BodyWork Massage by Meg Bush, LMT 30, 60 & 90 min 970-759-0199. massageintervention.life Voted best massage in Durango 2018.

Couples, sauna, outdoor shower, cupping.

Reviews on FB + Yelp. 970-903-2984.

Massage with Kathryn 20+ years experience offering a fusion of esalen style, deep tissue massage with therapeutic stretching & Acutonics. New clients receive $5 off first session. To schedule appt. call 970-201-3373.

RealEstate Radon Services Free radon testing and consultation.

Call Colorado Radon Abatement and Detection for details. 970- 946-1618.

ForRent Riverfront Office for Rent Professional roommate wanted to share downtown therapeutic office. $360/mo.

Email katie@durangobody rolling.com Want to Farm but Don’t Have the Land?

For Lease: 1.5 acres of irrigated, high fence farm area on Florida Mesa 350 sq. ft of greenhouse space available Text 970903-0245 if interested.

HaikuMovieReview ‘Eighth Grade’ I skipped the 8th grade and, thank gawd, cuz it looks like a year spent in hell – Lainie Maxson

ForSale Specialized Stumpjumper 29er Size small (15”), hardtail, tubeless, alum alloy frame. 2014 or so but barely ridden. Bright yellow paint job. Sweet, light little bike for kid or smaller adult.

Bought for $2,000 at MBS. Will sell for $1,200. 970-749-2595.

Camper Rocky Mtn four wheel pop up camper Fleet model 2017 fits mid size long bed ex cond spotless Jim 247-2193.

Computers 1 Dell Optiplex 790, Windows 10 Pro - $110. 1 Dell Optiplex 780 Windows 7 $70. 1 Dell server PowerEdge T300 - $200 or BO. 1 Dell server PowerEdge 840 for parts - $100 or BO. 563-9287.

4 Wheel Drive Toyota Tacoma access cab 2017 9700mi ex cond always garaged call for details Jim 247-2193.

Motorcycle 2000 Yamaha TTR 250 4 stroke. Electric start street legal. Runs great $1,000.00 OBO 970-759-4333 Call/text.

AKC Chesapeake Bay Retrievers AKC Chesapeake Bay Retrievers 10 weeks old. Call 505-632-2967 business line leave a message.

Rossignol Soul 7 Skis 163 cm, 106 cm under foot. Red and black 2014s. Drilled twice but skied minimally. They’re hole-y but will still work for the right person/set up. $50 OBO. Text for pics: 970-749-2595.

Reruns Home Furnishings Great summer inventory arriving daily! Patio items galore, planters, bistros.

New great stuff and daily markdowns.

572 E. 6th Ave. 385-7336.

EndoftheLine

Traveling with an alternative opinion

H

ave you ever been on a road trip with a person from the “other side?” Politically that is. I had the pleasure recently. Even though he called himself a Libertarian, his true stripes became apparent around Moab when he defended Trump and bashed Obama repeatedly. Now, the only way road trips with the “Other Side” are possible is if these people are good people. Most are! They also need to be interested in a two-way discussion. I really enjoy skiing with this guy and other endeavors we have shared around the world. So maybe it would be worth a try. On many other travel trips, we tip-toed around issues and never really tried to find common ground. This trip would be one-on-one for a week.

The only way this country will come together is if we aren’t afraid to talk politics with folks of differing opinions. This can be very frustrating. A few rules should be set from the beginning. Most rules I learned in marriage counseling: 1. Only one person can speak at a time.

2. Agree on a fact check web site. The Right seems to get its info from very few sources. My friend likes heritage.org. This is a far-right leaning website. I got him to agree on factcheck.org. We would go down the road and fact check statements from our phones. What could go wrong? The best discussions happened when we wrote talking points down as we fact checked. But alas, fake news just kept coming back.

3. Both people have to agree to LISTEN to what the other person says before they jump in to dispute them.

4. Try to repeat what the other person said (without

laughing at the ridiculous statements).

5. Drop it for another time if it gets heated.

6. Start simple. Try to find common ground.

7. Focus on having a conversation and maybe learning something.

I really don’t know what the country must do to bring both sides together. I hope it is not a war like when our parents’ “Greatest Generation” came together in 1945 for a common foe. There is hope, in that the younger generation is getting more diverse ethnically, culturally and intellectually. What if we really elected politicians who

Feeling lonely?

were willing to compromise and meet half way? This should be the number one criteria for voters in the 2020 election.

Traveling should be fun. If you have been on long river trips or ocean voyages, where there is no getting off the boat, you understand how important this is for group dynamics. The best traveling companions thrive in getting away from everyday distractions. On a Grand Canyon river trip, it usually takes the first week to totally forget all the “things” you could be doing back home. Try to pick traveling companions that would be just as comfortable on the road as at home. When single people tell me they have found “The One,” I often ask, “Have you traveled with this person, just the two of you?” This is one of the best barometers on adaptability and a key component in a relationship.

In a group adventure like a river trip, there is a saying: If you don’t know who the jerk in the group is after three days, it’s probably you. Just sayin.’

On this last trip, as the week went on, it became clear my friend was not going to change his mind on any issue that was controversial – like the economy, immigration, our current president – or even consider my side of things. We could agree on things like less military spending, secure borders, higher pay for jobs, and less welfare entitlements. But, in the end, it was useless to debate.

Different opinions sometimes just can’t be resolved and each side just needs to “STFU.” I hope as time goes on, common ground can be found. Happy travels.

– Billy Koons

Drinking&DiningGuide Himalayan Kitchen 992 Main Ave., 970-259-0956 www.himkitchen.com Bringing you a taste of Nepal, Tibet & India. Try our all-you-can-eat lunch buffet. The dinner menu offers a variety of tempting choices, including yak, lamb, chicken, beef & seafood; extensive veggies; freshly baked bread. Full bar. Get your lunch punch card – 10th lunch free.

Hours: Lunch, 11am-2:30 p.m. & dinner, Sun. - Thurs., 5-9:30 p.m., Fri. & Sat. ‘til 10 p.m. Closed 2:30 to 5 daily $$ Crossroads Coffee 1099 Main Ave., 970-903-9051 Crossroads coffee proudly serves locally roasted Fahrenheit coffee and delicious baked goods. Menu includes gluten-free items along with bullet-proof coffee, or bullet-proof chai! Come in for friendly service and the perfect buzz!

Hours: Mon.- Fri., 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. $

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April 11, 2019 n 23

24 n April 11, 2019

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