One skill that we are keen on teaching children is listening. I am sure the first preschool and primary school conferences of the year addressed that one specific skill and informed the parent’s mastering it. I believe it is even more of a problem because of remote learning and the[Read More…]
Tag: Loose Ends
Loose Ends: The political ring
I was so sorry to hear Rio Blanco County had a low voter turnout this year. Yet, I somehow expected it. Visiting with family and friends these past few weeks before the election I got the feeling that so many people were disgusted with the entire political process, they didn’t[Read More…]
Loose Ends: Sorry, not sorry.
“May I speak to Janet? “You have the wrong number, sorry.” “Well, while I have you on the phone … blah, blah, blah.” “Important issues in your …” I didn’t wait to hear the rest of the spiel. I hung up; well, I tried to hang up to shut off[Read More…]
Loose Ends: All for mom, apple pie and the American flag
So many of my conversations lately have involved the word freedom and how all of us come to different understandings of the word. Our individual right to “live free” is debated daily on the news. It doesn’t matter if you get news from social media, television, or radio. There are[Read More…]
Favorite places
MEEKER I Getting out in the great outdoors has been the remedy of choice for so many of us during the pandemic. Even some of my friends and family, who never seemed to make the time for the activities they enjoyed so much before Covid-19, are venturing back out again.[Read More…]
Putting up memories
MEEKER I As the weekend trips into the high country to see the sight of the fall colors come to an end, spotting a friend’s kitchen counter collection of glass canning jars brought me up short. I felt a little guilty about not continuing an annual tradition. I was even[Read More…]
Loose Ends: Heard it through the grapevine
BY DOLLY VISCARDI Special to the Herald Times MEEKER I “Why didn’t you tell me?” Is one question that has not been asked by many people publicly, especially in a small town like Meeker. The answer to that question often goes unspoken because the inquirer, usually a member of the[Read More…]
Loose Ends: Jeans
MEEKER I I recently wore a pair of my favorite jeans and was worried that they didn’t look quite the same after a long hiatus in my closet. Sweatpants had replaced them at the beginning of the pandemic. It was not just the straining of the seams from a steady[Read More…]
Loose Ends: Language lessons
MEEKER I “Language sweetie, language,” the woman admonished her young son. I used to hear this same reminder when I was little. My grandmother and mother said these same words to me and my siblings regarding the use of proper English. They never had to tell us to stop using[Read More…]
LOOSE ENDS: Dinosaurs
MEEKER I I spend a lot of time with the dinosaurs. No, I am not an amateur archeologist or paleontologist and taking care of grandchildren involves traveling to museums or excavation sites to see the prehistoric creatures’ remains. The bones and fossils still appeal, but the dinosaurs I am referring[Read More…]
Loose Ends: Reason, is that you?
MEEKER I I haven’t heard the timeworn phrase, “It is what it is,” so much lately. Before Covid vaccinations were available, quite a few of us seemed to blurt those five little words out midstream in conversation, often accompanied by a commonly recognized gesture conveying total exasperation: both arms extended[Read More…]
Loose Ends: Uncomfortable Conversations
MEEKER I I recently heard someone say, “Nobody asks questions anymore.” The implication was that people hated the real answer, so they just barreled ahead without stopping to consider the consequences. The people who believed that fake news could be applied to the reporting of verifiable facts began to drown[Read More…]




