Finding sanctuary in headphones during desolate times by Kirbie Bennett
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Terrible beauty
Climate activist Auden Schendler to discuss new book by Telegraph Staff
STAR-STUDDED CAST: Kirbie Bennett, Stephen Sellers, Jeffrey Mannix, Gabriela Ferrell, Lainie Maxson, Jesse Anderson, Rob Brezsny & Clint Reid
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The Twilights draped in winter finery. In case you haven’t heard, Purg plans to open for a special early “bonus weekend” this Saturday and Sunday./ Photo by Andy High
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Ear to the ground:
“I tried to get into the wrong black Subaru in the City Market parking lot. The only thing that clued me in was that the dogs were different.”
– Sadly, we’ve all been there – just glad nobody got arrested or bitten
Battle of the bards
At a loss for words right now? Well, you’re in luck. This Sat., Nov. 9, dozens of local poets will be filling the intellectual and literary void as they face off (as much as poets can) in Durango’s first Poetry Contest at 7 p.m. at the Durango Arts Center.
This idea for the event was hatched a little over a month ago with a call to the community for poetry submissions. A panel of local judges reviewed the submissions and selected 24 poems as finalists for the Nov. 9 contest. Those poets will read their works in front of a live audience while vying for the bragging rights (as much as poets brag) to being crowned Durango’s first poetry champion. (Or something like that.)
The judges will score contestants on their overall performance based on standard Spoken Word Poetry Contest Guidelines, which apparently is a thing. Judges include:
• Burt Baldwin – Regular contributor to this fine paper, published author and poet, longtime educator in the Ignacio School District as well as Fort Lewis College. He is a recipient of the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education.
• Esther Belin - Durango’s First Poet Laureate, she is a citizen of the Navajo Nation, author, artist, educator, mentor and faculty member at Fort Lewis College.
• Spenser Snarr - Adult Services Supervisor at the Durango Public Library, poet and co-chair of The Hive’s poetry and writing program, “Word Honey.”
• Lisa Taylor - Multi-published, multiaward-winning poet/author, mentor, counselor and educator for more than 20 years.
To up the ante, Durango merchants have provided a trove of prizes for the top winners including a new fishing kayak, Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge train tickets, winters sleigh ride, Yamaha amplifier and more.
Who are the contestants? Show up and find out – chances are you’ll recognize a neighbor or co-worker.
and most discerning
throughout the
Ticket proceeds go to the two nonprofit co-sponsors of the event: The Durango Arts Center and The Art Guild of Create. The contest begins at 7 p.m. sharp and doors open at 6:30. Tickets are $15 for the general public or $10 for students and can be purchased at the DAC box office or durango arts.org. Seating is limited.
LaVidaLocal
Notes on surviving
dark times
Dear friends, how is your heart? It’s a question worth asking often, as every week takes us into a deeper darkness. And honestly, if I had to answer, no words could properly measure the weight of this heavy heart. It has been a desolating time lately, continually bearing witness to genocide, climate change disasters and the grim spectacle of a U.S. presidential election. We are complicit in new war crimes every day. Children in Gaza are crying for help through our phones, and they’re fleeing from bombs our government is sending. And both presidential candidates appear indifferent to the bloodshed. I hold all this, and sometimes I am rendered speechless. Sometimes I find a brief sanctuary through headphones. And, since these are unspeakable times, lately I’ve been listening to post-rock, a mostly instrumental music genre built around ambient, dramatic songwriting. In particular, I’ve been listening to Godspeed You! Black Emperor, a Canadian post-rock band and legends in the genre. In October they urgently released a new album, titled, “NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024, 28,340 DEAD.”
The aforementioned death toll refers to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. In a press release that reads more like a poem, the band addresses the album title: “NO TITLE = what gestures make sense while tiny bodies fall? what context? what broken melody? and then a tally and a date to mark a point on the line.” The band drew a point on a line that keeps heart-wrenchingly moving. The death toll in Gaza has now surpassed 40,000 Palestinians. My heart keeps making room for those growing numbers. My heart places roses on the martyred people and children behind those numbers. I wake up on a Sunday morning, days before a bleak presidential election, and I’m doomscrolling through more U.S.-sponsored war crimes. I am speechless again. I need to be rooted in the transcendent, so I reach for headphones and press play on the new Godspeed album. The first track, “SUN IS A HOLE SUN IS VAPORS,” is anchored by guitars ringing out like somber war trumpets. Light percussion and strings keep a weary army of survivors moving along. I think the song is saying: war is coming, how is your heart? I look outside my windows, and the sun is burned out, the sky is grey, and these snow showers look like falling angels. Through this song, I’m hearing what I’m seeing.
Thumbin’It
OK, so maybe Tuesday did not go the way some of us would have liked, but it at least was a win for abortion rights in several states, including Arizona, Missouri, Colorado and Montana, which either overturned bans or enshrined the right to abortion in their state constitutions.
Also, while we’re on the topic of Tuesday, there wasn’t a Proud Boy-pocalypse over purported voter fraud as feared, with many of us instead just quietly sobbing into our pillows. Funny how all those conspiracies magically disappeared.
Hey – it’s snowing! And Purg is opening this weekend. Get out there, ski, feel the wind in your face, smile and maybe forget your troubles (but remember your quads) for at least a little while.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor turns an album into a cinematic experience. Imagine the first track as the opening credits. This story of war, mourning and resistance is set in motion with the second song, titled “BABYS IN A THUNDERCLOUD.” It’s a 13-minute epic, and four minutes in, there’s this gradual build up where every note is reaching toward hope. And when each note rings out and lingers, it sounds like when people embrace for hugs, and they hold that moment of joy together. Six minutes into “THUNDERCLOUD,” the band is staying in this hopeful zone. With every note, it is building rooms devoted to hope. Every layered instrument is carving out a better world. I look outside again, and I see blue sky breaking through the grey. For a fleeting moment, the sun kisses the earth.
The album clocks in at nearly an hour. If the first half offers scenes of hope, then the second is a long, one-shot on suffering and grief. There’s a haunting atmosphere to the fifth track, “PALE SPECTATOR TAKES PHOTOGRAPHS.” The song could be commentary on white Western media’s detached reporting on Gaza. The song could also refer to the more than 130 journalists killed in Gaza. In any case, “PALE SPECTATOR” is an elegy for the martyred. I hear the instruments reaching out, crying: So much has been taken, yet we are still here, and who is your heart beating for?
When the album ends, the grey has returned, and it bleeds into an early darkness. Like a nourishing meal, this session will carry me through a little longer. And by the time you read this, another election will have passed. It’s tempting to say, “I don’t know what this country will look like by the time you read this,” but that wouldn’t be true. By the time you read this, I know we’ll still be complicit in genocide while people in America struggle to live. I know the climate crisis will continue unabated. And the rich elite will continue profiting off suffering and exploitation with bipartisan support.
I don’t place any hope in the managers of empire. Instead, I store my hope in people on the ground resisting empire. And, after the election, I know people with outsized hearts will continue organizing against injustice. I know we’ll still be figuring how to survive better as a collective.
My dear friends, if you are reading this in dark times and you still believe in beautiful things, I am reaching out with two open palms and asking, “Will you walk with me on this journey?” Because we will need each other tomorrow.
Uh, hello? WTF happened? Apparently, America is not ready for a kick-ass female president of color, among other things. We’ll patiently wait.
Four more years of listening to the Tyrant Cheeto. We’re not sure we can handle it, or if there’s enough whiskey in the world to drown him out.
Southern California is on fire. Again. Maybe this truly is the end times.
– Kirbie Bennett Mass Nuderer Last month, New York artist Spencer Tunick traveled to Brisbane and talked thousands of strangers into getting naked for free and lying on a bridge for a photoshoot. Sure, the photo was commissioned for The Melt Festival, which is a celebration of queer culture in Australia, but still, Spencer is an absolute legend because he’s centered his career on “capturing mass nude photos,” which is the hardest type of photo to capture, as we all know. However, Spencer was supposed to convey “diversity” through his imagery, and the sea of pale Australian butts in his photo suggests that he failed.
Coexisting with compassion
Takeaways in the wake of Grizzly 399’s tragic death
by Wendy Keefover & Kristin Combs
She was 28 years old and dealt with the hordes of picture-taking tourists and repeated motherhood with aplomb. When she was killed by a car a few weeks ago, the loss of Grizzly 399 left people all over the world shocked and saddened.
Grizzly 399 wasn’t just another wild bear in northwestern Wyoming; she was a window into the secret lives of grizzlies. Over nearly three decades, she raised 18 cubs amidst the millions of visitors and residents of Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park. Her death speaks, as her life did, about the urgent need to better protect these intelligent, rare creatures from roads, human foods, farm animals and trophy hunters.
Grizzly 399’s life captivated millions of people. Attentive and patient, she worked hard to make sure her cubs had sufficient food and warm dens and were protected from male bears and other dangers.
The doings of her many families, the first in 2004 and the last in 2023, made her legendary, like the time she and her four cubs feasted on serviceberries right next to a road, gently picking berries among the leaves.
There was also the time she crossed the Snake River with four cubs following like the tail of a kite, while hundreds of people gathered to witness. These intimate glimpses inspired countless numbers of visitors to Wyoming’s wilderness and gave them a connection with the famous bear and her broods.
Grizzly 399 had always been careful around roads. She often waited at a highway’s edge until a photographer stopped traffic or she heard no vehicles coming her way. She frequently navigated busy highways and the streets around Jackson Hole.
Grizzly 399 and her cubs traverse the snow in northwestern Wyoming where she gained many adoring fans over the years. She was hit and killed by a vehicle which sparked conversation about the need to better protect grizzlies from human-caused deaths. /Photo courtesy Thomas Mangelsen
In the end it was not enough.
Vehicle collisions, a leading cause of wildlife deaths, are just one more threat for grizzly bears. This year alone, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has seen record numbers of mortalities. By October 2024, at least 68 grizzlies had died – most killed because they came near humans or were shot by hunters.
With their habitats shrinking, their foods vanishing and more roads fragmenting their territories, grizzlies have become marooned on geographic islands for their survival. Their lands have been increasingly hemmed in by developments, energy projects and deadly highways.
Once 50,000 strong, fewer than 2,000 grizzly bears now survive in the Lower 48 states. Coexisting with them means
addressing preventable conflicts by bearproofing human-food sources or safeguarding livestock. Many of Grizzly 399’s cubs have been killed by humans. Perhaps half of them survived to adulthood.
One Jackson Hole resident, for example, deliberately and defiantly fed them, despite the dangers of getting bears accustomed to human-provided meals. Teton County has since introduced tougher enforcement measures, including requiring bear-resistant garbage cans with self-locking mechanisms. The Wyoming Department of Game and Fish and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also required residents of Teton County to make garbage and bird feeders inaccessible to keep grizzlies like 399 and her cubs safe.
One takeaway is that grizzly bears can be managed with compassion. This needs to be the norm, not the exception, and we need to shift practices to prioritize coexistence over killing.
In bear country, people can make human foods unavailable, ranchers can employ electric fencing and remove cattle and sheep carcasses, and hunters can carry bear spray and accurately identify their targets before shooting.
Grizzly 399’s last surviving cub, Spirit, has not been seen since its mother’s death. Nearly 2 years old, the cub was last reported as healthy and may have a chance at survival. Its future – indeed, the future of all grizzlies – depends on people’s willingness to change behaviors.
It is especially important that we resist calls to strip grizzly bears of their Endangered Species Act protections, certainly until grizzlies are truly recovered, with genetically diverse and connected populations across secure habitats.
This means creating safe passages, including highway crossings, between their populations. We must also hold the line against trophy hunting. Removing Endangered Species Act protections, which are now under attack in the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and elsewhere, could set back years of conservation work.
With Grizzly 399’s passing, it feels as though something is missing in the Tetons – something vivid and wild that moved us. Her legacy calls us to act, to create a future in which grizzly bears and people live together in safety.
The writers are contributors to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. Wendy Keefover works for the Humane Society of the United States; Kristin Combs is executive director of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates. ■
SoapBox
Looking back on last eight years
Only 100 Coloradans at any one time have the job I have been honored to hold for the last eight years as a state legislator. I never really thought about that until I started nearing the end. Wow.
I’ve had to run four contested campaigns, one during COVID and one after the death of my husband, and none of them was easy. I have been accused of a multitude of nonsensical actions, such as distributing drugs in my classroom, introducing fentanyl into the state, lying about being a Colorado native, not living in District 59 and never voting for rural issues.
But I have also hit some District 59 milestones: the first since anyone can remember to hold this seat for all four terms; chairing a House Committee, Education, for six years; and holding a leadership position for seven of the eight years. I am now term-limited.
The job has introduced me to so many interesting people. Some will be my lifelong friends. Many legislators are young and ambitious, and I loved learning from them about how things are different now, how urban settings work and how managing a family and holding office is hard, but very possible. They introduced me to new music, new food, new phrases and new ideas. Others were from very different parts of the state, so I learned about pesticides, Western Sugar, water storage, large universities and traffic. So much traffic. Traveling the state to see where representatives live was a wonderful eye-opener.
Others were older and experienced, and they taught
D-Tooned/by Rob Pudim
me how the system works, the best ways to get bipartisan legislation passed, how to find a work/life balance, and what ideas will just never fly. They taught me the language of the Legislature, which is often confusing and complex.
Many people say we all need to work across the aisle and, for the most part, we do. Several of my good friends in the House and Senate are Republicans, and though we may disagree on some issues, we agree that kindness, laughter and respect are bipartisan.
I didn’t do this job by myself. Thank you, of course, to everyone who voted for me at least once in my four elections. Thank you to those who may not have officially supported me but taught me a lot about their party, issues and concerns. HD59 has a wide variety of people and political affiliations, and representation means listening, compromising and understanding.
Lots of thanks to the people who donated to my campaigns, understanding that the travel, signs, campaign managers and flyers aren’t cheap. Those who gave $10 earned as much of my respect as those who donated maximum amounts. It all helped. And I always appreciate the people who couldn’t donate but spent hours on the campaign trail for me.
I had the best four aides and four campaign managers who helped me every day: smart, eager, hardworking. Thank you! Your value is enormous.
And thank you to all the partisan and non-partisan staff at the Capitol. You helped me in so, so many ways, offering council, cheer, structure, suggestions, condolences and some hearty laughs. I don’t know if people outside the Capitol understand just how much you do for the state.
To the next District 59 representative, good luck. Remember who you represent, laugh so you don’t cry, work on both sides of the aisle, take advantage of every opportunity, join every committee you can and have fun. This is a golden moment.
– Rep. Barbara McLachlan, D-Durango
A win-win for Tri-State
I read with interest the recent Oct. 29 “Colorado
Sun” article “Tri-State won $2.5 billion to close coal plants, get new renewable energy for rural customers. Officials say the funds will deliver 1,280 megawatts of renewable energy, more than 100 megawatts of energy storage and 2,000 new jobs in the West.” I have a high level of concern about warming greenhouse gas emissions and am thrilled to see this game-changing announcement for rural electric cooperatives in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Arizona.
Tri-States’ aggressive plan to build clean, renewable energy generation and retire their coal plants has won praise from environmental groups including the Sierra Club. By winning these federal loans and grants, they now have the key financing to execute the plan and provide solar, wind and solar hybrid plus 100 megawatts of storage to a million customers. Also planned are more than 100 megawatts of standalone energy projects, about half of which will lie in Colorado. Officials say the financing will reduce electricity rates 10% by 2034.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet welcomed the announcement of $1.1 billion for rural cooperatives in Colorado through the new Empowering Rural America program.
“This funding will allow Tri-State’s anticipated power generation to cut 5.8 million tons of climate pollution annually while creating more than 2,000 new jobs” states the article.
This announcement represents many hours of collaborative background work and is a win-win for TriState and all its 41 rural cooperative members. Tri-State’s mission is similar to the mission of La Plata Electric: to provide their members a reliable, affordable and responsible supply of electricity in accordance
with cooperative principles. LPEA will only remain a member of the nonprofit Tri-State Cooperative till April 2026.
– Susan Atkinson, Durango
The Waltzing Leaves
Butternut browns, Late day yellowings, Crying crimsons, All,
Wait their turn
For stem fall.
Lazily swaying,
Yearning for the journey’s pull, Waltzing to the wind
Through icy airs,
Windy strings viola bare, The concerto trill, All,
Downward they glide,
To old loam lairs.
Veins emptied of life, Arteries now vacant,
A moving filagree of lace
Moving to darkened roots
Waiting to nurture
A newer green.
Below,
The quiet dirge
Of nourishing loams.
– Burt Baldwin, Bayfield
Beyond greenwashing
Activist Auden Schendler to discuss latest book, realistic solutions to climate crisis
by Telegraph Staff
If you’ve been looking for a fresh take on climate action, here’s a great opportunity. Writers on the Range, the nonprofit dedicated to uplifting local journalism in the West, is bringing Auden Schendler to Durango for an evening of ideas, insights and inspiration. Schendler will share his latest book, “Terrible Beauty: Reckoning with Climate Complicity and Rediscovering Our Soul,” at 6 p.m., Thurs., Nov. 14, at the Smiley Café. Schendler’s not just any climate advocate – he’s been doing this work for more than 26 years, combining activism, hands-on projects and good old-fashioned determination to make change. As the Senior VP of Sustainability at Aspen One, the umbrella company formed last year to oversee Aspen Ski Co. and its retail and resort properties, he leads corporate-wide green initiatives.
In his time at Aspen, he helped spearhead a $6 million methane-capture system at a dormant coal mine to power all the company’s resort and hotel operations. He also led the company in building the nation’s first LEED-certified resort building atop Aspen Mountain, the first solar array to power resort operations and a small hydropower plant.
Outside his work at Aspen, Schendler served for a decade on the board of Protect Our Winters, aka POW, which works to mobilize the outdoor industry as a political force in climate change solutions. During his tenure, POW grew from a hundred thousand dollar budget to more than $4 million. He also served on Colorado's Air Quality Control Commission, where he has enacted climate legislation, including rules on methane, hydro-
fluorocarbons and clean cars, and from 2016-20, he was a Town Councilor in Basalt, where he lives with his wife and two children.
In addition to all this, Schendler’s also a regular Colorado guy, enjoying skiing, mountain biking and kayaking and has worked various mountain hustles, from Outward Bound guide and ski instructor to ambulance
medic and burger flipper.
Recognized as a "climate saver" by the EPA and a "climate innovator" by Time magazine, Schendler’s work for the planet has been covered in Businessweek, Men’s Journal and Outside. His first book, 2009’s “Getting Green Done,” was called “an antidote to greenwash” for its for “no-nonsense approach” by Columbia University climatologist James Hansen.
“Terrible Beauty,” Schendler’s second book, takes a fresh look at environmentalism, pulling inspiration from classics like Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” and Aldo Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac” but with a personal twist. Schendler critiques the modern “green” movement for getting too caught up in surface-level solutions and makes a case for deeper, more genuine connection and action. It’s a book about the hard work of saving the planet, but it’s also about life, family and finding humor in it all.
Climate thinker Naomi Oreskes, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard, called it “uniquely compelling and weirdly fun.” Highly regarded environmentalist Bill McKibben, author of 1986’s seminal “The End of Nature,” wrote: “No one has more hard-earned credibility than Auden Schendler when it comes to taking on the charade that is often corporate sustainability."
But above all, according to former Patagonia CEO Casey Sheahan, “It’s a love letter to the world, an homage to beauty and a warning about what we stand to lose.”
The Auden Schendler event is free, but attendees are asked to RSVP by emailing david@writersontherange.org. ■
JusttheFacts
Who: Climate activist Auden Schendler
When: Thurs., Nov. 14, 6 p.m.
Where: Smiley Café, 1309 E. 3rd Ave. RSVP: david@writersontherange.org
Schendler
by Stephen Sellers
GShoulder season serenade
Waco Brothers, Alex Graf’s SuperPAC and B. Shafes’ big 4-0
reetings, dear readers! I was really looking forward to alienating a good chunk of you with my half-baked, social-media saturated political musings this week, but the editor’s got me on a tight word diet. So, let me just note that it’s officially shoulder season, an edgy political landscape seems here to stay for many more moons, and, last I checked, it’s harder than I remember to be a working-class person living in Durango with sky-high rent. For what it’s worth, I still think that in general, we all have far more in common than we’re led to believe by algorithms and corporate media. May we all find some collective joy and unity in this month’s musical highlights. Check ’em out, support your local venues, and I hope to see you on the dance floor!
• Carsie Blanton, FLC Community Concert Hall, Thurs., Nov. 7, 7:30 p.m. - Just in time for a neck-and-neck post-election, “what-the-hell-just-happened”“ kind of night, Philadelphia-based performer Carsie Blanton brings her blend of New Orleans-influenced jazz, folk and pop to the big stage at the Community Concert Hall. Blanton’s tunes are steeped in the American lineage of protest music, leaning on her smoky voice and socially aware lyrics to convey an overall message of empowerment and “Yes, we can!”
• Battle of the Bands, The Lightbox at Stillwater, Fri., Nov. 8, 6:30 p.m. - Stillwater Music is opening up its illustrious downtown Lightbox venue for a night of something we can all get behind – empowering talented kids with limited financial means to chase their musical dreams. Stillwater has long played a central role in Durango’s music scene, nurturing musicians of all ages in ensembles that punch well above their weight in performances. Expect a genre-fluid night of high-quality ensembles and performances from some of Durango’s brightest musical talent.
• Lusine, Arms & Sleepers, and Yppah, Animas City Theatre, Fri., Nov. 8, 7 p.m. - If you haven’t noticed, A-list electronic music talent is filling the Animas Theatre with greater regularity, and Durangatangs of all ages are here for it. This month, the ACT has booked a show that illustrates the genre’s range far beyond the Burning Man or club-banger culture that most of us associate with the genre. Three internationally renowned leftfield producers – Lusine, Arms & Sleepers, and Yppah – will grace our cornerstone community stage with live backing musicians, ready to take Durango’s faithful to a space somewhere between synthetic and organic. Check out this show and enjoy the magic of passionate musicians, outboard hardware, and virtuosic live instruments melding together to take the audience to a new musical dimension.
• The Waco Brothers, Genuine Cowhide, Animas City Theatre, Sat., Nov. 9, 7 p.m. - KDUR, the
Chicago cow punkers The Waco Brothers rock the ACT this Sat., Nov. 9, for some much-needed boot stomping and to celebrate KDUR’s 50th anniversary
indefatigable musical heart of our community, will be pumping some much-needed big-room alt-country talent into our veins and ears for their 50th birthday bash this month. As only the fates could have allowed, The Waco Brothers and Genuine Cowhide are on tap to set the stage ablaze with their raucous riffs and soaring pedal steels. Cheers to Liggett, Lynch and the KDUR galaxy from yesteryear for keeping the fire burning for us for so many years.
• Alex Graf’s SuperPAC, La La Bones, Lightweight Travelers, Wildhorse Saloon, Wed., Nov. 13, 6 p.m. - It’s suddenly cold and dark outside, folks, which can only mean one thing – it’s time to pack the Wildhorse Saloon in support of the 2025 Durango Bluegrass Meltdown! If you haven’t seen Alex perform his repertoire of sagebrush-infused “incoherent grass,” backed by a rotating who’s-who of Durango’s stringband superheroes, I wonder … do you even clog, bro? It’s admirable that so many in our community rally to Telluride and Pagosa for bluegrass music each year. I dare not poo-poo such institutions! But, let me put a bug in the reader’s ear with the “buy local” bumper sticker and valid concerns about carbon footprint to consider supporting this beloved, local festival that absolutely has room to grow a wider audience through this fundraiser. La La Bones and Lightweight Travelers round out the evening in local style.
• Desert Child, Hotel Draw, Animas City Theatre, Fri., Nov. 15, 7 p.m. - For my crumpled-up tip jar money strewn about my house, indie rockers Hotel Draw are one of the most refreshing, innovative and humble rock bands in town, well-deserving of a head-
lining night at the Animas City Theatre themselves. So, a pairing with the legendary Desert Child is a nobrainer for a mid-month constitutional of high-proof showmanship and songwriting. Desert Child is cutting new sonic and melodic trails after a lineup change earlier this year, with keyboardist Clarke Reid elevating the sound to a more multi-dimensional plane.
• Brendan Shafer, Cody Tinnin, Animas City Theatre, Fri., Nov. 22, 7 p.m. - Anyone who’s had the pleasure of meeting the enigmatic and eclectic Brendan Shafer knows he is a man of many talents. He’s probably got more musical chops in his pinky toe than I do in my entire body. He’s certainly got faster bike times on Strava than all of us. He actually enjoyed taking Differential Equations for goodness’ sake! He would never tell you this, so as his pesky younger musical brother, allow me!
Brendan turns 40 on Nov. 22 and is hosting a oncein-a-Durango-lifetime concert at the Animas City Theatre, where he and his band (for which I’m playing bass) will play the entirety of the infamous “Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe” album. Don’t know that album? Doesn’t matter. Come. Cody Tinnin is set to make his return to the Animas City Theatre in direct support, too, so that’s incredibly special in its own right.
If you love Bluegrass – hell, if you love Brendan! – buy yourself a grip of tickets and pass them out to your favorite Shafer enthusiasts. Besides yours truly clamoring it up on bass, Brendan has asked Robin Davis on mandolin, Alex Graf on guitar, and the infamous Tony Holmquist on banjo to pick alongside him. Let’s do it big for old B Shafes and send him into his 40s in style. ■
A book to be savored
Award-winning author Attica Locke returns with latest lyrical crime novel
by Jeffrey Mannix
Author Attica Locke is a Black woman born and raised in Houston who was drawn to the arts at an early age and had published three books before dazzling the world in 2014 with “Bluebird, Bluebird.”
I came upon “Bluebird, Bluebird” as an advanced reader’s copy. I read it, and stunned by the erudition, I read it again. I reviewed it, including the comment that if my house was burning, “Bluebird, Bluebird” would be one of the books I would grab. Then, the reading world watched it earn the prestigious Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America for the Best Novel of 2017.
“Guide Me Home” is Locke’s sixth literary crime novel, and the third in her “Highway 59” trilogy about Black Texas Ranger Darren Mathews. And it displays her maturity by challenging the reader to peer behind the lyrical writing to the circumstances of her 40-year-old main character.
I read this book twice, also. And the second reading told the same story of the affective life of Mathews, the only Black Texas Ranger. But, by stealth word selection, Locke gives us views of the world through both the eyes of Mathews and his now sobered-up mother, Bell Callis. The mother abandoned her son in a haze of booze and hard day labor, busted down singlewides and husbands who died in WWII and those who didn’t. She was always working as a waitress in diners or a cleaning lady for the unctuous lunch bunch.
I can only give you a conspectus of the few weeks of Darren’s mottled life Locke gives up – a speck of what you need as a reader, ensnarled in an East Texas Black world.
Darren has been a Texas Ranger since he was old enough, pushed by the history of the men in his mother’s family who had been a Ranger or sheriff’s deputy, something he wanted since childhood. He had seen enough discrimination, intimidation and abuse in his life, and he hadn’t a moment where he thought about the power behind the badge, only the responsibility of being fair and doing what’s right. This included hiding a .38 special in his back yard that his
childhood friend used to kill the murdering racist Ronnie Malvato – the right thing to do, justice being served.
Darren’s mother, Bell, turned the gun over to the police after finding it, and Darren soon became the subject of a Grand Jury investigation. It was Bell’s fault: it was her punish ment of Darren, because he hated her for all the right reasons.
Due to the investiga tion, the now-defrocked Darren begins a down ward spiral of getting drunk to insensibility night after night. Look ing for some grounding on the one night he was cooking a special dinner and planning to propose to girlfriend Randie, he ruined the relationship by drink ing to a raging narco sis. When he gathered his senses a night and a day and a night later, he finds a good bye note.
Thus begins the second go-round of Darren and company. Bell, long on the straight and narrow, is awaiting Darren to come home after the shipwreck of his relationship with Randie. She implores Darren to investigate the abrupt disappearance of the new and only Black girl in the all-white sorority she cleans for.
And thus begins the second tangent in the heretofore nearly helpless life of Darren Mathews, the former Texas Ranger. The Fuller family lives in the walled, impeccable subdivision of Thornton, with a reeking factory at the far end, an armed guard at the entrance and patrol cars circulating endlessly throughout. A strange sight in the piney woods of East Texas.
Darren agrees to look into the alleged disappearance of Sara Fuller from her residence in the Rho Beta Zeta sorority at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, not far up the highway from Darren’s home in Camilla.
Two girls at the sorority stiffen when this Black man knocks on the front door of the Antebellum sorority house. They insist nonchalantly that Sara Fuller had moved out days before, then usher Darren to the door, photograph him standing by his truck as a patrol car arrives to escort him to the exit.
Mr. Fuller answers the door of the eerily perfect house, angered at the suggestion that he did not know where his daughter was. Mrs. Fuller meekly says that they just yesterday spoke with Sara on her only mobile phone, the one Bell retrieved from the bin behind the sorority house more than a week ago. So here we are with a very ambitious plot line – a murder weapon found in Darren’s back yard, a Grand Jury investigation, a kvetching newly sober mother, a missing student, parents furious at Darren for investigating their missing daughter, a subdivision with perfect homes, a malodorous smokestack factory, no sign of life but heavily armed guards, and a good-guy, drunk, former Texas Ranger.
That’s all the plot line Locke is wordy – this is a 320-page book, and I’m guessing she edits innumerable times. One might say she is a poet, now that poems don’t have to rhyme, or maybe a mystic because we aren’t sure what a mystic is. “Guide Me Home” is a book of another measure, and Attica Locke is a messenger of a kind you haven’t met. Read this book slowly, and think through the scenes, wishing you could write this well.
“Guide Me Home” is available in hardcover at Maria’s Bookshop; don’t forget to ask for your 15% “Murder Ink” discount. ■
Attica Locke
EndoftheLine Global perspectives
Teaching in Asia brings new appreciation for other cultures, ‘American dream’
by Gabriela Ferrell
The usual reaction I observe when I first mention where I spent my summer is a blank look, then a puzzled expression, followed immediately by, “What? Where?”
I, too, displayed a similar response when I originally added Kyrgyzstan to a list of locations where I wanted to teach English. The small, former USSR country is far from a popular tourist destination, mostly serving as a stopping point, both historically and today, for cross-continental trade. I ended up finding a program, Eryim, that was looking for native English speakers to work with school children and adult women in their mission to help underprivileged Kyrgyz citizens. Despite my limited knowledge of Kyrgyz or Russian, they invited both my mom and I to teach English in the small town of Bazar Korgon, outside of the city of Jalal-Abad.
We arrived at the beginning of July, during summer vacation for Kyrgyz students. The program was held at Eryim’s office in Bazaar Korgon, adjacent to the local boarding school. The drastic difference between Kyrgyz and American boarding schools was immediately obvious, as the majority of Kyrgyz boarding schools are set up specifically for children without economic resources. Most students only board, because they are unable to make the daily drive to school.
The buildings were dilapidated to the point of giving an abandoned appearance. Inside, even with a daily average temperature of 92 degrees fahrenheit, the rooms lacked air conditioning or even fans, and the tap water quality meant we had to bring our own water each morning. In place of water fountains, the students drank from pipes out
of the ground (although they didn’t suffer from the same gastral consequences that I would have).
We taught three groups each day: Kyrgyz English teachers; adult women with no prior knowledge of English; and schoolchildren.
I greatly cherish the relationships we built with many of the women we taught. I especially learned a great deal about Kyrgyz society from the English teachers, with whom conversation was fairly smooth. Much of the information I learned about Kyrgyz society was fascinating to me.
For example, although a Muslim country, Kyrgyz women are granted substantial freedoms, such as the choice to wear a headscarf or not, as well as to seek higher education and professional careers. The women whom we taught all worked full-time. The culture, however, still relies on patriarchal principles, as it was explained to us. When husbands arrive home after a long day, they may sit down and relax, whereas the women must care for all the children, prepare dinner and clean the house.
“We don’t have time for anything!” I remember one of them declaring. It was
true – in rural Kyrgz society, most women couldn’t make room for activities outside of caring for family. For this reason, we used a day to teach the women how to exercise. We found shade outside under a building and worked on several whole-body movements: jumping jacks, wall sits, planks and leg exercises. It was a unique activity for them, and far from anything they were used to, but they were smiling and laughing nonetheless.
The children were both teenagers and younger students. The vast differences in English skills proved a challenge for me to teach at the same time. Nevertheless, after a few days, I began to get the hang of it and was able to keep everyone (mostly) engaged throughout each lesson. One of the most valuable insights I gained was how deeply valued America remains in the hopes and dreams of people, especially teens, who seek to improve their lives.
Talking to students my age, I heard one thing over and over: “I dream of going to America.” Their fascination with America was projected through persistent questions about what we wear, our foods, my school, our music (as it turns out, our
music tastes are similar, and several of us bonded over our love for Lana del Ray and Billie Eilish.) Much of this interest was connected to their desire to be selected to travel to the USA as exchange students through FLEX, a program that annually selects the most eligible students from around Kyrgyzstan and sends them to America for a year.
My initial reaction when hearing about their desire to go to America was one of amusement. Why on Earth would someone dream of coming to America? A country that I, my family, my friends, my teachers, often complain about. After all, an incredible amount of grievances follow us: the cost of living, the cost of education and gun violence, not to mention how we, as a society, are as divided as red and blue are on the color spectrum.
Yet as I thought about it, I wondered if perhaps the American dream isn’t dead; I live with the comforts and privileges of a first world country and am not under pressure to marry young and dedicate my life to my family. Instead, there are opportunities for me to travel the world and eventually find not just a job, but a career that will allow me to express my own creativity and freedom. Comparing my life as a teenager to my Kyrgyz peers, I realize how much I have to be grateful for.
Today, I am still in contact with several of the teenagers I taught – editing their English essays, helping them continue to develop their language skills, and simply sharing stories and laughs over text. Being around the students, conversing with them, has taught me an incredible amount about the culture of Central Asia and about the people who live there. We gain so much by seeing lives that differ drastically from our own. I believe that if more people had the opportunity to see and experience other cultures, we, as a society, would be less frightened of people who differ from us and more willing to share our own homes. ■
Gabriela Ferrell is a junior in high school. She enjoys traveling and spends much of her time at spay and neuter clinics on the Navajo Reservation and in Ecuador. When in Durango, she enjoys riding her horse, painting, reading or baking, even if the results aren’t always edible.
Gabriela Ferrell
Ferrell teaching jumping jacks to local women in Bazaar Korgon, Kyrgyzstan. Although women enjoy more freedoms here than in other Muslim countries, they often do not have time for exercise amid their daily tasks.
Thursday07
Spanish Conversation Hour, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Durango Public Library, 1900 E. 3rd Ave.
Outdoor First Aid, presented by City Ranger Tosh Black, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Durango Rec Center. Part 2 takes place Nov. 14
Tim Sullivan plays, 6 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Andrew Schuhmann plays, 6-9 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Poetry Open Mic, 6-7:30 p.m., Durango Sustainable Goods, 1259 Main Ave.
Ed Squared Blues Band plays, 6-8 p.m., Mancos Brewing Co. 484 Hwy 160 E. Frontage Rd., Mancos
Trivia Night, 6:30 p.m., Powerhouse Science Center, 1330 Camino del Rio
Comedy Night: An Evening with Costaki Economopoulos, 7 p.m., Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Dr.
“Mean Girls High School Edition,” presented by DHS Troupe 1096, 7-9:30 p.m., Durango High School
Carsie Blanton in concert, 7:30 p.m., FLC Community Concert Hall
First Thursday Songwriter Series presented by iAM Music, 8-10 p.m., The iNDIGO Room, 1315 Main Ave., #207
Friday08
BIDs Coffee and Conversation, 8:30-9:30 a.m., TBK Bank Community Room, 259 W. 9th St.
Friends of Durango Public Library fall book sale, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Durango Public Library,1900 E. 3rd Ave.
“Navajo Solar Sunrise” documentary screening & panel, 4:30-6 p.m., Center of Southwest Studies, FLC
Pete Giuliani plays, 5-8 p.m., Public House 701, 701 E. 2nd Ave.
Larry Carver and Ben Gibson play, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Ska/Venture Season Kickoff Party snowboard giveaway, prizes and music from Little Wilderness, 6 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.
Dustin Burley plays, 6-9 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Fly Fishing Film Tour, 6-9:30 p.m., DoubleTree, 501 Camino del Rio
Battle of the Bands, 6:30 p.m., The Light Box, 1316 Main Ave., Ste. C
Live Podcast with Speed Skier Ross Anderson hosted by The Center of Southwest Studies and Native Braids Storytelling Project, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Center of Southwest Studies, FLC
Standup vs. Improv Lower Left Comedy Show, 7 p.m., Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave., tickets and info: lowerleftimprov.com
“Mean Girls High School Edition,” presented by DHS Troupe 1096, 7-9:30 p.m., Durango High School
Lusine, Arms and Sleepers, and Yppah in concert, 8 p.m., Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Dr.
“Behind Me is Silence,” movement and spoken word performance by Suzy DiSanto and FLC Performing Arts students, 7:30 p.m., FLC Mainstage Theatre
“Lava Nova & The Quarks,” presented by iAM Music, 8-10 p.m., The iNDIGO Room, 1315 Main Ave., #207
Sunday10
Irish Jam Session, 12:30-3 p.m., Durango Beer & Ice Co., 3000 Main Ave.
“Behind Me is Silence,” movement and spoken word performance by Suzy DiSanto and FLC Performing Arts students, 2 p.m., FLC Mainstage Theatre
Board Game Sundays, 2 p.m., Lola’s Place, 725 E. 2nd Ave.
Silent Sundays with Swanson silent film classics accompanied by pianist Adam Swanson, 2-4 p.m., Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave.
FLC Wind Ensemble and Orchestra, 3 p.m., FLC Community Concert Hall
Weekly Peace Vigil & Rally for Gaza & Palestine, every Sunday, 4 p.m., Buckley Park.
Blue Moon Ramblers play, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Joel Racheff plays, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
FLC Chamber Orchestra and Wind Ensemble concert, 7 p.m., Community Concert Hall at FLC
Monday11
Free Strength and Balance Yoga for cancer survivors, 9:30-10:20 a.m., Smiley Building, 1309 E. 3rd Ave. Register www.cancersupportswco.org/ calendar/
Veterans Day Open House, luncheon and art exhibit, 12-3 p.m., VFW, 1550 Main Ave.
“Transparency” art opening reception by Isabelle Grant, 5:30-7 p.m., For Lewis College’s Exit Gallery
Joel Racheff plays, 5:30-10 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Leah Orlikowski plays, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Comedy open-mic Mondays, 7 p.m., The Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.
AskRachel Creepy tips and behind the covers
Interesting fact: Seven percent of so-called adult Americans claim that they do not tip at all. Pretty sure every one of them sat in my section back in the day.
Dear Rachel,
I know tip creep has been a thing for a while now, but it’s really getting out of hand. The touch screens when I check out now have a tip of 18% (sometimes even 20%) automatically selected, and you have to go through several clicks to manually input anything else. What happened to 15% being a standard minimum for full table service?? Now I’m supposed to pay a fifth of my tab over again for ordering at a counter and cleaning up my own trash. Tell me, has the etiquette really changed, or am I okay sticking to some coins in the tip jar? – Tipped Over
Dear Toppled,
I like this little bit of reality far more than I should. In shop lingo, the checkout hardware & software is called the point of sale—or, more often, POS. Which it is. I don’t care what the etiquette is these days: businesses need to pay their employees what they’re worth.
Tuesday12
Economic Development Alliance Meeting, 8 a.m., Center for Innovation, Main Mall, 835 Main Ave., Ste. 225
Veterans Benefit Breakfast & Art Exhibition, 911 a.m., VFW, 1550 Main Ave.
Terry Rickard plays, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Randy Crumbaugh plays, 6-9 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Rotary Club of Durango presents Police Chief Brice Current, 6-7 p.m., Strater Hotel, 699 Main Ave.
“What the Wild is and All it Offers Us,” presented by The Sierra Club, with speaker Heidi Steltzer, 6-8 p.m., 125 Noble Hall, Fort Lewis College
Wednesday13
Free Restorative Yoga for cancer survivors, 9:3010:45 a.m., Smiley Building, 1309 E. 3rd Ave. Register www.cancersupportswco.org/calendar/
Donny Johnson plays, 5:30-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Writers & Scribblers Writing Group, 6-8 p.m., Durango Public Library, 1900 E. 3rd Ave.
Let my tips show appreciation for the witty tip jars with their witty sayings written with witty Sharpies on an old, mostly washed-out mayonnaise jar, like it’s always been.
– Keep the change, Rachel
Dear Rachel,
My mind is freaking blown… again. So OK, picture this: I’m in college when Sheryl Crow releases “The First Cut Is The Deepest.” Fine song, sounds vaguely familiar… oh yeah, my parents liked Rod Stewart, it’s his song. Well. I’m in a hip coffee shop out of town last week, and I hear this weird retro version. Only it’s not retro, it’s original, it’s CAT STEVENS. Meow. Super dumb realization, but it’s true that there’s nothing new under the sun. I like your interesting facts, can you blow my mind with something else?
– Deep Thoughts
Dear Heavy Thinker,
Sure, here you go: turns out, Cat wrote the song, but his recording isn’t even the first cut—that belongs to P. P. Arnold. There’s no way she went by her initials in
Terry Rickard plays, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Open Mic with Leigh Mikell, 7 p.m., EsoTerra Ciderworks, 558 Main Ave.
San Juan Basin Archaeological Society meeting and presentation, 7-8:30 p.m., FLC Lyceum Room
Levi Platero Band with opening band The Kirk James Band, 7:30 p.m., Community Concert Hall at FLC
Karaoke Roulette, 8 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.
Ongoing
Halsey Berryman’s “Birds Eye View,” exhibit thru Nov. 21 4:30-6 p.m., FLC Art Hall Gallery
Cowboy Tuesdays, every other Tuesday, Nov. 5April 15, 12 noon-3 p.m., Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.
“Given Time: Sensory Aesthetics of Reclamation,” exhibit exploring Indigenous relationships to land, FLC Center of Southwest Studies. S
Upcoming
Writers on the Range presents Auden Schendler, author of “Terrible Beauty: Reckoning with Climate Complicity and Rediscovering Our Soul,” Thurs.,
Email Rachel at telegraph@durangotelegraph.com
school, right? Anyway, I hope you tipped the hip baristas in that hip coffee shop an extra 5-7% for broadening your scope of musical knowledge. Unless it was just Spotify doing its thang, which it probably was. – The second cut still hurts, Rachel
Nov. 14, 6 p.m., Smiley Café, Smiley Building
“Behind Me is Silence,” movement and spoken word performance by Suzy DiSanto and FLC Performing Arts students, Nov. 14-16, 7:30 p.m., FLC Mainstage Theatre
Desert Child plays, Fri., Nov. 15, 8 p.m., Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Dr.
ART 1550 artist reception, Mon., Nov. 18, 6 p.m., Durango Public Library, 1900 E. 3rd Ave.
Word Honey Poetry Workshop, Wed., Nov. 20, 67 p.m., Durango Public Library, 1900 E. 3rd Ave.
Business After Hours, Thurs., Nov. 21, 5-7 p.m., Hutton Broadcasting 99X FM 92.9FM The Point, 1911 N. Main Ave., Ste. 100
Nov. 7, 2024 n 13
FreeWillAstrology
by Rob Brezsny
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I rarely recommend acquisitive behavior. But astrological omens tell me you now have cosmic authorization to indulge in sublime voracity. We might also refer to it as a license to practice a spiritually correct variety of greed. Here’s the fine print: You should NOT interpret this as permission to amass materialistic treasures and status symbols. Instead, the things you gather will be rich feelings, encounters with inspiring beauty, epiphanies about your divine purpose and exquisite states of consciousness. You can also ask for and receive colossal supplies of love and affection.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The last time I ate a hamburger was in 1994. I doubt I will ever eat another. The taste is not enjoyable to me, and my stomach always rebels. There’s an additional problem: cattle farming is a significant factor in the climate crisis. I would rather not contribute to that. Does my attitude toward hamburgers mean I am a judgmental, closeminded zealot? No, it doesn’t. I don’t proselytize to those who relish burgers, especially if they take other measures to reduce their carbon footprint. I am illustrating an approach I hope you will cultivate in coming weeks. Be zealously devoted to your ideals without condemning and dismissing those who don’t share them.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): There are numerous approaches to getting good results from meditation. One is to sit silently and still in a tranquil sanctuary. Another is to lie on the ground under a dark sky and beseech the stars to bestow inspiration. One of my personal favorites is to sing rowdy hymns to birds, insects and trees while hiking vigorously in nature. How many other varieties can you imagine, Gemini? The coming weeks will be a favorable time to develop and expand your meditation skills. Here’s a consideration: How can you achieve maximum fun while meditating? I recommend you free your mind to experiment with a host of interesting approaches.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): If there was ever an appropriate time for you to indulge in creatively rowdy thoughts and inspirationally unruly behavior, it would be now. Life is giving you license to de-emphasize decorum and formalities – and to emphasize boisterous enthusiasm and plucky adventures. For the sake of your mental health, I believe you need to engage in experimental improvisations that include maverick ex-
pressions. What areas of your life need liberation? What feelings need to be released? What worn-out theories and opinions should be abandoned?
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Are your talents even slightly underrated and overlooked? Have your gifts received less than the full appreciation they deserve? Could you be of greater service and inspiration to your fellow humans if only your offerings were better known? If you answered yes to any of those questions, I’m pleased to tell you the coming months should bring remedies. Life will be conspiring with you to help spread your influence and boost your clout.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I wish it were true that the forces of darkness are lined up in opposition to the forces of light. Life would be so much easier for you. But I’m afraid it’s not that simple and clear. In my view, a more accurate metaphor might be that the energies of smokey grey are squaring off with the energies of dusky beige. Each side has a touch of both wrongness and rightness, a bit of ugliness and beauty. So what is the most honorable role you can play in this showdown? My suggestion is to develop a third side, an alternate way.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In the early part of his career, Libran Mario Puzo wrote short stories and novels but never a screenplay. At age 49, he was asked by director Francis Ford Coppola to co-write the script for “The Godfather.” It turned out to be a sensational rookie effort. He was ultimately awarded an Academy Award for it and later garnered another Oscar for “The Godfather Part II.” It was only then that Puzo realized he had found his calling and decided he should study the art of screenwriting. In the first chapter of the first book he bought about the subject, he read with great amusement that the ideal screenplay was the one by Mario Puzo for “The Godfather.” I bring this to your attention, Libra, because you are approaching a time with resemblances to Puzo’s before Coppola solicited his work. Trust your rookie instincts!
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the life cycle of a butterfly, the earliest stages are larva and pupa. As a larva, the future beauty crawls around as a caterpillar, cramming itself with nutritive substance. After it transitions into the pupa state, it’s inert, working on the inside of its cocoon to transform itself into its ultimate form. I don’t want to be too literal, but my sense is that your time as a larva will last another two
months, whereupon you will begin your pupa phase. When will you emerge as a winged creature? It depends on how earnestly you work as a pupa, but I expect no later than March 2025.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, is one of the most innovative and imaginative songwriters ever. Many of his compositions have become bestselling hit tunes. But he had a rough start in his craft. The first song he ever wrote was “Surfin.’” He wrote it to fulfill an assignment in his high school music class, but his teacher gave it an F. Fifty-eight years later, Wilson returned to the school for a visit, and the new principal changed his original grade to an A. I foresee a comparable event occurring in your life soon: a vindication, restitution or reparation.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Earlier this year, 79-year-old singer Rod Stewart performed his greatest hits during a multicity tour. “I shall never retire!” he proclaimed. Can you guess what sign he is? Capricorn, of course. Many members of your tribe age well, displaying stamina and vitality into later life. I think you are close to discovering new secrets and tricks that will serve you as you ripen. Here are some meditations that might be helpful: 1. What haven’t you been ready to do before, but might be soon? 2. What fun things would you love to be doing years from now, and how could you seed their future growth?
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Scientists have discovered the fossil remains of over 700 dinosaur species buried underground. But the experts agree there are many more. Previously unknown species are still being unearthed every year. Let’s use these facts as a metaphor for your life in the coming months. According to my analysis, you could learn a host of fresh truths about your history. You may have imagined that your past is finished and finalized, but it’s not. I encourage you to have fun hunting for revelations and investigations that will transform the story of your life.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You haven’t fully tapped into all of your vast potentials, Pisces. Latent talents and aptitudes within you may still be partially dormant. It’s even possible that some of your future powers are so foreign to your self-concept that they will feel like magic when they finally come into full expression. Now here’s the very good news: The coming months will be an excellent time to figure out what you need to do to express a more complete version of yourself.
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 durangotelegraph.com n classifieds@durango telegraph.com n 970-259-0133
Announcements
Applications for Advanced Standing MSW Program Students with a bachelor’s degree in social work (BSW) are eligible for a one-year Masters of Social Work program through the University of Denver. The program starts summer 2025 and classes are taught in Durango. Stipends for child welfare, integrated behavioral health care are available. Native American tuition support to eligible students is also available. For more info contact Janelle.Doughty@du.edu or www.du. edu/socialwork.
ForSale
Mobile Home for Sale
Located in Hermosa/Durango, at Lone Pine Trailer Park. See website for details: sanjuanhighlands.com $55,000, lot rent per month $600. Near hot springs, Purgatory ski mtn, golf course. Ready to move in
Wanted
Cash for Vehicles, Copper, Alum Etc. at RJ Metal Recycle. Also free appliance and other metal drop off. 970259-3494.
Books Wanted at White Rabbit
Donate/trade/sell (970) 259-2213
BodyWork
Stressed Over the State of the World?
Gift yourself a break and lower your cortisol with a Biotuning (sound and vibration) massage that will sooth your nervous system and reduce your stress levels. More info at Brain Yoga Durango 970 903 0797 brainyogadurango@ gmail.com. Ask for our election special!
Massage by Meg Bush LMT, 30, 60 & 90 min., 970-759-0199.
Services
Need Help With Yard Work? and raking leaves? Call Chris 970-3175397. Hourly rate plus a flat rate if I haul debris off to the dump
