MEEKER | More than 100 years ago, members of this community had their own version of staying-in-place. It was called homesteading and eventually ranching. Stories passed down from the families that settled here always include the bond they felt with the people who lived the closest to them. They may[Read More…]
Tag: Loose Ends
Guest Column: Loose Ends
MEEKER I A long time ago there was a special category of conversation called small talk. It served as a bridge to ensuring the continuance of a casual conversation. “How is the weather there?” was not a loaded question.
Loose Ends: The ties that bind
MEEKER | I never thought that the first page I would turn to in a newspaper would be the obituary page. I admit I do tend to glance at the significant dates (birth and death), so I might be accused of this tendency to assure myself, as usually I am[Read More…]
Loose Ends: The sounds of silence … loud
MEEKER | Reporting and telling someone else’s stories is an awesome responsibility. The editor of this community’s paper, Niki Turner of the Rio Blanco Herald Times, understands the importance of that. It also seems that she also understands that the word awesome seems to be put in conversation daily. Ask[Read More…]
{OPED} Loose Ends: A teacher or a writer?
MEEKER | “So, which are you, a teacher or a writer? The blunt question took me aback for a minute. I had only been teaching in this community (and anywhere else for that matter) for a couple of years. When I accepted the part-time teaching position, I was working in[Read More…]
{OPED} Loose Ends: The Real West
MEEKER | “Do you ever get over the blueness of the sky?” is a question that has been asked by more than a few visitors to our house over the years. Most of them are from another section of the country and used to seeing gunmetal grey over their heads.[Read More…]
Loose Ends: Rebuilding the bridge between cultures
MEEKER | “Where did the Indians go?” continues to be a commonly asked question from first time visitors to this area. The White River Utes were removed to a desert reservation from their homeland in 1879 after Indian Agent Nathan Meeker and the other men working with him were killed.[Read More…]
Loose Ends: Encountering the county fair
MEEKER | The county fair held in a neighboring community in my youth was an end-of-the summer tradition; and although the animal barns and educational exhibits lent it some appeal, the cotton candy, candy apples, and plethora of carnival booths were the main event. It was enough to follow my[Read More…]
Guest Column: Loose Ends
MEEKER I “Why did you move here” is not an inquiry that is often overheard in front of the post office these days. According to newcomers, though, it continues to be one of the first questions they are asked upon their arrival. With the influx of more people who are[Read More…]
Loose Ends: ‘S’pose you youngsters could use a little help’
MEEKER | “S’pose you youngsters could use a little help.” This warm, western, welcome from an area resident has continued throughout our years of living in this rural community and continues to be extended whenever we travel throughout the state. After traveling many miles from home, someone who has heard[Read More…]
Loose Ends: Three Card Days
MEEKER | “You don’t see my card on the door, do ya?” the elderly gent asked. Dressed in a cowboy hat, plaid shirt with pearl snap buttons, Wrangler jeans, and well-worn boots, he looked to be a longtime resident of my new community. He held the post office door open,[Read More…]
{OPED} Loose Ends: ‘Hey Back East, how’s it going today?’
MEEKER | Moving to Meeker midwinter more than four decades ago, the cultural clash between my childhood hometown in the midwest and my new home in the west became a daily reminder. I was not only a newcomer but an obvious outsider to the community. It wasn’t until I had[Read More…]
