I’ve spent most of my life on the edges of farm country. As a kid, in South Dakota, I knew the cadence of farm-speak, cribbed from the little 4H and FFA members who ruled the elementary school show-and-tell presentations, overheard…
Where I live, in the North, autumn comes early. I was out gathering blueberries and mushrooms when it came this year. Autumn is my favorite time of year, as it is for many people. Two years ago we did not…
On the first Saturday of May, Jim and I roused ourselves early and drove two hours to the Kansas Sampler Festival. It’s a curious festival—more a statewide meet-and-greet than your typical artsy-craftsy affair. I don’t know if they have festivals…
That fall of 1931 the snow came early and it was cold at the head of the valley. I had trouble finding wood I could cut for the sheep camp. Grandma sent me a chocolate cake and some apricot jam.…
EDITOR’S NOTE: For years, Ken Sleight was a regular columnist for this publication and his topics scanned the spectrum—from his passionate quixotic quest to restore Glen Canyon, to his opposition to nuclear waste in San Juan County. Ken also took…
Glenwood Springs, Colorado After quickly pausing one last time to gaze at the sheer maroon-red cliffs and forested ridges high above, Jim Bone stepped onto the train. Worried that Jim might change his mind, the train made a clanking…
I often don’t know what’s on my mind (facebook) until sometimes when I look at old photos like these. It’s the old house I lived in during 1977 and most of 78 near Cedar Hill, Texas (actually those are…
MY PERSONAL HISTORY Life & Times in Southeast Utah by Verona Stocks EDITOR’S NOTE: When Verona Stocks died in June 1993, she left a big hole in Grand County. Born on April 1, 1905, Verona watched southeast Utah transformed…from a…
What We Found, Searching for ‘The Way Life Should Be’ By Tonya Morton This was the week of the County Fair—big news in our tiny town of under a thousand people. People arrived at the high school, braving heat…