I lived most of my teen years with a bruised shoulder. My brother and I engaged in a game called “slug bug” on road trips. We weren’t content with the games Mom gave to pass the time. Car bingo and “I Spy” just wasn’t violent enough for my older brother,[Read More…]
Columns
The Baby Survival Package ~ Part Two
This is part two of THE BABY SURVIVAL KIT. Years ago, I started a tradition of giving a gift basket to expecting parents. It was for the first-born child of couples we knew well. It started out as both practical guide and a source of humor for nervous new parents.[Read More…]
Guest Column: Tear off the rearview mirror
When driving in your car, the rearview mirror lets you see what is coming up behind you. On the road, vehicles in back of you can follow too closely, hit you, or pass you. But if you try driving by looking only in the mirror you won’t get very far[Read More…]
“Set up a life you don’t need to escape from.”
It’s our birthday! This week’s edition marks the start of the 138th volume of this newspaper. Every year we reach this milestone with a sigh of relief. We made it another year, thanks mostly to all of you, our readers, advertisers and subscribers.Birthdays and anniversaries are a good time for[Read More…]
Loose Ends: Doggone it
“One dog a’sprawlin’, two dogs a’ lollin’, and three dogs a’ pantin’ just might fit the waning summer season. Summoning up the remembrance of the familiar winter holiday tune “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, one might be tempted to change the lyrics a bit to sing a song about the[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Tick Tock
If your ego starts out, ‘I am important, I am big, I am special,’ you’re in for some disappointments when you look around at what we’ve discovered about the universe. No, you’re not big. No, you’re not. You’re small in time and in space. And you have this frail vessel[Read More…]
CNCC ready to kick off new school year
This summer has flown by. It’s hard to believe that the start of school is less than a month away. Students are already starting to arrive with volleyball players arriving next week and soccer and rodeo team members soon after. New student orientation will be Aug. 18-20 and our fall[Read More…]
The Baby Survival Package ~ Part One
Years ago, I started a tradition of giving a gift basket to expecting parents. It was for the firstborn child of couples we knew well. It started out as both practical guide and a source of humor for nervous new parents. I always asked that this letter be read at[Read More…]
Where did the summer go?
The Rio Blanco County Fair has started and I am not ready. It’s a time change thing. It is not as if I have any real reason to complain, as my only role is to attend. It has always been an end-of summer tradition. The annual event signaled the conclusion[Read More…]
Editor: Prioritizing = putting first things first
“Put First Things First! These four words cover an entire philosophy which can be applied with profit by every business leader, by every executive and by every employee.” ~ Thomas J. Watson (1874 – 1956), Industrialist, Former President of IBM Change is hard, and letting go of things is harder[Read More…]
21st century citizenship: four civic skills we need to keep our democracy
As primaries roll out around the country, we’re tracking voter turnout. Raised on Schoolhouse Rock’s cartoon civics lessons, I know that being a good American means voting. Those 1970’s cartoons weren’t wrong. Voting is the most fundamental act of democratic citizenship. That’s why it has been fiercely contested throughout our[Read More…]
Ditches are a vanishing paradise
Annette Choszczyk lives in rural western Colorado these days, but when she was a kid, the Highline Canal in Denver was her summer paradise. “To us, it was river and a playground, complete with rope swings, swimming holes, crawdads and a trail alongside it that adults and kids could walk[Read More…]