And now it is October in these mountains.

Here and there, a clutch of leaves

keeps glowing burnished gold.

Most blew down in that first storm,

crumpled browner on the earth

than earth that swallows cold, dry bones.

Yet somehow, and who knows just how,

those dead leaves still smell faintly of the spring. Read the rest of this article

Ed used to say that I was his first.

And he wasn’t kidding.

After Ed and Martha founded Colorado Central Magazine in 1994, the first contributor’s check that Ed cut went to me. He presented that check at the magazine’s launch party in the packed back room of the former First Street Café. And in classic Ed fashion, he did it during an arm-waving, anecdote-filled speech punctuated by drags on a hand-rolled cigarette. Read the rest of this article

Outside,
I am
looking in the window,
watching life, love, family, friends,
the everything a good home holds. Read the rest of this article

“It is a fearful thing to love, what Death can touch.”

And so it is.

I know, for I love you

through all our restless days,

waves crashing blue-black, frothy white,

against our spilling sands,

so rich, so sweet, so deep

and fine it is, it was,

to know your skin,

to taste your tongue, your salty lips. Read the rest of this article

Review by Lynda La Rocca

Books – January 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

I HAVE TO ADMIT that I had a little trouble selecting some “favorites” for this column because, frankly, I didn’t read a lot of books in 2008 that were “new” to me in the sense of never having read them before. Instead, I had concentrated on rereading old favorites, many of which I’ve recommended previously in the pages of Colorado Central. Read the rest of this article

Article by Lynda La Rocca

Mountain Life – December 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

HEY, I’m a law-abiding citizen. And I really do want to “render unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s.” But I’d feel a lot more cheerful about paying my taxes if I weren’t being prodded toward the tax collectors by spear-wielding Roman guards.

“Move along!” these toga-clad tough guys order my husband Steve and me when we try to slip a few coins to several ragged beggars. “You’ll be free of that money soon enough!” a soldier snaps before wading back into the throng of merchants, pilgrims, shepherds, and money changers gathered at Bethlehem Marketplace. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Lynda La Rocca

Bethlehem Market – December 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

The phrase “It takes a village …” comes to mind when describing the effort involved in staging the Valley Fellowship Church’s Bethlehem Marketplace.

The all-volunteer event requires 3,000 to 4,000 man-hours of preparation, this year under the direction of Terri Hansen and Sue Goins, the latter a Marketplace veteran who also served as co-coordinator in 2004 and 2006. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Lynda La Rocca

History – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Luther Bean Museum at Adams State College is open 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Tuesday – Friday (closed when the college is closed); donations accepted. Luther Bean Museum, Richardson Hall, 2nd Floor, Adams State College, 208 Edgemont Blvd., Alamosa, CO 81102; 719-587-7151; www.adams.edu/lutherbean. Read the rest of this article

Article by Lynda La Rocca

History – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

SMALL MUSEUMS in small communities are a must-see because they often house the wildest, weirdest, most eclectic displays.

Some focus on the history — natural and manmade — of the area where they are located. Others reflect an individual’s obsession with amassing thousands of examples of one type of collectible, be it mineral specimens or mounted butterflies. Read the rest of this article

Article by Lynda La Rocca

History – September 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

BEING A PERSON whose fantasies revolve around escaping to another time, one that I usually (and incorrectly) perceive as kinder and gentler than the age I’m living in, I feel right at home in Fairplay’s South Park City Museum. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Lynda La Rocca

Collegiate Peaks Forum – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

The 2008 Collegiate Peaks Forum Series lecturers are:

Susan Tweit, award-winning author and Salida resident, who asks, “Does the Earth Need People?” and speaks on the topics of “Living Generously” and “Belonging to the Community of the Land,” June 5 and 6; Read the rest of this article

Article by Lynda La Rocca

Local lectures – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

“… all deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid

effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea; while the wildest winds of heaven and earth

conspire to cast her on the treacherous, slavish shore….”

– Herman Melville

“Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.”

– Walter Lippmann Read the rest of this article

Article by Lynda La Rocca

Winter – February 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

BABY, IT’S COLD — and snowy — outside. And the snow just keeps coming. Thanks to my husband Steve, a.k.a. Mister Weather-Statistics Answer-Man, I can accurately report that here in the village of Twin Lakes, we’ve received a whopping five feet of the white stuff from December 1 through January 11. We’ve been snowed in several times, and we’d probably still be housebound if not for some very kind neighbors with advanced snow-plowing skills. Read the rest of this article

Review by Lynda La Rocca

Literature – January 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

I have sung the praises of Gregory Maguire before (for proof, see the December 2004 issue of Colorado Central), and now I’m at it again. The author of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West revisits Oz in Son of a Witch, another enchanting, wildly imaginative fable that, like its predecessor, employs humor, drama, horror, and scathing political satire to examine the nature of good and evil. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Lynda La Rocca

Event – December 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

IF YOU GO . . .

Reservations are required for Leadville’s Victorian Days Weekend dinner and holiday tea. They must be made no later than November 26, as space is limited. Read the rest of this article

Article by Lynda La Rocca

Event – December 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK a lot like Christmas. And in Leadville, that means it’s time to deck the halls– and the doors, windows, mantelpieces, and sideboards– and celebrate the season at the 24th annual Victorian Days Weekend. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]193317613X[/amazon-product]Review by Lynda La Rocca

Christmas Lore – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

More Christmas Angels
by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Published in 2007 by Red Rock Press
ISBN 193317613X Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]1419669338[/amazon-product]Review by Lynda La Rocca

Poetry – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Weight of Dusk: Poems
by Stewart S. Warren
Published in 2007 by Mercury HeartLink
ISBN: 1-4196-6933-8 Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0978945662[/amazon-product]Review by Lynda La Rocca

Poetry – August 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Open Range – Poetry of the Reimagined West
Edited by Laurie Wagner Buyer & W.C. Jameson
Published in 2007 by Ghost Road Press
ISBN 0-9789456-6-2 Read the rest of this article

Review by Lynda La Rocca

Poetry – March 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Lady Liberty Lied – A Voice for the Victims of the Invasion of Iraq – This includes YOU!
Poetry and Art by Laura Knelange
Copyright 2006 by Laura Knelange
No ISBN

POETRY CAN SOMETIMES be so topical that it loses a crucial component of what helps to make it poetry: universality.

As Laura Knelange writes in the foreword to her chapbook, “The intention of my poetry and artwork is to bring awareness and education to the illegal invasion of Iraq and its horrifying aftermath.” Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Lynda La Rocca

Poetry – March 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

While Sparrows looks forward to its seventh successful year, another popular poetry festival, Poetry on a Platter, is no more.

Also inaugurated in 2001, PoP, as it was known to its fans, was a “traveling poetry tour” that celebrated National Poetry Month in April by bringing regionally and nationally known poets to rural communities for a series of free workshops, readings, open mike events, and special school programs. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Lynda La Rocca

Poetry – March 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

You could send a “chirp” or donation to Sparrows. Since last year, Sparrows has been under the umbrella of ArtWorks. For the Heart of the Rockies, an organization established “to support and build on the area’s unique and rich art community.” Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Lynda La Rocca

Poetry – March 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Per-person ticket prices for Sparrows are $10 for each evening performance (Friday and Saturday, March 2 and 3); $15 per individual workshop; $5, Poets’Party; $5, Poets’Book-Signing and Coffee Circle. Read the rest of this article

Article by Lynda La Rocca

Poetry – March 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

YOU COULD CALL THEM WARRIORS. But their weapons are words, and they’ll be waging poetry at Sparrows, Colorado’s annual performance poetry festival.

When Sparrows takes wing again March 1-4, it will unite poets, musicians, and dancers from throughout Colorado and the West in a series of poetry-related workshops, evening performances, and public “open-mike” sessions sure to appeal to anyone who loves language, both the written and (especially) the spoken varieties. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Lynda La Rocca

Books – December 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

IN THIS TROUBLED WORLD, it’s helpful — at least, it’s helpful to me — to remember that human nature is, well, human nature. Time passes, lifestyles change, and technology advances, yet we remain collectively governed by many of the same forces that motivated our ancestors. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0977127257[/amazon-product]Review by Lynda La Rocca

Poetry – October 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

Across the High Divide
by Laurie Wagner Buyer
Published in 2006 by Ghost Road Press
ISBN: 0-9771272-5-7 Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Lynda La Rocca

Wildlife – August 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

Close encounters of the black bear kind:

Experts agree that people crossing paths with black bears should expect the unexpected.

Most bears know we’re there long before we’re aware of them. And those not conditioned to humans and human food will simply leave the area at the first glimpse of us. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Lynda La Rocca

Wildlife – August 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

Bears have been revered and respected throughout human history.

The Pawnee of the Plains venerate White Bear Medicine Woman, born with a bear’s spirit after her father killed a bear while she was in her mother’s womb, and known for her healing powers. Read the rest of this article

Article by Lynda La Rocca

Wildlife – August 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

TO THE UNINITIATED, it certainly looked like breaking and entering. But to my husband Steve and me, the splintered wood on the door of our detached garage meant one thing: The bear was back in town.

Granted, we’d never actually seen this burgling bruin. In fact, our only bear encounter during five years of living in Twin Lakes had occurred just weeks earlier, when a cub came around the corner of the garage as we were taking our dog Twink for her morning walk. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]1932738258[/amazon-product]Review by Lynda La Rocca

Immigrant Life – May 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

Salone Italiano – The True Story of an Italian Immigrant Family’s Struggles in Southwestern Colorado
by Kay Niemann
Published in 2005
by Western Reflections Publishing Company
ISBN 1-932738-25-8 Read the rest of this article

Article by Lynda La Rocca

Poetry – April 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED, 13th-century Persian poet Shaikh Muslih- uddin Sadi hit the proverbial nail on the head when he wrote:

“If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,

And from thy slender store

Two loaves alone to thee are left

Sell one, and with the dole,

Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.”

Smart guy, that Sadi. For what is life, really, without the beauty of art, music, and poetry — without hyacinths to nurture our collective spirit? Read the rest of this article

Article by Lynda La Rocca

Poetry – March 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

In the immortal words of the Beach Boys, Central Colorado will be “pickin’ up good vibrations,” both auditory and emotional, when Sparrows, Colorado’s annual performance poetry festival, takes wing again March 2- 5, 2006.

Since 2001, Sparrows has been bringing poets and musicians from throughout Colorado and the West to Salida for a series of poetry- related workshops, evening performances, and public “open- mike” sessions designed to appeal to everyone who loves words — both the written and (especially) the spoken variety. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]1419617362[/amazon-product]Review by Lynda La Rocca

Poetry – February 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

Shape of a Hill poems, prose poems
by Stewart S. Warren
Published in 2005 by Mercury HeartLink
ISBN 1419617362 Read the rest of this article

Essay by Lynda La Rocca

Books – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

I LOVE CHRISTMAS. Not the crowded malls filled with stressed-out shoppers and definitely not the hurriedness and commercialism associated with contemporary merrymaking. I love the spirit of Christmas. Frankly, what’s not to love about a holiday that, at its purest and best, epitomizes peace on Earth and good will to … everyone? Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Lynda La Rocca

Evergreen Cemetery – November 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

The 2005 “Graveyard Tour” of Evergreen Cemetery, conducted by Neil V. Reynolds, may actually turn out to be a series of tours, depending upon the number of attendees.

This popular event, in which Reynolds–resplendent in black top hat and long, black cloak–recounts tales of early Leadville residents, is limited to 50 people and usually sells out quickly. Read the rest of this article

Article by Lynda La Rocca

History – November 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

THEY DON’T PAY TAXES or write impassioned letters to the editor. And they definitely don’t vote–at least not in Central Colorado. Nevertheless, they’re considered an important constituency in Leadville and Lake County. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0971367817[/amazon-product]Review by Lynda La Rocca

Life and Death – August 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Living, Loving, and Other Heresies
by Zsolt
Published in 2003 by Conundrum Press
ISBN 0-9713678-1-7 Read the rest of this article

Article by Lynda La Rocca

Local Artists – July 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

SOME PEOPLE COLLECT ROCKS. Others accumulate coins or seashells or antique dolls. Sharon Downs “collects” artists–specifically Colorado artists whose work is featured at the High Country Treasures gallery in Twin Lakes. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]1594141150[/amazon-product]Review by Lynda La Rocca

Grand Canyon – May 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Side Canyons
by Laurie Wagner Buyer
Published in 2004 by Five Star Publishing
ISBN 1-59414-115-0 Read the rest of this article

Article by Lynda La Rocca

Writing – April 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

“Writers have an island, a center of refuge, within themselves. It is the mind’s anchorage, the soul’s Great Good Place.” –Wright Morris, American novelist

WRITING AS A MEANS of spiritual unfolding has a long tradition in cultures the world over. It’s a tradition being upheld in Central Colorado today by sisters-in-law Amy Frykholm and Stephanie Frykholm. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Lynda La Rocca

Poetry – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

If You Go :

Tickets for the 2005 Sparrows: Colorado’s Performance Poetry Festival cost $10 for each evening performance (Friday, February 25 and Saturday, February 26); $15 per individual workshop; $5 each for the Poets’ Party and Poets’ Reception, February 24 and February 27. Read the rest of this article

Article by Lynda La Rocca

Poetry – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

SO HAS IT REALLY BEEN just five years since Sparrows: Colorado’s Performance Poetry Festival first burst upon the local poetry scene?

It’s already hard to remember a Salida winter without Sparrows, which has grown into a four-day gathering of poets and poetry lovers who come together to celebrate the written and spoken word in humorous, dramatic, memorable, original — and most of all, entertaining — ways. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0829416854[/amazon-product]Review by Lynda La Rocca

Death – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

when the dying speak – how to listen to and learn from those facing death
by Ron Wooten-Green
Published in 2001 by Loyola Press
ISBN 0-8294-1685-4 Read the rest of this article

Review by Lynda La Rocca

Favorite Books – December 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine

READING IS MY DRUG of choice, and 2004 has been filled with events that generated the need for more than my usual amount of medication. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Lynda La Rocca

Wildlife – November 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine

For humans, wash the skin with tomato juice, vinegar, or carbolic soap and water. If spray gets into the eyes, flush the eyes liberally with cold water to ease irritation. Clothing may be cleaned by washing in vinegar, but your best bet may be to throw skunked clothes away. Read the rest of this article