Wotr

For almost a year, the world thought the final chapter had been written about the life — and death — of a young artist and poet who mysteriously disappeared in the Southwest’s canyon country 75 years ago. His name was Everett Ruess, and at age 20, he was already fed up with modern life, preferring […]

Here’s a typical Wyoming story: One night last week, I was heading down a lonely highway, driving the 100 miles from town to home.  I had seen the dentist, bought cement so that we could repair our cattle-working pens, gone to the grocery store and checked on a friend who had just moved from her […]

Just spitting distance across the Utah border in Arizona, the very rural and remote Colorado City is home to rigid fundamentalists who think the Mormon Church sold out when it abandoned polygamy 119 years ago. The high walls surrounding houses with multiple front doors and “no trespassing” signs clearly signal “outsiders not welcome.” The dress […]

In late September, Joe Shirley Jr., president of the Navajo Nation sent out a provocative press release charging that “environmental activists and organizations are among the greatest threat to tribal sovereignty.” Shirley made his attack while joining northern Arizona’s Hopi tribal council in “unwelcoming” conservation groups from those tribes’ lands, which sprawl across portions of […]

Most motorists courteously and safely share the roads with cyclists, but then there are all the obnoxious others, the ones who fill with rage when they see anybody on a bicycle on the road ahead. They not only think cyclists have no right to use public roadways, they also like to show their anger by […]

“I ain’t gonna wear no stinkin’ helmet.” I bet you thought I was going to say a friend of mine said that. Wrong. I said it, and I meant it. Bike helmets are dorky. They make you look like one of those UFO creatures with the bulgy heads who mutilate cattle. No, it’s worse than […]

My collection of silly buttons from the Burning Man festival in Nevada includes one that says, “Burning Man was better last year.”  The irony, of course, is that this button is given out every year, and every year thousands of people keep coming back. If you’ve ever been part of an annual event that lasted […]

Recently, my cousin called me with a problem. Her two grown daughters are sharing an apartment. One of them has a 3-year-old cat; the other is allergic to cats. It isn’t working out. The cat has to go. Naturally, the first impulse is to call me. I never intended to become a “cat lady.” In […]

Libby, Mont., is a strange place. In the morning, the Cabinet Mountains sparkle, sporting new snow way up on the highest peaks. Folks arrive at work, open the front doors of their businesses and shout out “Mornin’” from across the street. Joggers pass by my house, dodging a stray doe that lingers after a night […]

I hate this time of year. The leaves crackle underfoot like the bones of tiny children. And the light takes on a certain harshness that reminds me that, even as I grow closer to death, I have gotten no closer to realizing my dreams. Most of that is made tolerable with a dose of self-medication, […]

All weekend it was food, food and more food. Digging beets, cooking beets, pickling beets, canning pears and peaches, blanching and skinning and freezing tomatoes. I made food until my back ached from standing slightly stooped, at the cutting board. I worked until the Ball jars stood in neat rows, each packed with product — […]