The Durango Telegraph, Dec. 23, 2021

More fun than “Home Alone 2”

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Dec. 23, 2021 Vol. XX, No. 50 durangotelegraph.com

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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

Green gridlock

Total collapse

Bummin’ it

Can we switch to clean energy & not sacrifice open space? p7

Mesa Verde grapples with saving prized ruin from, well, ruin p8

Taking a cold, hard look at the culture & future of skiing p10

2 n Dec. 23, 2021

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lineup

4

4 La Vida Local

Musing on a life – and afterlife – fueled by alkaline and lithium

4 Thumbin’ It

Keeps going & going

Ear to the ground “I’m sorry, I’m from California, there’s ice.”

– A driver’s explanation for almost taking out a Telegraph delivery boy. Not sure this excuse would have held up in court.

Merry KFC-mas

by David Feela

5 Word on the Street 6 Soapbox

7

7 Land Desk

Green gridlock Building a green future that doesn’t come at the expense of open space

8 Top Story

by Jonathan Thompson / Land Desk

10 Bookin’ It 11 Stuff to Do

8

12-13 Free Will Astrology

Saving Spruce Tree National park embarks on ambitious plan to save ruins from, well, ruin

by Jonathan Romeo

14 Ask Rachel

thepole

RegularOccurrences

Dear readers, The Durango Telegraph will not be publishing next Thurs., Dec. 30.

We know what you’re thinking: “What?” Or maybe: “You guys publish every week?”

Well, it’s true; we’re taking the week off. We’re not going to sugarcoat it and say it’s because we want to “spend more time with our family” or we need a little “me time.”

And yeah, sure, our week off coincides with the biggest predicted snowpacolypse of the winter so far, but that has nothing to do with it, at all.

Turns out, we’re going to witness a once-in-alifetime event: Kentucky Fried Christmas in Japan.

Oh yes, for the past four decades, KFC has become synonymous with Christmas in Japan, a tradition passed down through the generations.

It’s estimated more than 240,000 barrels of chicken will be sold, which is disgusting. But who are we to judge other cultures?

Anyway, we’ll be back Jan. 6. And to all people who steal Telegraphs for fire starter, we’re not sorry.

Getting iced 15 Classifieds

10

15 Haiku Movie Review

Bumming

On the cover: A snowy cabin in the woods makes us want to curl up by the fire and read some Robert Frost./ Photo by Alex Krebs

Book takes a cold, hard look at ski bumming and the future of skiing

by Jamie Wanzek

boilerplate

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

T

he Durango Telegraph publishes every Thursday, come hell, high water, beckoning singletrack or monster powder days. We are wholly owned and operated independently by the Durango Telegraph LLC and

STAR-STUDDED CAST: David Feela, Jamie Wanzek, Lainie Maxson, Rob Brezsny, Jonathan Thompson and Clint Reid

REAL WORLD ADDRESS: 679 E. 2nd Ave., Ste E2 Durango, CO 81301 PHONE: 970-259-0133

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

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

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

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

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

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Not a skier and snowboarder, but still looking for some outside fun and exercise during the winter? Well, pretty soon you’ll be able to sharpen your figure skating or hockey skills (or practice just plain balance on ice) at a new outdoor ice rink taking shape at Vallecito.

Earlier this month, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Pine River Irrigation District green lighted a citizen led effort to build a community ice rink, a project of the Vallecito Conservation and Sporting Association.

The rink, still under construction (and not actually on the lake), is located just off the parking lot at the Vallecito Community Center, on the north end of the lake. In recent days, volunteers have laid a foundation, erected wooden boards and placed a liner sheet down for the ice.

Even Pine River Fire Protection District got in on the action, dumping water in the pit with the hopes Mother Nature will take it from there. On Tuesday, the district dumped three tanker loads of water, and planned to drop down an additional two to three loads Wednesday.

As of Tuesday, the ice was reportedly 2 inches thick, but the coming forecast of snow could put a damper on the plans. From Thursday to next Tuesday, the mountains of Colorado are expected to see a dumping of up to 30 inches of snow, according to OpenSnow.com.

According to the Facebook group “Vallecito Community Ice Rink,” the rink will open once organizers secure insurance – and maybe a few good shovelers. Stay tuned to their Facebook page for updates on the grand opening.

And then, maybe we can get a team together to sub-in for Olympic hockey now that the NHL pulled out.

Dec. 23, 2021 n

3

opinion

LaVidaLocal Tha...tha...that’s all folks A folk toy dating back to a time before the advent of electricity is still produced and sold. The advertising calls it a hooey stick. Made up of two sticks not much thicker or longer than pencils, the toy’s instructions direct any lucky boy or girl who receives the trinket as a present to rub a row of notches on the first stick with the un-notched second stick, and a propeller mounted to the end of the first stick begins to spin. The trinket is guaranteed by the company to amaze family and friends. And for a little more excitement, once it starts spinning, the child can holler the magic word “Hooey” and the propeller supposedly reverses direction.

Though I never received one as a child, the experience finally arrived in my life 50 years later when I received one from a friend. Usually I open my presents as if I’m trying to defuse a bomb. I never shake the box but hold it out in front of me like a crystal ball, trying to imagine what’s inside. Then I painstakingly undo the wrapping paper, just to increase the drama. Finally, I prepare an exaggerated look of surprise when I reveal the gift, but this time, truth be told, I was dumbfounded by the curious little thing sealed in its pocket of cellophane.

After being coached by the anxious gift-giver, the moment to spin the propeller presented itself.

Unfortunately, I got mixed up and instead of scraping the stick I shouted “Hooey.” The propeller didn’t spin. I blew on it and received a few feeble rotations until I remembered the other stick and rubbed it furiously against the notches, thinking earnestness was required. Still nothing. Only then was I rescued by a 7-year-old onlooker who offered age-appropriate advice, that maybe I should try new batteries. Everyone in the room burst into laughter, and the pressure to perform was lifted off my shoulders by the wisdom of a child.

More than a few parents in the days, weeks and months following the holidays will be replacing batteries after locating the secret compartment, either in the side, back or bottom of at least a million devices delivered Christmas Eve. Good luck to them, I say, in keeping the magic alive. An entire industry is depending on our dutiful submission to the manufacturer’s credo: Don’t Forget the Batteries!

If the demand for them existed just for toys, I could be a reasonably

cheerful old man. Unfortunately, life has turned into an assault of batteries. My watch, clock, vehicle key fob and computer only work when I feed them volts. The smoke detector beeps when the battery runs low, disturbs my sleep and fabricates an emergency. Just brushing my teeth requires another tube of electricity. Recharge or replace, the mantra of electronics. Though I long for the days of simplicity when things got wound up instead of me, I know who to blame, and it’s me.

I’ve got a serious alkaline addiction. I admit it. A tiny buzz, stimulated by a beep, flash or click of cutting-edge techtronics and my eyes open wide. Just think, once I figure out how my new wireless digital organizer/calculator/contacts/calendar/AM-FM/Sirius radio/portable weather station up runs, I’ll be dependent on lithium – you know, those thin chrome wafers that take up hardly any room in your pocket. I’d wear a patch if some corporation developed one, but seriously, I doubt the Energizer Bunny wants me empowered to remain powerless.

What it comes down to is the vague notion that somehow I am predisposed to embrace the disposable. As a culture, we cultivate what’s quick and easy for the simple reason that deep in our genes is the certain knowledge that our own DNA – doubleA or triple-A – is irretrievably running down. There’s a kind of perverse justice in resigning the fate of the entire planet to our own personal fate, a cosmic payback for not allowing us, as human beings, to be born rechargeable.

My wife jokes that if I die and leave her alone, she’ll ask a taxidermist to prepare my corpse, and then invite an electronic expert to install a tiny memory chip linked to an audio device somewhere in my backside that contains all the poetry I’ve written.

When friends come over to visit her, she’ll push a button on a remote control and my digitalized voice will start reading a half-dozen random poems.

What my wife doesn’t realize is that it’s not a fear of reciting these poems for what will feel like an eternity that scares me into taking better care of myself. No, it’s the worry that somewhere in the middle of an important phrase or image, especially where emphasis is required, the batteries will quit and I’ll be left standing in the corner with my mouth hanging open, my old friends chuckling at my inability to actually say what I mean.

– David Feela

Sign of the Downfall:

Thumbin’It Colorado air regulators last week adopting sweeping new rules to cut methane emissions from oil and gas facilities. We here under the “Four Corners Methane Hot Spot” thank you.

4 n Dec. 23, 2021

Demi Bravado Joe Manchin.

A significant amount of water discovered on Mars in an area known as the planet’s “Grand Canyon,” even though it’s 10 times longer and five times deeper. Our question: Can we raft it?

A photo circulating of Rep. Lauren Boebert posing with (hero?) Kyle Rittenhouse. Not a good look, but what has been for her in the last several weeks? Or ever?

Former President Trump receiving boos from a crowd after saying he got the COVID-19 booster. Or wait, is this a thumbs down? Ugh, the world is very confusing these days.

False teeth, a scorpion in formaldehyde, a lamb castrating tool, a slice of pizza – people have been donating some strange items in charity boxes in the U.K. this year, according to the BBC. Merry Christmas?

telegraph

Demi Lovato, who became famous as the annoying kid on “Barney and Friends,” has started singing to abused ghosts.

Lovato has a new show on Peacock TV about unidentified phenomenon called “Unidentified with Demi Lovato,” which must’ve taken 10 seconds to name, and in the last episode, Demi, a few friends, and “leading alien experts” travel to a ghost town in Arizona.

While there, Lovato encounters the spirt of a dead prostitute who had man-related trauma, so Demi sang. Afterwards, the star claimed to have received a “standing ovation” from the ghost, which obviously isn’t true because ghosts float.

WordontheStreet With Santa about to hit the road, the Telegraph asked, “What’s the worst gift you’ve ever recieved?”

Q

Kendall

“The same sweater someone else got me for my birthday.”

Matt

“A space heater. I mean, I was only 8 years old.”

Work Where You Play

Tommy

FT & PT Positions Available

“Someone got me a squirrel hat. It was pretty sweet actually.”

Jack

“One of those money puzzles with cash insde. I couldn’t figure it out, so I just smashed it and took the cash.”

Kaylonn

“An iPod. I’ve never used it, and it’s still in the drawer, brand new.”

Receive a FREE season pass, buddy tickets, access to real deal, on-mountain discounts & more! ‹‹ Scan to view open positions.

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Dec. 23, 2021 n 5

D-Tooned/by Rob Pudim

SoapBox News box vigilantes The Nov. 11, 2021 Durango Telegraph “La Vida Local” page ran the sad story of pin heads, bitter bastards and “schnorrers” raiding Telegraph circulation boxes to grab way more than the single copy they’re entitled to. Lookee, the regular Thursday distribution of the Telegraph is a community-wide event anticipated by all those truly in the know, and those bad SOBs are messing it up.

So how do we prevent further depredations to our community treasure?

I propose that those with the night video cameras used to locate wild game in the woods put those cameras near circulation boxes to track the pigs: Get pictures of the box raiders and then run their pictures in a few issues under the headline “Wanted Dead or Alive.” Then sit back and watch them SOBs react. No more box raids I’ll bet.

– Bob Rosenberg, Durango

What a gift.

We were, however, disappointed and angry to hear that after receiving an email from an owner of the Toh-Atin Gallery that vilified the speakers, the Durango Creative District and the Durango Arts Center chose to cancel the panel with very short notice and a series of weak excuses. Because this email was shared with the Durango City Council, it is public record and anyone who is interested may also read it.

We are deeply disappointed in the Durango Creative District and the Durango Arts Center for de-platforming these important speakers. It’s a tough subject, and one that deserves to be discussed openly. We look forward to hearing who will have the courage, capacity and willingness to actually host this event, and we will be there to take in the wisdom the panel speakers have to offer.

– Emily Jensen, Karinne Knutsen, Kelly Polites, Jessica Ramirez, Laurie Roberts, Lydia Wacasey and Pam Willhoite

Let’s talk mascots

Question the election

We are the Los Pinos Anti-Racism Project, a group of citizens from the Pine River Valley working to end racism in all of its forms here in our communities. When we learned about the panel of Indigenous folks speaking in Durango on the issue of Indigenous mascots (scheduled for 12/2 at the Durango Arts Center), we were excited and looking forward to hearing these voices.

I have some simple questions regarding election laws: Can someone explain how requiring a photo ID is voter suppression? In as much as the Constitution outlines the states’ responsibilities regarding elections, why do progressives want to blow up the filibuster rule so that they can pass H.R. 1?

The fact that New York City is now allowing illegal immigrants to vote in city elec-

6 n Dec. 23, 2021

tions, other deep blue states like California and New Jersey won’t be far behind in allowing non-citizens to vote in critical elections.

– Dennis Pierce, Durango

Time to step down Rep. Lauren Boebert voted against Build Back Better when her supporters would receive great rewards from the bill. If and when the bill passes the Senate, Boebert will

telegraph

say, “We got money for you and the town of Rifle and the surrounding area” and then ask for donations to her campaign. Folks, it’s all about her and you giving her money.

Don’t do it! Check her past records on money handling. Not good, in my opinion.

She has a nice police mug shot if you look it up, and I feel so sad that she wants money from the voters in Rifle and Colorado. Time to step down.

– Bob Battani, Durango

LandDesk

Energy transition & public lands Figuring out a sustainable grid that doesn’t come at the expense of open space

by Jonathan Thompson

I

guess it was more than 20 years ago that my wife, Wendy, and I hosted Christmas for my family at our home amid sagebrush and alfalfa fields outside the small settlement of Arboles. The house buzzed with the activity of a dozen people or more preparing for a holiday feast: food processors grinding, blenders pureeing, hair dryers drying, music playing, lights blazing.

The remarkable part of this is that the house – a funky affair built with mud and sticks, strawbales and juniper trunks – was off the grid, powered by a set of mismatched photovoltaic panels. And despite the near-solstice day’s brevity, the cloudy skies and the cold, the six Sam’s Club deep-cycle golf cart batteries we used to store the solar power held up to all of that use.

We sold the house long ago, but the memories of the view down the San Juan River and up the Piedra and of living among curvaceous, mudplastered walls endure. And now, as we end a year of climatic nuttiness of fires and floods, of desiccation and deluge, of extreme heat and, well, more extreme heat, all of which conspired to wreak havoc on the electricity grid, I find myself yearning for that sense of self sufficiency. I also look back and wonder whether our experience may offer a glimmer of a solution to what I see as one of the biggest dilemmas to come: How do we decarbonize the power grid without wrecking public lands?

For grid watchers, this year was maddening: summerlong, above-normal temperatures punctuated by recordbreaking, deadly heat waves kicked air-conditioners into overdrive to keep homes habitable. The resulting energy suck was severe, straining electrical grids from Seattle to San Diego. At the same time, drought diminished hydropower supply, leaving a yawning abyss between supply and demand. Though solar and wind power-generating capacity increased substantially over the last couple of decades, especially in the Southwest, it was not enough: The gap between supply and demand was filled not with clean energy, but with natural gas- and coal-generated power, the very same fossil fuels that got us into this climate mess in the first place.

The situation will only get worse.

Evidence continues to accumulate suggesting climate change will further warm and dry most of the West. The number of cooling degree days – an indicator of energy demand required to cool buildings – have increased over the last two decades and likely will continue to rise, and extreme heat events will become more frequent and severe.

The push to replace natural gas-fired heating and cooking units with electric ones will further increase demand for power, as will the move to electric vehicles.

Meanwhile, power supplies – at least in the near-term – appear to be shrinking. Lake Oroville, one of California’s largest reservoirs, ceased producing hydropower altogether this summer due to shrinkage – only a super snowy winter can bring it back online. Glen Canyon Dam could fall below the minimum “power pool” level in the next two years, taking out one of the Southwest’s biggest hy-

dropower generators. Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is set to go dark in 2025, depriving the California grid of enough electricity to keep air conditioners cranking in some 3 million homes.

If we can’t keep the lights on now without burning oodles of natural gas, how can we expect to do so in five years if current trends continue?

One way to solve the conundrum is to build, build, build: solar and wind installations paired with batteries, pumped-hydropower and compressed-air energy storage facilities, and more transmission lines to carry the clean power from one place to another. The Biden administration hopes to help this along by permitting 25 gigawatts of renewable generating capacity on public lands in the West, and developers are applying for these permits in droves.

But nearly every big project proposal runs up against stiff resistance, sometimes legitimate, other times not so much. A few examples: • For at least a decade, developers have been eying the vast, flat expanse of Mormon Mesa in southern Nevada as a prime site for what would have been Nevada’s largest solar installation. But environmentalists pushed back because of the impacts to the desert ecosystem, recreational users worried about losing access, and art lovers didn’t want thousands of gleaming solar panels to encroach on the viewshed of Double Negative (a piece of land art in Moapa Valley).

The developers dropped the proposal this summer.

• In southern Wyoming, the Anschutz Corporation has been slogging through the permitting process for 16 years to build the nation’s largest wind farm and a direct current transmission line to carry the power to a substation near Hoover Dam, where it will link into the California grid. The project would allow California to use Wyoming wind to cover the late afternoon hours when electricity demand peaks and solar generation declines – and solar power could be sent the other way, as well. But a single land-owner put conservation easements on their sprawling Colorado ranch just as the line’s final path was approved, blocking the transmission line and bringing progress to a standstill.

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• Another wind project proposed for southern Idaho is facing resistance because of its close proximity to a World War II-era Japanese American incarceration camp.

• Residents of Pahrump, Nev., along with desert conservationists, are pushing against proposals to blanket thousands of acres of public lands with solar panels because of potential impacts to wildlife, views and access.

• A pumped hydropower storage project proposed for land in central Washington overlooking the Columbia River would use wind power during times of low demand to pump water from a lower reservoir to one above it, and then run the water through turbines to generate hydropower when needed. This type of utility scale energy storage system is needed to smooth out the variability of wind and solar power. But the land on which this project would be built, Pushpum, is sacred to the Yakama Nation, which opposes the project.

The list goes on. Sometimes one can’t help but bristle at the apparent cynicism of the opposition to such projects: In Wyoming, oilman and Dick Cheney-associate Diemer True once led a fight against wind development, even on private land; coal mine owner Bill Koch fought against East Coast offshore wind turbines for years; and residents of the small town of Boron, Cali., which sits on the rim of the world’s largest open-pit borax mine, are worried that development of a solar installation nearby will kick up healthharming dust.

But in many cases, the energy company clearly chose the site that they did out of ignorance, and probably deserve to have their plans thwarted. Solar developers tend to be drawn to vast swaths of public land in the deserts of Nevada and California, for example. That’s partly because there’s plenty of sunshine in the desert and because the population centers are nearby. It’s also because of the misconception that deserts are wastelands – barren, lifeless places to be “rescued” from their aridity or, in this case, sacrificed to make way for utility-scale power plants.

But anyone who has spent the night in the desert knows it is teeming with life – tortoises and tarantulas, cacti and wildflowers, lizards and javelinas – and is no more a wasteland than a rainforest or mountain valley. And covering thousands of acres of that same desert with solar panels is hardly better than turning it into a coal mine or gas field. Unfortunately, these issues often become as polarized as American politics, and are presented as zero sum decisions: Either you destroy a chunk of desert to keep the climate crisis at bay, or you save a chunk of desert and “desertify” the rest of the globe. But is it really an either-or proposition? Or can there be a middle way?

Check back on Jan. 6 for part 2 in this series.

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.”

Dec. 23, 2021 n 7

TopStory

Mesa Verde National Park will attempt to stabilize the overhanging rock arch above the popular Spruce Tree House cliff dwelling to remove the risk of it collapsing and damaging the ruins below./ Courtesy of National Park Service

Total collapse Mesa Verde faces big task to save prized cliff dwelling

by Jonathan Romeo

I

t’s not going to be easy: Mesa Verde National Park is about to try and stop a massive slab of sandstone from collapsing and destroying one of the most prized cliff dwellings in the park, Spruce Tree House.

In October 2015, park officials were forced to close Spruce Tree House to visitors after a series of rock falls made it too dangerous for people to enter the iconic alcove.

Mesa Verde is home to some of the most notable and best-preserved cliff dwellings in the world, but Spruce Tree House, the thirdlargest cliff dwelling in the park, is by far the most visited because of its easy access.

The ancestral Puebloan people built these massive and thriving communities between the years 900-1250 in protected alcoves – large, arched recesses in the cliff wall. But, over the years, park officials have been concerned the rock structures above and around the alcoves are increasingly at risk of erosion and other geological forces.

For the past six years, Mesa Verde has undertaken an exhaustive effort to figure out how best to stabilize the failing sandstone above Spruce Tree House – not just to make it safe for the public, but also to save the cliff dwelling underneath. Those plans are coming together, said project manager

8 n Dec. 23, 2021

Allan Loy, but there’s still a ways to go.

Preserving the past Most national parks receive such a designation because of natural beauty and sweeping landscapes. Mesa Verde, on the other hand, was the first national park established specifically for the preservation of the “works of man” – i.e. the ancestral Puebloan’s civilization.

For more than 700 years, the region around Mesa Verde was a robust and thriving community, with hundreds of villages and more than 22,000 people (almost the same population as today). Around 1250, however, the region was mostly abandoned, likely due to climate issues and/or social disruptions.

In the 1870s, the first white settlers discovered and started to understand the complexity of the vast network of ruins throughout the deep canyons and mesas of the high desert. (Of course, the Ute people were actively living in the region at the time, but did not inhabit the ruins, believing them sacred).

Subsequent research expeditions revealed more amazing truths about Mesa Verde, but also brought on a disturbing amount of looting and destruction of sites.

By the end of the 19th century, it was apparent the region needed federal protections. The park was established in June

1906, protecting more than 4,300 cultural sites, including 600 cliff dwellings, within the 52,000-acre national park.

Crumbling curio From the beginning, archaeologists were alarmed about the imminent risk of rock fall to Spruce Tree House, with the first concerns documented as early as 1908.

Spruce Tree House is home to 130 rooms and eight kivas, and lies within a natural sandstone alcove that’s 216 feet long and 89 feet deep. The issue at hand is water draining between the arch of sandstone overhanging the alcove, which causes erosion and poses the risk of the arch breaking off and collapsing right on the ruins. Early archeologists tried fixing this by blasting a trench in the sandstone to direct water to the sides of the structure, to no avail.

Attempts in the 1960s did accomplish temporary relief after the southern half of the arch was stabilized by rock bolts, anchoring the arch to the alcove. The crack was then cleaned and plugged with burlap and concrete. This was effective, for a time, until natural elements once again started eating away at the rock structure, resulting in the rock falls in 2015.

Park officials originally thought it would take two years to come up with a fix. But the complexity of the problem, as well as continued rock fall, has required more time

telegraph

for study. Mesa Verde hired one of the best geo-tech engineering firms in the world, Loy said, which has generated an incredible amount of research and study.

Three-dimensional modeling, high-resolution Lidar, photogrammetry, on-site inspections, material testing – you name it, the park has done it, Loy said. The most vexing problem, according to studies, is how to fill the significant gap between the alcove face and the arch to prevent water from entering Spruce Tree House.

It appears the fix is going to be multipronged. The park will likely use rock bolts again, but this time, installed at offset angles, which would increase strength (think of the root structure of a tree). And, new material, likely a type of metal, will be used to fill the crack to stop water from entering.

“And we’ve been using a number of models to see where failures could happen in our designs,” Loy said. “And then we ensure our design compensates for it.”

The crown jewel Spruce Tree House has always been the centerpiece of Mesa Verde, said Fort Lewis College professor and historian Andrew Gulliford. Centrally located in the park, and surrounded by facilities like a museum and the superintendent’s house, the cliff dwellings are also relatively easy to get to compared to other sites. As a result, the

ruins are one of the most important educational pieces in the park, with most people who enter Mesa Verde visiting Spruce Tree House.

“Not only are there centuries of human habitation by the ancestral Puebloans, but now there’s 100-plus years of visitation,” Gulliford said. “That part of Mesa Verde is so important for so many reasons.”

But as time wears on, it is just an evident reality the elements will claim relics of the past. Increasingly, descendants of the ancestral Puebloan people have voiced a desire to not interfere with this natural process. At Mesa Verde, the park is required to consult 26 different tribes. Loy said it’s about a 5545 split on tribes in favor of preservation efforts vs. letting nature takes its course.

Calls to the Acoma, Ute Mountain Ute and Zuni tribes were not returned for this story.

Paul Reed, a preservation archeologist with Archaeology Southwest, said the debate to let ruins go through the natural cycles of decay and erosion has come to the forefront as tribes have been given more of a voice in recent years. “Which is way overdue,” he said. “That process alone is a vast improvement on more than a century of not consulting tribes.”

Spruce Tree House, however, presents its own nuances and case for preservation efforts, just because of the long history of accessibility to the site, and how important it is for the public to learn about the people of the past. It should be noted, the National Park Service (which just named its first Indigenous director, Chuck Sams) has a mandate to protect cultural sites.

100-year solution The American Southwest can be a harsh landscape. Even the Native people at Chaco Canyon built safety structures around Pueblo Bonita to protect the village from a 30,000-ton block of sandstone that was at risk of toppling over. That rock, fittingly called Threatening Rock, came down in the 1940s and took out a considerable portion of the ruins. And even now, there’s an ongoing attempt to save Pompeys Pillar, a rock in Montana with inscriptions from the Lewis and Clark expedition, which faces erosion issues.

“People have been trying to fight nature for a long time, especially when it comes to ancestral Puebloan sites,” Shanna Diederichs, architectural conservator at Woods Canyon Archaeological Consultants, based in Cortez, said. “Today, we’re fighting the same problem, and what you’re seeing is a desperate play to save these sites.”

What the Park Service is attempting is not unheard of, but because the geology of Mesa Verde is specifically unique to the region, there are really no other examples to draw from. In fact, only a few people are

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even qualified to attempt it, Diederichs said (she is not involved in the project but has worked at Mesa Verde). “It’s been six years since Spruce Tree House was closed, but it’s been under discussion for almost 100 years.

It’s irreplaceable and worth saving. That’s why such a crazy effort is going into it.”

If all goes according to plan, Mesa Verde hopes to start construction on Spruce Tree House in October 2022, and hopefully, reopen the site to the public in summer 2023, Loy said. But it’s going to be a long road to get there, with a National Environmental Policy Act process required. Loy said he was unable to provide an estimate of how much the project is expected to cost.

Mesa Verde was on track for high visitation during the last fiscal year, cresting over 610,000 people. But the park believes visitation will suffer if Spruce Tree House doesn’t reopen. So, Loy said, part of the plan is to have active monitoring equipment installed, so when visitors are allowed back in, the park can see real-time data for any risks of rock failure.

“I know people are definitely interested in Spruce Tree House reopening,” Loy said.

“And when all is done, we’re looking at a 100-year solution.

SpeakUp! What: Mesa Verde is holding a public comment period for thoughts/ideas on the Spruce Tree House project.

When: Deadline to submit is Jan. 7, 2022.

Where: parkplanning.nps.gov/MEVE

Dec. 23, 2021 n

9

Bookin’It

The future of chasing snow Heather Hansman’s new book is both an ode and critique of ski bum culture

by Jamie Wanzek

T

he archetypal ski bum is probably hungry, definitely smelly, and likely shunning social expectations. They are living in their truck or sleeping on their buddy’s floor. They don’t pay for lift tickets. PBR is the common currency. The ski bum is upending elitism by taking full advantage of it. And whether they are bound in motion, chasing the next storm or bound in a place, it doesn’t matter.

The ski bum has centered their life around something ephemeral – the perfect turn, a weightless feeling. At least that’s the idea of the ski bum, an often over-romanticized version of the truth.

The truth is, to be a ski bum is to live in a liminal space mostly dependent on snow and affordable housing. Which, of course, comes with a certain level of privilege. What lies below ski towns’ shimmery, glittery fantasy lands can be unforgiving, too. There is sexism and racism. There are high suicide rates and economic disparities. And with warming climates, the ski bum’s promise is narrowing.

What is the future of chasing snow? Does it matter? Is skiing even important?

With a critical eye and grounded voice, author Heather Hansman analyzes these questions and ski culture in her latest book, “Powder Days: Ski Bums, Ski Towns and the Future of Chasing Snow.” Hansman’s writing is simple, clear and so very powerful, and has appeared in Powder, Outside and Ski magazines, as well as the Seattle Times and High Country News.

Her latest work is part anthropology, part historical reference, and part examination of the shifting economy of skiing. The writing blends personal memoir, travel adventure writing and clean investigative reporting. Hansman threads these viewpoints together through a coast-to-coast road trip to understand the state of skiing, its future and her complicated relationship with the sport.

This book is about skiing, yes. But the way Hansman blends these perspectives begs the question: can counterculture exist without devouring its own soul and can its seekers remain true? There is beauty in the devotion, however.

And Hansman has a natural skill for moving between these two dichotomies. “I believed in the myth of the ski bum, in all its weirdness and brokenness and selfishness, because I wanted the dopamine and the belonging and the feel of it: the romance of the early morning, sparkle-studded flint of the hoar frost, or the way I forget to breathe on bump turns.”

Hansman is an East Coast skier who moved West on a whim in her early twenties “with the promise to ski every

day.” She traded the White Mountains for the Rockies and scanning lift tickets at Beaver Creek Resort. The West also provided the fantasy of the frontier – “bigger ranges and bigger adventures.” She recognizes this desire and the problematic ideals of the West. Regardless, the experience defined the next decade and a half of Hansman’s life, the sole focus of which was skiing. Hansman lived out the ski bum dream by surviving off PBR and trail mix and slinging pizzas and ski patrolling. However, she soon felt the pressures to define herself outside skiing and abandoned the dirtbag lifestyle for professional opportunities, ultimately landing in Seattle. It’s a decision that seems to haunt Hansman – a layer of the book walks through her grief and remorse from never entirely devoting herself to skiing. It’s painful yet cathartic to read, giving the book an emotional edge that feels important when discussing this lifestyle.

Hansman begins her journey in Jackson Hole and ends in Silverton. In between are different vignettes of diehards who have dedicated their lives to skiing, like Pammy at Bridger Bowl or KT Cheryl at Palisades Tahoe (formerly Squaw Valley). Both are 60 and still skiing 100 days a year. Through their stories, we learn the psychology and brain chemistry of risk-takers.

In Jackson, we meet Benny Wilson and the Jackson Hole Air Force – a legendary ski gang that pushed the sport in the ’80s. In Aspen, which has “three times the national average of completed suicides,” we understand why mental health in ski towns suffers. And at Ski Santa Fe, we meet Petra and Jack, who face drought and the winnowing of winter in the Southwest. Altogether, we learn about these characters’ snow-choked lives, and despite the precarious nature of being a ski bum, we understand why they have chosen a less conventional path. Hansman uses these different personalities as a springboard to reveal something

greater about skiing: its past and future, its shadows, and its light.

Hansman argues that skiing is an exclusive sport made for wealthy white males, and she is not shy to call out the industry and its fault lines. She reveals that Teton County has the largest income disparity in the country (the top 1% of earners make 233 times those in the bottom 99%). And in Aspen, the gap between what an average household could afford and the median price of a home there could grow to 400% in the next decade. She explains the exclusive nature of skiing, dating to its inception.

The mindset of the white colonizer, to conquer and claim, is still present in skiing today and directly impacts who has access to the sport. “Making somewhere like Aspen sustainable for ski bums (and really anyone who isn’t in the 1%) will mean reining in the extravagance. But for some people, that’s the whole appeal.

They like the idea of exclusiveness and recklessness, and they get to set the bar.”

It came as no surprise that Hansman’s journey – and book – ended in the San Juan Mountain, where she found an answer to her quest. To her, Silverton is a “specific kind of grimy paradise.” And it seems the magic and isolation of the San Juans and Silverton Mountain, the last ski area to be built in the United States, captivated her, too. The culmination of “Powder Days” rests on Hansman finding Dolores LaChapelle’s book, “Deep Powder Snow.” LaChapelle was a pioneer of powder skiing in the ’60s and ’70s, living in Alta, Aspen and Silverton at the end of her life. LaChapelle’s book is a “full-on ski bum benediction,” explaining that powder skiing both connects us to the Earth and ourselves, and teaches us how to live. And yes, skiing does matter. Concluding “Powder Days” with LaChapelle’s words and the backdrop of the San Juans helps Hansman and readers reckon not only with the ski industry but, ultimately, ourselves.

We put the “win” into “winter.”

Hours: mon - Fri 11-6 & Sat 11-5: www.jimmysmusic.supply 1239 Main Ave • 970-764-4577 10 n Dec. 23, 2021

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StufftoDo

Thursday23 Gary Walker plays, 10 a.m.-12 p.m., Jean-Pierre Bakery & Restaurant, 601 Main Ave. Reeder and Spencer play the Bear Bar, 2-4:30 p.m., Purgatory base area.

The Hive’s Heartwarming Soup Sale, 5-6:30 p.m., Lola’s Place, 725 E. 2nd Ave. This week: turkey pazole rojo made by the Ore House. Proceeds benefit The Hive. For info. go to: www.thehivedgo.org Larry Carver & Jack Ellis play, 6-9 p.m., Fur Trappers Steakhouse, 701 E. 2nd Ave. Live music, 5:30 p.m.., Diamond Belle Saloon and Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave. Anthony Sutton plays, 6-8 p.m., Mountain Monk Coffee, 558 Main Ave.

Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave. Live music, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon and Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.

Wednesday29

Sunday02 Weston Snowboard Demo Days, all day, on the beach, Purgatory. Free.

Ski-Up beer tasting with Ska, 12 noon – 2 p.m., Purgatory base area.

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

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

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

Trivia night, 6 p.m., Mancos Brewery.

Thursday30 Six Dollar String Band plays the Bear Bar, 2-4:30 p.m., Purgatory base area.

Monday03 Live music, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon and The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.

Tuesday04

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

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

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

Open mic night, 7:30-9:30 p.m., Moe’s Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

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

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

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

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

Friday31

Wednesday05

A Festivus for the Rest of Us! featuring Scarlet Night & the Mommy Milkers, the Icks and Canceled, 7 p.m., The Hive, 1150 Main Ave. $5 suggested donation.

Larry Carver & Jack Ellis play, Diamond Belle Saloon and The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.

Community Day at the Powerhouse Science Center, free admission the first Wednesday of every month, 9-11 a.m., 1295 Camino del Rio. Featuring the exhibit “Living with Wolves.”

Ben Gibson plays, 6-9 p.m., Fur Trappers Steakhouse, 701 E. 2nd Ave.

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

Fanny Pack Friday, 2 p.m., Nugget Mountain Bar.

Friday24 Fanny Pack Friday, 2 p.m., Nugget Mountain Bar.

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

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

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

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

Saturday25 Christmas Day – stay home or go skiing

Sunday26 Open Mic, 1 p.m., Mancos Brewery.

Live music, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon and Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave. Conscious Intention Setting with Eiweh, 2 p.m., Mountain Monk Coffee, 558 Main Ave

Monday27 Ski-Up beer tasting with Sierra Nevada, 12 noon – 2 p.m., Purgatory base area.

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

Tuesday28 Acoustic Music Jam, 5-7 p.m., all instruments and styles welcome, vaccinated players only, 11th St. Station.

Open mic night, weekly 7:30-9:30 p.m., Moe’s

Fireworks and torchlight parade, 6 - 6:30 p.m., Purgatory base area.

Roaring Twenties New Year’s Eve Celebration, 7 p.m., Union Social House, 3062 Main Ave. New Year’s Eve Celebration with live music by DeWarren, 7 p.m., Fenceline Cider, Mancos.

Trivia night, 6 p.m., Mancos Brewery.

Ongoing Chapman Hill ski area is open. Hours thru Jan. 3: daily, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Closed Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. Regular season hours start Jan. 4: Mon. – Fri., 3:30 - 8 p.m.; Sat. – Sun., 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. For more info. go to: www.durangogov.org/chapmanhill.

Bentley Monk plays, 7 p.m., Mancos Brewing Co. Durango Tire Fire and Sir Kaydian play, 8 p.m., Powerhouse Science Center, 1295 Camino del Rio.

The Hive Indoor Skate Park is open, offering open skate and skate lessons. Waivers required. For schedule and online waiver, go to www.thehivedgo.org

Neon Chic New Year’s Eve Party with DJ Calvin, Hello Dollface & friends, 8 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.

Upcoming

The Secret Circus Society’s IlluminNAUGHTY New Year’s Eve show, 9 p.m. Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Dr. Featuring music by Profetic Calveras, burlesque, circus and midnight dance party.

Output New Year’s Eve with DJ Spark Madden, 10 p.m., 11th Street Station.

Saturday01 Weston Snowboard Demo Days, all day, on the beach, Purgatory. Free.

telegraph

Southwest Economic Outlook, Jan. 6, 8-11 a.m., Fort Lewis College. Keynote speakers include Laura Lewis Marchino from Region 9 and Richard Wobbekind from Leeds School of Business.

Ian Lennox plays the Bear Bar, Jan. 8, 2-4:30 p.m., Purgatory base area.

Know the Snow Rando Race, Jan. 9, 8 a.m., Purgatory Resort. Proceeds benefit the Joe Philpott and Peter Carver Avalanche Scholarship. $30. Advance registration required. For info. go to: www.purgatory.ski/events

Dec. 23, 2021 n 11

FreeWillAstrology /

by Rob Brezsny

This holiday season, care for those you love ... and include yourself.

Buy 2 Massage Gift Certificates (55 or 85 mins.)

and Get 1 Free (25 mins.)

970-247-3939 230 E. College Drive www.amayamassage.com

ARIES (March 21-April 19): You may become a more audacious storyteller in 2022.

You could ripen your ability to express the core truths about your life with entertaining narratives.

Bonus: The experiences that come your way will provide raw material for you to become even more interesting than you already are. Now study these words by storyteller Ruth Sawyer: “To be a good storyteller, one must be gloriously alive. It is not possible to kindle fresh fires from burned-out embers. The best of the traditional storytellers are those who live close to the heart of things – to the earth, sea, wind and weather. They have known solitude, silence. They have been given unbroken time in which to feel deeply, to reach constantly for understanding.”

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus author May Sarton wrote a poem celebrating her maturation into the person she had always dreamed she would be. “Now I become myself,” she exulted.

“Its taken time, many years and places; I have been dissolved and shaken, have worn other people’s faces.” But at last, she said, “All fuses together now, falls into place from wish to action, word to silence.

My work, my love, my time, my face: gathered into one intense gesture of growing like a plant.” I invite you to adopt Sarton’s poem as a primary source of inspiration in 2022. Make it your guide as you, too, become fully and richly yourself.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In 2012, the writer Gore Vidal died the day after Gemini writer Maeve Binchy passed away. They were both famous, though Binchy sold more books than Vidal. Vidal was interesting but problematic for me. He was fond of saying that it wasn’t enough for him to succeed; he wanted others to fail. The misery of his fellow humans intensified his satisfaction about his own accomplishments. On the other hand, Binchy had a generous wish that everyone would be a success. She felt her magnificence was magnified by others’ magnificence. In 2022, it will be vital for your physical and mental health to cultivate Binchy’s perspective, not Vidal’s. To the degree that you celebrate and enhance the fortunes of others, your own fortunes will thrive.

!

12 n Dec. 23, 2021

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian political leader Nelson Mandela was wrongly incarcerated for 27 years. After his release, he became President of South Africa and won the Nobel Peace Prize. On leaving jail in 1990, he wrote, “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.” Although you haven’t suffered deprivation

Dec. 23-29

anywhere close to what Mandela did, I’m happy to report that 2022 will bring you liberations from limiting situations. Please adopt Mandela’s approach as you make creative use of your new freedom.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): French poet André Breton wrote, “Je vous souhaite d’être follement aimée.” In English, those words can be rendered as “My wish is that you may be loved to the point of madness” or “I wish you to be loved madly.” That’s got a romantic ring to it, but it’s actually a curse. Why would we want to be loved to the point of madness? A person who “loved” you like that might be fun for a while, but would ultimately become a terrible inconvenience and ongoing disruption. So, dear Leo, I won’t wish that you will be loved to the point of madness in 2022 – even though I think the coming months will be an interesting and educational time for amour. Instead, I will wish you something more manageable and enjoyable: that you will be loved with respect, sensitivity, care and intelligence.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Many people in our culture are smart intellectually, but not very smart emotionally.

The wisdom of feelings is undervalued. I protest! One of my great crusades is to champion this neglected source of insight. I am counting on you to be my ally in 2022. Why? Because according to my reading of the astrological omens, you have the potential to ripen your emotional intelligence in the coming months.

Do you have ideas about how to take full advantage of this lucky opportunity?

Here’s a tip: Whenever you have a decision to make, tune in to what your body and heart tell you as well as to what your mind advises.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl said that a sense of meaning is crucial. It’s the key gratification that sustains people through the years: the feeling that their life has a meaning and that particular experiences have meaning. I suggest you make this your theme for 2022. The question “Are you happy?” will be a subset of the more inclusive question, “Are you pursuing a destiny that feels meaningful to you?” Here’s the other big question: “If what you’re doing doesn’t feel meaningful, what are you going to do about it?”

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio guitarist Rowland S. Howard spoke of “the grand occasions when love really does turn into something far greater than you had ever dreamed of, something auto-luminescent.” Judging from the astrological configurations in 2022, I have strong hopes and expectations that you will experience prolonged periods when love will fit that description.

telegraph

For best results, resolve to become more generous and ingenious in expressing love than you have ever been.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22Dec. 21): “I’ve been trying to go home my whole life,” wrote poet Chelsea Dingman. I know some of you Sagittarians resist the urge to do that. It’s possible you avoid seeking a true and complete home. You may think of the whole world as your home or you may regard a lot of different places as your homes. And you’d prefer not to narrow down the feeling and concept of “home” to one location or building or community. Whether or not you are one of those kinds of Centaurs, I suspect that 2022 will bring you unexpected new understandings of home – and maybe even give you the sense that you have finally arrived in your ultimate sanctuary.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): To ensure that 2022 will bring you the most interesting and useful kind of progress, take good care of your key friendships and alliances, even as you seek out excellent new friendships and alliances. For best results, heed these thoughts from author Hanya Yanagihara: “Find people who are better than you are – not smarter, not cooler, but kinder, more generous and more forgiving – and then appreciate them for what they can teach you, and listen to them when they tell you something about yourself, no matter how bad – or good – it might be.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Sometime during the Northern Song Dynasty that ruled China from 960 to 1127, an artisan made a white ceramic bowl five inches in diameter.

About a thousand years later, a family in New York bought it at a garage sale for $3.

It sat on a mantel in their home for a few years until they got a hunch to have it evaluated by an art collector. A short time later, the bowl was sold at an auction for $2.2 million. I’m not saying that 2022 will bring a financial event as dramatic as that one. But I do expect that your luck with money will be at a peak.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In the Quechuan language spoken in Peru, the word takanakuy means “when the blood is boiling.” Every year, Chumbivilcas stages a holiday called Takanakuy. People gather at the town center to fight each other, settling their differences so they can forget about them and start over fresh. If my friend and I have had a personal conflict during the previous year, we would punch and kick each other – but not too hard – until we had purged our spite and resentment. The slate between us would be clean. Is there some humorous version of this ritual you could enact that wouldn’t involve even mild punching and kicking? Dream one up!

FreeWillAstrology /

by Rob Brezsny ARIES (March 21-April 19): Historians disagree about the legacy of Jimmie Carter, who was president of the United States from 1977-81.

Was he effective or not? Opinions differ.

But there’s no ambiguity about a project he pursued after his presidency. He led a global effort to eliminate a pernicious disease caused by the guinea worm parasite.

When Carter began his work, 3.5 million people per year suffered from the parasite’s debilitating effects. Today, there are close to zero victims. Will 2022 bring an equivalent boon to your life, Aries? The banishment of an old bugaboo? A monumental healing? I suspect so.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In 2022, I hope you will express more praise than ever before. I hope you’ll be a beacon of support and inspiration for the people you care for. The astrological omens suggest this could be a recordbreaking year for the blessings you bestow.

Don’t underestimate your power to heal and instigate beneficial transformations.

Yes, of course, it’s a kind and generous strategy for you to carry out. But it will also lead to unforeseen rewards that will support and inspire and heal you.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): If you search Google, you’ll be told that the longest biography ever written is the 24-volume set about British political leader Winston Churchill. But my research shows there’s an even more extensive biography: about Japan’s Emperor Hirohito, who lived from 1901-89. His story consists of 61 volumes. In the spirit of these expansive tales, and in accordance with 2022’s astrological aspects, I encourage you to create an abundance of noteworthy events that will deserve inclusion in your biography. Make this the year that warrants the longest and most interesting chapter in that masterpiece.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): One of the 20th century’s most famous works of art was Fountain. It was scandalous when it appeared in 1917, since it consisted entirely of a white porcelain urinal.

Marcel Duchamp, the artist who presented it, was a critic of the art market and loved mocking conventional thought. Years later, however, evidence emerged suggesting that Fountain may not have been Duchamp’s idea – that in fact he “borrowed” it from Cancerian artist and poet Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven.

There’s still disagreement among art scholars about what the facts are. But if definitive proof ever arrives that Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven was the originator, it will be in 2022. This will be the year many Cancerians finally get the credit they deserve.

Dec. 30-Jan.5

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Author Carson McCullers wrote the novel “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.” Early in the story, the character named Mick Kelly has a crisis of yearning. McCullers describes it: “The feeling was a whole lot worse than being hungry for any dinner, yet it was like that. I want – I want – I want – was all that she could think about – but just what this real want was she did not know.” If you have ever had experiences resembling Mick’s, Leo, 2022 will be your year to fix that glitch in your passion. You will receive substantial assistance from life whenever you work on the intention to clarify and define the specific longings that are most essential to you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): After careful research, I have concluded that one of your important missions in 2022 will be to embody a perspective articulated by poet Rand Howells: “If I could have but one wish granted, it would be to live in a universe like this one at a time like the present with friends like the ones I have now and be myself.” In other words, Virgo, I’m encouraging you to do whatever’s necessary to love your life exactly as it is – without comparing it unfavorably to anyone else’s life or to some imaginary life you don’t actually have.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): If your quest for spiritual enlightenment doesn’t enhance your ability to witness and heal the suffering of others, then it’s fake enlightenment. If your quest for enlightenment encourages you to imagine that expressing personal freedom exempts you from caring for the well-being of your fellow humans, it’s fake. If your quest for enlightenment allows you to ignore racism, bigotry, plutocracy, misogyny and LGBTQIA-phobia, it’s fake. Everything I just said about enlightenment is equally true about your quest for personal success. If it doesn’t involve serving others, it’s meaningless.

In this spirit, Libra, and in accordance with the astrological omens, I invite you to make 2022 the year you take your compassion and empathy to the highest level ever.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Two mating rabbits could theoretically engender 11 million relatives within a year. Although I suspect that in 2022 you will be as metaphorically fertile as those two hypothetical rabbits, I’m hoping you’ll aim more for quality than quantity. To get started, identify two projects you could pursue in the coming months that will elicit your most liberated creativity. Write a vow in which you state your intention to be intensely focused as you express your fecundity.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22Dec. 21): A blogger named Soracities writes, “The more I read, the more I feel that a good mark of an intelligent book is simply that the author is having fun with it.” Sagittarian author George Saunders adds that at its best, “Literature is a form of fondness-for-life. It is love for life taking a verbal form.” I will expand these analyses to evaluate everything that humans make and do. In my opinion, the supreme sign of intelligence and value is whether the creators had fun and felt love in doing it. My proposal to you, Sagittarius, is to evaluate your experiences in that spirit. If you are doing things with meager amounts of fun and love, what can you do in 2022 to raise the fun and love quotient?

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Microbiologist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928. It was later described as “the single greatest victory ever achieved over disease” – an antidote to dangerous infections caused by bacteria. But there’s more to the story. Fleming’s strain of penicillin could only be produced in tiny amounts – not nearly enough to become a widespread medicine. It wasn’t until 1943 that a different strain of penicillin was found – one that could be massproduced. The genius who made this possible was Mary Hunt, a humble researcher without a college degree. By 1944, the new drug was saving thousands of lives. I mention Hunt because she’s a good role model for you in 2022. I believe you’ll have chances to improve on the work of others, generating excellent results. You may also improve on work you’ve done in the past.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Catherine Pugh wrote a series of children’s books collectively known as “Healthy Holly.” Later, when she became mayor of Baltimore, she carried out a scheme to sell 100,000 copies to hospitals and schools that did business with the city. Uh-oh. Corruption! She was forced to resign from her office and was arrested. I’d love for you to be aggressive and imaginative in promoting yourself in 2022, but only if you can find ethical ways to do so.

I’d love for you to make money from doing what you do best, but always with high integrity and impeccability.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Piscean Vaslav Nijinsky is regarded by many as the 20th century’s most brilliant dancer. He had a robust relationship with beauty. Hopefully, he will inspire you to enjoy prolonged periods of Beauty Worship in 2022. To do so will be good for your health. Memorize this passage from Nijinsky: “Beauty is God. God is beauty with feeling. Beauty is in feeling. I love beauty because I feel it and therefore understand it. I flaunt my beauty. I feel love for beauty.”

telegraph

Dec. 23, 2021 n 13

AskRachel

Friendly disagreement, British invasion & Christ-miss Interesting fact: If you dislike Brits playing Batman, just think about how they must have felt when Robert Downey Jr. got cast as Sherlock. Or – wait, Peter Dinklage is American?

Dear Rachel, A friend hired me to do some creative work for her. To protect my identity, let’s pretend she asked me to paint a portrait of her. I showed her my style, talked about what she wanted, and she said she trusted me. Well, I delivered and I did good work, but now she’s saying she hates it and can never hang it in her boardroom. Fine, I don’t care. But she’s also saying she won’t pay me. That’s not how this works, is it Rachel?

– Stiffed Dear Stiffee, Yeah… no, that’s not how any of this works. Not unless you agreed to work on spec, but come on, commissions are never on spec. Reminds me of a friend who hit some hard times and subsequently hit me up for grocery money. I did what I could to help her out. And she got annoyed with me that I didn’t give her more hundreds of dollars. I don’t know why your friend reminds me of my friend, except that we need to make a pact to stop making friends like this.

– By an oath of blood, Rachel Dear Rachel, Why are so many of our best American superheroes British? Christian Bale as Batman. Henry

14 n Dec. 23, 2021

Cavill as Superman. Benedict Cumberbatch as that Harry Potter wannabe. Now, I just learned that Tom Holland, the best Spider-Man in history, is English too. Three hundred million people in this country, and we can’t find one decent actor to play the most American of movie roles?

– Stealing Our Jobs Dear Blimey-Man, Um, excuse me, but our best American superheroes aren’t British. They’re Canadian. And by “they,” I mean “Ryan Reynolds.” Sure, he used to be a douchey glossfaced frat-boy typecast. But then he grew up, and they put a mask on him to hide his residual douchiness, and now all I want to see is the Deadpool/Spider-Man teamup where they fall in love but keep the relationship open because of uncertainty from the cinematic rights-holders.

– No capes, Rachel Dear Rachel, I really lost the holiday spirit this year. I didn’t mail out any cards, didn’t wrap any presents. I still care about people. I just… forgot.

But, some books I ordered for my aunt back in October never made it to her. Which got me thinking… what if, instead of Christmas cards, I sent checking-in cards early next year. “Hey, just want to make sure your present made it?” And then I can blame its absence on the overwhelmed shipping companies. I see no flaw in this plan. Do you?

– Lost in the Mail

telegraph

Email Rachel at telegraph@durangotelegraph.com Dear Lost Cause, History is written by the victors. At this point, you can’t mail out presents in time anyway, so what the hay?

Give it a whirl. If it works, you become the next great American hero. Maybe Daniel Radcliffe or Emma Watson will play you in the film version. And if it fails, there’s no real loss, except me and that other person will vow not to be your friend either.

– Tracking number not found, Rachel

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

Announcements

The Perfect Gift for your favorite dirtbag. Literature from Durango’s own Benighted Publications. The Desert, The Climbing Zine, The Great American Dirtbags, American Climber, Climbing Out of Bed and Graduating From College Me are available at: Maria’s Bookshop, Pine Needle Mountaineering, the Sky Store, or on the interweb at www.climbingzine.com.

Classes/Workshops

‘Hallmark Christmas Movies’ OH MY GOD, you don’t think that I watch these, do you?!

Happy holidays.

– Lainie Maxson

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.

BodyWork

Harmony House Music Studios offers enjoyable lessons on guitar and other fretted instruments to students of all ages and abilities. Over 30 years’ experience as instructors and performers in Durango and the Four Corners. Terry Double and Richard White provide lessons for most styles of music, from jazz to rock, folk and classical. We also offer studies in music theory and composition. Our spacious studios are located in Bodo Park at 570 C Turner Dr. For more info. and scheduling, call Terry, 970-903-8738 or Richard, 970-749-6954.

HaikuMovieReview

Massage by Meg Bush LMT, 30, 60 & 90 min., 970-759-0199.

Make a Local Impact!

The Local First Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, is seeking a motivated and entrepreneurial individual to lead this innovative and exciting organization. A leader to build on existing programs such as renewable energy, healthcare, the creative economy, and a living wage is being sought. Position is part-time with the potential of growing to full-time. Competitive benefits and a flexible work schedule are also offered. Interested applicants should send a cover letter, resume, and three references to foundation.careers@ local-first.org by January 9th, 2022. https://foundation.local-first.org/

massageintervention.life Voted best massage in Durango 18/19/20. Couples, cupping, local CBD. Reviews on FB + Yelp. 970-903-2984 Enlightened Heart Bodywork A blend of Ortho-Bionomy®, Wise Womb Medicine, Belly work, Sound Heal-

ing, and Yoga. Nurture, Nourish, and Love yourself to Wholeness. $15 off first session. Contact Brandy 719-250-5706.

CommunityService SJBPH Vaccine Clinics Free vaccine mobile clinic provided by San Juan Basin Public Health in partnership with Jogan Health. Pfizer (12+), Moderna (18+), and J&J (18+) are available. Contact 970-247-5702 or visit https://sjbpublichealth.org/covid-19-vaccine/ for more information.

NewspaperOrigami

ForSale Sphynx Kittens Sphynx kittens available. Vaccinated and health guarantee included. Call or text Margaret 770-329-0437.

Reruns Home Furnishings New inventory including holiday bar and glassware, serving ware, cool décor, side tables and lamps … 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.

West Coast Swing Dance 6-week class starts January 5. Learn the basics of West Coast Swing. Registration is required at www.westslopewesties.com.

Services

Spanish Classes Now accepting students for in-person beginner thru advanced Spanish. Call

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

Bookkeeping/1099s 970-403-5339.

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