The Durango Telegraph, Dec. 2, 2021

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T H E

O R I G I N A L

I N D I E

W E E K L Y

L I N E

O N

D U R A N G O

&

B E Y O N D

The silt remembers

Don’t be ‘that guy’

Saluting the side hustle

Study on Lake Powell sediment shows past contamination p7

Being one with nature is cool but no reason to flaunt closures p8

Shining a light on locals turning passion into profits p10

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Colorado Gives Day December 7, 2021 • swcogives.org Support causes you care about and keep your dollars local. Visit swcogives.org to contribute to 100+ organizations that serve children, the arts, animals, environment, food security, and more.

SWCO Gives is spearheaded by the Community Foundation serving SW Colorado

2 n Dec. 2, 2021

telegraph

lineup

4

4 La Vida Local

Confronting stigmas and borders through music and art

4 Thumbin’ It

Another world

by Kirbie Bennett

5 Word on the Street 6 Soapbox

7

7 Land Desk

Silty rap sheet

8 Top Story

Lake Powell’s bottom contains traces of past water calamities

by Jonathan Thompson

10 Let’s Dig In

Ear to the ground: “The couple that pukes together, stays together.”

– Sometimes, the best bonding happens when both lovers’ guts are going nuts after a bad meal on the town.

Green for the holidays

thepole

RegularOccurrences

Bona fide sustainability geek Claire Attkisson wants to inspire you to rethink how you shop this holiday season.

Attkisson, founder and creative director of Live Creative Studio – a sustainable-business marketing and shopping hub – is offering a unique retail experience for those looking to reduce their environmental impact during the holidays. The Zero Waste Holiday Pop-Up event, Dec. 3-5 at the Smiley Building, will feature businesses from around town that are innovating solutions to the environmental challenges we face today.

“Many business owners in our community are changing the way they do business for good by creating solutions to the problems of plastic waste, energy consumption and climate change, biodiversity, soil loss and more,” Attkisson said. “The holiday pop-up is a way to collectively market and support our local, sustainable-minded businesses.”

11 Murder Ink

8

12-13 Stuff to Do

Wildlife scofflaws

13 Ask Rachel

Every year, people violate closure areas and give terrible excuses

by Jonathan Romeo

14 Free Will Astrology 15 Classifieds

10

15 Haiku Movie Review

Side hustle savvy

How Durangoans thrive at turning passions into careers

On the cover: The golden hour arrives during a late fall trek into southeastern Utah’s Grand Gulch./ Photo by Stephen Eginoire

by Sinjin Eberle

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EDITORIALISTA: Missy Votel missy@durangotelegraph.com ADVERTISING SALES: Cole Davis cole@durangotelegraph.com STAFF REPORTER: Jonathan Romeo jonathan@durangotelegraph.com

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

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

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

telegraph

The businesses are members of Live Creative Studio’s Sustainable Business Guide, a curated list of more than 34 (and growing) local businesses that provide options for consumers who want to shop for eco-minded products or purchase from businesses working to reduce their carbon footprint. Attkisson said these businesses address important questions, such as where their materials are sourced, how their products are created and packaged, and ways in which products may be recycled – or better yet, upcycled.

There’s no better time than the holidays to make mindful purchasing choices and shop for goods that align with your values, Attkisson said.

As we enter the gift-giving/shopping frenzy that permeates the most “wonderful time of the year,” significant impacts to the planet are inevitable as one considers the life cycle of each wrapped present bought. However, reducing these impacts while also embracing the “think globally, act locally” adage can be achieved through conscientious gifting that also supports local businesses.

The Zero Waste Holiday Pop-Up will feature zero waste, fair-trade and hand-crafted gifts from various local businesses, makers, bakers and artists including: WeFill Durango; Osadha Natural Health; Maka Earth CBD products; The Flying Hatter; Passionflower Beauty; Chandler Strange; Belle and the Bear; and others.

So ditch online shopping and, instead, support local, sustainable businesses this holiday season.

Your loved ones and the planet will thank you.

– Kathleen O’Connor

Dec. 2, 2021 n

3

opinion

LaVidaLocal Laughter in the darkness I’m staring at an illustration of an Indigenous person joyfully ramming longstemmed flowers up General Custer’s butt. Or at least I like to think the blond mustachioed white man on all fours is Custer. Maybe I’m too optimistic, but in the painting it looks like he’s enjoying the flora-infused traffic jam behind him.

The flowers could be liatris, but Custer’s not around anymore to ask. And more importantly, this playful scene is one of many from Cree artist Kent Monkman’s painting “The Triumph of Mischief,” which is a sprawling portrait of Indigenous people taunting, torturing and teasing colonizers with the help of enchanting, magical creatures. Gracefully walking through this chaotic orgy is Monkman’s alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle – a holy, halo-smashing being of Indigenous pride that celebrates the nonbinary, the fluid; an unrepentant middle finger to the borders and dogmas of the Western world.

The same sense of subversive joy electrifies me when I read the writing of Stephen Graham Jones, who recently spoke at Fort Lewis College. The prolific Blackfeet writer knows how to craft top-notch horror stories, and after years of pen-topaper devotion, he’s receiving righteous recognition for his Indigenous-centered horror novels. But it feels unfair to only see him as a horror writer. Similar to Monkman, Jones’ debut novel, “The Fast Red Road: A Plainsong,” playfully zigzags around different genres throughout its sprawling story, which reads like Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” meets Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”

All of which is to say: sometimes you encounter an artist whose words cause you to shed the world, letting your heart grow larger. Sometimes you encounter an artist whose work bends and breaks the borders of genres, to remind you that another world is possible – in print and in life.

Indigenous folks know how to confront those borders because we’ve studied them – sometimes by choice, sometimes by force – ever since they were put up to keep us corralled into reservations. Whether through art, writing or music, we take notes in the underground, studying the maps of bordertowns in order to burn them down.

Speaking of desecrating Custer, in Southern California circa 1978 a group of young Native American musicians revved up on rock ‘n’ roll and Indigenous liberation formed a band called Winterhawk. Fronted by outspoken Cree activist Nik Alexander, the group lasted long enough to record two albums before calling it quits in the mid-1980s. Though their lifespan was short and they never attained mainstream success, they managed to tour with an eclectic variety of artists, such as Tina Turner, Santana, Mötley Crüe and even an up-and-coming band called Metallica in 1980.

In an interview with Bandcamp writer Brad Sanders, Winterhawk’s original drummer Alfonso Kolb spoke fondly of the shows that made the band worthwhile: with enough smooth-talking, the band was able to play for Native youth in boarding schools around the country. “We would go to boarding schools and do seminar classes prior to the show,” Kolb recalled. “We would talk to these Indian kids from all over, different tribes, and the common thread that they were going through in their life was domestic violence, alcoholism, teen pregnancies, suicide, lack of education.”

Heavy metal was what kids wanted, the band argued, and using that music as a vehicle, they had a positive message to share.

For Winterhawk’s frontman Alexander, these gigs were the gold records the band sought. “You’ve gotta be good at your stuff, you’ve gotta practice,” Nik would tell

the drummer, leading up to these shows. “Because when we go there, they’re going to be amazed at the way you drum and the way I play guitar. That’s what’s gonna take down the walls, and they’re gonna wanna talk to us, and that’s when we’ll get to hear their problems, because no one else is listening to them.”

There is something to be said about those moments, especially in your youth, when you encounter an artist whose words and music reach out through the stereo or from the stage – their crooked, crumpled hearts soothing your distress. Every beat becomes life support, every revolution per minute feels palpable; a reminder that another world is possible.

I like to believe that, after the band packed up its gear and hit the road, those Native children in attendance were left electrified with a sense of subversive joy to make them endure a little longer.

No archive exists chronicling these boarding school tours, and live footage of the band is hard to come by. But there is an eight-minute clip of the group playing in Seattle in 1980. The footage is warbled and grainy but you can see the band decked out in Native regalia with Alexander shredding in a vicious groove. The stage the band plays on can barely be called a stage, and from the camera’s angle, it looks as if only a handful of people are watching. And yet Winterhawk performs as if in a stadium, fully alive and floating above everything. Though unjustly brief, it is a performance that speaks to the confidence of knowing that no matter where they are, as Native people their home is everywhere on this stolen land.

Over the years, the band’s popularity has ebbed and flowed. Their music being hard to find certainly hasn’t helped sustain the legacy they deserve, but recently the independent label Don Giovanni Records took on the project of re-releasing the band’s discography. Their two full-length albums are now widely available on streaming platforms and CD (fingers crossed a vinyl re-issue happens to satisfy record dorks such as myself).

Listening to the band’s 1979 album, “Electric Warriors,” one might find it hard to believe it’s their debut release. The album is a pounding hurricane of sound: the musicianship is tight-knit and hyper-kinetic, and Alexander’s voice croons and wails as fluidly and beautifully as his guitar. The infusion of traditional chants backed by metal riffs, pow-wow drums and an attacking blues beat turn their bodies and instruments into weapons, which is perhaps why the album cover features band members poised in traditional regalia holding guitars like weapons. “Electric Warriors” captures the sound of 500 years of Indigenous armed love and, thanks to the efforts of the independents, it now floods speakers of the 21st century.

Among the many gems featured on this debut record, “Custer’s Dyin’” is a highlight for me: it’s KISS meets the American Indian Movement – a pummeling, yet groovy track about unsettling the settler state and having a fun time doing so. It is the soundtrack to toppling statues of racist mascots on a Saturday night.

In other words, 500 years have come and gone and for the most part, it has felt like sifting through 500 channels of broken treaties, banal violence and dehumanizing depictions of my black, brown and queer relatives.

If there is a heart to this country, it rests in those black and brown souls still miraculously alive, despite genocide, despite the chains. Innate to our kaleidoscopic cultures, we know how to laugh in the dark as a form of resilience – it lights the night, and like fireworks, we playfully explore and explode the liminal spaces of a crude country whose violent narrative has been shaped by the architects upholding the aperture of the white male gaze. Like Custer’s fate, that worldview is dimming, becoming outnumbered, and we are laughing while embracing the possibility of another world.

Sign of the Downfall:

Thumbin’It

4 n Dec. 2, 2021

Psycatic

The Navajo Nation throwing its support behind the Red Rock Wilderness Act, which would protect about 8.5M acres in Utah. The bill, unfortunately, still has a steep mountain to climb in Congress.

Colorado’s last glacier, the Arapahoe Glacier about 20 miles west of Boulder, has vanished. Well, by vanished we mean melted because of the alarming rate of climate change, but yeah, it’s gone.

San Juan Mountain Association’s Christmas tree lot is up and running. The sale not only targets trees to help reduce wildfire risk, it also funds SJMA, which does good work to help the San Juan National Forest.

Reports that wealthy investors are buying thousands of acres of farmland in the Southwest for water rights to sell to cities.

Well what could go wrong playing monopoly with one of our most precious resources on Earth?

A report that dozens of strangers were snowed in for days at a U.K. pub after a massive storm. Instead of eating each other, they sang karaoke, played games and ate pudding (it’s what the British eat). See, there’s hope for humanity!

– Kirbie Bennett

What the hell did someone do to piss off Ullr? It’s Dec. 2 and there’s no snow on the mountains, temperatures are in the 60s and we’re staring longingly at that Purg pass.

telegraph

Scientists from The University of Liverpool have published in The Journal of Research in Personality a test you can use at home to see if your cat is a psychopath.

The “CAT-Tri+” test is a listing of 46 statements – such as, “my cat torments its prey rather than killing it” – that pet-owners use to rate their cats on a 5-point scale, 1 being a nice kitty and 5 being a feline Jeffrey Dahmer. Via their findings, the scientists claim that all cats have “an element of psychopathy,” which seems like something you don’t need “scientists” to figure out.

WordontheStreet

Turn the Holidays

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With winter a noshow so far this year, the Telegraph asked, “What can we do to summon the snow gods?”

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Dec. 2, 2021 n 5

SoapBox Politics & propaganda The far-right has finally devolved into childlike behavior. Big Bird had the audacity to state that he had received the COVID vaccine and his wing was a little sore. According to Business Insider: “Texas Senator Ted Cruz critically responded to Big Bird’s tweet, accusing the character of promoting propaganda.” Newsmax, Fox and other right-wing pundits also tweeted, criticizing the Sesame Street character and calling it propaganda. No one had an issue in 1972 when Big Bird got a measles shot, but Richard Nixon was the president and Fox, Newsmax, etc. didn’t exist.

This got me thinking about “promoting propaganda.” I have a number of clients and acquaintances that have told me they “home school” their children as they don’t want them “indoctrinated” by public school. When I asked them if they sent their children to Sunday or Bible school, they said yes. They didn’t or don’t get the irony and hypocrisy.

A search for Bible school lessons will give you more than 71 million results.

There are programs for pre-school, elementary school, middle school, high school, teens, tweens, girls, etc. If I recall correctly from catechism exposure at an early age, the “teaching” went something like this: “Who made you? God made me.

Who made the world? God made the world.” When I asked “Who made God?” I was told I couldn’t ask that question.

6 n Dec. 2, 2021

D-Tooned/by Rob Pudim Don’t get me started on Noah, Hell, The Rapture, Satan, Fear of God or women’s rights. Question: “What’s your definition of propaganda?”

Big Bird encouraging children to get measles or COVID vaccinations on top of the other multiple vaccinations that are required to go to school is not propaganda. It’s common sense. Ted Cruz’s children attend St. John’s School in Houston.

They require seven vaccinations covering 11 diseases. Unfortunately, not the COVID vaccine. Not yet.

– Craig S. Chisesi, Rifle

First turns Uplifted to snow Gliding down after soaring White ribbon of hope – Karen Carver, Durango

Clamp down on crime Police departments in major cities, even in Durango, will more than likely take a report after thieves are gone with merchandise worth up to $100,000 or more.

Photo ops from powers-that-be that make unrealistic promises in keeping law and order does not cut it.

A costly,yet effective solution,would be to keep the thief or thieves inside the store with their bags of loot. State-of-the-art sys-

tems to lock-down doors and windows that can’t be shot out are possible in this day and age. A back entry into each department store/gallery could allow SWAT to show up and take out those holding bags of stolen goodies.

We need professional law enforcement and savvy people to use their own common sense to protect their homes and

telegraph

businesses. And please, Washington D.C. lawmakers, don’t encourage under age trigger-happy wanna be “patrollers,” such as Kyle Rittenhouse (acquitted recently from killing two people), with a mother who deserved jail time for ignoring the legal importance of a curfew and obviously lacks other parenting skills.

– Sally Florence, Durango

LandDesk

The silt remembers USGS Lake Powell study reveals water calamities of the past

by Jonathan Thompson

I

n June 1975, as winter clung stubbornly to the high San Juan Mountains, a heavy rain fell on the still-icy tailings containment ponds at Standard Metal’s Mayflower Mill, just outside of Silverton. The combination of rain and ice caused one of the impoundments’ sand walls to give way, allowing some 75,000 tons of sludge within to break free and flow into the Animas River.

The sludge – a combination of fine and sandy mill tailings, loaded with acid-forming sulfites and a toxic soup of heavy metals – was carried by the swift current downstream to Durango, where the river ran the color of “aluminum paint,” as a Durango Herald reporter described it at the time. Of 31 rainbow trout placed in the water in cages, 27 were dead within 24 hours. Cyanide – often used to leach gold from ore – was detected at high levels in Farmington, where the Animas joins the San Juan River, which took on the same eerie hue.

From there the material continued westward, ultimately settling into the San Juan River delta where it runs up against the slackwater of Lake Powell.

Over time, the calamity faded from the collective memory.

It was dredged back up when the Gold King Mine blew out in 2015, turning the Animas and San Juan rivers TANG-orange and then electric yellow all the way into Utah. But the immediacy – and color – of the latter event quickly overshadowed the 1975 tailings spill. Lake Powell’s growing depository of silt, however, never forgets, and the memory of the 1975 event lurks some 45 feet deep within the sediment.

In 2018, U.S. Geological Survey scientists set out to unearth the sedimentary memories in Lake Powell, taking core samples from various locations around the reservoir but with a special focus on the San Juan River delta, since that’s where most of the Gold King residue would be. They recently released preliminary, raw data from the coring project, and Zak Podmore of the Salt Lake Tribune summarized their findings.

Yes, the Gold King spill was big and ugly – an estimated 540 tons of metals were carried down the river – and the record of the event shows up as a spike in zinc and lead a few meters under the silty surface. But the events of the 1970s, and the resulting spikes in zinc and lead, were significantly larger, according to the data. In fact, water quality in the 1970s was generally nasty, even when tailings piles weren’t bursting or alpine lakes weren’t flushing out mine workings.

Why? Because water pollution laws weren’t yet in place.

Yes, Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972. But the mining-specific provisions of the act were not finalized until later, so initially the law had little effect on the operating mines or mills in the San Juan Mountains such as Standard

As Lake Powell recedes, its silty, contaminated bottom could pose problems./ Courtesy of Land Desk Metals’ Sunnyside Mine or Mayflower Mill. About 1,600 gallons per minute of acid mine drainage – or nearly one Gold King Mine spill every 36 hours – poured out of the Sunnyside’s American Tunnel. It carried with it 300 pounds of zinc each day, along with an assortment of other metals, all of which flowed directly into Cement Creek without any treatment, then into the Animas, the San Juan and eventually ending up in Lake Powell’s silt. Meanwhile, dozens of smaller, abandoned mines and tailings and waste rock piles around the area were adding their own toxic soup to the mix.

Eventually the laws kicked in and the state started enforcing them more rigorously, forcing the Sunnyside Mine’s owners to treat their water discharges to a very high standard. And when the Sunnyside Mine shut down in 1991, it began a multi-million dollar cleanup effort, significantly improving water quality. That, too, is apparent in the sedimentary record, as is the 2005 shutdown of the water treatment plant which, by that time, was cleaning water from the Gold King Mine as well as the American Tunnel.

These findings aren’t exactly revelatory. Yet I find it fascinating, nonetheless. It’s oddly reassuring to know that the silt remembers changes in water quality in much the same way trees remember the variations in climate over their lifetimes. It’s also a bit disturbing to know that as the lake’s level recedes, much of the silt and the stuff it contains – including radioactive waste left over from the Nuclear West – is remo-

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bilized, sullying the water in Lake Powell all over again, harming aquatic life and potentially contaminating drinking water for those downstream.

Equally startling is the sheer volume of silt deposited in Lake Powell each year. In 1986, the Bureau of Reclamation conducted an extensive silt survey of the entire reservoir, finding 868,231 acre feet – equivalent to one cubic kilometer – of sediment had accumulated in the lake over the previous 23 years. If sediment has continued to pile up at that rate for the ensuing 35 years, now nearly 2.2 million acre feet of silt is sitting in Lake Powell, which is enough sand and mud to fill more than 1 million Olympic-size swimming pools.

The same 1986 study assured water officials that at that rate, it would take 700 years for sediment to completely fill the reservoir to its original capacity of 27 million acre feet.

But at the current rate of climate change-induced lake level decline, the reservoir will be more sediment than water within a decade or less. The reservoir will be rendered useless and boaters will have to navigate it with silt-skipper crafts.

The vast depository of sediment also poses challenges to proposals to “fill Lake Mead first,” by draining Lake Powell and dismantling Glen Canyon Dam. Jonathan Thompson is a fourth-generation Durangoan who runs the Land Desk, a thrice-weekly newsletter: visit www.landdesk.org.

He is also the author of River of Lost Souls, Behind the Slickrock Curtain and Sagebrush Empire.

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Dec. 2, 2021 n 7

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A mountain biker gets in her last switchback of the season at Twin Buttes last week. Starting Dec. 1, the upper reaches of the Twin Buttes trail system, as well as several other popular trail areas, are closed to the public to protect wintering wildlife./ Photo by Missy Votel

Don’t be ‘that guy’ Being one with nature is cool, but not a good reason to violate closures

by Jonathan Romeo

A

h, December. Holiday cheer, spending time with loved ones and the start of people making really, really bad decisions about being in areas closed to protect wildlife.

Every year, select public lands around Durango critical for wildlife to survive the winter are closed from Dec. 1- April 15. And every year, people walk or bike around closure signs, barricades and locked gates and then give outlandish excuses when caught, from “being one with nature” to thinking closures don’t apply when it’s sunny out.

“While we know these areas are popular with trail users, data shows it is also necessary to close them to human activity during the winter months for the sake of wildlife,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife assistant wildlife manager Steve McClung said in a statement. “There are plenty of other trails in our area for people to recreate on during the winter months, and we ask the community to respect these closures.”

Habitat loss, drought, disease – it’s hard for big game these days. Studies from CPW in recent years show elk and deer populations have been stagnating or declining in Southwest Colorado, with little signs of improvement.

8 n Dec. 2, 2021

An egregious example of failing to heed wildlife closures./ Photo courtesy of BLM As a result, CPW and the Bureau of Land Management close off a few areas in lower elevations where big game can find refuge during the winter months. These areas include Animas City Mountain, Grandview Ridge, Big Canyon, Twin Buttes, and Perins Peak and Bodo wildlife areas, among others.

The closures are especially important as more and more studies show just how much impact all forms of recreation – and yes, even dogs – have on wildlife. When big game are startled and run off, they not only expend crucial calories but also elevate their

telegraph

heart rates and lose time they could be spending foraging or resting. There’s even more risk to pregnant animals, who are particularly sensitive to disturbances and need all their strength to give birth in the spring.

A 2021 study published in Nature Conservation found large mammals traveled more than a half-mile at the sight of a human. “Outdoor recreation is increasingly recognized for its deleterious effects on wildlife,” the study determined. And, with outdoor recreation growing, researchers said it was important to create refuges and buffer zones.

Despite the closures, every year turns up a few bad apples. Even though the BLM has just two law enforcement officers covering more than 600,000 acres in Southwest Colorado, several people are issued citations each winter. The offense carries a fine up to $250. In the 2020-21 season, the BLM issued 11 violations and 10 warnings. CPW issues about 12-18 citations a year at Bodo and at least six a year at Perins Peak.

Tyler Fouss, BLM law enforcement manager, said people are violating closures every day, as evidenced by footprints and bike tracks on the trail. The BLM tries to monitor patterns to catch people at the right time and place, but that’s no easy task with such a massive coverage area and so few of-

ficers. Violations had been declining in recent years until the COVID-19 pandemic, which has more people recreating outside, Fouss said.

The biggest problem area is Animas City Mountain, but Grandview Ridge and Sale Barn are not far behind. One driving factor is nice weather, with most tickets written in March and April as spring fever kicks in. But issues can also arise in years like this, when snow is late to arrive.

“People ask why we close trails when it hasn’t snowed yet,” CPW spokesman John Livingston said. “But elk and deer still come down to lower elevations once it gets cold.”

One of two law enforcement officers, Fouss is on the frontline of scofflaws. And the excuses can be, shall we say, out there. But for the most part, Fouss said, people just don’t understand how taking a walk in the woods can be bad for wildlife.

“People say, ‘I’m just one person, what impact am I going to have?’” Fouss said. “But they’re not thinking of everyone else doing the same thing. It’s a cumulative impact.”

So, The Durango Telegraph filed a Freedom of Information Act request for all violations written by the BLM in 202021, just to see how weird the explanations got. Think of it as a “Wall of Shame” for wildlife offenders that you do not want to be on: • Dec. 2, 2020, a woman was caught hiking Big Canyon Trail, and then explained she was having her vehicle serviced at Durango Motor Co. and wanted some exercise while she waited. Of course, she saw the signs and barricades “but decided to risk entering the area,” the report said. She was fined.

• Dec. 13, BLM officers saw a car parked at the Sale Barn Trailhead, with two sets of footprints going from the vehicle and around the gate. When officers encountered the hikers on the trail, they played dumb and denied knowing about the closure. “I pointed out that both of their foot tracks went around the gate where the sign is posted,” the officer wrote. Indeed, included in the report is a picture of the trailhead, with a sign reading “CLOSED TO ALL ENTRY.” Fined.

• Here’s one where BLM had to play couples counselor

when officers encountered a man and woman hiking with a child on Animas City Mountain on March 7. Officers ran a background check on the couple, which turned up that the man had a restraining order and was not supposed to be in contact with the woman. The woman was asked to hike out alone, and the man was reminded of the restraining order he already knew about, held behind and given a fine.

• That same day, another woman went with the “change-stories-several-times” tactic. When she was first contacted on Animas City Mountain, she said she saw the wildlife closure signs but that she was “just walking.” She then told the officer she didn’t see the sign but did see the fence. Realizing maybe this ploy wasn’t working, she asked for a warning. “I informed her that the sign and barricade that she walked past was her warning,” the officer wrote.

• This one is cringe-worthy. On March 18, two trail runners on Animas Mountain were told by a BLM officer on patrol to stop. But, of course, they didn’t. “After looking at me, they ran faster away.” The two runners were never caught, but they do have to live with being “those guys,” so there’s that.

• On March 30, a BLM officer found a man sitting on the trail on Animas City Mountain, talking on the phone.

When asked if he’d seen the closure signs, the man said, “Yeah, I thought it was OK, I see other people up here.”

Digging himself a deeper hole, he went on to say, “I live here, come up here every single day.” When the officer asked if the closure doesn’t apply to him for any particular reason, the man said, yes, “because I’m part of nature and I’m not bothering any of those things.”

The man was fined but ran into officers later that day and gave no indication he’d learned his lesson. “I again made it clear to him he was not to enter the closure,” the officer wrote. “The man stated he wouldn’t and pointed to an area he would go. I informed him that the area pointed to was within the closure.”

Do you really want to be these people and end up in the Telegraph, at least not for the right reasons? ■

telegraph

Don’t go there Wildlife closures Dec. 1-April 15 (may be extended to April 30, weather depending) • Bodo State Wildlife Area: Public access prohibited Dec. 1-April 15. The Smelter Mountain Trail is open for foot access only from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and dogs are prohibited.

• Perins Peak State Wildlife Area: Public access prohibited Dec. 1-April 15. However, closures remain in effect through July 31 in areas east of CR 208.

• Big Canyon and Sale Barn trails off U.S. Highway 160 are closed to all public use.

• South Rim Trail, including portions of Sidewinder and Cowboy rails on BLM property accessed from Carbon Junction Trail or Crites Connection.

• Grandview BLM trails accessed from Three Springs.

• Animas City Mountain upper loop trails.

• All upper trails as marked in Twin Buttes.

Dec. 2, 2021 n

9

LetsDigIn

Celebrating the side hustle Durango locals known for growing passions into big ideas

by Sinjin Eberle

I

’ve always been fascinated, and quite frankly a bit envious, of people who create things. And by create things, I mean physical, tangible, artistic and yes, delicious, things. I have friends who are writers, musicians, filmmakers, photographers, poets and, of course, chefs and bartenders.

And I have always been a bit intimidated by these folks who can sit down, take a breath and create. Believe me, I am not minimizing the grind and commitment that it takes to get to the final, creative outcome. It takes a lot of intention and dedication, practice and failure, to start from a shopping bag full of ingredients and end with that stunning, Instagram-ready wedding cake for someone’s most important day.

Yet as author Seth Godin would say – shipping the work is the hardest part of the creative process, but it must be done. He declares that, “owning the joy and impact of that work is part of the generous act of being creative.” Generous indeed.

In this time of year, as we start reconnecting with those we love, I want to take a moment and celebrate a few of the people

Cream Bean Berry owner Katie Burford seen here along her cart in 2013./ Durango Telegraph file

in our community who are creating, at an intimate, micro-scale, interesting foods that we can all enjoy or give or share. I also want to give a vigorous high-five to those who have grown their passion from a tiny side hustle into something more expansive, through hard work and creative thinking.

Take Cream Bean Berry – owner Katie Burford started making ice cream and selling it out of a bicycle cart on the Animas River Trail and then at the farmer’s market.

In 2013, she opened a production room and retail space in the Smiley Building, and then her current storefront on Main Ave. in 2015. During the pandemic, she opened a tiny, stainless steel bubble of a trailer at Birds and expanded baking capabilities.

Fast forward to today, Burford and Lacy Archer are partners in Mountain Monk Coffee, which was previously a humble coffee trailer at Durango Hot Springs and now is in the old Starbucks location at Main & College. Archer’s vision is for a communitygathering place, bringing together coffee and gluten-free, vegan pastries with other healthy teas and herbal drinks. There’s also space for local artists to display and sell their creations, as well as evening yoga and live music. She envisions it as a place where artists who would struggle to afford a Main Ave. storefront can have that kind of exposure – especially so close to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and across from the General Palmer Hotel.

And on the topic of new storefronts, I was sipping Manhattans with a friend last week, and she nudged a tiny flyer my way and asked if I had tried a particular new place at College and 4th. Tortilleria la Flor just opened a few weeks ago, so I popped in to grab some fresh tortillas. Flor Rodriguez is the driving force there, and she told me about her time working at restaurants all over Durango, such as CJ’s Diner, Denny’s, Burger King and numerous Mexican restaurants. But she always has made her own tortillas at home. She learned the craft as a young girl growing up in Mexico, and since she arrived in Durango, her mission has

Mountain Monk Coffee’s new digs in the old Starbucks location in the 500 block of Main Ave. after beginning as a small trailer./ Courtesy photo been simple: to create a better tortilla. Before I could even introduce myself, she handed me a piping hot, fresh tortilla that as I stood chatting with her, was literally melting in my mouth with a sweet, rich, floury flavor that I have never found in store-bought tortillas. She also told me that they will be taking orders for handmade tamales around Christmas – my mouth is watering already.

On the baking side of things, Rachel Curran’s Odd Bird Baking was born out of a deep passion for pastry, yet after years of slinging dough at Lucky’s Bakehouse in Boulder, she decided to hang it up to stay home with her two young children. Curran told me that after moving to Durango she was searching for a way to stay relevant and fuel her passion, while still being able to raise her children. Now, with the success of her “side hustle,” the business has turned into a “main hustle” with a wide variety of

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cakes and pastries and her awesome Pajama Boxes full of fresh pastries, delivered to your door (within a reasonable distance from Durango) every Saturday morning. I bought one of these last week and was super impressed with the entire selection in my box.

And, Odd Bird Bakery will also be partnering in a coffee and plant shop called Still Life slated to open near J-Bo’s in January.

I know there are others out there doing fun, creative things at a small scale with dreams of evolving into something bigger.

It’s thrilling to see people following their crafts, nurturing them into something more substantial and ideally getting to a point where they can commit to making what fuels their fire into something fully sustainable and profitable. Great ideas, with a little effort and foresight, can turn something small and personal into something that can be shared with all of us – that is the real joy in their generous creativity.

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10 n Dec. 2, 2021

telegraph

MurderInk

Otherworldy orphanage Nothing is what it seems in “My Sweet Girl” thriller

by Jeffrey Mannix

A

manda Jayatissa is a young and lovely Sri Lankan woman who was one of the first from her tiny island off the coast of India to secure an international book deal for her debut novel. The Berkley imprint of Penguin Random House released “My Sweet Girl” a few weeks ago, and it is one of the most riveting books I’ve read in some time, maybe years.

It’s my mission over these many years of Murder Ink to bring to your attention exceptional crime fiction. I have piles of advance reader copies that didn’t make the cut, and about one out of eight or 10 books makes it to this column.

“My Sweet Girl” begins the chronicle of two 12-year-old best friends, Paloma and Lihini, who have grown up in an orphanage in Sri Lanka called Little Miracles Girls’ Home. The youngsters sleep in a disciplined dormitory, eat with proper table manners and go to classes daily. They speak respectfully to the headmaster and teachers, and of course, loathe and fear the senior matron and cruel disciplinarian, Miss Chandra.

We join what appears to be a well-run residential school for girls, and we hear about the infamous ghost Mohini, more

talked about and feared than seen. We also witness the visit of an American couple from San Francisco, Mr. & Mrs. Evans, shopping for an “adorable little thing’’ to adopt.

Adoption is rare in this orphanage but keeps the operation alive Jayatissa builds seductive intrigue by moving between the Little Miracles Girls’ Home in Sri Lanka and San Francisco 18 years later.

This is where Jayatissa exhibits mettle beyond her age and experience. And it’s in San Francisco that discrepancies begin to fester into transgressions, and the hallowed yet creepy halls of an orphanage loom grotesquely as harbingers of secrets that turn villainous.

Pacing is one of Jayatissa’s many authorial talents. We move from the secretive plots of troubled preteen girls abandoned to an orphanage with little hope of being adopted, to full-grown adult pathology.

The Little Miracles Girls’ Home is all atwitter for weeks before the arrival of Mr. & Mrs. Evans, preening the girls and the grounds for the all-important first impression and eventual adoption.

Paloma and Lihini are at the front of the queue for being the oldest and the most probable to make an endearing impression.

Paloma is a reader, “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Brontë is her most favorite and dreamy book. Lihini is the prettier child, but is second to Paloma in personality and grit. The day arrives with the Evanses. Cuteness abounds, songs are sung and vapid compliments keep pace. “Wuthering Heights,” it turns out, is Mrs. Evans’ favorite book, and after some weeks, Paloma is selected for adoption.

Jealousy then envelops Lihini, and sorrow over leaving spoils Paloma’s joy. The ghost Mohini bedevils the night, Paloma is ignored by Lihini and attacked by Shanik,

telegraph

one of the girls with schizophrenia.

Alternating chapters go from Sri Lanka to 18 years later in San Francisco, where Paloma is living in an overpriced flat supported by selling nude photos. She takes on a roommate, Arun from India, whom she finds murdered one day slumped onto the kitchen table. This comes right when Paloma is thinking of how to dispose of Arun because she discovered a letter from the matron at Little Miracles addressed to Mrs. Evans describing a most heinous act decades ago implicating Paloma.

By this time in her life, Paloma is drinking to blackouts most days and it takes her a while to report the death of Arun. When police arrive, there is no trace of Arun dead or alive. Did Paloma hallucinate Arun’s death? But then where is Arun?

The narrative accelerates from the first page until the last page and the plot just gets more delicious. There isn’t a novelist writing today that wouldn’t wish they could create and pace characters and place like Jayatissa has in “My Sweet Girl.” This is certain to win numerous awards and propel Jayatissa to the top tier of contemporary fiction writers.

Don’t forget to ask Maria’s Bookshop for a 15% Murder Ink discount.

Dec. 2, 2021 n 11

StufftoDo Deadline for “Stuff to Do” submissions is Monday at noon. To submit an item, email: calendar@durangotelegraph.com

Thursday02 Gary Walker plays, 10 a.m.-12 noon, Jean-Pierre Bakery & Restaurant, 601 Main Ave. SCAPE showroom, 4-9 p.m., live music, catering and local companies, Outdoorsy, 934 B Main Ave. Live music, 5:30 p.m.., Diamond Belle Saloon and Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave. Jason Thies and Jeff Haspel play, 6-8 p.m., Mountain Monk Coffee, 558 Main Ave.

Holiday on the Hill concert, 7 p.m., Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.

7 Rivers Farmers Market, 12 noon, La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave.

Hip Hop night, 8 p.m., Moe’s Starlight Lounge, 947 Main Ave.

Acoustic Music Jam, 5-7 p.m., all instruments and styles welcome, vaccinated players only, 11th St. Station.

Telluride Fire Festival, Dec. 3-5. More info. at telluridefirefestival.org.

State Rep. Barbara McLachlan speaks, 6 p.m., Strater Hotel, 699 Main Ave. Rotary Club of Durango.

Saturday04

Wednesday08

Holiday Food & Craft Bazaar, 9 a.m., Durango La Plata Senior Center, 2424 Main Ave.

Trivia night 6:30-8:30 p.m., Powerhouse Science Center, 1333 Camino Del Rio.

Winter Artists Market, 2-7 p.m. Union Social House, 3062 Main Ave. Weekends in December.

iAM Music presents Songwriter series, 7 p.m., 934 Main Ave. Unit B.

Dee Dee Bridgewater plays, 5 & 8 p.m., The Lift at Cascade Village. Hosted by Durango Cool Jazz.

Beam Me Up Starlight Trivia, weekly 7:30-9:30 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

Live music, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon and Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.

Geeks Who Drink Trivia, 8-10 p.m., The Roost, 128 E. College Dr.

Dustin Burley plays, 5 p.m., Fur Trappers Steakhouse, 701 E. 2nd Ave.

Friday03

Fort Knox Five, Posh Josh, CodeStar play, 8 p.m.

Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Dr.

Live Creative Studio’s Zero Waste Holiday PopUp Store, Dec. 3-5., 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Smiley Building’s Studio #12, 1309 E. Third Ave. Noel Nite, 10 a.m.-9 p.m., downtown Durango.

Sunday05 Open Mic, 1 p.m., Mancos Brewery.

Festival of Trees & Wreaths, 12-5 p.m., Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Grange Hall, 479 Main Ave.

Winter Artists Market, 2-7 p.m. Union Social House, 3062 Main Ave. Event takes place weekends in November and December.

Holiday Arts & Crafts Festival, 2 p.m., La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave.

Open Mic night, 4 p.m. every Sunday, Fenceline Cider, Mancos.

Bingo night, 5 p.m. every Friday, Fenceline Cider, Mancos.

Live music, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon and Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.

Dee Dee Bridgewater plays, shows at 5 p.m. & 8 p.m., The Lift at Cascade, 50827 Highway 550. Hosted

by Durango Cool Jazz.

Monday06

Larry Carver and Jack Ellis play, 5:30-9:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave. Live music, 5:30-8:30 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave. Reeder and Spencer play, 6-9 p.m., Fur Trappers Steakhouse, 701 E. 2nd Ave. Taste of Christmas Bazaar, 6-8 p.m., Dancing Spirit Community Arts Center, 115 Ute St., Ignacio.

Free CPR course, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Centura Health. 1010 Three Springs Blvd.

Live music, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon and Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave. Meditation and Dharma Talk, 5:30-6:15 p.m.

Online at: www.durangodharmacenter.org

Tuesday07 Big Brothers Big Sisters silent auction, The Glacier Club. More info at bbig.org.

Live music, 5 p.m., Fur Trappers Steakhouse, 701 E. 2nd Ave. Trivia night, 6 p.m., Mancos Brewery.

Ongoing The Hive Indoor Skate Park is offering open skate and skate lessons. Waivers required. For schedule and online waiver, go to www.thehivedgo.org Heartwarming Soup Sale, every other Thursday starting Dec. 9, 5-6:30 p.m., proceeds support local families, Lola’s Place, 725 E. 2nd Ave. After School Programs, thru Dec. 16 and starting again in 2022, Sunnyside & Ft. Lewis Mesa libraries.

375-3816.

Community Day at the Powerhouse Science Center, free admission the first Wednesday of every month, 9-11 a.m., 1295 Camino del Rio. Community Coat & Wool Sock Drive, thru Dec. 7, drop off at Outdoorsy, 934 Main Ave. All donations must be in good condition and clean.

Upcoming Mesa Verde National Park holiday open house, Dec. 9, 4-9 p.m., food, drinks and music at the Far View Terrace.

Dancing Together presented by Dance CoMotion, Dec. 10, 6 p.m., Fort Lewis College Theatre, 1000 Rim Drive.

Free legal clinic, Dec. 10, 4-5 p.m., Ignacio Public Library, 470 Goddard Ave. Cycles w/ Andy and the Gents play, 8 p.m.

Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Dr. Astro Zombies (Misfits tribute band) & The Master Debaters, Dec. 11, 7:30 p.m., The Hive, 1150 Main Ave. $5 suggested donation.

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AskRachel

Drought-cember, bigly handymen & Ziplock hoarders Interesting fact: Most Hallmark Christmas movies are shot in a mere two weeks, with a paltry $2 million budget. I would do many things for $2 million in a mere two weeks.

Dear Rachel, No-Snow November is about to veer into the next month. But No-Snow December just doesn’t have the same flair. If this is the new normal, we need a new alliterative phrase. Dumpless December, maybe? We need your suggestions on the matter.

– Dreaming of a Brown Christmas Dear Winter Disappointmentland, Drought is sitting right there with a big-ass D on the front. Drought-cember, maybe? But marketing phrases like that just put a catchy spin on a gold mine of an opportunity. We just need to reframe the situation to find the positives. I mean, since we’re clearly not doing anything to mitigate the whole climate change situation.

We’re Coloradans. How about a new extreme sport? I’m digging Dirt-Ski December, myself. Get that in a Hallmark film, and it’ll be gold.

– Dump the doldrums, Rachel Dear Rachel, I’m bumping into an ethical quandary. I’ve had a handyman recommended to me to take care of some much-needed but not critical jobs around the house. He was recommended via Facebook, which meant I could see that he

chooses to publicly and vociferously support… let’s just kindly say “white supremacist vigilantes.” This isn’t a difference of politics, but of morals. Am I right to decline working with him for his beliefs? Or should I overlook where my money’s going for the sake of my gate?

– Can’t Fix That Dear Unmendable, There ain’t no fences good enough to make good neighbors out of a situation like that. I’m all for shunning him and his work. And I would tell him why! Except that he probably has guns, and a lack of compunction. And now, thanks to the internet and your mutual recommender, he probably knows everything about you. You have no choice but to relocate to Canada, where most Hallmark movies are filmed for tax reasons.

– Problem solved, Rachel

Email Rachel at telegraph@durangotelegraph.com

Dear Rachel, My roommate reuses plastic baggies, and this is turning into a bigger flashpoint between us than who bought the milk. I mean, I’m all for reduce/reuse/recycle, but to wash out a sandwich baggie each time until it crumbles from overuse? The sink is constantly surrounded by air-drying baggies. I would gladly buy a box of Ziplocs every week to avoid this mess, but she won’t listen to my pleas. How can I get her to see some reason, maybe even just reusing them once each?

– Bag the Bags

Dear Bag Lady, In the face of insurmountable odds, we must each do our part in whatever way we can. Sure, your roommate’s obsession with wringing every last drop of practicality out of a thin film of plastic isn’t going to put snow back on the San Juans. But it probably keeps her from crying herself to sleep at night. So just let her have this one thing, for goodness sake. And you just be thankful she’s not a skinhead. At least, I presume not. Though maybe there is one lonely supremacist out there scrubbing baggies to make a difference. Actually, I want that person’s life story told every Christmas. I’d watch it.

– God bless us, every one, Rachel

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Dec. 2, 2021 n 13

FreeWillAstrology

by Rob Brezsny ARIES (March 21-April 19): It’s a favorable time to get excited about your long-range future – and to entertain possibilities that have previously been on the edges of your awareness. I’d love to see you open your heart to the sweet dark feelings you’ve been sensing, and open your mind to the disruptive but nourishing ideas you need, and open your gut to the rumbling hunches that are available. Be brave, Aries! Strike up conversations with the unexpected, the unknown and the undiscovered.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): A Tumblr blogger named Evan (lotad.tumblr.com) addressed a potential love interest. “Do you like sleeping, because so do I,” he wrote. “We should do it together sometime.” You might want to extend a similar invitation, Taurus. Now is a ripe time for you to interweave your subconscious mind with the subconscious mind of an ally you trust. The two of you could generate extraordinary healing energy for each other as you lie together, dozing in the darkness. Other recommended activities: meditating together; fantasizing together; singing together; making spiritual love together. (PS: If you have no such human ally, sleep and meditate with a beloved animal or imaginary friend.)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini author Chuck Klosterman writes, “It’s far easier to write why something is terrible than why it’s good.” That seems to be true for many writers. However, my life’s work is in part a rebellion against doing what’s easy. I don’t want to chronically focus on what’s bad and sick and desolate. Instead, I aspire to devote more of my energy to doing what Klosterman implies is hard, which is to write sincerely (but not naively) about the many things that are good and redemptive and uplifting. In light of your current astrological omens, Gemini, I urge you to adopt my perspective for your own use in the next three weeks. Keep in mind what philosopher Robert Anton Wilson said: “An optimistic mindset finds dozens of possible solutions for every problem that the pessimist regards as incurable.”

CANCER (June 21-July 22): An organization in Turkey decided to construct a new building to house its workers. The Saruhanbey Knowledge, Culture, and Education Foundation chose a plot in the city of Manisa. But there was a problem. A three-centuries-old pine tree stood on the land. Local authorities would not permit it to be cut down. So architects designed a building with spaces and holes that fully accommodated the tree. I recommend you regard this marvel as a source of personal inspiration in the coming weeks and months. How could you

14 n Dec. 2, 2021

work gracefully with nature as you craft your future masterpiece or labor of love?

How might you work around limitations to create useful, unusual beauty?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Author Melissa Broder wrote a preposterous essay in which she ruminated, “Is fake love better than real love? Real love is responsibility, compromise, selflessness, being present and all that shit. Fake love is magic, excitement, false hope, infatuation and getting high off the potential that another person is going to save you from yourself.” I will propose, Leo, that you bypass such ridiculous thinking about love in the coming weeks and months. Here’s why: There’s a strong chance that the real love at play in your life will feature magic and excitement, even as it requires responsibility, compromise, selflessness and being present.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo author Andre Dubus III describes times when “I feel stupid, insensitive, mediocre, talentless and vulnerable – like I’m about to cry any second – and wrong.”

That sounds dreadful, right? But it’s not dreadful for him. Just the opposite. “I’ve found that when that happens,” he concludes, “it usually means I’m writing pretty well, pretty deeply, pretty rawly.” I trust you will entertain a comparable state sometime soon, Virgo. Even if you’re not a writer, the bounty and fertility that emerge from this immersion in vulnerability will invigorate you beyond what you can imagine.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “The problem with putting two and two together is that sometimes you get four, and sometimes you get 22.” Author Dashiell Hammett said that, and now I’m passing it on to you – just in time for a phase of your cycle when putting two and two together will probably not bring four, but rather 22 or some other irregularity.

I’m hoping that since I’ve given you a heads-up, it won’t be a problem. On the contrary. You will be prepared and will adjust faster than anyone else – thereby generating a dose of exotic good fortune.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In her poem “Is/Not,” Scorpio poet Margaret Atwood tells a lover, “You are not my doctor, you are not my cure, nobody has that power, you are merely a fellow traveler.” I applaud her for stating an axiom I’m fond of, which is that no one, not even the person who loves you best, can ever be totally responsible for fixing everything wrong in your life. However, I do think Atwood goes too far. On some occasions, certain people can indeed provide us with a measure of healing. And we must be receptive to that possibility. We shouldn’t be so pathologically self-sufficient that we close ourselves off from ten-

telegraph

der help. One more thing: Just because that help may be imperfect doesn’t mean it’s useless and should be rejected.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22Dec. 21): “All my days I have longed equally to travel the right road and to take my own errant path,” wrote Norwegian-Danish novelist Sigrid Undset. I think she succeeded in doing both. She won a Nobel Prize for Literature. Her trilogy about a 14th-century Norwegian woman was translated into 80 languages. I conclude that for her – as well as for you in the coming weeks and months – traveling the right road and taking your own errant path will be the same thing.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn author Susan Sontag unleashed a bizarre boast, writing, “One of the healthiest things about me – my capacity to survive, to bounce back, to prosper – is intimately connected with my biggest neurotic liability: my facility in disconnecting from my feelings.” Everything about her statement makes me scream NO! I mean, I believe this coping mechanism worked for her; I don’t begrudge her that.

But as a student of psychology and spirituality, I know that disconnecting from feelings is, for most of us, the worst possible strategy if we want to be healthy and sane.

And I will advise you to do the opposite of Sontag in the coming weeks. December is Stay Intimately Connected with Your Feelings Month.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In some small towns in the Philippines, people can be punished and fined for gossiping. Some locals have become reluctant to exchange tales about the sneaky, sexy, highly entertaining things their neighbors are doing. They complain that their freedom of speech has been curtailed. If you lived in one of those towns, I’d advise you to break the law in the coming weeks. In my astrological opinion, dynamic gossip should be one of your assets.

Staying well-informed about the human comedy will be key for your ability to thrive.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “Originality consists in thinking for yourself, and not in thinking unlike other people,” wrote Piscean author James Fitzjames Stephen (1829–94). Another way to say it: Being rebellious is not inherently creative. If you primarily define yourself by rejecting and reacting against someone’s ideas, you are being controlled by those ideas. Please keep this in mind, dear Pisces. I want you to take full advantage of your astrological potential during the next 12 months, which is to be absolutely original. Your perceptions and insights will be unusually lucid if you protect yourself from both groupthink and a compulsive repudiation of groupthink.

classifieds

Deadline for Telegraph classified ads is Tuesday at noon.

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

(Sorry, no refunds or substitutions.)

Ads can be submitted via: n www.durangotelegraph.com n classifieds@durango telegraph.com n 970-259-0133 n 679 E. 2nd Ave., #E2

Counseling services Experienced private counseling by Nancy Raffaele, MA, NCC, LPCC. Sliding scale fee. Free consultation. Call or text: (970) 799-2202 or email: nancy@sunlit pathcounseling.com centrally located in Durango, free parking.

Approximate office hours: Mon: 9ish - 5ish Tues: 9ish - 5ish Wed: 9ish - 3ish Thurs: On delivery Fri: Gone fishing; call first

HelpWanted Laundry Customer Service 1-2 very responsible, reliable, friendly, multi-tasking, self-directed team players with strong customer service skills are needed! Responsibilities include doing laundry, helping customers, cleaning, etc. ~20-40 hrs/wk. Training is provided. $12.50+/hr DOQ (plus wash/dry/fold commissions of roughly $1-$2+ per hour, tips and free personal laundry)! Nice facility, customers, co-workers and owners!

Please apply in person at the College Plaza Laundry, 509 E. 8th Ave. Do You Drive Between Mancos and Durango?

The Telegraph is looking for someone to bring papers to our friends in the MC on either Thursday or Friday. Four or five stops total. $20/week. If interested, email: telegraph@durangotelegraph.com.

Classes/Workshops Spanish Classes Now accepting students for in-person beginner thru advanced Spanish. Call 970-309-5966 or visit www.espanolahora.net

ForSale EBike for Sale Gently used 2019 Vado road bike, made by Specialized. Medium frame, 830 mi, $2500. Call Ben at (808) 269-8589 Little Chief Home Smoker Lightweight, aluminum, easy-to-use electric smoker for all your at-home meatand fish-smoking needs. Brand new, in box. Wood chips sold separately. Frontloading, measures 24.5’’ H x 11.5’’ W x 11.5’’ D. Retails for $100; yours for low, low price of $40! 970-749-2595

Marketing Small and Local Businesses Media, website building and content editing, copywriting and editing, newsletters, blogs, etc. for small, local, independent or startup businesses. www.forward pedal.com or email jnderge@gmail.com

Registered Australian Shepard Puppies Call 505-258-7894.

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.

HaikuMovieReview ‘Red Notice’ It was kind of like ‘Temple of Doom’ with an Ed Sheeran cameo – Lainie Maxson

BodyWork Massage

by Meg Bush LMT, 30, 60 & 90 min., 970-759-0199. massageintervention.life Voted best massage in Durango 18/19/20. Couples, cupping, local CBD. Reviews on FB + Yelp. 970-903-2984

NewspaperOrigami

An airplane

1986 Jeep Grand Wagoneer A Christmas gift for you! “...more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap high mountains…” Drive over Stoney Pass then camp in the back of it. $3,900 Wants some TLC. Call/text: Linda 970749-2995 Reruns Home Furnishings New inventory including gorgeous Crate and Barrel cabinet, good selection of nightstands and side tables, bookcases, and vintage patio furniture … Come in today! 572 E. 6th Ave. Open Mon.-Sat. 385-7336.

Wanted Cash for Vehicles, Copper, Alum, Etc. at RJ Metal Recycle. Also free appliance and other metal drop off. 970-259-3494.

Services RSE Handyman Service Home repair yard work odd jobs 970903-0449.

Harmony Cleaning and Organizing Residential, offices, commercial and vacation rentals, 970-403-6192.

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Dec. 2, 2021 n 15

16 n Dec. 2, 2021

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