the monitor magazine winter 2010

themonitormagazine.com

THETHE

The LaJoy

Family

Winter 2010

EventsColumns

InterviewsReal,

Real Estate Stats

Eco-Briefs

Celebrating CommunityMontrose · Telluride · Placerville · OurayRidgway · Olathe · Delta · Delta County

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M A G A Z I N E

Publisher’s Notes By Mavis Bennett

Read us online at: themonitormagazine.com

The MonitorCelebrating Community since 2003

Advertising Sales 970-417-0909

Publisher and Managing Editor · Mavis Bennett970-417-0909 • [email protected]

Graphic Design · John F. Trainor Scott’s Printing ~ Design

Green Pages Editor/Writer · David Segal970-424-1011 [email protected]

Editor at Large · Phyllis Walker

Cover Photo · by Mavis Bennett

Contributors · Sara Anders, Peggy Carey, Al Carmichael, Joyce Corley, Allen Kesselheim, Betsy Marston, Carol McDermott, Paul Paladino, Dean Rolley, Caitlin Switzer, Lael Van Riper, Lynn Vogel

The Monitor Magazine is printed on recycled paper.

2 · Winter 2010-11 THETHETHE


Friend of Facebook

Late Night Host Jimmy Kimmel came up with the idea to have a “National Unfriend Day”, (NUD) suggesting that those on Facebook trim their list

of friends down to the “real” ones. His premise was that having a list of a couple of hundred people you never see or hardly know was inauthentic.

I don’t agree with that. I have 327 “friends.” I’ve been accumulating them since I dipped my toe in the whirling waters of Facebook, two years ago. I “friended” a lot in the beginning, excited to find people I hadn’t seen in decades. I got in touch with my Tel-luride friends from the ‘70s and ‘80s, plus a few from high school in West Hollywood. Then there’s my daughter and her friends and their endless (but cute) baby pictures; I probably wouldn’t get to see as much of my grandchildren if they weren’t starring on Alicia’s page every day! And, I’ve got my Montrose friends and those of the Monitor Magazine.

I friended a hotel in Russia called the Nord Hostel because my nephew had been there. Once in a while they send me these cheerful messages, but they’re in Russian, so I’ll have to figure out the room specials myself.

I don’t post that often, not being someone who says what a gray, damp day it is and I’m going back to bed. I read others’ and hit the “like” button, if the spirit moves me. It’s nice to have a forum for the times you find an indescribable column or a cartoon that must be shared.

I get inspiration from seeing the exploits of others. Linda Gann does great hikes and bike rides and puts up the photos to prove it. Randi Levine keeps a log of her (almost daily) walk/runs with her dogs; when I read that, I think, I better get Clancy and have him walk me. Telluride’s Amy Levek’s and Dean Rolley’s photos of the area are some of the finest (See Dean’s prizewinning picture on the facing page. If not for FB, I probably wouldn’t have seen that photo).

There’s a secret to making the most of this social medium that I think Jimmy Kimmel may have missed. I don’t spend hours pouring over the FB posts. I fly down the page, scanning, and stop when something catches my eye. It’s a hand-eye coordination thing.❄❅❆❄❅❆❄❅❆❄❅❆❄❅❆❄❅❆❄❅❆❄❅❆It’s that joyous time of the year and we are proud to

have the LaJoy family as our feature story. Enjoy the season, give as much love as you can. I am grateful, at

Thanksgiving and Christmas, that two years have gone by and we’ve gotten used to the new normal. Things are fine. Thanks to everyone who helped make it so.

Monitor Magazine Mascot Maya

themonitormagazine.com THETHETHE

Winter 2010-11 · 3

Telluride Hillside ©Dean Rolley, [email protected] First place in the first annual Telluride Photo Festival sponsored by Mexapixel in Montrose



Imagine traveling from Montrose to Central Asia four times to build your family. In the past decade, Cindy and Dominick LaJoy have adopted five chil-

dren from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It is a Shake-spearean tale filled with struggle, intrigue, joy, tears and, most of all, heart.

Matthew, Joshua, Kenny, Angela and Olesya are the children whose lives have been profoundly changed by this couple—two regular people who have been blessed with an abundance of love, insight and patience.

The LaJoys’ plan was to have children, both biological and adopted. When, after 13 years together, they hadn’t gotten pregnant, they started researching adoption.

Cindy was surprised and frustrated to discover how long it might take to find an American child. The American system also held the possibility that a new family might be settling in only to have the child removed and returned to the biological parent. “I agree that the goals of reunification of the family are good,” Cindy said, “but not for us as adoptive parents.”

If they were going to adopt, they concluded, why not find a child who might never get a chance to live in a family, ever. At least in America, they thought, there’s foster care, and children can have some semblance of family life.

The LaJoys’ five are all from orphanages where they have no safety net once they’re released from the institutions at 16. There’s no Social Services, there’s no food stamps—they’re on the streets.

The LaJoys strongly follow their instincts and listen to their intuition. “I think your children call out to you from wherever they are,” said Cindy. “I know that sounds corny to some people, but it’s true. You get led

to where your children are.”Cindy did thousands of hours of research on the

Internet and found an agency in Wichita, Kansas, that was placing international children. In 2000, the agency called and asked if they would be interested in going to Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan, in Central Asia, is the ninth largest country in the world, the size of Western Europe. It is bordered by Russia and China and sits north of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Iran.

Neither of the LaJoys had traveled overseas. “Frankfort was a little intimidating,” Cindy recalled, “and then Russia…I think what struck us when we got to Kazakhstan was that the people looked solemn. It was extremely poor—there were no smiles. Technologically, it was like being back in the ’50s.”

Their first child, Matthew, tall and handsome now at 11, was 11 months old when they arrived. He was in isolation with a serious bronchial infection; he was malnourished and had rickets. “He responded

to us from the start and never answered to his birth name again,” said Cindy. It was a rough trip bringing him home. They ended up in the emergency room in Moscow and the doctors wanted to keep him for two weeks. But he perked up with some treatment and they hurried out of there.

As a couple, Cindy and Dom look like they would be good parents. She has a soft, loving side, arms open for a hug and words of encouragement. She works at planning and organization and her no-nonsense side gets much accomplished. Dominick is a big man with a wide smile and king-size sense of humor. He can lighten things up, offer his share of hugs, and provide

L-R Kenny, Joshua, Rev. Karen Winkel, Matthew

Olesya (left) and Angela

Love Wins By Mavis Bennett


Winter 2010-11 · 5

the emotional muscle when it’s called for.Three years went by after Matt’s arrival and the

LaJoys began thinking they didn’t want him to be an only child. Once again they traveled to Kazakhstan. Josh was 11 months old also, but their experience this time couldn’t have been more different than with Matt. Josh had an attachment disorder, all too common in some children left in orphanages. The LaJoys spent the next two-and-a-half years working to help him overcome that.

He had never been held and could not stand to be touched. “It took two of us to change his diaper,” said Dominick. “He would try to throw himself off the changing table.”

“God got us through this,” Cindy said quietly. “I knew from the second visit that he had severe attachment issues. It was obvious with his behavior.” His birth mother had had him for about a month, and then had abandoned him outside.

The LaJoys could have said no. “But it never entered our minds, to leave him,” said Cindy. “Was I devastated? Yes, because there was nothing we could do to console him. He’d cry if we picked him up and cry if we put him down. Sobbing and screaming. Push me, pull me. He woke up ten times a night screaming.”

This went on for two years. But, thankfully, it gradually lessened and Josh got better.

“What got us through is that we loved him dearly,” said Cindy. They outlasted him. “We were more stubborn. But he made it. We were one of the lucky families, because a lot don’t. He still struggles with fear of abandonment, but he’s improving.”

Adopting Kenny was a direct result of making it through the hard work with Josh. “We realized that if we had done that, we could do anything,” Cindy said.

The LaJoys had always thought they would be the family to adopt older children, but the circumstances brought them babies. They had a big house, and once Josh’s situation stabilized, that small voice was calling

to them again. “We really felt deeply called to adopt another child,” said Cindy.The financial part

The finances were the hardest part. In 2006, it cost about $30,000 to go through the whole process to internationally adopt, including travel expenses. Now it’s $40,000. When they first started out, they needed a way to feel comfortable with the large financial outlay. Dom, in his inimitable way, suggested that there were a lot of people “driving around in brand-new Dodge pickups.” They could be one of those or they could adopt a child. “Maybe we’re not new truck people—we’re kid people!”

They tried to go a different direction with the third adoption. Cindy called 17 different U.S. states, about 17 different sets of children—sibling groups, older kids. She got only one call back and couldn’t understand it. “I just feel there were roadblocks put up for us because that’s not where our children were.”

They had begun to feel that maybe the third adoption wasn’t in the cards when an international agency called about a new program opening up in Kyrgyzstan. Ethnically, the children are very similar and, because it was a new program, the costs were a bit lower.

Kyrgyzstan borders Kazakhstan to the south and is 80 percent mountains. It is referred to as the “Switzerland of Central Asia.”

The highest peak is over 24,000 feet and is part of the range that forms the border with China.

So the LaJoys were off again, this time traveling with two children. They flew to Russia and were driven to Kazakhstan. They had been sponsoring two young sisters—sending them care packages, clothing, school supplies and cards. Originally hoping to adopt them, they were told they weren’t legally available because the mother’s rights were not terminated.

Cindy flew alone across Kazakhstan, leaving “all the men” behind. She said she wanted the girls to be able to put a face to the name. They were living in separate orphanages because of their age difference. “It was the most painful thing,” said Cindy. She took Angela to see Olesya. They only saw each other once or twice a year, when someone would take one of them on a bus for a “sibling reunion.” The girls had saved every letter and card the LaJoys had sent because these were the only people who had considered them special—the only people who had ever remembered their birthdays.

Kenny, the boy they had come for, had a cleft lip and palate. He had palate surgery, but it hadn’t worked, so there was more work than they had anticipated. The medical records were inaccurate and they had been

continued on page 6



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LaJoys continued from p. 5led to believe it had been successful. But there was no way they were going to leave that little guy there. They dealt with the financial end by rationalizing that this would be their last adoption and the costs would be spread over many years. They would just borrow against their house for it.

But the memory of the faces of Angela and Olesya haunted Cindy. “I didn’t know what I was going to do about the girls. I was bereft.” The LaJoys couldn’t afford to adopt any more children—their bank account could not keep up with their hearts.

Cindy had started writing a blog, and she wrote about how it felt leaving children behind. She asked how she was going to live with this. It wasn’t long before a woman she had known about nine years on the Internet emailed her. They had spoken several times over the years since the first adoption. She emailed Cindy, saying that if they wanted to adopt those girls, she would pay for the entire amount.

Dominick just put his head on the table and cried.Fun in SiberiaSix months later, the girls’ mother’s rights were

terminated. But it took almost three years to get the children over here. All five of the LaJoys left in December 2009 to pick up the girls. They ended up having to stay two-and-a-half months. “Fifty below in the Siberian winter,” commented Dom. They lived in a small apartment and the boys got to see what their life would have been like.

There were stressful times. The water was brown and undrinkable. But they had fun as a family. “We played all sorts of games, went to museums, took walks at 40 below…” said Dom. “Families today don’t get that much time together, uninterrupted,” Cindy added.

“We were glad that we got to take the boys back to see their country, because the chances of them going back are slim. And it’s changing so fast—it will not look the same, even ten years from now. It’s different from when we adopted Matthew. There are hub cities that are modern. It will be difficult for them to picture why their parents had to give them up when they’re 25.”

It was also very valuable for Matthew particularly to have the ethnic experience. “He feels Kazakh to the core,” said Cindy. “He feels insulted when someone calls him Chinese or Korean, which most people naturally assume.”

Cindy started home schooling the group this year. It’s like a one-room schoolhouse from the frontier days. They were all at different levels in their

schooling, and the girls didn’t know any English eight months ago.

They’ve had many people who have offered to help, including someone who taught Matt about the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Their church, Hillcrest Congregational United Church of Christ, has helped out while watching the children grow up. “We have a community that’s helping to raise our kids,” said Cindy. “We’re very fortunate to have the specific kids we were called to bring together.”


Winter 2010-11 · 7

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Lu Anne By Mavis Bennett

If ever there was a reason to move to Colorado’s Western Slope, it’s because you’re living

in the Pacific Northwest and Colo-rado has all the sun.

That’s the way it happened to artist Lu Anne Tyrrell 11 years ago. Even though she is a genuine Colorado native (born and raised in Wheatridge, near Denver), she’d been living in the Northwest since college.

Tyrrell paints a verbal picture: “I had come down with a horrible, horrible cold and had also broken up with a fellow I’d been going out with. It was springtime in the Northwest and it was raining and raining and raining…”

Her brother, his wife, and their daughter were in Montrose and Lu Anne’s mother, Lucille, had moved there the year before. It looked like a port in the storm. Mom’s advice rang true: “You need to get to see sunshine, you need Vitamin D. Why don’t you come here and take a break?”

Tyrrell’s business card says, “Artist/Photography.” She was one of those children who was always drawing and making things. “My mind was constantly lost in art,” she says. “I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t drawing or creating stuff.”

She attended Northern Arizona University, major-ing in commercial art and advertising. After leaving Flagstaff, she decided to try the Great Northwest instead of settling back in Denver. Looking for work in Vancouver, Wash., she was hired sight-unseen to work at the Baronoff Hotel in Juneau, Alaska.

“They flew me up and I worked the season as Asst. Banquet Manager. Quite the adventure. It’s the state capitol and all the officials stay there. That was during the time of the “Love Boat” TV show and we got to go on that ship.” At that time, she said, the bars were only closed one hour a day to clean up. Alaska truly was the last frontier.

Tyrrell returned to Vancouver and worked in per-sonnel for Denny’s Restaurant but continued doing freelance artwork. In 1988, she and a good friend formed a graphic design and marketing company and

she worked in that direction for the next decade, polishing her com-mercial art skills. When that rainy Northwest spring arrived, she knew it was time for a change.

Tyrrell arrived in Montrose in 1999 “on a wing and a prayer.” She had a round-trip ticket, her port-folio and her resume. Within three days, she was offered a job selling ads for the San Juan Silver Stage, a regional arts newspaper. This was a good introduction to the area and she was able to pick up design jobs through the contacts she was making.

Dee Coram, co-owner of the Cof-fee Trader, was a new friend who encouraged her to apply for what he called the perfect “day job,” which was the director of the new

Main Street Program for downtown Montrose.

Montrose was one of the first four Colorado commu-nities to undergo a “Main Street Program.” This was based on four tenets: design, promotion, organization and economic restructuring. Tyrrell was hired as the executive director and began the job in May, 2001. It was all about building relationships and Tyrrell loved it. The summer Thursday evening event, Main in Mo-tion, was spawned out of this program in 2002. She worked with the Main Street Program for three years and then continued on at the City on a contractual basis, assisting in the redesign of their publications.

Since those days she has become, in Montrose, one of those people known by one name. There is only one Lu Anne. For most of the past decade, she could be seen at area functions and events, her camera in hand, making a living through photography.

What's a typical creative day like? “I grab a camera, go out and just take some everyday photos―I see art in everything I look at. I’ll take some random shots, take a drive out to the country, just reconnect with the universe and the world out there. Invariably I get creatively inspired―feeling the energy flow through me and around me―and I feel like it’s my job to cap-ture this moment. Then I may come home that night, do some sketches, work on some designs, then call it


Winter 2010-11 · 9

Lu Anne By Mavis Bennettgood. I then feel like I’m on top of my game.”

Her work is for sale at Walgreen's in Montrose. She was instrumental in gathering a group of artisans together so the store could showcase a "Made in Mon-trose" corner.

Tyrrell has designed numerous logos within the Montrose area (Coffee Trader, Elderado Financial, SheShe Boutique, Camelot Gardens and Montrose Ford), as well as commissions in both the public and private sector of Montrose.

She still does some mixed media, including a Colo-rado print that’s acrylic and watercolor. "I like all my pieces to invite a second look, and hopefully they convey a sense of wonderment to the observer. My photographic pieces are composites. I use the modern technology of Photoshop and create a specific piece from that format, such as using the clouds as my canvas, then add in other nature element shots I have taken. Photographically, Ansel Adams has been an inspiration: his ability to capture nature in its unique-ness is awesome to me.”

Her goal is to find a larger audience for her artwork. “I'd like to get my work out to a broad audience, in whatever form that may be,” she said, “whether it's textile or print.”

Her mom, Lucille, 93 now, is an important part of her life. "Ma is blessed to be able to live by herself," she said. "She's legally blind with adult macular de-generative disease and has a new hip and a new knee. She walks with a walker at home and lives to take care of her dog, Gidget."

Although her mother lives independently, Tyrrell calls her several times a day, takes her grocery shop-ping and says she is probably there "four nights a week."

"I'm very thankful her mind is sharp and that I have this time with her."

Lu Anne is an intuitive and sensitive soul, the best and worst possible type of person to depend on art to earn a livelihood. She has spent time this year reflect-ing and slowing down, working on how she expends her energy and reconnecting with what is important to her.

The life of an artist can be a challenging one, but be-ing an artist and a businessperson is a see-saw exer-cise that might thwart a less-determined individual.

But she's upbeat and funny, and when I ask, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” she says, "Married and living in the mountains with a lot of land," and, of course, being creative.

Visit her website at www.coloradoscenes.com 249-1190

Sky Horses by Lu Anne Tyrrell

Summers Sunset by Lu Anne Tyrrell



Library

Win-win By Paul Paladino, Montrose Regional Library Director

There are always people who want to destroy what

others have built up.

A phrase I don't hear much lately is “win-win”. I admit it was overused there for a while, but the concept shouldn't be forgotten. Throughout

my career I have found projects are much easier to get going and sustain when you think about who else could benefit or how a project can be constructed so that the most people benefit. The building of the Montrose Regional Library 12 years ago is a perfect example.

The existing library was small and overcrowded. The collection for children was crammed into a phone booth. Okay, I exaggerate—three phone booths. We wanted to put a couple of lights over the large print collection to brighten it up, but had to add an entirely new circuit breaker box. And so on. So we started talking to others.

Turns out the police department had outgrown its space in City Hall. The library was then conveniently located across from City Hall. The County was getting some public feedback that the old Morgan School site might not be where many people wanted the

Criminal Justice Center. That left the City and County with a site with a school building on it. Enter Mesa State College Montrose Campus who was renting space that wasn't very well suited to be classrooms.

In no way am I making light of all the work, the relationships, and the sweat that went into the project, but, people talked, agreements were

made, citizens voted and an important community asset was created.

These days it seems as if ensuring that the other guy doesn't win is more important than winning ourselves.

Talking heads of all stripes are eager to tell you who is at fault, who you should fear or who you should blame. This does not seem very constructive to me.

There are always people who want to destroy what others have built up. Most of us would rather be builders. I maintain that until the destroyers somehow manage to destroy all of mankind, the builders will always win out. Eventually. Sometimes we have to go through a period of dark ages, but eventually the builders overcome.

My search for win-win in the library world led me to a book I just began reading. I don't normally recommend books I haven't read, but only two chapters in, I think this could be a good one. Not for its literary merit, but for the ideas it espouses. It's called “Authentic Patriotism” by Stephen Kiernan. Mr. Kiernan posits that our institutions have failed us. The marketplace does not have the inclination to solve society's pressing problems and our government has too much on its plate. Therefore, it is up to us, as individuals, to creatively work together. Some of his arguments I find a bit tough to swallow, but on the whole I think he has a great deal of good to say.

If you are more visual, I highly recommend the DVD called “Temple Grandin” about an autistic woman who revolutionizes the cattle industry. If you listen carefully, her words provide some strong lessons on how we, as people, might choose to interact with the world around us. Both are available at your library.There are always copies of The Monitor available in the magazine section of the library.


Winter 2010-11 · 11

Turning river sand and rocks to gemsBy Caitlin Switzer

David Houtz keeps a dog-eared cookbook in the back of his shop, but it’s not for whipping up casseroles over the noon hour.

“I alloy my own gold,” said Houtz, who owns and operates Rocky Mountain Jewelry in Ridgway (145 North Cora Street.) “Usually it’s done in a big foundry, but all of the gold in my jewelry came from the Uncompahgre River. I can alloy it any way you want, to any carat—I have the recipe right here in my book.”

The personal touch is nothing new to Houtz, who has worked as a jeweler in the region since 1978, creating custom and unique pieces of jewelry from his small shop. His packed studio opens like a treasure chest for visitors, where bright treasures sparkle against a rustic, Western backdrop.

“I love working with gold from the Uncompahgre River,” he said. “It takes 155,000 cubic yards of earth to yield 25 ounces of gold when you are running sand and gravel through a sluice.

“People also bring me rocks, and I make them jewelry.”

Among the “rocks” Houtz loves to collect and use in his work are garnets, which he takes from their unassuming natural state to a rich, captivating crimson gem.

From hand-wrought gold chains to hypnotic gem stones, Houtz works with the most breathtaking materials from the heart of the mountains he calls home. He also creates jewelry from found objects—for example, transforming a yard-sale silver spoon into a fine bracelet or ring.

“It’s hard to put into words, but I’ve just done it,” he said. “I like to make my customers happy; we sell every piece of jewelry we ever make. And when you buy from me, you cut out several layers of middlemen.

Locally, Houtz is known for creating the Mt. Sneffel’s bracelet, a silver and river-gold interpretation of local peaks that ranges in price depending on size and materials.

His training as a jeweler began many years ago, when he apprenticed at a Phoenix sweat shop.

“When you have 15 guys running torches all day, it’s

a sweat shop, no matter if you have air conditioning,” he said. “I worked with Navajos and Apaches—I love Native American jewelry because I grew up with those guys.”

It was a passion for the mountains that brought Houtz to Ouray in 1978, where he opened a shop with

some friends. “They went back home, but I stayed,” Houtz said. “I never wanted to leave.”

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David Houtz waits on a customer at his Ridgway store.



10. We lost an integral member of our family. The first person in my life to die, since I've been old enough to actually understand the loss. It is a strange and sad feeling for me, to finally understand how little time we have with the people we love. That may sound very obvious, but for someone who is used to feeling invincible, it's a sobering blow. However, my immediate family also gained a new member, and the first boy to be born into our immediate family in, well, forever. So of course, life goes on, and in my nephew's wide and wondering eyes I can almost see the lifetime of experiences he has yet to have.

9. I traveled to Mexico. A beautiful country that I had been longing to see, and it was everything I hoped it would be. Warm, colorful, spicy, with flowers and chilies and corn everywhere. I swam in the ocean and risked my life in Guadalajara cabs and buses. Made friends with fishermen, and gobbled up ceviche and platanos like each day was my last meal. I never wanted to leave, especially to return to Colorado in the middle of a cold and dreary winter. However....

8. I learned how to cross-country ski, sort of. Looking forward to improving my skills this winter.

7. I turned 31. Anticlimactic? A bit. However, now that I am officially “in my 30s” I'm finding the decade suits me very well. The freak-out of turning 30 has mellowed into a sweet, contented general sense of well-being and self confidence. Most of the time anyway...

6. I moved into a new house. A big, rambling three-story house with wood stoves and creaky wood floors. Chopping wood is a chore that is now in my repertoire and I love it. I co-exist with the creaks and the noises, and the occasional house mouse, and the ghost that

Ten important things that happened to me in 2010

By Sara Anders

I suspect comes out to amble about when everyone else has gone to bed. I can almost imagine that I'm little Mary from my favorite childhood novel The Secret Garden, wandering around in a big old house, exploring all of its secret passageways.

5. I lost a friend over an argument. This is the first time this has ever happened to me. Always in my life I have been the first to make peace with others, usually out of pure discomfort at being at odds. Now I don't know if my heart is hardening against people (a very scary thought,) or if I am growing increasingly unwilling to make excuses for others' bad behavior. Either way, he is gone, and I am stubbornly refusing to acquiesce.

4. I made new friends this year. Lots and lots of new friends. And they're great friends! I'm starting to feel like I'm part of a community, of a social organization, of a family, and it feels fantastic.

3. I began a Pilates class. It's amazing what our bodies can do. I love the feeling of being surprised by my physical self.

2. I subscribed to the New York Times. Well, the Sunday edition anyway, which still takes me the entire week to read. It feels great to be informed about our country and our world from such a reputable and reliable source. It also feels good to sit at my table on a Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and dig through that big newspaper, always going for the Book Review first, then the magazine and the crossword, and finally settling down to read the week's news.

1. I remembered, every day this year, to be thankful. I really did. For the mundane necessities that didn't seem so boring anymore. Like my job. Like health insurance. For the love and support of my family. For Sunday dinners with my parents. For the beautiful place in which we live. For the crunchy fall leaves and the blue Colorado sky (how is that color of blue even possible?) It just takes a minute to open your eyes every morning, take a deep breath, and say thank you.

Sara Anders was born and raised in Montrose and returned a year ago after 10 years. She works as Reference Librarian at the Montrose Regional Library.

Jim ISLER Real EstateJim IslerBroker/Owner

16124 60.30 RoadMontrose, Colorado 81403(970) 249-0737

[email protected]


Winter 2010-11 · 13

Edge of Inanity

Potential energy By Al Carmichael

Mr. Joule was never late. One cold Buffalo morning, I sat with about

25 other teenagers in Herbert Hoover Junior High School, squirming and anxious, wondering why our physics teacher, Mr. Joule, wasn't there.

We had been learning about energy, laws of thermodynamics and potential versus kinetic energy. The first Law of Thermodynamics states: “Energy can be changed from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed. The total amount of energy and matter in the Universe remains constant, merely changing from one form to another.”

Potential Energy exists in objects because of their positions relative to other objects, or because of the earth’s gravitational field. Think of an apple in a tree, late in the fall, full of potential energy. As the apple falls, potential energy is turned into kinetic energy, finally spent on the ground, its potential energy all used up.

From the moment I learned these laws of physics, I saw the world differently, my eyes opened to the hidden energies that surrounded me. Everything became exciting with a certain level of anticipation.

Go on a roller coaster—click, click, click—potential energy building as you climb higher and higher. You can feel the energy bursting in your heart as you reach the top before the fall. I look at the pile of firewood in back of the house, in which the trees grew, died, and were cut by my friend and I with our powerful chainsaws, waiting with potential energy to heat my house for the winter. Energy exchanged for energy, exchanged again for energy.

And ultimately, the energy of the sun, evaporating the water of the oceans, lifting into the sky, full of potential energy, falling on the earth in the form of rain or snow, rolling and crashing down rivers, finally coming to rest again in the ocean, energy spent until the cycle begins again. I think about all of this when my own potential energy is low, to lift me up with the wonder of it all.

The school principal finally came in with a young man, unknown to us, and waited as the morning announcement commenced from the brown box, attached to the wall above his head. “We are sad to announce the passing of Mr. Joule, our physics teacher, who died last night…” The announcement went on, but already our class was full of murmurs and my friend Carol sobbed quietly behind me. I was too shocked to be sad, and immediately realized who the stranger was. He was our new physics teacher.

When I think about death from a distance, I can see the energy cycle in a human life, the energy of

conception, amazing amounts of consumption and growth, resulting in an astonishing human life, full of potential energy, both physical and metaphorical. Then finally, at the end of this extraordinary energy cycle, all the potential energy is spent and the energy cycle continues on in a different form.

But when death is personal, or happens too soon, it isn’t as easy to understand. The tragedy of the death of a grandparent, a parent, a child, or a friend, also is a tragedy of exponential potential energy lost. Anyone who has lost someone too soon, understands this. Everyone’s life has suddenly taken an altered path.

Solace for loss can be found through family, friends, and spiritual beliefs. In addition to these, I find my solace in the first law of thermodynamics…“Energy can be changed from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed. The total amount of energy and matter in the Universe remains constant, merely changing from one form to another.” I know the energy of my family and friends is not gone. It is in me, it is in the earth, the sky and the universe. It’s up to me to make their energy my own.

DONATE your unwanted items and let them build a Habitat home today!

We accept gently used furniture, working appliances, antiques, building supplies, misc. household goods

Habitat for Humanity of Montrose970-252-9304

[email protected]

Free Pick Up Volunteers always welcome



Tina Ochoa’s home, across from Lion’s Park on N. Nevada, does not have a ghostly feeling. It could, when you consider that Ochoa spent

the last 30 years caring for elderly people, all of whom eventually passed away in that house. Conventional wisdom says that ghosts stay around because they are unhappy or something has been left unfinished.

But when you look around her home, with its warm, attractive décor, and you talk to Tina, it's apparent that those who spent their last months and years there were satisfied.

It’s a surprise to walk in and see how much bigger it feels inside. The center of the home is the dining-room-activity center. With just six residents, each guest received fast and personal attention.

Tina, a tiny woman at an inch or two under five feet, was born in Montrose June 7, 1930. Her parents were Claude and Margaret Herrera and her seven children’s names read like a roll of the town’s oldest families.

She had six children with Frank Hernandez: Paula Aller, Claudia Batty, Debra Bolton, and Rickey, Danny and LeRoy Hernandez.

She has been married to Jimmy Ochoa for 28 years and they have one daughter, Eileen DeJulio.

Tina said she was called to be a nurse. If she had been born in 2000 instead of 70 years earlier, she might have gone to medical school. But from a young age, Tina knew her mind and wasn’t afraid to speak up. She recalled making hospitals out of cardboard boxes and stealing her mother’s towels to cut up for sheets. “Then I’d go down to the river bottom for frogs and do surgery on them.” She'd get her mother’s alcohol and sew them back up and put them in the beds.

When she was 11, her father had tick fever and was at St. Luke’s Hospital for months. This was a hospital

in Montrose in a three-story house on S. 2nd Street . “I pestered Mrs. Anna Fender, the owner of the hospital, to please let me work there,” she said. “She let me

work in the kitchen, buttering the toast. I kept asking her to let me do other things—give enemas, rub backs. She didn't agree to that but finally let me go up to the maternity ward and asked some ladies if I could rub their backs. Fifty years later, I ended up taking care of some of the nurses who worked there, and they told me they said, “Get that damn kid out of here!"

Mrs. Fender predicted to those nurses that some day, Tina was going to be a good nurse. The prediction was entirely accurate. She worked for Dr. William Lomax when she was in high school and, later, for the surgeon, Dr. William Good. Dr. Lomax enrolled her in correspondence school at the Chicago School of Nursing, and later on she did her “hands-on” (clinicals) at the hospital. She went to Denver May 4, 1959 to take the state board for her nurse's license.

It was hard for Tina after Dr. Good died. They had worked well together and she wasn't interested in starting over with a new doctor.

After putting in some time at the hospital and two nursing homes, she decided to open her own nursing

Tina’s Guest Home By Mavis Bennett


Winter 2010-11 · 15

facility. She bought the house on Nevada and started with eight guests, later cutting back to six. She didn’t need to advertise; she knew all the doctors and got referrals from them.

Tina only took private patients. She gave them individual care not expected at the other nursing homes. “There was no waiting if they rang the bell,” she said.

The residents were bathed every day and the beds changed daily. The cooking might have been better than home. There were lots of casseroles and comfort foods.

Tina baked bread, desserts, cakes and pies. Tina's Guest Home had the aroma of good home cooking.

Tina's family members were involved in different ways. Husband Jimmy did all the maintenance work. Her daughter, Claudia Batty, worked off and on for years, in addition to an aide who was there more than 15 years. Another daughter, Eileen DeJulio, a personal trainer, would come in for exercise activities.

The teacher, Charlotte Nickerson, was Tina's longest resident, living in the house for nine years.

She couldn’t avoid the sadness when her guests would pass away. “Sometimes I’d cry as much as the family,” she admitted softly. Tina would spend many hours and sometimes days in their rooms, turning them and rubbing their backs to ease the passage. “I guess I just got used to it,” she said. “It was just something that, as a nurse, you kind of dealt with.”

Tina closed the guest home in August 2010. “My husband and my family wanted me to quit,” she said. They could never leave, even for a few days, without Tina worrying about her people. “It was a

responsibility,” she said. “Even though I had my daughter here, I was still the responsible one.”

She’s trying to get used to not being busy 18 hours a day. She doesn’t seem that eager to change the guest home back into a private home. “I do miss it,” she said. When she begins putting guest home things away, she often gets caught up in the boxes of photos, looking back on all those who lived in the house.

So what now? Although she’s 80, she looks and seems years younger. She says she won't be a “rocking chair grandma,” taking care of her great-grandchildren. It’s the whole other end of the spectrum: “You still have to take them to the bathroom, bathe them, feed them. It’s still up in the air if they talk back or not.”

No matter what project she comes up with next, those who know Tina Ochoa will not be surprised. But many will miss her home, as she still receives calls from people who want her to take care of their loved ones.

Darci LargentIndependent Beauty Consultant

1024 Oxford Street

Montrose, CO 81401

phone/fax (970) 240-2157

mobile (970) 497-9721

[email protected]

www.marykay.com/dlargent

Call (970) 240-1771 or toll free 1-877-685-6833

PASCO/SWHOME HEALTH CARE

• Skilled Nursing • Physical, Speech, Occupational Therapy• Certified Nurse's Aide • Personal Care Providers• Homemakers

Services provided, but not limited to:

We accept Medicare, RM Medicaid, contracts with insurance companies (and supplemental insurance). Private pay and grants.



The sign says, “Rattlesnake area, stay on trails.” I find myself wishing I had the same sign to post in my new home, just until I adjust. I am sitting

on the Umtanum Ridge above the Yakima Valley. To the West the sun is setting right in the center between Mount Adams and Mount Rainer. Cameras click and whirr and families of people speaking an unfamiliar language exclaim, I presume, about the beauty.

This ridge has been one of my stops over the years as I traveled to Seattle to visit my daughter. From here it is only a few miles to U.S. 90 that will carry me over the Snoqualmie Pass (3,022 feet above sea level, 2,600 feet lower than my house in Colorado) to Everett, a suburb of Seattle.

Umtanum looks like Colorado, it is sere, and many of the native plants look familiar. Below me is the gentle, green Yakima Valley where apples are king and vineyards are just starting to appear. Last summer when I came through for my job interview, I traveled through a hallway of hops. The huge trellises are bare now, and look like a Halloween prop.

I am too tired to feel nostalgic yet, although I find myself comparing things to Colorado. Mt. Rainier? Very impressive at 14,000 plus feet. The pass I came over between Boise and Pendleton, at 4,200 feet? Not so much.

How did I come to be at this spot after 30 years practicing law in Montrose? Like all stories there is the version I tell myself in my head and the version I tell my friends so I don’t sound completely nuts. The truth of the matter is that I woke one morning with

I remember thinking then that I wanted to live somewhere where it snowed, but the trees stayed green.

Rattlesnakes and ferry boats

By Peggy Carey

the fear that I would die without ever having tried another new thing. A psychologist friend of mine told me that it is very unusual for someone my age to make a career change. All I could think was, “So we have to keep doing something just because we’re already doing it?”

The seed was probably planted years ago when I read “Snow Falling on Cedars” by David Guterson. I remember thinking then that I wanted to live

somewhere where it snowed, but the trees stayed green. That winter had been a particularly grey one in Montrose: grey fields, grey frosted fences, grey skies, and grey,

leafless trees. Then I came to visit Seattle, and found Puget Sound. It was love at first sight. I rode the ferry over to Bainbridge Island and back just to be on the water. I found a small town on the edge of the sound and spent each morning walking on the beach there. Littered with cedar driftwood and crab carapaces, the beach became my sanctuary. The sound of the waves and the crows pecking at barnacles soothed my worried mind. It was sitting on a cedar log that I made the decision. I would move to Seattle, and try something new at least one more time.

“What’s the worst that can happen?” I thought, “Living under a bridge doesn’t sound completely horrible.”

Peggy Carey's book, "The Rock Wren's Song," is available at Hastings.


Winter 2010-11 · 17

BEAUTIFUL CLOTHING AT GREAT PRICES • Casual and career fashions

• Eclectic accessories and jewelry

• Friendly, experienced service We can help you put together the perfect outfi t

• Gifts and stocking stuffers

Nina Suzanne’s 405 Main Street (corner of 4th and Main) Delta, Colorado 874-7995

Hours: Mon 11-4 Tues-Sat 9:30-5:30 Closed Sunday

Coming up at the Magic Circle TheatreBy Carol McDermott

Montrose is “Broadway Bound”Brothers Eugene and Stanley Jerome are

bound for greater things than offered in Brighton Beach, NY. It’s the “Big Time,” the lights of Broadway, that interests them. How they pursue their dreams in post WWII Brooklyn is the focus of Neil Simon’s “Broadway Bound,” which finishes its three-week run, Nov. 26-27 at 7:30 p.m.

Typical of playwright Simon, the interaction among family influences reflects his own life, complete with humor, drama, and enduring sentiment. According to reviewer Frank Rich, in “Broadway Bound” “working class Brooklyn first-generation American Jews discover opportunities and guilt that came with the secular temptations of the New World...the immigrants’ hard path to assimilation.” The play opened in December,1986, at the Broadhurst Theatre, in New York City, and continued the story of Eugene from “Brighton Beach Memoirs” and “Biloxi Blues.”

The Jerome parents, Kate and Jack, face marital struggles. Grandpa Ben is a socialist, while his daughter, Blanche, marries a rich capitalist. Each family member is woven into the fiber of Eugene and becomes the fabric of his life as an American playwright. Eugene and Stanley catch their dream and become great comedy writers for radio, television, motion pictures, and, of course, the Broadway stage.

The play stars Niko Nelson as Eugene, and Dalyn Pearson as Stanley. Melody Gillett (new to Magic Circle) is Kate and Mark Smith portrays Jack. Others in the cast include Jim Delman (Grandpa Ben), and Bethany Ward (Blanche). Jim Hougnon appears as both the Radio Announcer and Chubby Waters, a radio personality. Darlene Fullerton plays Mrs. Pitkin.

“Broadway Bound” is directed by John Snyder, with assistant director, Kathy Murdoch, both veteran actors but new directors to MCP.

BUSINESS • ENTERTAINMENT • COMMUNITY

NSAI Western Colorado Nashville Songwriters Association Int’l

Monthly Meeting 2nd Wed. Next Meeting January 12th, 2011 7:00pm at the Region 10 Building

Open to ALL Songwriters in any genre. No experience necessary. For information call

970.497.3230 or visit www.nashvillesongwriters.com

Songwriters Weekend Workshop

Coming March 18-20, 2011

ClubHouse Concer t Ser ies Cobble Creek Club House

699 Cobble Dr ive • Montrose , CO 970.497.3230

FRI • DEC 17 • 7:30PM WHYLD HONEY

www.skylarkconcerts04.eventbrite.com

FRI • JAN 21 • 7:30PM GOTTA BE GIRLS


FRI • FEB 18 • 7:30PM TO BE ANNOUNCED


FRI • MAR 18 • 7:30PM NASHVILLE SONGBIRDS


Coming January 2011 Women’s Business Alliance of Colorado

Networking • Education • Leadership For Info 970.901.6761

December 4th • 3:00 - 5:00 pm Hot Cider • Chili • Music

Before the Parade

Holiday Street Scene



DRUG TESTING INC.

.............. Professional

Montrose, CO 249-1113

Gunnison, CO 641-4737

Ryan & Sally Fox

Donations help PAX

Metal Sculpture "Buddies"

by Montrose Artist Jerry Dunbar

The generosity of local artists has made it possible for Public Art eXperience (PAX) to acquire two new sculptures this season, including Ridgway

artist Michael McCullough’s breathtaking bronze, “Red Fox,” and the excellent metal cut-out “Buddies,” by Montrose artist Jerry Dunbar.

PAX was able to purchase “Red Fox,” valued at $6,250 thanks to a generous contribution from McCullough, a longtime local resident who is pleased to see his work loved and appreciated in downtown Montrose.

“Buddies,” based on a drawing by Gunnison Artist Kim Nesbit, is currently on display at Demoret Park, valued at $5,000. The piece has been donated by Dunbar for the City’s permanent sculpture collection.

Nesbit, a Gunnison native, is well known for her drawings of horses and for her perfect proportions, perspective and razor-sharp attention to detail.

“Jerry's metal sculpture, "Buddies," is based on a pencil drawing that has extra special meaning to me,” Nesbit said. “He did a wonderful job of capturing the detail and feeling of the original picture and I am

very proud to have it as part of the PAX permanent collection.”


Winter 2010-11 · 19

BELOW IS A SAMPLING OF RECENT REAL ESTATE CLOSINGS IN MONTROSE, DELTA AND OURAY COUNTIES . FOR A COMPLETE SALES ACTIVITY LIST, CONTACT LYNN . SHE CAN ALSO PROVIDE YOU WITH A TIMELY COMPARABLE SALES REPORT FOR YOUR INDIVIDUAL PROPERTY. AN

INDEPTH MARKET ANALYSIS REPORT IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON EACH INDIVIDUAL COUNTY . LYNN CAN BE REACHED AT 970-249-2425.

MONTROSE COUNTY JULY - SEPTEMBER 2010Date of Sale Sale Price Property Address Type of Property Legal Description 7/1/2010 133,000 374 E 4TH AVE 1 STORY L2,4,6,8,10,12 B33 NUCLA 7/9/2010 250,000 16222 6030 RD 1 STORY L5 MARBELLA SUMMIT SUB 2 1-48-9 7/13/2010 120,000 3764 GRAND MESA DR VACANT L138 COBBLE CREEK SUB 2-1 7/19/2010 300,000 696 COBBLE DR 1 STORY LA-12 COBBLE CREEK SUB 1 7/23/2010 148,000 400 GOLDEN DR 1 STORY MH L5 COLORADO WEST SUB 1 23-49-9 7/30/2010 120,000 RANGER RD VACANT L5 ESCARPMENT OVERLOOK SUB 1 18-48-9 8/2/2010 130,375 920 YORK ST 1 STORY L9 B3 ENGLISH GARDENS ADDN 8/3/2010 1,182,500 29515 V24 RD 1 STORY TR US GOVT TR 38,40,41,42, PT 43, 44 48-15 8/4/2010 288,000 VACANT TR S2NE4 19-50-9 8/27/2010 274,909 420 ALTA LAKES AVE 1 STORY L10 B7 WATERFALL CANYON SUB 8/30/2010 138,500 240 CROSSROADS CR TOWNHOUSE L18 CROSSROADS PK PD 4 8/30/2010 212,500 15279 6160 RD 1 STORY L17 BEL-AIRE EST 36-49-10 9/1/2010 154,000 2750 CIRQUE WAY 1 STORY L145 WINDSOR VILLAGE 17 37-49-9 9/8/2010 145,000 7389 6025 RD 1.5 STORY PT SW4NW4 23-50-10 9/9/2010 273,000 60272 DALIA RD BI LEVEL TR 2 HILL EXEMPT 11-50-10 9/13/2010 180,000 839 N 2ND ST 2 STORY L22 B16 MONTROSE; L23 B9 SELIGS ADDN 9/13/2010 975,000 59009 SPRING CRK RD 1.5 STORY TR 1 DGH EXEMPT (TR W2SW4) 27-49-10 9/15/2010 117,500 204 N NEVADA AVE 1 STORY L13-15 B16 MONTROSE; L13-15 B9 TOTAL SALES NUMBERS FOR 5-1-10 THRU 7-31-10: Single Family Sales - 125; Vacant Land/Acreage Sales - 35; Commercial Sales - 7; Other - 16: Total # Sales for Period - 183

DELTA COUNTY JULY - SEPTEMBER 2010Date of Sale Sale Price Property Address Type of Property Legal Description 7/7/2010 443,702 SURFACE CREEK RD VACANT L1-4 25-12-947/16/2010 32,500 VACANT L4 STONEY CREEK RANCH 2 1-13-93 7/20/2010 601,108 VACANT PT HE SURVEY #281 2/3/10/11-11-91 8/2/2010 120,000 HWY 92 VACANT PAR 2 D BAR RANCH LLC 16-15-92 8/5/2010 662,000 93 HWY 92 1.5 STORY LOG TR SE4 31-15-91 8/12/2010 300,000 13475 2600 RD SITE PAR 3 PHILLIPS/FRITCHMAN BA (TR W2W2NW4 9-14-94, PT SW4 10-14-94 8/18/2010 202,815 10997 TONGUE CRK RD VACANT TR SW4SE4 22-14-95; NW4NE4, PT NE4NW4, PT SE4NW4, SW4NE4, NW4SE4, NE4SW4 27-14-95 8/20/2010 34,500 VACANT L16 STONEY CREEK RANCH 2 1-13-93 8/23/2010 130,000 14743 F RD 1 STORY PT E2W2SE4 23-15-96 8/23/2010 130,000 14743 F RD 1 STORY PT E2W2SE4 23-15-96 8/23/2010 205,000 38552 PITKIN RD 2 STORY SW4SE4 35-13-92 9/13/2010 540,000 37569 FRUITLAND MESA RD 1 STORY TR A - EXEMPT PLAT L3 RESUB L3 TORTILLA FLATS MINOR SUB 1; etc. 9/13/2010 475,000 24945 HORSE CRK RD 1.5 STORY PT NE4 21-12-94 9/14/2010 50,000 ALKALI BASIN RD VACANT NE4SE4 5-15-96 9/15/2010 120,000 28954 STINGLEY GULCH RD VACANT TR L 2-4 19-14-93 9/27/2010 550,000 14749 CANYON RD 1 STORY TR SW4NW4 1-14-92 9/28/2010 800,000 COTTONWOOD CRK RD VACANT TR E2NE4 S22; W2 S23 15-91TOTAL SALES NUMBERS FOR 7-1-10 THRU 9-30-10Single Family Sales - 71; Vacant Land/Acreage Sales - 24; Commercial Sales - 5; Other - 13; Total # Sales for Period: 113

OURAY COUNTY JULY - SEPTEMBER 2010Date of Sale Sale Price Property Address Type of Property Legal Description 7/7/2010 310,000 35 PINION RD WEST 1 STORY L1 BLK K LOGHILL VILL 1 32-46-8 7/9/2010 300,000 775 SABETA DR 1 STORY ADOBE L100 SOLAR RANCHES 2D 8/10/2010 150,000 224 9TH AVE 1 STORY PT L2 SLY SUB 31-44-7 8/19/2010 135,000 215 5TH AVE #12 CONDO #12 LOT B ALPENGLOW CONDO 2 8/24/2010 315,000 733 CHARLES ST 1 STORY E2 L1-6 B20 RIDGWAY 9/2/2010 156,500 145 CACTUS PLACE 1 STORY MH L2 GRESSMAN LTD PUD 24-47-9 9/21/2010 300,000 CNTY RD 5 CABIN SW4SW4 21-44-8 9/21/2010 180,000 291 N MARY ST 1 STORY MH L18-20 B16 RIDGWAYTOTAL SALES NUMBERS FOR 7-1-10 THRU 9-30-10 Single Family Sales - 19; Vacant Land/Acreage Sales - 16; Commercial Sales - 1; Other - 5; Total # Sales for Period - 41



Heard Around the West By Betsy Marston

COLORADOAn interview with a dining hall cashier at Mesa State

College in Grand Junction, Colo., revealed something about students they might be too embarrassed to admit: They get lonely sometimes, particularly if they’re from out of state. Known as “Mesa Mom” and “Colorado Mom,” Connie Martin has worked as a cashier for 12 years, and during that time she’s gotten to know many students by name. Some routinely ask Martin to come to their sports games, she told the Criterion, the college newspaper, though once — embarrassed when the girls’ volleyball team stopped playing to “high-five” her as she walked by — her face turned “five shades of red.” Martin has picked up some slang along the way: When an undergraduate tells her, “You’re my dawg,” she says, it’s a compliment.

OREGON “It’s perfect rattlesnake country,” exulted Deputy

Sheriff Dan Brewer from Sweet Home, Ore., as he walked through sagebrush in eastern Oregon at the start of a vacation. He found what he was looking for underneath a boulder, and as his family videotaped the encounter, Brewer uttered the fateful words: “I say, let’s take a look at it.” The rattlesnake he grabbed was a big one, he told the New Era newspaper; still, he clowned around with it, imitating the Australian accent of crocodile hunter Steve Irwin. He even wiped his brow while holding the snake, which might have loosened his grip. The snake struck, sinking a fang into one of Brewer’s fingers. It’s all there in the home movie, including Brewer’s wife yelling, “I told you, you idiot!” and the surprised Brewer flinging the snake aside. Brewer kept joking about the incident on the way to a hospital in Burns, but there was little funny about it: His finger turned black, and it took a total of 34 antivenin shots given at a Boise, Idaho, hospital to fight the snake’s poison. Of his next encounter with rattlers, Brewer said later, “I probably would be more cautious.”

SOUTH DAKOTAOuch: A fierce thunderstorm in Vivian, S.D.,

dropped the fattest hailstone ever recorded ― l pound 15 ounces ― fortunately not on the head of the ranch worker who found it. Other ice balls left craters in the ground six inches deep, reports the Washington Post.

IDAHONoelle Lafleur, 7, who serves cups of free juice

to skateboarders near the Guy Coles State Park in

Ketchum, is definitely ambitious, but perhaps she has not yet mastered the finer points of capitalism. When asked why she serves juice for free instead of charging for it, Noelle told the Mountain Express that “she ‘gets more customers’ that way.”

ARIZONAA McDonald’s restaurant in Phoenix learned a

valuable lesson recently, but only after an assistant manager ordered a breastfeeding mother—and her 6-month-old baby—to leave. The lesson: Don’t mess with moms. As TV reporters flocked to the restaurant, dozens of nursing mothers converged inside it to protest what they called discrimination, one telling a reporter: “A baby deserves to eat whenever mom decides to eat, and you shouldn’t have to go to a bathroom to do it.” Restaurant higher-ups later apologized, reports the Arizona Republic, promising that it would never happen again.

COLORADOThere’s no doubt that the college town of Boulder

has grown all too familiar with fire, thanks in part to those young people―and there are some 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at the Univ. of Colorado―who have developed a strange tradition: They ignite couches in front yards or in the street. There’s been “a steady rise in flaming furniture,” reports the Boulder Daily Camera, with this year’s total at 22 so far. We’re guessing, though, that the smoke and fear generated by the recent Fourmile blaze, which destroyed 169 homes in the Boulder foothills and sent hundreds of families fleeing for their lives, will dampen the 20-somethings’ interest in watching sofas go up in flames, Meanwhile, the Fourmile Fire revealed a new twist in how future wildfires will be fought in Boulder’s canyons. For the last three years, a New Jersey-based company has been selling private fire insurance to homeowners in 14 Western states, including Colorado. The Camera says that for a considerable chunk of change, policyholders of Chubb Wildfire Defense Services can contract for their very own firefighters, who will dash to any (insured) inferno in a fully equipped truck. Each home gets personal attention, although Chubb’s success rate during the Fourmile Fire was less than 100 percent: The 13 firefighters who provided private fire protection saved a total of 10 homes, while three burned to the ground.


Winter 2010-11 · 21

Seek out the hidden visual gifts By Joyce Corley

My camera and eye

The holiday season is fast approaching and this article is a reminder to have your

camera ready to capture memories that last beyond the season and of-fer a valuable glimpse into your life to future generations.

Life has so many special moments and we often let them slip by without any pictures to help us reflect back on those times. There are numerous instances from the very simple to the profound that you will look back on and wonder at the beauty of the moment. Use your camera a lot this holiday season and don't just focus on the usual tree and group settings, but seek out the hidden visual gifts that will remain a treasure always. Look for the unusual. Shoot around a theme. You will notice from the photos accompanying this article that I often focus on hands.

If you miss out on those special moments because you're always the one behind the camera

instead of in the pictures...include yourself! Almost every camera currently available has a self-timer. Don’t be left out of the picture.

Today, most of us are lucky because we all have access to a camera. If you are like a lot of people, you often sit back to review and relish the events or accomplishments of your life in photos. I’ve always been the record-keeper in my family and becoming more adept with a camera has certainly helped me better meet the challenge.

I enjoy taking all kinds of photos, but the ones that often mean the most to me are those that capture memories or events never to be seen or felt again. I make it a point to always have my camera with me, no matter the day or occasion. I especially love candid shots of the people I love. With today’s advanced cameras, whether point-and-shoot or SLRs, you can snap close-ups without the subject even being aware of it.

Scrapbooking, which is so popular today, whether traditional

or digital, enables us to not only make beautiful memory keepsakes using our photos, but to go one step further than previous generations. Besides preserving them electronically, we can accurately label and name the subjects and locations in these special photos for posterity. Many local stores sell a wide variety of scrapbooking supplies to help you put together invaluable memories. Commemorate every minute of your celebrations, but don't forget to seek out the hidden treasures of the day.

A final caveat! Don't leave the images in the camera or undeveloped.

Get them out and put them in a format that is easy to look at and share.

Joyce is a retired educator and an award-winning photographer. You can reach her at [email protected] and see more of her photographs at www.flickr.com/photos/joycecorley

Wendy's hands

Ron and Nathan



A Christmas Story By Lael Van Riper

From the North Forty

This is not the Christmas Story, but it takes place in winter on remote roads.

It begins with two people and a donkey, and then it grows to include a cast of characters. That much is the same. All the rest is different.

Poor little guy, he was considered feral and excess. Life for this burro had begun in the California desert, but for two years he had languished in a northern California BLM corral. On an adoption trip to Colorado, many saw the sad little burro with floppy ears. They named him Eeyore, but they didn’t adopt him. He returned to California.

But Lisa from Grand Junction couldn’t get Eeyore out of her mind. So she put a plea on the internet Wild Horse List which began an epic journey.

Joyce in California checked. Eeyore was still unadopted. Joyce could provide a temporary home while she and Lisa determined how to transport him 1,000 miles in mid-winter to his new home. Joyce arranged to borrow a truck and trailer. She, and her non-driving husband Ben, would bring Eeyore to Lisa. In return, Lisa would fill the trailer with hay, hay prices being exorbitant in California. As this was being settled, Randle and Jan, Wild Horse List members, volunteered to help with the driving.

Then Cheryl, owner of Freedom Ranch Wild Horse and Burro Rehabilitation in Byers, Colo., and Angelique, from Truckee, got involved. Angelique had a rescued collie, Bandit. Cheryl had a home for Bandit. If Bandit made it to Grand Junction, Cheryl would

come to the Western Slope for him. As told by Randle:“Wednesday night…the last

thing we did was ‘convince’ Eeyore that the trailer was a neat, new place to sleep. Thursday…just before 7 a.m., as we left the ranch, it started to rain. We drove down 101 in California to Santa Rosa where we picked up Jan. All the way it rained. Then we headed to Truckee where we were to meet Angelique and pick up Bandit the collie. As we went up 80 it rained harder and harder. The more we climbed in elevation, the more it rained, and the colder it got. (You would have thought by now we would have looked at all the BAD omens and quit!)

“Finally came Blue Canyon, the point where we had to chain up the truck and the trailer in the sleet, snow, rain, and cold…all went well, if you could call 10 miles an hour well, until we got to the top of Donner Pass, where we had a few delays while spin-outs were cleared from the road. Then we started down the other side. We were in the fast lane, still going 10 miles an hour with a semi to our rear in the slow lane. Suddenly the truck’s front tires hit a patch of ice, and the ride began!

“We were all hanging on for dear life. (No, no life flashing before our eyes. We were too busy for that, but Joyce and I were speaking in strange languages.) Finally, the truck and trailer were straight and true in their own lane…luckily nothing was hit. Finally got to Truckee where we hooked up with Angelique and got to meet Bandit…crawled out of town…stopped to remove the chains which naturally were bound up a bit.

"Getting close to Wells we started seeing what looked like white sand by the side of the road… snow, slush and ice…flashing lights...truck and travel trailer flipped plus other cars spun out and flipped over…Found a fuel station and motel that even let you have pets in the room. No, Eeyore stayed in the trailer, but Bandit got room privileges… at 20 degrees plus wind chill (winds were gusting to 20+) Joyce thought Eeyore would like a horse blanket. He didn’t object when she put it on him or spent 15 minutes trying to tie it up so it would fit (small donkey, BIG blanket.)

"Took off again towards Salt Lake and our next interstate (15), talking about how it would be a cold day in h**l before we went over Donner again! Now we had fair weather and the roads weren’t bad…got to Lisa’s around 5 p.m. Friday."

The Christmas story did not end in a stable, nor did this tale. Bandit and Cheryl, in a blizzard, drove I-70 to the Eastern Slope. Joyce, Jan, and Ben returned to northern California by a southern route through snow, sleet, wind, and rain, and the donkey and the innkeeper, Lisa, stayed behind.

Our hearts are big. Acts of foolishness and courage occur all the time. The world and its inhabitants are wondrous, and we are capable of achieving great and small feats of love. May you each be caught up in the light and love of this blessed season.


Winter 2010-11 · 23

Whether you’re looking for gifts for the holiday season, birthdays or any other event, the first place to look is the artistan coop, the

Creative Corner. Handmade by local people, these items have that unique quality most shopper are looking for.

The following is a short list of some of the possibilities: Jan Hartman’s jams and jellies, local wine, jewelry, knitted goods, wooden toys, wooden bowls, woven baskets, photographs and cards, fine art, children’s clothing, purses, quilting and fabric baskets.

One year ago a group of artists and crafters came together to form the Creative Corner, an artist’s coop to display and sell their creations. Many had been selling their goods at the Farmer’s Market but wanted a place to continue after the Market closed in late fall.

Barb Krebs owned a storefront next to the Daily Bread Bakery on E. Main Street and liked the idea. The group needed 10 members to make it work and were delighted when they had 35. Each member works a four-hour a week shift, staffing the store and pays $25 per quarter for costs such as maintenance, advertising and credit card fees. The coop takes 20% of sales which goes to the rent on the space.

Creative Corner has something for everyone

As daughter and long-distance caregiver for her 88-year-old mother, Barbara Bennigsdorf has a personal interest in supporting others who

find themselves in the role of care provider to a senior family member.

Bennigsdorf, who owns and operates Caregiver Solutions, contracts with the Region 10 Area Agency on Aging to provide family caregiver support services which lend a helping hand to local family care providers. There is no charge to caregivers, although donations are both welcome and appreciated.

“We are here to be a resource for you,” she said. “Caregiver Solutions will come in, help identify the support that is needed, and set up an individualized care plan for every eligible caregiver.

“This is my third year with the Family Caregiver Support Program,” she said. “I am very passionate about assisting both the caregiver and the older adult who is receiving the care. I love my job!”

The program is available to residents of Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, Ouray and San Miguel counties. Caregivers must be age 18 or over, and responsible for the care of an adult age 60 or over.

Caregiver Solutions provides access to a variety of support services to meet caregiver needs, and provides ongoing counseling services for those enrolled in the program. For additional information on the Caregiver Solutions Family Caregiver Support Program contact Barbara Bennigsdorf at 970-249-0440.

The Family Caregiver Support Program receives significant funding through the Region 10 Area Agency on Aging (AAA). AAA is dedicated to developing a network of services for adults age 60 and over to assist them in maintaining their independence within their communities, and can be reached at 970-249-2436.

Contact Barbara Bennigsdorf of Caregiver Solutions 970-249-0440.

Caregiver Solutions offers family caregiver support

Creative Corner

Artisan CoopGift certificates available

Next to the Daily Bread Bakery

344 E. Main, Montrose

10-6 Mon-Sat · 252-1185

The Green Pages



In the produce section of the grocery store

the other day, I saw apricots on sale for 99 cents a pound. They sat in a bin between grapes from Chile and cherries from the Flathead Valley of Montana. I don’t know where the apricots came from. I selected six and put them in the shopping cart, but I was thinking what a sterile exercise it was.

Less than a week earlier I had camped on a sand beach along the lower Salmon River in Idaho. It was our first night out, and somebody noticed apricot trees on the rocky bench above our tents. The fruit was ripe. Three of the kids went up with a big cook pot and filled it over the top in five minutes. They brought it back and set it on the table, this free, luscious bounty. Everyone gorged. I’ll bet I ate 30 apricots in an hour, easy.

It made me think about how we live, making weekly runs to the store where food is laid out, packaged, refined, modified, some of it so altered that it hardly qualifies as food, all of it brought in by way of labyrinthine transportation networks and convoluted business transactions. It made me think of the way all creatures, save humans in developed countries, live; and how, not so long ago, we used to live.

I thought of eagles gorging on salmon carcasses along Alaskan rivers until they are too heavy to fly. Blue whales gulping down clouds of plankton by the ton. Fish roiling the surface of a Montana river during a caddis hatch. Wolves following herds

of caribou on the tundra, picking off calves and weak adults, their bellies sagging to the ground. Elk grazing the lush green spring grass until their coats glisten in the sun. A ruby-throated hummingbird moving from columbine to columbine in an alpine meadow, sucking nectar with the ferocity of a metabolism that demands its

body weight in food several times each day.

That’s what it felt like to eat one sun-warm apricot after another with the Salmon River charging past. It’s what, I imagine, it felt like to spear salmon out of the Columbia when the water surged with fish beyond counting and baskets brimmed with their bodies. What it felt like to stand in the carnage of bison below a jump, and to wade in to the butchery fueled by a fierce exultation of wealth and gratitude. What it felt like to gather the seasonal harvest of fruits and roots and vegetables, to cure them and store them and eat them until you could eat no more.

That surfeit joy is so intense because the anguish and desperation of its opposite is equally intense. When winter weeks drag on past the end of supplies. When elk paw through the snow for brown, withered grass. When fish lie in torpor under thick layers of ice, hearts barely beating. When the stores of caribou meat are long gone and the bodies of your sons and daughters grow gaunt and listless. When the bear emerges from its winter den, hunger an insistent ache.

I thought of eagles gorging on salmon carcasses along

Alaskan rivers until they are too heavy to fly.

I remember watching a black bear feeding on alder catkins on the shores of Lake Athabasca one May. The bear reared up in front of a stand of shrubbery, waded forward into an embrace with a group of alders twenty feet tall. It wrestled the armload of vegetation to the ground, stood on top of it. Through binoculars, I watched the bear’s mobile, pink tongue ravish the buds and catkins, gleaning the food in an efficient, almost brutal assault. Again and again the bear tackled sections of shrubs, took them down, ate them clean. The harvest was languid and efficient and voracious, the same way that same bear would take on patches of blueberries and cranberries in the fall, or the carcass of a moose, or a nest of ants in a rotten log.

In my town, every fall, there are apple trees everywhere that drop fruit to the ground where it rots away. There are plum trees weighed down with fruit that withers and dies. Sometimes we get motivated to press cider or make jam from the neighborhood. More often we are too preoccupied with the busyness of life, and the work of hunting and gathering money, to notice. Instead we go to the store at the end of the week, and stand in front of the choices, making our selections, eating in that steady moderate way that has come to be our habit, and forgetting the hot ecstasy of connection to the earth and its seasons, that joy of biting into one luscious apricot after another, throwing the pits over our shoulders, the nourishment of the harvest warm as fire inside.

Alan Kesselheim is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News (hcn.org). He is a writer in Bozeman, Montana.

Writers on the Range Righteous gluttony By Alan Kesselheim

Home Winterization Tips

The Green Pages


Winter 2010-11 · 25

The Draft SnakeDrafts can do more than just blow cold air into

your home—they can also suck money out of your wallet. The U.S. Department of Energy has found that drafts can waste between five and 30 percent of your energy use.

But, there is a quick, easy, and cheap fix that first made its appearance back in the Great Depression—the “draft snake”. You can make one by simply rolling up a bath towel and placing it next to a drafty door. If you want something more attractive, you can make a draft snake out of fabric scraps sewn together; to weigh it down, fill your draft snake with either sand or kitty litter.Furnace Filters

Don't forget to clean, or change, your furnace filters. Actually, you should do this monthly during the heating season. A dirty filter will reduce airflow and increase energy demand in the winter.

You might even want to consider installing a permanent filter, to cut down on waste and time spent fooling around with your furnace. According to the Daily Green website, disposable fiberglass filters only trap about 40 percent of the debris emitted by your furnace.

Electrostatic filters catch about 88 percent, and are much more efficient at blocking bacteria, viruses, mold, and pollen. They also have a wide price range, going from $50 to $1,000. Then there is the High Efficiency Particulate Air, or HEPA, filter. HEPA's can reportedly remove more than 99 percent of the airborne particles spewed out by your furnace. They are based on U.S. Dept. of Energy standards. But beware of “HEPA-like” filters, which are said to be considerably less efficient.

If your furnace is totally shot, it's going to cost you more than a few bucks to replace it with a

new, modern one; but the good news is that you'll save money with lower heating bills. And, you can get a federal tax credit which can cover 30 percent of the cost of a new furnace, up to $1,500. Running in Reverse

Some ceiling fans not only cool your home in summer—they can also make it warmer in winter. Many ceiling units include a nifty switch that reverses the direction of the blades. Fan blades turning counterclockwise produce those cool summer breezes, but blades rotating clockwise heat things up by taking warm air that is pooled by the ceiling and blowing it back down into the rest of the room. This can cut your heating bills up to 10 percent, according to thedailygreen.com. Putting up Plastic

Insulating your windows with plastic is an inexpensive way to hold in heat. You can buy a window insulation kit for just a few bucks at your local hardware or discount store. Now, you might be concerned with how it will look, but properly installed window plastic is almost invisible. It will give you an

effective buffer against drafts. If you’re so inclined, you can hire a professional to install a high tech “low-e” film directly on to the window glass.

If your windows are old, you might consider investing in a new, efficient set. The federal government offers a tax credit to people who do this; the credit will cover 30% of your costs, up to $1,500. Monitoring Your Energy Use Electronically

You can now keep track of your energy usage with an electronic monitor, such as The Energy Detective (pictured). These things start at around $139 apiece, but give you a real-time readout of your household energy usage while also projecting your monthly bill. The device lets you see how much each of your appliances and activities costs, thus saving you money by showing how and where to reduce waste.



Turning carbon green

The Green Pages

Scientists at Houston's Rice University are trying to write a scenario in which

a villain becomes a good guy. The “villain” of the piece is carbon dioxide (CO2), leader of the Greenhouse Gas gang. Rice has established a Green Carbon Center in an effort to ensure the world's energy future by utilizing fossil fuels and alternative energy forms, while also recycling carbon dioxide into worthwhile products.

This means that it might be possible to fight global warming by safely reusing CO2. But even if you don't believe that climate change is caused by human activity, there is an undeniable fact that Rice's Professor of Chemistry James Tour wants you to be aware of: every ton of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere is a waste of a potentially valuable resource.

“We want the Center to partner with energy companies—including oil, natural gas, and coal—to make carbon a profitable resource,” Tour explained.

Several strategies have been outlined in an online paper recently published at nature.

com by Prof. Tour, chemistry professor Vicki Colvin, and Rice research scientist Carter Kittrell.

The Green Carbon Center is intended to be a think tank to incubate ideas for the energy future, with a focus on green carbon.

“Eighty-five percent of our country's energy comes from fossil fuels, and Houston is the world capitol of the industry that makes, produces, and transports those

fossil fuels to all of us,” said Colvin. She believes that this puts Rice in a unique position “to transform that industry, to develop it in a green way, to make it sustainable,” and to teach people that carbon can, ironically, help us transition to the renewable energy economy of the future. “We want to say to the oil and gas and coal companies that even as we go to renewable forms of energy, we need you.”

Fossil fuels are essential to many of the products used by our high-tech society, Tour explained. “We need oil for all of our

manufacturable products—plastics and fibers and building materials.

In regard to the rapidly growing solar, wind, and hydrogen-based sectors of the economy, the Rice researchers think that these technologies don't erase the continuing, long-term need for carbon-based energy, especially since tens of thousands of American jobs depend on digging, drilling, and distributing fossil fuels.

One of the ideas they are working on involves separating carbon dioxide from hydrogen, then recycling it to make chemicals. Another possibility would be to temporarily sequester CO2 in tapped-out oil wells, which could hold large quantities.

According to the scientists, carbon could even be compressed and liquified to replace water in the oil and gas recovery process.

“It costs a lot to capture carbon dioxide and pump it underground," Tour pointed out, "and that can negate the advantages of sequestration. But solar and wind power could replace coal-fired boilers to compress and transport carbon dioxide.”

On a more mundane note, the scientists believe there is a potential market for carbon dioxide in the dry-cleaning business, where it could take the place of far more harmful chemicals. And they think it could be used as a refrigerant, replacing other greenhouse gases that are 1,000 times as bad.

“We need oil for all of our manufacturable products—plastics and

fibers and building materials,” Prof. Tour

explained.

Helping the Western Slope get online since 2005

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Web SitesGraphic Design

Technology ConsultingEducation / Training

All Green Page articles compiled and edited by David Segal


Winter 2010-11 · 27

Go fly a kite

The Green Pages

Energy Fuels increases uranium holdings

Your home may someday be powered by a kite. Kites and blimps could be the

next big technological innovation in wind energy, thanks to flying wind turbines. And this isn't some wild, science fiction idea about the distant future; it could become a reality in a matter of years.

Here's how it would work: the higher the altitude, the stronger and steadier the wind is. Scientists have told MSNBC.com that a relatively high altitude wind turbine—say about 800 feet in the air—could generate 20 times as much electricity as a traditional model, rooted 200 feet off the ground.

In the words of Asst. Prof. of environmental sciences Christina Archer, of California State University, the idea is relatively simple; the floating wind turbines would be tethered to the ground

by a cable that would carry the current they produce.

The potential here is economic, as well as environmental.

Entrepreneurs are working hard to turn flying wind turbines into actual energy businesses. They hope to build mega-watt systems that would help the world kick its fossil fuel habit, while securing a place in the $63 billion global wind energy market.

Currently, wind provides just 1.8 percent of the electricity in the United States, according to the Dept. of Energy. However, they expect that number to rise to 20

percent by 2030.Archer added that there are a

lot of businesspeople interested in this. “It seems that every month

I get an e-mail about another startup. They're popping up left and right.”

The leader of this newborn, airborne industry is Makani Power, which recently hauled in a $20 million investment from Google, and a $3 million grant from the Dept. of Energy.

Makani is working on a kite that looks like a very skinny airplane; it captures the wind on its wings.

Magenn Power, of Mountain View, Calif. is using a very different technology. They're building helium-filled blimps that have fabric sails, which capture the wind energy and transmit it down the cable. Magenn hopes to bring their blimps to market in about a year.

The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) has decided to lease 641 acres in western San Miguel County to Energy Fuels, Inc. The DOE believes the tract to contain about 156,000 pounds of uranium ore, and 1.5 million pounds of vanadium ore. There are several uranium mines in the vicinity.

The ore mined from the San Miguel County tract would be

trucked to the proposed Piñon Ridge Uranium Mill, in Montrose County’s Paradox Valley, for processing. Energy Fuels also owns about 880 acres in that area. The mill itself would cover about 400 acres.

While Montrose County has issued a special use permit for Piñon Ridge’s construction, final approval must come from the Colorado Department of Public

Health and the Environment (CDPHE). The agency is expected to issue its decision in January.

The proposed mill, which has been the subject of several public hearings and legal actions, has been controversial from the start. Opponents argue that it would pose serious environmental risks; supporters counter that it would be safe, and would provide much-needed jobs in the West End.



The Green Pages

The winded wind power industry

The U.S. wind energy in-dustry stumbled like an out-of-breath runner in

2010’s third quarter. The Ameri-can Wind Energy Association (AWEA) reports that the country added just 395 megawatts of wind-generated electricity dur-ing that period; it was the worst quarter for wind since 2007.

The drop was a continuation of a downward trend that began last year. In the second quarter of 2010, only 700 megawatts

of additional power was wind-generated. As of this writing, year-to-date installations totaled 1,634 megawatts—a 72 percent nosedive from 2009, and the lowest amount since 2006.

In comparison, Europe is installing wind powered generators at twice the rate of the U.S., and China is doing three times as many as we are. One of the main reasons America is lagging behind is the lack of long-term energy policies, such as a Renewable Energy

Standard, according to the AWEA. China and Europe already have policies in place. Consequently, they’re expected to receive more than $35 billion from investors this year—nearly four times as much money as will be put into American wind power. The U.S. industry is urging Congress to establish long-term, nationwide renewable energy policies to help attract more investments.

You can expect Colorado’s winter to be warmer and drier than usual, according

to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The federal forecasters recently announced their long-range prediction for the state, and the rest of the nation.

NOAA reports that we’re in a La Niña weather pattern, and they expect the phenomenon to get stronger as the season progresses. That would result in warmer, drier weather across the southern half of the U.S., including Colorado; it would conversely lead to colder, wetter conditions in the north and the Pacific Northwest.

La Niña is a combined oceanic and atmospheric phenomenon that is the counterpart to El Niño. During a La Niña episode, sea surface temperatures at the equator in the eastern Pacific Ocean drop significantly. This leads to a variety of weather

Winter expected to be relatively warm, dry

effects.Mike Halpert, deputy director

of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, told the Denver Post that

“temperatures will tilt toward a warm winter.” This will be quite a change from last winter, which was described as “hard” by the National Weather Service office in Boulder. Their jobs could be a little easier this time around, since they

expect this winter’s weather to be “more predictable.”

Weather Service spokesman and meteorologist Chad

Gimmestad told the Post that our New Mexican neighbors should also have a relatively warm and dry winter. On the other hand, conditions to our north, in Wyoming, are expected to be wetter and colder than average. Colorado’s winter weather pattern will probably remain in the middle, Gimmestad said.

Of course, it’s important to keep in mind that long-range

forecasts are a long way from 100 percent accuracy. However, if the prediction turns out to be true, it will be a mixed blessing for western Colorado; driving would obviously be much safer, but a warm winter could have a negative economic impact on the winter sports industry.

…they expect this winter’s weather to be

“more predictable.”


Winter 2010-11 · 29

Going green for the holidays

The Green Pages

During the busy, bustling, and colorful holiday season,

it’s easy to overlook one especially important color–the environmental shade of green. But, even as you’re cooking and caroling, shopping, wrapping and wrestling with the stress, it’s still possible to blend some environmental awareness into the season. In fact, a few simple suggestions and substitutions will allow you to slide through the holidays without leaving a huge carbon footprint.

You can start with your gift list. Going green there can range from simply buying fewer gifts (and possibly making some instead), to getting “Fair Trade” alternatives to holiday classics; “Fair Trade” is a market-based social movement that tries to help producers in developing countries get better trading con-ditions while also holding to a high environmental standard.

Another tip, from planetgreen.discovery.com, is to use recycled paper products like wrapping and cards. Of course, you can also make your own versions, giving yourself a creative outlet

for some of that holiday stress. Now, as for cooking those

holiday feasts, you can go green by using locally produced ingredients and organic turkeys. There is even organic champagne on the market, and green cocktails, made with organic alcohol.

Another environmental website, the daily green.com, also puts out an interesting green gift list. It in-cludes a variety of sustainable and non-toxic items, from safe toys to vegan shoes (made with no ani-mal products). One of their most intriguing gifts is also one of the

oddest–an adoptable octopus. Now, octopi make terrible

pets, so you don’t actually put one under the recipient’s Christmas tree. Rather, you adopt the octopus in your friend or relative’s name for $35. And they get a stuffed animal or cookie cutter shaped like an octopus. If octopi aren’t

your thing, you can adopt other sea creatures instead. The money raised goes to support ocean conservation efforts be-ing made by oceana.org.

Planning to decorate your home with a Christmas tree and wreaths? Look for those that are fresh and free of pes-ticides. You can also trim your tree with energy-saving LED lights; this will save money on your electric bill, which you might then want to donate to an environmental charity, such as the Nature Conser-vancy (nature.org), the Colo-rado Environmental Coalition (ourcolorado.org), or Heifer International (heifer.org).

Ultimately, you can turn your holiday celebration into a big present to Mother Earth.

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Event Calendar

Dec. 4, 9am-3pmHoliday Craft Fair

Bill Heddles Recreation Center, DeltaAre you still looking for that special gift

for the holiday season? Check this out over 60 vendors will be present to

share their hand crafted items.

Sat. Dec. 4, 11am-3pmRidgway Christmas Celebration

Santa, hayrides, refreshments, family fun, great shopping. For info. 970-275-5791

Dec. 4, 5-7:30 p.m. Montrose Parade of Lights

Main Street, Downtown Montrose, Call 249-5000.

Sat. Dec. 4, 11 am-3 pmRidgway Christmas Celebration

in the ParkSanta, hayrides, refreshments, family fun and the

best holiday shopping around! Santa will visit with the young and the young at heart from noon until

2 p.m. Share the season! For more information call Caitlin at 970-275-5791, or email [email protected]

Fri. - Dec. 10, 3-7 pm; Sat. - Dec. 11, 9-4 p.m. Peppermint Patch Craft Show

Friendship Hall, Montrose Fairgrounds

Dec. 10-11, 7 pm Magic Circle presents

"The Best Christmas Present Ever"

Fri. Dec. 10Ouray County Choir Christmas Concert

Sat. Dec. 11 Yule Night in Ouray

Parade, bonfire, Caroling, live Nativity scene, visit and pictures with Santa & Mrs. Claus. Fun for the

whole family! 970-325-4746

Sat. Dec. 11, 8am-10 amBreakfast with Santa

Bill Heddles Recreation Center, Delta. Join Santa in a pancake breakfast provided by the

Delta Kiwanis. Bring your cameras to capture that special moment. The Delta Recreation Dept. will be

providing fun and games.

Nov. 25, Noon-3pmCommunity Thanksgiving Dinner

Free to all. Entertainment. Kids games. Call 964-4462 to volunteer 249-8298 for a meal delivery.

Fri. Nov. 26, 5-6 p.m. Montrose Community Tree Lighting

Kick off the holiday season in front of the Montrose County Courthouse

Fri. Nov. 26, 8-5; Sat. Nov. 27, 8-4Basement Boutique Craft Show

Montrose Pavilion

Dec. 3, 7 pm - Dec. 4, 11 am, 3 pm, Dec. 5, 3 pm $3

Magic Circle Presents "The Best Christmas Present Ever"

for more info visit magiccircleplayers.com/newsletters

Dec. 3, 6 pmDelta Parade of Lights

Dec. 4, 9-noonSanta at the Delta Area

Chamber of Commerce

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MMH_MontroseMoniror10_2010_MMH_MontroseMoniror10_2010 10/15/10 11:00 AM Page 1

the monitor magazine winter 2010

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