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Ear to the ground:
“Two half-asses make a whole.” – We’re not sure if one big ass is necessarily better …
Do it for the fishies
River of denial
Taking a guided backcountry trip? Great – here’s what not to do by Marjorie “Slim” Woodruff / Writers on the Range
A night a the opera to make you feel fancy and failure all at once by Zach Hively 8
Boiling point
Off Broadway
Former NYC playwright has big dreams for local performing arts scene by Stephen Sellers 5
Now-amplified political rancor has been simmering for decades by Jonathan Thompson / Land Desk On the cover Deathly allergic to lilies, this is perhaps the only way we can appreciate them up close./ Photo by Alex Krebs
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If you’re planning a late-summer mushroom hunt or Hermosa Creek ride, be forewarned. The Hermosa Park Road, aka FR 578 – the one that parallels Purgatory’s backside – will be closed Aug. 19 –Sept. 13 so crews can replace culverts to accommodate reintroduced native Colorado River Cutthroat trout.
The closure will run from where the road crosses Sig and Relay creeks, on the east end, to the Upper Hermosa Trailhead, on the west end. Although the road will be closed to motorized traffic, foot and bike traffic will be allowed to go around the construction, via the Cutthroat Trail, which borders the road. However, these users should be prepared for creek crossings (i.e. bring a change of socks) and possible short delays.
The new culverts will help connect fragmented habitat for the fish, which were reintroduced via a joint effort of the San Juan National Forest and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The two entities have worked cooperatively for years to return the cutthroat to their native waters in the Hermosa drainage. In 2020, CPW stocked an estimated 4,000 cutthroat fingerlings and an additional 475 mature cutthroats into the upper reaches of Hermosa Creek. In addition to habitat loss, the native fish had been overfished and outcompeted by other trout species nearly to the brink of extinction over the last 100 years.
Today, the decades-long effort has resulted in the longest continuous stretch of waterway for the native Colorado River Cutthroat in the state.
CPW notes construction could have an impact on hunters as well, and hunters should keep this in mind when applying for 2024 licenses.
tributed in the finest and most discerning locations throughout the greater Durango area.
For more information on the project, contact San Juan National Forest Fish and Wildlife Program Manager Clay Kampf at clayton.kampf@usda.gov.
opinion
LaVidaLocal
Opera man
If you ever want to feel like the cream that has risen to the top of society, while simultaneously reaching the profound realization that you have wasted your life’s potential up to this moment, then I can only recommend going to the opera.
It is not the opera’s fault that you feel like an underachieving potato in a sportscoat, if you feel that way at all, which you will. The opera is simply doing what the opera does best.
What does it do best, exactly? I have no idea. I don’t speak enough Italian or Operatic or whatever language they’re singing up there. But the opera is clearly doing SOMETHING best. Their bestness is in the air of the entire event and so prevalent that it seemed only natural for me to spend $16 of someone else’s money on a little glass of bubbly.
Maybe not all operas come across so superlatively. There could feasibly be a well-intentioned nonprofit out there staging “Der Ring des Nibelungenenginennen” with an elementary-school orchestra, because that’s what they wrote the grant for. The odds of an entire grade-school symphony being superlative is slim, seeing as so few fifthgraders have 20-plus years of professional experience. I feel confident in suggesting they could not charge more than $8 for champagne.
good about your own life’s accomplishments yet?) We shall also say, without textual evidence, that he has been intimately active since the age of 16, which was probably actually middle-aged in these ancient times.
Thanks to the unobtrusive subtitle screens provided to each operagoer, I know that Don Gio brags of bedding 2,065 women (so far!), with a complete roster to prove he is not at all obsessive. Assuming a steady rate of sleepless hayhitting, without even allowing for a decreased initial success rate as he adjusted to the big leagues, ol’ Don G.V.’s cadence of conquest comes out to greater than one partner each three nights. For 15 consecutive years.
What I DO know about the opera is what I have experienced at the Santa Fe Opera, renowned for its open-air operatorium, world-class productions and tailgating in the parking lot. I have only the most glowing things to say about this organization, in case they are ever hiring for experienced operagoing copywriters.
This season, a friend took me to see a production of “Don Giovanni,” composed by Mozart (yes, THAT Mozart, the one from the movie “Amadeus”) to a libretto by Da Ponte (yes, THAT Da Ponte, the paint magnate). SPOILER ALERT: Don Giovanni is Italian or Operatic or whatever for Don Juan, which translates into English roughly as “Don Juan,” aka a person (often a man) who probably thinks he is better with the ladies (often but not always women) than he really is.
I’m serious. Let’s do the math. Donny G’s age is indeterminate, but he is coded as a young-ish nobleman. So we shall arbitrarily decide that he is a middle-aged 31, the same age Mozart was when he composed the opera. (Feeling
Thumbin’It
The City of Durango just launched a massive renewable-energy and efficiency makeover on its buildings, including lighting and water retrofits, and solar panels, which will cut not just carbon emissions but $200,000 a year in energy costs.
The new Highway 550 realignment is officially open, meaning no more Farmington Hill winter slip ‘n’ slide. Don’t worry, we’re sure people will get the hang of the roundabout eventually.
Good news for SW Colorado skiers (especially those with a Purg Pass) – Monarch just announced it got final approval for lift-served expansion into its former catskiing area, increasing its terrain by 50%
Now, if we as good mathematicians control for him being a man bragging to other men on stage, we can adjust this result by at least a factor of ten. This brings the estimated tally to one partner each month – a more likely figure, considering the Black Death wiped out a third of Europe’s population, including women, some centuries before.
Whichever figure you believe, this fictional hero is still getting it on more than YOU are. Probably because he never wasted a single day of his life pounding Oreos.
But if Don G himself is not to be believed, then neither are the sets. These meisterwerks of stagecrafting genius will have you questioning even more of your life choices. Like, sure, you are sitting in the audience of a world-class opera production, three or four free (to you) doses of Gruet effervescing in your veins; but, should you have paid more attention in that class where the teacher told you you’d be hanging drywall the rest of your life if you didn’t shape up?
Fortunately, you are spared by the entrance of the opera singers, who seem like normal everyday people at a Renaissance fair until they open their mouths. This is when you realize what a commoner you are, no matter how glitzy your getup, no matter how pricy your ticket that someone else gave you. You know that you have achieved nothing as beautiful as these performers’ voices, and that nothing but an intense amount of training and dedication could ever bring you to such fulfillment of your potential.
And who has time for training and dedication? My track record says, “Not me!” But even though I’m already older than Mozart was when he died, the opera has inspired me to believe, beyond all plausibility, that it really is never too late to pursue one’s dreams. So here I go. Really. As soon as my bubbly wears off.
– Zach Hively
SignoftheDownfall:
Really? Could this year’s presidential election get any more bizarre or surreal? Actually, don’t answer that …
Due to a shortage of nurses and medical practitioners, Durango’s Planned Parenthood will be forced to suspend services starting Sept. 6, leaving Durango without a low-cost, accessible women’s health-care clinic and abortion provider
Dreaded invasive zebra mussel larvae have been confirmed in the Colorado River near Grand Junction, presumably making their way down after infesting Highline Lake in Fruita. We’re all doomed.
A Crap-Ton of Exhibits
Apparently, there’s a museum in Williams, Ariz., dedicated to fossilized poop that’s been open since 2014, and The Downfall Department here at The Telegraph just found out. We owe you an apology. The “Poozeum” has over 7,000 crappy fossils on display ranging from microscopic to more than 20 pounds per turd, and they’re all owned by George Frandsen, who bought his first ossified piece of excrement (or a “coprolite,” as the poofessionals say) when he was 14. It’s free to enter the museum, but you pass through an overpriced gift shop on the way out wherein the Poozeum promises to “pile on a load of the unexpected.”
WritersontheRange
Reality check
Before you sign up for a guided trip, read this
by Marjorie “Slim” Woodruff
What fun: You’re going on a guided outdoor trip. As you get ready, here are some tips from actual guides about what to expect, as these patient men and women have experienced a few trips that did not go well.
First, follow the packing list. Do not leave your raingear at home because your brother tells you it never rains in the desert. If it is 100 degrees in the shade at your house and the list recommends a down parka: bring it. It can and will snow at 10,000 feet midsummer.
If the guide goes through your pack removing extraneous objects and gets the weight down from 40 to 20 pounds, do not put the discards back.
If food is provided, you will be given a preferences/allergies form. Obviously you will want the chef to know if peanuts will put you into a coma, but if you will not eat spinach or chard, include that as well.
If you employ a strict diet for reasons of philosophy – meat is murder! – or fad diets – carbohydrates are suicide! – keep it to yourself. Description of a First World resident: We define ourselves by what we refuse to eat.
If the guide tells you not to ride past the Burr Trail switchbacks in Utah, do not ride past the Burr Trail switchbacks. If the guide says, “Drink some water,” drink some water.
Be honest about your medical background. Do not, upon arrival at the first day’s campsite, mention that you have diabetes and did not say anything beforehand because you were afraid they would not allow you on the trip.
Do not lie about your physical abilities. You tell yourself you have six months to get into shape, but we know what the road to hell is paved with. Walking the dog twice a day instead of once is not a strenuous exercise routine.
Be realistic. On the first morning of a five-day mountain bike tour, a participant announced that he had never been on a bike in his life. The entire first day was spent teaching him how to ride and the itinerary readjusted to fit his needs.
Do not stop taking your medications. Medicines can have side effects. Stopping long-term medication may also have side effects. I did not know that stopping anti-depression meds could cause massive irritation until a non-medicated hiker grabbed their gear and stomped off in a snit.
Don’t be selfish. I was on a on river trip that eliminated all day hikes because one person threw a hissy about “wasting time” that could better be spent sitting on the beach drinking Mai Tais.
Don’t be a twit. I was busily bisecting bagels one morning to prepare lunches when a would-be epicurean loftily told me not to touch his bagel. “Bagels should be sliced just prior to eating.”
Everyone began demanding that I stop molesting their bagels until the senior leader chimed in. “Those bagels have been bouncing around in packs for three days! Give us a break!”
Actually try out the equipment you will rely on beforehand: Try out that new bicycle. Put up that tent, inflate that air mattress. Carry that backpack with the proposed equipment within. You may decide to abandon those hardback books.
Backpackers trek through the Canadian Rockies on a guided tour. Guided trips are a great way to experience the backcountry, but before signing up, it’s important to check egos at the door./ Photo by Dave Marston
Female guides are every bit as competent as their male counterparts. Resist “mansplaining” or telling them they look so amazing lugging gear or rowing a boat.
Guides will not break the law for you. If there is a ban on fires, they will not build a fire – even if you promise not to tell.
Every company advertises knowledgeable guides, but I have overheard some outlandish “facts” from outdoor companies. Spoiler: Rocks in the Grand Canyon are not red because they are encrusted with dust from Sedona, Ariz., nor do they attract lightning.
If you want a truly educational trip, opt for one offered by a nonprofit organization.
A guided trip can still lead to frustration. It can rain for days, high winds can make putting up a tent a chore and blisters can manifest. But if you’re prepared to accept some hardship, getting outdoors can also lead to new friendships and a more relaxed approach to adventure.
Maybe, even, it can be the trip of a lifetime.
Marjorie “Slim” Woodruff is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. She works as an educator at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. ■
Hope for happier trails
The West Slope isn’t just a geographical location, it’s a culture, shared values of community and respect – where we lend a hand and acknowledge one another’s time/space/presence. In our rural communities, this attitude of community and mutual respect is paramount, and the term “shared use” is the backbone of our U.S. public lands –shared use of the lands themselves and shared use of the trails on those lands.
In our region, we are privy to seemingly endless trails, trails that are near and dear to our hearts, trails that we all share as different user groups: horse folks, hikers, dog adventurers, hunters, birders, mountain bikers, mushroom hunters, trail runners, photographers, etc. With shared use comes great responsibility, the responsibility to check your ego and entitlement at the trailhead.
Recently, I was hiking with my pups just north of Durango on Engineer Pass Trail. I witnessed an elderly woman hiker, about 80 years old, fall on boulders as she rushed to move off the trail for mountain bikers barreling toward her with no signs of yielding. I
counted nearly 35 mountain bikers on the trail that day, and only two of those stopped and pulled off the trail for me and the dogs hiking.
Normally an overly considerate trailgoer, I held my ground in front of the rest of those bikes, and me and the pups almost got run over multiple times, got screamed at and had some other quite awkward encounters. I kept coming back to the woman I saw fall earlier and how moving off the trail isn’t very easy for a lot of our population, nor should they be expected to.
I’ve spent my career researching and working with multi-use trails on federal public land all over the West. So, like any good scientist, while still on the trail today, I polled a few groups of local hikers on their experiences with mountain bike yield protocols. They said that around Durango, cyclists don’t pull off the trail for them, that they, as hikers, are expected to step off the trail for the mountain bikes: “They are always really nice about it, they say ‘thank you’ as they race through, but they never give us the right -of-way. If you don’t move, they race right at you, run you off the trail, and it’s really scary!”
What is happening here? Why in the world would mountain bikers – who are supposed to yield to ALL other trail users in shared use – think and act this way? I was blown away. Mountain biking was my first trail love, I ride as much as I hike or run or meander with my hounds on the trails. I raced professionally for 10 years, spending 30 hours a week riding trails. I can’t fathom not stepping off the trail for others passing through on hoof, foot or braap.
All I can think is that our communal education strategies for teaching one another respect and common courtesy of shared use have gotten bulldozed by entitlement and a lack of learning trail etiquette. Perhaps this is due to lack of good signage or perhaps it is cultural learning of bad and unsafe habits from pedal friends. The shared use yield basics are: everyone yields to horses; bikers yield to everyone; and within those yields, downhill traffic yields to uphill traffic. It is a simple and effective system that keeps everyone safe and considerate.
Trail yielding doesn’t just allow you to acknowledge another human (and animals) on the trail that you are sharing, it also protects our shared-use access. The
trails exist because we all are using the trails. No one group would have access without all of us. The trail yield rules are not just for us humans either, they help keep the singletrack single!
I truly love our Western Slope attitude of community and respect because it means watching out for one another. On this day, what I saw was not our local values of kindness and respect. What I saw was one user group on our shared-use trails that feels more entitled than others to dominate the trails because they move faster.
Let’s leave the entitlement at the trailhead folks, and yield and keep that community care spirit alive over here!
In hopes of happier trails,
– Solana Kline, Dolores
“We’ll print damn near anything”
The Telegraph prides itself on a liberal letters policy. We have only three requests: limit letters to 500 words; letters must be signed by the writer; and thank-you lists and personal attacks are unwelcome. Send your profundities by Monday at noon to tele graph@durangotelegraph.com
Rebuilding Craig
Agreement helps carve a path forward for town long dependent on coal
by Allen Best
Think your fingers aren’t smudged with black coal dust? Even in the Roaring Fork Valley and Boulder County, places with no smokestacks currently in use, residents still rely upon coal power. Coal has made the lives of nearly all Coloradans easier.
That’s why the recent agreement that could result in more than $70 million being paid to a city and county in northwestern Colorado deserves attention. It is the strongest evidence yet of Colorado’s commitment to a just energy transition.
In 2019, Colorado targeted dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, the first milestone being a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030. Replacing coal-burning plants with cheaper, cleaner wind and solar backstopped by natural gas was the easiest route. The state is on track to have that task nearly completed by 2028.
State legislators also adopted a just transition law in 2019 that so far remains unique to Colorado. The law declared a “moral commitment to assist the workers and communities that have powered Colorado for generations.”
Noble intention. What does it mean in practice?
Our most concrete example comes from Craig, a city of 9,000 set amid the sagebrush of the Yampa River Valley. Nearby are three coal-burning units supplied by two local coal mines. Together they deliver 43% of the property tax base for Craig and Moffat County as well as hundreds of reasonably well-paying jobs.
Other Colorado communities will also lose jobs but with lesser impact. Moffat County’s job loss will be 5.1 times that of nearby Routt County, 16.8 times the projected percentage loss in Morgan County in northeastern Col-
orado and 33.7 times that of Pueblo County.
Perhaps no other place in Colorado depends so much on one industry and one employer than Craig. Even ski towns, which depend greatly upon ski area operators, long ago began diversifying their economies. Crested Butte in the 1990s began having more lucrative months in summer than in winter. Differences in sales tax revenues between good and poor snow years vary, but not by all that much.
The settlement reached among Craig and Moffat County, environmental groups, and roughly a dozen others is complex, requiring a year-long negotiation. Notable is the voluntary participation of Tri-State Generation and Transmission, the operator of all three of Craig’s coal-burning units and owner of one of the mines.
In Colorado, Tri-State is second only to Xcel Energy in electrical generation, but it has a different business model. It’s a cooperative, owned by its members, 41 electrical cooperatives in Colorado and three other states. It argued that as a legal principle, it was not obligated to assist the communities where it is leaving coal behind. Arguably, that was true. Unlike Xcel Energy, no state law specifically mentions Tri-State.
But there is little doubt that Colorado lawmakers thought utilities – and by extension you and me – had the obligation to ease the glide path for coal-dependent communities. In the end, Tri-State stepped up. It’s a twotiered package. Four years of payments totaling $22 million will start in 2026. Tri-State also committed to paying $48 million beginning in 2028, but that money is conditional. If Tri-State reinvests in Moffat County, such as with a new natural gas plant, the tax revenue will be deducted from those payments. There’s also a water component: an
The 1,285-megawatt Craig Station, owned by Tri-State, along with two local coal mines, are slated for closure in 2028, leaving a large hole in the local economy. In 2023, the power plant and mines provided 43% of property tax revenues for Moffat County and 437 jobs. But funds from Tri-State as well as the state’s Office of Just Transitions seeks to offset those losses./ Photo by Allen Best
award to Moffat County for augmentation of water rights valued by the county up to $3 million.
These payments won’t make Craig economically whole. The town and its various school, fire and other taxing districts need to figure out how to reinvent their economic fabric. Improved rail to the Yampa Valley, as identified by state legislation earlier this year, could make a difference.
What does this mean for Pueblo and Hayden, where Xcel Energy has coalburning plants that will be retired, and at Brush, where the Pawnee plant will be converted to gas?
Xcel Energy has already agreed to pay
property taxes until 2040 on Comanche 3, the coal unit in Pueblo originally scheduled to burn coal until 2070. It is now slated to close in 2031. What else Xcel Energy may need to deliver at Pueblo and Hayden will be the subject of discussions for the next year or two. It is scheduled to deliver its thinking to state regulators by Aug. 1.
Why does this matter? This speaks to who we want to be. We can no longer afford coal. It costs more than renewables. There’s also a much greater cost, the enormous risk of climate instability. But we need to honor the coal miners and coal towns and help them move on to new careers. ■
Talking the talk
Political rancor has reached a boiling point, but is it anything new?
by Jonathan Thompson
When a man named John Hinckley shot President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981, my family and I were camping in what is now Bears Ears National Monument. I was 10 years old, and though we spent a lot of time camping and hiking and backpacking in that area, I distinctly remember that specific trip –warm days of skittering across sandstone and cold, starry nights shivering in inadequate sleeping bags. We were, of course, blissfully oblivious to the shooting and the outside world in general. There were no cell phones or internet, and turning on the radio of the old yellow Volvo that was later submerged in Comb Wash would have bordered on the heretical.
I don’t think we really learned exactly what had happened until we got home, days later. And while I have a very clear image of my family digesting the news, I honestly can’t remember what the general sentiment was. Shock? Dismay? Relief that the president was alive? Sadness at what the world had come to? Fascination at the chaotic aftermath? That certain frisson of witnessing a historic moment? Perhaps it was a mixture of all of it.
Reagan has posthumously been transformed into a gentle, grandfatherly type who cleared the way for “Morning in America,” but in reality he was a polarizing figure who implemented a slew of harmful policies and brought on dangerous cabinet members like James Watt and Anne Gorsuch. He pandered to the wealthy, championed the quackery of so-called trickle-down-economics –which ultimately would decimate the middle class – broke labor unions, and smashed environmental, worker and public health protections to clear the way for corporate profiteering. And during his campaign, he aligned himself with the Sagebrush Rebels, the movement that looked to sacrifice public lands to bulldozers, bovines, drill rigs and uranium mines.
My parents were not fans of Reagan, but I’m sure they were also horrified at what had happened. And I imagine my parents would have worried that Rea-
gan’s shooter was a liberal impelled by ideology. Forty-three years later, I’m having a sort of trans-generational deja vu as I have anxiously assumed that the man who shot at Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally was a progressive impelled by politics.
It must have been a relief back in 1981, then, to find out Hinckley wasn’t motivated by politics at all. He was a mentally ill man possessed by the delusion that he could impress actress Jodie Foster by shooting the president. Similarly, though little is known about him, it appears that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who shot at Trump, had no political or ideological beef: He was a registered Republican who once donated $15 to a liberal group’s get out the vote campaign; he was a gun enthusiast, and his high school classmates say he was an
intelligent loner, a history buff and “definitely was conservative.”
Yet in the aftermath of the Trump shooting, even as Democratic leaders condemned political violence, Republicans immediately began blaming Democrats, President Biden and the news media for, in the words of Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia, “inciting an assassination.” Collins even went further, calling for a Republican district attorney to charge Biden with a crime, saying the president “sent the orders,” whatever that means. Not that such charges would go anywhere: Trump’s handpicked Supreme Court just made presidents immune from prosecution for official acts.
J.D. Vance, Trump’s VP pick, was slightly more measured, I suppose, saying that by portraying Trump as “an au-
thoritarian fascist who must be stopped,” the Biden campaign, liberal pundits and many journalists were indirectly responsible for the attempted assassination. And then there’s Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who audaciously accused Democrats of wielding “sick, violent rhetoric” – and she kept a straight face while saying it!
Yes, many Democrats and pundits have warned of the dangers Trump, his enablers and his followers pose to Democracy and, for that matter, the planet as a whole – sometimes in a sensationalist, fear-mongering way. Most of the time, however, they (and we journalists) are simply recounting what Trump, himself, has said he would do if elected. In other words, we’re doing our job. Maybe some of Trump’s pledges are mere bluster, designed to rile up his
base, and so we shouldn’t take them seriously. But judging from the Project 2025 playbook and the GOP platform, Trump and his cronies fully intend to remake the presidency into an authoritarian regime that benefits the rich, corporations and, most of all, Trump himself. I mean, who else but a wannabe dictator repeatedly would amplify calls to subject former Rep. Liz Cheney (a hard-right Republican, mind you) to a military tribunal for daring to stand up to Trump?
Given everything Trump did – or tried to do – during his first term and since it ended, and given all he’s promised to do in the future, it’s hardly extreme or inflammatory to call on Americans to stand up and stop him. The thing is, Democratic leaders and journalists are not proposing to do that with threats of violence or by taking up arms, they’re merely pleading with folks to vote against Trump, urging them to use the ballot box, not the gun, to get things done.
Meanwhile, Trump regularly calls journalists the “enemy of the people” and praised Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte for body-slamming a reporter who dared ask a question. Trump and his sons mocked Rep. Nancy Pelosi after her husband was nearly killed by a politically motivated attacker. Trump said a “bloodbath” would result if he lost the election; and, by the way, he also said that Biden is “the destroyer of American democracy.” He agreed with the violent January 6 mob calling for lynching Mike Pence. The list goes on and on.
Of course, inciting, threatening or simply exuding violence is a central tenet of the new GOP. And that sort of violent rhetoric is part and parcel of authoritarianism. Remember when Rep. Paul Gosar circulated the anime of him murdering Rep. Alexander Ocasio Cortez? Or the time Marjorie Taylor Greene called Democrats “flat out evil” or wielded a high-caliber sniper rifle in a campaign ad? Rep. Lauren Boebert likes to put guns in her kids’ hands and make them pose for Christmas cards, and Blake Masters, the failed Trumpendorsed Arizona candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022, made a creepy ad featuring a gun that is “not a hunting rifle. It’s designed for killing.” Sure, it was only for killing “bad guys,” but in MAGA World wouldn’t that also include most immigrants, Democrats and Liz Cheney? Donald Trump Jr. retweets images of Biden bound and gagged in the bed of a pickup truck. And Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation, the organization behind Project 2025, told a podcaster: “We are in the process of a second American revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
Who is spouting violent rhetoric again?
Social media and perhaps just our latter-stage empire times have amplified the rhetoric, inflamed the culture wars and exacerbated political polarization to a dangerous degree. But the general vibe isn’t unprecedented.
In the late 1980s, as President Reagan finished his second term and the Cold War neared its end, a rightwing, nationalist furor fulminated in the heartland. Billboards sprouted along rural roadsides warning of an imminent invasion by unmarked black helicopters carrying United Nations stormtroopers intent on imposing a New World Order. The New World Order was almost as scary to the right of the 1990s, as the “woke” folk and DEI are to MAGA now. The Patriot/Militia movement rose up from these fears in tandem with the Wise Use movement, the ideological descendant of the Sagebrush Rebellion, that pushed back against environmental regulations.
Wise Use wasn’t as overtly violent as the Patriot movement, but it shared many of the same ideologies. It believed in county supremacy over the states and feds and that county sheriffs are the ultimate law enforcement authority. Wise-Use attorney Karen BuddFalen (who later worked for Trump’s Interior Department) crafted a slew of ordinances and a landuse plan for Catron County, N.M., declaring county authority over federally managed lands and, specifically, grazing allotments. The ordinances were intended to preserve the “customs and culture” of the rural West – by which they apparently meant only the predominantly white, conservative, Euro-American settler-colonial culture, with a big dose of corporate influence thrown in. Catron County commissioners were ready to turn to violence and even civil war to stop, in the words of the ordinance, “federal and state agents (who) threaten the life, liberty and happiness of the people of Catron County.”
In 1994, Helen Chenoweth – a staunch Republican, Sagebrush Rebel (she held “endangered salmon bakes” to piss off the greens) and an early Wise User – was elected to represent Idaho in Congress. Chenoweth claimed that U.S. Fish and Wildlife officers were utilizing black helicopters to enforce the Endangered Species Act and that white, Anglo-Saxon males were the real endangered species – a precursor to today’s white-nationalist “replacement theory.” After a militiafollower named Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 167 people, Chenoweth refused to condemn militias and told a news-
paper reporter that “public policies may be pushing people too far,” and therefore were partially responsible for the bloodshed.
The National Federal Lands Conference’s Federal Land Update, edited for a time by Wayne Hage, the rancher who became famous for doing battle with the federal government and went on to marry Chenoweth, regularly ranted against the New World Order and gun control. A 1994 edition included one touting the “need for the Militia in America,” eerily foreshadowing the current moment:
“What if the elitists in power also used their paid political hacks to manipulate the voting process? We do know that ANY electronic voting machine can be rigged to make sure that only the elitist chosen candidates will win. That’s when it’s time for an alert and vigilant militia to be on guard. Don’t those in power, the elitists, realize that if they continue in their ways there could be some dire consequences?”
Sound familiar? The big difference between then and now is that these threats and calls to “be on guard” were coming from the fringe; now they are coming from federal lawmakers and the former U.S. President.
In a New York Times opinion piece published shortly after the attempt on Trump’s life, Reagan’s daughter, Patti Davis, wrote that her father’s brush with death changed him: “My father believed that God spared him for a very specific reason, to end the Cold War with the Soviet Union, to try to reach some kind of agreement on nuclear weapons. It’s possible that what he and Mikhail Gorbachev achieved might not have happened had he not been shot.”
Perhaps Trump will experience a similar epiphany, though I doubt it. It is telling that, in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Trump didn’t demonstrate any concern for the safety of spectators – including the one who was tragically killed – or the Secret Service agents protecting him. As they prepared to whisk him to safety, Trump ordered the agents to “wait, wait,” before punching his fist in the air as he scowled at the audience and the cameras. He didn’t call for peace or unity, but instead incited his supporters to, “Fight, fight, fight.” ■
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
BetweentheBeats
Creative powerhouse
Transplanted NYC playwright wants to shake up local scene
by Stephen Sellers
For this week’s “Between the Beats,” I sat down with esteemed playwright and local creative rabble rouser Haleh Roshan. Roshan spent her formative years pursuing theater graduate work at NYU and working her way up the ranks to editorial director with the famed Dramatist Play Service in New York City. During the pandemic, Roshan returned to her family home in Durango with a newfound appreciation for the mountains and a vision of Durango’s future as a creative powerhouse in the Four Corners. Enjoy a snippet of our conversion.
SS: How would you describe yourself?
HR: I used to describe myself as a writer, and I feel like that’s still true, but now I feel like I’m a writer and an interdisciplinary creative collaborator.
SS: How did you come to live in Durango?
HR: My whole family has lived here for five generations or so. This is home. I essentially moved to Durango because I was living in New York City working in the performing arts, and then the pandemic happened. I couldn’t pay my mortgage anymore and there was a house in Durango that I loved. I had always wanted to live here, but prior to the pandemic, I was convinced that there was no artistic career in Durango. Like, it’s a great place to go to the hot springs, but if you want to be a working artist, that’s not where you want to be. And the pandemic totally shifted my mindset. And now I think it’s maybe one of the few places to be a working artist.
SS: Tell us the story of you finding a home in the performing arts.
HR: My entire life I was like, “Oh, I’m going to be a novelist. I’m going to be a fiction writer.” But, at the same time, I’ve always had this compulsion toward something in performance. I got an internship at Eyeball Records my freshman year of college. I did my academic career alongside unpaid jobs in the music industry. But, the music industry is not a good place for women, in general, and especially not for women between the ages of 18 - 22. It was just a bad scene. I decided to quit and go back to writing my senior year of college.
In that transition, I took a class where consuming live theater was part of it – reading play scripts and going to see some productions. That class really blew my mind. It just sort of opened this whole world for me to dive into. In my last semester, I got a job as a receptionist at Dramatist Play Service. I worked at Dramatist for about a decade and worked my way up while also going to grad school for playwriting. I was also working on the side as a playwright in the downtown, noncommercial theater scenes in New York City.
When I left (Dramatist), I was the editorial director. It’s one of those millennial stories that don’t happen anymore. I was publishing 100-plus new plays per year and going to see everything that happened on Broadway and off Broadway for five years, which is over 300 shows a year.
SS: Some say that theater is dead. What do you think?
HR: That’s a question that’s tearing “Theater” with a capital “T” apart right now. And, you know, no shade to every-
body who’s making theater in Durango, it’s just that trajec tory of Broadway shows, which are the .01% of theater that gets produced. That ends up being what every single community theater across the country produces. Which really has led to this houseification of what theater is and who is excited about it. There has been this sort of absence of a developmental pipeline that encourages a breadth of new artists across the country.
SS: What are some of the things that inspire you about theater?
HR: You just need human beings and a text. Really, you just need humans. That is revolutionary on so many levels. It’s so inherently anti-capitalist, even when you get to the commercial level. It’s such an interesting way to reframe arts in general for American consumers. I’m sick of screens. I think we’re all really sick of screens, and I think especially younger people who have rarely encountered that sort of communal aspect of consuming things because even live music now – like a Taylor Swift show – is beyond entertainment. It’s a spectacle at the highest level.
SS: What’s coming up that you want to let people know about?
HR: Well, I’m hoping that I’m able to build out of a performing arts space in Durango because I have run various types of organizations from small to large. I’m hoping to turn it into an interdisciplinary producing arm that is based in Durango but has deep roots and connections in L.A., New York and Chicago to have a sort of reciprocal flow of work … and make Durango a hub for the Four Corners area, for not just performing arts but things like record production. We could make records here! Why not? I’m hoping to bring in a lot of different kinds of artists and see what works. ■
Haleh Roshan
EndoftheLine
Going the extra mile
Creating a hero’s welcome for a home-town Hardrocker
This year’s edition of the Hardrock 100 race came with a slightly different slant to it. A co-worker of mine with the Town of Silverton’s Parks and Rec Department managed to get into the 2024 race. Quite the achievement in and of itself since you’ve got to win a spot by lottery. This is akin to getting bitten by a shark when you live in Nebraska.
This colleague has a similar humorous but eccentric perspective on life as yours truly, and when he first told us he’d gotten into the race, my drug-free but active mind immediately started envisioning scenarios. What should happen when he comes barreling down the street and crosses that finish line to “kiss the hard rock?” How can we make the race special for him? Make it something he’ll remember all those years from now when he’s sitting on his porch yelling at kids to “get off my lawn?”
Since I’m much closer to this phase of life than him, I’ve got the wisdom and resources and am quite capable of coming up with all sorts of ways to make the occasion special. What if we hire a crop duster to write something across the sky? Too expensive … I immediately blotted the idea out of my mind.
What about all of us in the cheering section wearing matching costumes as we’re screaming from the sidelines? Possible, but I don’t have contacts in the costume industry to supply us. Cost is also a limiting factor.
How about a full-fledged rock-n-roll band to play a rousing rendition of Queen’s, “We are the Champions?” Running electrical cords to power the instruments could be a bit of a problem. In addition, the finish line is on a dirt road – yet another conundrum to overcome if we kick up dust or it happens to get muddy.
Who says it has to be a full-blown band? Why not get a single person to play an instrument as my buddy comes down Reese Street to kiss the rock? For one, you eliminate the electrical cord problem and the hassle of moving all that equipment out onto the street.
My buddy’s girlfriend plays the cello, so right there
we’ve got a potential solution. Then again, she probably doesn’t have much time to practice, let alone perform Beethoven’s 97th concerto in Z minor when her man comes sprinting down Reese – (“sprint” being a relative term in this instance.)
Maybe some sort of horn? Fortunately, another good friend of mine happens to play trumpet in the Silverton Brass Band, and he’s also amenable to participating in all sorts of whack-job schemes I come up with. I mentioned my horn idea, and he immediately
experienced a brain lapse and jumped on board, and plans were hastily set in motion.
Then the beginning of the race happened. By the way, going to the start of the Hardrock 100 is something everyone around here should experience. The excitement level is incredible; I’ve never seen so many people pumped up at 5:30 a.m.
I love the entire philosophy of the Hardrock 100, and I quite enjoy telling tourists that doing the race is like climbing Mount Everest from sea level then turning around and running back down. This makes me think I would’ve liked to try this ultra-distance running thing all those years ago. I’m really dating myself on this one, but back in my day, we only had “The Big Four”: Kendall Mountain Run in Silverton; Kennebec Pass race in the La Platas; Pikes Peak Marathon in Colorado Springs; and Imogene Pass Run, from Ouray to Telluride.
Unfortunately, ultra-racing hadn’t even become a thing yet when I reached the twilight of my running career. I knew it was close to the end when I crossed the finish line of Imogene the last time I did it, looked at my total running time and realized it was an hour slower than my fastest clocking 10 years previously. I hate when those things happen.
Fortunately for my friend, he is still in his prime and had an incredible race, kissing that rock in fourth place. Quite the achievement for one of Silverton’s own.
For me, I’ll have to admit the best part happened at the end when a huge group of family, friends and locals cheered him on at the finish. The sheriff escorted him with flashing lights and siren down Snowden, and everyone in attendance went wild. The only disappointment? The trumpet got drowned out by all the clapping and cheering – a small price to pay for an incredible set of memories and well worth all the hassle it took to pull it off.
– David G. Swanson
David G. Swanson is a resident of Silverton and former distance runner for whom yoga rules these days. ■
Stuff to Do
Thursday18
Business After Hours presented by Shaw Solar and Durango Chamber, 4-6 p.m., Shaw Solar, 877 E. 3rd St.
Ska-B-Q with music by Rob Webster., 5-7 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.
Trivia Night, 5-7 p.m., EsoTerra Ciderworks, 558 Main Ave.
Concert at the Park with Levi Platero, 5:30 p.m., Buckley Park
Live music with Andrew Schumann, 5:30 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Live music with the Ben Gibson Duo, 5:30-8 p.m., James Ranch Grill, 33846 US-550
Live music by Darryl Kuntz, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Live music by Jeff Solon Jazz, 6-8 p.m., Lola’s Place, 725 E. 2nd Ave.
Poetry Open Mic, 6 p.m., Durango Sustainable Goods, 1259 Main Ave.
Trivia Night, 6:30 p.m., Powerhouse Science Center, 1330 Camino del Rio
“Clown Sex Ed,” comedy, acrobatics and music, presented by Merely Players, 7 p.m., Merely Underground, 789 Tech Center Dr.
The Mysto Really Big Magic Show, 7 p.m., Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Dr.
Drag Trivia Night, 7:30 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.
iAM Music Songwriter Series, 8-10 p.m., The iNDIGO Room,1315 Main Ave.
Friday19
Live music with Tim Sullivan, 5-8 p.m., Serious Texas BBQ South, 650 S. Camino Del Rio
Live music with The Pete Giuliani Band, 5-8 p.m., Gazpacho Restaurant, 431 E. 2nd Ave.
Live music with Ben Gibson, 5:30 p.m., Public House 701, 701 E. 2nd Ave.
Live music with The Black Velvet duo including Nina Sasaki & Larry Carver, 6 p.m., Derailed Pour House, 725 Main Ave.
Live music with Kirk James, 6-9 p.m., Union Social House, 3062 Main Ave.
Live music with Darryl Kuntz, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Live music with Patrick Crossing, 6-9 p.m., Fox Fire Farms Winery, 5513 CR 321, Ignacio
Live music by Dustin Burley, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
“Clown Sex Ed,” comedy, acrobatics and music, presented by Merely Players, 7 p.m., Merely Underground, 789 Tech Center Dr.
Candlelight Chamber Concert, presented by Music in the Mountains, 7 p.m., Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College
The Mysto Really Big Magic Show, 7 p.m., Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Dr.
Durango Dancing VFW Friday Dance, 7-10 p.m., VFW Post 4031, 1550 Main Ave.
Family Friendly Game Night, 7-11 p.m., The Subterrain, 900 Main Ave.
“I Hate Hamlet” presented by Durango Arts Repertory Theatre, 7:30 p.m., Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave.
Live music and DJ, 8 p.m.-close, Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.
Aria’s Pizza Party, 8:30-9:30 p.m., Father’s Daughters Pizza, 640 Main Ave.
Saturday20
Durango Vintage Bike Swap & Sale, 8 a.m. –12 noon, bike parade at 1 p.m., Rotary Park
Durango Farmers Market, 8 a.m.-12 noon, TBK Bank parking lot, 259 W. 9th St.
Live music with Kirk James, 5-8 p.m., Serious Texas BBQ S., 650 S. Camino Del Rio
Live music with Pete Giuliani, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Public House 701, 701 E. 2nd Ave.
Karaoke, 6 p.m., Durango Beer & Ice Co., 3000 Main Ave.
Live music with Devin Scott, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Live music with Ben Gibson, 6-9 p.m., Union Social House, 3062 Main Ave.
Live music with High Altitude Blues, 6 p.m., The Weminuche Woodfire Grill, Vallecito
“Clown Sex Ed,” presented by Merely Players, 7 p.m., Merely Underground, 789 Tech Center Dr.
Punk show featuring KNFRMST and Sunrise Shouting, 7 p.m., The Subterrain, 900 Main Ave.
“Satchmo Scattin’ & Swingin,’” Music in the Mountains ops Concert, 7 p.m., Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College
“I Hate Hamlet” presented by Durango Arts Repertory Theatre, 7:30 p.m., Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave.
Sunday21
Irish Jam Session, 12:30-3 p.m., Durango Beer & Ice Co., 3000 Main Ave.
Indivisible Durango Supports Oak Tree Youth Services, free lunch and activities, 12:30-3:30 p.m., Pioneer Park, 261 E. 37th St.
“Clown Sex Ed,” comedy, acrobatics and music, presented by Merely Players, 2 p.m., Merely Underground, 789 Tech Center Dr.
Durango Food Not Bombs mutual aid and potluck, 2-4 p.m., Buckley Park
Live music by the Alison Dance Duet, 12-2 p.m., Lola’s Place, 725 E. 2nd Ave.
“I Hate Hamlet” presented by Durango Arts Repertory Theatre, 2 p.m., Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave.
Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra Concert “Kinetic Brilliance,” 5 p.m., Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College
Live music with José Villarreal, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Live music with the Blue Moon Ramblers, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Monday22
Live music with Adam Swanson Ragtime, 5:30-10 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Live music with Leah Orlikowski, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Singo with Devin Scott, 6 p.m., Grassburger South, 360 S. Camino Del Rio, Ste. 300
Comedy Showcase, 7:30 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.
Tuesday23
Engage Durango Forum, 5-6:30 p.m., Durango Public Library, 1900 E. 3rd Ave.
“Perfectly Paired,” Music in the Mountains benefit dinner and concert, 5:30 p.m., Kennebec Café, 4 CR 124, Hesperus
Concerts at the Plaza with Kirk James, 6 p.m., Three Springs Plaza, 151 Heritage Lane
Live music with Ben Gibson, 6 p.m., Durango Hot Springs, 6475 Co Rd 203
AskRachel Inbox fantasies, benevolent raccoons and star-stuck
Interesting fact: The Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across, 1,000 light-years thick, and a million emails deep.
Dear Rachel,
The problem with my email inbox is that people keep emailing me. Why should I feel obligated to take my time, and brainpower to respond to every one of them?! I’ve hit “select all” button a few times and dreamed of deleting the whole lot. Even did it once, but restored from my trash right away. Wanna be the devil on my shoulder? Or else a really convincing angel?
– Out with the Inbox
Dear Left Unread,
Tell me about it. The problem with this feature is that people keep sending in questions. Why should I feel obligated to take my time, effort and brainpower to respond to just three of them each week when we solicit all of you to write in? I’ve dreamed of scrapping the whole idea and starting up an alternative horoscope section, but realized that puts all (and not just half) of the writing on me. So I’ll encourage you to be bold instead. Delete them all! I want to live vicariously.
– Storage full, Rachel
Dear Rachel,
Most people deplete my social battery. But
Reviewing Rotary International’s health initiatives presented by Rotary Club of Durango, 6-7 p.m., Strater Hotel, 699 Main Ave.
Live music with Black Velvet duo, including Nina Sasaki & Larry Carver, 6-8 p.m., Lola’s Place, 725 E. 2nd Ave.
Live music with Adam Swanson, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Live music with Randy Crumbaugh, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Open Mic Night, 7 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.
Wednesday24
Durango Fiesta Days, 1 p.m., La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave.
Great Garden Series “Gardening FolliesExploring Worst Practices,” 4:30 p.m., Durango Public Library, 1900 E, 3rd Ave.
Community Concert Series featuring by La La Bones, proceeds benefit Mountain Studies Institute, 57:30 p.m., The Powerhouse, 1333 Camino Del Rio
Dinner & Family Concert, presented by Music in
some people charge it. I would think some people would just drain it more slowly. But no. Some people really truly fill me up. I can find myself talking to them all night long and not even wishing for sleep. And I really like sleep. How can I moderate this and discern the chargers from the drainers?
– Battery Ram
Dear Nine-volt,
I think – and I could be wrong – this is what’s called “having friends.” I’m not terribly familiar with the concept, personally, except that I have these people who keep coming around and inviting me places. They’re kind of like benevolent raccoons, honestly. Don’t moderate them out of your life just yet; see if you can train them to bring you snacks.
– Your BFF, Rachel
Dear Rachel,
It’s pretty easy around here to see the stars. You just have to go a little ways out of town on a night with no moon. I feel more human and more alive when I do this. But do I do it regularly? No. I might as well live in NYC for all the times I see the stars. Seems I need some bigger motivation. Any tips for getting me out and about at night, after playing and working hard all day?
– Milky Out-of-the-Way
the Mountains, 5:30 p.m., Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College
Womenade Open House, 5:30-7 p.m., 701 Public House, 701 E. 2nd Ave.
Live music with Adam Swanson, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Live music with Terry Rickard, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Chicken Sh*t Bingo w/Devin Scott, 6:30-8 p.m., Grassburger downtown, 726 1/2 Main Ave.
Trivia Night, 7 p.m., Bottom Shelf Brewery, 118 Mill St., Bayfield
The Mysto Really Big Magic Show, 7 p.m., Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Dr.
Geeks Who Drink Trivia, 8 p.m., The Roost, 128 E. College Dr.
Karaoke Roulette, 8 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.
Ongoing
“Light the Way,” art by Clint Reid, thru July, The Recess Gallery, Studio &, 1027 Main Ave.
Dear Star-Crossed, Stars are pretty great. But even better? Getting away from all your problems. If you really want to feel motivated to leave civilization behind and dream of boldly going where no one has gone before, let the Crap You Have to Do pile up. Stop responding to emails until they get out of hand. Commit to way too many social obligations. Start an advice column in the paper. Before long, you’ll be out there on the hood of your car, and may never come back.
– I wish I may, Rachel
“The Return of the Force,” art exhibit exploring the influence of “Star Wars” on Native artists, FLC’s Center for Southwest Studies. Thru August.
Upcoming
“I Hate Hamlet” presented by Durango Arts Repertory Theatre, thru July 28, Fri.-Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m., Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave.
Ska-B-Q with music by High Altitude Blues, Thurs., July 25, 5-7 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.
Concert Hall at The Park presents Beatlegras, Thurs., July 25, 5:30 p.m., Buckley Park, 1250 Main Ave.
Deadline to submit items for “Stuff to Do” is Monday at noon. Please include:
• Date and time of event
• Location of event
E-mail your stuff to: calendar@durangotelegraph.com
FreeWillAstrology
by Rob Brezsny
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Have you ever been given a Starbucks gift card but then neglected to use it? Many people fail to cash in such freebies. Believe it or not, there are also folks who buy lottery tickets that turn out to have the winning number – but they never actually claim their rewards. Don’t be like them in the coming weeks, Aries. Be aggressive about cashing in on the offers you receive, even subtle and shy offers. Don’t let invitations and opportunities go to waste. Be alert for good luck and seize it.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The coming weeks will be a favorable time to enhance your relationship with food. In every way you can imagine, be smart and discerning. Here are ideas to ponder: 1. Do you know which foods are best for your unique body? 2. Are you sufficiently relaxed and emotionally present when you eat? 3. Could you upgrade your willpower to ensure you joyfully gravitate toward what’s healthiest? 4. Do you have any bad habits you could outgrow? 5. Is your approach to eating affected by problematic emotions that you could heal? 6. Are you willing to try improving things without insisting on being perfect?
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Hybridization could be a fun theme for you in the coming weeks. You’re likely to align yourself with cosmic rhythms if you explore the joys and challenges of creating amalgamations, medleys and mash-ups. Your spirit creatures will be the liger, which is a cross between a lion and a tiger, and a mule, a cross between a horse and a donkey. But please note your spirit creatures will not be impossible hybrids like a giroose (a cross between a giraffe and a moose) or a coyadger (a cross between a coyote and a badger). It’s good to be experimental and audacious, but not lunatic delusional.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): In 1986, Cancerian singer-songwriter George Michael released his song “A Different Corner.” It was a big hit. Never before in British pop music had an artist done what Michael accomplished: wrote, sang, arranged and produced the tune, and played all the instruments. I foresee the possibility of a similar proficiency in your near future, Cancerian –if you want it. Maybe you would prefer to collaborate with others on your big projects, but if you choose, you could perform minor miracles all by yourself.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In the Biblical allegory of Noah and the Ark, God warns Noah about an impending flood and commands him to build a giant lifeboat to save living things from extinction. Noah obeys. When the heavy rains come, he, his family and many creatures board the boat. After 40 days and nights of inundation, they are all safe but stranded in a newly created sea. Hoping for a sign of where to seek sanctuary, Noah sends out a dove to reconnoiter for dry land. But it returns with no clues. A week later, Noah dispatches a second dove. It returns with an olive leaf, showing that the earth is drying out and land is nearby. Your adventure isn’t as dire as Noah’s, but it’s time for you to do the equivalent of sending two doves out to explore.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): According to an ancient Chinese proverb, “An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox.” I will add a corollary: An ant may be able to accomplish feats an ox can’t. For instance, I have observed an ant carrying a potato chip back to its nest, and I doubt that an ox could tote a potato chip without mangling it. This is my way of telling you that if you must choose between your inspiration being an ant or an ox, choose the ant. Be meticulous, persistent and industrious rather than big, strong and rugged.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “If it sounds too good to be true, it always is,” magician Ricky Jay said. I only partially agree with him. While I think it’s usually wise to use his formula as a fundamental principle, I suspect it won’t entirely apply to you in coming weeks. At least one thing and possibly as many as three may sound too good to be true – but will in fact be true. So if you’re tempted to be hyper-skeptical, tamp that down a bit. Open yourself to the possibilities of amazing grace and minor miracles.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): What is the largest thing ever sold in human history? It was a 530-million-acre chunk of land in North America. In 1803, the French government sold it to the American government for $15 million. It stretched from what’s now Louisiana to Montana. Here’s the twist to the story: The land actually belonged to the Indigenous people who had lived there for many generations. The two nations pretended they had the right to make the transaction. I bring this to your attention, Scorpio, because the coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to make a big, important purchase or sale – as long as you have the authentic rights to do so. Make sure there are no hidden agendas or strings attached.
This week’s free music:
Thurs., July 18, 6 - 9pm: Basilaris
Fri., July 19, 7 - 10pm: Jelly Bellies
Sat., July 20, 12 - 3pm: Robert Webster
Sat., July 20, 7 - 10pm: Shawn Arrington Blues Band
Sat., July 20, 10pm - 1am: DJ Spark Madden
Sun., July 21, 1 - 3pm: Devin Scott **FREE Trivia Every Tuesday @ 6 p.m.**
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): An antiques dealer named Laura Young bought a marble bust of a distinguished man at a thrift store in Austin, Texas. Later she discovered that it was over 2,000 years old and worth far more than the $35 she had paid for it. It depicted a Roman military leader named Drusus the Elder. I foresee similar themes unfolding in your life, Sagittarius. Possible variations: 1. You come into possession of something that’s more valuable than it initially appears. 2. You connect with an influence that’s weightier than it initially appears. 3. A lucky accident unfolds, bringing unexpected goodies. 4. A seemingly ordinary thing turns out to be an interesting thing in disguise.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): My childhood friend Jeanine used to say, “The best proof of friendship is when someone gives you half their candy bar. The best proof of fantastic friendship is when they give you even more than half.” And then she would hand me more than half of her candy bar. I invite you to give away at least half of your candy to those you care for in the coming days. It’s a phase of your astrological cycle when you will benefit from offering extra special affection and rewards to the allies who provide you with so much love and support.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): If you’re a teacher, it’s a favorable time to enjoy a stint as a student – and vice versa. If you’re a healthcare worker trained in Western medicine, it’s an excellent phase to explore alternative healing. If you’re a scientist, I suggest you read some holy and outrageous poetry, and if you’re a sensitive, introverted mystic, get better informed about messy political issues. In other words, open a channel to parts of reality you normally ignore or neglect. Fill in the gaps in your education. Seek out surprise and awakening.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Jane Brunette, a writer I admire, uses the made-up work “plurk” to refer to her favorite activity: a blend of play and work. I have always aspired to make that my core approach, too. I play at my work and work at my play. As much as possible, I have fun while I’m doing the labor-intensive tasks that earn me a living and fulfill my creative urges. And I invoke a disciplined, diligent attitude as I pursue the tasks and projects that bring me pleasure and amusement. Expand and refine your own ability as a plurker in the coming weeks, Pisces. (Jane Brunette is here: flamingseed.com)
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.
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Thurs: On delivery
Fri: Gone fishing; call first
Classes/Workshops
Wisdom of Herbs Gathering 8/17 & 8/18, 9am-4pm in Bayfield. Workshop. 2 action-packed days of wild medicines & foods, Western herbal fundamentals. Learn self-sufficiency in using plants to care for yourself & your family. Brand new to plants as medicine? This is a great introduction. Been at it for a while? You'll still get a lot out of 1 or both days. For more info, contact marija@ osadha.com
Wanted
Books Wanted at White Rabbit Donate/trade/sell (970) 259-2213
Cash for Vehicles, Copper, Alum Etc. at RJ Metal Recycle. Also free appliance and other metal drop off. 970259-3494.
RealEstate
Want to Trade Houses?!
I own a lovely 1200 sq ft house on 9+ acres only 15 minutes from town. It is a 3/2 built 6 years ago, but these days I'd rather live in town. If you are sick of town and own a comparable home, let's chat! kafir53193@mypacks.net
ForSale
Reruns Home Furnishings
Vintage patio sets, chaise lounge, brass tray table, and cool, adjustable tall pub table. Also art, linens and housewares.
Looking to consign smaller furniture. 572 E. 6th Ave. Open Mon.-Sat. 385-7336.
Subaru Legacy Outback
1999, runs well, 245k miles. Asking $2000. Call Chip, 970-403-4989
BodyWork
Summer Special
Therapeutic massage w Charlotte buy 4 massages get $40 off durangomobile massage.com
Therapeutic Massage
Helping Durango feel better for 23+years. Treat yourself. 970-903-0388
Massage by Meg Bush LMT, 30, 60 & 90 min., 970-759-0199.
Services
Boiler Service - Water Heater
Serving Durango over 30 years. Brad, 970-759-2869. Master Plbg Lic #179917
Handy Man-Journeyman Carpenter
You benefit from my over 40 years of experience. Expert quality service. I'm reliable and show up on time. Work is guaranteed. Call David, 510-872-2132
Lowest Prices on Storage!
Inside/outside storage near Durango and Bayfield. 10-x-20, $130. Outside
spots: $65, with discounts available. RJ Mini Storage. 970-259-3494.
Repair
gutter cleaning, fence, floors, walls, flood damage, mold, heating service.
Handyman Service, inspecting, consulting, estimates Licensed Home Inspector 45 years tradesman experience 724-977-1111
‘Bros’
My husband wanted to know why I was watching gay porn on a plane – Lainie Maxson
CommunityService
Could You Use Extra income?
The housing crisis is changing who can live here. Be part of the solution. Home shareonline.org offers a way to share space with a local worker or student! Call 970 749-9607 for more info.
Electric
Roof,
