Editor’s Column: Home improvement

I have utmost respect for people who spend years in homes strewn with drop cloths, the sound of power tools ringing in their ears. I am not one of those people. If a project can’t be done in a day or two, I get anxious. We’ve joked that the only way I’d survive a real renovation is by going on an extended vacation.

Unfortunately, every house is a project house to some degree. Once you’ve been in a new-to-you house for a few days (or hours, in this case), the things to fix and change pile up as fast as they get marked off the to-do list.

I—who am notoriously bad at expressions of gratitude, particularly when I’ve been sniffing paint fumes and scrubbing paint from counters—would like to extend sincere kudos to my talented husband who has spent countless hours texturing and painting, removing the hideous light over the kitchen sink, finding DIY curtain rods, and listening to me grouse and whine, all while setting aside his own projects and plans (which are numerous). If I had the money, I’d send him on a vacation. He deserves one.

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Speaking of Saint Husband… I once paged him (it’s been a couple decades) and told him I had an emergency. He called back—expecting to hear about stitches or X-rays or broken bones—to have me explain I’d had a serious hair color malfunction. When he got home he kindly pointed out that my perception of an emergency wasn’t a real emergency at all. (To be fair, my definition of emergency has changed dramatically since then.)

Since I have a feeling “emergency” is going to show up on the 2019 word-of-the-year list, I thought we’d get a head start. The Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of “emergency” reads as follows: 1) an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action 2) an urgent need for assistance or relief.

By those definitions my hair color conundrum met the requirements, at least in my mind. To a bald person, my perceived emergency was trivial nonsense (which, in hindsight, it really was).

Our perception defines our reality. Perception can be loosely defined as the way in which we view the world through our personal filters of experience, information and belief.

People who perceive all spiders as deadly react to spiders differently than people who understand that most spiders are harmless. Not all spiders, but most spiders.

My takeaway? before we judge someone else’s emergency, we should remember that their perception is different than ours and try to be a little more understanding.

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We have wonderful news! We’ve been told for more than a year that the Meeker Herald was on track to be added to the Colorado Historical Newspaper Collection thanks to a grant. This week we received word that issues of the Meeker Herald from 1885 to 1922 have been added to the database. It’s not complete, and we’re looking into ways to fill the gaps and complete the collection, but it’s a start. We average one or two requests per week to view the archives. The digitized collection is searchable online, a boon for history buffs and genealogy enthusiasts. Here’s the direct link: http://bit.ly/2SfZLQD.

We also got word this week we’ve received awards from the Colorado Press Association’s annual contest again. We’ll get details in April, but we know one is in advertising (let Caitlin Walker design your ad… she’s an award-winner) and one is for the Northwest Colorado Hunting Guide. This year is the 20th anniversary of the hunting guide, and we’re gearing up for our next Adventure Colorado magazine this spring. Watch your email for magazine advertising opportunities coming your way!

By Niki Turner | [email protected]