When the pandemic kicked off last spring I said I thought this event was going to leave a mark. Little did I know at that point how deep that mark would go. I’m chalking 2020 up as the second worst year of my life (second only because no one in[Read More…]
Columns
Editor’s Column: One Good Thing
This has been a year of unusual events. The conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the night sky for the first time since 1226 A.D., is just one of those events. From our perspective on Earth, the two visible planets look very much like an unusually large star, much like[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Just keep swimming
In the animated movie “Finding Nemo,” a clownfish (ironically named Marlin) and a regal blue tang fish set off on an improbable journey: to find Marlin’s missing son Nemo (also ironically named). Dory suffers from short-term memory loss, regularly becoming distracted and forgetting what she was doing, which creates all[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Stigma, snowflakes, and sensationalizing
Last week when I wrote about finding gratitude, I wasn’t expecting to be quite so tested by that notion. I’ll begin with this: I am profoundly grateful for and proud of our local law enforcement and EMS crew and dispatch. We had an upsetting Thanksgiving eve that ended with my[Read More…]
Loose Ends: It’s still about family
MEEKER | The real story of Thanksgiving is rooted in family. No matter what actually transpired between the Native American and the Europeans, who arrived on the shores of this New World, recognition of the importance of family and friends traditionally gathering is clear. No matter one’s material wealth, getting[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Leaders
Between the pandemic and politics, I’ve thought more about leadership — what it is, what it looks like, what it means — than possibly ever before. The stressors presented to us this year have revealed strength and creativity in some who have found themselves thrust into unexpected leadership roles, and[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Denial has an ugly side
Denial isn’t a river in Egypt. (The Nile is a river in Egypt for those of you, like me, who don’t like puns.) I have no idea what living conditions are currently like in Egypt along the Nile, but I do know what living in denial is like. At first,[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: The election that made everyone unhappy
Regardless of how you filled out your ballot this year, there’s likely to be some election outcome that makes you unhappy, whether it’s who gets to go to (or stay in) D.C. or Denver, or one of the umpteen ballot measures. While Rio Blanco County voted as expected on most[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Hooray for public participation
We, like many of you, have spent multiple hours over the last few weeks listening to the county’s budget work sessions for each department. We’ve reported on some of those department work sessions already and are following up on others with additional background information. Some of that reporting has encouraged[Read More…]
Loose Ends: Oct. 22, 2020
Noise MEEKER | Business as usual is a phrase that comes to mind when talking about the health of the local economy. I was surprised when Mesa County’s executive director Robin Brown was quoted in an article in mid-September in the Grand Junction Sentinel saying that “We are so used[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Oct. 22, 2020
The only thing we can control Have you been “cutting yourself some slack” and “giving yourself a break” when it comes to your personal goals and commitments because of pandemic stress? Eating a little too much, or eating the wrong things? Drinking to excess (I mean, does day drinking really[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Town mouse vs. country mouse
We’ve caught six mice in our house in the last two weeks. Statistically that means we probably have 500 mice running loose behind the scenes (if you see one, you have 100). while writing this, I watched one dart under the sofa, in plain view, for the third night in[Read More…]