Understanding the Penitente Church in Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico

by Ruben E. Archuleta

Slowly and methodically the candles on the candelabrum are extinguished one by one as the Hermanos (Brothers) recite their prayers and sing the mournful alabados (Penitente hymns) until the last of the thirteen candles is out leaving the morada (meeting place) in total darkness. Suddenly the pandemonium that ensues with the sounds of rattling chains, the staccato of the matracas (wooden noise makers), banging on tins, and the wailing brings to mind the shaking of the earth, the lightning and thunder, the fear and wailing of the people gathered around the crucifixion … and then darkness as Jesus’ mortal body releases its soul. The Penitente rite known as the tinieblas (darkness), which represents the death of Jesus on the cross, has been practiced every Good Friday evening in the moradas throughout southern Colorado and northern New Mexico for over a century, and possibly longer. Read the rest of this article

Recipe: Asian Duck Roast with Coconut Jasmine Rice

Courtesy of Michelle Gapp

Place 5-6 lb. duck, breast up in roasting pan (no rack necessary).
Season with honey, soy sauce, Chinese five-spice, coriander, garlic, curry powder, cilantro, basil.
Add sweet potatoes, water chestnuts, baby carrots, green onions, mushrooms.
Roast at 375 until duck begins to brown.
Add 1/4 cup of sweet white wine to pan, cover and cook at 200? for 2-3 hours.
Sauté 1 diced yellow onion, 1 tbsp. minced garlic, 1 tbsp. fresh ginger with canola oil in sauce pan.
Add 1/2 cup brown sugar, saute until sugar melts.
Add 2 cans coconut milk.
Add salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.
Let simmer at least 1 hour.
Prepare jasmine rice according to package directions adding 2-3 tbsp. rice wine vinegar to the water.
When duck roast is ready pour coconut milk over rice to serve.
Stir fry your favorite veggies in sesame oil to go with the roasted ones.
Serve with plum sauce, hoison sauce, sweet chili sauce, toasted sesame seeds, sweet soy, pickled ginger.

by Ed Quillen

One way to meet good people in Central Colorado is to do something stupid. I learned that atop Kenosha Pass on the afternoon of February 5.

Martha and I were on our way from Salida to Longmont, where we were supposed to go out to dinner with my brothers and their wives, along with my parents, to celebrate my parents’ 60th wedding anniversary (in case you’re curious, I was born nine months and one week after their wedding).

Since driving at night has become something of a challenge for me, we left around noon to be sure of a daylight arrival. We took our dog Bodie with us, even though he’s not a good traveler. He’s a car-chasing idiot, and when he rides in the camper shell, he sees plenty of cars to “chase” by running around in circles and barking a lot. Read the rest of this article

Ever since we took over the reins of this magazine last March we’d been hoping to do a profile on George Foott. His wonderfully realistic historic paintings and his legendary boating skills — skills he was still developing well into his late 60s — were an inspiration to many in a variety of intersecting circles in Colorado.

Then suddenly, he was gone, a victim of the melanoma which had metastasized and quickly took George on December 17, 2009 at the age of 70.

Rather than write a tribute to the man ourselves we sought out some of his old friends, kayaking buddies and business associates and asked them to tell us about George in their own words. We thank them for their memories and contributions. — M. Rosso Read the rest of this article

by Ron Sering

With the BLM’s announcement of a lease auction of nearly 800 acres in the vicinity of Mt. Princeton hot springs, the area could be the site of the state’s first geothermal power plant. Not everyone is happy about it.

Geothermal energy uses heat generated by volcanic activity beneath the earth. Applications include direct use, such as collecting hot water in a pool, or heating buildings such as homes or greehhouses, or, in a unique local case, for aquaculture to raise fish and reptiles. Colorado Gators in Mosca started as an aquaculture facility, later adding alligators which have generated tourism.

Geothermal generation of electricity began in the Lardarello region of Italy, where a power plant has been in steady use since 1913. The plant generates approximately 4.8 billion kilowatt hours per year and serves more than a million homes. The facility creates steam by pumping cold water onto hot rocks below the surface, which in turn drives turbines to generate electricity. Read the rest of this article

Story and Photos by Mike Rosso

As a native of Black Hawk, Colorado, Aaron Peyrouse has been playing in the mountains all his life. He learned to ski at Loveland Ski Area at a young age and eventually became a full-time ski patroller. It was during those years at Loveland that he learned about avalanche rescue dogs and became intrigued. The area had employed golden retrievers trained to seek out and hunt down the scent of skiers buried in avalanches.

Peyrouse began his own research into the training of rescue dogs by referencing the certification program offered through Search And Rescue Dogs Of Colorado (SARDOC) Colorado Rapid Avalanche Deployment (CRAD). Meanwhile, he ran into an old friend in Central City who had just arrived from Montana with a fresh litter of bird-dog puppies. Peyrouse got to choose the pick of the litter, a six-week-old black lab he named Üllr after the Norwegian god of snow and skiing. Read the rest of this article

by Elliot Jackson

The cover photo of my Siberian Husky, Sovay, was taken in early 2009 when, as a vigorous 13-year-old, she was still pacing pal Mike and me up mountain passes and breaking trail when we went snow-shoeing. Sovay, typical of her breed, is a highly energetic dog, easily bored and not all at all disinclined to let me know about it – that is, if baleful, pointed stares, imperious whoo-ings, and impatient tap-dance routines at the door can be taken as indication of a need and desire that we be off, now, on some quest for amusement or adventure. To see the antic gleam in her blue eyes, and observe her tongue-lolling, shark-toothed grin as she peered back over her shoulder just before dusting us on the trail, has made those days of back country ramblings a special delight for me; I believed I beheld my companion at one with her ideal environment.

To my regret, and I’m sure to hers, she and I were relative late-comers to the joys of snow-shoeing. Sovay had spent her puppyhood in urban Chicago; but even after moving from Chicago to the Colorado Western Slope, we didn’t get out into the back country nearly often enough for her tastes. Oh, to be sure, I would from time to time consider taking up cross-country skiing again, a sport I had pursued intermittently back in the flatlands of Michigan, and dream of skijoring with her, but I was married to a distinctly nonsporting partner, and it seemed like there was always something else to be doing on the weekends. But times change, people change, loves change, and by the time Sovay was accompanying me back and forth to Salida to see new friends, no winter weekend seemed complete without a snow-shoe trip. Read the rest of this article