A Utah Senator says that setting aside this land as part of the National Parks is “a hasty, impetuous action to lock up the area, a step that the people of Utah and the nation would regret for centuries.” A Deseret News article asserts there is “no other place in the state which [has] greater potential for mineral production.” A Moab Times Independent editorial states, “We wholeheartedly agree that Utahans cannot allow vast, potentially-rich tracts of land to be ‘locked’ into reserves that … [Read more...] about National Monuments: Land Grab or Legacy?
Mountain Coaching and Consulting LLC
Vuja de
I’ve been writing about various facets of the natural world for the newsletter of the Nature education non-profit I started in the Mountain Park in Beulah, my small southern Colorado town, for a long time. The recent issue that was just published begins the eighteenth year of the Mountain Park News. I can recall writing articles on all sorts of birds and wildflowers, bears, trees, mountain lions, pronghorn, bobcat, pleasing fungus beetles, squirrels, owls, biological soil crusts…but, … [Read more...] about Vuja de
40 Day Love Fest: Daily Marriage Practices for Easy Living
Forty years is made up of a whole lot of individual days. It is what happens routinely in those days that add up to make a life, or a marriage. Sure, vacations are nice, breaks from the routine, opportunities to do some different things and see some different places. But vacations are just that - temporarily vacating the familiar. Then it is back to the familiar. One of our philosophies of creating a happy life, and marriage, is to make the familiar - the everyday days with the everyday tasks … [Read more...] about 40 Day Love Fest: Daily Marriage Practices for Easy Living
40 Day Love Fest: Books That Taught & Inspired Our Marriage – The Early Years
We love books! Sometimes a book can change your life - after you read it, you can't see or do things the same way you saw or did them before. In our early years we found books that helped shape our shared interests, values and ultimately our life together. Some books can be that powerful, and here is a short list of some of the books that have had such an influence on our lives: Living the Good Life by Helen & Scott Nearing Living close to the land, growing food, simplifying, minimizing … [Read more...] about 40 Day Love Fest: Books That Taught & Inspired Our Marriage – The Early Years
40 Day Love Fest: Music Brought Us Together – The Van Manens are born
In the beginning, there was music. If there is a thread that connects the entire length of our marriage, as well as the couple of years we were together before we were married, it is music. Making it and listening to it. Just a few months before we met, Dave did his first public performance at his high school (Brooklyn Tech) after abandoning the plan to become a professional football player (his not-quite 5'7" stature had something to do with this abandonment) and setting his sights on a … [Read more...] about 40 Day Love Fest: Music Brought Us Together – The Van Manens are born
A Redrock Wilderness Retreat, Part 2
DAY TWO I slept cold and poorly last night. The slow leak in the air mattress, which eventually eliminated the insulating layer of air between me and the cold rock underneath, might have had something to do with it. I was happy to see the light of the new day through the walls of the tent. Tonight I think I’ll do a middle-of-the-night refill and see if that helps. I decide to warm my slowly waking body by exploring around the camp. Surrounded by slabs of slickrock poised at every angle, … [Read more...] about A Redrock Wilderness Retreat, Part 2
A Redrock Wilderness Retreat, Part 1
DAY ONE The clock in the car reads 6:21 as I pull out of my morning driveway and head down the dirt road. Destination: Elephant Canyon, Utah! I listen to NPR as I work my way south towards I-25, and then west on US160. Presidential candidates Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Marco Rubio, Hillary Clinton, and Ted Cruz seem to monopolize the news stories. Especially Donald Trump. I climb La Veta Pass and am happy to lose reception. Enough of Donald. I leave Cortez on Hwy 491 and immediately see … [Read more...] about A Redrock Wilderness Retreat, Part 1
