February 2020 . Issue 9.2
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February 2020
Valley Voice
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For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
Valley Voice
February 2020
Rants...
Contents 2020 Legislative Session: Here We Go! By Dylan Roberts
Page 4
Driving Tip of the Month: Yield to Buses Page 5 By Shane Gassaway
Richard Galusha Page 6 By Sue Leonard
Ghost of Christmas Past Will Hunt Us By Scott L. Ford
Page 7
Colorado's Great Turmoil Years: Part III Page 8 By Ellen and Paul Bonnifield
Look Up! Page 10 By Karen Vail
The Real Meaning of Leftovers
Page 11
Economic Development in Hayden
Page 12
$50,000 Leap of Faith
Page 12
By Fran Conlon
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Valley Voice is published monthly and distributed on the last Wednesday of each month. Please address letters, questions, comments or concerns to: Valley Voice, LLC, P.O. Box 770743 or come by and see us at 1125 Lincoln Ave, Unit 2C, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477. Or contact Matt Scharf: 970-846-3801. Scott Ford: 970-819-9630. Website www.valleyvoicecolorado.com. Subscription rate is $40 per year (12 issues). All content © 2019 Valley Voice, L.L.C. No portion of the contents of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission from the Valley Voice.
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By Brodie Farquhar By Brodie Farquhar
Metacognition Page 17 By Wolf Bennett
How to Snowboard By Roger Freed
Page 18
No Grumbling Page 19 By Aimee Kimmey
Sweet Page 20 By Joan Remy
Weight Loss Made Easier
Page 20
Crystals - Healing Tools of the Earth
Page 21
Out of Love
Page 22
Professional Theatre in the Community
Page 23
Post Holing in the Great Alone
Page 23
Calendar of FREE Events
Page 24
By Kari Pollert
By Winter Clark
By Sean Derning
By Stuart Handloff By Patrick Curran By Eric Kemper
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Yepelloscopes Page 26 By Chelsea Yepello
Comics Page 27
The huge amount of traffic heading west from Walton Creek to 3rd at 5 pm… The Lincoln Avenue pinch… Don’t be a butt – Don’t leave a rut… Buff Pass and Rabbit Ears Pass sickened with congestion… Red light runners who generally have to stop at the next light anyway... The Cheifs. Also, the 94ers, Parkers and Tartans… NFL Hall Of Fame voters who’re biased against the Broncos. Stay out of Colorado and go vacation in Cleveland or Detroit… CDOTs attempt to improve the traffic flow on Lincoln Avenue with the installation of ’smart lights’... (It was better before they messed with it)
Raves... This year has produced some really entertaining football… A huge shout out to all the RC plow drivers, Thank you… People who do what they say they’re going to do… Great skiing day after day after day… The stories that make a legend. R.I.P. Kobe Bryant… Witnessing Karma at work...
Say What?... “How do you spell Chiefs?” “Facebook ruined reunions and basically everything else” “We could have a 1000 inch banner year!” “Do you have to be fat to ride a fat bike?” “I don’t shovel snow” “It’s the Year of the Rat. How can he not be re-elected?” “Remember, when you’re in the voting booth, the ‘R’ stands for Russia.”
We go to press February 24th for the March 2020 Edition! Send in your submissions by February 15th!
The views and opinions expressed reflect the views and opinions of the authors and may not necessarily reflect the views and opinion of the editor, staff or advertisers in Steamboat Springs’s Valley Voice. Direct all correspondence, articles, editorials or advertisements to the address below. The author’s signature and phone number must accompany letters to the editor. Names will be withheld upon request (at the discretion of the publisher). Submission is no guarantee of publication. Subscription rate is a donation of 40 measly dollars per year. However, if you wish to send more because you know we desperately need your money, don’t be shy, send us all you can! Advertisers rates vary by size, call 970-846-3801 and we’ll come visit you. Please make checks payable to: Valley Voice, LLC P.O. Box 770743 • Steamboat Springs, CO 80487 Thank you for your support!
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“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”—Oprah Winfrey
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February 2020
Organic . Healthy . Fun A Good Balanced Breakfast keeps you on your toes!
Valley Voice
State Representative/ Eagle and Routt Counties
2020 Legislative Session: Here We Go! By Dylan Roberts
taken action to fix that and will continue to do so. After passing the bipartisan Colorado reinsurance program last year, customers on the individual market in our area are seeing up to 30% reduction in monthly premiums on individual market plans. This is huge news and it has been exciting to hear from so many of you about the $200$1000 per month savings you are starting to see in this new year. Combine this with other legislation we passed to help health insurance co-ops to start forming to offer plans in our communities (look for these soon in Eagle and Routt Counties thanks to promising efforts by several local leaders and groups), progress is being made on this issue.
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Trinkets, candy, cards, gifts and jewelry for your sweetie! This month, your Colorado State Legislature began its 120 day-long 2020 legislative session. That means that all 100 legislators convene at the State Capitol in Denver to begin our constitutional duty to pass a balanced budget and tend to the business of the state of Colorado. Once again, it will be a humbling privilege to step into the Capitol to represent you, the people of Eagle and Routt Counties, in the House of Representatives.
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The relatively short session means that for my colleagues and me, the preparation has been happening for months. As you have read in past columns , that means serving on interim committees, monitoring the implementation of bills that passed last session, connecting one-on-one with community members, and conducting town hall meetings across the district.
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After a busy and productive 2019 session, you are probably wondering what is ahead for 2020. While there is no way to know exactly what we will be debating until bills start to be introduced in the weeks ahead, there are certainly some big topics already emerging.
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The first is our continued work to lower health care costs. Eagle and Routt County residents face some of the highest health insurance costs of anyone in the nation just because of where we live – that is not right and we have
Yet, we need to continue working on the underlying forces causing high health insurance costs. To that end, Senator Kerry Donovan and I passed a bipartisan bill last session that directed the state to craft a proposal for a Colorado public option for health insurance. That proposal was completed and we are now working collaboratively to craft a bill to implement a Colorado public option. In creating a public option, Coloradans will be guaranteed access to an additional option on the market, which for 22 counties including Eagle and Routt, will finally mean competition. Further, a public option could help you save between 10-18% more every month on your health insurance premiums. This bill is still being written along with a broad group of stakeholders but we look forward to introducing it in the coming weeks and passing it before the session is done in May. Another big priority for me will be economic development in rural Colorado. On day one of the session, I introduced a bill to reauthorize and expand the Rural Jump-Start economic development tax credit. The Rural Jump-Start tax credit was established in 2015 and has been a successful program that has assisted nearly 20 businesses open their doors and hire employees in rural Colorado, including Routt County. However, we need to make changes so that even more areas of the state can encourage new companies to establish roots right here in rural Colorado. I am thrilled to be sponsoring that legislation with Sen. Donovan as well Republican co-sponsors from across the aisle. You can also expect to see legislation introduced by my colleagues on a multitude of issues like school finance, transportation funding, environmental policy, family leave, and much more. To everyone who has reached out to me during this interim period whether it was during my pre-session town hall tour, individual meetings, e-mails, or phone calls, thank you. Your input truly guides me as we craft legislation and head into the 2020 session. As we continue through the coming months, please join me at a town hall meeting in your area and never hesitate to contact me to share your thoughts, criticisms, and ideas. My cell: (970) 846-3054 and e-mail: Dylan.Roberts.House@state.co.us.
Representative Dylan Roberts represents Colorado House District 26, encompassing Eagle and Routt counties. “Kind” by Maggie Smith
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
Valley Voice
February 2020
5
Town Tips
Driving Tip of the Month: Yield the Right of Way Shane Gassaway
Dispatch Supervisor, Steamboat Springs Transit But beyond mere legal compliance, yielding to buses is the moral and prudent thing to do. It’s morally admirable because, by a simple utilitarian calculation, a driver of a single passenger vehicle sacrificing thirty seconds of their time to let a bus carrying 10 passengers out of a stop collectively saves five minutes of their fellow citizens’ time.
All of us spend a fair portion of daily life in transit. We live in one location and work in another, and these may differ from where we volunteer, socialize, or recreate. The time we spend in transit is time between places, often away from the people and things we care to pass time with. That is why most of us are eager to reduce the time we spend in transit or at least avoid prolonging it. It can make us defensive of our position in the traffic queue and impatient with other vehicles on the road. It is not surprising, then, that our city buses are often unable to pull out of stops due to vehicles marching past. The bus driver activates the left turn-signal and the blinking “Yield” sign in vain: drivers coming by often do not pay heed. It is not difficult to understand why it may go this way; but it would be better for all of us if things were different. To begin with, motorists are legally obligated under Colorado law to yield to a public transit bus that is pulling out of a stop.
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During periods of high traffic volume, when the bus could be carrying three times that number, such an act of courtesy could save them a quarter of an hour. Yielding to a bus pulling out of a stop shows generosity and deference to the common good. But perhaps most important, yielding to buses is prudent. If buses can move back into traffic with ease, the bus system will run more efficiently; if buses run efficiently, more people will rely on them; if more people rely on buses, traffic congestion will diminish; and if traffic congestion diminishes, we all will get where we want to go more quickly. Hence, offering a few seconds to the bus now could save us commute time in the long run (to say nothing of reducing carbon emissions). So, the next time you see a SST bus trying to pull out of a stop, do what’s best and “give it a brake.” It’s safer for all of us and our drivers and passengers will THANK YOU!
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“Our civic society is really all we have by way of nationhood.”—Cokie Roberts
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February 2020
Valley Voice
Fine, Fine Art
Richard Galusha By Sue Leonard
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When you are a prolific painter like Richard Galusha, at some time in one’s long career, an artist’s collectors are interested in seeing a Retrospective Exhibit. This means gathering a lifetime of the artist’s work for the public to view. In the year 2020, two separate exhibitions will hang in art institutions in the United States giving collectors the opportunity to see many canvases of Colorado artist Richard Galusha. The Steamboat Art Museum, in Steamboat Springs, Colorado is currently playing host to Galusha’s Retrospective Exhibit until April 11, 2020. In May, 2020 a second exhibition will open in Abilene, Texas at the Center for Contemporary Arts. Paintings from the Wachter and Bradley collections comprise most of Galusha’s art being showcased for the month of May. Paintings include western art as well a varied mix of landscapes from mountains to oceans and faces of people from all over the world. The oils are representative of the wide range of the artist’s talent. Many art aficionados and collectors are eager to know about the background of an artist whose work they are viewing and purchasing. Thus, Galusha Studios offers a newly released book which compliments the two Retrospective exhibits and allows the art enthusiast to have a more meaningful experience. “Through the very personal biography included in 'An Artist’s Journey' and the art in the book, one feels he or she knows the artist more intimately,” says the author of the publication, Sue Leonard. The hardcover 12” X 12” coffee table sized book has two-hundred-twenty-eight pages of paintings in full color. Art educator, painter, museum founder, and art gallery owner, Galusha’s retrospective exhibition book also
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incorporates photographic images of unique lifetime experiences he’s had that many people only dream about. For instance, says Leonard, “a fortuitous meet-up with a football legend presented the artist with the opportunity to paint the athlete. What a thrill for Galusha who, as a young man on the football field, held the quarterback in great regard and wanted to be like him some day. The artist has had a storied career well worth writing about.”
"Richard Galusha: An Artist's Journey," allows the reader to walk through the door into the life of the painter from the time he was a child and spend time with his family. The biography covers his life until present day. The author states “If you have ever wondered why an artist becomes an artist, this biography is for you.” Galusha’s narrative is as entertaining as it is informative. The West Texas boy was raised in a large colorful family and as the story unfolds one begins to connect his heritage and his familial environment with how it has influenced him to live life “the artist's way.” For twenty years as a teacher this artist passed on his knowledge to his high school students and gave them an understanding of what it really takes to be an artist. His impressive design of a well-outfitted art department and classroom is a great example of how Galusha puts his professional best into everything he has ever done. What better example could his young students have had in seeing how one develops an admirable art career?
From reading the biography one will understand why Galusha connects with the subjects he paints, whether it is a landscape, a portrait, or wildlife. He has traveled the world, often far off the beaten path. His biographer says, “Once he is smitten with what he is seeing and experiencing, he prefers to capture it immediately on canvas 'en plein air' rather than in his studio.”
Those with an appreciation for art and the creative life who are unable to travel to the Retrospective exhibits will enjoy looking at the treasure of images between the covers of the publication and reading about “Richard Galusha: An Artist's Journey.” Ahhh…the beauty of a colorful art book.
Valley Voice
February 2020
7
Your Money - Your Life
Ghost of Christmas Past Will Hunt Us Well into the Future
“Let us be lazy in everything, except in loving and drinking, except in being lazy.”
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
By Scott L. Ford
Looking back over the 2019 holiday season, the financial statistics show that collectively the average American household had a very merry spending season. According to a consumer spending analysis done by MasterCard, the American consumer spent 3.4% more in 2019 than they did in 2018. This increase is touted as good economic news. Balance this good news with the reality reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that real wages (pay minus inflation) increased by only 1.1% in 2019.
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Where did this extra spending come from? It was financed chiefly from an increase in credit card debt. Without question, American households love the plastic. According to a survey conducted by MagnifyMoney, Americans took on an average of $1,325 of holiday debt in 2019. This represents an 8% increase from the previous year. The vast majority of respondents indicated that they won’t be paying off their holiday debt by January. Over 50% of consumers will take over 90 days to pay off their holiday spending financed using credit cards. The sad reality is that almost 15% indicated that they will likely only be able make the minimum payment. This simply means the 2019 holiday debt will hunt them well into the future. This group is the same group that is already deeply in credit card debt and paying the highest interest rate on that debt. The group making only minimum payments have an average interest rate of over 20%. Debt amounts were clearly split among generational lines: • Baby boomers: $606 • Gen Xers: $2,076 • Millennials: $1,215 Keep in mind that just because baby boomers only took on $606 in holiday debt this year doesn’t mean that they spent less this holiday season. It just means that they assumed less debt in doing so. They could have saved throughout the year or dipped into cash or savings to pay for holiday-related expenses.
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Besides taking on less debt, older generations are more likely to pay off their debts sooner than their younger counterparts. Baby boomers are most likely to pay off their debt within one month, while millennials are most likely to just pay the minimum balance on their accounts. About 60% of survey responders indicated that this new holiday debt was a stressor in their household. However, 80% indicated that they do not plan on limiting their use of credit cards in the future. This is a clear symptom of an addictive behavior. Without question Americans are addicted to debt. A signer of the Declaration of Independence, Patrick Henry was quoted as saying, “Give me liberty or give me death.” The average American household has re-written this sentiment to read, “Give me liberty or give me debt.” From my perspective, there is very little understanding that the borrow is absolutely a slave to the lender.
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“Remember that the most valuable antiques are dear old friends.”—H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
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February 2020
Valley Voice
Bonnifield Files
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Colorado's Great Turmoil Years: 1880 - 1940 Part III By Ellen and Paul Bonnifield
defeated 14,053 to 6,612, with only Boulder County supporting the issue.
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Following the defeat, the suffrage movement hibernated while the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, Young Women’s Christian Association, Women’s Clubs, and middleclass social and cultural organizations came to the front. These organizations were a training ground for later suffrage assaults on men’s political strong hold.
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J. B. Thompson, his wife Elza, and the Smart family, Lou, Albert, and Porter were founders of Hayden and leading organizers of Grand and Routt counties. Thompson’s sister, Mary, the wife of Territorial Governor Edward McCook, was young, in her early twenties, beautiful, and well-read and well bred. She did not fit the stereotype of a suffragette in the forefront of organizing the Colorado Suffrage Association. In a personal letter to a friend in the east she vented her frustration. “My experience in the matter has been as follows: nearly all the working women I have met, the school and music teachers, shop women and seamstresses are in favor of conferring the ballot upon their sex, but the ‘ladies’ the ‘curled darlings’ of our country are against it, and I find its bitterest opponents among our own sex. Women oppose the elevation of women! It is hard enough to fight the men who are opposed, but when those we fight for are arrayed against us with the well-known battery of words ‘unfeminine,’ ‘demoralizing,’ and ‘degrading,’ it is hard to make much headway. People are surprised here to see me take this stand, because they say, I am ‘young, feminine, delicate’.” Mrs. McCook brought Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to Colorado to campaign for the cause; however, they were viewed as unwholesome outsiders. The president of the territorial council, George A. Hinsdale, believed “suffrage would destroy the symmetry of her character.” Mary died at age 27 of tuberculous, but her short life in Colorado eventually brought lasting results. During the 1876 statehood convention, the Women’s Suffrage Association hoped to achieve the right to vote. Agipeta Vigil and Henry Bromwell introduced equal rights to the convention; however, it was voted down 24 to 8. Women did receive the right to vote in school elections and on issues affecting education. Equal suffrage was then taken to the voters in the 1877 general election. It was
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It was an uneasy hibernation. In 1881, Caroline Nichols Churchill replaced her monthly Colorado Antelope with the weekly Queen Bee, a forthright voice for women. She stated, “Young men fear emancipation will be the death blow to their pet vices and darling sins.” By 1890, several able women including Elizabeth (Baby Doe) Tabor and Elizabeth P. Ensley, an African-American, were active.
Minnie J. Reynolds, (M. J.) a New York newspaper reporter, attracted the attention of the Rocky Mountain News and they offered M. J. a job. We can only imagine the editor’s surprise when he learned M. J. was a woman. The paper moved her to the society section, but she was a superior recruiter and organizer for women’s rights. Soon she had most Colorado newspapers supporting suffrage in their editorial page. With the support of the Populist Party, women’s suffrage again went to the polls. On November 7, 1893, with 35,698 men voting “Yes” and 29,461 voting “No,” Colorado became the first state to ratify women’s suffrage. Wyoming and Utah were earlier, but they were Territories and required Congressional approval. A devastating crisis dampened the women’s victory. Bending to the wishes of J. P. Morgan, the United States government put the nation on the gold standard and stopped purchasing silver at a ratio of 16 to 1 oz of silver to gold. In June 1893, England stopped purchasing silver for its India mint. Within four days, silver price dropped from eighty cents to sixty cents per ounce. Over a threeday period, July 17-19, twelve Denver banks closed their doors. More than 45,000 miners were out of work in a single month. Of the 435 hard rock mines in the state, 377 closed and never reopened. At Aspen, 2000 miners lost their jobs; only 200 remained working. Over one-half of Leadville’s miners were out of work and one fourth of the population moved away. Creede went belly up. The high rolling spender and multimillionaire H. A. W. Tabor lost everything. Following the Civil War, the serious study of science came to the forefront. New fields of sociology, psychology,
Valley Voice
February 2020
9
“Young men fear emancipation will be the death blow to their pet vices and darling sins.” - Caroline Nichols
economics, political science, and others caught on. The older studies of chemistry and physics became more solidly based. Philosophy and literature challenged older customs. Even more dangerous for social morals: one of the first commercial uses of vulcanization of rubber was the sale of contraceptives. New birth control quietly gave women more freedom for sexual activity endangering older moral standards.
In sharp contrast, it was the zenith of “Victorian” moral and social standards and a religious revival. Colorado’s elite were more Victorian than the English. Social forces collided. In the fight, the “better class” turned to “Blue Laws” and censorship. Anthony Comstock, with financing from J. P. Morgan and Samuel Colgate, pressured Congress into passing the Comstock Act that prohibited sending obscene material through the mail. Working as postal inspector, Comstock and his lieutenants interpreted obscenity to include a vast range of material. The censorship went far beyond sex. Private letters were inspected and violators punished with heavy fines and detention. Publications were closely scrutinized. Despite vigorous enforcement, the empire of evil continued to grow.
Fearing the Pope was planning to conquer America and destroy Protestant churches and capitalism, Henry F. Bowers organized the American Protective Association (APA). Capitalizing on social fear and economic hard times, the American Protective Association preached hated of for,eigners who were accused of harboring un-American ideas and radical philosophy. Immigrants from many countries were classified as a different race of poorer breeding. Through the Law and Order League, the Republican Party attacked the Populists as socialists and anarchists deliberately fostering lawlessness, fermenting a spirit of anarchy, and destroying the functions of the courts. Under the leadership of A. W. McIntire, a Conejos County political functionary, the party promised to redeem the state from Catholics, outside labor agitators, and disgrace. Business was assured of stability and investment opportunities. Labor was promised laws assuring safe working conditions, an eight-hour day, and good pay. Women voting for the first time were asked, “How can any earnest, self-respecting Christian, man or woman, vote for the blasphemous, Sabbath-desecrating, Christ-libeling candidate for governor who the Populist have on their ticket? Women must uphold virtuous government, and it was common knowledge that Waite spiced his conversation generously with expletives and the Populists consumed alcohol at their rallies.” Women joined the American Protective Association and elected a Republican who promised to defend Colorado’s true morals. Following the election, the APA attempted to purge the state of Catholics, Populists, and organized labor along with socialists/anarchists/communists. The boom of gold mines at Cripple Creek and the discovery of new gold mines at Leadville rejuvenated Colorado’s hard rock mining. Labor unrest at Cripple Creek culminated in a serious labor war between the Western Federation of Miners and El Paso County deputies – thugs recruited by Soapy Smith. Unlike other strikes, the state militia
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Dora Lewis was from a prominent Philadelphia family. She held a series of high offices in the National Woman's Party. She was arrested several times for suffrage actions. She served three days in jail for picketing in July 1917; was arrested Nov. 10, 1917 and sentenced to 60 days; was arrested at the Lafayette Square meeting in August 1918, and sentenced to 15 days; and was arrested during the watchfire demonstrations of January 1919, and sentenced to five days in District Jail.
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Union leadership realized the necessity of remaining peaceful and took steps to keep it peaceful. Owners placed money in the right places and produced the violent results. On September 21, 1896, the residents of Leadville were shaken out of bed by a loud explosion at the Coronado Mine. It was under attack, gunfire mixed with dynamite explosions and fire raged within the city limits. Fighting spread to nearby mines. It was open warfare.
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camped between warring factions and refused to take sides. Unable to break the strike, mine owners agreed to a contract and peace returned. The Mine Owners Association wanted revenge. During the mining depression, Leadville miners willingly took a pay cut. With the return of prosperity, they wanted wages returned to $3 per day. John F. Champion and Eben Smith organized the owners and businessmen. The APA was used to divide the Irish Catholics and the Cornish miners. The anti-union and pro-APA pushed the Citizens Ticket to victory in the election. Sheriff Newman and District Judge Frank W. Owers were shoved aside. Pinkerton and Thiel detectives infiltrated the Cloud City Miner’s Union. One spy, James Tippet, became a union official.
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At the day’s end, three strikers were dead. The Coronado burned to the ground and never reopened. Scabs were soon brought in from the lead mines in the Ozarks. The State Guard arrived to assist the Citizens Committee forcing all union members from Colorado. The Union was defeated, but labor warfare would only become more frequent and violent. Next month we will look at a truly big labor war and its direct impact on Routt County.
“The best thinking has been done in solitude. The worst has been done in turmoil.”—Thomas A. Edison
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February 2020
Valley Voice
'Boat Almanac
Look Up!
Photos by Karen Vail
By Karen Vail
Clouds are also categorized by their height in the troposphere. The levels of clouds play a huge role in determining the weather that might be moving in, so it is worth your time to be comfortable with the most impactful clouds and layers. An easy tip to remember is the higher the clouds, the drier the air is in general and the less likely imminent rain is. Higher clouds tend to be very fine, white and thin. If the clouds lower or darken, then the weather could deteriorate, so pay attention! If the sky is full of a variety of cloud types in different levels, the weather is very unsettled.
Intense cumulonimbus with mammatus clouds Have you looked up today? The sky offers an amazing kaleidoscope of ever-changing interest. We should all get into the habit to monitor the sky alerting us to changing weather. Over the years I have learned a few tricks of the weather forecasting trade, but was not quite sure how accurate they were. So, of course, I did some research… There are many excellent books written, and websites dedicated to, weather. Here I will try and simplify a lot of technical information and focus on what you should pay attention to for a safe and comfortable outing. By looking for basic patterns in cloud type and wind patterns you can learn to tell when pressure is changing and storms are approaching.
Low level clouds are found typically below 6,500 feet and are water droplets, supercooled droplets (see last months article on Frost and Ice) or, when the weather is REALLY cold, ice crystals. The two main cloud types are stratus, which develop horizontally, and cumulus, which develop vertically. Stratus clouds are generally diffuse and dull, looking like fog in the sky. Watch their progression. If the haze lightens and passes away, no problem! If the clouds darken and lower, precipitation is not far behind. Once they drop precipitation, they become nimbostratus clouds. Because nimbostratus clouds are formed during warm, moist air moving over a large area of a warm front, and warm fronts move slower than cold fronts, these clouds indicate a slow, steady rain or snow over a prolonged period. Stratus clouds descending to the ground are called fog. Cumulus, in their puffy phase, are fair weather clouds. A great visual of cumulus is of many
An unstable sky rising bubbles of relatively warm air. Descending air surrounding the bubbles experiences heating and drying and causes the cloudless spaces in between the puffs. This method of forming is why are they considered convection clouds. But watch them, especially if they begin to grow early in the day! If they grow upward, their cloud system is becoming more unstable and this is when some serious weather can occur. If the cloud top remains cauliflower shaped and white, with the base level and smooth, chances are there will be only a couple of local showers. But if the top becomes wispy (sign of ice formation high in the troposphere) and the bottom ruffled or bulging (sign of even more instability), take cover. This is a cumulonimbus cloud and could produce a whollop of a storm. Medium level clouds (with the prefix “alto”, medium) occur between 6,500 and 20,000 feet. The two main cloud types here are altostratus and altocumulus and, depending on a number of factors, can be water droplets, ice crystals or a mixture. Clouds in this range are very important
A cloud is just a bit of visible moisture (water droplets or ice particles) in the sky. When warm air rises, swells and cools, clouds are formed. The name of a cloud usually describes its appearance. An Englishman named Luke Howard started classifying clouds using Latin terms in the early 19th century. Clouds form three basic patterns: • Cirrus, from “cirro,” meaning curly or fibrous. • Stratus, from “strato,” suggesting sheets or layers. • Cumulus, from “cumulo,” indicating heaped or piled. There are a few other terms we can throw in here to make more combinations possible. “Nimbus” refers to clouds that produce precipitation. So, a cumulonimbus cloud would be a cumulus cloud producing rain. “Fractus” is fractured or broken, and “Mammatus” are drooping pouches often seen under the dark bottoms of severe thunderstorms. “Lenticular” looks like lentils capping mountain tops. More on these later.
Cirrus & cirrostratus clouds For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
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Building comulonimbus clouds to observe as they often tell you if there is rain or snow approaching. Medium level clouds also occur as a storm or weather system is moving out of the area, or when bad weather is passing nearby. Altostratus clouds appear as gray or bluish cloud sheets or layers of striated or fibrous clouds that totally or partially cover the sky and washes out the sky, giving rise to the term “watery sky.” These clouds are thin enough to hazily reveal the sun, do not produce a halo around the sun, and you cannot see your shadow. Very occasionally a light precipitation reaches the ground, but these are, mostly, the precursors of storms to come if you see these clouds darkening or lowering. See “nimbostratus” above. Altocumulus, to me, are the most beautiful clouds. They appear as lines of diffuse puffballs covering all or parts of the sky. Watch these clouds pass in front of the sun or moon as a colorful corona appears with a red ring to the outside and blue to the inside. Altocumulus are a very common cloud type and can appear as several layers in the sky and are often mixed with other cloud types. They are often called a “mackerel sky” as their patterns look like the scales of the fish. High level clouds (with the prefix “cirro”) occur above 20,000 feet and are composed primarily of ice crystals which makes them appear thin and wispy or streaky compared to lower level clouds so these clouds do not block sunlight. The three main high-level clouds types are cirrus, cirrostratus and cirrocumulus. The wispy, feathery look of cirrus clouds earns them the name mare’s tail clouds. These are often the very first sign of an approaching storm. If these wispy clouds continue to fill out the sky, forming cirrostratus clouds, then within the next three days these clouds could lower into altostratus and precipitation could develop (hence the common term 3-day clouds for cirrus clouds). So again, patience is key. Watch the development of clouds over time to really gauge the patterns of weather. Cirrostratus clouds produce a ring or halo around the sun or moon because of their ice crystals. Often the cirrostratus clouds are so thin that only the
presence of a halo is a signal they are up there. Cirrostratus clouds are very similar in appearance to altocumulus, with smaller “puffs” (called cloudlets!). Cirrocumulus are usually the most short-lived cloud in the sky so not often seen. Clouds of vertical development start with fluffy cumulus and, through strong upward drafts carrying water vapor, morph into huge towering cloud formations called cumulus congestus. If they develop into the intense summer storms deluging the earth with intense storms, they become cumulonimbus. These storms can be the scariest as far as their ferocity, but they are typically very short lived (as compared to a nimbostratus drizzle lasting hours to days). So, watching and accurately predicting the development of a cumulonimbus related storm could literally mean life or death. Cumulonimbus occur most often in the summer months, but we can get thundersnow. We had a beauty of a thundersnow storm last October, and these storms are typically produced in spring and fall months when the air beneath the clouds is warmer than the air in the upper layer clouds. The cumulonimbus must be lower than a typical thunderstorm, and the warmer air temperature must still be cold enough to form snow. So, you can imagine how rare these perfect conditions occur. The lightning during thundersnow is purplish-blue, rather than the whiter lightning of summer.
Long ago was the call for a clean plate, No waste could be allowed to slip by, Think of the poor who had to wait, Another tally of the world's moral eye. That saw need unfilled while others indulged, With copious dishes and extra food that's spoiling, Gaunt child figures with large hollow eyes, Pleading for scraps while I am roiling. But now there's freeze dried, Amazon, Fed Ex, No delay in telling the plan, Planes deliver a half world away, Just don't shake the custard flan. Leftovers no longer need cause a shout, We eat less and do take-out. (We'll do fondue with a bamboo fork, All can participate in this culinary sport.) No left-overs.
There we have the basics of clouds. Remember, just because you know how to identify clouds, doesn’t mean you can accurately predict weather. A single cloud usually doesn’t say all that much… but combined with a SEQUENCE of changes in the architecture of the sky you can get a real sense for shifting patterns. We now need to add wind to really understand the movement of clouds/ weather. That, along with some other cool sky sightings, will come in next month’s article. Look up! We’ll see you on the trails.
Hayden
Steamboat Springs Walden
Meeker
“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky”—Rabindranath Tagore
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Valley Voice
Economic Development Always a Challenge By Brodie Farquhar
Through much of my journalism career, I’ve found myself in communities that were challenged by economic disruptions. In Salida, it was a closed railroad yard. In Buena Vista, it was the closure of the moly mine at AMAX near Leadville. In Creede, the silver mines had been closed for awhile, but then a mining company pulled out big equipment which had produced large tax revenues. Over in Eaton, the sugar beet market collapsed, and with it went many family farms. In Sierra Vista, AZ, the base closure review threatened a major part of Fort Huachuca. In northwest Kansas, small towns literally died when they lost their schools. In coal-producing Wyoming, a popular bumper sticker says “Please Lord, give us another boom and we won’t waste it.” And now, the coal industry is in trouble in Colorado as well. Here in northwest Colorado, the economic forces of cheap natural gas and drastically falling costs associated with wind and solar energy, not to mention battery technology, and a perfect storm is building. Tri-State has announced plans to close coal-burning power plants by 2030, and with them, the local coal mines that supply the coal. Local governments and schools are looking at major losses of tax revenue. There’s a fair bit of wailing and gnashing of teeth going on, and that’s understandable. It could get very bad, but that’s not necessarily so. Most of the communities I mentioned above have weathered their storms and emerged with stronger, vibrant economies. Salida has become a center for the arts and is filled with art gallaries, shops and restaurants. Buena Vista celebrates river and mountain recreation. Eaton is hard to distinguish from the sprawling developments from Greeley and Windsor. Sierra Vista fended off base closure and continues to grow. Wyoming’s boom has shifted from coal to fracking for oil and gas.
• An industrial park with water and sewer hookups in place, as well as paved streets.
$50,000 Leap of Faith By Brodie Farquhar
• Lots of room for housing – single family, duplexes – and the infrastructure to support that growth.
Last month, the Hayden Town Council took a $50,000 leap of faith.
• As property costs continue to rise in the ‘Boat, Hayden looks better and better for families, businesses and investors alike. The commute isn’t that bad, and expanded bus services make it easier.
The council told the Hayden School Board that the town would buy the old high school for $50,000, without first holding an election that asked voters to approve an additional 1 percent sales tax that would pay for repairs and operations of the proposed community center.
• A new school is going to attract new families from the ‘Boat, while the conversion of the old high school into a community center/theater/gym will add to Hayden’s quality of life. • Demolition of the old middle school is going to open up three acres of space that can be developed in the heart of Hayden. A hotel would be nice and support the concept of attracting people to performances at the theater, then stay overnight and not mess with late-night driving. Low cost housing for teachers would improve the stability and quality of teachers in Hayden. • Investors like Paul Brinkman are working with Hayden businesses like the brewery and the Granary. Hayden may very well be approaching a kind of critical mass that bodes well for the future. Yes, it will hurt when the power plant and mines close. Good friends and neighbors may move away. But those miners and power plant operators have valuable skill sets (and a reputation for hard work) that can and should be tapped and used in the region. The hands that dug or burned coal can build homes, dig trenches for fiberoptics, build factories, even install solar power and battery storage. Other communities and regions have worse hands to play than we do.
Creede reinvented itself and transitioned from mining town to tourism and entertainment – the Creede Repertory Theater attracts visitors from all over the country to plays, art galleries, restaurants and spectacular scenery. Yet the high plains communities of Kansas and Colorado face serious challenges: kids leave and don’t come back, weather is iffy (worse with climate change) and ground water continues to decline. Hard to attract new business or industry. So what about Hayden’s prospects? What do we have to work with? • A regional airport that brings in tourists for Steamboat, as well as a fixed-base operation catering to growing private jet travel.
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Hayden, Colorado - 1942
The idea is to convert the gym, auditorium, stage, and surrounding classrooms into a multi-purpose community center. The vote to approve a sales tax would be in November, 2020. But don’t expect the town to cut a check for $50,000 any time soon. According to Town Manager Matt Mendisco, the school board needs to take several official steps before the transaction can be finalized. The school property that encompasses the current high school and middle school needs to be formally subdivided into two parts. One part will be the newer parts of the building that the town wants to buy. The second part is the older part of the building that will be demolished and debris carted away. That demolition would create a vacant property of over three acres that the school board could sell it off to a developer. When the demolition is done at the end of this school year, the town will buy the school property it wants and build a wall to seal it off from the demolished property. Mendisco said formal ballot language needs to be sent to the county clerk in July – to appear on the November ballot. “Once we send the ballot language, then the town council and government can no longer advocate for the sales tax. We can advocate right up to that point,” he said. Citizens of Hayden can formally organize and advocate for the sales tax. If the sales tax is not approved by voters, the town will still own the former school property, but repairs and operations would be severely limited. So far, council and school board members are uniformly in favor of the sale and sales tax. A poll last year indicated that 85 percent of the public was in favor of creating a community center from the school property.
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Hayden, Colorado
Knowls Mt. Werner Circle
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Mensan Musings
Metacognition By Wolf Bennett Change blindness blindness There is a surprisingly simple and yet vastly difficult phenomena to explain. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) pointed out that, “It is far easier to fool a person than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.” As I have been writing in most of the articles here in the Valley Voice, “your brain does not work in the way that you think it does.” Memory is not a video recorded on some sort of “reel” of film to be accessed at a later date despite what most people think. Memory is actually more like a series of mixed details taken randomly from a series of “snapshots” that are then “rebuilt” into a sort of “story line” that you then “remember.” You also adapt and build your memories from other people’s experiences and favorite stories that you learned or saw somewhere. Memory is best understood as a process of reconstruction rather than one of reproduction. You create a story in your mind far more than you hear a recording. Consequently your memory can be misled quite easily. Interestingly, the greater your inclination to totally believe that your memory is accurate, the more likely and the more easily you can be fooled. Should you “believe” that your memory or story line is totally “true,” you will be most likely to “know” your thoughts are absolute (even though completely flawed). You can then be misled quite readily into vastly absurd concepts. Voltaire said, “The man who can make you believe absurdities can make you perform atrocities.” Change blindness blindness has to do with viewers failing to detect (sometimes surprisingly dramatic changes) to a visual scene. The fact that people could be “change blind” was so counter-intuitive that even visual scientists were inclined to doubt the reality of the phenomenon. Today, change blindness is an established part of cognitive psychology. Change blindness blindness refers to the fact that people tend to be ignorant of their change blindness. This effect has been playing with people’s minds long before psychologists became formally aware of such phenomena. One way of demonstrating the effect is through a “Flicker paradigm.” This is when you take two similar scenes with just a few discrepancies between them and then alternate them, even quickly, when the images should be obviously different. Detecting the changes is surprisingly difficult. It is so difficult and counter intuitive that when a team of psychologists tried to publish their results in the mid-90s, their results were initially rejected by other psychologists. Audiences consistently overestimate their ability to detect the hidden methods behind “magic” illusions (even those that they create themselves). People sometimes interpret these kinds of results as demonstrating that your perception is “broken” or your memory is “flawed.” They are really the result of a fairly dependable and a mostly effective cognitive system that works with complex and confusing information every day,
all day long, enough so that you need sleep to “sort” it all out and create a story. The story your brain creates is not as whole as you might think as our brains don’t like an unfinished story, so a common thing that it does is create an ending even if it is greatly detached from reality. Dreams are fascinating things to study. They have been “interpreted” and given great significance for thousands of years. Even drug induced dreams that clearly distort your thinking are given great credence. Once you see them through the framework of denial, indoctrination, concept, training, addictions, brain function and belief structures, the flaws will rise to the surface. It is possible to appreciate the intricacies of human memory and perception, while considering the systems’ limits and eccentricities. Reality is often stranger than we imagine. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, of Sherlock Holmes fame, was well known for his will to believe in the paranormal. Even though he was quite intelligent and well educated, he fell for tricks time and again. He even went so far as to discredit the proof that he had been fooled, insisting that he had seen the “real” thing the first time. He went on even further to rail against coverage of the demonstrations… “It is time which will prove our cause.” “Time will also prove to those who have misrepresented us that they are playing with fire. They are not judging the unseen. The unseen is judging them.” Is this not very similar to what we see on tweets and in facebook posts all the time? Um, the “unseen is judging us,” really? A universal Santa Claus watching and intervening? He goes further. “When I talk on this subject I’m not talking about what I believe. I’m not talking about what I think. I’m talking about what I know. There’s an enormous difference between believing a thing and knowing a thing, and talking about things that I’ve handled, that I’ve seen, that I’ve heard with my own ears. And always mind you in the presence of witnesses, all of whom have seen and heard the same things that I have done.” It is quite easy to take dim view of his scientific reasoning skills in this quote but how often do we hear similar statements from politicians, religious leaders and people who benefit from deceptions even if they might believe even their own deceptions. Have you done the same? The blind leading the blind who learned to see from the blind sort of reality?
cobbled together coherent story line and has an ending based on random details that it chooses to weave together. Thus the tools and training we use to train our brains are critical. It has been demonstrated that in the process of recalling events, people mistakenly integrate imagined elements into their memories – even if those fictional memories can “feel” exactly like true memories. They can even be persuaded to believe that they committed a crime or not. How can you “correct” some of these types of deceptions to give more reality and awareness in your world? Thinking skills my friends. Skepticism in the face of questionable claims. Not cynicism but open, honest questioning of yourselves. Learning to ask questions and think about responses. Real communication, not little blurbs in some text message but some hard, questions that force you to think and force you to reconsider your positions. Question your beliefs by digging into their origins and fallacies and admit that they could be heavily flawed and then toss them out when you find out that they really don’t work or are bizarre when compared to facts that we do know. Educate yourselves on more than one subject and remember that we are all beginners. Take the time to step back from your current reality and smell the roses. Learn to meditate and get into a regular practice. It is simply learning to control your mind by allowing thoughts and feelings to simply pass by. It is not “thinking nothing” though that is not a bad state to attain. Learn how to think and less of what to think. Have fun out there and enjoy the powder.
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Conan Doyle’s reactions to the hoaxes are clearly problematic, but they are a wonderful example of a psychological phenomena known as “metacognitive illusions.” Metacognition is the idea of thinking about thinking. By extension, metacognitive illusions occur when people hold mistaken beliefs about their own cognitive systems. We all tend to feel like we are experts about the nature of our own perceptions and memories. After all, we generally perceive things and remember things successfully throughout most of our day-to-day lives. However, in many cases our intuitions about our own thinking can be surprisingly unreliable – we are not nearly as observant as we think we are and our memories are greatly flawed. Surveys reveal that more than half of the general public agree with the idea that memory works like a video camera accurately recording events that we see and hear so we can inspect them later. It can feel like that is what is happening – unfortunately, your brain is telling you a story that it has built on a
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How to Snowboard By Roger Freed
First you’ll need to get yourself a deathboard…. uh snowboard. This is a layered fiberglass board that has been specially processed and curved to look super cool and get down a mountain superfast. One little known fact about snowboarding is that you do not really have to risk life and limb going downhill on it to be considered cool by your friends. Simply display your snowboard prominently in your living room where drinking buddies and girls can glance at it admiringly, oohing and aahing over its gnarliness.
Despite the fact that you hate the cold, hate putting on piles of clothing and hate rocketing yourself off a mountain at the speed of sound because it could possibly kill you, you still have to look cool for your friends. Snowboarding is a great way to accomplish all that. So, if you must take up the sport, here are a few tips that may help you survive.
For those of you who want to take the plunge, so to speak, and actually ride it downhill, here are some important tips: (Note: If you don’t have the cash to buy a snowboard, your mom’s old ironing board will work. Just gnarly it up with spray paint and decals and no one will ever catch on,
except maybe your pals who come by to “ooh” and “aah” over it. In that case, just get them drunk enough beforehand and you won’t have any problems.)
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The bottom of the snowboard should normally be smooth. Some boarders rework the bottom removing gouges and holes to make it travel smoother and faster. This is suicide. As an experienced snowboarder, let me say you do not want this flying harbinger of death going any faster than it needs to. Most mountain trails are littered with trees and rocks placed there by ski officials who want to weed out the poorer skiers and purify the ski racing stock. These trees and rocks will work amazing transformations on your face and limbs if you give them a chance. I say take a chisel and put MORE gouges and pits in it! The more the merrier. The more friction you can create, the less chance you have of accidentally French kissing a birch. Next, you’ll need bindings. Bindings were invented by sadistic snowboard engineers who get a perverse delight at the thought of having a person’s feet fastened tightly to a snowboard as it careens uncontrollably down a mountain at warp speed towards whatever gruesome fate awaits them while they try vainly to stop themselves from the horrible sudden death stop that lurks somewhere ahead. Bindings lock your feet to the board and thereby also lock the possessor of the feet to all manner of physical objects that the board will encounter in its mad flight, much in the same way kamikaze pilots were bolted into their airplanes before making their last and most dramatic flight.
Most importantly, you’re gonna need a helmet to protect the brain. In the case of most snowboarders, however, you’ll find that this is a trivial thing. Scientific evidence suggests that choosing this sport in the first place is a strong indicator that there isn’t much up there to protect F in the first place. Goggles also are another basic essential. However, I recommend blacking out the eye pieces to save you from the effects of the trauma you will experience as you see your karma rushing towards you. If you’re short on cash, a couple of kid’s pirate patches will do nicely.
" c a
If you do miraculously make it to the bottom alive while still possessing most of your bodily parts, you may just feel inspired to start your own religion.
" i
W o Well, that’s it. You are set to go. Spend the remainder of d your paycheck buying a lift ticket to get you to the top of d the mountain. As you gaze in terror at the abyss below waiting for you to leave your own distinctive trail prints T (which may or may not include bits of flesh and blood), it h is always wise to say a prayer or conduct whatever reli- c gious ceremony you do in your head in times of extreme danger. If you aren’t religious already, I recommend con- T verting to a sect of your choosing immediately. In fact, to s cover all your bases, you might want to say your prayers s to several different supreme beings even if you haven’t b V been in a house of worship in your life.
A stunning horse at the Denver Stock Show!
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
"
Valley Voice
February 2020
19
Tales from the Front Desk
No Grumbling By Aimee Kimmey
"Hm!" The woman's glare squashed any further argument. "... I guess we'll just bill the Conference then." Processing the keycard, the clerk did her best to ignore the foul mood wafting at her. "Here you go, you're in 215." She held out the keycard, smiling to the best of her ability. The woman shook her cane. "I can't do stairs!" Inhaling slowly, the clerk retracted the keycard and looked back at her computer. "Okay. Well... 130 is right down the hall?" "I'll need someone to carry my suitcase." The woman's stare drilled into the clerk. "I'm sorry, we don't actually have a porter." The woman shrugged, "I guess you'll have to do it, I can't lift anything over 10 pounds." To be fair, the woman was elderly, and she did use a cane... Taking a deep breath, the clerk stood. "Okay." Her partner threw her a surprised look, the clerk shrugged. This woman was just lucky they weren't busier.
"I want one of the BWAA rooms!" The woman with the cane hobbled to the front desk, barking commands without any preamble.
Following the woman to her car, the clerk noticed the woman's shoes; at least three inches of stacked heel. No wonder she couldn't do stairs, those things looked treacherous. Evidently the cane was just for beating up orphans and puppies.
Which, the clerk thought, was an excellent way to start off on the wrong foot. She was the fifth customer today demanding one of the Conference's pre-paid rooms. Evidently rudeness was a celebrated trait with them.
Outside, the woman popped the trunk of a behemoth car and stood back. The clerk's eyes bulged; the suitcase in the trunk was massive! Of course the woman couldn't lift it, the damn thing looked like it weighed 50lbs.
The clerk smiled warmly, "Hi." She said pointedly. I mean, how freakin' hard is it to say 'Hello'?! "We'll just need a card for incidentals."
The clerk leaned in to the trunk, she hefted, it barely budged. Bracing herself, the clerk heaved again, and again, until she finally hoisted the monster out of the car. The woman watched without a flicker of emotion on her painted face.
Front Desk. Saturday. 3:18 pm.
The woman's penciled on eyebrows arched into a shocked scowl. She had clown red lipstick painted above her lips, startling green eyeshadow, and bottle black hair with bright white roots. It made the clerk think of Cruella De Vil.
"What?" The woman roared as if she might start breathing fire. "The room's already paid for!" "We just need one on file..."
Thank God the thing had wheels! Huffing, the clerk rolled the suitcase back into the hotel, guiding the woman down to 130. As they reached the door, the woman pulled up short. "Oh no, I simply can't stay on this side of the hotel. I must have another room."
She turned around, still tugging the giant suitcase. Back at the front desk, her partner helped another guest. The clerk shot her co-worker a foul look, the girl stifled a snicker. The clerk browsed the available rooms. "137 is open...?" The woman waved her hand, clearly the question was beneath her. The clerk made the adjustments to the key card yet again. Her smile faltering over her grinding teeth. A string of obscenities drifted through the back of her mind. She pushed them down. Leading the way, the clerk tugged the giant suitcase back down the hall to 137. When they got there, the woman pushed through the door, leaving the clerk to flounder as the door came swinging back at her. The woman looked around the room, inspecting every inch. She stopped cold when she got to the complimentary coffee service, "Oh no, this won't do. I'll need more coffee than this!" The clerk could feel her face curling into a fierce scowl. "Leave the bag; you can fix it when you bring the coffee back." The woman waved her off. For a second the clerk opened and closed her mouth, like a fish floundering in the air. The woman turned back to her inspection of the room as if the clerk had already gone. Grousing under her breath about complimentary coffee and the unpleasant places is should go, the clerk stomped past the front desk. Her partner had finished helping the other guests. "No grumbling!" she teased as the clerk marched past. Without breaking stride, or her unfriendly tirade, the clerk treated her partner to a single finger salute. The girl giggled. After dropping off the extra coffee to 137, the clerk finally returned to the front desk and flounced down with a huff. She'd always tried to treat every guest with kindness and consideration. But every now and then, there were the special ones... Before her partner could even ask for the sordid details of 137, the woman appeared, tottering toward them, thumbing her cane fiercely. "No." She blurted, "I simply can't do it. I won't stay here." The clerk smiled, suddenly filled with more joy than she'd felt all day. The thought of this woman becoming somebody else's, anybody else's problem warmed her heart. She jumped up to hurry around the counter. "Great, let me get that bag for you!"
The clerk swallowed several unpleasant words, feeling her eye twitch just a bit. "Okay... Let's go see what else is open..."
“In America few people will trust you unless you are irreverent.”—Norman Mailer
20
February 2020
Valley Voice
Wellness Corner
Weight Loss Made Easier By Kari Pollert POWERED BY LOCALS!
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2620 South Copper Frontage
Poetry
Sweet By Joan Remy
There’s a friend who periscopes Our wavelengths coincide He creates art constantly Small talk makes us laugh Sounds in and out of tune We like Earth to a degree Standing on the edge Of somewhere Sharing dreams Strutting down Boardwalk Place Santa Cruz We're anonymously famous
I’m a month late with this New Year’s resolution topic!. I guess it’s typical, we resolve to do something and it takes a month to get it off the ground!. But better late than never! Weight loss probably ranks up there in the top 3 of New Year’s resolutions. You want to lose weight and have tried in the past, probably many times, only to have limited success, or to later find that the weight you lost creeps back on. This can be very frustrating! I want to share a few tips with you that have worked for me over (many) years. I struggled with my weight for decades, going back to my high school years. College years too. Dieting and counting calories and quantities were always the chores that came with the goal. But what inevitably happened was that I would diet for two weeks, lose 5 pounds, then feel so deprived that I would binge on all the foods (read: sweets and breads) that I had eliminated, and then gain 10 pounds back! So I learned many years ago that dieting doesn’t work. What did work was to think of this as a life-theme, a health-theme. Many of the habits we have that keep excess weight on, are habits from childhood. Sugar, breads, and sweets are a huge part of how most people grow up. So changing these life-long habits needs to come from a desire to eat and live healthier. A big part of the weight loss theme is about preventing whip-saws in your blood sugar everyday. These dramatic ups and downs lead to excess hunger and food cravings. Proteins, fats, fruits, and vegetables help you maintain more consistent and level blood sugar. Here are 5 things to focus on to greatly improve your results: 1) Cut way down on grains, and eliminate wheat. Wheat is a very changed grain from the wheat of 50 years ago. Smaller amounts of other grains such as brown rice, rice crackers, organic corn chips or corn tortillas, oats, millet, etc. are much healthier. Yes, there are foods that you may miss, and you probably won’t do as much dessert-making as you used to, but there are substitutes that take the
2) Don’t be afraid of fats and oils. I’m speaking of healthy fats and oils, not high-heat processed cooking oils or partially-hydrogenated fats. Cook with olive oil, coconut oil, or butter. Not with sunflower, safflower, canola, or corn oils unless they are cold pressed and organic. Also, animal fats have wrongly been given a bad name. Just because a fat may be a saturated fat, that doesn’t mean it is bad for you. Hydrogenated saturated fats are the ones that are bad for you, not animal fats. If animal fats were unhealthy for humans, we would have died out a very long time ago! The low-fat era of the 80s and 90s just made people eat more carbohydrates, which contributed to weight gain, high triglycerides, and diabetes. 3) Don’t eat after dinner. Give your digestive system a chance to catch up with business. If we are eating and snacking right up until we go to bed, and then eat again first thing in the morning, our gut never gets a rest. Better quality sleep is another bonus of not eating after dinner. Skip the dessert and have a cup of relaxing tea. If you are truly hungry after dinner, have one of your protein foods. 4) Learn to tune into your body’s full-meter. If you pay attention to your stomach at a meal, it will tell you when to stop eating. And as we all know, if we ignore our fullmeter, we end up uncomfortably full. If you have to leave food on your plate, just put it back in the fridge, and take it for lunch the next day. 5) Eliminate sugary drinks and juice. This includes sodas, sweet tea, sports drinks, sweetened coffee, fruit juice, and fruit drinks. Sweet drinks should be seen as a special treat now and then. Don’t consume them everyday. Don’t drink breakfast juices everyday, only occasionally. For sweetness, try stevia, or a little honey or maple syrup. And steer clear of artificial sweeteners. So as you can see, the focus here is more on proteins and less on carbohydrates. But keep the fruits, vegetables, nuts and good fats. This food plan/theme will help you feel more relaxed, satisfied, and in-control. If you want help with a plan or you want to talk with me about weight loss, or how nutritional supplements can help, please don’t hesitate to call, text, or email me! And best wishes on your goals for 2020!
Photo by Gwen Skinner
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
place of grains very nicely. This is where you will want to keep an unending supply of protein foods in the frig at the quickdraw for desperate times. Always reach for these when you are having sweet cravings. Hard-boiled eggs, deviled eggs, egg salad, tuna salad, herbed and baked chicken legs, chicken wings, your favorite sausage links or patties (the cleaner the meats, the better), canned beans, chili beans, a protein smoothie, and seeds and nuts are all simple ideas that keep you building your theme. Hearty salads are good here too. Just not pasta salads. Moderate amounts of cheese or yogurt (unflavored with berries or fruit added) are fine too.
Kari Pollert is a licensed acupuncturist with extensive training in nutrition and herbal medicine. If you want to learn more about nutrition and supplements, please contact Kari at: 970-846-8985 or email her at: info@lifelinehn.com.
Valley Voice
February 2020
21
Energy Healing
Crystals - Healing Tools of the Earth By Winter Clark of Source and Stone
Located at Neste Auto Glass Want to attract more confidence and optimism into your life? Try citrine! It’s also a stone connected to prosperity and is sometimes called “the merchant’s stone.” Pyrite (also known as fool’s gold) is also great for energetically boosting your financial vibrations... in addition to some well placed actions and focused intentions of course! Carnelian and Tiger’s Eye are both fantastic for stoking your creative fire and bringing more passion into your activities, while Red Jasper and Agate can help you feel more grounded and centered.
Crystals are as commonplace as flowers these days; nearly everyone has one or at least has heard of them. But why are they so popular and what do they do exactly? Yes, they’re beautiful and add beauty to our living spaces or something special to our adornments, but they also have healing qualities we can use as well! The most well-known and easily found crystal is clear quartz. Its healing qualities are connected to the mind as well as the body; providing clarity, focus and high vibrational energy. Then there is amethyst, a beautiful crystal ranging from pale purple to deep violet and it has a calming or meditative effect. Rose quartz is great for helping the heart to heal from loss or for attracting new love, while Turquoise is great for helping to speak your truth from the heart. Lapis Lazuli and Sodalite work wonders for increasing and supporting your intuition.
Now that you’ve picked a crystal, what are you going to do with it? I like to carry them in a pocket or toss them in a purse, sometimes I set them on a shelf or in a window. Each crystal naturally contains helpful metaphysical qualities but you can create a stronger connection to their energy by programming them or setting an intention for their use. Hold the crystal in the hand that feels best and ask it to help you with whatever goal you’re aiming for. Know that it’s been “received” and place it wherever it feels right. Sometimes you’ll come across a crystal you want to work with but maybe it seems dull or dirty because too many people have handled it. You can cleanse crystals easily by placing them in the sunlight, the moonlight, smudging them with a bit of sage or cedar smoke or rinsing them in water (except for Selenite because it will dissolve over time). Now your crystal is ready to rock and roll! Explore the different kinds of crystals that are out there and see which ones you’re being pulled to, for those are the ones that are being drawn to you too. Experiment with using them and see how they might assist you in achieving your goals!
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“Defined in psychological terms, a fanatic is a man who consciously overcompensates a secret doubt.”—Aldous Huxley
22
February 2020
Valley Voice
Cupid's Travels
Out Of Love By Sean Derning
Bupkis. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Flowers, candy, jewelry, music, wedding planners, lingerie, perfumes and adult films. I could go on for hours. I’m pumping a dry well. Speaking of dry, Payton, hit me again please.” "What about the joy you’ve brought to all those couples?” I asked. “Hah!” he barked. “I can’t even get liability insurance anymore since I screwed up the relationship with Apollo and Daphne by using the wrong arrow. And my aim ain’t what it used to be. Sometimes I miss. And then you know who’s there waiting with their hand out? Divorce attorneys.” “This conversation is troubling news. If you leave, who would take over for the prince of passion?” I asked. “Not sure,” said Cupid. “Stormy Daniels and Monica Lewinski were good candidates for a while. But it’s not my job to find a replacement. The next Cupid could be more aggressive, stealthy. Like a cuddly bunny ninja. Maybe Disney can come up with an idea.” Cupid drained his glass and said, “I gotta fly. You got me covered?” “Yeah, but gimme my coat.” It was a slow Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago. I was nursing a beer at How Ya Doin’ pizzeria, watching some forgettable college basketball game. My favorite bartender Payton was working, making sure my glass was never empty. I heard the door open but didn’t hear footsteps. Just a soft flutter, like wings beating. I took a look at the barstool next to me, and there he was; Cupid, archer of uncontrollable desire. “Cupid!” I exclaimed, causing Payton to look up from reading her newspaper and make her way down the bar. “How’s my chubby little cherub these days?” I asked. “Lousy,” said Cupid gruffly. “I’ll explain in a minute.” Payton put both hands on the bar and said, “ID, please.” “Hey, can’t you see I’m naked? Where would I put the ID?” said Cupid.
“Double Chivas on the rocks with a water back. Thanks,” said Cupid. Payton faded away to fill the order. “I remember you,” Cupid said to me. “You were an easy find. All I had to do was follow the trail of broken hearts. Shame on you.”
“Yeah, I guess I’m lucky.”
“Yeah, well…,” I said sheepishly. “So what brings you in, my amorous ankle biter?” “I’m thinking of hanging up the quiver.”
“Love is patient, love is kind,
“Huh?! You? Retire? Why would the enemy of chastity call it quits?”
And easily drives you out of your mind,
“The job has gotten to be such a hassle for three reasons,” he explained. “First, it’s bankrupting me. Second, I get no royalties and third, the liability insurance is crippling me.” He took a long draw from his cocktail.
“Yeah? Well at least cover up, would you?” said Payton. I gave Cupid my jacket, which was a poor fit because of his wings.
“Without you our world is doomed. Who wants to live in a world without love?” I said.
“What’ll you have?” asked Payton.
“You know where the love is? In the hundreds of industries I’ve helped to create and I get nothing in return.
I interrupted, “It’s OK, Payton. I’ll vouch for him. He stuck an arrow in me back in ’97.”
“Thanks for listening. I just needed to vent. Like lovers, I’m flighty and like to change my mind. Glad to see my arrow stuck with you for this long.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. Love is a lot of hard work and compromise. It’s like the warning my old drinking buddy and man beast Satyr used to recite about love and marriage:
“I’m running out of money. Can barely keep myself in bowstrings. I used to buy my arrows wholesale, but the trade war has destroyed the domestic golden arrow market. I applied for a trade exemption but some twice divorced bureaucrat turned it down. So I went to my parents, Venus and Mars, for a loan and they said, 'love will provide' Well, it hasn’t. The whole thing is turning into a potpourri scented financial mess.”
“In your wallet, like most people. And if you don’t have a wallet..”
He slipped it off and sighed.
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
It is not angry, it does not mock, Except when you try to sneak in at three o’clock Love always hopes and perseveres And you haven’t made love in what seems like years Careful what you say in a domestic dispute It’ll surface again in the custody suit Life will be miserable and you’ll be a grouch, Spending the next six months surfing on your mother’s couch “Give my best to the missus,” Cupid said as he flitted out the door.
Valley Voice
February 2020
Piknik Theatre
Professional Theatre in a Community Theatre Market? By Stuart Handloff
Welcome to the Steamboat Springs performing arts world! We’ve got the world class Steamboat Symphony Orchestra with musicians from all over the country as members of the symphony and Conductor Ernest Richardson from the Omaha Symphony. We’ve got the world class Opera Steamboat with vocal musicians from all over the country and Artistic Director Andres Cladera who guest conducts operas across the country. We’ve got the oldest performing arts school and camp, Perry-Mansfield, with a dance faculty from Broadway and the University of Arizona. And we’ve got a professional theatre, Piknik Theatre, whose acting company includes Actors Equity Association directors and performers from Denver, New York, and across the country: with a budget a fraction of the previous three companies and led by an unpaid idiot with no retirement plan. Why is professional theatre so difficult to build and maintain in this rural, small market resort community when professional opera, orchestral music, and dance seem to thrive? Michael Kaiser - former artistic director of the Kennedy Center, the Alvin Ailey dance theatre, and the British Royal Opera, among others and internationally renowned for his expertise in arts management - has a simple mantra: “Good art, well marketed.” Do rural theatres that produce good (and even great art on occasion that is recognized by regional and national foundations) simply struggle with inept marketing? Or is there something intrinsically different about small professional theatres located in small markets? There is a fascinating article in the October edition of American Theatre magazine that’s entitled “Good Things, Small Packages” and it asks the question, “Can impactful theatres with modest budgets [and in remote locations] sustain success?” Each of the success stories included in the article (and there are no stories of failure, although they would have been even more valuable) use words like “resilient,” “creative,” “non-traditional,” “risky,” “outside the box thinking” and other buzzwords to describe the efforts that these theatre companies - whose annual budgets generally run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, not tens of thousands - rely upon to survive and grow. These attributes should apply to all professional theatre really, so what makes small theatre uniquely problematic?
It takes the same amount of rehearsal time (three to six weeks) to stage Hamlet in New York or Denver as it does in Steamboat. Housing costs for theatre in Steamboat are more expensive, actually, because many of the actors are hired from outside the community. Professional actors don’t hang out in Steamboat to teach skiing and clean condos. They can do menial side jobs in a major urban area where there’s actually the opportunity to find regular performance work, or even television commercials. Flo, the face of Progressive Insurance for several years, was working with The Groundlings improv group in Los Angeles and doing odd jobs before finding a gold mine as the face and character of a large corporation. Piknik Theatre lacks a “permanent” performance space, but a number of the theatre companies featured in the American Theatre story are in the same situation, relying on site specific and non-traditional locations for performance. I’ve always believed what’s important is the programming - the artistic work a company produces - rather than a box, no matter how well endowed that box may be. The art should drive the shape of the performance space, not the other way around. “If you build it, they will come,” works great in romantic movies but it’s not always true in real life. In modern times, it’s so easy to build and rebuild a virtual reality that the need for a brick-and-mortar performing arts space is becoming less viable every day. “I can watch Macbeth in 3D with a Dolby Surround Sound in my vibrating massage chair. Why would I go to some box with a bunch of old white people?” As someone who’s watched professional theatre gain little traction in this community over the past 48 years, I’m coming to the conclusion that there is no one way, no silver bullet, that will make a theatre company successful. “Good art, well marketed” requires first that the performing art work be of professional quality. Then there’s the marketing piece, getting the work noticed and attended. The third leg of a sustainable arts organization is finding appreciation from a range of funding sources, including private and non-profit foundations, governments, businesses, and - most importantly - private individuals. A friend with an extensive knowledge of Steamboat and fundraising said that in our community, it’s easy to get a lot of $25 donations for a health problem, a recreational event, the Trail Endowment Fund, or - of course - dogs. Finding large donors for arts programming? Well, that’s not so easy. At the end of the day, it’s the importance of having a good story, well told, that creates and motivates theatre arts professionals. The intangible atmosphere that’s created when an audience comes together to share air (a beautiful image my New Zealand drama tutor created for me) is what continues to drive our efforts. We persevere in the hope that each season the art, the marketing, and the fundraising will all come together to produce moments of beauty that will never be forgotten, if only by those that purchased tickets or opened their picnic baskets for that particular performance. Of course, there’s also the hope that Progressive Auto Flo will move to town and create a huge Piknik Theatre Endowment. Don’t worry: we’ll still do a play about bikes and dogs anyway. Not this season, but someday. I promise.
23
Poetry
Post Holing in the Great Alone By Patrick Curran
1. An expedition, you see, just may be A search for your better angel Xanadu, a New Frontier, the Stars! A better life on Mars! Some journey in sandals to distant shores… Some in wingtips on polished floors, but when… You’re out there on your own… …Post holing in the great alone… Every step an unknown Or going astray every which away What then? 2. Take heart, slog on! And you may find? The higher and harder The journey The more you leave behind…the curse Of commerce, and the soft Allure of civility Which may have been the call For leaving after all So rise up from the ashes, turn, turn Let your fire burn 3. And yet it seems, bold pilgrim The journey never ends… Too soon your path is paved And you’re enslaved again Listen! Listen! Hear it ring… Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching! “Commerce, Commerce, is the thing!” As the clever ones with tender feet, They do, they do…tramp after you 4. But please recall, above it all Your gift is hearing angels’ call Of breaking ground, outside the wall You know of heartbreak in the sand And, frostbite in the snow Breadcrumbs…that drive you on And thou…tic, toc, you’re growing cold And blond has turned to gray…and sweet senility Fogs your way... Climb on! ...and if you come upon An icy ridge at dawn Chuckle at your demons and… Buckle on…your crampons!
“We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality.”—Iris Murdoch
24
February 2020
Valley Voice
Calendar of Free Events To submit your free events or calendar information e-mail to: ericvalleyvoice@gmail.com Events may be edited for length or content. Calendar entries must be received by the 15th of each month.
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 1 The Iceman Special 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $5. www.schmiggitys.com SUNDAY FEBRUARY 2 Groundhog Day Pop-Up Event - Intuitive Readings with Winter in the Loft at Off The Beaten Path from 12-4pm on Sundays
7:00PM @ Chief Theater. FREE www.steamboatlibrary. org/events THURS. FEBRUARY 6 Late Night Radio w/ Recess 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $12 ADV/$15 DOS. www.schmiggitys.com FRIDAY FEBRUARY 7
Strings and SAM present Music at the Museum feat. Francesca Anderegg, violin 6:00PM @ Steamboat Art Museum. FREE. StringsMusicFestival.com WED. FEBRUARY 12 Lincoln’s Birthday Historic Preservation Commission 5PM @ Centennial Hall steamboatsprings.net/ agendas
MONDAY FEBRUARY 3
Muse Of Marble: The Works Of Artist Gutzon Borglum On display through July @ Tread of Pioneers Museum. FREE. treadofpioneers.org
Tarot 101 - De-Mystify Your Deck with Winter @ 6:30pm, at Source and Stone, 1125 Lincoln Ave, Suite B10. Tix are available at bit.ly/februarytarot
Richard Galusha Retrospective: An Artist’s Journey Dec. 6, 2019 – April 11, 2020 @ Steamboat Art Museum. steamboatartmuseum.org
Dance On Film: “Danseur” 6:30PM @ Library Hall. FREE www.steamboatlibrary. org/events
First Friday Art Walk 5PM @ Downtown Steamboat. Self-guided tour of local art galleries, Museums and alternative venues. FREE.
Reverend Horton Heat w/ The Buttertones, Koffin Kats & Deke Dickerson
Head for the Hills 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $10. www.schmiggitys.com
THURS. FEBRUARY 13
DJ MTK 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. FREE. www.schmiggitys.com
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 4 City Council Meeting 5PM @ Centennial Hall steamboatsprings.net History Happy Hour 5:30PM @ Butcherknife Brewing Company. FREE. treadofpioneers.org One Book Steamboat: Genealogy 101 6:30PM @ Library Hall. FREE. www.steamboatlibrary. org/events/one-booksteamboat WED. FEBRUARY 5 Bud Werner Memorial Library’s Foreign Film Series at the Chief “Twin Flower”
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 8 Kris Lager Band 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $10. www.schmiggitys.com TUESDAY FEBRUARY 11 City Council Meeting 5PM @ Centennial Hall steamboatsprings.net Tread of Pioneers Museum’s Winter Film Series 6PM @ Chief Theater. FREE. treadofpioneers.org
Parks & Recreation Commission 5:30PM @ Centennial Hall steamboatsprings.net/ agendas Indie Lens Pop-Up: “Always in Season” 6:30PM @ Library Hall. FREE www.steamboatlibrary. org/events
8PM @ Schmiggity’s. $35. www.schmiggitys.com
Linden Co. Floristry Valentine Workshop 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. @ Linden Co. Floristry, 1104 Lincoln Ave. Unit# 102 Planning Commission 5PM @ Centennial Hall steamboatsprings.net/ agendas One Book Documentary: “Data Mining the Deceased,” and a Q&A with filmmaker Julia Creet 6:30PM @ Library Hall. FREE. www.steamboatlibrary. org/events/one-booksteamboat
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
Steamboat Comedy Presents Desperation Day 2 8PM @ Schmiggity’s. $5. www.schmiggitys.com Red Not Chili Peppers 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $10. www.schmiggitys.com FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14 Valentine’s Day Steamboat Comedy Presents Desperation Day 2 8PM @ Schmiggity’s. $5. www.schmiggitys.com Liver Down the River 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $5. www.schmiggitys.com SAT. FEBRUARY 15 Love Laps-Chairlift Speed Dating 12-4PM @ Howelsen Hill steamboatsprings.net/ lovelaps The Vegabonds w/ Mike & the Moonpies 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $10. www.schmiggitys.com SUNDAY FEBRUARY 16 SUPER Ski Free Sunday 10AM-4PM @ Howelsen Hill. steamboatsprings.net/ skifree MONDAY FEBRUARY 17 Presidents’ Day One Book & Exploring the Sacred: Identity & Spirituality 6:30PM @ Library Hall. FREE. www.steamboatlibrary. org/events/one-booksteamboat
WED. FEBRUARY 19 Artists On Film: “I Am Chris Farley: The Life and Times of a Great Comedian” 6:30PM @ Library Hall. FREE THURS. FEBRUARY 20 Jay Roemer Band 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $5. www.schmiggitys.com FRIDAY FEBRUARY 21 Lunch & Listen 12-1PM @ Centennial Hall steamboatsprings.net/ agendas Grass After Dark w/Della Mae plus Meadow Mountain 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $15 ADV/$20 DOS. www.schmiggitys.com SAT. FEBRUARY 22 Grass After Dark w/ Horseshoes and Hand Grenades plus Bowregard 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $20 ADV/$25 DOS. www.schmiggitys.com TUESDAY FEBRUARY 25 One Book Documentary: “Decoding Watson” 6:30PM @ Library Hall. FREE. www.steamboatlibrary. org/events/one-booksteamboat WED. FEBRUARY 26 Ash Wednesday Crane Fest Films: “Beyond Borders” 6:30PM @ Library Hall. FREE www.steamboatlibrary. org/events Mountaintown Film Collective monthly gathering 6:30PM @Ski Locker
FREE MFCFilms.org THURS. FEBRUARY 27 Planning Commission 5PM @ Centennial Hall steamboatsprings.net/ agendas Wild Films: “Colorado’s Moose” 6:30PM @ Library Hall. FREE www.steamboatlibrary. org/events Live Band Karaoke/ Schmiggity Jam 9:30PM @ Schmiggity’s. FREE. www.schmiggitys.com FRIDAY FEBRUARY 28 A Taste Of History Noon @ Tread of Pioneers Museum. FREE. treadofpioneers.org Kendall Street w/ CBDB 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $10. www.schmiggitys.com SAT. FEBRUARY 29 DeadPhish Orchestra 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $10. www.schmiggitys.com TUESDAY MARCH 3 One Book Discussion: “Inheritance” by Dani Shapiro 12-1PM @ Library Conference Room. FREE. www.steamboatlibrary. org/events/one-booksteamboat WED. MARCH 4 One Book Discussion: “Inheritance” by Dani Shapiro 5:30-6:30PM @ Library Conference Room. FREE. www.steamboatlibrary. org/events/one-booksteamboat
Schmac andFebruary Cheese2020
Valley Voice
First Friday Artwalk
Recurring Weekly Events:
February 7, 2020
ART GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS STEAMBOAT CREATES 1001 13th St. | 970.879.9008 RIVERWALK COLLECTIVE 1001 13th St. 970-879-9008 IMAGINE ART STUDIOS 1125 Lincoln Ave. | 484.889.6753 WINDFALL FINE ART GALLERY 1015 Lincoln Ave. | 970.761.8000 YOUNG BLOODS COLLECTIVE AT THE SKI LOCKER 941 Lincoln Avenue, #100a | 941.321.2809 GALLERY 89 1009 Lincoln Ave. | 970.439.8196 OFF THE BEATEN PATH 68 9th St., | 970.879.6830 CHIEF THEATER 813 Lincoln Ave., | 970.871-4791 JACE ROMICK GALLERY 837 Lincoln Ave. | 970.846.8377 STEAMBOAT ART MUSEUM 807 Lincoln Ave. | 970.870.1755 SOLAR FLARE GLASSWORK & DESIGN 635 Lincoln Avenue, Ste. M | 970.875.3420 TOM MANGELSEN - IMAGES OF NATURE 730 Lincoln Ave | 970.871.1822
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SUNDAY
WEDNESDAY
Ski Free Sunday Karaoke Night 10AM-4PM @ Howelsen Hill. 9PM @ Schmiggity’s. steamboatsprings.net FREE www.schmiggitys.com Steamboat Creates presents Jam Session Sundays! THURSDAY 6-10PM @ Depot Art Center. Alcohol-free event for adults. Steamboat Springs https://www.facebook.com/ Writers Group events/983932755323366/ Noon @ Art Depot.FREE or call 970-879-9008. www.steamboatwriters. com Swinging Sunday 7-10PM/ Late Night DJ Dance Party Ski with a Naturalist 10PM 1:30-2:30PM @ Top of the @ Schmiggity’s. FREE. Gondola at the start of the Why Not trail. FREE West Coast Swing Dance www.yampatika.org Lessons 7-8PM @ Schmiggity’s. FREE. FRIDAY MONDAY Meatball Monday & Piano Bar Night 8:30PM @ Schmiggity’s. FREE. www.schmiggitys.com TUESDAY Ski with a Naturalist 1:30-2:30PM @ Top of the Gondola at the start of the Why Not trail. FREE www.yampatika.org Two-Step Tuesday 7PM @ Schmiggity’s (Free Country Dance Lessons). FREE. www.schmiggitys.com
Uranium Mine Snowshoe Tour 10AM-1PM @ Yampatika. FREE RSVP Required www.yampatika.org SATURDAY Emerald Mountain Snowshoe Tour 10AM-Noon @ Emerald Mountain. $20 (Includes Lift Ticket & Snowshoes) RSVP Required. www.yampatika.org
WILD HORSE GALLERY 802 Lincoln Ave. | 970-819-2850 TREAD OF PIONEERS MUSEUM 800 Oak St., | 970.879.2214 PINE MOON FINE ART 117 9th St. | 970.879.2787 W GALLERY 115 9th St., Lincoln Ave. | 970.846.1783 SQUIRE STUDIOS 842 Lincoln Ave. - Above Lyon’s Drug #9 | 970.846.1063
879.5929 905 Weiss Drive - across HWY 40 from the Holiday Inn
821 Lincoln Ave - schmiggitys.com ial man Spec e Ic e h T ver , Feb. 1st SaturdayFunk) 10 pm $5 Co (Swamp J MTK eb 2nd - D0 pm FREE! F , y a d n u S Party) 1 ss (DJ Dance io w/ Rece
S V/$15 DO th Rad - Late Nig nic) 10 pm $12 AD h t 6 . b e ,F Thursday l / Hip Hop / Electro ou S / k n u (F the Hills er - Head for s) 10 pm $10 Cov h t 7 . b e F Friday, coustic/Newgras A (Modern r er Band - Kris Lag ) 10 pm $10 Cove h t 8 . b e F e , c y n a ra rd T u t ie Sa og mping Bo (Foot Sto eat w/
H d Horton - Reveren th erson 2 k 1 ic . D b e e F ay, $35 Cover ts & Dek a K n Wednesd ffi ck) 8 pm o o K R , s, rf e u n S o , rt y The Butte sychobilly, Countr n Day 2 ly, P esperatio D ts n se (Rockabil dy Pre $5 Cover oat Come - Steamb bby Berstein) 8 pm th 3 1 . b e o ,F Thursday ith Special Guest R s w (Comedy ili Pepper over
Not Ch m $10 C 13th - Redribute Band) 10 p . b e F , y a Thursd Chili Peppers T tion Day 2 ts Despera r n se re P (Red Hot y $5 Cove at Comed
in) 8 pm teambo b. 14th - S bby Berste Friday, Fe h Special Guest Ro wit Cover iver (Comedy 10 pm $5 own the R
iver D grass) b. 14th - L mpin' Funkadeli e F , y a d ri to F oonpies rgy Foot S e & the M ik M / w (High Ene s nd er
10 Cov Vegabo 5th - The rn Rock) 10 pm $ 1 . b e F . t e Sa d ive South emer Ban (Alternat r th - Jay Ro
$5 Cove , Feb. 20 Thursday Goodness) 10 pm s (Bluegras Della Mae 0 DOS r Dark w/ 0 pm $15 ADV/$2 e ft A s s ra b 21st - G egrass) 1 Friday, Fe w Mountain (Blu renades o d Hand G d n a a e s e M s so h rs plu Band) ark w/ Ho ss After D rgy String 22nd - Gra gressive High-Ene . b e F t. a S ro regard (P plus Bow ADV/ $25 DOS y Jam 0 2 chmiggit $ 10 pm Karaoke/S E!
e Band m FRE . 27th - Liv a live band) 9:30 p b e F , y a d Thurs with lay along / CBDB (Sing or p ll Street w , Indie, Rock) a d n e K ative b. 28th Friday, Fe Psychedelic, Altern , k c o (Jam R 0 Cover hestra 10 pm $1 dPhish Orc 0 pm $10 Cover a e D h t bute) 1 , Feb. 29 Saturday / Dead & PhishTri st Swing d n West Coa E (Jam Ba E R F m " 7-10 p odhart 7-8 pm o g Sunday "Swingin ssons with Scott G Party e e c L n e a c D n J a D te Night D ht 8:30 pm 10 pm La no Bar NigMartinez & ia P & y a Mond Mike Meatball g good time with y last! n e h lo t a ssons hile Sing Dance Le atballs w y e r t m n E u E o R C F E $ Oh Schmiggity! pm: FRE Tuesday 7 m Two Step da Leftwich 7-8 p n pm FREE! with Ama e Night 9 k o ra a K : ay Wednesd
Hour 7-9 Da Tickets online at schmiggitys.comSchmappy or at All That.
$1
“Great events make me quiet and calm; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves.”—Queen Victoria
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February 2020
Valley Voice
Yepelloscopes
Your Monthly Message By Chelsea Yepello Aries
March 21 - April 19
Banging on the ceiling with a broom handle will not notify your neighbors to be more conscious of the noise and turn down their death metal. Chances are, they don’t even hear you. Seriously, they are listening to death metal.
GOLDEN LEAF WILL
MATCH
ANY PRICE
IN STEAMBOAT * * Excludes flower. Not to be combined with any other discounts.
OPEN DAILY Recreational & Medical
1755 Lincoln Avenue Steamboat Springs, CO On the Free Bus Route
970-870-2941
www.GoldenLeaf.co For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
Scorpio
October 24 - November 21
April 20 - May 20
Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and man will build industry, destroy the eco-system and kill a delicate species of jellyfish.
You think you can convince anyone to do anything. You think you’re so persuasive; you can talk the magic out of an eight ball. But the reality is, you can’t. OK well, maybe sometimes you can. OK you definitely can. Damn your're good.
Gemini
May 20 - June 20
Sagittarius
Cancer
June 21 - July 22
You lost your mind again. It got into the neighbor’s yard and peed in their birdbath. You should really put a leash on that thing. You feel that honesty is the best policy, so is it really lying to the cute girl at the bar when you claim you are a brain surgeon who donates all their earnings to orphan children in third world countries and that’s why you look like a bum… because the orphans have all your money? You could just be bending the truth of a personal expectation for a future potential career.
Leo
July 23 - August 23
Based on the particular navigational path of the stars, the exact location that you are standing and this precise time of year, there is only one substantial outcome for your future that can be determined. Unfortunately, no one knows how to read the stars and can’t figure out what it is. August 23 - September 22
You never really considered yourself a cat person, but then again, you seem to find yourself staring at that Cat Woman poster in your brother’s bedroom for an unusually long time. CAKE DANCE
September 23 - October 23
Success can be measured in many ways. For you in particular, it's measured by your ability to make it through airport security without getting caught.
Taurus
Virgo
ROAD DAWG
Libra
November 22 - December 21
King salmon travel hundreds of miles upstream to find their perfect mate and procreate. You might have misunderstood this fun fact when you find yourself waiting for love in the seafood isle of the grocery store.
Capricorn
December 22 - January 19
When the world inevitubly comes to end, you will not feel hopelessness because the major cities have fallen to rubble, you will not be frightened of the ravenous cannibals that want to rip your face off and devour it, you will just be annoyed that you ran out of CO2 in your soda stream. Priorities.
Aquarius
January 20 - February 18
Everyone tells you that you need to break out of your shell. Why do they keep asking you to do that? Have they ever seen something break out of its shell? It’s a gooey, disgusting mess that is covered in mucus and embryo slime. Then the creature flops around for a while covered in gunk, gasping for air. People have the strangest suggestions for you.
Pisces
February 19 - March 20
You will soon owe your drug dealer, the guy from the auto parts store and your mother a relatively large favor.
Valley Voice
February 2020
Have fun at the 107th Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival!
By Matt Scharf
City Council and their clock
27
28
February 2020
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
Valley Voice