Lying in repose since 2002 THE ORIGINAL INDIE WEEKLY LINE ON DURANGO & BEYOND sidein elegraph
Gad-zukes!
Out of squash ideas? Here’s one you’ve probably not tried
Serenity now Festival fun without drugs or booze? Tico Time says yes
On the up & up Uranium may be returning to SWCO – but at what cost?
2 n Sept. 15, 2022 telegraph THANK YOU FOR MAKI AL DIBLES • SEED • CLONES & CONSULTTING • ATTMONSITE Cortez MED & REC 9am - 8pm 1013 E. Main St. Cortez, CO 81321 (970)5656500 ING US #1! e GREAATTSTRAINSELECTIO PIPES • SMOKING ACCESSOR Grandvieww (REC Only) S-T: 10am - 7pm / W-S: 9am - 8pm 37 County Road (970)426-4381232 AAREL • MJLITERP AON • HASH & CONCENTRATTE • ED RIES • APPA RAATTURE& Bodo Park MED 9am - 6:30pm / REC 9am - 8pm 72 Suttle Street Units F & G (970)2593674 The Alternative Resource (970) 426-4381 (970) 259-3674 (970) 565-6500
– Local bank employee discussing the unfortunate number of run-ins with pylons in the underground parking garage
We’re only human. If, by chance, we defame someone’s good name or that of their family, neighbor, best
E-MAIL: telegraph@durangotelegraph.com
Oddly, though, the map doesn’t include the Weminuche, which has been discussed as an ideal spot for wolves. The Weminuche is the largest wilderness area in Colorado at nearly 500,000 acres (and it may just be the map is not an official boundary). Regardless, wolves are wanderers, and it’s an all but sure thing they eventually will come down here.
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friend or dog, we will accept full responsibility in a public flogging in the following week’s issue.
telegraph Sept. 15, 2022 n polethe311
Zuchini madness
distributed in the finest and most discerning locations throughout the greater Durango area.
When life gives you oodles of summer squash, make zuchi-zza by Ari LeVaux
Mark Ditmer, a research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service and lead author of the study, told CPR southwest Colorado is a more welcoming landscape for reintroduction. He said research showed the mountains between Aspen and Durango is a zone with enough prey and higher levels of acceptance.
Reckoning
MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 332, Durango, CO 81302
Enjoy yourself at a festival without alcohol or drugs? Yes, it is possible by Jonathan Romeo
Abi Lafleur and Tim Cummings go for an early morning jaunt along the Long Canyon rim near Southeast Utah’s Deadhorse Point./ Photo by Stephen Eginoire
RegularOccurrences
Colorado Parks and Wildlife told CPR that wildlife officials looked at both biological factors, such as where wolves would find prey (elk and deer), and also which communities would tolerate the controversial species. For example: the area north of I-70 contains the best wolf habitat, yet has a higher potential for conflict, because most people there voted against wolf reintroduction. It should be noted, wolves have already naturally migrated from Wyoming into northern Colorado.
PHONE: 970-259-0133
Two years ago, Colorado voters approved a ballot initiative that forced the state to reintroduce gray wolves by the end of 2023. That initiative, however, didn’t specify where wolves should be released, other than on the West Slope.
La Plata County voters went 18,015 in favor, 16,140 against wolf reintroduction. Statewide, the ballot narrowly passed on a 1,590,2991,533,313 vote, largely due to residents in Denver and along the Front Range. It was not clear at press time whether releasing wolves onto the streets of Denver was considered.
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On the Cover
Wanton \ (wan-ton) adjective : Merciless, inhumane; having no just foundation or provocation. Not a dumpling.
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It appears no wolves will be released in the Weminuche Wilderness – as was previously reported – but that’s not to say the fourlegged critters won’t wander down here.
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STAR STUDDED CAST: Kirbie Bennett, Jonathan Thompson, Ari LeVaux, Lainie Maxson, Rob Brezsny and Clint Reid
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EDITORIALISTA: Missy missy@durangotelegraph.comVotel
“My next car is going to be Bank of Colorado yellow.”
Ear to the ground:
For better or worse, uranium may boom again in SW Colorado by Jonathan Thompson
Back to the future
Although “free but not easy,” we can be plied with schwag, booze and flattery.
boilerplate 4 La Vida Local 4 Thumbin’ It 5 Word on the Street 6-7 Soap Box 8 Land Desk 8 Top Story 11 Flash in the Pan 12-13 Stuff to Do 13 Ask Rachel 14 Free Will Astrology 15 Classifieds 15 Haiku Movie Review
Helping a friend
Durango can make up for sins of the past with how it treats homeless by Kirbie Bennett
According to Colorado Public Radio, a newly obtained map shows a broad area wolves will be released, which stretches between U.S. Route 24 and Montrose and Glenwood Springs and Vail to the north and Ridgway to the south. The Continental Divide forms the eastern boundary.
lineup 4
Good, clean fun
The 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
Release the beast
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“To be rooted,” Christian socialist Simone Weil wrote, “is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.” Durango has a shameful legacy of failing to recognize this need for certain communities. Historically, Black, Brown and working class communities have often been neglected, leading to their displacement. The city has a long way to go in order to reconcile with its past. But by compassionately addressing the growing need for affordable housing, by undoing the threat of displacement, it can begin taking steps toward redemption.
During the recent City Council meeting, city councilor Kim Baxter said, “It’s incumbent upon each of us to suggest solutions and not just complain about what’s happened in the past or what hasn’t been accomplished.” The latter half of her statement was baffling. The current emergency Durango finds itself in didn’t happen detached from history. Even in recent years, the city has been incrementally excluding the unsheltered. From outlawing sleeping outside to prohibiting “aggressive” panhandling and kneeling in the downtown area, the city has criminalized the movements of the unsheltered in their daily efforts to maintain dignity.
opinion LaVidaLocal 4 n Sept. 15, 2022 telegraph
QueentessentialDrugDealers
I always seek wisdom from artists and writers, especially in times of crisis. And that statement is from Chris Hannah, guitarist and vocalist for the punk band Propagandhi. On a podcast, Hannah was discussing bigger systemic issues, such as social inequality and dehumanizing the unsheltered. “That’s one of the real dangers of cities and communities, not meaningfully addressing social decay, outside of hiring cops to tear down homeless encampments or to arrest panhandlers. Cops don’t make any of this stuff go away.” Hannah went on to add, “We’re throwing people out of society, and what it’s doing is eroding civic trust and civic participation, and now it’s at runaway proportions.”
Two hours into the meeting, the city and police department gave a presentation. It didn’t offer much of an update on the Purple Cliffs predicament. And when Deputy Police Chief Brice Current presented slides clarifying the policing of the homeless, all I heard was “copspeak.” In their book
StepsThumbin’Ittowardredemption
Queen Elizabeth’s death was commemorated in some odd ways across the pond, such as the BBC canceling all comedy shows. But the UK’s underground took the cake with widespread discounts on cocaine and ketamine. The first such discount was recorded 13 minutes after the monarch’s death when a dealer posted on Twitter that he was selling grams of coke for 96£ when they’re usually 100£, because the queen died at 96 years old. And nine other tweets offering drug discounts were recorded in the next hour, which makes perfect sense given that these dealers were honoring Her Royal “Highness.”
During the presentation, the police spokesman repeatedly insisted on “enforcing behavior, not status.” Yet nearly every bullet point revealed the opposite. The public was reminded of the prohibition on “aggressive panhandling” as well as camping in one’s vehicle. But for someone with a vulnerable status (or one without status, such as the unhoused), certain actions and behaviors are unavoidable, such as sleeping outside or panhandling as a means of Accordingsurvival.tothe
And Durango is also complicit in such aggressive actions.
Police Scorecard, a nonprofit group evaluating policing around the country, Durango Police have a score of 35%. For comparison, cities with higher scores “spend less on policing, use less force, are more likely to hold officers accountable and make fewer arrests for low-level offenses.” It should be noted that for Durango, the data they are drawing from is incomplete. Colorado is one of 36 states with laws in place that make police records inaccessible.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife announcing $1 million to help cut down on human-bear conflicts in Durango and La Plata County.
Given the low score and the ACLU investigation, one can make the case for defunding the police and reallocating that money toward social programs for those in need. And given the severity of the unsheltered situation, more public pressure must be placed on the city to continue funding for homeless services.
Sen. Mitch McConnell shooting down Lindsey Graham’s bill to ban abortion at 15 weeks. Are we … my god, I think we are … giving a thumbs up to Mitch McConnell?
In that conversation, Hannah was mainly thinking of Winnipeg, his city. Yet, those comments also describe the crisis regarding the closure of Purple Cliffs. To do so without providing another encampment will further endanger and criminalize the unsheltered. Not only is this about providing a space for shelter and sleep, it’s also about recognizing the dignity and humanity of these individuals. As it stands, people in power remain indecisive on these matters.While
Such policies eventually received the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union. In a 2018 investigation, “A Year Without Sleep,” the ACLU concluded that, by targeting the homeless for sleeping, “Durango police are actively pushing unhoused people out of city limits.”
Findings that one in five TikTok videos contain misinformation on news topics. No! How can this be! On a serious note, it is the secondmost popular platform in the world, so we’re all screwed.
Throughout the night, I kept thinking of these words: “To throw people out of society is to create the conditions of society’s own demise.”
Hannah’s comments speak to a crisis that crosses the 49th parallel, the issue is more so exacerbated in the U.S. In an article from The Intercept titled “With sweeps of homeless encampments, liberal cities wage war on poorest residents,” Natasha Lennard documents the alarming trend of cities dismantling encampments with no alternatives for the homeless. From coast to coast, Lennard writes, “Many of the major cities carrying out sweeps are under Democratic leadership – a grim reminder that necropolitical population management is a bipartisan approach.”
Data from 2018-20 showing that Colorado’s recycling and composting rate dropped from 17.2% to 15.3%, far below its goal of 28% by 2021.
It’s also worth noting that earlier this year, the city approved $170,000 worth of funding for homeless support. It’s a sizeable increase from 2021, but it came close to rejection. According to The Durango Herald, “The approval almost did not pass, because Baxter was hesitant to commit the $170,000 because of a paragraph that said $170,000 would be pursued in 2023-24 as well.” Baxter ultimately supported the funds, because “approvals in 2023-24 are still open to further discussion.”
2022 is now the deadliest year on record for drownings in Colorado, with 36 water fatalities in lakes and rivers. Many incidents were linked to alcohol and failure to wear a PFD.
“Police: A Field Guide,” sociologists David Correia and Tyler Wall define it as “a language that limits our ability to understand police as anything other than essential, anything other than the guarantor of civilization.”
In other words, copspeak is the rhetoric used by police to justify and increase their power.
Chimney Rock celebrating 10 years as a national monument (thanks, Obama!) with a weekend of events at the sacred place that was home to Ancestral Puebloans more than 1,000 years ago.
– Kirbie Bennett
SignoftheDownfall:
By the time we left City Hall, it was the color of 9 p.m. in September. Nearly three hours had passed, and for the majority of that time, the City Council meeting centered on the upcoming closure of Purple Cliffs for the unsheltered. When the courthouse clock tower rings, it’s counting down to the closure and uncertainty; it’s counting down to the displacement of humanity.
Alex these“quittingeveryonequietly”days,the Telegraph asked: “Have you everloudly?”quit
telegraph Sept. 15, 2022 n 5 WordontheStreet
“I once left a job at a Pizza Hut to go on a Grateful Dead tour for a month in spring 1992.”
“I once had to quit a pizza place, because it was just too freaking hot in the kitchen.”
“When I was 14, I worked at a grocery store for $3 an hour over the summer, and when I had to go back to school, my manager lost it, so I walked out.”
Derek
Q With
Taylor “My manager and I quit Sonic and then had a big ice cream fight.”
Aaron
“I quit a job because they ran out of money and couldn’t pay me.”
be Travelingstressfulcan C >> Hiy ghl onvenient metownr ho yairport.uo oseand Makechoiteasy.SERVICES T OPho>>enix DenverDallas 970.382.6051 1000Durango,airport@durangogov.orgCO81303RoadAirport Just minutes from Duur rry self-No worango lf-parrk rt TSA LinesShoking
Makenzie
stalling tactic to me.
– Carole McWilliams, Bayfield
It’s getting interesting
6 n Sept. 15, 2022 telegraph
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Where did those documents go? Why did Trump want this stuff taking up space at his luxury compound anyway? Is he a hoarder?
D-Tooned/by
This retrieval included 184 documents, according to NPR. They included classified, top-secret and ultra-top secret information mixed in with much more mundane stuff like news clippings and “love letters” from North Korea’s vicious dictator Kim Jong-un.
I’m thinking Trump’s idol Vladimir Putin would love to get his hands on the ultra-top secret stuff, such as identities of our intelligence agents and their sources in the country, maybe in trade for authorization for Trump to build that luxury hotel in Moscow that he’s wanted for many years.
Apparently, there were indications of more stuff still at Mar-a-Lago. My understanding is that on June 3, a Trump lawyer turned over a big envelope with 38 documents and signed off that this was the last of it. Department of Justice visitors were blocked from looking through boxes in a storage room. Thus, the warrant and FBI raid on Aug. 8 that yielded yet another 33 boxes from a storeroom with more than 100 classified records and more in Trump’s office and his desk. They were mixed in with magazine and newspaper articles, even some clothing. There were many empty document covers, many of those marked “Classified.”
Trump devotees were outraged. They threatened FBI agents. The GOP has made a big campaign issue of the bogus claim that all Democrats are by definition in favor of defunding the police. Now it’s the GOP that wants to defund the agency that investigates federal crimes.
A Trump-appointed judge has approved his motion to appoint a “special master” to look through thousands of pages of retrieved items for stuff that might have attorney-client privilege or executive privilege, which Trump seems to think he still has. Looks like a
Stay tuned.
Our poor, abused ex-president Trump is undergoing yet another witch hunt, generally meaning any effort to hold him accountable for bad or even illegal behavior. On Aug. 8, the FBI conducted a warrant-authorized search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound to retrieve boxes of stuff he took when he left the White House.
The FBI raid didn’t come out of nowhere. By my understanding, the feds retrieved 15 boxes of items from Trump that he took when he left the White House. This, after months of Trump blowing off National Archive efforts to get stuff back that’s supposed to stay with the government, according to the Presidential Records Act.
SoapBox Rob Pudim
Bad taste
As usual, I have strong opinions. My take is that it began in the ’70s and ’80s with the Sagebrush Rebellion – a Western states movement in which supporters favored limited federal government control over public lands, including ownership. Many wanted to see a Western landscape dotted with “For Sale” signs.
Drain the cesspool! Make America sane again!
The conservation easement (CE) lands currently administered by the City of Durango were implemented with the intent of protecting the “natural, wildlife, open space and recreational values” of the land.
There’s a reason this wasn’t an open letter to all Republicans. The extreme side of the GOP is busy! They are maneuvering and making plans to violently overthrow a legitimately elected government. For the sake of all reasonable people, let’s hope the Second Beer Hall Putsch fails.
Everything in moderation
Some e-bike proponents argue that not allowing motorized travel on CE land discriminates against humans. Rightly so! The preservation of these lands is primarily about the preservation of the land and wildlife that inhabit these lands. There are supposed to be less humans on these lands; it is the reason they were protected in the first place.
Reagan planted the seeds of mistrust of government. It’s cool to be a rebel. Reagan’s administration favored tax breaks to the wealthy (aka trickle-down economics. In other words, telling the commoners it’s raining when they’re really pissing on our backs) and deregulations (clean air, water and land are so overrated).
– Jeff Sambur, La Plata County
In Congress, the years went by with a Newt Gingrich divisive attitude between the aisles. Compromise and placing country over party became so passé. Then came the Tea Party bitching once again about high taxes and too much regulation. Oy!
Regretfully, the Republican political platform has now morphed into something strange and sinister. What the hell happened? What led up to this infamous moment in our shared history?
telegraph Sept. 15, 2022 n 7
Durango’s easements were partially funded with capital from Great Outdoors Colorado, which is steadfast in its language supporting wildlife and protecting low-impact recreation. In its request to review motorized access on CE-administered lands, the La Plata Open Space Conservancy risks running afoul of the IRS and jeopardizing its very existence as a non-profit.
I am a criminal defense attorney and a libertarian, and I do not support outlawing canned whipped cream sales to people under 21. I think it’s stupid. I also think your article encouraging children to try huffing nitrous oxide from whipped cream cans is stupid. I had a teenage client
As moderate and reasonable Republicans, you are now faced with a lose-lose situation. Flush the GOP of Trumpism starting with the 147 congressmen and six senators who voted to overturn the election results based on an alternative reality – or walk away and start a third party. Maybe call it Whigs II. I know. Tough choices, but it’s high time you grew a spine. This dark moment in our history occurred under your watch. Deal with it.
Slow down on e-bikes
Please, Durango leadership, let’s not be the community that falls on its sword and wastes sales tax funds by undermining the foundation of the conservation ethic for a joy ride on an e-bike.
The movement gained traction when presidential candidate Ronald Reagan dramatically proclaimed, “I happen to be one who cheers and supports the Sagebrush Rebellion. Count me in as a rebel.” A few months later at his inauguration, Reagan declared, “Government is not the solution to our problem, Government is the problem.” Here’s the leader of the federal government dissing the organization he represents. Now isn’t that special?
In 2009, a Harvard-educated Black man moved into the White House for eight years. For many white people, this was an “End of Days” scenario. When Obama’s cycle was done, the drawn-out process of transfer of presidential power began. Out of the depths of an overflowing Porta Potty rose the GOP candidate. A loathsome liar with a history of placing his hands where they don’t belong. As a D.C. outsider, he promised to “drain the swamp,” hire only the “best” and build the Great Wall of Racism with Mexican Pesos. The demagogue pointed his fat finger at Muslims, Mexicans and immigrants, blaming them for our woes. The con man perpetrated the myth of Obama’s African birth. He was “telling it like it is.” Mobs loved it.
Editor’s note: The following is in response to the Sept. 1 issue’s “Sign of the Downfall” (not an article) that made light of (did not endorse) New York state prohibiting the sale of the chargers used to dispense whipped cream to people 21 and under in an effort to curb the inhalation of nitrous oxide. To be clear, The Durango Telegraph officially does not endorse people doing whippets.
The Trumpism movement attracted the attention of Libertarians, NRA gun nuts, CINO’s (Christians in Name Only), JINO’s (Jews in Name Only) and, of course, wellarmed White Supremacists. All these strange bedfellows had found their leader. We know what happened next.
die, just keel over and die, from huffing a can of air duster a couple years ago. When kids read articles like this, they are going to think it’s harmless. It’s not. It can kill you. Your article was horribly irresponsible.–
Blake Fredrickson, Durango
Marshall R. Sumrall, Durango
The Party of Lincoln allowed the Fox Fake News Network into the hen house. Moderates like yourselves are culpable to the recent chaos and calamity heaped onto our 224-year-old democracy. But, you can now be part of a sensible solution. It wasn’t all that long ago the GOP preached fiscal responsibility, the “compassionate conservatism” of George W. Bush and family values.
by Jonathan Thompson
Thehappening.U.S.uranium industry has been on a downward slide since the 1980s. First, the 1979 Three Mile Island incident gave Americans the nuclear power jitters (Chernobyl, in ’86, didn’t help matters). Then, the Cold War ended, allowing the fissionable material in dismantled nuclear warheads to be downgraded to a concentration that could be used as reactor fuel, and opening up Russian and former Soviet republic markets to the world. Uranium prices dropped significantly, gutting the domestic mining industry. Now, at least 95% of all of the uranium used to fuel American reactors is imported from Kazakhstan, Canada, Australia, Russia and other countries.
upUraniumandup
After the Fukushima disaster, it seemed as if nuclear power would gradually fade away, at least in the U.S. New conventional reactors are simply too expensive to build and low natural gas prices and a flood of new renewables on the power grid threatened to make the existing, aging nuclear fleet obsolete. But as the effects of
The Land Desk is a newsletter from Jonathan P. Thompson, author of “River of Lost Souls,” “Behind the Slickrock Curtain” and “Sagebrush Empire.” To subscribe, go to: www.landdesk.org
Any of these initiatives, on their own, can’t revive the U.S. uranium industry. But this mild resurgence in nuclear power, paired with the fallout (only figurative, we hope) of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has caused the price of uranium to double over the last couple of years. If that trend continues – and if the federal government pitches in subsidies for the industry – it might be enough to make U.S. uranium mining economically feasible and spark renewed interest in the Uravan Mineral Belt.
LandDesk
I’m here with Thurston and Soren Jespersen to take a look at myriad wounds inflicted by the mining industry, most still gaping and oozing with uncovered waste rock, rusty equipment and other detritus decades after they were last active. But this is more than a journey into the past; it’s also a look at what might happen again in the not-so-distant future. A renewed interest in nuclear energy as a low-carbon power source and a desire to source reactor fuel domestically could wake the U.S. uranium industry from its long dormancy and rouse some of the mineral belt mines back into action.
climate change become more and more apparent, and the sense of urgency around the need to decarbonize the power sector intensifies, climate hawks are giving nuclear power a new look.
But, thanks to local political opposition, Bennet’s bill leaves out the lower 100 river miles – along with serpentine canyons, slickrock expanses, isolated mesas and the western edge of the Uncompahgre Plateau. Jespersen and Colorado Wildlands Project are looking to up protections on that remaining section, specifically the area from the Dolores River’s confluence with the San Miguel River downstream. During uranium mining times, much of that section of river was dead, thanks to tailings and other waste dumped into the river from the mills and mines. But still other areas remain relatively unmarred and even qualify for wilderness designation.
telegraph8 n Sept. 15, 2022
The Uravan Mineral Belt, which roughly follows the lower Dolores River in western Colorado, slices perpendicularly across the Paradox Valley just like the river, giving it its name. The mineral belt, meanwhile, got its name from the elements that lie within: vanadium and uranium. The belt was the center of the radium boom from the early 1900s into the 1920s and was ravaged for uranium from the 1940s into the 1980s. Vanadium was mined here in between.
Jespersen is taking a different tack, he explains as we stand next to the confluence of the San Miguel and Do-
I
“Here we go again. Are we going to stumble blindly down the same path?” Jespersen, of Colorado Wildlands Project, said earlier in the day, as we examined what looked a tombstone-looking monument marking the internment site of nearly 1 million tons of radioactive tailings from the Naturita Mill. Thurston and Jespersen are both working, in their own way, to prevent that from
The Diablo Canyon nuclear plant outside San Luis Obispo, Calif., for example, is scheduled to shut down in 2025, but now California Gov. Gavin Newsom is leading a push to keep it open longer. His reasoning: The state’s grid doesn’t have the renewable generation capacity yet to replace the big plant, meaning if it were to close now, grid operators would have to rely on carbon-emitting natural gas-fired Meanwhile,generation. aBillGates-backed firm called TerraPower is working to build an advanced nuclear reactor in Kemmerer, Wyo., and Oregon startup NuScale is looking to install a battery of small modular reactors at the Idaho National Laboratory to sell power to small, Western utilities.
lores rivers, swatting away pesky horse flies. His organization was formed with the aim of achieving landscape level protection for Bureau of Land Management lands on the Colorado Plateau. In this case, they are looking at the Dolores River watershed, specifically the lower, northern end, which manages to be spectacular, remote and industrialized by uranium mining, all at once.
“Mining has to be part of this energy solution,” Thurston says. “The problem is, mining is not just about siting, but also bringing regulations into modern times and the future. It’s about convincing the government it’s not 1872 Thurstonanymore.” hastirelessly worked to bring regulations and regulators out of the 19th century, sometimes by dragging them into court. She was instrumental in the fight to block a proposal to build a uranium mill in the Paradox Valley several years ago, and more recently has forced regulators to revoke long-idled mines’ “temporary cessation” status, clearing the way for them to be cleaned up.
A piece of that is moving forward. In July, Sen. Michael Bennet introduced a bill that would establish a National Conservation Area along the Dolores River from McPhee Dam to the San Miguel County line, just upstream from Bedrock and the Paradox Valley. That would add a layer of protections to a 76-mile stretch of the river corridor, including prohibiting new mining claims. However, it would not stop mining on existing claims or Department of Energy leases, both of which are abundant.
Jennifer Thurston, the executive director of the Colorado mining watchdog group INFORM, tells me there are 1,300 mining sites, abandoned and otherwise, in the Dolores and San Miguel river basins. This makes them among the most heavily mined sites in the West. And it shows.
Then we drive into the heart of the wreckage on a nearby mesa. “This whole formation is basically Swiss cheese,” Thurston says. We go out to a point where we can look out on the landscape and see the web of roads scraped through the piñon, juniper and sagebrush decades ago to give prospectors access to every inch of this vast space. It’s heartbreaking to see, but hopeful, too, as the land is slowly healing. Yet it’s infuriating to think that the wounds may one day be torn open again.
As land heals, threats of wounds reopening persist
t’s one of those days when the clouds pile up in the azure blue, their shadows gliding across the sandstone and sage, offering a bit of relief from the summer heat. They also promise rain, but I have my doubts. This is the Paradox Valley, after all, which lives up to its name in more way than one, a place of beauty and brutality.
TopStory
by Jonathan Romeo
&
Buy • Sell • Trade • Consign ~ Home Furnishings ~ Clothing ~ Accessories ~ Jewelry 572 E. 6th Ave. • 970-385-7336
Atop the list? Peeing outside porta potties, of course. Smelly bodies, duh (important: Pitchfork was ranked smelliest festival; take that hipsters!). PDA and “showing a lot of skin” were also mentioned, although we’re not sure what’s wrong with that. Talking during a set; that’s a gimme. And, not surprisingly, over-the-top drug and alcohol use, which likely plays a part in all these unbecoming behaviors.Now,we’re not here to pooh-pooh alcohol and drug use, if that’s your thing. But, use of substances has become so dominant in our culture that most people couldn’t fathom
For Tico Time owner Robert Holmes, hosting a sober music festival is personal. Holmes is a recovering alcoholic
From Patagonia, Blundstone, Born Sundance,
“It’s open to anyone who wants to have a fun weekend without drugs and alcohol,” he said.
And it’s true, there does seem to be a growing movement of people choosing to abstain from alcohol and drugs (known by its buzzword, “sober curious”). Similar music festivals have been held across the country, and even alcohol-free bars are cropping up in cities, though you’d probably run into those smelly hipsters there.
Fun
who also suffered from drug addiction but has been sober for 20 years. “A huge part of my journey has been showing people you can have fun sober,” he said.
Serenity now without alcohol or drugs? Tico Time hosts sober music festival to prove it
A
great brands like
Turning a leaf
Tico Time held its first sober music festival last summer, when it was called Sober Fest. That year, however, the event had a small budget and low turnout, mainly because of the inaccurate perception it was exclusively for people in recovery. This time around, Holmes said, organizers are trying to get the message out that Serenity Fest is open to all.
Like many people in recovery, Holmes started using at an early age. By college, his addiction and destructive behavior had gotten so bad he was getting in trouble with the law and becoming a risk to himself and others. “I was doing bad things I would have never done sober,” he said.
telegraph Sept. 15, 2022 n 9
few years ago, Four Loko (yes, that Four Loko) surveyed nearly 2,000 people throughout 16 major music festivals across the country, asking what were the most annoying behaviors witnessed throughout the event.
the idea of having fun at a music festival without them (us included).ButTico Time River Resort is here to challenge that notion. Beginning on Thursday, Tico Time will host Serenity Festival, a four-day, family-friendly celebration of wellness and sobriety. And it’s not just open to people in recovery –anyone who wants to enjoy a weekend of music, workshops, yoga and outdoor recreation without the use of substances are also welcome.
SSummer Cleearrance & Faallll Iteemms CComming Ouutt!
Out to prove you can have fun without substances, Tico Time River Resort, south of Durango, will put on a four-day festival packed with musicians, workshops, yoga and all kinds of activities./ Courtesy photo
“So often in life, you go to a wedding, birthday party, anything, really, and people are drinking and/or using drugs, and to not take part makes you feel completely out of place,” he said. “I thought life wasn’t going to be fun anymore; I just couldn’t picture ever enjoying life again. But the opposite has happened.”
“It’syear.hard to get momentum with an event like this,” he said. “But we’ll have a decent turnout and put on an amazing experience regardless.”
Taking control
from p. 9
“It’s always been a dream of mine to have a huge sober party and really show people that it is possible to have fun sober,” he
Indeed, Tico Time’s other events have been well attended. The possible major X factor there? Drugs and alcohol.
Blaine Bailey, director of the Durango-based nonprofit In the Weeds, which offers support to the health of restaurant and hospitality staff, will also set up a tent at Serenity Fest. Bailey said substance abuse is a big part of service industry culture, and it’s not talked about enough.
“(A sober event like Serenity Fest) shows people they can still have fun without alcohol or drugs,” he said. “I’m not considered sober, but I know I used to not feel comfortable in an environment like a festival without a beer in my hand or taking a shot. I had to rebuild a positive relationship with events like that and get control.”
a music festival),” she said. “This is for anyone who wants to have a good time and challenge themselves to not partake in any mind-altering substances.”
“When I found my way to live a life of purpose and service
Ecker will be at Serenity Fest to offer a community-focused, sober drum circle through his company Drumming Sounds, which he runs with his partner, Monica Patton. Ecker said there’s mounting evidence that music can help with wellness and mental health. And, he said, he’s walking proof.
A different option
Serenitysaid.Fest
“People don’t always want to be exposed to (the chaos of
Consider it a challenge
Grace has attended and produced a number of music festivals in her time. But, she said, most are drunken affairs. Serenity Fest, on the other hand, challenges people to have a good time without substances.
Attempts to reach event organizers were unsuccessful. But in a statement, one of the founders, Ashley Handby, said, “Sundown is on a mission to normalize healthy nightlife for those who are sober-curious, in recovery or who may want a different option for just tonight.”
features a packed lineup of music from all genres – Americana, reggae, EDM – all with sober-oriented musicians with positive messages. On top of that, there will be a seemingly non-stop run of workshops, recovery meetings and yoga. Christy Grace, event producer, also said all of Tico Time’s usual offerings – kayaking, tubing, water slides, zip line, etc. – will be going on.
Sober music festivals have been cropping up in recent years. In Denver, for instance, the Sundown Colorado festival last year drew an estimated 1,000 people. This year, the event, which will be held Sept. 24, will feature live music, a meditation tent, wellness workshops and non-alcoholic beers and cocktails.
It’s true – Holmes has learned to have fun at festivals, bars and parties without substance use. In fact, to celebrate one year of sobriety, he even threw a kegger for his friends. And, whenever he’s had the chance, he’s hosted sober events like campouts. But nothing on the level of Serenity Fest.
Tico Time’s Holmes said, as it stands, ticket sales are not great for Serenity Fest. As a result, the event will likely lose money and may have to be put on at a smaller scale next
At age 19, however, facing jail time, Holmes made a pledge to remain sober and went to rehab. He’s held true to his vow ever since. But one of the hardest things in recovery, Holmes said, was learning how to have fun and go to social events without drinking or taking drugs.
Andrew Ecker grew up in a household where both his parents were addicted to drugs and eventually died because of their addiction. He, too, was headed down that path. While in prison for selling drugs, however, he said he had a spiritual awakening and realized he wanted to break the cycle and do something better with his life. Now, he’s 23 years clean.
SerenityFest
10 n Sept. 15, 2022 telegraph
“There will always be several options going on at all times throughout the festival for people to experience different activities that are positive and uplifting,” she said.
“That’s the norm, and it’s sad that’s the way the world is,” Holmes said. “I’m not against drugs and alcohol, but I know it’s possible to have a great time and feel better without doing drugs and alcohol.”
to the community, I found drumming,” he said. “Now, we use drumming as an opportunity to start a conversation about mental health.”
Celine Michelle playing Tico Time’s SoberFest last year./ Courtesy Photo
Move over cauliflower crust pizza, I thought. In the never-ending hunt to find ways to use zucchini, this was a brilliant addition to the arsenal.
“Slice them up and cover the slices with pizza toppings,” she said, “and bake them into little zucchini pizzas.”
When life gives you zucchinis, make zuch-izza (hot dogs optional)
Sliced meat or vegetable for toppings
Before I get into the recipes, here are some general tips on preparing zucchini pizza.It’s mandatory that you salt the zucchini after you slice it. This step, called “disgorgement,” is worth doing on all watery vegetables, like eggplant and sometimes cucumber, depending on the context, as well as zucchini and other summer squash. The salt draws water out of the plant cells and prevents the dish from becoming a soggy, watery mess.
BLTizza SlicedSlicedOliveSaltZucchinioiltomatoesbacon
Slice the zucchini as appropriate, with no slice being larger than 3/4-inch, and sprinkle with salt. Wait 20-30 minutes, and pat Arrangedry.the disgorged zucchini on a baking tray. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to each piece and spread it around.
As zucchini come in so many shapes and sizes, it’s impossible to give exact quantities. Use your best judgment. If it looks like pizza as you’re making it, you’re on the right track.
FlashinthePan Gad-zukes!
by Ari
FreshOliveSaltZucchinioilbasil leaves
To disgorge zucchini, slice it and sprinkle the cut sides with salt. Let sit for 20-30 minutes, and then pat the slices dry.
Normal Pizza (aka pizza margherita)
spaghetti or pizza sauce
Aged balsamic vinegar (optional)
Fresh, sliced mozzarella cheese
Add the basil leaves to each piece of zucchini. Cover the leaves with mozzarella slices. Lay tomato slices over the mozzarella.Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Remove, and allow to cool. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar, if desired, and serve.
Grated parmesan or Italian blend
Fresh tomato slices
I returned home laden with zucchini, including the normal ones, long and slender like cucumbers, as well as some of my friend’s 8-balls, and a few patty pan summer squash, which are shaped like flying saucers. When I had them back in the lab, I got to experimenting.
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SliceMayothe zucchini as appropriate, with no slice being larger than 3/4-inch, and sprinkle with salt. Wait 20-30 minutes, and pat dry. Mix the onions and mayo. Arrange the disgorged zucchini on a baking tray. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to each piece and spread it around. Add the tomato slices and then bacon slices. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Remove, and allow to cool.
Caprizza
If you’re using round, 8-ball-style zucchini, you will be able to salt both sides of each slice. If you’re using “normal” long, tube-shaped zucchini, slice them end to end into boats, and cut a flat spot on the opposite side of each slice so it can sit flat and not roll over. These slices will then also have two cut sides to salt. If using patty pan squash, slice them through their equators and cut off the blossom and stem ends to create flat spots to similarly keep
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them from rolling, and these, too, will have two cut sides to salt.
ALeVaux
Slice the zucchini as appropriate, with no slice being larger than 3/4-inch, and sprinkle with salt. Wait 20-30 minutes, and pat Arrangedry.the disgorged zucchini on a baking tray. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to each piece and spread it around. Add a few tablespoons of sauce, spread it around, and then sprinkle with cheese. Add the toppings until it looks like pizza, and bake for 20 minutes at 400.
Tomato-basedOliveSaltZucchinioil
With these recipes in hand, you may never suffer from too many zucchini again.
t my local farmers market the other day, I was watching the stand of a farmer friend as he made the rounds. I chatted with shoppers, taking their money as if I was the farmer and silently taking credit for all the amazing produce I did not grow. One customer bought a pile of 8-ball summer squash, a type of round zucchini. “What are you going to do with them?” I asked.
Minced onion
Sept. 15, 2022 n 11telegraph
I tried several toppings, including a traditional style pizza with red sauce, cheese and sliced hot dogs, hoping to lure the children on board. I made some with fresh tomatoes rather than red sauce. I made some “white” pizzas without any tomatoes at all, which makes zero sense this time of year, but in the spirit of research, I gave it a shot. The best combinations were the aforementioned traditional style with red sauce and cheese, as well as a BLT-inspired one – aka BLTizza — with bacon, tomatoes, a mixture of fresh onions and mayo. But everyone’s favorite was the Caprese version with tomato, mozzarella and basil, which I call Caprizza.
When cool, top with the mayo onion mixture, and serve.
Serenity Festival, Tico Time Resort, near Aztec. Event runs through Sept. 18. ticotimeresort.com.
Live music, 5 p.m., Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.
Serenity Festival, Tico Time Resort, near Aztec. Event runs through Sept. 18. ticotimeresort.com.
Silverton Summer Sounds: Stillhouse String Band plays, 6 p.m., Memorial Park, Silverton, 1800 Greene St.
Bayfield Farmers Market, 8 a.m., 1328 CR 501.
Dustin Burley plays, 5 p.m., Fur Trappers Steakhouse, 701 E. 2nd Ave.
Thursday Speaker Series: Mike Just, 6:30 p.m., Fenceline Cider, Mancos
Saturday17DurangoFarmers
Palo Brea plays, 6 p.m., Fenceline Cider, Mancos.
Two Faces West plays, 7-10 p.m., 11th Street Station.
Silent Disco, 10 p.m.-12:30 a.m., 11th Street Station.
The Deaf & The Musician, a Utah duo combining music with sign language, play, 5 p.m., Mancos Brewing.
Live music, 5 p.m., Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.
Patrick Crossing plays, 7-10 p.m., 11th Street Station.
,
Roots of Wisdom: Native Knowledge, Shared Science, opening day of exhibit, 9 a.m., Powerhouse Science Center, 1333 Camino del Rio.
Banff Mountain Film Festival, 7-9 p.m., Fort Lewis College’s Community Concert Hall. sanjuancitizens.org/banff
Pianos in the Park, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Minium Park, Aztec. Festival featuring music and food, performances by students and professionals.
Animas Valley Grange Community BBQ Picnic, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., free and open to the public, bring food to share, 7271 County Road 203.
Dustin Burley plays, 6 p.m., Union Social House, 3062 Main Ave.
Serenity Festival, Tico Time Resort, near Aztec. ticotimeresort.com.
Autumn Gallery Walk, 5 p.m., downtown Durango at participating galleries.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, 7 p.m., Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave.
plays, 10 a.m.-12 noon, Jean-Pierre Bakery & Restaurant, 601 Main Ave.
Devo Film Festival, dual slalom race 4:30-6:30 p.m., feature film “Esperanto,” 7 p.m., Chapman Hill.
Brezzin plays, 6-9 p.m., Fox Fire Farms, Ignacio.
Jack Ellis & Larry Carver play, 6-9 p.m., Fur Trappers Steakhouse, 701 E. 2nd Ave.
Banff Mountain Film Festival, 7-9 p.m., Fort Lewis College’s Community Concert Hall. sanjuancitizens.org/banff
Artists in the Parklet: Steve Moffe, 5:30 p.m., Maria’s Bookshop, 960 Main Ave.
Ben Gibson plays, 2 p.m., Fur Trappers Steakhouse, 701 E. 2nd Ave.
Kirk James Band plays, 6-9 p.m., Gazpacho, 431 E. 2nd Ave.
Jack Ellis & Larry Carver play, 6 p.m., Derailed Pour House, 725 Main Ave.
Fall Art Walk at The ArtRoom Collective, 5-8 p.m., Smiley Café, 1309 E. 3rd Ave.
History Lives! presents “Sen. Teller Campaigns in Durango, 1896!” re-enactment at 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m. & 2:15 p.m., D&SNGRR Depot.
Friday16GaryWalker
Alex McCue plays, 1-4 p.m., 11th Street Station.
Community Yoga, 6-7 p.m., Yoga Durango, 1485 Florida Rd. Donations accepted.
Book Lovers Club, 6 p.m., Durango Coffee Company, 730 Main Ave.
Trivia Night, 6:30 p.m., Powerhouse Science Center, 1333 Camino del Rio.
Veterans Benefit Breakfast, 9 a.m., VFW Post 4031, 1550 Main Ave.
Live music, 7-10 p.m., 11th Street Station.
Ska-BQ with A-Mac & the Height, 5 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.
Pallo Brea plays, 6 p.m., Durango Hot Springs.
7 a.m.–7 p.m., La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave.
Fiesta on the Mesa, 4-7 p.m., FLC Student Union Plaza. Kick off for Hispanic Heritage Month.
“2022 Faculty Biennial,” opening reception, 4:30-6 p.m., The Art Gallery at Fort Lewis College.
Thursday15KiwanisPancakeDay
Live music, 5 p.m., Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.
The Jeff Solon Jazz Duo plays, 6-8 p.m., Lola’s Place, 725 E. 2nd Ave.
Artists in the Parklet: Laurie Benson, 4 p.m., Maria’s Bookshop, 960 Main Ave.
Artists in the Parklet: Rhenna St. Clair, 5 p.m., Maria’s Bookshop, 960 Main Ave.
Terry Rickard plays, 6-9 p.m., Union Social House, 3062 Main Ave.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, 7 p.m., Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave.
The ArtRoom Collective Autumn Exhibition & Market, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Smiley Café, 1309 E. 3rd Ave. canvas stretching demonstration by Chrisy Garrou, 3 p.m., oil painter Sharon Abshagen, 4 p.m.
Lawn Chair Kings play, 2-5 p.m., Enterprise, Rico.
Jack Ellis Band plays, 6 p.m., Fur Trappers Steakhouse, 701 E. 2nd Ave.
Matt Rupnow plays, 6 p.m., The Office, 699 Main Ave.
Sunday18DurangoFleaMarket, 8 a.m., La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave.
12 n Sept. 15, 2022 telegraph noon.atMondayissubmissionsDo”to“StuffforDeadlineStufftoDo item,ansubmitTo calendar@durangotelegraph.comemail:
iAM Music Fest, 4:30 p.m., Studio & (outdoor stage), 1027 Main Ave.
iAM Music Fest (late night stage), 9:30 p.m., The iNDIGO Room, 1315 Main Ave.
Ben Brinton plays, 6 p.m., Fenceline Cider, Mancos.
Market, 8 a.m.-12 noon, TBK Bank parking lot, live music by Victor Andrada.
Ru Paul’s Drag Race Watch Party, every Friday, 68 p.m., Father’s Daughters Pizza, 640 Main Ave.
Durango Autumn Arts Festival, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., E. Second Ave. between College Drive and 10th St.
Ben Gibson plays, 6 p.m., Weminuche Woodfire Grill, Vallecito.
Serenity Festival, Tico Time Resort, near Aztec. Event runs through Sept. 18. ticotimeresort.com.
Share Your Garden Thursdays, bring extra veggies and fruit for people in need, 8:30 a.m., Animas Valley Grange, 7271 CR 203.
Live music, 5 p.m., The Office, 699 Main Ave.
Live music, 5 p.m., The Office, 699 Main Ave.
MELD: New work from Jon Bailey, opening reception, 5-9 p.m., Studio &, 1027 Main Ave. Exhibit runs Sept. 16-24.
The Deaf & The Musician, Utah duo combining music with sign language, play, 6 p.m., Fenceline Cider, Mancos.
Dear Rachel,
Comedy Open Mic, 8 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.
Live music, 5 p.m., The Office, 699 Main Ave.
Dave Mensch plays, 5 p.m., Anarchy Brewing, 225 E. 8th Ave.
telegraph Sept. 15, 2022 n 13
Kirk James plays, 12 noon-3 p.m., Hillcrest Golf Course.
This is why I pooh-pooh most conspiracy theories. The U.S. government is too cumbersome, too bulky, to get anything at all done efficiently, let alone creatively, which is what any good conspiracy requires. You think you’re so special that the gubmint will spy on you, given the choice of 300 million people? The gubmint can’t even zip its own fly. I, too, want my loans forgiven, but I’m not holding my breath until we actually land a man on the moon.
Open Mic, 6 p.m., Mountain Monk Coffee, 558 Main Ave.
Monday19Livemusic , 5 p.m., The Office, 699 Main Ave.
Tyler Reed Smith plays, 7-10 p.m., 11th Street Station.
– Some Sommelier
I’m all on board with this student loan forgiveness thing. I don’t even benefit personally, except that what benefits all my brothers and sisters benefits me, too. But the problem several of my brothers and sisters are running into is stuff like having to log into some account they haven’t used in two decades to see what grants they got back in college. How are people supposed to remember that? Shouldn’t the all-knowing government remember who it gave money–to?
Open Mic, 7 p.m., Weminuche Woodfire Grill, Vallecito.
Trivia Night, 6 p.m., Zia’s north, 2977 Main Ave.
OngoingTellurideBlues
Dear Rachel,
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, 7 p.m., Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave.
Open Mic Night, weekly 7:30-9:30 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.
Email questions to telegraph@durangotelegraph.com
Interesting fact: “To the nines” is a reference to the nine Muses, unless it’s a corruption of some Scottish phrase “to then eyne,” meaning “to the eyes.” Me, I like to dress to the fives. Occasionally the sevens.
Wednesday21EconomicDevelopment
Dear Screwy, Best bet is to get some new friend named Grace and have her open wine bottles with you. Ba dum! Otherwise, I recommend holding off on having this guy over until your student loans get forgiven later this year, or else in about 2026 pending court challenges, and invest in some Hammacher Schlemmer quality opener gadget. Or do what I did once, and screw that corkscrew right through the screw top lid, and yank it all off as one.
Dustin Burley plays, 6 p.m., Weminuche Grill, Vallecito.
Devin Scott plays, 1-4 p.m., 11th Street Station.
Durango Autumn Arts Festival, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., E. Second Ave. between College Drive and 10th St.
Summit, 8 a.m., Sky Ute Casino, Ignacio.
Dear There’sRachel,something I want to know about festivarian clothing. If this is the stuff that
Live music, 5 p.m., Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.
Little Brother
Leah O plays, 3 p.m., Fur Trappers, 701 E. 2nd Ave.
Comedy Show, 6:30 p.m., Olde Tymers, 1000 Main Ave.
In Store Author Event: Chuck Greaves, 6 p.m., Maria’s Bookshop, 960 Main Ave.
If weirdness were normal, then normal would be weird. Don’t you see it’s a perpetual cycle? Like a lightup hula-hoop with everlasting batteries. As soon as businessmen wear multicolored hemp skirts to board meetings, festivarians will wear three-pieces with wingtips. I’m all for being yourself, but let’s leave the concert duds (and the foot fungus) where they belong.
Shock Wave Drag Night, first and third Friday of every month, 9 p.m., Father’s Daughters Pizza, 640 Main Ave. 18+
DURANGO COMMUNITY RADIO AT FORT LEWIS COLLEGE 91.9 93.9 KDUR.ORG REAL radio, REAL people
History Live Durango! “Discovering the Untold Stories of Durango’s Past,” 6-7:30 p.m., Maria’s Bookshop, 960 Main Ave. Panel of community members will present published works and oral histories on the Southwest.
– To the nines, Rachel
Dear Muddy Feet,
Live music, 5 p.m., Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.
– It’s all connected, Rachel
Comedy Open Mic, weekly, 9 p.m., 11th St. Station.
Dear Loan Bro,
Live music, 5 p.m., The Office, 699 Main Ave.
& Brews Festival, Sept. 15-18, Telluride. tellurideblues.com
– Always a rich mouthfeel, Rachel
Stand, every Tuesday, 3-5:30 p.m., 165 Tipple Ave.
Devin Scott plays, 6:30 p.m., The Office, 699 Main Ave.
That’s So Durango, art show thru Sept. 29. Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave. durangoarts.org.
Geeks Who Drink Trivia, 8 p.m., The Roost, 128 E. College Dr.
I need some help learning how to open bottles of wine. I’ve always gone the screw-top, boxed or – best of all – an already open bottle at a friend’s house approach. But now I’m dating this dude who’s a bit of a snob, but it’s still endearing, so I want to impress him when he comes to my house. But I’m worthless with a corkscrew. I went to YouTube to teach me how, but I want you to teach me how to do so with grace.
AskRachelLoaners, 24/7 festy wear and wining & dining
Tuesday20TwinButtesFarm
Banned Books Art Contest, 6 p.m., The Hive, 1150 Main Ave.
– Decked Out
Bill Boyer plays, 4 p.m., Fenceline Cider, Mancos.
makes people happy, why don’t they wear it all the time? Dudes in flowing skirts, chicks in shorts that leave their butt cheeks dangling out, grandmas in leather, grandpas in muscle shirts – this should be acceptable in daily life, not just when bands are playing on a field somewhere. How can we make weirdness the norm?
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian author Richard Ford has advice for writers:
pect her theory will be true for you in the coming weeks. You have done an adroit job of formulating your intentions and collecting the information you need to carry out your intentions. What may be best now is to relax your focus as you make room for life to respond to your diligent preparations. “I’m a great believer in luck,” said my Uncle Ned. “I’ve found that the harder I work, the more luck I have.” He was correct, but it’s also true that luck sometimes surges your way when you’ve taken a break from your hard work.
“Poetry is a life-cherishing force,” said Pulitzer Prize-winner Mary Oliver, who published 33 volumes of poetry and read hundreds of other poets. Her statement isn’t true for everyone, of course. To reach the point where reading poetry provides our souls with nourishment, we may have to work hard to learn how to appreciate it. Some of us don’t have the leisure or temperament to do so. In any case, Cancerian, what are your lifecherishing forces? What influences inspire you to know and feel all that’s most precious about your time on earth? Now would be an excellent time to ruminate on those treasures – and take steps to nurture them with tender ingenuity.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
14 n Sept. 15, 2022 telegraph you,go,nggestsforrs. eher.)can’t Thank fanilowsourourbiggDurangyforbeinbiggestfor20years. e know(WWe w,, we believe it either
Now and then, you slip into phases when you’re poised on the brink of either self-damage or self-discovery. You wobble and lurch on the borderline where self-undoing vies with self-creation. Whenever this situation arises, here are key questions to ask yourself: Is there a strategy you can implement to ensure that you glide into selfdiscovery and self-creation? Is there a homing thought that will lure you away from the perverse temptations of self-damage and self-undoing? The answers to these queries are always yes – if you regard love as your top priority and if you serve the cause of love over every other consideration.
According to Libran poet T. S. Eliot, “What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” Those are your guiding thoughts for the coming days, Libra. You’re almost ready to start fresh; you’re on the verge of being able to start planning your launch date or grand opening. Now all you have to do is create a big crisp emptiness where the next phase will have plenty of room to germinate. The best way to do that is to finish the old process as completely as possible.
I will remind you about a potential superpower that is your birthright to develop: You can help people to act in service to the deepest truths and strongest love. You can even teach them how to do it. Have you been ripening this talent in 2022? Have you been bringing it more to the forefront of your relationships? I hope so. The coming months will stir you to go further than ever before in expressing this gift. For best results, take a vow to nurture the deepest truths and strongest love in all your thoughts and dealings with others.
Please promise me you will respect and revere your glorious star power in the coming weeks. I feel it’s important, both to you and those whose lives you touch, that you exalt and exult in your access to your magnificence. For everyone’s benefit, you should play freely with the art of being majestic and regal and sovereign. To do this right, you must refrain from indulging in trivial wishes, passing fancies and minor attractions. You must give yourself to what’s stellar. You must serve your holiest longings, your riveting dreams and your thrilling hopes.
FreeWillAstrology
Your mind is sometimes a lush and beautiful maze that you get lost in. Is that a problem? Now and then it is, yes. But just as often, it’s an entertaining blessing. As you wander around amidst the lavish finery, not quite sure of where you are or where you’re going, you often make discoveries that rouse your half-dormant potentials. You luckily stumble into unforeseen insights you didn’t realize you needed to know. I believe the description I just articulated fits your current ramble through the amazing maze. My advice: Don’t be in a mad rush to escape. Allow this dizzying but dazzling expedition to offer you all its rich teachings.
by Rob Brezsny
authorunmasked,”serendipity“SometimesisjustintentionsaidSagittarianElizabethBerg.Isus-
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22Dec. 21):
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Tips to get the most out of the next six weeks: 1. Be the cautiously optimistic voice of reason. Be the methodical motivator who prods and inspires. Organize as you uplift. Encourage others as you build efficiency. 2. Don’t take other people’s apparent stupidity or rudeness as personal affronts. Try to understand how the suffering they have endured may have led to their behavior. 3. Be your own father. Guide yourself as a wise and benevolent male elder would. 4. Seek new ways to experience euphoria and enchantment, with an emphasis on what pleasures will also make you healthier.
My reader Monica Ballard has this advice for you Aries folks: “If you don’t vividly ask for and eagerly welcome the gifts the Universe has in store for you, you may have to settle for trinkets and baubles. So never settle.” That’s always useful counsel for you Rams. And in the coming weeks, you will be wise to heed it with extra intensity. Here’s a good metaphor to spur you on: Don’t fill up on junk snacks or glitzy hors d’oeuvres. Instead, hold out for gourmet feasts featuring healthy, delectable entrées.
“Find what causes a commotion in your heart. Find a way to write about that.” I will amend his counsel to apply to all of you non-writers, as well. By my reckoning, the coming weeks will be prime time to be gleefully honest as you identify what causes commotions in your heart. Why should you do that? Because it will lead you to the good decisions you need to make in the coming months. As you attend to this holy homework, I suggest you direct the following invitation to the universe: “Beguile me, mystify me, delight me, fascinate me and rouse me to feel deep, delicious feelings.”
“I am lonely, yet not everybody will do,” observed Piscean author Anaïs Nin. “Some people fill the gaps, and others emphasize my loneliness,” she concluded. According to my reading of the astrological omens, Pisces, it’s your task right now to identify which people intensify your loneliness and which really do fill the gaps. And then devote yourself with extra care to cultivating your connections with the gap-fillers. Loneliness is sometimes a good thing – a state that helps you renew and deepen your communion with your deep self. But I don’t believe that’s your assignment these days. Instead, you’ll be wise to experience intimacy that enriches your sense of feeling at home in the world. You’ll thrive by consorting with allies who sweeten your love of life.
It’s impossible to be perfect. It’s neither healthy nor productive to obsess on perfectionism. You know these things. You understand you can’t afford to get bogged down in overthinking and overreaching and overpolishing. And when you are at your best, you sublimate such manic urges. You transform them into the elegant intention to clarify and refine and refresh. With grace and care, you express useful beauty instead of aiming for hyper-immaculate precision. I believe that in the coming weeks, dear Virgo, you will be a master of these services –skilled at performing them for yourself and others.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
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HaikuMovieReview‘ShimmerLake’favorite “Hole in the Wall”
telegraph Sept. 15, 2022 n 15
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Lowest Prices on Storage!
TinaReed BROKERASSOCIATE work: (970) 259-3333 x108 home: (970) 385-5750 cell: (970) 946-2902 fax: (970) 259-2919 HERITAGE HOUSE REALTORS 785 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301 intoLookingmoveuptheworld? Tina will help you find your dream home ... or at least one with indoor plumbing.
Inside/outside storage near Durango and Bayfield. 10-x-20, $130. Outside spots: $65, with discounts available. RJ Mini Storage. 970-259-3494.
Thurs: On delivery
Harmony Cleaning and Organizing
beginning the to story crime town small a through backwards way it’s Works–Lainie Maxson classifieds TeleFlashBack2002 Locals’
tion Course on the Buddhist Teaching of the Paramis. The paramis are ten universal qualities of heart, from wisdom and kindness to determination and patience, that help us navigate the ups and downs of life. Five weeks starting Wednesday, Sept. 28, 6:00-7:45 p.m. For more info, visit durangodharmacenter.org
Online at durangocowboygathering .org. No fee. Parade Oct. 1, 10:30 a.m.
Media, website building and content editing, copywriting and editing, newsletters, blogs, etc. for small, local, independent or startup businesses. www.forward pedal.com or email jnderge@gmail.com
Hero 5. A few years old but only used once or twice and otherwise just sat in a drawer. It is deserving of a more exciting owner! $150 OBO. Text 970-749-2595
Found
Carpentry and Painting Stucco repair, 707-806-3456.
Approximate office hours:
CommunityServiceCowboyParadeRegistration
1st Southwest Bank, a locally owned CDFI community bank, is seeking a commercial lender, marketing, loan & retail operations staff. FSWB offers competitive compensation, generous benefits, & career development. Join FSWB’s awardwinning team dedicated to supporting rural Colorado’s agricultural, nonprofit and small businesses. For details and to apply, visit fswb.bank/who-we-are/ careers. EOE.
Desires 2BR 2BA
Marketing Small and Local Businesses
Lost/FoundSunglasses
n 679 E. 2nd Ave., #E2
furnished house rent 6-12 mo nr town & transit. Incl W/D, wifi, bath & trash/recyc. Contact Jim at jtm.colo@gmail.com
RerunsFurnishingsHome
Tues: 9ish - 5ish
Cash for Vehicles, Copper, Alum, Etc. at RJ Metal Recycle. Also free appliance and other metal drop off. 970-259-3494.
Somatic Healing Circle
Near St. Columba Park. Email: specula1@gmail.com
WantedSrCpl
GoPro Camera
Residential, offices, commercial and vacation rentals, 970-403-6192.
Volunteers Needed Alternative Horizons is in need of vol-
BodyWorkLotusPath
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 www.durangotelegraph.com n telegraph.comclassifieds@durango
n 970-259-0133
AnnouncementsICANReopening
Insight Meditation Course Meeting the Challenges of Life with Grace: An Introductory Insight Medita-
ForSaleWoodworking Business/ Self Employment
A classic – sweet, smooth ride for cushy cruising. Been around the block but still in great shape. 42” long. $50 Text: 970-749-2595.
Descend in your body to hear its messages where feelings become sensations and sensations become images; they are the fertile ground of the subconscious where imagination leads the way of healing towards awakening. Every Thursday from 6 to 8 pm, in Durango (CO). Contact Isa Vasanti for more info. Isavasanti @gmail.com https://new-earth.circle.so/
Original cutting board designs, 13” Delta bandsaw, Delta floor mount drill press, sanders, workbench. All inclusive, $850. 970-394-4505 (cell) / 970-533-7943.
Gordon Smith FibreFlex Longboard
Susan Urban, CEO of ICAN, announces the opening of her new office in Junction Creek Commons, Durango, offering professional hypnosis, motivational speaking, and life coaching. Urban has more than 35 years of experience working with human potential development, the sub-conscious mind, and mind/body/spirit technologies. Hypnosis can help you: *Quit smoking *Gain confidence *Lose unwanted fears, habits and behaviors *Pain management *Stress reduction *Inner child work *Panic attacks *Past life regressions * Call 970-247-9617 for free phone consultation! “Anything the mind creates, the mind can transform!”
Cozy up your home: vintage dressers, mid-century modern, nightstands, patio sets, coffee tables, cool art and décor, kitchen items … Come in today! 572 E. 6th Ave. Open Mon.-Sat. 385-7336.
Massage by Meg Bush LMT, 30, 60 & 90 min., 970-759-0199.
Wed: 9ish - 3ish
Fri: Gone fishing; call first
Healing Arts
ServicesFriendly
Half-day meditation retreat at the Durango Dharma Center on October 16 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For more info, visit durangodharmacenter.org
16 n Sept. 15, 2022 telegraph TSA IS NOOW W HIRING Transpor tationt S Positions sta $19.44 Security Officerrss arr ting at 4 per hour* EtitiR oangA Dur LaPlataCoE–Durangoat gecru n y location. **Some conditions applyyerU.S. citizenship required. Equal opportunity emplo r..*Pay rate varies b y Learn more at REjobs.tsa.gov/v//eeventsventaCountyAirport TeText “DRO” to 95495 for toinformationmoreandRSVP Tuesdayy,, September 20 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Durango Airport 1000 Airport Rd. Durango, CO 81303 FREEPPAARKING
