Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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Whether you want to be or not, you have to put on your brave face when your grandkids are with you. When a four-year-old wakes you up at 3 AM because they heard something, you can't tell them to take the flashlight and go look. You have to get up, remain calm, and collected and tell them everything is OK. You have to walk through a dark house, hopefully with your flashlight, if said grandchild hasn't used it to look under the couch, and left it there. During your journey through the dark...
It’s taken me three weeks to finally digest what happened in Wyoming during that GOP primary election Aug. 16. The results came quickly but what the hell really happened? This election was seen as a proxy fight between former President Donald Trump and his chief Congressional nemesis, Wyoming U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney. In the end, it was not a Cheney-Trump fight. It was simply a job interview and Wyoming folks demonstrated they wanted to hire someone who would work for Wyoming - not a candidate operating a national campaign to disgrace a former pres...
It has been getting a bit brisk at night which is great given how warm it has been the past week. For the record, I am enjoying the hot, if not scorching afternoons. I love the feeling of the sun heating my skin. It is easy to understand how I can hang in a place like Jakarta, Indonesia in the summer and not care at all as it cracks 110 degrees. I am a warm weather guy. No doubt about it. I have written a few columns on the trials of living in Wyoming winters. The wind, the cold, the road closur...
I’ve been called a Pollyanna more than once in my lifetime. Actually, truth be told, this sobriquet has been tossed around too much to describe my optimistic perspective at least a few hundred times. It does chafe a little, but I have learned to try to embrace my “glass is half full” mind-set. Besides, who decided that the person who sees the glass as half full is somehow a romantic idealist and wears rose colored glasses to avoid dealing with reality? It’s like being told I’m too loud! I’m not...
In the next few weeks, thousands a little children across Wyoming will march off to their first day of school. Especially for those parents of kindergartners, this is a poignant time. It sure was for me back in 1976 when our daughter Amber marched off to her first day of school. Here is a column that I wrote about how I felt about that event. The column won a national award and was originally published in our newspaper, the Wyoming State Journal in Lander. It was included in my first book, The Best Part of America, which was published in 1993....
A silent Sunday morning greeted residents of Encampment A power outage that occurred at 6:15 a.m. was due to a pole catching fire, according to spokesman for Carbon Power and Light. Power had to be turned off in order to replace the pole safely. Members of the community were without power until 10 a.m. This is a good reminder to be prepared for sudden power outages, especially in our rural areas. Repairs and maintenance at this time of the year aren’t nearly as challenging as when winter has moved in with whiteouts, cold snaps and accidents. F...
Until I made my home in Wyoming, my political affiliation was the majority where I lived. I started voting in Maryland, a major blue state, although I will acknowledge the current governor Larry Hogan, is a Republican and well liked by the residents. He has been in office since 2015. I know Washington D.C. has a few Republican politicians, but they are more rare than Democrats in Wyoming. I guess I could say the same thing about Hawaii. I was registered to vote in all these places. When I lived...
Who doesn't love the feel of a soft, cozy sweater on a winter's day? In Riverside, just off of the highway, eight Alpacas live. This is where all that winter warmth begins. Their caretaker, Rachelle Barkhurst, became interested in Alpaca fibers when she moved to Wyoming about seven years ago. She had designed clothes for many years, but wanted to use a material that was more sustainable. She was introduced to Alpacas and it seemed like the perfect option. Barkhurst and her husband, Dan, decided...
Politically these past six months, we were watching the World Series, March Madness, and the Super Bowl all wrapped up into one Wyoming campaign. This GOP primary election between incumbent Liz Cheney and challenger Harriet Hageman has been called the battle for the soul of the Wyoming Republican Party, which is not correct. This election is unique in its own right. These two valiant women, who are former allies, found themselves in a punchbowl being watched by political observers and campaign junkies from around the world. I have been...
Recently the Hanna Recreation Center hosted 150 young adults and 50 adults on their way to a competition in Indianapolis. The group was the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps (Vanguard). The Hanna Rec Center was suggested by a town employee in Medicine Bow when Vanguard explained their reservations in Laramie had been messed up and were looking for a place to stay and had two days to find a place. The staff at the Hanna Rec Center listened and welcomed Vanguard to their place. The buses a...
Dear Editor The Climate Change story written by Ezra Boileau is supported by Wyoming’ Established Program To Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCOR) and the National Science Foundation. Tell us how and whom this grant is administered. I suspect the Democratic Party and left-wing activists are in the link - and the writer says it isn’t political? Human caused Climate change is a major issue of the Green New Deal left. They muddle the argument by boxing recognition that climate does change and blaming humans for it in the same category to confuse...
This being my first editorial I thought I should write something thought provoking, delving deep into the complexities of human nature. A narrative that would motivate as well as energize those who read it. Instead, I decided to talk about dogs. Those of us that have owned dogs, know of their unconditional love, emotional support and constant cuddles. Many of us have cried tears of pain and joy into a furry little neck, or called on our canine companion to walk outside in the dark with us...
The other day I found a Rush CD when I was looking for something to listen to . It had been a gift from my buddy and former boss Keith McLendon. I put it on and had a blast of the past as I remembered him giving me this compilation CD of his favorite group. He had done it because I had told him one day, I didn’t really care for the group. It had been my ex-wife’s favorite band and I guess there was a little bit of bias against the band because of that. Plus honestly, I just never got why eve...
When I lived in Taiwan back in the early 2000s my parents were terrified the thousands of missiles pointed at the island would one day take their only son out. I was never scared because I knew America had a commitment to keep the Chinese from invading. Also the island of Taiwan is like an aircraft carrier sitting out in the Pacific Ocean and would be very difficult to invade without serious losses for an opposing army. I lived in Taiwan as China started to really open up to the world. The...
This is my last column with the Saratoga Sun. Next week, my byline will no longer appear in these pages and my name will no longer be on the list of employees on page four. It’s a bittersweet moment as I think back to the first time I walked through the door of the Saratoga Sun as an employee in January 2018. In some ways, it has felt like the Sun was part of the family considering the years my mother, Liz Wood, put into this publication before she, too, went on to other adventures. When I f...
As expected, my identically titled column from the June 30 paper was met with some criticism and I appreciate the feedback. In this column, I want to discuss Greenhouse Gases and how they impact our atmosphere and thus, our climate. Global Warming Potential There are several classes of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) contributing to climate change on different levels. These classes are Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), and Industrial Gases (Hydrofluorocarbons, Perfluorocarbons, Sulfur hexafluoride and Nitrogen trifluoride)....