Durango Telegraph - May 28, 2020

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May 28, 2020 Vol. XIX, No. 19 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

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B E Y O N D

Clearing the air

Déjà flu

The k-word

State to require oil & gas, other polluters to report emissions p8

Bayfield author on 1918 flu finds flash of fame, familiarity p10

At last – a kale salad to convert even the haters p12

Come visit our shiny new Airstream style trailer in Bird’s restaurant parking lot 2957 Main Ave. Open daily, noon ’til dusk 970 903 1300 See our Instagram and Facebook pages for updates

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Durango Trash

2 n May 28, 2020

telegraph

lineup

4

4 La Vida Local

Fighting the other great pandemic – the death of truth

4 Thumbin’ It

The fake-out

by Jesse Anderson

5 Word on the Street 6-7 Soapbox

8

8 State News

Clearing the air Oil and gas, other polluters must report emissions to state under new rule

10 Between the Covers

by Michael Elizabeth Sakas/CPR News

12 Flash in the Pan

10

13 Ask Rachel

Déjà flu

How a Bayfield author’s glimpse into the past portended the future (and made him mildly famous)

13 Stuff to Do 14 Free Will Astrology

by Missy Votel

15 Classifieds

12

15 Haiku Movie Review

The k-word

On the cover: The annual lupine show is on, as evidenced by this meadow near Red Mountain Pass./ Photo by Stephen Eginoire

At last – a kale salad everyone will love, or at least like

boilerplate

by Ari LeVaux

EDITORIALISTA: Missy Votel (missy@durangotelegraph.com)

STAR-STUDDED CAST: Lainie Maxson, Jesse Anderson, Ari LeVaux, Clint Reid

REAL WORLD ADDRESS: 679 E. 2nd Ave., Ste E2 Durango, CO 81301

ADVERTISING AFICIONADO: Lainie Maxson (lainie@durangotelegraph.com)

MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 332 Durango, CO 81302

PHONE: 970-259-0133

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Eginoire steve@gulchmag.com

VIRTUAL ADDRESS: www.durangotelegraph.com

MAIL DELIVERY AND SUBSCRIPTIONS: $3.50/issue, $150/year

distributed in the finest and most discerning locations throughout the greater Durango area.

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 schwag, booze and flattery.

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

E-MAIL: telegraph@durangotelegraph.com

telegraph

Ear to the ground: “I miss the old days when we could spit on each other.”

– Local worker reminiscing about the preCOVID office life

Speed kills

thepole

RegularOccurrences

In case you haven’t heard, ski wax has been added to the list of things that can kill you. Ski racers have long prized waxes with high levels of fluorinated compounds because they make skis go faster. But that speed comes at a cost. In addition to harming the environment when all that wax sloughs off and ends up in the watershed, those perfluorochemicals also have been implicated in health risks, from heart disease and liver damage to hormone disruption and cancer.

The good news is the Environmental Protection Agency has begun phasing out the manmade chemicals, more commonly known as PFAS. The bad news: Swix, the largest manufacturer of ski wax, didn’t get the memo.

After getting busted trying to import wax containing the banned substances, Swix reached a settlement earlier this month with the EPA. Under the agreement, Swix will pay a $375,000 fine and develop a $1 million educational program to raise awareness about PFAS in ski waxes.

Known as the “Responsible Waxing Project,” the goal is to educate the ski community about PFAS in waxes and their impact on the environment and promote the use of wax alternatives. It also will work with ski shops to train techies on the proper disposal of wax shavings and the use of personal protective equipment (not just for COVID anymore!) And speaking of the age of COVID, training will also be available online.

Backpedaling California’s Tahoe National Forest is backpedaling on its decision to allow e-bikes on nonmotorized trails.

After opening 136 miles of nonmotorized trails last July to class 1 e-mtbs (aka pedal assist), the U.S. Forest Service was slapped with a lawsuit from various environmental and trail groups, including the Durango-based Wilderness Society.

However, paperwork filed in California District Court shows the case has been settled.

According to documents, the Tahoe National Forest removed wording from its website giving the OK to e-mtbs on non-motorized trails and replaced it, saying e-bikes are not currently allowed on lands closed to motorized use.

Recently, the BLM changed its classification, allowing e-bikes anywhere regular bikes are allowed, and e-bikes are allowed on motorized trails and roads within the national forest system.

However, the Tahoe National Forest left the trailhead gate open, writing on its website, “The Forest Service strives to provide a broad range of recreational experiences on NFS roads and trails, including hiking and horseback riding, mountain biking, and motor vehicle use. The Forest Service is considering options that would expand e-bike access, including options for allowing ebike use on NFS roads and trails where that use is not currently allowed.”

May 28, 2020 n

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opinion

LaVidaLocal Us and them

Serendipitous tacos from heaven showed up at my door a few days ago. JC down at Nayarit thought I had a “bad experience on Cinco De Mayo,” according to the man who knocked – silhouetted by a halo of sun, wearing a black shirt and brilliant smile, holding up three bulging bags of tacos – which couldn’t be further from the truth. I ordered take out on May 5, true, but the service was quick and the food was perfect, like always. But I didn’t argue because free tacos don’t just happen. Instead, I grabbed the bags and ran inside to feast. A while later, I got a free box of cupcakes from the Yellow Carrot for who-knows-why, and right now, I’m typing this over a bellyful of free rolls from Homeslice because I ordered jalapeños on my pizza but got banana peppers instead. What is happening?

Why are Durango restaurants supporting me instead of vice versa? Why is this town so pleasant despite that pesky pandemic?

Honestly, why is the rest of the world imploding, from Germany to Farmington, and yet here we sit, lucky and dandy in this bonny little bubble?

Is it because we’re all just so cool and smart?

I know that sounds like the elitist arrogance that makes rednecks rage and stomp the gas pedal, billowing black smoke out of their brodozers, but it’s true. Most people I meet here are kind and respectful, slightly left of center, like the majority of Americans. Truthfully, I love this town. Or rather, I love the type of people here, willing to respect others and wear a mask despite how they might feel deep down about it. One of “us.”

But I’ve met plenty of “them,” as well. If you’re a regular reader, you know I’m a drug dealer. As such, I get to meet a lot of “them.” I usually keep these stories to myself because snitches get stitches, but I’m gunna break that rule for rhetorical purposes: A guy came in two days ago, driving one of those windowless white vans that shouldn’t be trusted, and told me about how he and his cat had been to 27 states just to avoid Gretchen Whitmore, the governor of Michigan, even though he was born and raised in Lansing. His “contact” on YouTube told him that COVID-19 was a common cold, and all the hubbub was a conspiracy to get Americans barricaded in their homes so the commies could enact the “new-world order.” He was looking for the perfect place to live away from society; I reminded him that Texas has lots of open space. He laughed and changed the subject to chemtrails. I said, “yeah, that’s crazy” in my customer service voice, and then after he left, I washed my hands like a surgeon.

And then there’s the lady who told me COVID-19 was “god’s cleansing for evil folk.” She was “righteous,” so she didn’t have to worry or wear a mask. Hell, just today, I made it halfway through a transaction with a lady before she ruined it by telling me Bill Gates was behind this pandemic because he wants to sneak tracking chips into our vaccines. Honest to goodness, an actual grownup said that to me, and I’m still wondering if there’s a hotline I should’ve called to report her license plate. But then again, it was from Texas, so she’ll get hers when that guy and his cat show up.

And I’ve met plenty of extremists from all side of the political spectrum – those who tell me fluoride is brain-control juice or that vaccines cause autism. It took me a while to figure it out, but I’ve discovered the line separating “us” from “them” isn’t the

line between Democrat and Republican. Right or left, red or blue, we all want the same fundamental things, and our differences lie only in how to achieve them.

The real problem is that right now, we can’t agree on what’s real and what’s fake.

According to Business Insider, 40 percent of Republicans believe Bill Gates truly is trying to put tracking devices in COVID-19 vaccines. I’m not sorry to say, but if you’re part of that 40 percent, you’re also 100 percent part of the problem. A peer-reviewed study by Lantian et al. (2007) found that people with personality traits such as “distrust, low agreeability and Machiavellianism” are more likely to believe conspiracy theories. In case you need a refresher, Machiavellianism is where a person is so “focused on their own interests they will manipulate, deceive and exploit others to achieve their goals.”

That is the line between us and them: people who believe facts, even the inconvenient ones, and people who believe only things that support their opinions, even if those things are conspiracy theories.

So, to start fixing things, step one is to call out the lies, because not calling them out is nothing more than complicity. Granted, I won’t do this at work because they pay me not to, but on the street? If you tell me Bill Gates is trying to sneak tracking chips in our vaccines, I’ll remind you he already put one in your phone – you know, the one you take everywhere.

In fact, on Facebook, I re-followed all the Republican friends I’d unfollowed after the election. I still find their posts to be just as vitriolic and galling as before, but now, Facebook has given me a new tool. If you click those three dots next to a “news” story reposted by a friend, you can report it as “false news,” and your friend will be notified if their post turns out to be false after being factchecked. It’s glorious.

For one of the friends I reconnected with, Amanda, every right-wing conspiracy is gospel. Bill Gates is the devil, and Trump is the savior; all of her posts are in ALL-CAPS. She posts a lot of YouTube “news,” and I reported one of her posts as fake; it had something to do with the WHO and mind control. A few hours later, the post was covered up by a warning that said, “False Information. Checked by independent fact-checkers.” Amanda freaked out and posted, “NOW THE COMMIES ARE CENSORING US!!!”

Do you see it? She has drifted so far toward Machiavellianism that it feels oppressive to be told when she’s spreading lies.

I have friends on the other side as well: when someone named Jennifer posted an article proving that autism is caused by vaccines because 100 percent of people with autism are related to someone who’s had a shot, I reported that post and it got covered up, too. Right isn’t the problem; left isn’t the problem: lies, distrust, hatred, these are the ways to the dark side.

But we’re not like that in Durango, right? We’re cool and smart, and we’re lucky enough to live in an educated town where cupcakes and tacos fall into your lap. So maybe you can help me. Maybe you can reconnect with all the “crazy” friends with opposing views you left behind after the last election or conspiracy theory they posted.

Maybe we can start calling out lies together, left or right, so true things start being true again. Let’s make the line between us and them a line in the sand, and let’s not allow fake news to spread, even if it supports something we believe. Let’s make known the difference between us, and them.

Sign of the Downfall:

Thumbin’It The City of Durango exploring the option of partially closing down Main Avenue to traffic to allow stores and restaurants to expand their outdoor capacity in the wake of the coronavirus

The pandemic and worries over crosscontamination leading to a new surge in plasticware, from straws to utensils and take-out containers

Social media platforms finally taking a stand against rampant fake news and conspiracy theories, with Twitter recently refuting a post by Donald Trump that contained blatant inaccuracies

The already-strapped Durango School District 9-R looking at a potential 15 percent shortfall in next year’s budget due to declining state revenues

A win for the beleaguered sage grouse, with a U.S. judge ruling that the Trump administration failed to protect habitat for the declining species and canceling energy leases on 470 square miles of public land in Montana and Wyoming

4 n May 28, 2020

– Jesse Anderson

Memorial Day revelers who ignored public health guidelines and gathered en masse and unmasked throughout the country, from Daytona Beach to Lake of the Ozarks, only to return home with any germs they may have picked up along the way

telegraph

The mammal age is over Seventy years ago, Icelandic researchers discovered strange, moving balls of moss living on glaciers they named “glacier mice,” but we didn’t pay attention because humans are dumb. Recently, scientist Tim Bartholomaus studied the mobile plants, and he discovered that the creatures travel around in “coordinated, herd-like patterns,” and that they roll over intentionally so the moss on the bottom gets sunlight. It isn’t every day a species facing extinction gets to meet its replacement (a moving plant that thrives in radiation), so consider yourself lucky!

WordontheCouch

Q

Jen

Bryan

"Training for a century and planting our garden."

"Getting lots of housework done and building a fence."

Nicole

"Dodging COVIDIOTS."

"Drinking with the dogs."

With COVID-19 limiting travel options, the Telegraph asked, “What are your summer staycation plans?”

Alicia

“Wait, I could leave Durango?”

Guy

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telegraph

May 28, 2020 n 5

SoapBox No easy choices for budget cuts To the editor, Colorado’s general fund is taking a pounding during the pandemic. Unless Washington steps in with more aid to state and local governments, legislators are facing the challenge of cutting potentially up to $3 billion from our $12.4 billion general fund budget, affecting K-12 education, health care, higher education and core services.

Colorado’s budget must be balanced. About 40 percent of it is difficult to cut because it covers corrections, federally mandated programs, health care and other critical public safety services. The federal CARES money we’ve received cannot be used for ongoing budget items, like K12 funding; it is only for COVID-19-related expenses spent during a limited time period.

So during this time when most people believe legislators are lounging at home, we were working hard. Lawmakers were busy helping constituents and preparing for our return on May 26. We listened to constituents, Chamber of Commerce representatives and county public health departments. We held town halls, examined budgets, made phone calls and advocated for our constituents.

We want a budget that addresses the needs of the hardworking Coloradans affected by this unnerving pandemic.

The non-partisan state budget staff made suggestions as to how we can start balancing the budget by finding the $3 billion in cuts we need, and sent us lists of bills, pilot programs, grants, cash funds and established programs we can adjust. Their cuts were about a third of what we may ultimately need.

Every person, department and segment of society will feel the cuts we must make. With K-12 education holding 36 percent of the budget, it will be nearly impossible to spare our schools entirely. As Chair of the Education Committee, I have been searching for every dollar, trying to protect as much funding as we can for our school dis-

Bird’s-EyeView: A red-tailed hawk soars above the tree tops in Falls Creek recently./Photo by Stephen Eginoire. tricts. Our initiatives helping rural teachers stay with their schools, repay their loans and connect with other teachers are all on the table for potential cuts.

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Higher education, with 9 percent of the budget, will likely see a drop in attendance, and therefore less money, as well as help, from the state. Schools are recovering 4

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Gorgeously rustic 5-bed, 2-bath 10 miles east of Durango in the Florida River Valley Listen to the sound of the river from the large back yard Large covered patio, attached garage

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from refunding students for their fees, room and board, plus buying equipment for online learning. Most schools had already absorbed massive cutbacks before COVID-19 hit; they do not have much more to give.

The state may also find savings in the Colorado Tourism Bureau’s budget. Tourism creates so many jobs in District 59, making reductions to this office a painful and potentially short-sided proposition. I am hopeful we can still set aside some funding to promote economic development.

We may be losing funding for seniors on Medicaid who need dental care, law enforcement, health clinics, road maintenance, homeless veterans and the mental health care we will certainly need after the job losses so many are enduring. It is sadly the people with the least who are often hurt the most during a crisis.

The federal government has given money to the state and the largest five counties in Colorado but did not specifically direct money to our smaller counties and governments. I join the many lawmakers who are committed to providing some of the remaining federal funding to smaller counties. That money would still be limited to specific COVID-19 expenses; we can’t use it to complete construction projects, open the restaurants and schools necessary to keep our farmers in business, or protect funding for colleges and universities.

What does this all mean? Nothing pretty. We’re experiencing a considerably worse dive than the Great Recession of 2008. Every family will have access to fewer resources. Every state department will be hit. Hard. Every local government service may be diminished.

We need to continue to help each other, giving what we can. We need to have empathy for those who have little, and praise for those who help them. The Colorado Legislature is facing the worst financial catastrophe ever with focus and compassion. We are going to prioritize education, health and safety as we work to protect our most vulnerable and ease how painful this budget may be.

– Rep. Barbara McLachlan, D-Durango

Mask wearing is caring

How COVID could save you

To the editor, I have lived in Durango for 20 years and for the most part have experienced local people who care about each other and have ethics and morals. The good outweighs the bad. Lately, I have been ashamed, confused, and disappointed in the behavior of some people.

As I shop in Durango every two weeks, I have been feeling unnecessarily put “at risk” by lack of management in the local stores. Many customers are still not wearing face masks & even employees will improperly wear them UNDER their noses. I have no choice but to continue shopping to get what I need, feeling very anxious & disrespected.

On Fri., May 22, at Natural Grocers on Camino del Rio, I was subjected to employees wearing their masks improperly, customers not wearing masks and customers not being reminded to stay back where the tape is on the floor until the person ahead of them is done checking out. The person behind me was standing inches away from me with no mask. When I told the manager, she said she can’t say anything to the customers because of HIPPA. Really? She also told me she knows several people who died from COVID-19, as do I. And she told me her employees don’t listen to her. A young female putting carts away was laughing.

This is unacceptable behavior all around. We should feel safe food shopping. Masks are a requirement now in Durango. How is it going to be implemented? What are the consequences if someone or stores don’t abide by the City Council’s orders? I told the manager I just spent $175 in your store. I am supporting you, so why aren’t you supporting me?

It is a temporary, simple, evidence-based requirement to stave off COVID-19 in our little town that shows care for others.

To the editor, There is good news from COVID-19 for this summer.

We won’t be getting stuck in traffic jams. And, the meat shortage will keep us safe from our outdoor grills.

Folks who grill hamburgers and hot dogs face a nasty choice. The U.S. Meat and Poultry Hotline advises grilling at high temperature to avoid food poisoning by E. coli and Salmonella bacteria. But the National Cancer Institute warns that high-temperature grilling of processed meats generates cancer-causing compounds.

Fortunately, we no longer need to choose between food poisoning and cancer!

A bunch of enterprising U.S. food processors have met this challenge head-on by developing a rich variety of convenient, healthful, delicious plant-based veggie burgers, veggie dogs and soy nuggets. These products don’t harbor nasty bugs or cancer-causing compounds. They are missing the cholesterol, saturated fats, drugs, hormones and pesticides of their animal-based alternatives. And, they are waiting for us in the frozen food section of our favorite supermarket, along with nut-based ice creams and other dairy-free desserts.

This summer, in the shadow of COVID-19, let’s stay safe in more ways than one!

– Dante Gomez, Durango

– Nancy Raffaele-Ilic, Durango

telegraph

Haiku movie review review Maxson would not know a funny movie if it bit her in on the butt. (long live Cheech and Chong!)

– Gregory Moore, Hermosa

May 28, 2020 n 7

StateNews

Catch 22 State to require biggest polluters to report emissions, but does it go far enough?

by Michael Elizabeth Sakas Colorado Public Radio News

C

olorado will now require some operations to report their greenhouse gas emissions to the state. Regulation 22 will help identify where and how much pollution is occurring to better track progress on the state’s climate goals.

The regulation will also phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons, a potent greenhouse gas typically used in air conditioning and refrigeration systems. The framework is based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s phase-out timeline of aerosols and foams by January 2021; refrigeration by January 2021 to 2023, depending on its end-use; and air condition chillers by January 2024.

That timeline has been set back by litigation after a federal court ruled that the EPA can’t ban HFCs under a provision of the Clean Air Act, since the concern is climate and not ozone. But states that are part of the U.S. Climate Alliance – including Colorado, California, Washington and Virginia – have decided to move forward with the phase-out.

The state’s Air Quality Control Commission unanimously adopted Regulation 22, which is a result of climate legislation passed last year that established statewide greenhouse gas emission goals. The legislation directed the commission to update how the state takes inventory of these emissions.

That will be done by implementing reporting requirements for certain emitters. The new regulation builds on what’s already reported to the EPA under federal requirements. Oil and gas operators, cement plants, steel producers, electronics manufacturers and some municipal solid waste landfills will now report their data to Colorado in addition to the federal agency.

The state will also require additional sources, such as utilities providers, natural gas distribution companies, industrial waste landfills, industrial wastewater treatment plants and active underground coal mines to report. This information will not be shared with the EPA. Companies will piggyback off the EPA’s existing electronic greenhouse gas reporting tool to help the state from using resources to develop its own reporting system.

To fill gaps in information, particularly for fuel imported into Colorado, the state will use the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s reports on petroleum products shipped into the state. The state will also use local fuel tax data to identify fuel volume usage, which will include sources like biodiesel, and compressed or liquefied natural gas.

Oil and gas that’s exported out of Colorado will be excluded from the state’s emission’s inventory, but both imported and exported electricity will be included.

Emitters that already report to the EPA will need to start submitting data to Colorado by March 2021. New and additional reporters will start March 2022. This more robust inventory will help inform the state’s greenhouse gas reduction strategies and track progress toward Colorado’s goal to reduce carbon emissions 26 percent by 2025; 50 percent by 2030; and 90 percent by 2050, based on 2005 emissions.

8 n May 28, 2020

A haze of pollution obscures the view at Rocky Mountain National Park. In an effort to reduce carbon emissions, the state passed legislation with new carbon reduction goals. To help reach those goals, the state will start requiring producers of greenhouse gases, such as oil and gas operators, to report their emissions to the state./Courtesy photo Environmental groups see the regulation as a move in and way more than just this basic reporting rule,” Nichols the right direction but feel more needs to be done for the said. He had issues with various parts of the regulation, instate to have a clear understanding of its pollution sources. cluding its exclusion of emissions from the state’s exported Pam Kiely, senior director of regulatory strategy with oil and gas. the Environmental Defense Fund, pushed for businesses “How can we claim that we’re meeting any climate obsupplying fuel to Colorado to be required to directly report jectives, or that we’re making climate progress, when all emissions to the state, instead of the state seeking out that we’re doing is producing oil and gas and coal to be coninformation through existing reports. sumed or combusted somewhere else?” Nichols ques“There will be questions as to whether that data is in tioned. fact comprehensive, and whether there are any gaps,” A statement from the Colorado Oil and Gas AssociaKiely said. She believes it could also lead to transparency tion said 70 percent of the state’s natural gas liquid sales issues, since the information might be collected without are not combusted in Colorado or in the year they were details such as entities of emitters and the makeup of the produced. emissions.

“So production inventories can be significantly different “And that’s really important when it comes to having a than emissions inventories ... We urge (the state) to use the full picture of what is happening in Colorado with respect existing data to fill in any gaps,” Dan Haley, president and to greenhouse gas pollution,” Kiely said. “And it’s certainly CEO of COGA, wrote. “There is not currently a one-sizethe way that other states who have other comprehensive fits-all approach to emissions monitoring, and more regreenhouse gas reporting requirements have chosen to en- search and development is needed before rules can be sure the data that they’re collecting is accurate and action- effectively imposed and implemented.” able from a regulation perspective.”

CPR News reached out to Trane, a company with a proJeremy Nichols is the climate and energy program direc- duction facility in Pueblo that produces HVAC, chillers and tor for WildEarth Guardians. He felt the adoption of the other equipment that utilizes HFCs in their products. We regulation was the right step, but not big enough to “reign did not receive a response at the time of publication. in the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.”

“We’ve got to do way, way more than just go after HFCs, For more from Colorado Public Radio, go to www.cpr.org. n

telegraph

Sure to float your boat.

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May 28, 2020 n

9

BetweentheCovers Bayfield author Curt Brown, holding up a copy of his latest book during an online talk with the Minnesota Historical Society that drew 400 viewers.

When history repeats Bayfield author on 1918 flu pandemic finds flash of fame, familiarity

by Missy Votel

W

ith his horn-rimmed glasses, shock of curly saltand-pepper hair and affable “Minnesota nice” demeanor, Curt Brown is an unlikely rock star.

Even if it’s just among the book club and podcast crowd.

“A store tech from Garrison Keillor’s old bookshop near Macalaster told me, ‘of all the people profiting off this friggin pandemic, you’re not the worst. You just wrote a book,” Brown recalled of a recent Zoom book-signing in his old stomping grounds in St. Paul. (Keillor’s store, by the way, has since been bought by new owners, smudged and cheekily renamed Next Chapter Booksellers.)

Although he moved to the more pastoral environs of the Pine River Valley several years ago, Brown – an avid film and history buff – still has his regular gig with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune writing a weekly history column. It was this connection that helped launch him into his new and accidental role as “pandemic profiteer” and “podcast pundit.”

10 n May 28, 2020

About three years ago, the Minnesota Historical Society commissioned Brown to write a book to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of what Brown refers to as a “trifecta of woe.” Unfortunately, the folks at the historical society, sticklers that they are, didn’t take to his suggested working title. Instead, the book was published under the title Minnesota 1918: When Flu, Fire and War Ravaged the State.

What the heck does this have to do with anything, you may ask from beneath your cloth face-covering in Durango, Colo. Well, in a nutshell, everything. In case you haven’t been paying attention, 1918 was the year the socalled Spanish flu (which actually is believed to have originated in Kansas but was called “Spanish” because Spanish newspapers were the first to report on it) took some 675,000 American lives. It was also the year a train – oh, the irony – sparked the largest wildfire and natural disaster in Minnesota history. Throw in a world war, and well, you’ve got a book – and a lot of strangely coincidental parallels to life not just in these parts, but everywhere.

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Naturally, since the coronavirus hit U.S. shores, Brown’s phone and email have been buzzing off the hook, with everyone from the AP wanting to know how to fight fires in a pandemic to small town libraries requesting some face time. Podcasts, Youtube, Zoom, Facebook Live – he’s done ’em all. A recent “History at Home” online writer talk for the Minnesota Historical Society drew 400 viewers, which comes nowhere near State Fair crowds but is nothing to sneeze into your elbow at.

“It kind of blew me away,” he said, before lapsing back to his humble self. “I wrote a totally obscure book, and now it’s a little less obscure.” (For the record, he just got his first royalty check, roughly the equivalent of most people’s stimulus checks.)

Since his newfound mini-stardom, Brown has noticed there are two kinds of folks: those who can’t get enough of pandemic history and the lessons that can be gleaned, and those who want nothing to do with it. (If you happen to fall into the latter camp, thank you for reading this far. 4

You can now turn the page to a great kale salad recipe.)

For the rest, stay tuned for a walk down memory lane that’s a bit too uncanny for comfort. Let’s start with a president who refused to publicly acknowledge the flu pandemic for political reasons. “Wilson basically ignored it because he was worried it would hurt the war effort,” Brown said. “He sugar-coated it; and we saw some of that same sugar-coating, too.”

There were protests back then, too, like the Anti-Mask League in San Francisco, members of which were known to punch holes in their masks so they could smoke. There were charlatans hawking cures, super-spreaders hocking germs and case studies on how to (Minneapolis) and how not to (St. Louis) re-open cities without creating a backlash of death.

“St. Louis eased their restrictions too early and there was a spike,” Brown said. “Numbers don’t lie.”

When writing the book, Brown put out a call for stories and artifacts from the era – which was repaid in spades. The result is a book tied together with small vignettes from daily life in 1918 – which very easily could have been plucked from 2020. And, as is the curse of the printed word, even more stories poured in after the book hit the press. Brown points to love letters that a reader shared, which were written in 1918 by a woman named LaVerne Roquette to her husband-to-be, who was fighting in France: “Mother won’t let me out because that awful disease … is all over the United States in every little town. All the towns and cities for miles around are all closed – everything but the meat markets, grocery, and dry good stores. At some places people have to wear gauze masks when they appear on the streets … the government has closed all schools, churches, theatres,” one of the letters reads.

“She could’ve written them yesterday,” Brown said (with the notable exception that the letters from 1918 were actually written with pen on paper and not texted with heart emojis).

Of course, not all things follow the same familiar arc of

history. As mentioned earlier, there was a little skerfluffle known as World War I going on in 1918. As such, many of the nation’s doctors and nurses were called overseas to the battlefield, leaving fewer at home to deal with the sick. And unlike the coronavirus, which largely has spared the young, people in the 20- to 25-year-old range were the hardest hit by the 1918 flu. Then there was the issue of scientific knowledge in 1918 – or lack thereof.

“They didn’t even know what a virus was,” Brown said.

“There was no PPE, ICUs and respirators, people just died.”

Which leads us all to the million-dollar question: are we doomed to relive the 1918 pandemic (which came in three waves, mind you)?

“People say, in 102 years, surely we’ve made great strides,” Brown said, pointing to vaccines, anti-viral drugs and antibiotics. “ … but have we?”

There is an eerily clairvoyant section in his book that also asks this question: “could it happen again?” Little did Brown know he would get his answer in a year’s time.

“Every expert on influenza agrees that the ability of the virus to reassert genes means that another pandemic not only can happen. It almost certainly will happen,” Brown wrote, citing John M. Barry, author of The Great Influenza.

Brown went on to quote New York Times science writer Robin Marantz Henig, award-winning author of The Monk in the Garden: “We like to believe such plunder is an ancient relic; whatever was killing people so ruthlessly in 1918 must be something we can treat by now … But in the face of a virus that kills so rapidly, all the antiviral drugs in the physician’s armamentarium would be impotent. If a strain similar to the 1918 variant were to emerge today – a strain that, last time around, killed literally overnight – some experts believe that even modern medicine would be helpless to prevent many related deaths.”

Goosebumps anyone?

Alas, as foreboding as this is, the point is not to hang our unwashed heads and cry into our morning walktails. It is to lift ourselves up, put on some real pants and let the

past guide us – which is where learned afficionados of history like Brown come in.

“I do think we can learn from the past,” he said. “The resiliency that came through from writing these stories gives me some sense of optimism. Things were much worse in 1918, and they got through it, and so will we.”

Last he checked, Curt Brown said there was at least one copy of his book available at Maria’s Bookshop, although we’re sure they’d be happy to order you one if they’re out. You can also buy a copy online at tinyurl/MN1918.n

’ ’ check our website for hours: www.jimmysmusic.supply 1480 E. 2nd Ave. & 15th St. • 970-764-4577

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May 28, 2020 n 11

FlashinthePan

A new tale about kale

by Ari LeVaux

D

espite all the blooming and greening of spring, it doesn’t offer much to eat. The corn is anklehigh, the peaches leave a lot to the imagination, and many farmers and gardeners have barely planted out their tomatoes.

But you can always eat kale potato salad.

This salad is so transformative that even teen-agers ask for it. I know a young woman who requested it for her graduation party. The combination of rosemary, celery seed and thyme in the vinaigrette evokes the flavor of marinated artichokes. Each component of the salad, including kale leaf and stem, cheddar cheese chunk and potato, holds the dressing differently. It’s a side dish that doesn’t need a main event.

Kale is an early-season producer and freezes well too. The fall harvest is the sweetest and most abundant kale of the year, and I like to freeze a big stash to eat through winter and spring. This time of year, I make the salad with either fresh or frozen kale.

It’s a template as much as a recipe, a style of potato salad. You can make it with as much or as little kale as you want, cook the kale as much or as little as you wish, chop it as small as you care to, and even substitute other fibrous greens like dandelion or collards. You can even add crispy bits of bacon.

But incredibly, one ingredient the recipe does not call for is mayo. I may be worldly in some ways, but I’m very provincial when it comes to both potato salad and mayonnaise. Potato salad needs mayo, and mayo needs to go on everything. But there is a long tradition, most famously in France but elsewhere too, of naked, mayofree potato salad. And I must admit, kale potato salad

has made me question some of my most deeply held beliefs.

Although this dish features chunks of potatoes plastered with kale, full of that unmistakable potato salad-y flavor of summer, here at the end of spring, you can still find cool enough days to serve it warm, as a comforting bowlful.

Kale Potato Salad Serves 4 4 cups diced red potatoes (they hold together best), peeled or not 4-ish cups kale (or other fibrous greens), stripped from the center vein and chopped. Optional: chop off the ribs,

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12 n May 28, 2020

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which are tougher, to cook with the potatoes. If using frozen kale, it should be thawed.

2 cups stock ½ cup olive oil (or more, to taste) ¼ cup white vinegar ½ tablespoon mustard powder 1 teaspoon dried thyme ½ teaspoon celery seed 1 teaspoon ground or dried rosemary ¼ teaspoon black pepper 2 garlic cloves, and more to taste, minced or grated ½ cup minced onion ½ cup minced celery 1 cup finely diced good, flavorful cheddar cheese, like an aged raw milk Salt, to taste Optional: red pepper flakes Boil potatoes in stock or water with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. About 10 minutes in, add any chopped kale rib you care to.

While the potatoes are cooking, make the dressing. Combine remaining oil, vinegar, mustard powder, herbs and garlic. If using whole dried herbs, powder them between your fingers as you add them. Shake vigorously in a closed jar or otherwise stir very well.

When potatoes are nearly tender, add the kale and stir in with a scooping motion so as not to crush the potatoes. When the liquid is gone, turn off the heat.

If serving warm, finish the recipe immediately by adding the onion, celery, cheddar, pepper flakes if using and dressing, and toss. Add more salt and/or oil to taste.

If serving cool, it’s best to make kale potato salad a day ahead and allow the potatoes and kale to cool before finishing. Just make sure to make extra or there won’t be enough. n

AskRachel

Karen conunundrum, about face & black thumbs Interesting fact: Dr. I.M. Nick, a nomenclature scholar, says, “The use of a personal name to refer to an entire group(ing) of people is a long-documented, cross-cultural, linguistic phenomenon.” She also has a killer name for a former president of the American Name Society.

Dear Rachel, Why are aggressive, disrespectful, typically coiffed middle-aged women all called Karen? It’s this phenomenon where as soon as Karens were described to me, I understood exactly what Karen stood for. But all the Karens I know, none of them are actually named Karen. By now, typing the name Karen so much, it doesn’t even look human. Kind of like a lot of Karens don’t act human. But why? Why Karen and not Linda or Barbara?

– I Ask Because I Karen Dear Anna Karenina, We should clarify what Karens are for the two people out there who don’t know. The person who sends back perfectly good meals: Karen. The person who demands to speak to a manager at the first sign of inconvenience: Karen. The person whose humiliating downfall in the face of compassion or common sense you guiltily relish: Karen. If you don’t recognize these descriptions, you are probably a Karen yourself. But why the name? I don’t know, Karen. Deal with it.

– I am the manager, Rachel Dear Rachel, Why does “face” get thrown around like it does

StufftoDo

to emote extreme feelings? It’s an expression of anger. “I want to kick his face.” It’s an expression of adoration. “I love your face.” It’s an expression of sorrow. “I miss your face.” Insane cuteness? “I want to squish your face!” Why? Why the face?

Couldn’t we just say “I want to kick you, love you, miss you, squish you?” without picking any particular body part?

– Face the Nation Dear Facey McFaceface, English borrows words from all kinds of languages and bastardizes the hell out of them to make them work as English. The fact that you can taco your friend and wash with shampoo – turning a Mexican dish into a verb and a Hindi verb into a noun – means we can use pretty much any word we like at any given time. So face it. Of all the words in all the world, “face” just sounds best.

– In your face, Rachel Dear Rachel, I bought a bunch of plants last week. You know, to plant in my yard and enjoy all summer long. One of them died already. I know it’s not me or my soil, because all the other plants didn’t go belly-up right away. I dug up the plant and took it back to demand a refund or a replacement, and the clerk said sorry, sales are final and that’s just the risk I take with living things.

Excuse me? If I adopted a cat that died a week later, you better believe I’d get that cat replaced.

Why should plants be any different?

– Green Thumbs Down

Email Rachel at telegraph@durangotelegraph.com Dear Green Mile, We all walk our own mile in our own time. Maybe it was just time for your lavender or sedum or whatever the eff it was to go off to the Great Compost Heap in the sky.

Maybe it really is you, and this plant just didn’t feel like putting up with it anymore. And maybe you can explain to our earlier letter-writer why your name is Karen.

– Dig this, Rachel

(no, for reals!)

Thursday28

Ongoing

Durango Virtual Green Drinks, 6 p.m., May 28, hosted by SW Sustainability Alliance, Durango Nature Studies and SJ Mountains Association. For Zoom log-in info, visit “Durango Green Drinks” on Facebook.

Pine River Library is offering curbside checkouts Monday-Friday, 2-6 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. For inof., call 970-884-2222 or visit www.prlibrary.org/curbsidecheckout-program

Meet the author: JP Gitton, author of Wyoming, speaks on Zoom from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. May 28. Sponsored by Maria’s Bookshop, https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89621789496

Durango Virtual Spring Gallery Walk, through May 3, featuring art auction, stories about local artists, interviews and even a little music. www.durangoartgalleries.com Guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanual joins Tim O’Brien on June 5 for a virtual Pagosa Folk ’N Bluegrass on KSUT

Friday29 Fort Lewis College Virtual Commencement, 2 p.m., May 29, with remarks from FLC President Tom Stritikus, Provost Cheryl Nixon, Student Body President Cody Stroup and Commencement Speaker, blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer. Musical performance by Milepost 30. www.fortlewis.edu/virtual-graduation

Saturday30 Durango Farmers Market, Saturdays, 8 a.m. – 12 noon, in TBK Parking Lot, across from the Transit Center. Face coverings required. www.durangofarmersmarket.com.

Monday01 Meditation and Dharma Talk, Mondays, 5:30- 7 p.m. online at www.durangodharma center.org/ Rocky Mountain UkeFest Ukulele Jam “Happy Music Night,” 6:30 – 8 p.m., June 1.

For info. or Zoom link, email: denise.leslie@gmail.com or call 970-903-6417.

Wednesday03 “Stretch Your Budget with Plant Proteins,” free online class, 5:30 - 7 p.m., June 3.

Sponsored by Mercy Regional Medical Center and the La Plata County CSU Extension Office.

To register, email nicole.clark@colostate.edu.

Upcoming Virtual Pagosa Folk N' Bluegrass with Tim O'Brien and Tommy Emmanuel, 7 – 9 p.m., June 5, presented by KSUT. Streamed on Facebook Live, tune-in to KSUT on the radio or on your smart speaker at www.ksut.org.

3rd annual Veterans Picnic & Raft Trip, free picnic and raft trips to honor veterans & their families, Sun., June 28, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m., Santa Rita Park. For info., go to www.DurangoRafting.com or email info@DurangoRafting.com

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May 28, 2020 n 13

What Kate & Nate wear on their day off

FreeWillAstrology

by Rob Brezsny ARIES (March 21-April 19): “The best of my nature reveals itself in play, and play is sacred,” feisty Aries author Karen Blixen, who sometimes used the pen name Isak Dinesen, writes.

The attitude described in that statement helps illuminate the meaning of another one of her famous quotations: “I do not think that I could ever really love a woman who had not, at one time or another, been up on a broomstick.” In my interpretation of this humorous remark, Blixen referred to the fact that she had a strong preference for witchy women with rascally magical ways. I bring this to your attention, Aries, because I’m inviting you to cultivate a Blixen-like streak of sacred play and sly magic in the coming days.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus music legend Willie Nelson has played the same guitar since 1969. He calls it “my horse” and named it after Trigger, a famous horse in Hollywood films. Although Nelson still loves the tones that come from his instrument, it’s neither sleek nor elegant. It’s bruised with multiple stains and has a jagged gash near its sound hole. Some Tauruses want their useful things to be fine and beautiful, but not Willie. Having said that, I wonder if maybe he will finally change guitars sometime soon. For you Bulls, the coming months will be time to consider trading in an old horse for a new one.

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14 n May 28, 2020

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I’ve got a message for you, courtesy of poet Lisel Mueller.

I think her wisdom can help you thrive in the coming weeks. She writes, “The past pushed away, the future left unimagined, for the sake of the glorious, difficult, passionate present.”

Of course, it’s always helpful for us to liberate ourselves from the oppressive thoughts of what once was in the past and what might be in the future. But it’ll be especially valuable for you to claim that superpower in the coming weeks. To the degree that you do, the present will be more glorious and passionate and not so difficult.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): When Lewis Carroll’s fictional heroine Alice visits the exotic underground realm known as Wonderland, she encounters two odd men named Tweedledee and Tweedledum. The latter tells her, “You know very well you’re not real.” He’s implying that Alice is merely a character in the dream of a man who’s sleeping nearby.

This upsets her. “I am real!” she protests and breaks into tears. Tweedledum presses on, insisting she’s just a phantom. Alice summons her courageous wisdom and thinks to herself, “I know they’re talking nonsense, and it’s foolish to cry about it.”

I suspect you Cancerians may have to deal

with people and influences that give you messages akin to those of Tweedledum. If that happens, be like Alice.

tential limitations of social distancing, make creative use of Zoom and other online video conferencing.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “The less you fear, the more power you will have,” the rapper known as 50 Cent says. I agree with him. If you can dissolve even, say, 25 percent of your fear, your ability to do what you want will rise significantly, as will your influence and clout. But here’s the major riddle: How exactly can you dissolve your fear?

My answers to that question would require far more room than I have in this horoscope. But here’s the really good news, Leo: In the coming weeks, you will naturally have an abundance of good insights about how to dissolve your own fear. Trust what your intuition tells you.

And be receptive to clues that serendipity brings you.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22Dec. 21): “Wherever I am, let me never forget to distinguish want from need,” author Barbara Kingsolver vows. “Let me be a good animal,” she adds. That would be a stirring prayer to keep simmering at the forefront of your awareness in the next six weeks. According to my understanding of the astrological omens, you’ll be getting clear signals about the differences between your wants and needs. You will also discover effective strategies about how to satisfy them both in the post-pandemic world and fine intuitions about which one to prioritize at any particular time.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): For his film “Parasite,” Virgo filmmaker Bong Joon-ho received Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. In his natal horoscope, Joon-ho has Pluto conjunct his sun in Virgo, and during the time “Parasite” began to score major success, Saturn and Pluto were making a favorable transit to that powerful point in his chart. I’m expecting the next six months to be a time when you can make significant progress toward your own version of a Joon-ho style achievement. In what part of your life is that most likely to happen? Focus on it. Feed it. Love it.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): According to my analysis of the astrological omens, the coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to seek out, seduce and attract luck. To inspire you in this holy task, I’ll provide a prayer written

by Hoodoo conjurer Stephanie Rose Bird: “O sweet luck, I call your name. Luck with force and power to make change, walk with me and talk through me. With your help, all that can and should be will be!” If there are further invocations you’d like to add to hers, Libra, please do. The best way to ensure that good fortune will stream into your life is to have fun as you draw it to you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio comedian John Cleese does solo work, but many of his successful films, albums, stage shows and TV programs have arisen from joining forces with other comedians. “When you collaborate with someone else on something creative,” he testifies, “you get to places that you would never get to on your own.” I propose you make this your temporary motto, Scorpio.

Whatever line of work or play you’re in, the coming weeks will offer opportunities to start getting involved in sterling synergies and symbioses. To overcome the po-

telegraph

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Writing some Chinese characters can be quite demanding. To make “biáng,” for example, which is used in the name for a certain kind of noodle, you must draw 58 separate strokes. This is a good metaphor for exactly what you should avoid in the coming weeks: spending too much time & devoting too much thought & getting wrapped up in too much complexity about trivial matters. Your focus should instead be on simple, bold approaches that encourage you to be crisp & decisive.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Singer-songwriter Jill Scott is strongly committed to her creative process. She tells us, “I was once making a burger for myself at my boyfriend’s house and a lyric started pouring out and I had to catch it, so I ran to another room to write it down, but then the kitchen caught fire. His cabinets were charred, and he was furious. But it was worth it for a song.” My perspective: Scott’s level of devotion to the muse is too intense for my tastes. Personally, I would have taken the burger off the stove before fleeing the scene to record my good idea. What about you, Aquarius? According to my analysis, you’re in a phase when creative ideas should flow even better than usual. Pay close attention. Be prepared to capture as much of that potentially life-altering stuff as possible.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): To protect ourselves and others from the pandemic, most of us have been spending more time than usual at home – often engaged in what amounts to enforced relaxation. For some of us, that has been a problem. But I’m going to propose that it will be the opposite of a problem for you in the next three weeks. In my astrological opinion, your words to live by will be this counsel from author and philosopher Mike Dooley: “What if it was your downtime, your lounging-in-bed-too-long time, that made possible your greatest achievements?

Would they still make you feel guilty? Or would you allow yourself to enjoy them?”

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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.

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May 28, 2020 n 15

16 n May 28, 2020

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