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Category Archives: The West
Sing, O Muse, of the Dougherty Gang
So there’s something kind of classical about the Dougherty Gang’s story—classically tacky, Florida-style. I probably wouldn’t love their tale as much if they had not been apprehended near my Colorado home base of Custer County. Here’s a good ole-fashioned yellow … Continue reading
Posted in The West
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Crossing Paths With the Dougherty Gang in Colorado, On the Lam & Having Fun
So at the start of the week I drove from Southern Colorado to St. Louis, and it seems I crossed paths with the Dougherty Gang—Dylan, Lee-Grace, and Ryan, twentysomething desperadoes from Zephyrhills, Fla. I saw a white car fly by, … Continue reading
Posted in Social Networking, The West
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No Fence-Sitting Here: Republicans Are Anti-Environment, and That's a Major Difference
So Paul Krugman had a good piece recently about the issue of media fence-sitting, decrying those b.s. ‘journalists’ who repeatedly say, “Washington is broken! Both parties are to blame!” He then details just exactly how wrong the Republican and Tea … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change, Politics, The West
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The Bears of Custer County & the Smell of Drought
Here’s an url to an article about bears in this morning’s NY Times: I can vouch for the accuracy of some its statements, especially about bear behavior in drought. Here in the southern mountains of Colorado we’re suffering a drought, … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, The West
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"Tattoos Get You Sex" and Other Observations from the Western Frontier
So you have to be blind not to notice the popularity of tattoos in the West, and it must say something about this moment in time, this world in which we’re living. Basically it seems everyone in Colorado/Wyoming (the two … Continue reading
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On Mark Hertsgaard’s “Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth,” and the Forest Fire in My Backyard (Almost)
So I’m continuing in my quest to read every book ever written about Global Warming. (Well, not all of them, but I have read quite a few.) I’m also starting to think only wimps use the term ‘Climate Change,’ which … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change, The West
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On James Hansen's "Storms of My Grandchildren" & The Folly of Creepers
So I just saw that the temperature reached 118 degrees in Phoenix yesterday (How can they stand it?) and is forecast to be at record levels all across the country, including where I am, in the Southwest, which by some … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change, The West
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Yellowstone Snow, Hungry Wolves, & the Tumble Inn
So I’ve been traveling in Wyoming for 11 days, kayaking & hiking, not to mention buying stuffed animals for my daughter—dinosaur (diplodocus), river otter, deer, yellow horse, dinosaur (pterodactyl), and something I’m forgetting I’m sure. We camped in the Grand … Continue reading
Posted in The West
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Arizona Is Burning, and We're Breathing It
Smoke from the Bear Wallow Fire in Arizona—several hundred miles away but over 233,000 acres in size—is so thick here we can’t see the valley floor from our hillside home, just a mile or so away. We’re all coughing and … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change, The West
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The Summer of the Bears, Hungry & Marauding
So in my corner of Colorado there was a bit of snow drought (March was dry), which caused the bears to come out of hibernation early, before there was food for them. Now there are roving gangs of hungry bears … Continue reading
Posted in The West
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