The Durango Telegraph, Feb. 9, 2023

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the durango

Moving on up

Silverton Mountain gets ready to add second lift

All grown up

Elder Grown’s Sam Kelly talks band’s next steps

Stationary therapy

Exercise should help, not fix, life’s problems

Ear to the ground:

“No one knows I’m drunk!”

4 La Vida Local

A tale of two sisters

Remembering the Long Walk and the revival of a family’s heartbeat

by Kirbie Bennett

Feast or famine

Answer to overcrowding on public lands is not to add more crowds

by Jonathan Thompson

8 Maximum velocity

Silverton Mountain to add second lift in existing permit area this summer

by Jonathan Romeo

Going big

Catching up with Elder Grown’s Sam Kelly on what it takes to make it

by Stephen Sellers

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STAFF REPORTER: Jonathan Romeo jonathan@durangotelegraph.com

The Durango Telegraph publishes every Thursday, come hell, high water, tacky singletrack or mon-

STAR-STUDDED CAST: Kirbie Bennett, Jonathan Thompson, Stephen Sellers, Jennaye Derge, Lainie Maxson, Jesse Anderson & Clint Reid

MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 332, Durango, CO 81302

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ster powder days. We are wholly independently owned and operated by the Durango Telegraph LLC and dis-

4 Thumbin’ It

6 Soap Box

7 Land Desk

8 Top Story

10 Between the Beats

11 Gossip of the Cyclers

12-13 Stuff to Do

13 Ask Rachel

14 Free Will Astrology

15 Classifieds

15 Haiku Movie Review

– Well... seeing as you just screamed it walking down Main Ave. around midnight on Snowdown... now they do.

Hit the brakes

This year’s Taste of Durango, the premier food festival held every spring, has been canceled, with its future uncertain.

For the past few decades, Taste of Durango has brought together local restaurants and breweries to celebrate the town’s culinary scene. For a full day, vendors set up tents along Main Ave., taking over downtown.

Taste of Durango, however, has run into some challenges in recent years. In 2020 and 2021, the festival was canceled because of the pandemic. When the event returned last year, many attendees complained about long wait lines, a complicated wristband process and lack of vendor/food availability.

Durango’s Chapter of the Colorado Restaurant Association organizes Taste of Durango. Board President Dave Woodruff said many of these issues led to the cancellation of this year’s event.

For starters, Woodruff said it takes months of work from a volunteer board to put on a logistically complicated festival that shuts down Main Ave. On top of that, rising food costs, labor shortages and all the other challenges to the food industry made participation difficult for restaurants.

All this had a domino effect – staffing shortages caused fewer vendors to participate, which led to longer wait times and fewer food options. Taste of Durango also tried implementing a wristband system last year that did not work out as intended, Woodruff said.

A dog patiently waits outside for its owners as they imbibe at a Silverton watering hole./ Photo by Renee Cornue Studio/@reneecornue_studio

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tributed in the finest and most discerning locations throughout the greater Durango area.

Woodruff is leaving the board at the end of the month as he pursues a bid for Durango City Council. He said, however, that the break this year will allow the new round of event organizers to rethink the festival.

“Let’s let it rest and see if we can wrap our heads around how we can make it a better and more efficient event,” he said.

In the meantime, Woodruff said it’s important to start thinking of other ways to celebrate the local culinary scene. For instance, the CRA is working with Visit Durango and Purgatory Resort to put on a restaurant week in April.

As for the future of Taste of Durango, that’ll be up to the new board, Woodruff said. The current model, obviously, is not sustainable.

“It’s a tough question to answer, honestly,” he said. “I don’t think it should be put to bed indefinitely, but for now, this break will give the board time to reevaluate what works and what doesn’t, and if it’s realistic to pull off.”

Whose story am I?

My story starts with two sisters.

I’ve been reflecting on this lately, because when newspapers feature more and more headlines about unspeakable police injustice and the continued whitewashing of history, I need to remember resilience. As communities of color continue to endure the crises of police killings, disappearances and public massacres, the state also desires to erase our thriving histories of resistance. But resistance is life-affirming. I can speak to that. I’m here today because of the survival of two sisters.

In the spring of 1864, the U.S. military mounted a campaign of ethnic cleansing against my ancestors. Instigated by General Kit Carson, the military invaded Diné territory, burned down crops and homes, contaminated water wells, and eviscerated all means of living with the intent to force the Diné to surrender and leave their homeland. Then came the forced removal. It’s an event known as the Long Walk. The Diné and Mescalero Apache were brutally forced to march more than 300 miles in the winter to a concentration camp called Bosque Redondo, located alongside Fort Sumner in eastern New Mexico.

Many died on that 300-mile journey. And the death toll only rose during the four years of internment. Along with the camp’s harsh and dehumanizing conditions, cultural genocide was also imposed on my people. Prohibitions were put in place against practicing traditional ceremonies and speaking our own language. In Navajo, the word for “no” is Dohdah. It’s pronounced forcefully, like hands forming into fists raised into the air.

It’s estimated that around 1,500 Natives died during internment. A treaty in 1868 finally allowed the survivors to return home.

After enduring so much loss and suffering, two sisters returned home to the Navajo Nation. They would go on to start families. One would give birth to my great-grandfather, whose traditional name was Hataałii Zhoni. In the Navajo language, the name means “powerful medicine man.” It has been told to me that his ceremonial songs were mesmerizing.

At a moment of complete eradication, those two sisters still had more life to offer, and they revived the heartbeat of my mother’s family.

I don’t know if I’ll ever recover what life was like for my ancestors before the Long Walk. It’s overwhelming to think too much about the lives and stories lost from genocide. But I often think about those two sisters. And I think of all the

Thumbin’It

A new program that allows DHS students to earn up to 48 college credits beginning next school year.

Another successful Snowdown, though we probably shaved a few years off the end of our lives. We’ll see you next year, and be ready with our Peace, Love and Snowdown– themed costumes.

A federal court ruling the U.S. must consider climate impacts of drilling the Great Chaco region, an area of vast cultural significance outside the Chaco Culture National Park boundary.

sisters who never made it home. The violent vanishing of Indigenous people still continues today. It’s a crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous relatives. It still continues for Indigenous women and Two-Spirit peoples. It’s still a painful reality for the families and communities waiting for closure. Every missing poster for an Indigenous relative is a heartbreaking reminder of how easily our sacred can disappear. This is the legacy of colonialism.

It’s important to remember that colonialism is not an event, but rather a structure. We witness that in forced removals and massacres that result in the stolen land we stand on now, as well as corralling Natives onto reservations, followed by forcibly transporting Native children to boarding schools. We witness it today as the Supreme Court continually dismantles Indigenous sovereignty. The Supreme Court is considering repealing the Indian Child Welfare Act – a federal policy meant to keep Native children in foster care connected to their blood relatives and tribal communities. To repeal that policy means unleashing more cultural genocide.

In Navajo, the word for “no” is Dohdah, and it’s pronounced with the pull and pierce of bow and arrow.

In the face of the Third Reich’s growing power in 1940, the German-Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin wrote, “Every line we succeed in publishing today – no matter how uncertain the future to which we entrust it –is a victory wrenched from the powers of darkness.” When I read Benjamin’s immortal words, I think of those two sisters, my ancestors whose story I am. They lived their lives against oblivion, against erasure by the settler state. Their story, what little I can gather from my family’s memory, deserves to be written down. I’m doing the best I can to honor them with every letter here. And despite the growing darkness of our own present day, I must always remember that resisting despair also honors their lives and the lives of all my ancestors.

When I think of the two sisters and the seeds they planted by their own presence, I think of the moral imperative to find our missing relatives in the present day. Of seeking justice and closure. I want them all to return home. At the very least, their lives deserve to be remembered.

This can’t be said enough, therefore it deserves space on paper and in the streets: We, the ones with centuries of vibrant rebellion against extinction, are more than vanished bodies, silenced tongues or ghost stories. Our language, our culture, our existence is a threat to the prevailing order.

– Kirbie Bennett

SignoftheDownfall:

The cancellation of Taste of Durango this year, casting the future of the popular event in doubt.

Uhh … the Chinese spy balloon over America thing. Bigger question is, why a balloon? We thought they were just spying on us through TikTok…

A devastating earthquake in Syria and Turkey, with a death toll of more than 7,000 people that’s expected to rise, making it the deadliest natural disaster this century.

The Lurking Channel “MILF Manor” is an actual TV show airing on TLC, and it features eight “Mothers I’d Like to Forget” who are “trying to find love at a paradise location.” Of course, that won’t happen, because the men provided for these older ladies are inappropriately young to highlight the “Mrs. Robinson” aspect of the whole MILF thing, so really, the show is just a cougar feeding frenzy. Can you imagine the uproar that would happen if an opposite show were aired featuring old men chasing young women? Oh, wait… never mind. That show is called “The Nightly News.”

Cure for gun cancer

As a rural resident and gun-owning constituent of our elected member of the House of Representatives, I have submitted a proposal to the office of Lauren Boebert to introduce legislation in Congress to address our nationwide gun cancer. I proposed she introduce a bill that would outlaw military-style weapons, such as the AR-15, the AK-47, attack-style semi-automatic pistols and any other high-capacity weapon. I also propose a nation-wide weapons buy back and the elimination of any conceal-carry laws. I realize these would be contentious proposals, but our nation must address the evil that has been unleashed upon our people by the gun industry and NRA. Considering there are more weapons in the U.S. than people, this is a large undertaking. We are the only nation on Earth with this frequency of mass shootings. Many will point to the Second Amendment being trampled upon. Most citizens, though, do not know the preface of the Second Amendment, which reads “ ... a well-regulated militia being necessary.” We have a well-regulated militia: it is called the National Guard.

I have never been a hunter, nor do I wish to inhibit those who partake in this activity. No hunter uses any of the previously mentioned military-style weapons to take game in our forests and prairies. But the weapons listed above were designed for one purpose, and that is to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible. Gun control is obvious.

– Gene Orr, Durango

More oversight needed

Nationwide, just about every police department uses body cameras. The five black Memphis officers who stopped Tyre Nichols were also wearing body cameras, yet still killed a black man 80 yards from his mother’s house for a minor traffic stop. Historically, had the officers been white, there probably would have been overly heated protests, instead of the peaceful ones (thankfully requested by Nichols’ mother).

Seems to me a simple common-sense solution, so outrageous situations like this don’t happen again, is that once the body camera is turned on by an officer, the footage can be seen at the same time

inside the local police station. It may require an extra employee inside the police station to watch the body camera screens, but think how much could be

saved, such as lives and the need for multi-million dollar lawsuits.

– Sally Florence, Durango

Calf Creek overhaul

Reservation system may be option for iconic SW attraction

by Jonathan Thompson

THE NEWS: The latest example of public lands getting overrun, and a land management agency’s questionable attempt to fix it, is playing out at the Calf Creek Recreation Area, between the towns of Boulder and Escalante in Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The trailhead parking lot regularly overflows, so the Bureau of Land Management decided last week to make it bigger, along with other “improvements.” Many are not impressed.

THE CONTEXT: Lower Calf Creek Falls has suffered what might be called collateral damage from Utah’s Mighty Five marketing effort. The big-bucks campaign, launched a decade ago, lured people from all over the world to the five national parks spread out across the southern part of the state: Zion, Arches, Bryce, Capitol Reef and Canyonlands. These folks even slathered London cabs with images of Delicate Arch to entice Brits to come to Canyon Country.

As we all now know, the campaign succeeded beyond expectations. Public lands advocates went from worrying about declining park visitation to fretting about overcrowding, especially at Zion and Arches. Millions of people each year – and as many as 20,000 per day –crammed into Zion’s Narrows, waited in line to view Delicate Arch or swarmed the pie shop in Capitol Reef.

But it isn’t just the parks that sag under the weight of all those people. It is also a selection of choice locations along the route, including the eminently Instagram-able Lower Calf Creek Falls. The place has always been popular, but it’s been especially inundated in recent years, prompting the BLM to do something – sort of. Instead of limiting visitors, the BLM is planning to enlarge the parking lot to accommodate more people.

You can’t really blame folks for wanting to go to Calf Creek. It’s located just off HWY 12, a popular route connecting Bryce Canyon with Capitol Reef and, as one of the most spectacular stretches of road in the United States, is a sort of asphalt destination of its own.

From a slickrock ridge offering expansive views, motorists drop precipitously into the verdant Escalante River gorge and up its tributary, Calf Creek, before reaching a campground, trailhead and parking lot. Show up early enough, and you’ll find a pleasant, quiet place – in spite of its close proximity to the highway – and your choice of about 30 parking spots. Snagging one of the handful of sweet camp spots is another matter, requiring persistence and a lot of luck.

From there, it’s a 3-mile hike up the canyon, a sort of oasis, with willows, cattails, dragonflies, beavers and even fish in the little stream. Finally, one reaches the falls, where a stream splashes down from a sandstone pour-off into a sand-floored amphitheater.

Get there early enough, and you might have the place almost to yourself. But the crowds start congealing around noon, and by mid-afternoon, it’s an all-out zoo. When you get back to the parking lot, you’re bound to find it overflowing with vehicles along with dozens of cars lined up on the narrow highway.

The BLM recognized that something needed to be done. The plan includes:

• Adding 40 more parking spaces by expanding into what is now an oak-shaded picnic ground;

• Modernizing and replacing infrastructure such as restrooms, the campground and a cool old bridge; adding Wi-Fi and more camp spaces.

• Widening the access road.

What’s wrong with the agency’s plan? For starters, the idea of wrecking an oak grove and historic picnic ground to make room for more cars is absurd. Same goes for modernizing the current facilities: It would damage the historic character of the spot. You can overhaul the plumbing without scraping and replacing structures. Adding a few campsites – if it could be done – might be OK, but it’s hard to imagine that working.

Secondly, shouldn’t the goal be to reduce crowds, not attempt to accommodate them? It’s now understood that adding lanes to a congested highway will only attract more traffic, a phenomenon known as induced demand. Add more parking, and you’ll just entice more passersby who otherwise might be deterred by the lack of parking, thereby thickening the crowds –and heightening their impact – on the trail and falls.

I don’t cherish the idea of turning people away

from places like this. It seems unfair and opposed to the spirit of public lands. But in this case, there are few other feasible options aside from blasting a giant parking garage out of the sandstone cliffs. It’s probably time to put a limit on the number of visitors allowed to park at the trailhead, either by banning parking outside the existing lot or implementing a reservation system (same goes for the campground).

There are dangers to this approach: It might just encourage folks to go to nearby places. A better outcome would be that the crowds just keep going until they get to the next national park, where they can join the already burgeoning numbers.

The BLM has already issued a record of decision. But there’s still time to sign a petition calling on the agency to alter its plans at https://bit.ly/3jCuafJ.

The Land Desk is a newsletter from Jonathan P. Thompson, longtime journalist and author. To subscribe, go to: landdesk.org ■

The iconic and oft-visited Lower Calf Creek Falls

Moving on up

Silverton Mountain plans second lift into Velocity Basin

by Jonathan Romeo

Silverton Mountain is expanding, with plans to install a new ski lift in its high mountain terrain this summer.

“It’s really going to enhance the skiing experience for everyone,” Aaron Brill, co-owner of Silverton Mountain, said in an interview with The Durango Telegraph this week. “It’s going to be awesome.”

The new lift will be installed within Silverton Mountain’s existing boundary on private property to the southeast of the existing ski area, off County Road 52. The area in question, also known as

Velocity Basin, has several ski runs up and down the ridgeline. Because the area is within Silverton Mountain’s permit area, public backcountry access won’t be affected.

For the unacquainted, Silverton Mountain is located about 6 miles north of Silverton on County Road 110. At 13,487 feet, it is considered North America’s highest ski area, geared toward advanced and expert riders.

Silverton Mountain is also a no-frills experience, with no groomed runs or cut trails. Instead, skiers and snowboarders either take a chairlift and hike along ridgelines to runs, or board a helicopter. The reward? What is touted as

some of the best, untracked powder in Colorado.

In all, Silverton Mountain has about 1,820 acres of lift-accessed terrain and more than 22,000 acres of hike to/helicopter terrain. Because of its unique location high in the San Juans, the ski area typically offers guided skiing in the winter and unguided skiing in the spring.

Now, Brill, who co-owns Silverton Mountain with his wife, Jen, said longstanding plans to make it easier to get around the high-country terrain are finally coming to fruition.

“If everything goes as we hope, we’ll get that lift installed this summer,” Brill

said. “It’s a pretty exciting ski area over there.”

The Brills first arrived in Silverton in 1999, looking for the perfect location for a single-lift ski area. They found that place a couple miles north of Silverton, acquiring mining claims with 2,000 feet vertical gain.

The Brills then secured a secondhand double-chairlift from Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, in California along the east side of the Sierra Nevadas.

“Because we have a strong commitment to environmental stewardship, we did not build a road on that property for the first lift,” Brill said. “We hiked each tower up and did everything manually

The new Lift 2 chairlift at Silverton Mountain, which the ski area hopes to start construction on in the summer, creating easier access for steep backcountry terrain./ Courtesy photo

like the miners did. It was challenging.”

At the same time, the Brills applied to access 1,300 acres of public land surrounding the private mining claims they acquired. Thus began five years of review by the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees management of the land.

Not everyone was gung-ho about the project. Backcountry skiers, for instance, were concerned about losing their favorite remote ski runs. Neighbors, too, filed several lawsuits opposing the new ski area.

It became a long and costly process, but ultimately, Silverton Mountain received its BLM permit in 2005. And, over the years, the ski area has remained relatively unchanged, save for the addition of heli-skiing. Until now.

As part of Silverton Mountain’s original permit with San Juan County that dates back to June 2000, the ski area is approved for a total of three ski lifts (which includes the original, existing one). But, at the time, the permit called for surface rope tow ski lifts, which, needless to say 23 years later, are quite outdated.

Last month, the Brills received approval from San Juan County to amend that original permit to allow for an upgrade from surface lifts to standard chairlifts. All three San Juan County commissioners approved the proposal. (Being on private land, the project does not require BLM approval.)

“A rope tow on that steep of terrain? I’d be scared to death,” San Juan County Commissioner Scott Fetchenheir said.

The project also received unanimous support from

those who spoke during public comment. A letter of support from the Silverton Area Chamber of Commerce said the town’s winter economy is supported by tourism, a big portion of which comes from visitors to Silverton Mountain.

“The majority of Silverton businesses in the winter have a very difficult time generating enough business to sustain full-time or part-time year-round employees,” the letter said. “An expansion of Silverton Mountain would directly benefit those businesses that are open in the winter.”

Speaking at the Jan. 25 hearing, Mikey Loyer, owner of Eureka Station, a restaurant in Silverton, agreed.

“My business would not be here if it weren’t for Silverton Mountain,” Loyer said. “So if Silverton Mountain wants to do something, I’m a firm believer in letting them do whatever they want.”

Riders can already reach the expansion area with heli-drops from Silverton Mountain’s helicopter, Brill said. But, after the new chairlift goes in, riders will have another form of access to make it easier to get there.

Ultimately, riders will be able to take the existing lift up the front side of the mountain to the top of the ridgeline, ski down the backside of the mountain, and reach the new lift.

Heli drops will still occur on that ridgeline, Brill said, but the new chair allows for flexibility, spreading out visitors at certain times of the year.

“It’s not like Silverton Mountain is crowded, but this enhances the ski experience,” Brill told the Telegraph.

For the new lift, Brill said helicopters will bring in

the towers. No roads will be built, and engineering plans will need to be approved by San Juan County.

Silverton Mountain’s original permit also includes a third lift, as well as a base lodge and 10 overnight yurts/cabins.

“We don’t have any specific plans for that at this point in time,” Brill said. “But it’s definitely on the horizon and definitely on our list of things we’d like to accomplish in the near term.” ■

Silverton Mountain permit area

All grown up

What does it take to make it as a band in 2023 (aside from Kickstarter)?

by Stephen Sellers

For this week’s “Between the Beats,” I sat down with Sam Kelly – saxophone wunderkind and the unofficial funk mayor of Durango. He’s the unassuming horn player melting your face in groups like J-Calvin, The Afrobeatniks and Funk Express. Kelly also plays in the popular local group Elder Grown, ripping saxophone and blasting synth for audiences all over the state and beyond. Kelly and Elder Grown have launched a Kickstarter to boldly go where they’ve never gone before musically in their decade plus as a band.

You’re a FLC graduate who successfully transitioned to full-time musician. How did you come to study music?

I had no clue that was a thing until I was sitting in my student advising appointment at FLC in 2009. I told them I didn’t really know what I wanted to study, maybe business. He asked me what classes I enjoyed in high school. I said, ‘I really only enjoyed playing my saxophone in band.’ And he was like, ‘Well, do you want to major in music? I’ll do you one better. We have a music business program.’ And, I said, ‘Sign me up!’

Fast forward a decade or so, and you’ve just finished a Master’s program with the Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain. What takeaways have you brought back home?

Living in Southwest Colorado, it can be hard to network. Durango is kind of the biggest thing within a few hundred miles. From a music scene perspective, it can be very limiting. Going to this program, people were from all around the world: India, China, all over Europe, Australia. Everything was so collaborative. As far as our scene here, I think that it maybe gave me a perspective on how we can collaborate as musicians here.

Let’s talk about Elder Grown – a Durango favorite. You’re launching a Kickstarter. Tell us all about it.

Elder Grown

We live in a day and age where there’s lots of things vying for people’s attention. How can we capture an audience’s attention but in a longer span of time? We might release singles over the course of a few months and then drop a full album. We’re hoping that if we’re working with a record label, they’re handling getting our music out into people’s hands through radio stations, Spotify playlists, etc.

So much of that is ‘gatekeeped.’ To get into playlists on Spotify, you’ve gotta know somebody who knows somebody. It’s the same thing with radio, too. I think it’s always best, especially in today’s age, to release fewer songs but ones that are more impactful. If it takes 12 songs and they’re all bangers – by all means. That’s why Elder Grown has chosen eight. We want to represent all of the songwriters in the group, and it’s simply going to take eight to do that. It’s all about consistency these days. Decades ago, bands could release a big album and tour the world for years off of it. To stay relevant today, you have to release music on a consistent basis.

What does merch look like in 2023? Are we still making CDs? Strictly tapes? Edison canisters?

We want to be a band that’s touring and playing high-end shows around the country. And this is the opportunity to raise the funds to put together an album and work with the professionals to get on the radar of some important people in the industry. It’s a 30-day make-or-break fundraiser, so at the end of February, if we haven’t met our goal, we have to give all of the money back.

When you finish that recording, what then? As musicians, do we still release albums, or are we now in a time where we just release single after single?

Most recently, it was the digital download, but now that’s even obsolete. There’s the whole reprise of vinyl, but the major downside is now you have to plan a year in advance, because the demand is so high, and there’s such limited production. People still want to walk away from a concert and hold something. So, it depends on the band. Elder Grown will do CDs. At this point, all of the songs are written, and we are hoping to finish the project by early summer. Now it’s playing the game of getting them into people’s ears.

Which takes us back into the realm of marketing and digital marketing.

Which brings me back to the music business degree I got at FLC all those years ago.

Find the fundraiser at https://bit.ly/3jMfPx4 ■

We know where to get the best kind. Flowers & Chocolates?

Durango’s own Elder Grown is raising money for a new album. Sam Kelly, bottom left, a saxophonist for the band, talks about how bands need to adapt to a digital world./ Courtesy photo

Stationary therapy

Ruminations on bicycle riding and the pursuit of happiness

by Jennaye Derge

Last week, I rode my bike a bunch. Half of me told myself it was to train for upcoming rides, or the upcoming season, or upcoming races that are months away. The other half of me knew it was because my mind was a mess, and I had no other way to untangle the tense pressure that was stagnant behind my eyeballs.

There was no singular reason why I spent my past few weeks living in fight or flight, but rather many small reasons. I was feeling defensive at the lack of circumstantial and emotional reprieve, and by the time I met my friend at a neighborhood brewery one evening, I cried. I cried at her, beer in hand, for no particular reason, just all the small reasons.

To forget about my public brewery blubbers, and to make myself feel better, I rode my bike a bunch. I rode it the next day and then the day after, and the day after that.

I rode my bike for hours on end, mostly on my indoor bike, because it was winter, and also because I could be in whatever emotional state I wanted to be while safe inside my home. I could yell, cry, sweat, huff, puff, say all the bad words, and it didn’t matter, because the only people around were the digital bicycle racers on the Zwift screen in front of me. They wouldn’t notice the tears or care that there wasn’t much to blame them on. They wouldn’t care that it was just a bunch of small regular life stuff that added up over time. They wouldn’t wonder why, when they added up, it came out in tears in my beers.

So I rode, and I was right. They didn’t notice, and they didn’t care. They didn’t wonder what was wrong or ask if they could help or listen, or anything else that might make me feel better. These digital cyclists in my living room cared about KOMs and closing the gaps and

RPMs, and that’s great, because that is all I wanted to care about too. But I also cared about all the little things.

The first time I met my new therapist, she asked me.

“Do you have any activities you enjoy doing?”

I told her I enjoy riding my bike, a lot. She told me that was great, took me under her wing, and we made our first official appointment.

I rode my bike every day until then, and while I rode, or ate dinner, or laid in bed at night and in the morning, I also thought about life. I thought about all the regular life stuff like deadlines, dirty dishes and relationships. Then I rode my bike and felt better. Then I’d go to work or go grocery shopping. I’d have meetings, exchange emails, see a friend and walk my dog. I’d scroll through social media, and then I’d sit down to drink a beer with a friend, or just think about life again. Or I would read a line in a book and cry about something

minor, so I’d ride my bike again and feel better.

It went on like that for a week, and after the seven days passed, I met with my therapist again. I told her about all the little things in my life, and contrary to my bike or those digital Zwift guys, she looked me in the eyes and listened. She spoke back to me, gave me advice and unraveled some of the little things. She suggested conclusions that I never would have thought of on my own, and she said them in a way that didn’t make feeling good temporary, but rather made me change my perspective as a whole.

She was a concrete, actionable person giving me a soft place to land and a different way to approach life’s little things.

When I told her about how I’d been riding my bike for hours on end, day after day, she told me that was great. That I, and we all, should be riding our bikes or going skiing, running, yoga or whatever else we Durango folk want to do. We should do these things, because we love to do them, and they make us happy. They shouldn’t, however, be what we rely on to make us happy.

Our bicycles shouldn’t be our therapists. The outdoors is a flimsy trusted resource at best, and yeah, it makes us feel great – amazing actually – but once you clock back in, stand face-to-face with that relationship or stare at the dirty dishes while your phone is ringing, there isn’t a lot to hold you up.

Going outside and riding bikes – or riding in our living rooms during the winter – makes us happy, because it is fun (and endorphins, etc.). Doing what we love should be fun. It should not, however, be the tool to get us through long weeks of meetings, email exchanges, weird conversations, broken hearts, anxious thoughts, defeating dialogue, unstable foundations or crying in our beers with our friends. ■

is Monday at noon. To submit an item,

Thursday09

Speaker Series: Wilson Warmack, 12 noon, Center for Innovation, Main Mall, 835 Main Ave, Suite 225.

Professional Women’s Network Free Happy Hour, 5 p.m., Durango Winery, 900 Main Ave.

Bingo Night, 5 p.m., Fenceline Cider, Mancos.

“2040,” free screening of climate change documentary, 6 p.m., Durango Public Library. Sponsored by LWV of La Plata County and Citizens’ Climate Lobby.

Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.

Trivia Night, 6:30 p.m., Powerhouse Science Center, 1330 Camino del Rio.

Friday10

Bike to Work Day, celebration at Carver Brewing, 5 p.m.

Business Improvement District’s Coffee and Conversation, 8:30 a.m., TBK Bank Community Room, 259 W. 9th St.

Gary Walker plays, 10 a.m.-12 noon, Jean-Pierre Bakery & Restaurant, 601 Main Ave.

Lagunitas Brewing Party & Giveaway, 1 p.m., Purgatory Resort, Dantes Backside Bistro.

Free Legal Clinic, 4-5 p.m., Ignacio Library, 470 Goddard Ave.

Stone Riot plays, 6 p.m., Mancos Brewing.

Matt Rupnow plays, 6 p.m., Fenceline Cider, Mancos.

Balloon Glow, 6 p.m., Purgatory Resort’s ski beach.

Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.

Ru Paul’s Drag Race Watch Party, 6 p.m., Father’s Daughters Pizza, 640 Main Ave.

Banff Film Festival, doors at 6, films at 7 p.m., FLC Community Concert Hall. For full lineup, visit sanjuancitizens.org/Banff

Sunny & the Whiskey Machine plays, 7 p.m., Durango Craft Spirits, 1120 Main Ave.

Haro in the Dark & Lavalanche play, 7-9 p.m., iNDIGO Room, 1315 Main Ave.

Drag Show, 8:30 p.m., Father’s Daughters Pizza, 640 Main Ave.

Saturday11

Empty Nest Sale, 8 a.m.-4 p.m., former Animas High School, 271 Twin Buttes Ave.

Homebuyer Education Class, 8:30 a.m., FLC campus. Register at homesfund.org

USASA Boardercross Competition, 9 a.m., Purgatory Resort.

Vallecito Nordic Club Demo Day, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Vallecito.

“Making a Difference: The Dolph Kuss Story,” 1 p.m., Animas Museum’s Second Saturday Seminar Series. Register for Zoom webinar at animasmuseum.org/events.html

Firework Display Show, 6 p.m., Purgatory Resort.

Fire & Ice Masquerade Ball, 6 p.m., Grand Imperial Hotel, Silverton.

Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.

Banff Film Festival, doors at 6, films at 7 p.m., FLC Community Concert Hall. For full lineup, visit sanjuancitizens.org/Banff

Community Yoga, 6-7 p.m., Yoga Durango, 1485 Florida Rd. Donations accepted.

KDUR Cover Night (sold out), 6:30 p.m., Animas City Theatre.

Drag Show, 7:30 p.m., The Hive, 1150 Main Ave.

Silent Disco, 9-11:30 p.m., 11th St. Station.

Sunday12

USASA Boardercross Competition, 9 a.m., Purgatory Resort.

Feed the People! free mutual aid meal & winter gear drive for homeless community members, every Sunday, 2-2 p.m., Buckley Park.

Open Mic, 4 p.m., Fenceline Cider, Mancos.

Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.

Sunday Funday, 6 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

Monday13

Meditation & Dharma Talk, 5:30 p.m., Durango Dharma Center, 1800 E. 3rd Ave., Suite 109.

Happy Hour Yoga, 5:30 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.

Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.

“Meet Your Animas Valley Farmers,” 6:30-8 p.m., Animas Valley Grange, 7271 County Road 203.

Comedy Showcase, 7:30 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

Tuesday14

Community Yoga, 4:30-5:30 p.m., Yoga Durango, 1485 Florida Rd. Donations accepted.

Bluegrass Jam, 5:30 p.m., Union Social House, 3062 Main Ave.

Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.

Open Mic Night, 7 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

International Guitar Night, 7:30 p.m., FLC’s Community Concert Hall.

Wednesday15

Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.

Durango Bird Club, 6 p.m., FLC’s Education Business Hall, Room 056.

Geeks Who Drink Trivia, 8 p.m., The Roost, 128 E. College Dr.

Karaoke Roulette, 8 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

The best way to screw, nouveau lingo and ’dese nuts

Interesting fact: Why does the term “co-ed” refer to women specifically? I mean, besides the term co-educational coinciding with women co-taking classes with male cohorts. Co-ed really, to be coherent, should concern all students.

Dear Rachel,

A question on Reddit has sparked a civil war in my house between my dad (63) and me (29): Which one is the regular screwdriver? He always asks for it and he means the flat head, but in my mind it’s the Phillips head. Does he have a flat brain in his flat head, or am I the one who’s Phillip it?

– Screwed Up

Dear Driver Family,

This is why all the screws in my house are torx. Actually, that’s not true. All the screws in my house are torx because I am infamous for stripping screws. Phillips, flathead, doesn’t matter: I’ll strip that sucker down to the thread. But as a side bonus, there’s never any confusion when I ask for a screwdriver. It’s a superior screw anyways. (Said entirely as a single entendre, from someone who’s pretty regular herself.)

– Righty tightie, Rachel

Dear Rachel,

Duolingo is teaching a different French than I learned in high school. I picked up the app, because my wife and I are planning a

Ongoing

Parker’s Animal Rescue” Paws for Celebration,” online fundraiser auction, Feb. 11-17. tinyurl.com/22pbc5vh

Whimsical Wonderland Gallery, 12 noon-6 p.m., Tuesday thru Saturdays, Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave.

“Life in Small Moments” art exhibit, thru March 1, FLC Center for Innovation, Main Mall, 835 Main Ave.

Tyrannosaurs – Meet the Family, Farmington Museum, 3041 E. Main St. Exhibit runs thru April 26.

The Hive Indoor Skate Park, open skate and skate lessons. For schedule and waiver, go to www.thehivedgo.org

trip to Switzerland and thought I better brush up. But things changed! Either that, or my entire high school education was a sham. Which actually sounds like the more likely answer. But still! Languages evolve and all that. Is 20 years enough for high school French to transform into Duolingo French?

– Sacre Bleu

Dear Bleu It,

If your high school French was anything like my high school Spanish, it consisted of a teacher who did a study abroad for one semester in college and attended some bullfights and decided he’d make a life for himself trying to impress underage students (particularly the co-ed ones) with wild stories of surviving runaway longhorns and nearly becoming a toreador until a tragic injury relegated him to teaching Spanish verb conjugation, except we never reached that part of our education, so basically I learned how to introduce myself in Spanish, and that was it for two years.

– Me llamo, Rachel

Dear Rachel,

I see Mercy in the “thumbs down” for not doing tube-tying for women. BS. Are they not doing vasectomies for men? Mercy, stay out of my bedroom, I’m not looking in your bedroom. Women can make the choice, like when you want to brush your teeth. Your thoughts, Dr. Rachel, on a men’s member. What do we do?

– Nut Cup

Upcoming

Durango Winter Pride, Feb. 16-19, www.durangopride.com

Ecstatic Dance w/Asha Akashic, Feb. 16, 6:308:30 p.m., American Legion, 878 E. 2nd Ave.

Rock ’n’ Roll Bob Does Motown! Talk with Bob Griffith former radio personality and local spin instructor, 7 p.m., Feb. 16, FLC Noble Hall, Room 130.

Violinist Lauren Avery & pianist Mika Inouye, Feb. 17, 7 p.m., St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 910 E. 3rd Ave.

SALT Contemporary Dance, Feb. 17, 7:30 p.m., FLC Community Concert Hall.

Email Rachel: telegraph@durangotelegraph.com

Dear Pecan Pouch, Wait wait wait wait WAIT. Are you legitimately comparing a tubal ligation to teeth brushing? I want to be offended, but actually, this is brilliant. Let’s make a person’s reproductive choices as mundane as dental care. You floss AND you got the snip snip? You just bumped yourself up my dating list, whatever gender you are. If you use torx screws, too… rawr.

– Snippy, Rachel

“Songs for a New World,” theatrical production, Feb. 17, 18 & 23-25 at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 19 at 2 p.m., FLC MainStage Theatre.

Martin Sexton plays, Feb. 21, 7 p.m., Animas City Theatre.

Lespecial w/Mike Dillon & Punkadelick play, Feb. 22, 7 p.m., Animas City Theatre.

Comedian Brian Regan, Feb. 22, 7:30 p.m., FLC’s Community Concert Hall.

Thom Chacon plays, Feb. 24-25, 7:30 p.m., Smiley Café, 1309 E. 3rd Ave.

Snakes and Stars play, Feb. 24, 7 p.m., Animas City Theatre.

FreeWillAstrology

by Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): During my quest for advice that might be helpful to your love life, I plucked these words of wisdom from author Sam Kean: “Books about relationship talk about how to ‘get’ the love you need, how to ‘keep’ love, and so on. But the right question to ask is, ‘How do I become a more loving human being?’” In other words, Aries, here’s a prime way to enhance your love life: Be less focused on what others can give you and more focused on what you can give to others. Amazingly, that’s likely to bring you all the love you want.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You have the potential to become even more skilled at the arts of kissing and cuddling and boinking than you already are. How? Here are some possibilities. 1. Explore fun experiments that will transcend your reliable old approaches to kissing and cuddling and boinking. 2. Read books to open your mind. I like Margot Anand’s “The New Art of Sexual Ecstasy.” 3. Ask your partner(s) to teach you everything about what turns them on. 4. Invite your subconscious mind to give you dreams at night that involve kissing and cuddling and boinking. 5. Ask your lover(s) to laugh and play and joke as you kiss and cuddle and boink.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): You are an Italian wolf searching for food in the Apennine Mountains. You’re a red-crowned crane nesting in a wetland in the Eastern Hokkaido region of Japan. You’re an olive tree thriving in a salt marsh in southern France, and you’re a painted turtle basking in a pool of sunlight on a beach adjoining Lake Michigan. What I’m trying to tell you, Gemini, is that your capacity to empathize is extra strong right now. Your smart heart should be so curious and open that you will naturally feel an instinctual bond with many life forms.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): My Cancerian friend Juma says, “We have two choices at all times: creation or destruction. Love creates and everything else destroys.” Do you agree? She’s not just talking about romantic love, but rather love in all forms, from the urge to help a friend, to the longing to seek justice for the dispossessed, to the compassion we feel for our descendants. During the next three weeks, your assignment is to explore every nuance of love as you experiment with the following hypothesis: “To create the most interesting and creative life for yourself, put love at the heart of everything you do.”

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): I hope you get ample chances to enjoy deep soul kisses in the coming weeks. Not just perfunctory lip-to-lip smooches and pecks on the cheeks, but full-on intimate sensual exchanges. The heavenly omens suggest you will benefit from exploring the frontiers of wild affection. You need the extra sweet, intensely personal communion that comes best from the uninhibited mouth-tomouth form of tender sharing. Here’s what Leo poet Diane di Prima said: “There are as many kinds of kisses as there are people on earth, as there are permutations and combinations of those people. No two people kiss alike – no two people f*** alike – but somehow the kiss is more personal, more individualized than the f***.”

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Borrowing the words of poet Oriah from her book “The Dance: Moving to the Deep Rhythms of Your Life,” I’ve prepared a love note for you to use as your own this Valentine season. Oriah writes, “Don’t tell me how wonderful things will be someday. Show me you can risk being at peace with the way things are right now. Show me how you follow your deepest desires, spiraling down into the ache within the ache. Take me to the places on the earth that teach you how to dance, the places where you can risk letting the world break your heart.”

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libran author Walter Lippman wrote, “The emotion of love is not self-sustaining; it endures only when lovers love many things together, and not merely each other.” That’s great advice for you during the coming months. I suggest that you and your allies – not just your romantic partners, but also your close companions –come up with collaborative projects that inspire you to love many things together. Have fun exploring and researching subjects that excite and awaken and enrich both of you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio writer Paul Valéry wrote, “It would be impossible to love anyone or anything one knew completely. Love is directed towards what lies hidden in its object.” My challenge to you, Scorpio, is to test this hypothesis. Do what you can to gain more in-depth knowledge of the people and animals and things you love. Uncover at least some of what’s hidden. All the while, monitor yourself to determine how your research affects your affection and care. Contrary to what Val-

Lot

éry said, I’m guessing this will enhance and exalt your love.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In his book “Unapologetically You,” motivational speaker Steve Maraboli writes, “I find the best way to love someone is not to change them, but instead, help them reveal the greatest version of themselves.” That’s always good advice, but I believe it should be your inspirational axiom in the coming weeks. More than ever, you now have the potential to forever transform your approach to relationships.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): These words of wisdom are most important for you to hear right now. They are from poet Rainer Maria Rilke (translated by Stephen Mitchell): “For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us, the ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): To get the most out of upcoming opportunities for intimacy, intensify your attunement to and reverence for your emotions. Why? As quick and clever as your mind can be, sometimes it neglects to thoroughly check in with your heart. And I want your heart to be wildly available when you get ripe chances to open up and deepen your alliances. Study these words from psychologist Carl Jung: “We should not pretend to understand the world only by the intellect; we apprehend it just as much by feeling. Therefore, the judgment of the intellect is, at best, only the half of truth, and must, if it be honest, also come to an understanding of its inadequacy.”

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “In love there are no vacations. Love has to be lived fully with its boredom and all that.” Author and filmmaker Marguerite Duras made that observation, and now I convey it to you – just in time for a phase of your astrological cycle when boredom and apathy could and should evolve into renewed interest and revitalized passion. But there is a caveat: If you want the interest and passion to rise and surge, you will have to face the boredom and apathy; you must accept them as genuine aspects of your relationship; you will have to cultivate an amused tolerance of them. Only then will they burst in full glory into renewed interest and revitalized passion.

Deadline for Telegraph classified

ads is Tuesday at noon. Ads are a bargain at 10 cents a character with a $5 minimum. Even better, ads can now be placed online: durangotelegraph.com.

Prepayment is required via cash, credit card or check.

(Sorry, no refunds or substitutions.)

Ads can be submitted via:

n www.durangotelegraph.com

n classifieds@durango telegraph.com

n 970-259-0133

n 679 E. 2nd Ave., #E2

Approximate office hours:

Mon-Wed: 9ish - 5ish

Thurs: On delivery

Fri: Gone fishing; call first

Classes/Workshops

Join Our Neighborhood Yoga Class

50+ Gentle Yoga w/modifications, Wednesdays 9-10:15 am @ Florida Grange; 656 Hwy. 172, Durango. (Jill) jillfay07@gmail.com

West Coast Swing Dance

6-week class starts February 22. Learn the basics of West Coast Swing. Registration is required at www.westslopewesties.com

Yoga for Back Pain

4-week series, Feb. 16 - Mar. 9. Evidence-based practices to manage pain & recover ease of movement. Register at birdsongyogatherapy.com/upcomingevents/

Lost/Found

Lost Black Ski Goggle Case with sunglasses inside 2/4/23 backcountry skiing Deer Creek off Coal Bank Pass. Stuart Way, 970-799-5721

HelpWanted

Durango Outdoor Exchange is looking for a full-time or part-time Gear Specialist. Do you have -retail sales experience -gear knowledge -Saturday availability - self motivation - stoke for the outdoors? Come join the crew! Applications available on our website or swing by to meet Jen, 3677 Main Ave.

CommercialforRent

1100-sf Office/Retail Space in Bodo Park

Ground floor with open-front floor plan & back-of-house space + 1/2 bath & kitchenette. Wheelchair access ramp & on-site parking. Short- or long-term lease avail. $1600 a month. 970-7993732

Wanted

Cash for Vehicles, Copper, Alum, Etc. at RJ Metal Recycle. Also free appliance and other metal drop off. 970-2593494.

ForSale

Never Used TaoTronics 4k Action Camera

New and in the box. Comes with user guide and all accessories that came with it: waterproof housing, handlebar/pole mount, mounts, battery, tethers, protective back cover, USB cable and lens cleaning cloth. $50. J.marie.pace@gmail.com

Reruns Home Furnishings

Lots of gifts for your valentine with quality pre-owned Crate & Barrel dishes, crystal decanters and glassware for your romantic dinner. Lots of great furnishings as well … 572 E. 6th Ave. Open Mon.-Sat. 385-7336.

Services

Feel Better!

Professional hypnotherapy with Susan Urban, CCHT, HA, DM, 35 years experience. Free phone consultation! 970-247-9617.

Marketing Small and Local Businesses

Media, website building and content editing, copywriting and editing, newsletters, blogs, etc. for small, local, independent or startup businesses. www.the saltymedia.com or email jnderge@ gmail.com

Harmony Cleaning and Organizing

Residential, offices, commercial and vacation rentals, 970-403-6192.

Lowest Prices on Storage!

Inside/outside storage near Durango and Bayfield. 10-x-20, $130. Outside spots: $65, with discounts available. RJ Mini Storage. 970-259-3494.

BodyWork

In-Home Fitness Training

HaikuMovieReview

‘Devil in a Blue Dress’ Denzel Washington has made some great films but this is not one of them

Massage Special $10 off first time clients. Valentine’s Day gift certificates. Call/text Nancy (970) 799-2202/ Durango.

Lotus Path Healing Arts

A unique, intuitive fusion of Esalen massage, deep tissue & Acutonics, 24 years of experience. To schedule call Kathryn, 970-201-3373.

Massage by Meg Bush

LMT, 30, 60 & 90 min., 970-7590199.

CommunityService

Local Vendors

Join us for the 2023 Durango Farmers Market season. We are accepting applications thru March 1 at: managemymarket.com/landing.aspx?orgID=2099. We only accept vendors who have a farm or business location in: La Plata, Montezuma, Archuleta and San Juan counties, Colorado, and San Juan County, N.M.

Crusher Fat Bike - Now $425

2015 Sun Bicycle, 7 speed, excellent cond. Barely ridden. Basket & kick stand. MSRP $530, now $425. 970903-0005.

Gordon Smith

FibreFlex Longboard

A classic – sweet, smooth ride for cushy cruising. Been around the block but still in great shape. 42” long. $50 Text: 970-749-2595.

Get fit in 2023! I come to you! All ages. Diane Brady NSCA-CPT. 970-9032421

Discounted Massage on Tuesdays

Clinical deep tissue massage, specific, therapeutic w/ mobilizations. 30% off for a limited time. Located at Mountain Medicine / Pura Vida, downtown Durango. 60 min: $63, 90 min: 87.50 Call to schedule w/ Dennis @ 970.403.5451

Are You the Parent or Caregiver of a child 3 or under? Cafe Au Play offers a free, safe, enclosed, indoor and outdoor play area, 10 a.m. -1 p.m., Mon. – Fri., Christ the King Lutheran Church. We also host a free Power Au Play from 10 a.m. -12 noon on the third Wednesday of each month at the Powerhouse Science Center.

Volunteer Advocates Needed

Alternative Horizons is in need of volunteers to staff its domestic violence hotline. Call 970-247-4374 or visit https://alternativehorizons.org/

– Lainie Maxson