March 25 Son Skyler’s partner Emma tested negative for the virus and should return to work at the Craig Hospital in a day or two.  So far, no cases have been confirmed in her facility.

March 26  I went skiing up from the end of Arapaho Road, lots of cars at the trailhead.  The road is wide, so I was able to keep separated from others. Thinking though, I am going to use my local knowledge to find more obscure places to recreate.  On warm days, biking from town, is always a good way to get out without getting close. 

March 28  I make grocery and hardware lists before I go to either store, and ensure I wait until a point where I really need something before I put our heroic retail folks in any danger from contact with me. I watched a couple of patrons at the hardware today walking aimlessly around the store, it appeared they were in the store with partners doing what can only be called “shopping”. Please, respect those who are exposed every day to the rest of us. Go into public spaces only when necessary, get what you need and after staying back from any other customers and most critically from store employees, quickly make your exit.

April fool’s day   “We’ve got to stick together, even as we stay far apart,” was the text from nephew Paul, who also authored my bumper sticker “Hindsight 2020”.

Our modern overpopulated planet is hitting us hard with a tough lesson. Mother Nature will suffer no fools.  We can no longer operate as selfish, separate tribal groups and individuals. We must envision human-kind as one tribe where even one member left on the fringes will lead to suffering by the entire tribe.

Technology has presented us with a golden goose.  Simply put, if we use our hard-won knowledge, there is plenty for all.  We must find an effective way to distribute our bounty so all can share in the wealth of the tribe. 

A healthy person takes the love of self to fulfillment by loving all of their neighbors. Altruism fills the soul, being selfish empties our being.  We need to take our innate, healthy generosity planet-wide until every human being, along with every inanimate and living part of our green and blue orb, is nurtured as completely as we care for ourselves and our families.

No foolin’. 

April 7  I love meat. Meat, say the planet pundits, is hard on the environment because of its large carbon and water consumption footprint. No argument there.

In our arctic climate the only reliable crop is hay.  Several brave locals have made ventures into raising vegetables, but our climate ensures raising plant-based protein and nutrients is iffy at best, especially in commercially viable quantities.

If you want to be a locavore in Grand County, your diet should include a fair amount of meat.  Fortunately, there are two local ranching operations who market their product here. At Sunshine Herb Center next to Murdoch’s you can find meat and eggs from the Holley’s Sisu Farms and from the Linke’s Ranch. 

Supporting these two local operations also helps build a local food industry as a way to at least in some small measure decrease our dependence on food coming over Berthoud Pass.

Note – Michael and Casey are too generous to ask this themselves, so I ask you to help keep our community’s best method of communication in operation.  Advertising is of course the Time’s lifeblood, but donations are more likely as our business community has been put into free-fall. We don’t have much to give these days, but if we all give a little, we will keep our community together and informed.  Thanks.