Trees can soothe the beast of depression

Fun fact for Arbor Day: 

There are now 99 elms encircling the CSU Oval and lining its walkways.

So reports an April 2022 story on Colorado State University's web site, Literally just 46 facts about CSU's trees. 

Literally, it was interesting stuff. 

Here's a few other items from the CSU list:

When CSU was first founded 1870, it was located on a treeless prairie. 

Some of the [elm] trees are 80 to 90 feet high, and their roots are 1.5 times their height. 

This one is a surprise:

The Heritage Arboretum/Woody Plant Demonstration and Research Area has the largest collection of woody plants in the region, with more than 1,100 different taxa represented. 

The Arboretum is on the south end of campus, within shouting distance of the new stadium. It's surprising because I passed through this site many times during grad school and didn't know it was an arboretum. Time now for a return visit.

The Oval elms are special. During the spring and summer of 1991, as I worked on my M.F.A. in creative writing, I was gobsmacked by severe depression, I found solace among the elms. As noted, they are sturdy and tall, providing shade for the lawn and itinerant students who need some elm goodness to buck up their spirits. I would bike on over to the Oval, prop myself against a tree, read and study. The tree gave me strength. At the time, I thought they were cottonwoods but it didn't really matter. Trees carry energy and silently impart strength to those humans who take the time to appreciate them. I took antidepressants for the first time but it took a long time for them to work. Meanwhile, I had trees. 

I'd dealt with depression before. When I was an undergrad, a break-up caused me to go sleepless for a week. That was the first time I saw a therapist and talked it through. This was 1975 and pre-Prozac. I was 24 and pleased. I faced the beast and came out the better for it. 

During the next couple decades, I muddled through. Married, had a kid, worked various jobs in Denver until I went to school. After I turned 40, family issues took me back to therapy and anti-Ds. I kicked the drugs several times but the result was always the same. Finally, a psychiatrist in Cheyenne issued a mandate: You'll be on these the rest of your life. And, thus far, I have been.

While the meds percolate through my system, I walk among the trees. It's never been a mystery to me that elms and maples have healing qualities. Psychology Today writes about "Forest Bathing in Japan." Full immersion in the forest. PT referenced a 2012 Outside magazine first-person article by Florence Williams, Take Two Hours of Pine Forest and Call Me in the Morning. Here's the subhead:

These days, screen-addicted Americans are more stressed out and distracted than ever. And there’s no app for that. But there is a radically simple remedy: get outside. Florence Williams travels to the deep woods of Japan, where researchers are backing up the theory that nature can lower your blood pressure, fight off depression—and even prevent cancer.

These days, I need assistance when walking. I'm missing out on forest bathing. But last time I was in the mountains, last September, I sat under pines as my family joined friends in a hike on Vedauwoo's Turtle Rock Trail. I'm usually the one leading these and may again if the docs can get to the bottom of my disability. I can park my rollator walker under any tree. And breathe deeply. 

Happy belated Arbor Day.

Get your reading groove on at FoCo Book Fest

Great line-up tomorrow, Oct. 21, for the Fort Collins Book Fest: Writers and Riffs. I have known about this for a few weeks but may not be able to attend. But you can.

My mentor and one-time colleague John Calderazzo conducts a nonfiction essay writing workshop at 10:45 a.m. in the Old Town Library. The workshop, unfortunately, is filled up. No surprise, as John is one of the best teachers around for this genre. If you are interested in the "next steps for you in your publishing adventure," author and entrepreneur Teresa Funke conducts some one-on-one sessions from 11 a.m.- 3 p.m. in the Old Town Library. Sign up by calling 970-221-6740. Buy her book, "Remember Wake" about the survivors of the battles on Wake Island (and later imprisonment) in World War II.

Some of us recall warbling late night renditions of Loudon Wainwright III's 1972 ditty "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road" (you know who you are). If you can't remember, go here for a refresher: https://youtu.be/Uu5hzc2Mei4. Wainwright will speak about his memoir, "Liner Notes," and sing some of his songs on the Linden Street stage from 1:30-3 p.m.

The session that interests me is "For What It's Worth: A New History of the Sixties" by cultural historian Craig Werner. As Werner says, the 1960s is "a decade that has been obscured by nostalgia, controversy and a nearly impenetrable veil of politically-motivated mythologies." Couldn't agree more. See what you missed at 12:15 p.m. at the Downtown Artery on Linden St.

Another session that mixes contemporary sounds and books features Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon talking about her memoir "Girl in the Band." It's from 3:30-4:30 p.m. at Book One Events on Linden Street.

As you can see, music weaves its way through the bookfest. The organizers were anxious to seize on FoCo's newly-minted rep as one of the most exciting music towns on the Front Range. As someone who has been on planning committees for three book festivals and dozens of literary events, I like this group's vision. Face it, people don't read or buy books as they once did. They are crazy about music. Mix the two and you might get a crowd younger than book-loving me at 66. And that's what you want.

I wish you luck, FoCo Book Fest. More info at https://www.focobookfest.org

Artistic and mentally ill and homeless in Cheyenne

What happens when you go to an art opening and you run into an old family friend who has descended so far into mental illness that she is homeless?

Her name is the letter A. I know her real name but I can't bring myself to use it. I don't know what's going to happen to her and wonder what I can do about it.

On Thursday, I attended the opening of the new Hynds Building gallery space featuring six of our finest artists. I was perusing Georgia Rowswell's fabric work when a woman in black sidled up to me. She wore a big floppy hat and a black coat over a leotard top and jeans. I knew her right away. She once worked at the coffee shop across the street from the Hynds. She's a local, went to school with my son. She has a son, whom I remember as a elementary school kid. A is a talented artist and musician.

I hugged her. She started crying. "You recognized me," she said through tears. I asked her what was going on. She said her 12-year-old son had run away, everyone was plotting against her, and last night, as she slept in an alley, a man urinated on her.

I was shocked. It skewed my evening art adventure.

As A told her tale, I realized how far she had sunk into despondency. When I say that, I mean mental illness. She had no place to stay, although she told me that some guy had let her use his apartment but other guys kept hitting on her. This is a good-looking woman in her 30s. I am old enough to be her father or grandfather. She and my 32-year-old son used to hang out in the same artsy crowd.

Isn't it dangerous out on the streets for a homeless woman? I suggested she go to the homeless shelter. She told me that she had been banned but that was OK with her because all the people there wore pentagrams and were Satanists. She couldn't go into most of the downtown businesses because she had been banned for various reasons which I was just beginning to understand.

She said she was hungry so I steered her to one of the food tables. She ate hummus and crackers. Filled her traveling cup with punch. "For later," she said. Other people came up to talk to us but quickly veered away when they saw my companion. A looked like an artsy person but people seemed to know to steer clear. She was known. How come I didn't know? Where had I been? Retired, I guess. Old and out of the way.

Meanwhile, my phone kept buzzing. My daughter was texting from an ER at a hospital in Fort Collins. She had experienced a bad reaction to the anaesthesia used in Wednesday's ECT treatment in Boulder. I was caught up in one of those texting rounds when everyone seems to be talking over each other. I was worried that I would have to rescue my daughter from the ER and bring her home. There had been plenty of calls and texts like this during the past few years. Sometimes my wife and I went to her aid. Sometimes we did not, as she has spent time in recovery centers in L.A. and Chicago.

I felt bad for A, but kept thinking, "Hey, I have my own problems." It was clear by now that A was homeless because she did what many mentally ill do. They elude available help because they are paranoid or schizophrenic or drug-addicted or an alcoholic or any combination of these things. The helpers are out to get her because they tell her what to do and how to behave. She freaks out and hits the streets. She sleeps in an alley and a guy pisses on her.

I am upset because I know this person to be a sane, creative person, a single mom who took care of her son, at least when I knew her. I took the last resort and offered her money, I had $100 in my pocket that I was going to spend on drinks or a small art piece. I gave her $40. She said it would get her food and maybe help with a room. I was going to ask if she was going to spend it on drugs or booze. But I didn't have the heart.

As I walked her out of the gallery, we passed a musician and his son. They were homeless themselves at one time. The musician plays his guitar on street corners and the farmer's market. He took one look at A, grabbed his son and hurried off. This was odd as it is usually what I feel like doing when I see him.

I told A that I had to go because my daughter might need me down in Fort Collins. I told her that my daughter was having ECT treatments. She panicked, told me not to do that as it can erase your brain. She then turned her attention to The Hole on Lincolnway hidden behind the Atlas Theatre banner. She pointed to the corner of the rubble-strewn hole. "I used to make a fire there -- it's out of the wind," she said. OK. We walked on. We ran into a downtown entrepreneur known for his libertarian rock 'n' roll roots. He asked what I was doing. "Visiting with an old friend," I said. He shook my hand, looked askance at A. He then disappeared into the Crown Bar. "He doesn't like me," she said."I'm banned from his store."

I got to my car and got in. I said good-bye, said I would meet her a 5 the following evening across from the gallery. I didn't go, as I was taking my daughter to an ECT treatment in Boulder. While there, her psychiatrist admitted her to the hospital for a 72-hour hold. She has been self-harming and threatened to do more. I left her there and headed back to Cheyenne on my own. I carried with me that old sinking feeling, that my daughter will never get better.

On the streets of Cheyenne is a homeless 30-something woman. She once was a family friend.

My mentally ill daughter is not homeless but could be. How come she seeks out help and A does not? All mental illnesses are not alike. A does not equal B. My daughter has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, severe depression and borderline personality disorder. She can hold intelligent conversations. She is a musician and is a talented painter. She cuts her arms with razors.

I read the news today in The Denver Post. It was about a 13-year-old Latina nicknamed Bella in Thornton . She hung herself while her family gathered downstairs making fajitas to celebrate her sister's fiance's birthday. Bella had been the target of cyber-bullying and just couldn't take it anymore.

Even in death, this life doesn't make any sense.

Car-centric or people-friendly?

I have traveled to Fort Collins a lot lately, mostly to visit our daughter Annie. She lives a block from the university. She can walk or ride her bike almost anywhere. This summer she took the shuttle bus to concerts at the Mishawaka up the Poudre Canyon. The city has great bus service, including the north-south MAX line. Uber and Lyft are Ubiquitous. Uberiquitous!

FOOTNOTE: Writers might find this interesting. I first learned ubiquitous from a title of a Philip K. Dick strange novel, "Ubik." This illustrates the instructional side of sci-fi.

Our daughter had a car but it met the fate of so many vehicles in a college town after dark -- driving after partying. It now rests in a Denver junkyard, a totalled 10-year-old car with what seemed like so many more miles to go. Alas.

So as I visit and help her with errands, I notice that Fort Collins is much less a car town than when I lived here from 1988-91. That's no surprise to its residents. It is a surprise to someone from Cheyenne, a decidedly car-centric city in a very car-and-truck-centric state. Rapid transit is still exotic in the Capital City. We do have taxis and Uber and car-pooling. We have a superb greenway, although street bike paths are still a work-in-progress. You see pedestrians downtown during the day, most of whom are state employees looking for a double caramel macchiato to get them through the long afternoon. The crowds thin out at night as there just aren't that many businesses worth visiting. We have three craft breweries, all three worth a visit. And there are bars. A few coffee shops. Some restaurants.

If you look for pedestrians along the Dell Range shopping district, you won't find many. You will find a mall and lots of chain restaurants. But people don't walk on Dell Range. It's a place for cars.

One thing I notice about Fort Collins 30 years after my grad school days -- it's a car environment gradually morphing into something else. It's funny, too, since most of the older residential streets were built along Utah's Mormon model -- wide enough to easily turn around an ox cart. Ox carts are rare these days. Most of what you see are young people on bikes and skateboards. Pedestrians of all stripes. All the major streets are lined with bike paths. Some through streets have been mined with those annoyingly huge speed bumps, the kind you see in neighborhoods that include city council reps with kids. Not a bad idea -- you still see plenty of cars in FoCo, many of them going too fast. Many in this one-time cowtown still drive pick-ups, whether they use it for ranch work or just want to look like they do. The CSU Rams used to be the Aggies, which accounts for the big white A on the hill above town. Still a lot of ag and geology and veterinary students here, which differentiates it from its rival university in Boulder. The CU Buffs probably still refer to the CSU bunch as "the Aggies," especially in the lead-up to the annual Rocky Mountain Showdown on the gridiron.

Fort Collins actively discourages cars. It's every wingnut's nightmare. Walkable downtown and neighborhoods. Limited parking. Wide sidewalks. Very rare to see a coal roller. I heard an announcement on FM 105.5 that talked about a city program that closes streets on a rotating basis so people can eat and drink and listen to live music. What's the world coming to?

Not sure what the next few years will bring. Driverless cars. A light rail. A Hyperloop connection is in the works, if Colorado's entry into the project is picked as the one to be actually built. Who knows what that portends for Fort Collins, even Cheyenne.

Meanwhile, my goal in Fort Collins is to slow down and  beware of cyclists. It could be someone's millennial, maybe even mine.

What do the Mozambique and Fort Collins beer cultures have in common?

No surprise to find an exhibit about beer in the craft-brewing Nirvana of Fort Collins, Colo.

What is surprising is to find an art museum exploring beer making in Africa. The exhibit, "Crossing Communities: Beer Culture Across Africa," is up in the Griffin Foundation Gallery at the CSU Gregory Allicar Museum of Art through Sept. 23. The Griffin is in the new wing of the museum that opened last year.

I visited on a particularly hot afternoon in late June. Good day for a cold one. I didn't find that at the Allicar but I did find a fascinating exhibit of handmade beer-making equipment from Uganda, Cote d'Ivoire, Malawi and other African cultures.

Exhibit sponsor is Maxline Brewing, a newbie to FoCo, getting its name from its site along the Max Bus Line in Midtown. According to the exhibit catalog, Maxline joined the project in its early days. Brewery staff toured the exhibit, "examined the ceramic brewing pots and learned about traditional African brewing methods, rituals, and ceremonies." Maxline's brewer then went to work crafting a beer meant to imitate those traditional brews. The brew, named "Kulima" for the Swahili word for "cultivate," is made from millet, maize, barley, hops, gesho leaves, and grains of paradise. Maxline's Crowler label was designed by CSU's Liz Griffin.

The public-private partnership is music to the ears of this former arts administrator. A privately-endowed gallery at a publicly-funded land grant university teams up with an eager local start-up company to educate the public about a commodity -- beer -- and traditions of other cultures. The African ceramic vessels were donated to the museum's permanent collection by Robert F. Bina and Delores De Wilde Bina. An anonymous donor helped fund the purchase. Partnership such as this one have been going on for a long time. Often the catalyst is a local or state arts agency or the NEA. But not always, as I found no mention of Fort Fund or Colorado Creative Industries in the catalog. Not necessary. This is America and we don't requite the imprimatur of the culture ministry to approve an exhibit. We damn well can show anything we want. Almost anything, as attempts at censorship are often in the news. But if I was the culture minister, I would want to be associated with this fine show.

The exhibit is comprised of 39 pieces. They include water and grain-carrying vessels, brewing pots, and drinking vessels. All are handcrafted in a technique displayed in the film that accompanies the exhibit. The drinking vessels may be the most interesting. Some were large enough to serve an entire village while other were akin to mugs we use in the West. One featured five spouts, looking almost like an invitation to a drinking game.

Beer in Africa is not just for pleasure. It also serves a ceremonial function. Find out more about this in exhibit catalog essays by CSU student art major Laura Vilaret-Tuma and Dr. David Riep, associate curator of African art. Vilaret-Tuma's essay is "Ceramics Across the African Continent." Dr. Riep writes about "the spiritual aspects of terra firma in ceramic arts across the African continent." Get more info and photos of the exhibit at the museum's web site.

The making and drinking of beer is ritualized all over the world. Beer is a staple at football games and backyard barbecues. Friends sit in a pub drinking beer and swapping tall tales. some of them true. The advent of craft beer caused beer brewing to become almost ceremonial, with brewmasters concocting their creations in public view. Like ancient magicians, they combine intriguing ingredients, such as the aforementioned gesho leaves and grains of paradise, to the mixture. True, their brewing vats are stainless steel and not ceramic, but they serve the same purpose. We sample the beers with a reverence that startles, even annoys, the casual beer drinker slamming down a few cold Buds. Advancing age and good sense led me away from keggers to craft beers. I can sip them at my leisure, marveling at the brewer's art. Most of these beers have a higher alcohol content that mainstream varieties (I am talking about you, Melvin Brewing Co. of Alpine, Wyo.). This can ambush newbies. They won't see God but they may end up talking to Ralph on the big white telephone.

If you require an excuse to travel to FoCo for a ritual beer tasting. the museum invites you to the reception for the exhibit on Thursday, June 29, 5-7 p.m. View the arts and sample Maxline's Kulima out in the sculpture garden.

What better way to spend a summer evening?

Cheyenne Artspace wants you to take its Artist Market Survey

I've always been pleased when people who live in the far-flung regions on Wyoming refer to Cheyenne as North Denver. They mean it as a slam. I take it as a compliment.

I'm a Denver native. My parents were Denver natives. My son was born in Denver. Both sets of grandparents met, fell in love, got married, and had kids in Denver. They were from elsewhere but found themselves in the Mile High City 100-some years ago and did what humans have been doing for centuries -- they got busy being human.

But this isn't about Denver. It's about NoCoSoWy or, if you prefer, SoWyNoCo. It's about Cheyenne, Laramie, Fort Collins and Greeley. It's about the counties of Laramie, Albany, Larimer and Weld. More than 720,000 souls live in this region, far less than the millions who inhabit Colorado but more than the 580,000 or so who inhabit the Great State of Wyoming.

Some 350,000 people live within a 50-mile radius of Cheyenne. There should be 600 people in there who are interested in taking the Cheyenne Artspace Artist Market Survey that was launched on Thursday. That's the number that Arts Cheyenne and Cheyenne DDA/Main Street hope to reach in the next eight weeks. I think they can do it. I attended the survey launch party Feb. 26 at Asher-Wyoming Arts Center across from the Cheyenne railyards. A pair of engines pulled a line of graffitied railcars toward San Francisco. A teamster was wrangling a loaded semi in the parking lot. Lace-like snowflakes danced on my windshield.

Attendance was pretty good for a cold, snowy Thursday. We hung out at tables arrayed around the bare-brick second floor center. Sixty of us ate, chatted and listened to music by Todd Dereemer and his band. The stage was designed as a multi-media stage/altar for the Vineyard Church. The church moved out and the arts center moved in.

Here's how's Arts Cheyenne described this initiative:

Artspace is a non-profit consultancy and property development organization specializing in affordable housing and work space for artists and arts organizations. Artspace has developed 37 similar projects in 13 states, with a dozen more in development or under construction. A nearby Artspace project in Loveland, Colo. is slated for completion this spring.

Artspace representatives visited Cheyenne last year to tour buildings and make presentations to community leaders and artists. The visit convinced Artspace there was a market for an artist live/work project and in Cheyenne Feasibility Report recommended the survey to help determine project specifics, like space, location, and number of potential users. 

Artspace and Arts Cheyenne will work together to promote the online survey to local artists and arts organizations. A survey report will be compiled and delivered in August 2015. 

At Thursday's gathering, Shannon Joern from Artspace HQ in Minneapolis gave us an overview of the project and provided a rough timeline.

The survey may show a need for the project. It may not. That happened in Casper a few years ago. While a live/work style project wasn't in the cards, Artspace is still working with Casper on a consulting basis. Casper's core business area is booming. The Casper Artists' Guild will move into its renovated downtown warehouse on May 1. A brewpub, gelatto shop and other small businesses will occupy the other half of the warehouse. In some ways, Casper is ahead of Cheyenne when it comes to creative placemaking. If only they could get a new library....

Felicia Harmon of Loveland Artspace noted that the arts survey conducted six years ago in the south end of Colorado's Larimer County helped to "quantify and qualify the arts in our community." Even before construction started on the live/work space, Loveland Aleworks opened a block away because it "wanted to be close to another arts community," Harmon said. Across the railroad tracks from the former feed and grain depot, now the arts center adjacent to the Artspace development, is a group of new studios for mid-career artists and in the works is a new maker space. The Arts Incubator of the Rockies (AIR) has moved into the neighborhood, adding a regional arts component to the local one. AIR was based in Fort Collins but heard the drumbeat of innovation and moved south.  

My advice? If you're interested in the arts and the future of Cheyenne, take the survey. A good investment for 15 minutes. I'll wager that you spend at least 15 minutes a year listening to people say, "There's nothing to do in Cheyenne."

Well?

What makes Cheyenne Cheyenne?

One of the best things to happen to Wyoming communities in 2014 is a resurgence of downtown redevelopment. Wyoming Main Street gets some credit for that. But the energy to get the job done comes from within the community. That's the way it should be, don't you think?

Rock Springs, Gillette, Rawlins -- all communities that refurbished downtowns in the past year. They rebuilt streets and sidewalks, added new lighting and purchased public art. Rock Springs and Rawlins provided funds for businesses to redo their storefronts. All of these places added business to their central core, the traditional heart of their cities.

What do I-80 travelers think about when they buzz through Rawlins? Who would want to live there -- it's so desolate? Sure, on a bitter January day, Rawlins can look at bit intimidating. Sure, the state's hulking gray prison lurks just behind the bluffs to the south. The rock escarpments that ring the town may look a bit foreboding to coasters. And that 60 mph west wind that strips the enamel from your teeth? Not much to say but keep your mouth shut. I suppose that's good advice anytime.

But there's so much to see and do. The intriguing historic prison is downtown and the site for some entertaining candlelight tours during Halloween season. The old prison even appeared on an episode of "Ghost Adventures" in which Zak & Co. discovered that the exploration of a quirky local home was almost as exciting as the haunted prison. We acknowledge that the show is filled with P.T. Barnum hoopla -- but it also showcases some great historic tidbits. And how many nationally-televised shows get to Rawlins?

Rawlins recently revamped their downtown streetscape and added two beautiful hawk sculptures by Boulder's Joshua Wiener. Next time, get off the interstate and do some exploring -- and maybe some dining and shopping.

It's the people who make the place -- and those creative ventures that people undertake. Art, music, writing, sculpting, cooking, ghost adventuring, etc. You just have to ask yourself: what makes my community tick?

What makes Cheyenne Cheyenne? That's the question we're asking locally. Everyone knows about our Old West heritage. Every July, we stage a big party with that theme at its center. But Cheyenne also is about transportation -- railroads, highways and air travel. That last one may be a bit of a surprise, as our tiny airport is outshone by so many others in the region. But our town has a storied history when it comes to flying. The Carl Spaatz Flying Circus, Eddie Rickenbacker's crack-up, Lindbergh and the Army Airmail Service, the advent of United Airlines, etc. -- you can look it up.

Dinosaurs walked here -- and I'm not just talking about Republican legislators. Native Americans were the first human inhabitants and Cheyenne, as its name suggests, is rich in pre-white-settlement history. Buffalo soldiers? We had them at Fort D.A. Russell.

We are enriched by the arts. An article in Sunday's WTE celebrated a banner year in music for Cheyenne. Arts Cheyenne will engage in an "arts blitz" in 2015 to build interest for a downtown Artspace project that will rehab an old building and turn it into live-work spaces for artists and -- possibly -- offices for arts groups and visual arts and performing spaces. The Children's Museum project is really taking off.

This is what Cheyenne needs -- thinking and acting locally. For too long we have thrown up our hands and ceded arts and culture and music and beer to Fort Collins. For good reason -- FoCo almost invented the craft beer scene in the Rocky Mountain West. It also has a thriving arts scene. But it wasn't always that way. When I was a grad student there in the late 1980s, nobody called it FoCo but they did call it an aggie town or cowtown -- a sleepy place which young people deserted on weekends to go to Denver and Boulder and the mountains. Meanwhile, bored kids from Cheyenne were traveling to Fort Collins because that's where things were happening. Weird.

From the Fort Collins Coloradoan:

Collin Ingram, a musician himself, says he's been in Fort Collins for the past three years and, in that time, has seen the music scene grow and expects that to continue.  

The next big step, however, is the community determining the value it wants to place on the music scene in Fort Collins, Ingram said.  

"We need to decide if the scene is going to be a cool thing that happens here — with bands and a couple festivals every year — or if we're going to kind of move toward the scene being a quintessential part of what makes Fort Collins Fort Collins … the same way beer makes Fort Collins Fort Collins, or the way CSU makes Fort Collins Fort Collins."

What makes Cheyenne Cheyenne? You decide.

And what makes Wyoming Wyoming? Volunteerism and generosity. Neighbors helping neighbors.

News comes about a devastating Dec. 30-31 fire in Dubois that destroyed several historic downtown buildings. Needs of Dubois is handling contributions for relief efforts. Send checks to NOD, PO Box 865, Dubois, WY 82513, and please note "Dubois Fire" in the memo of the check. You can also contribute online at http://www.gofundme.com/duboisfire. Almost $10,000 had been raised by noon on Jan. 2.

Onward, aggies and artists!

This time last week, the snow fell and the wind blew. By the end of Sunday, my yard looked more like January than April.

The day before, I was thinking of outdoors and gardening and growing things, so after a workout at the YMCA, I drove by Grant Farms on Lincolnway to see if it was open. Baskets of peonies hung from the front porch and I saw people working inside so I dropped in.

"Just so you know, I'll be bringing all those plants inside tonight," said the woman at the counter. "Didn't want you to get the wrong idea."

Right. It's not time for peonies or other colorful outside growing things. Soon, though. I asked her if I could plant the onion sets she had on display. She said I was probably OK, as they were hardy and most of the plant is in the ground which is gradually warming up.

I bought some onion sets (I liked the name -- Red Zeppelin) and herbs and potting soil and seeds, just so I could feel as if gardening time was upon us.

The Grant Farms store in Cheyenne is alive and kicking after 30-some years. It once was a fruit and veggie stand run by a couple who lived in the house just behind the retail store. A fruit and veggie stand -- an old-fashioned idea that now is new-fashioned in this age of local produce and eggs and meat and chicken coops in the backyard. Grant Farms has a CSA with produce grown in Wellington and its own eggs and other fruits and veggies grown by other small organic growers to our south. The larger Grant Farms company declared bankruptcy last year after a search for a long-term investor went awry. Founder Andy Grant is a CSU grad who blazed the trail for other CSAs and organic farms and locavores in the region. CSU students used to be known as Aggies, this the big whitewashed "A" on the hill west of town. It's still an ag school but now also produces an array of annoying artists and musicians and writers such as yours truly. They feed the burgeoning FoCo music and arts scene, and some even wander up the road to Cheyenne.

I often wonder about the connections among the local food, craft beer and arts scenes. What came first -- the hand-crafted beer or the locally-sourced egg? In 1988-89, I was a member of the Fort Collins Food Co-op. At the time, it seemed like a holdover from the town's hippie days. Most of the shoppers were my age (late 30s) -- younger people in those days didn't seem concerned about the origins and quality of their food. Now they talk about free-range chickens and locally-sourced veggies and free trade coffee. Wonder how that's playing out in the Ag school? Do corporate farms and seed companies and fertilizer conglomerates still rule the roost? Or has "small and local" entered the classroom and lab? What about it, Aggies? There were 1,200 Future Farmers of America kids in town last week for the annual convention. Certainly all of those kids aren't thinking corporate, are they?

My grandparents' roots are rural. I came up in the city and suburbs. My parents were raised in the city. They never talked about "going back to land" -- their future was in accounting and nursing. Some of the earthier Boomer children did talk about "getting back to the land" although very few actually did it. Never in a million years would I have considered farming as an occupation. I know a gardener is miles removed from being a farmer. Still, backyard gardens are feeding a lot of people these days. City gardens are cropping up on patios and rooftops and vacant lots. The greening of the city, some people call it. Prowling the web I see all kinds of innovative ideas for high-rises that include vertical gardens.

The future belongs to the innovators. Aggies and artists.

Do hordes of Colorado burger wranglers commute to Chey-town?

It's about a half hour (34 miles) from downtown Cheyenne, Wyoming, to downtown Wellington, Colorado. I've passed it hundreds of times on my way to Fort Collins and Denver. I've stopped many times, too. I used to buy lottery tix at the convenience store -- never won a thing. I sometimes get off I-25 at Wellington to take the back way to the Fort, especially if I'm heading downtown. I once had a flat tire at the Wellington exit on a moonlit Fourth of July. There are worse times to change a flat than on a warm, brightly lit Colorado night. My family was asleep in the car. I took my time. I half expected a drunk to come barrelling into us. But traffic was light and impaired drivers bound for Wyoming were behaving themselves.

Wellington is a quick commute for those employed in Wyoming who prefer Colorado's rarefied atmosphere. You know, progressive politics, legalized marijuana, organic groceries, FoCo's Craft Beer Nirvana and a lively live music scene. Of course, you also have to pay state income tax. I am told that there are as many Wellington-based commuters heading north to Cheyenne each morning as there are heading south. And it's not just those employed at Laramie County's big Wal-Mart distribution center, Warren AFB, refinery, LCCC or state government. It's also those employed in the retail trade. Business people in Cheyenne keep telling me that they can't fill their fast-food jobs from Cheyenne folks and they have to reach out to Coloradans. Seems odd that people would commute 30 or 40 or 50 miles to wrangle burgers, but that's what I hear. Let me be clear -- I have no evidence for such a claim. Blogging is not an evidence-based practice. If I said that the sun revolves around the earth, you might take my word for it, especially if you were a fundie. You might dispute my claim, commenting that I am a nincompoop, a Know-Nothing prog-blogger, a waste of electrons.

So let's look at some real stats.

Wyoming's unemployment rate is 4.4%. Colorado's is 6.2%. But a recent story in the Denver Post says that those figures don't include some 250,000 Coloradans who have "disappeared" from the workforce. If those people were thrown into the stats, that state's unemployment rate might be more like 10%, according to a story in The Daily Caller. Read more about Colorado's unemployment picture here.

Maybe those disappeared are working part-time in Wyoming? They wouldn't be the first people to disappear into The Great Wide Open. Remember, we are the state of UFOs, cattle mutilations, unsolved murders and Cindy Hill. Mysteries abound!

Hand it to Wellington. It's looking at ways to restore its quaint downtown. The Downtown Revitalization and Main Street Project just finished a needs assessment survey of the town's businesses. The Wellington Area Chamber of Commerce is holding meetings on Feb. 24-25 to discuss all of this.

It appears that Wellington wants to be more than a bedroom community for Fort Collins and Cheyenne. Everyone is thinking locally these days, some places more than others.

Wellington has its own poem. It's not a great poem but I'm impressed that the town features poetry on its web site. Here it is:

As you wander toward the Rockies,
from the way of the rising sun, you come to the Boxelder Valley,
and the Town of Wellington.
We take pride in our little city, not a selfish motive shown.
For our harvest will be plenty, from seed that’s freely sown.
How that dear old town is growing.
Its streets are clear of dust. Where my heart is there I’m going,
It’s Wellington or bust!
And the moment that I spy it, not a boost will I deny it.
Every man there will stand by it. The watch word will be Trust.
Here’s to you old-timers, the backbone of the land.
Alone you’re sure to falter. Together we all stand.
And now in conclusion,
May we all be as one, and put forth our best efforts,
For a greater Wellington.

--W.O. Haberman, 1917

Saturday side-trip to Ethiopia

I don't often recommend restaurants. That may be because I don't often go to restaurants. I eat at home most of the time. I cook, which helps keep down expenses. Lately I've been making killer salads from my garden's greens and herbs. Soon we will have broccoli and beans and peas and tomatoes and peppers and all the rest. One must be patient to garden in this high-altitude climate.

Four of us travelled I-25 Street to Nyala Ethiopian Cuisine Saturday evening. I-25 is the longest connector street in the Cheyenne-Fort Collins Metroplex. It carries a flurry of sojourners seeking jobs, education, good food and craft beer. When foodies in Cheyenne eat out, they go to the Morris House Bistro in downtown Cheyenne or any number of places in Fort Collins. We have other places to eat in Cheyenne, but most are chains with predictable fare.

Nyala is located in a nondescript shopette just off South College Avenue, one of the busiest streets in Colorado. It shares a building with an Indian restaurant. If we could teleport this building to Cheyenne, our fair city would double its number of international restaurants with homemade offerings (that doesn't include the ubiquitous Tex-Mex and Americanized Chinese restaurants).

Until teleportation arrives, we have to transport ourselves via Ford to Fort Collins.

The nyala is an Ethiopian ibex. A photo of one hangs in the restaurant entryway. The walls are festooned with fabric hangings representing aspects of Ethiopian culture, such as the coffee ceremony and half-size versions of musical instruments such as the krar, which is cousin to the sitar and guitar. 

We chose traditional seating over the regular American-style tables. We sat in cushioned, bench-like seats, the four of us arrayed around a low-slung circular table. Our food came on a large platter. We used Injera bread for utensils. "No forks" John told us. Annie thought he was kidding, until the food arrived but no forks. We scooped up the lentils and gomen and lamb wot and beef tibs with swipes of our Injera.

Food brings people together. It also provides a glimpse into other cultures. We spoke at length with proprietor and chef Etage Asrat. She moved to Fort Collins in 1991. After taking time out to raise her three daughters and finish her education, she opened her restaurant in 2004. Her daughters now are global citizens like their mom. These days, she's an American (and a Coloradan) with roots and family in Addis Ababa. She will visit her home country this winter. Her family back home helps prepare ingredients for Nyala's cuisine. They are mostly traditional and classic Ethiopian dishes Asrat grew up with.

John is an old Ethiopian hand. He served two tours with the Peace Corps in Ethiopia, first in Jima and then in Addis Ababa. "Tours" is usually a military term, but people seem to forget that JFK created the Peace Corps as a civilian counterpart to the Green Berets, which he also authorized. Congressman Richard Nixon, JFK's opponent in the 1960 presidential elections, criticized the program as a "cult of escapism" and "a haven for draft dodgers."

Chris's father, Jack Schweiger, was a U.S. Army supply officer who was tasked with getting goods into the country and to the troops. He often worked with civilian authorities and their supply needs. After all, His Imperial Majesty Halie Selassie, had an understanding with the U.S. He was happy to supply the U.S. with an outpost on the Horn of Africa to blunt the Soviet influence in nearby states. Jack did two tours in Ethiopia (1967-70). He then sent the family back to the states as he was sent to another U.S, client-state, Vietnam. Both Ethiopia and Vietnam would be out of the U.S. orbit by 1975. And Haile Salassie would be dead.

So it goes.

Nyala is part restaurant and part museum. It's worth a visit. It's much closer than Addis Ababa.

Cheyenne and Laramie will be part of the Front Range Megaregion by 2050

Word comes from south of the border that a group of Colorado counties wants to secede. The effort is being led by commissioners in Weld County, which butts up against Laramie County in Wyoming, home of the capital city, Cheyenne, wherein I dwell.

No word yet on the new state's name. But fellow blogger Michael Bowman (Colorado Pols) labeled it The Silly State of Dumphuckistan, which seems appropriate.

I'm pleased that the is happening in my home state of Colorado instead of my adopted state of Wyoming. It's usually Republican legislators from Casper or the Big Horn Basin who are proposing dumb stuff in public, such as labeling wolves terrorists or buying an aircraft carrier for our mythical land-based navy. Sometimes its our new county commissioners of the Tea Party persuasion, the "Agenda 21 wants to take away my guns and make me live in a Hobbit home" crowd. So it's refreshing that this particular bit of nonsense comes from Colorado.

What's got these people fired up?

Liberals making laws. First of all, Liberals should not control both legislative bodies and the governor's seat. Second, they should not be making laws for the entire state. Third of all, they should not be making laws that could possibly curtail fracking, limit gun ownership and promote alternative energy. There's probably a bunch of other things but that should do it for now.

I don't blame the rural, conservative residents of this proposed new state for being angry. I live in the most populated city in the most populated county in the least populated state. As a Democrat, I have to put up with stupid laws by the rural conservative majority that abrogate workers' rights, demonize gays, feed the egos and pocketbooks of the energy companies, prohibit Obamacare, OK silencers for hunting rifles, and so on. I would secede from the State of Wyoming if I thought that I could work up the liberal minority enough to pull it off.

If I had my druthers, I would advocate for a state that placed Cheyenne and Laramie across the border into Colorado. For the most part, these two southeast Wyoming cities have more in common with Greeley and Fort Collins that they do with Lusk, Worland and Afton. Rural Wyomingites already call Cheyenne north Denver or a suburb of Fort Collins. Thing is, we already are part of one of the "emerging megaregions" that will control American politics by 2050. I will be gone by then, but my offspring will live in a reliably blue part of Wyoming. Look at this map:

The Front Range Megaregion with stretch from Laramie and Cheyenne in Wyoming to Albuquerque in New Mexico. It will vote reliably blue and will control politics in three big Rocky Mountain states. That's already happening in CO and NM. Wyoming has some catching up to do. Laramie County with its 90,000-plus population already has one-sixth of the state's population. If that keeps up and we get to, say, a million people in Wyoming in 2050, Laramie County will have a population of 167,000 with most of them in the city of Cheyenne. Since it's tough to find a city of more than 100,000 that votes Republican, Cheyenne should be reliably Democratic. As the article in The Atlantic said, "it's not people that make cities blue, it's cities that make people blue." That's because city dwellers live with within a rainbow of other cultures and sexual persuasions.When you live and work with Latinos and African-Americans and Asians and gays and lesbians and tattooed young people and cranky old folks it's hard to discriminate against them.

Democrats only hope in SeWy (Southeast Wyoming) is to keep up the drumbeat of economic development, continue to beef up our infrastructure, refurbish our downtown to make it friendly for brewpubs, cafes and boutique hotels, improve our educational system and ban the Fox Network's blowhards from our TVs and radios.

Then you can color us blue for the long haul.

Superman goes to kindergarten

Parents are told: "No more Superhero play!"

Geekosystem carried a story about a Philadelphia preschool that recently sent a letter home to parents about a ban on "Superhero Play." The kids at the school were acting out their favorite superheroes and as quick as you can say "Biff! Bam! Zowie!" kids were getting hurt.

Superheroes have been around for a long time. They are, after all, SUPERHEROES and are timeless. Back in the 1950s, my father instituted a ban on comic books. He insisted that they were trash and substituted our Superman and Batman comics with Illustrated Classics versions of "Treasure Island" and "The Tale of Two Cities." You know, the books he read as a lad. Nevermind that the former was about bloodthirsty pirates who raped and pillaged their way across the bounding main. And that the latter featured a bloody execution device that I never encountered in a Man of Steel adventure. So I read the classics and grew up to be a writer of obscure literary works instead of a well-paid teller-of-illustrated-tales at Marvel or DC Comics.

To ban something is to say to children: "I dare you to outfox my aging brain that rests inside this graying old head." Exactly -- the kids will find a way. Not sure what the kids are doing at this unnamed PA preschool, but I know they will find a way to engage in surreptitious superhero play.

My son Kevin is 28 now. When he was five and attending kindergarten in Fort Collins, Colo., he decided that he would attend school as Superman. He had a nifty Superman Halloween costume. He wore it to school for the Halloween party and then that evening for our traditional night of trick-or-treating in the snow. We have photos of him sitting on our picnic table surrounded by snow drifts and jack-o-lanterns. He clutches a big bag of candy. Chocolate smears his happy face.

The next morning, he came downstairs dressed as Superman.

I told him that Halloween was over. His mother told him to go upstairs and change.

Kevin insisted on remaining a superhero.

We both shrugged and sent him off to school as Superman.

The school called an hour later. "Your son is dressed as Superman," the school said.

Good Grief! Is that my son going to school dressed as Superman again?

Chris replied that she knew.

"He can't be Superman," the school said. "Halloween is over."

"Can't he just be Superman for one more day?"

The school pondered this. "Just for today."

The next morning, Kevin came downstairs dressed as Superman.

"You can't be Superman today," Chris said.

"I'm Superman," Kevin said.

"He says he's Superman," I said.

Chris explained to Kevin that Halloween was over and he could be Superman next year. He could even be Superman after school and on weekends.

"I'm Superman," he said.

We shrugged and sent him off to school. The school called an hour later. Nobody was home. Kevin came home with a note. The note read: "Your son cannot come to school dressed as Superman. It's against the dress code."

"What dress code?" I asked Chris. This was a public school kindergarten. Kids wore shorts. Kids wore ratty jeans. Kids wore Superman and Ghostbusters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles T-shirts.

I knew all about dress codes because I went to Catholic school. Most of us were keen to observe the dress codes lest we be paddled or smacked with a ruler.

When we inquired about the dress code, we were told only that no costumes were allowed.

"No costumes are allowed," we told Kevin.

"I'm Superman," he said.

"He's Superman," I replied.

"He's Superman," Chris answered.

You have to understand that Kevin was diagnosed with ADHD before kindergarten started. He was taking Ritalin to help control his hyperactivity and impulsivity. It was working, to a certain extent. He still got in trouble on the playground for pushing kids on the swings and down the slide who didn't want to be pushed. He treated every sport as a contact sport. Maybe taking on the guise of Superman will help him in other ways?

It didn't hurt. That's how we approached it with his teacher, a very nice woman we'll call Lois Lane.

"The other kids will want to dress up," Lois said.

"What's wrong with that?" I asked.

Lois shrugged. "Nothing, I guess. But parents might complain."

"Have they?" I asked.

"No," said Lois.

Since there was no hue and cry over children's costuming, the issue eventually settled down. At Thanksgiving, Kevin appeared in the pilgrim drama as a pilgrim who underneath really was Superman. Imagine Superman at Plymouth Rock. He might have zoomed over to Europe and delivered foodstuffs to the pilgrims and the Indians. He might have prevented the eventual slaughter of the Indians. As Clark Kent, he might have worked for the New World's first newspaper, answering to an irascible Perry White. "Kent! Where's that story about the first Thanksgiving?"

"Miss Lane said she was going to do it."

"Great Caesar's ghost, Kent. Don't you know that pilgrim women can be burned at the stake for taking a job as a reporter. Now get me that story."

"Sure thing, Chief."

"And don't call me Chief!"

Thanksgiving moved into Christmas. Kevin/Superman appeared on stage with the rest of the class. They sang their hearts out with "Jingle Bells" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." He was the only one dressed as Superman. I wished that he could use his super powers to make the ordeal go faster, but he was content to sing. I considered the fact that Christmas had a superhero in Jesus and another one in Santa Claus. Jesus rose from the dead and Santa popped down a million chimneys in a single night delivering multitudes of dolls and action figures. He always stopped to eat cookies and drink milk. That was some feat. And his reindeer could fly!

Winter melted into spring and the Superman outfit was unraveling. Chris managed to sew a few holes but one day, the outfit came apart at the seams.

"There's nothing I can do," Chris said.

Kevin shrugged and went to school in a Ghostbusters T-shirt and jeans with a hole in the knee. In his heart, he was still Superman.

If I had any advice for that uptight Pennsylvania preschool, it would be this: Don't sweat it. The kids will be all right.

FoCo, NoCo vs. Chy-town, SeWy -- which one is the winner?

Old Town in Fort Collins boasts a new arts space. Here's the lowdown on The Artery from CSU's Rocky Mountain Collegian:

This past Friday the missing piece to the art scene here in NoCo moved into Old Town. A set of 17 art studios that were designed to stimulate the creativity of artists across a wide range will celebrate and showcase art in Fort Collins in a whole new way.

The Artery, which you will find in a historic building on the corner of Linden and College, has been beautifully renovated into a unique art gallery, art studios and events venue. It will rent studios to visual artists and creative businesses, host concerts and gallery walks, teach classes and workshops on all sorts of mediums and much more.

There's an added bonus for this new space.

Fort Collins Brewing Company has also joined the fun by renting a studio for their very own ‘art brewer.’ FCB will be holding a contest that selects two artists of their choosing to share a rented studio at The Artery to create pieces for both themselves and the brewery.

This aging writer is jealous of these young artists populating one of the best downtowns in one of the best communities in the country. I'm a CSU grad so I do bring a bias to the discussion. Fort Collins has been building its creative infrastructure for decades. CSU renovated the old high school (Go FC Lambkins!) into a state-of-the-art arts center. Old Town is thriving with shops and bistros and one of the finest brewpubs in Coopersmiths. The Beet Street arts org has moved in to the old FoCo Carnegie Library and is rehabbing it for its Arts Incubator of the Rockies (AIR). And speaking of craft breweries -- FoCo is the hotspot of Colorado and possibly the nation. I don't quaff the craft brews like I used to, but right now have an Odell 90 Shilling in my hand. I love summer.

As you may recall, I'm a resident of Cheyenne which is 45 short minutes from Fort Collins. We are in different states and different worlds. Our downtown has been struggling for years. We have a fantastic Historic Depot and its plaza that features bands and beer all summer long. We have the Historic Atlas Theatre and Freedom's Edge Brewery and the new Dinneen Building and the Hynds Building Project and the Paramount Cafe and Ruby Juice and several galleries and a great music store in Ernie November. But what I count on two hands, Fort Collins counts on many hands.

It's possible that Cheyenne and Southeast Wyoming just lack interesting acronyms. Cheyenne may be too short of a title for abbreviation. Chey? Cheyne? Do an acrostic with these letters and you get Cheney (God forbid). I have heard people label my place Chy-town, which isn't bad. Our region could easily be SeWy. Chy-town in SeWy! I'll have to test it out on a focus group of hipsters, if I can find any.

Cheyenne has come a long way in the 22 years that my family has called it home. This morning I was talking to Bill Lindstrom, director of Arts Cheyenne, the local arts council. It wasn't too long ago that the capital city had no arts council. That's real progress. And there's more to do all of the time.

Still, we're a long way from establishing a place like The Artery. The grand opening will be on Friday, June 7, starting at 6:30 p.m. I'll be at the Wyoming Writers, Inc., conference in Laramie, but please feel free to tool on down the road to FoCo. The opening will include an exhibition of art along with the artists behind it, food, beer by Fort Collins Brewery and music. It's free!

President Obama will speak at CSU in Fort Collins Aug. 28

President Barack Obama will speak at my alma mater next week just down I-25 in Fort Collins. His timely visit, on the eve of Mitt Romney's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, speaks volumes about the importance of Colorado in the 2012 election. It also speaks volumes about the importance of younger voters and college-educated voters to the Democratic Party. This news comes from KUNC Public Radio in Greeley:

President Barack Obama will travel to Fort Collins next Tuesday for a campaign event.

The visit is part of a two-day swing through Iowa, Colorado and Virginia, according to an Obama for America email. The timing of Obama speaking on Tuesday will happen just before Mitt Romney is expected to accept the Republican nomination on Wednesday.

In 2008, historically Republican-leaning Larimer County voted for Obama. Questions about the economy loomed large back then, and are front-and-center in Obama’s 2012 reelection bid.

As of July 2012, the county had almost 15,000 more active registered Republicans compared to Democrats with almost 61,000 unaffiliated voters.

The Obama for America Campaign expects to release more details about the visit in the coming days.

According to the Associated Press and the Coloradoan, the event is expected to take place at night on the Colorado State University campus.

See a play in Fort Collins, donate to firefighters

The Bas Bleu Theatre Company in Fort Collins is only one of many arts organizations coming up with ways to support local firefighters who have been battling the devestating High Park fire. Ticket sales for tonight's Bas Bleu presentation of "Buffalo Gal" at 7:30 p.m. will go to the Rist Canyon Volunteer Fire Department. See a play and donate to a great cause. Get tickets at http://www.centerstageticketing.com/sites/basbleu/showdates.php?s_id=202