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Facebook is a nice little online tool with both apparent upsides and not-so-visible downsides. A reason to join The only reason I ever got on Facebook was to find a friend I hadn’t seen in 20 years. I checked the phonebook. I perused old addresses and phone numbers I had from years before. I called other friends. I Googled the guy. Finally I took the plunge and got on Facebook... …and found him immediately. We made plans to meet up with some other friends since I was planning to be in Hou...
Editor, Are you tired of waking up to smoke in our valley? Tired of having your eyes water, your nose run, a foul taste in your mouth, and our valley obscured by smoke? Tired of millions of dollars being spent on mega-fires that could have been much less severe and much fewer, had responsible Forest Management been done? Tired of hearing that these fires are just nature’s way of replenishing itself, and that it is good for the resource? Tired of hearing that not much can be (or could have been) done to prevent these conflagrations? Tired of h...
You may have noticed that the first paper of this new volume of the Saratoga Sun is slightly shorter than previous editions. That’s because we have changed printers. We now print out of Cheyenne and the change in size is due to what the different presses can accommodate. Before anything else is said, we would like to thank the Casper Star Tribune for their excellent service. They went out of their way on several occasions to point out errors we had made in the files we sent them. We value our business relationship with them and are happy to p...
My second trail season with the Maine Conservation Corps (MCC) began, as the locals say, “way down East” in Washington County. Our assignment there was to do heavy duty maintenance on a ten-mile section of the Cutler Coast Public Lands. These paths were a little more trafficked than the deep-woods locations I’d been sent to in my first three months, but we could still work for several consecutive days without seeing any hikers. This was especially true of the inland half of the 10-mile figur...
When Donald J. Trump becomes president he has promised to build a wall along the Mexican/American border. As recently as his win in the South Carolina primary, Trump reaffirmed that “… we’ll do the wall, don’t worry. We’re going to do the wall.” I, for one, applaud this for several reasons. I would like to see America build more monuments. The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is a wonder. Mount Rushmore is amazing. Crazy Horse is a labor of love, the Empire State Building is an architectur...
I spent seven months of 2011 bush-whacking, boulder-rolling and timber-hauling my way through some of the most inaccessible and gorgeous parts of Maine. It was a strangely disjointed and financially treacherous period of my life. The trail work I did with the Maine Conservation Corps (MCC) was perilous, arduous and exhausting. I am convinced there is no better way I could have spent that spring, summer and fall. During my first week in Maine, I did not once see the sun because of clouds and...
I was walking around town the other night (because I am trying to get some exercise) and had gotten to the other side of town from my house (it’s not a big town) when I heard a repetitive and plaintive mewling. Being a cat guy (or a guy who will investigate any animal in distress), I walked over behind the abandoned building where the noise seemed to be coming from. When I got to the back door to the building I heard the meow a couple more times and thought to myself that the cat had gotten t...
A couple years ago my husband enrolled in some entomology classes at the University of Wyoming. He would come home and say things such as, “All these years we’ve been calling ladybugs by the wrong name; they were actually ladybird beetles,” and “All bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs. At first, I thought he was a little loopy, but the more he talked, the more interested I became. For class assignments, he was supposed to collect insects to aid in identification and classification. We started collecting insects on “little dates” walk...
Dear Saratoga Sun, I would like to apologize to the patrons of the Rawlins Library. I was not there today to unlock the doors and welcome you. I was not there to help you with the computer, answer your questions, or direct you to the local businesses. At this point the Main library no longer has enough staff to operate, let alone provide services to the other seven branches. There is no one to process new books or items for any of the libraries. There is no one to order supplies; or pay bills. Being one of the 2 remaining part time Information...
We just ordered a new tent. It’s a really nice one, too, a good deal from Sierra Trading Post. It’s pretty heavy but it should be able to withstand just about any rafting trip, backcountry skiing excursion or camp in the woods. I got a new sleeping bag. I’m all set, just waiting to get a square aluminum dutch oven so I can make anything I want in a campfire. It’s probably not the best time for me to be making purchases like this, considering I’m leaving my job here at the paper for some risk...
As the dirt road got closer and closer to the ocean, I started itching to get sand back beneath my feet, and presently an opportunity presented itself. Fearful of a trespassing charge, I passed up a driveway leading to the “Western Ghana Palm Oil Research Institute.” A few hundred meters up the road, though, a sign pointed toward another coastal resort, and I made my move seawards. At first, the beach here was much the same as I had found at the Green Turtle Lodge – pleasantly sandy and immac...
Pat and I attended the Michael Martin Murphy concert last night. It was outstanding and was another example of the quality of entertainment that regularly graces the stage at the PVCC. We were once again, however, disappointed by the number of empty seats. Over the past 50 plus years we have lived in cities ranging in size from Saratoga to Houston. In each city we have tried to take advantage of the performing arts opportunities that they offer. We have also had the chance to attend concerts and musical theater in cities such as New York, Londo...
This is Part II of a three part story I began telling in a column on May 11. The story takes place in the summer of 2013, when I was a teacher for the Peace Corps in West Africa. I began hiking towards a lighthouse on a remote stretch of the Ghanaian coast, and adventure ensued. For the first half kilometer though the path exiting Akwidaa cut through the jungle it was never out of earshot of waves crashing onto the rocky beach. The undergrowth constantly rustled around me as I hiked, unseen...
There are many things I have learned in my years in the west. As a “round peg in a square state” I have learned (and written) about hunting, fishing, hunting and fishing guides, gates and why you don’t want to sit “shotgun,” rowing a raft, snow and its consequences and much more. But never before have I written about cowboys. Before I get started, I want to warn you that I am, at some point in this column, going to make a joke so bad I pretty much guarantee you will groan audibly. Many will...
