durango
Holding the bag Ruby rail rescue
Taxpayers may again be on hook for orphaned wells
Peak concert season
Snyder Fire forces dramatic evac of popular float
July music is stacked – here’s eight can’t-miss shows
$15B bailout
Abandoned wells may once again become the taxpayers’ problem by Will Pattiz / Writers on the Range
Smoke on the water
Snyder Fire triggers dramatic rescue of Ruby-Horsethief boaters by Tom Hesse / Colorado Public Radio 10 Absolutely stacked
Summer is bursting with live music –here’s eight can’t-miss shows by Stephen Sellers
Swept away
Stieg Abell crafts a literary crime novel that’s impossible to put down by Jeffrey Mannix
EDITORIALISTA: MISSY VOTEL missy@durangotelegraph.com
PIT CREW: JENNAYE DERGE jennaye@durangotelegraph.com STAR-STUDDED CAST: Kirbie Bennett, Jonathan P. Thompson, Stephen Sellers, Jeffrey Mannix, Lainie Maxson, Jesse Anderson, Rob Brezsny & Clint Reid
The Durango Telegraph publishes every Thursday, come hell, high water, tacky singletrack or mon-
missy@durangotelegraph.com
durangotelegraph.com/place-a-classified-ad/
On the cover 2025 U.S. National Junior 17-18 Enduro Champion Milo Deem takes a spin in his stars and stripes recently at the Factory Trails near FLC./ Photo by Andy High
Ear to the ground:
“I’ve been to jail, and I’ve been to Outward Bound, so f*** off.”
– When it comes to life experiences, some people just have you beat
Singletrack & suds
Looking for a little extra motivation to lace up those trail runners this month? Look no further than the Durango Brewers Trail Series, which combines trail running, beer and philanthropy all in one fun, (almost) weekly package.
The series consists of three 5k-10k trail races, each sponsored by a different local brewery, with registration proceeds benefitting a different nonprofit each week. (Don’t worry, you also get a free post-race beer and commemorative pint glass with your registration, as long as you’re 21+.)
“We’re creating something bigger than a race: a summer tradition that celebrates everything that makes Durango special,” organizers posted.
The race series is open to all, from serious competitors to the “I’m just here for the beer” crowd, and all races will be professionally timed by Black Bear Events & Timing. Each event wraps up with a post-race carbo-reloading session and awards ceremony. An overall series champion will be crowned at the finale.
The 2026 race lineup includes:
• Thurs., July 2, 6 p.m., Horse Gulch: Anarchy Brewing Kickoff 5 Mile Race (course map at: tinyurl.com/2y8jbphf) to benefit the MMIR (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives) Colorado Task Force.
• Thurs., July 23, 5:30 p.m., Twin Buttes: Ska Brewing 10K Race (course map TBD) to benefit the La Plata County Humane Society. Post-race party will feature shelter dogs available for adoption.
• Thurs., July 30, 6 p.m., Test Tracks/Overend Mountain Park: Trestle Brewing 5K Finale Race (course map at: tinyurl.com/ycydmzmh) to benefit The Hive.
ster powder days. We are wholly independently owned and operated by the Durango Telegraph LLC and dis-
Registration is $32.80 per race or $80 for all three (bonus: those signing up for all three races get an event T-shirt). And for you lollygaggers out there, you can register up until the time of the race at: runsignup.com.
LaVidaLocal
Rooting for humanity
When the powers-that-be force their future onto us, a future that’s caged and colorless, it’s hard to tell if our creative defiance is having any effect. Data centers continue to sprout up around the country, despite environmental concerns. The growing public outrage over data centers and AI has the federal government on the lookout for “anti-tech extremism.” Mindless men in power are hellbent on destroying our beautiful things, including a livable planet and human creativity.
On a Friday evening in late May, these frazzled, dystopian thoughts occupy my mind while musicians set up for a sold-out show at Toast Records in downtown Durango. Velvet red curtains drape down, covering the shop’s front windows, creating an elegant space for this cozy gathering.
A variety of instruments are spread out on the stage. A banjo, a saw with a bow and a cello catch my eye. As a fan of loud rock music, I’m intrigued by the absence of electric guitars. Earlier, while the musicians were setting up, I briefly skimmed their merch booth and saw a bumper sticker that read: “KEEP HONKING, I’M LISTENING TO ESOTERIC SAW MUSIC!” So I’m not sure what to expect from tonight’s main attraction, Little Mazarn, a group from Austin, Texas. On studio albums, Little Mazarn is a trio, but only two members are performing tonight: Lindsey Verrill, lead songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, and Jeff Johnston, multi-instrumentalist and co-vocalist. Any minute their set will start, and my anticipation widens as I continue observing the other instruments, such as a vibraphone and a harmonium.
the sounds moved through us and floated above us. I wanted the whole town to see this band perform.
After every song, I kept thinking how magical it is for humans to create art and share it with other humans. Think of a time when you heard a song, and the lyrics and sounds cut through you. Think of a time when your messy human emotions shook hands with the messy human emotions translated through music, and the moment made you want to live long enough to hear the song end, only so you could play it again on repeat, and in doing so, the music made you want to live a little longer. That’s the best way I can describe witnessing any live performance by artists I adore, including Little Mazarn. In the span of an hour, they captured my heart, shook it around and brought me back to life.
I’m trying to keep everything in the present tense, to bring you right there inside the venue, right next to me. But honestly, it’s hard to capture in words what Little Mazarn conjured up. Every song flowed together like one whole story, and the musicians poured their hearts into every second. Lindsey’s lyrics and singing took us on a journey through desert and water. There was sadness, like when they performed “The Gate,” which contains the lyrics: “I built a gate for my grief to go freely.” Lindsey said the image came to her in a dream and the song wrote itself. There was humor and laughter during the banter in between songs. There were moments in songs where they barely played any notes. Sometimes Lindsey barely sang any words. The harmonium would let out a breathy accordion wail. When the bow hit the saw, one note would ring out into forever. All
Signs that the political pendulum may be swinging from the extremes of MAGA land, with several progressive newcomers winning in recent primaries
In a rare piece of good news from SCOTUS, justices struck down Trump’s executive order limiting the right to birthright citizenship, affirming more than a century of legal precedent and the nation’s long-held values.
California is building solar panels over irrigation canals to generate electricity while providing shade to prevent water evaporation. It’s estimated that covering the state’s open canals with solar could generate 13 gigawatts and save 63 billion gallons of water annually. Seems kind of ingenious.
Near the end of their set, all our handclapping can’t fully express our gratitude for what Lindsey and Jeff are sharing with us. The band says the show’s over but the people demand an encore. So Jeff breaks out a little Casio keyboard with little green keys on the sharps and flats. While he sets up, Lindsey introduces the last song. She says it’s about a movie. With a simple catchy beat, Lindsey’s lyrics describe the 1991 James Cameron film, “Terminator 2: Judgement Day,” a sci-fi thriller about malevolent robots trying to eliminate mankind. Since sci-fi dystopian stories are now just documentaries, the song’s also about our modern-day struggle to resist the maniacal tech billionaires and their AI minions. During the song’s chorus, Lindsey croons, “Oh, we’re rooting for the underdog.” Gradually, the audience starts humming the melody. Then we start singing along. Lately, I’ve been in my head, overwhelmed about the prevailing order bulldozing us into annihilation. I don’t expect one live performance to change anything, but I feel validated being in the presence of artists who are very much conscious and concerned about the state of the world. I’m sure they feel just as paralyzed as I do, yet here they are, touring and performing, pushing forward armed with banjos and musical saws.
When the chorus returns one more time in the outro, Lindsey changes up the lyrics. She ends the song by singing, “Oh, we’re rooting for the underdog / Oh, we’re rooting for humanity.” We start cheering and applauding, while outside the western mountains pull down the daylight. In this room together, we’re so overjoyed and we’re so human.
– Kirbie Bennett
SignoftheDownfall:
Sh*t’s getting real out there, with large fires burning in practically every direction. Remember, nothing’s more unpatriotic than burning the entire town down. Don’t be that guy.
The death toll continues to rise a week after the Venezuelan earthquakes, with thousands feared dead in the rubble. Even more staggering is the humanitarian crisis, with tens of thousands left homeless in a country already struggling with basic needs.
The cost of fixing abandoned, polluting oil and gas wells could once again be thrown into the taxpayers’ lap, with the Trump administration proposing to drop bonding rates back to their previous $10K level, which is what got us into the whole mess in the first place.
Cyber Yuck
The Titan Casket company released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-themed coffins on June 10, and the internet won’t shut up about it. But objectively, the caskets are pretty cool: there’s one for each turtle, each painted to match his bandana, weapon of choice and his intro from the 1987 theme song. For example, Raphael’s is red with two sai, and it says, “he was cool but rude” inside, which speaks to me. But there’s a darker side to Titan Casket, because for $9,999, you can buy a coffin that looks suspiciously like a Tesla Cybertruck. The “Hypercasket” is lined with vegan leather for that eternal new-car smell, and it has a seatbelt just in case your ride to the afterlife is extra bumpy, which it will be if you’re the type who thinks this is OK.
WritersontheRange
Holding the bag
$15 billion industry bailout could saddle Americans with more orphaned wells
by Will Pattiz
Here’s a true story about the West: An oil company leases some public land, drills a well, pumps the oil and posts a $10,000 bond as its promise to clean up the site when the well runs dry. Years later, the company declares bankruptcy – or it simply walks away.
The well remains, leaking methane and salty wastewater into the ground for the foreseeable future. Plugging it could run north of $300,000. The company forfeits its $10,000 and vanishes. You and I cover the rest. That math rewards walking away, and it sat protected by federal regulation for more than 60 years.
In 2024, after a decade of warnings from the government’s own auditors, the Bureau of Land Management raised that minimum bond from $10,000 to $150,000, so that the companies pulling wealth out of our land would clean up after themselves. This week, the Interior Department proposed restoring the old number.
The new rule would cut the minimum bond on a single lease back to $10,000 and drop the statewide bond, which covers all of a company’s wells in a state, from $500,000 to $25,000. Both cuts top 90 percent. Interior calls its return to the old days trimming red tape.
We already know what a $10,000 bond produces, because the Government Accountability Office found that by 2018, the average bond that the Bureau of Land Management held against a well was $2,122, while cleaning one up ran from $35,000 to more than $300,000. By 2022, the Interior Department counted nearly 16,000 orphaned wells on federal land, abandoned holes with no company left to plug them. Congress put up $4.7 billion in 2021 to start clearing that backlog. That was our money, spent shoveling out a mess that cheap bonds made inevitable. Now we get to do it again.
A bipartisan group of Western senators warns that rolling back the 2024 rule could leave taxpayers on the hook for more than $15 billion in future cleanup. This stays abstract only until you live near an unplugged well. They vent methane and benzene, a known carcinogen, and leak water laced with heavy metals and salt into soils and aquifers. The stuff travels. A raindrop that falls on an abandoned well in the high country ends up in the creek you fish, the ditch that waters your hay, the tap in your kitchen. We all live down-
After decades of taxpayers bearing the brunt of cleaning up orphaned
from
stream of somebody’s leaking well.
What makes this rollback so strange is how few people seem to want it. When the BLM strengthened the bonding rule in 2024, it drew more than 260,000 public comments, and more than 99% backed the reform. Polling also found that 90% of Westerners believe oil and gas companies should pay to clean up their own drilling sites. You won’t find many propositions in this country that nine of 10 of us agree on, but making polluters cover their own bills is one of them.
The industry argues that high bonds tie up money that could fund drilling, and that the BLM can always raise a bond, case by case, on a risky operator. But caseby-case review is the exact system the GAO spent years documenting as broken, the one that let the average bond sink to $2,122 in the first place. This is one piece of a much larger rollback of public-lands protections
moving through Washington right now.
Strip away the language about energy and red tape and what’s left is a subsidy. A private company keeps the profit. The public inherits the cleanup, paid in advance by taxpayers who will never see a dime from the oil.
The good news is that the rule isn’t final. The BLM has to take public comment through Aug. 24, and it has to read what comes in. If you’ve ever hunted, ranched, camped or drawn water near a federal lease, this is the moment to say so. Tell them you don’t want to pay the bill. The land belongs to all of us. So, for now, does the tab.
Will Pattiz is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He is the cofounder of More Than Just Parks, a public lands advocacy and media organization. ■
Psoas (hip flexor) Workshop
Discover the missing link for back, hip and groin pain, PTSD and many health challenges
July 12, 11am-5pm - Smiley Bldg., #32
Heal with Dr. Keneen Hope, 303-513-8055 or www.HopeChiroYoga.com/workshops
wells, the BLM raised the bond
$10,000 to $150,000 in 2024. Now, the Trump administration wants to roll the bonds back to $10,000, meaning taxpayers will once again be on the hook as most companies would rather walk away than pay to plug the wells./ Photo by iStock/uchar
SoapBox
The modern-day tyrant
This selected text excerpted from the original Declaration of Independence should be read aloud at every 250th Fourth of July Celebration to illustrate how we have drifted back to a situation in which the original reasons for the U.S. Revolution once again apply: “We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness … .”
The history of our present “king” is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, leading to the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts about Donald Trump be submitted to a candid world:
• He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
• He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
• He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
• He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable and distant from the depository of their public records for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
• He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states, for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
• He has obstructed the administration of justice.
• He has made judges dependent on his will alone.
• He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power.
• For protecting them from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states.
• For imposing taxes on us without our Consent.
• He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us.
– Rhys Schrock, Durango
Durango’s heartbeat
The Telegraph’s June 18 “La Vida Local” by Connor Carmichael about “Making friends with the Train” was wonderful! He truly caught the essence of what this
train does and means to our community.
When I first arrived in Durango the summer of 1967, the train was still run by Denver and Rio Grande Western. It was a working train, hauling coal, cattle and other goods on the old railroad lines. There was a train that left for Alamosa every night at midnight. For those who were in the Diamond Belle Saloon or the Cat & Fiddle, you knew what time it was when you heard that whistle.
Running continuously since 1882, the train hauled freight, gold, silver and passengers. By 1947, it was losing money and about to shut down. The Durango Chamber of Commerce began really promoting it to boost Durango’s tourism. When the film crew for “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” came to Durango in the late summer of 1968, the train became a movie star. Soon it was declared a National Historic Landmark.
There have been critics of the old train. However, it has endured through fires, snow and air-quality issues. If you needed a job, the train was always hiring, and the pay was good. I was the concession sales supervisor in 1984-85. It’s where I first learned how to use a computer for business. Plus, I worked on the winter train almost every day. I will never forget watching the plow on the old engines send waves of snow 30 feet into the air as we chugged up into the canyons.
Conner Carmichael got it right. The train is a piece of living history in our little town. Working on it, I met thousands of “train buffs” who traveled to Durango just to ride it. Al Harper has done a yeoman’s job of keeping it running; fixing track, refurbishing
equipment, changing fuels to prevent fires, and creating new and innovative events on the train. Think of the Blues Train, the Cowboy Poetry Train and the Polar Express train where you can wear your pajamas and feel like a kid again.
If you have guests, or if you want to slow down and take a leisurely ride through our spectacular mountains, ride the train again. You will feel that thrill of departure and the joy of arrival. Waving to people you don’t even know, and they wave back. Because it’s always fun to ride a train.
Thank you Connor for reminding us how it fits into the heartbeat of our town. Sometimes we forget just how important it is for both Durango and Silverton.
– Linda Mannix, Durango
Rumor has it … we’re still open
It seems that the Durango rumor mill has been working overtime!
Lately, we’ve had more than a few conversations that begin the same way: “I thought you closed!” Since that rumor seems to have taken on a life of its own, we thought we’d clear the air.
The short version is this: Serafina’s Steakhouse never closed. Not for a single dinner service.
In fact, we’ll be celebrating our one-year anniversary on July 25!
Back in February, we filed for Chapter 11 restructuring to give our restaurant the best chance at success over the long haul.
Somewhere along the way, “Chapter 11” became “they’re out of business.” We understand how that happened. Legal terms aren’t exactly everyday conversation, and in a town like Durango, stories have a way of evolving as they’re passed along.
Our answer has always been the same: “Nope – we’re here, we’re open, and we’re constantly improving.”
A few headlines didn’t help, of course. That’s the nature of headlines; they often favor the attentiongrabbing version over the nuanced one. We don’t fault anyone for the confusion, but we did think it was worth setting the record straight.
Since February, we’ve continued doing exactly what we set out to do. Our staff has continued showing up every day and working hard to perfect service. We’re grateful they’ve weathered the rumor mill right along with us!
We’re encouraged by all of those who have reached out to check on us. Some called. Some stopped by. Others simply asked, “Are you guys really still open?” We appreciate every one of those conversations. It’s a reminder that people in this community genuinely care about the businesses that call Durango home.
So, if you happen to hear that Serafina’s closed, we’d appreciate your help updating the story! We’re still here, still grilling up steaks and still looking forward to welcoming old friends and new faces alike.
If someone tells you we’ve closed, you’ll know better. And if you’ve been thinking of dropping by, now is as good a time as any!
– Serafina Middleton, co-owner, Serafina’s Steakhouse
TheLandDesk
Fueling the flames
West’s wildfire crisis colliding with administration hellbent on expanding fossil fuels
by Jonathan P. Thompson
Three firefighters were killed and two seriously injured Sat., June 27, when the Knowles and Gore fires overtook them southwest of Grand Junction near the Utah-Colorado line. The fires joined with others to become the Snyder Fire, which had grown to more than 30,000 acres as of Wednesday.
The fatalities were the tragic result of what has become a downright terrifying wildfire situation in the Interior West, with more than a dozen 1,000-acre-plus blazes tearing through forests in Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico during the last days of June. Without substantial and soaking rainfall soon, it’s likely to get even worse.
The fury of this, and other regional conflagrations, is evident in their rapid rate of growth:
• The Babylon Fire within Bears Ears National Monument, for example, was first reported on the afternoon of June 26 on Elk Ridge, north of the Bears Ears Buttes. By the evening of June 29, it was mapped at more than 48,000 acres and was spreading northward. The National Park Service closed the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park as a result and the Manti-La Sal National Forest shut down the entire Elk Ridge area. As of Wednesday, it had burned 70,000 acres and was at 0% containment.
small 2,000 acres but is perilously close to Leadville.
Many factors contribute to the intensity, size and frequency of fires, including decades of fire suppression, human encroachment in forests and flammable noxious weed infestations. But the biggest driver of this regional calamity is clearly the hot, dry weather, which has been exacerbated by human-caused climate change
• The Ferris Fire, between Dove Creek and Dolores, was first reported late June 27 just north of the Dolores River along the Dolores-Montezuma county line. It quickly tore through piñon and juniper, then scrub oak and ponderosa forest toward Disappointment Valley. It had grown to about 23,300 acres with 0% containment as of Wednesday.
• The Gold Mountain Fire, directly north of Ouray, apparently ignited when a tree fell on a powerline, was first reported Saturday afternoon near the Bachelor Syracuse Mine Tour. It forced evacuations and the temorary closure of Highway 550 between Ridgway and Ouray (which has since re-opened.) By Wednesday, it was 15,000 acres with 0% containment.
• The Aspen Acres Fire, west of Pueblo, which also broke June 29, grew to 23,000 acres in less than 24 hours, driven through a parched landscape by 100mile-per-hour winds and was threatening the towns of Beulah and Rye. By Wednesday, it was at 35,000 acres with 0% containment.
• The Willow Fire in Lake County is a relatively
Winter was an utter dud as far as the snowpack was concerned, in large part because of the unusually high temperatures. The hot, dry weather continued into the spring – with July-like temps at the end of March –sucking moisture from the soil and vegetation, and pushing huge swaths of the Interior West into severeto extreme-drought conditions. Throw in gusty wind and a June heat wave – nearly 1,000 daily high temperature records were tied or broken in the West this month – and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
There have been hot and dry years in the past, along with catastrophic wildfires: In 1879, the Lime Creek Burn south of Silverton charred 26,000 high-country acres, burning through what later became known as the “asbestos forest” due to its apparent blaze-resistance. Back then, however, 1879-like dry and warm years were anomalous, as were mega fires. The Lime Creek Burn stood as the state’s largest blaze until 2002; now it’s not even in the top 20 for acreage burned.
This year, while relatively extreme, is no outlier. The West’s temperatures have been trending upward since
reliable record-keeping began some 130 years ago, and the Southwest is suffering through year 26 of an ongoing megadrought, the most severe in at least 1,200 years.
Nor is the phenomenon isolated to the arid West. A heat dome is on its way to the Midwest and East Coast. And a record-breaking heat wave has gripped much of western Europe. France has recorded more than 1,000 heat-related fatalities in recent days and was forced to shut down nuclear reactors because the rivers from which they pull their cooling waters are too warm (and the discharged water is even warmer, threatening river ecosystems).
So it’s utterly surreal, on the one hand, to breathe in the blanket of smoke that’s settling into the West’s valleys, to observe new flame icons popping up on the Watch Duty app and see satellite imagery smoke plumes stretch across the region, and on the other to hear U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright downplay the deaths in Europe. Unlike his boss, President Trump, Wright acknowledges that human-related greenhouse gas emissions are heating the planet, but he says it’s not a crisis, and that its effects are “manageable.”
Wright’s disrespect for the victims, including the injured and killed firefighters in Colorado, is dumbfounding. And his willful ignorance of the science and reality on the ground in order to perpetuate Trump’s drill-baby-drill agenda and bolster oil company profits is simply sickening. The same goes for Trump’s Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. His department now oversees the nation’s wildland firefighting force. And yet he is also leading the charge to deregulate the oil and gas industry and allow them to spew more planet-warming methane in order to spur more oil and gas drilling on public lands – ultimately leading to more fossil fuel burning, carbon emissions, warmer global temperatures and more severe fires.
It reminds me a little bit of the story of the California firefighter who admitted setting dozens of fires as a job-creation scheme, allowing him and his colleagues to earn overtime pay. The difference here is that Burgum is not only playing his dangerous game with the lives of the firefighters under his command, but also with the planet as a whole.
The Land Desk is a newsletter from Jonathan P. Thompson, author of “River of Lost Souls,” “Behind the Slickrock Curtain” and “Sagebrush Empire.” To subscribe, go to: www.landdesk.org ■
Satellite imagery of some of the major fires burning on Wed., July 1. Source: NOAA Wildland Fire Data Portal
WestSlopeNews
Rescue on Ruby
Snyder Fire forces evacuation of more than 100 boaters from popular river stretch
by Tom Hesse / Colorado Public Radio
Rafters along the usually mellow Ruby-Horsethief section of the Colorado River got a little more excitement than they were expecting last weekend. On Sat., June 27, 120 people (and six of their canine companions) were pulled off the stretch of river in what may be the largest evacuation effort ever carried out by Mesa County Search and Rescue.
“We’ve got a couple members on the team that have been around for the last couple decades, and this was certainly the most operationally complex evacuation that we’ve done in living memory,” Nicholas Ingalls, a volunteer with Mesa County Search and Rescue, told CPR News.
The boaters were pulled from the 25-mile section of the Colorado River that runs between the Loma Boat Launch, near Fruita, and Westwater, Utah, as high winds drove the deadly Snyder Fire in western Mesa County. The popular rafting destination stretches across the Colorado/Utah border, just north of where the fire is burning.
Ingalls said the search and rescue was activated after a rafting group got separated from one of their members, prompting concern from the group given the growing blaze south of the river.
That call came in around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, kicking off an 11-hour operation that would soon expand to a full evacuation of the remote stretch of river.
Ingalls said the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office began by launching a jet boat to scout the river and tell rafters camped along the stretch to move to the northern bank, opposite where the fire threatened. After analyzing aerial and fire data, Ingalls said, officials decided to evacuate the river entirely.
“The fire was moving roughly 2 miles-per-hour based on the best intel we had. So we were starting to get concerned about folks in that first stretch of river between the Loma boat ramp and Westwater as the fire was kind of starting to make its way down to that southern side of the Colorado (River) and potentially impact those campsites,” Ingalls said.
While the river in that area is inaccessible by road, train tracks run along sections of the river. Ingalls said the team connected with Union Pacific Railroad for specialty trucks called “hy-railers,” which can drive on train tracks.
“They got us just about every vehicle they had between Junction and Palisade,” Ingalls said.
Because the vehicles drive on train tracks, they can’t turn around, meaning the operation involved sending nine hy-railers in one direction and reversing out. Ingalls said they started evacuation operations in the Black Rocks area of the river, a popular camping spot about 17 river miles downstream from the Loma Boat Ramp.
“They (evacuees) weren’t in imminent danger on the north side, but it was pretty clear that (the fire) was mov-
ing and getting closer. So folks were very eager to get out,” Ingalls said.
From there, the team worked its way backwards, evacuating more boaters. Ingalls said at one point he stayed behind as the rail vehicles went ahead just to assure campers that they weren’t going to be an oversight.
“There was a group, a final group on an island that initially had refused evacuation that we communicated that, ‘Hey, it’d really be in your best interest. We realize the hesitation, it’s a lot to leave equipment.’ They made the decision to also choose to evacuate,” Ingalls said.
Many of the rafters were from out of town, Ingalls said, and Grand Valley Transit provided event busses to take evacuees to Fruita or back to their cars in either Loma or Westwater, Utah.
“There’s no way our team would’ve been able to transport 120 people,” Ingalls said. “They were super gracious with their time and their willingness to drive at 1 and 2 a.m.”
Rafts and gear remain on the river, which is closed until further notice. Ingalls said search and rescue volunteers have offered to help in later efforts to recover stranded gear.
The Snyder Fire, which merged with the Jones Fire and overtook the Knowles and Gore fires, had burned nearly 30,200 acres as of Wednesday morning with 10%
containment. Three firefighters working the initial response to the Knowles Fire were killed Saturday in a “burn over event,” in which a fire quickly overtakes firefighters in the field.
Ingalls said boaters evacuated from the area weren’t near the worst portions of the blaze. But, when surveying the river to ensure everyone was out, rescuers who went near the Utah state line said the impact in Knowles Canyon, about a mile west of the Black Rocks area, was stark. “The canyon looked, I dunno how to say this for the readership, but it looked like the depths of hell,” Ingalls said.
For more from Colorado Public Radio, go to: www.cpr.org ■
Using motorboats and “hy-railer” vehicles that can travel on train tracks, Mesa County Search and Rescue worked through the night of June 27 to rescue 120 boaters and six dogs from the Ruby Horsethief section of the Colorado River as the Snyder Fire burned nearby. / Photo courtesy Mesa County Search and Rescue
BetweentheBeats
Peak concert season
by Stephen Sellers
Greetings, dear readers! Some months, I get to wax poetic and chase some strange little thread through the local music world. Other months, I am mostly standing beneath the full-force, fire-hydrant geyser of a local concert calendar that has absolutely lost its mind. This is one of those months. Get out there, check the calendars at your local favorite spots, support the people doing the booking and the artists doing the playing. As always, see you on the dance floor!
• 4th of July Street Party with Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Dana Ariel, Sat., July 4, 5:30–9:30 p.m., Buckley Park, presented by KSUTWho says we do not have fireworks on the Fourth this year? Dirty Dozen Brass Band, hailing from New Orleans, is poised to bring certified funk-and-jazz party vibes to Buckley Park, with none other than Durango’s own Dana Ariel and her hot little roman-candle-of-aband on warm-up duties. Expect a packed house and limited if not zero space for large blankets and tarps.
• Down Play, Big Horn, The Blissins and Tiger Electric, Fri., July 10, 6:30 p.m., The Swarm at The Hive - A big ol’ bill at one of Durango’s essential loud rooms. Down Play, Big Horn, The Blissins and Tiger Electric make this a proper night to get out early, stay through all four sets and see what is bubbling up in the local punk and hardcore ecosystem.
• SoDown, Fri., July 10, 7 p.m., Animas City Theatre - Electronic music is having a moment where one does not simply DJ; they DJ and play a trumpet, a drum or, in this case, a saxophone. SoDown does this with bass music, and it is incredible, to be honest, not just a weird party trick. Shout out to local Forest Thump, who does this super well, too. Hydrophonic Festival’s own DJ Noonz is on “pinch-me-I’m-openingthe-show duties.” Two heavy hitters for the price of one. It’s a no-brainer, folks.
• High Country Hustle Album
Release Party with Derek Dames Ohl and PJ Moon and The Swappers, Fri., July 17, 7 p.m., Animas City Theatre - The High Country boys are back with a brand-
spanking-new album “New Old Roads.” Peak summer booking for our hometown heroes, who continue gaining regional steam as the undisputed heirs-apparent to regional jammy bluegrass. What makes them stand out, though, are their incredible harmonies and songwriting in a field that is often quick to get to the E minor jam. Derek Dames Ohl and PJ Moon and The Swappers round out a bill of some of the most genuine, hilarious and talented pickers in our state. Congrats on the new album, boys!
• Eileen Ivers and the Brigideens, Sat., July 18, 7 p.m., Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, presented by Music in the Mountains - If you know Celtic music, you know Eileen Ivers. A truly world-class talent, Ivers has never been a stranger to merging Afro-Cuban rhythms, global influences and Irish tradition into music that feels both rooted and wildly alive. This is not your green-beer pub playlist version of Celtic music. This is a virtuosic player and band bringing a full-spectrum, rhythmforward show that is absolutely going to make the faithful dance.
• Carute Roma, Wed., July 22, 6 p.m., The Powerhouse - Durango’s beloved Roma-music-inspired dance band lights up the best – er, only? – riverside property in town for music. Carute Roma has long been one of those bands that can make a weeknight feel like a small
vacation, with old-world dance rhythms, familiar faces and just enough swing to get even the reluctant dancers testing out the floor. This one’s got it all: early start, river views, great music and a fundraiser for our beloved Durango Trails.
• Jon Stickley Trio, Thurs., July 23, 5:30 p.m., Buckley Park - Friends of the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown, Jon Stickley Trio, are set to grace Buckley Park with their transcendent, virtuosic, bluegrass-inspired sounds. Stickley once played in a band with local Robin Davis, which helped spawn a number of bands – most importantly Six Dollar String Band. Just kidding. More like The Infamous Stringdusters, Greensky Bluegrass, and a refreshed Leftover Salmon. Stickley is a monster player in a league of his own, and this free show is not one to sleep on.
• Babydel & RED, Sat., Aug. 1, 7 p.m., Animas City TheatreCertified banger on the books at Animas City Theatre. Summertime shows at the ACT are for the faithful, and I expect this one to be near or exceed capacity people-wise, while most definitely sold out with Del’s unique vibe, vision and playa-tested dance-floor weapons. On opening duties is RED, making this a proper Varsity Crew Productions affair. VCP has been raising the bar on what local party culture can look like in Durango from the ground up, and in unparalleled style. Someone get this crew a festival already, please! ■
John Stickley Trio
MurderInk
Caught in the current
‘A Twist in the River’ carries readers through an expertly crafted literary mystery
by Jeffrey Mannix
To find crime fiction books that can be categorized as “literary” is a search I’ve been undertaking for the past 30 years. What qualifies a book as literary is, of course, the writing, not the story.
Thirty years ago, literary crime fiction was still predominately found in Europe. And while U.S. fiction writers have steadily gravitated toward crime fiction, and American publishers now produce the bulk of crime fiction, offshore crime fiction still sets the standard for literary and addictive reading.
“A Twist in the River,” by British writer Stieg Abell, is the “Murder Ink” feature this month, and it’s a wonderfully conceived story written by a superb writer.
“Charming” is not a word usually associated with crime fiction, but “A Twist in the River” is populated with vividly drawn, rural British characters. The mystery is so expertly insoluble that if you’re anything like me, you’ll have to be pried away to eat, sleep or go to work.
I seldom, if ever, become so attached to a book that I can’t wait to get back. But I found myself reading Abell’s novel in the car at stoplights, waiting for the shower to heat up, on the toilet, at breakfast, on walks with my dog, at the barbershop and even at the dentist. Abell owned me for a few days, and he’ll capture your attention without making it obvious.
The storyline is sequential. Abell’s six or eight characters are given roles to play, but we aren’t given explicit details about them besides their functions. It’s the narrative that leads the way, and it’s the river that
floats the plot.
Jake Jackson is Abell’s po lice detective who, toward the end of his career, inher its a farmhouse from his uncle Arthur called Little Sky, some 10 miles from Meryton, a town in the English countryside. We join Jake two years later, comfortably settled on his remote estate that came with a library of crime thrillers and enough money to live comfort ably forever. Jake feels equally rewarded with a loving relationship with a lovely woman who works as a veterinarian.
Abell has defied the usual retired schizotypal fictional detective with his characterization of Jake as an uncluttered, non- competitive, mid dle-aged pensioner. He plays jazz, cooks and shows real love for his companion and her daughter. He’s liked by
everyone who knows him, and he follows years of crime-solving instinct in discovering the circumstances of identical assaults leading to the deaths of three young women in the town’s treasured river. In fact, every character we meet in “A Twist of the River” is unexceptional. What Abell has made remarkable is the ordinary concern of the residents of Meryton at the disappearance of these women gone missing a few days apart.
Abell has written a remarkable book about an unremarkable investigation. He’s not showing off his writing skills, and that’s his ingenuity. He’s a storyteller, using words and paragraphs that addict readers with simple descriptions that often boast of their rank with words that send the reader to a dictionary. He increases the unspoken distrust residents have for each other and leads his retired detective back to the basics of investigation that is destined to destroy him. Don’t miss this book; it dropped last week at Maria’s Bookshop. Ask for Maria’s generous 15% discount on Murder Ink books. You may not love this story, but you’ll love this book. ■
Thursday02
Elmore’s Farmers Market, 8 a.m.-1 p.m., 306 Florida Grange, 656 CR 172
Paint A Patriotic Mural, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Hermosa Café, 738 Main Ave.
4th of July Scavenger Hunt, 10 a.m., Downtown Durango
Movement Meditation, 10-11 a.m., White Rabbit Books & Curiosities, 128 W. 14th St., C-2
Rob Webster plays Ska-B-Q, 5-7 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.
The Spicy Pickles play Concert Hall at the Park, 5:30 p.m., Buckley Park
The Badly Bent plays, 5:30-8:30 p.m., James Ranch, 33846 Hwy 550
Dart Tournament, 5:30-9 p.m., Union Social House, 3062 Main Ave.
Durango Brewer’s Trail Race Series, 6 p.m., Horse Gulch Trailhead
“How Small Businesses and Workers Struggle for Healthcare,” free talk on Colorado universal health care, 6 p.m. zoom link: forms.gle/fQFCeCMZC81SARrGA
Jeff Solon Jazz plays, 6 p.m., Lola’s Place, 725 E. 2nd Ave.
Andrew Schuhmann plays, 6-9 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Adam Swanson plays, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Thursday Night Rides, 6:30 p.m., Durango Harley-Davidson, 750 S Camino Del Rio
Trivia Night, 6:30-8:30 p.m., The Powerhouse, 1333 Camino Del Rio
Friday03
Veterans Friday Morning Coffee, 8-10:30 a.m., American Legion, 878 E. 2nd Ave.
Paint a Patriotic Mural, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Hermosa Café, 738 Main Ave.
Leadership Circle, 9-10 a.m., The Center for Innovation, 835 Main Ave., Ste. 225
4th of July Scavenger Hunt, 10 a.m., Downtown Durango
San Juan Nature Hike, 10 a.m.-12 noon, Andrews Lake upper parking lot
Historic Fashion Show and Old Time Poker,
1:30-3:30 p.m., General Palmer Hotel, 567 Main Ave.
Oscar’s Cafe Pie Eating Contest, 4-5 p.m., Durango Beer and Ice Co., 3000 Main Ave.
Colorado Scenic Byway Photo Exhibit Open House, 4-6 p.m., Durango Welcome Center, 802 Main
Durango First Friday, 4-7 p.m., various locations Downtown Durango
Ice Cream Social, 5-7 p.m., Rotary Park
Durango Arts Center Annual Juried Member Show, opening reception, 5-7 p.m., 802 E. 2nd Ave.
First Friday Artist Showcase with Heather Delaney, music by The Whiskey Boys, 5-8 p.m., The Subterrain 900 Main Ave., Stes. E & F
Maureen May “Floorshow,” opening reception, 5-8 p.m., The Recess Gallery at Studio &, 1027 Main Ave.
First Friday ArtRoom, 5:30-7 p.m., ArtRoom Collective at The Smiley, 1309 E. 3rd Ave.
Matt Lewis plays, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Barons Creek Vineyards, 901 Main Ave.
Adam Swanson plays, 5:30-10 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Ben Gibson Band plays, 6 p.m., The Balcony, 600 Main Ave.
Disco Roller Skating, 6-8 p.m., Chapman Hill
Leah Orlikowski plays, 6-9 p.m., Fox Fire Farms Winery, 5513 CR 321, Ignacio
Reeder & Spencer play, 6-9 p.m., Union Social House, 3062 Main Ave.
Dustin Burley plays, 6-9 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Civic Winds Jazz Orchestra Concert and Dancing, 6:30-8 p.m., Rotary Park
Red, White & Bulls: Pro Bull Fighting, 7-9 p.m., La Plata County Fairgrounds
Pete Giuliani Band plays, 7-10 p.m., 11th St. Station, 1101 Main Ave.
Vinyl Night with DJ Tom Kipp, 10 p.m.-12 midnight, El Moro Tavern & Spirits, 945 Main Ave.
Saturday04
4th of July Rotary All American Breakfast, 7:30-10:30 a.m., Rotary Park
Durango Farmers Market, 8 a.m.-12 noon, TBK Parking Lot, 259 W. 9th St.
Paint a Patriotic Mural, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Hermosa Café, 738 Main Ave.
“An American Overture” Civic Winds Jazz Orchestra Concert, 9-10:30 a.m., Rotary Park
Freedom 5K Run, Stroll & Walk, 9-11 a.m., Rotary Park
4th of July Scavenger Hunt, 10 a.m., Downtown Durango
“Home of the Brave” America 250 / Colorado 150 Commemoration, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Bears Ranch, 51 Haviland Lake Road
Fourth of July Party, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Durango Harley-Davidson, 750 S Camino Del Rio
Durango Devo BBQ, Bands, Beer and Bikes, 12 noon-4 p.m., Buckley Park
Animus on the Animas Durango Boxing Classic, 12 noon-6 p.m., 10th St. Between Main Ave. and Narrow Guage Ave.
The Ultimate Halving Competition, 12:30 p.m., 11th St. Station, 1101 Main Ave.
Children’s Parade Decorating Station, 1-3:30 p.m., parade 3:30-4 p.m., Buckley Park
Durango Devo Kid’s Bike Race, 1:30 p.m., Buckley Park
Watermelon Eating Contest, 2 p.m., 11th St. Station, 1101 Main Ave.
Main Avenue Mile run, 4 p.m., Buckley Park
4th of July Parade, 4:30-5:30 p.m., Main Avenue, downtown Durango
Farmington Hill plays, 5 p.m., Mancos Brewing
Street Dance featuring Dirty Dozen Brass Band, 5-10 p.m., Transit Center, 250 W. 8th St.
Adam Swanson plays, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Matt Rupnow plays, 6-9 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
The Rev plays, 6-9 p.m., Union Social House, 3062 Main Ave.
100 Year Flood plays, 6-10 p.m., The Balcony, 600 Main Ave.
True Western Roundup Pro Rodeo, 6:30-9 p.m., La Plata County Fairgrounds
Sunday05
Paint a Patriotic Mural, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Hermosa Café, 738 Main Ave.
AskRachel
Meatball myths, at a loss and feeling fourthed
Interesting fact: It looks like the proper Italian ways to cook meatballs are to fry them or cook them directly in the sauce. Boiling them washes away flavor and fat. No bueno.
Dear Rachel,
I boil my meatballs before I put them in the sauce. I do it so all the sauce can go into the meatball slowly. It makes them even better with the sauce inside. I’m from an Italian family, and we do it our way. I see most people fry them, then into the sauce. Is it the American way to grill and fry them like a BBQ? It makes a hard crust. How do you do your meatballs? Any new ideas, bambino?
– Rocco
Dear Knock-off,
You are precisely as Italian as the Red Baron Pizza in my freezer. Calling me bambino? You are way off base, mister, if my elementary understanding of Latin-language suffixes is up to snuff. Besides, what I do with my balls is absolutely none of your beeswax. I have some new ideas for what to do with your balls, though, “Rocco.” Actually, maybe they’re not so new. But you only survive them once, so they’ll be new to you.
– The Great Bambina, Rachel
Veterans Benefit Breakfast, 9-11 a.m., VFW 4031, 1550 Main Ave.
Liberty Days Arts and Craft Festival & Music, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Buckley Park
4th of July Scavenger Hunt, 10 a.m., Downtown Durango
Old Time Croquet to Celebrate Colorado’s 150th Anniversary, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Buckley Park
“Home of the Brave” America 250 / Colorado 150 Commemoration, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Bears Ranch, 51 Haviland Lake Road
Sunday Record Brunch Club, 12 noon-3 p.m., 11th St. Station, 1101 Main Ave.
Irish Jam, 12 noon-3 p.m., Durango Beer and Ice Co., 3000 Main Ave.
Silent Sundays with Swanson on piano, 2-4:30 p.m., Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave.
The Badly Bent plays, 5-8 p.m., Dalton Ranch
Matt Lewis plays, 6-9 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Blue Moon Ramblers play, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Dear Rachel,
What the heck do you say to someone you love who has lost someone they love? All the canned phrases make me feel wooden and fake. “My condolences.” “I’m sorry for your loss.” I’d like your wisdom for next time I find myself giving awkward hugs and swallowing all the wrong words.
–Sorry for My Loss (of Words)
Dear Speechless,
Those ready-made phrases are great for people you don’t know all that well: coworkers, neighbors and (in some cases) extended family. But for the people you really love? Just say what you feel. It’s OK to say “I’m so, so sorry. This sucks.” Or, “I’m bringing dinner for you. Be there at six.” Or, “Let’s go break some stuff in my garage.”
– From the heart, Rachel
Dear Rachel, I desperately want to feel patriotic this Fourth of July, but I am having a hard time. Of course there’s so much I love about this country, and a great many of the people in it. I like what we are in theory more than in practice. Can I really put all my unease aside for some hot dogs and parades?
– Fourthed Enthuthiathm
Monday06
Happy Hour Yoga, 5:30 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.
Paul Orsi plays, 5:30-10 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Tuesday07
Movement Meditation, 10-11 a.m., White Rabbit Books & Curiosities, 128 W. 14th St., C-2
Cowboy Tuesdays, 12 noon-3 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
JB & the Fly Biscuits play, Tues., July 7, 5-9 p.m., LePlatt’s Pond, 311A CR 501, Bayfield
Durango Real Estate Meetup, 5:30 p.m., Union Social House, 3062 Main St.
Twin Buttes Tuesday, weekly group mountain bike ride, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Twin Buttes Trailhead parking lot
Rotary Club of Durango presents Rotary District 5470 Governor Donna Hood, 6-7 p.m., Strater Hotel, 699 Main Ave.
Book Club: “West with Giraffes,” by Lynda Rutledge, 6-7:30 p.m., Durango Public Library, 1900 E. 3rd Ave.
Email Rachel at
Dear Hard to Party,
Can you? Sure. Should you? Absolutely. We cannot let anyone get in the way of what the United States are really united for: we, a whole bunch of people. If you’re getting worn down, then all the more reason to take a day to celebrate what matters. It’s kind of like the Christmas spirit: carry the enthusiasm with you all year through. Or at least to Labor Day, when hopefully you get another day off to restore some energy and BBQ some meatballs like a true American.
– Chin up, Rachel
Music in the Plaza with Andrew Schuhmann, 68 p.m., Three Springs Plaza
Tuesday Trivia, 6-8:30 p.m., 11th St. Station, 1101 Main Ave.
Paul Orsi plays, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Randy Crumbaugh plays, 6-9 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Adult Disco Roller Skating, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Chapman Hill Roller Rink
Wednesday08
Wild New Way Women’s Collective with Cynthia Adams, 8:30-10 a.m., Durango Collective, 1315 Main Ave.
Purg Sports Group Ride, 5 p.m., Purgatory Sports Downtown, 2615 Main Ave.
July In-Person Book Club, “Buddha’s Bedroom,” 5-7 p.m., Four Leaves Winery, 528 Main Ave.
Ska Bingo Night, 5-7 p.m., DoubleTree Animas River Lounge, 501 Camino Del Rio
Ukulele Night, 5-7 p.m., Four Leaves Winery, 528 Main Ave.
FreeWillAstrology
by Rob Brezsny
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Archaeologists studying ancient wells have discovered that some weren’t finished in a single effort. Communities might dig to the current water table, use the well for years, then probe further down when water levels dropped or needs increased. This is a useful metaphor for you, Aries. As of yet, you don’t have the ability or tools to reach the deepest layers you aspire to reach. My counsel is to go as far as you can now and gather what you find there. Later, when you’re readier, you will build on what has come before.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The superstition that Mercury retrograde causes scrambled messages and dire mix-ups is dull and misguided. The planet’s apparent backward motion, which is happening right now, shows up about three times every year like clockwork. It’s perfectly normal! In my view, Mercury retrograde isn’t threatening unless you obsess on the idea that it is, in which case, yes, your payment might go astray, and a friend may misunderstand you. But if cultivating relaxed clarity is more fun and productive for you than fearful tension, treat the time between now and July 23 as a rich opportunity to refine, deepen and upgrade how you communicate.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): You Gemini readers have decreed that I must halt all musings about maddening, riddle-drenched ambiguity. You’ve delivered the message to me that you’re tired of wrestling with enigmas wrapped in paradoxes. Straightforward, plainspoken factualness is what you want. Well, OK. (Please remember that I don’t make this stuff up; I simply channel cosmic omens.) Maybe I’ll start obeying your orders next time. But first, I will advise you: 1. Unexpected gifts are coming from people and situations in transition. 2. Tough but friendly interventions will nudge you toward healthy course corrections. 3. Mysterious assistance is on its way.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): There are phases when the cosmic energies and I urge you to put others first . But this isn’t one of those times. Right now, sacrificing yourself for the sake of others would obstruct the flow of righteous grace into your life. So what is the most soul-honoring path available? Summon your inventive brilliance and use it to imagine generous ways to care for yourself. Shower yourself with gifts, treats and blessings. Take the loving care you so deftly pour into other people and lavish it on yourself.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Most fields of human endeavor work like this: A few people are truly brilliant, a handful are actively harmful and the majority fall somewhere between “not great” and “pretty good.” That’s true whether you’re talking about engineers, doctors, poets or astrologers. So it’s inadvisable to assume a physician is wise about your well-being just because they’ve logged 15 years or to trust your life direction to the first astrologer who catches your eye. In coming weeks, discernment matters more than usual. Balance your hoepfulness with sharp judgment. Don’t just challenge authority. Put every socalled fact under your own clear-eyed review.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Architects designing spaces for collective use try to balance two human needs: to see expansively and also have safe places to retreat. Too much exposure creates anxiety; too much enclosure brings claustrophobia. The ideal is to provide both shelter and spaciousness. Let’s use this theme as a metaphor for your life during the coming months. You’ll be wise to create an equilibrium between engagement and privacy, between vastness and protection. Make it easy for yourself to observe the larger scene and also withdraw when needed.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Self-proclaimed “skeptics” love to sneer at astrologers. And yet economists, sports analysts, trend watchers and political commentators churn out shaky predictions every day. Those professionals of probability often create more confusion than those of us who read the heavens. Take weather forecasters: From Europe to Japan, their models routinely miss floods and twisters and trigger more than a few false alarms. But do the debunkers brand them as charlatans? Forgive the outburst, but I’m building to a key foresight: Every forecast, projection or vision over the next month will miss the mark – except for this one. So free yourself of their meddling.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Ethnobotanists describe how certain Indigenous traditions work with “teacher plants.” These are flora that offer not only physical benefits but spiritual instruction. They include psychoactive substances but also ordinary plants approached with extraordinary attention. In the spirit of reinventing your education, I invite you to expand your understanding of who and what your teachers are. What ordinary elements of your daily life might offer wisdom? What situations at the edges of your awareness could bring lessons? Now is an excellent time to seek new apprenticeships.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Western science and Western religions may disagree about how the universe began, but both place its birth in the distant past. Tantra and other spiritual paths, by contrast, propose that the universe is born afresh in every instant through the sacred, erotic interplay of God and Goddess. When humans approach lovemaking as an experimental sacrament, these traditions suggest, we can tune in to the union of those primordial forces and, in a sense, take part in the continual creation of existence. So, are you ready for a bit of world-making erotic play? The current astrological indicators say yes, you are.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A common obstacle to healthy intimacy is the belief that a beloved ally should automatically know what you need, without you saying a word. I used to suffer from this delusion myself and worked hard to dissolve it. I no longer unconsciously assume that my companions are so attuned to me that they can always intuit my desires. But I know this bad idea feels romantic to many people, even though it can sabotage even the most promising bond. In the weeks ahead, Capricorn, I invite you to starve this fantasy. Your intimate world is ripe for a fresh infusion of lucid, straightforward honesty.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Your next few weeks will be sponsored by CoffeeBeer, the paradoxical elixir that both pumps up your energy and decompresses your defenses. You will be an exemplary role model for this innovative product, because you will epitomize what occurs when a sensitive soul gets excited and mellows out at the same time. I also expect you will soon be exploring intriguing opportunities that become available to you because of your supercharged calm. Fortunately, you don’t need to drink actual coffee and beer together to make this happen. The cosmic forces will be conspiring to help you.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Finish this sentence, Pisces: “The one thing that really keeps me from being myself is _______.” Is it someone’s opinion, an old story about who you are, a fear of loss, a habit of overpleasing, a secret shame, or a belief that you’re “too much” or “not enough”? Whatever first pops into your mind is probably closest to the truth. Here’s your next step: Loosen the grip of this stressor by even just 20 percent. I bet your real self will feel relaxed enough to bloom more fully.
Celebrate thi this 4th safe, , smarmart an and dresse
Great stuff from Chaco, Patagonia and Carve plus tons of patio items
Deadline for Telegraph classified ads is Tuesday at noon.
Ads are a bargain at 10 cents a character with a $10 minimum.
Prepayment is required via cash, credit card or check. (Sorry, no refunds or substitutions.)
Ads can be submitted by emailing: classifieds@ durangotelegraph.com
Announcements
Adult Roller Skating
Check out the Chapman Hill Rink schedule. We have added adult skating on Tuesday nights 6:30-8:30pm and DJ parties one Saturday each month 8:15-10 pm. Durango Roller skaters will be there to help you get rolling! Todd 970-799-013
Classes/Workshops
Sacred Psoas (Hip Flexor) Workshop
July 12, Dr. Keneen Hope - Smiley Bldg, # 32. Is your hip flexor creating back, hip or groin pain? Your psoas has everything to do with stress, fatigue, pain, sleep loss and more. Early bird ends July 5th. 303-513-8055 www.hopechiro yoga.com/workshops
Parenting Classes-Storybook Gardens 970-403-3347
ForSale
Reruns Home Furnishings
Time to refresh your indoor and outdoor space. Rolling wooden bar, nightstands, mirrors, lamps, cool artwork and lots more! Also looking to consign smaller furniture pieces. 572 E. 6th Ave. Open Mon.-Sat. 385-7336.
Wanted
Books Wanted at White Rabbit
Donate/Trade/Sell 970 259-2213
BodyWork
Massage by Meg Bush 30, 60 & 90 min Meg Bush, LMT 970759-0199
Craniosacral Therapy
New client special: 3 sessions for price of 2, anxiety relief, chronic pain, TMJ bethanybachmanntherapy.com
Lymphatic Drainage Massage
Intentional full body fluid movement. Meg Bush, LMT 970-759-0199
Services
Electric Repair
Roof, gutter cleaning, fence, floors, walls, flood damage, mold, heating service
Boiler Service - Water Heater
Serving Durango over 30 years. Brad, 970-759-2869. Master Plbg Lic #179917
Free
Free Depth Hypnosis Sessions
Looking for clarity, healing or personal growth? Former local attorney currently training as a depth hypnosis practitioner seeks practice clients. Sessions are free and confidential. Learn more at Tallgrass Collective.org.
CommunityService
Gem and Mineral Show Volunteers needed for the 72nd annual Four
Corners Gem and Mineral Show, July 1012 at the La Plata County Fairgrounds. Get free access. Visit durangorocks.org.
Young Artists - Huge Impact Market is seeking applications from youth artists 12-18 for DAC’s Durango Autumn Arts Festival, Sept.19-20. Applications at www.durangoarts.org under events. Deadline is July 17. Questions can be sent to info@durangoart.org
Dog Fosters Needed Parker’s Animas Rescue urgently needs foster families to provide temporary homes for rescued dogs. We supply all
‘How to Make a Killing’ There are more than a few cavernous plot holes but Glen Powell’s jaw line! – Lainie Maxson
necessary items, including crates, food, leashes, toys and behavioral support, and cover veterinary visits. You provide the love and guidance. Apply to become a foster today by visiting: parkersanimalres cue.com.
New kid on the block?
(Don’t worry – the Telegraph is here for you step by step.)
50% OFF one month of display ads* *1/8th page or larger • Ads start at just $80/week!
Get your business in front of thousands of adoring fans each week to make sure you’r not a one-hit wonder
For details email: missy@durangotelegraph.com
