Flood forced us to stop

I was listening to NPR early Monday evening when most of Colorado was tuned into the Broncos-Raiders game. A rancher was telling listeners about how his field was under 7-feet of water. This was land cows grazed - or used to. When this Weld County man talked about losing several of his livestock - the herd was forced to tread water for much of the day - well, I did what any cattleman's daughter would do. I cried. Click on the link below to hear some other thoughts about the latest disaster to hit northern Colorado as published in the Sept. 26, 2103 Fort Collins Coloradoan:




I've heard some call this unnatural natural event the Great Flood of 2013. "Great" doesn't quite do it, does it? What happened here, starting on Friday the 13th, is beyond words.

Celebrating angels like Ellie

As wildfires continue to rage throughout the western U.S., northern Coloradans continue the recovery process from the 2012 High Park Fire. What a difference a year a makes! And then again, for those in the literal direct line of fire, it will often seem like yesterday. Here's the story of one survivor named Ellie, as I wrote in the Aug. 22, 2013 Fort Collins Coloradoan:



Oh, Ellie! Methinks I, too, have fallen for you.

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer vacationing old-style

I'm revamping my ill feelings toward camping, as I shared with Coloradoan readers in my monthly community column on July 25, 2013. Click on the 3:09 link below to hear all about it:

Sure hope tramping through Europe is next on the list. Wouldn't that be sick, as the youth today would say! Thanks for visiting, and enjoy your summer vacation!

I will not chair another sale

And yet...I know well enough to never say never! Garage Sale season is in full swing, and it's a rare collector that has neither attended nor hosted one. Click on the 3:23 link below to hear about my family's recent sales experience, per my June 27, 2013 monthly community column in the Fort Collins Coloradoan:

I pledge to be an even more discerning buyer in the future, because I do not, I repeat, not, not, not want a repeat performance. If only finding "the find" wasn't so fun, right?

Guess there's always eBay and/or Craigslist!

Thanks for stopping by...

I believe in Yesterday

I also believe in the power of the tornado. How can one not after our most recent deadly destroyer in Moore, OK? I'm sure you, also, were brought to tears by the actions of so many of that city's Good Samaritans. We are surrounded by good people...like the Christen family of Fort Collins, CO, for whom yesterday - literally, as in May 22, 2008 - summons emotions that defy description. Click on the 3:33 link below to hear more of their inspiring story that appeared in my column in the May 23, 2013 "Coloradoan" newspaper:





To all whose lives have been changed by shocking, out-of-nowhere events, including the Windsor, Colorado tornado: may you never, ever again have to experience such severe loss. Should something unimaginable happen to you again, I pray, instead of being horribly so, it is beautifully so.

Know what else I believe in? The same thing Rachel Christen and her people do: the power of love.

Thanks for your time.

Is Feminism Dead?

No, is the short answer. In writing the following column for the April 25, 2013 Coloradoan newspaper, I realized that while we've come a long way, baby as the cigarette TV ad once proclaimed, we do have a lot of territory yet to cover. Click on the 3:33 link below to hear what I mean:






Remember when bras couldn't be shown on television on "live" female bodies? It's incredible that the first "real" model appeared wearing a bra on May 4, 1987 in an ad on NBC for Playtex's Cross Your Heart bra. I would've bet money it was back in the seventies.

Thank you, men and women, for your, ahem, support!

Weathering March's Madness

With the topics of religion and politics being so potentially divisive and explosive, man, what would we civilly discuss under shady trees if we couldn't talk about the weather? Meteorologist Don Day and I "go there" as you'll hear in my monthly community column in "The Fort Collins Coloradoan," published March 28, 2013: 

Here's to those brave souls that daily go out on limbs so that we might know whether or not we need to wear our coats! Thanks, as well, to you for checking in!