Category: Uncategorized

There have been those moments in my life’s journey where I hear something that I actually pay attention to. One of those moments came 30 some years ago from a conversation with one of the truly gifted Elders I have known—Ada Beth. I don’t remember the context of the conversation but she said, “You grow where you are planted”. Perhaps that was her way of inviting me put down roots in the San Luis Valley. We did, and it was a life changing experience. Most every Saturday I go to a 12-step meeting held in the center of Denver at…

We had a formerly unhomed couple set up housekeeping at our home. They did not ask permission, and now it appears they are here to stay. About a week ago I noticed that a Mourning Dove was trying to put some nesting material on a speaker on our north patio. I thought “That will never work, it’s too small and slick.” They must have heeded my advice so they moved to the rain gutter in a spot under the eve. The nest is now complete and they appear to be taking turns sitting on eggs. Growing up in Pueblo with…

I was listening on Friday morning to my favorite sports talk show on the car radio. “The guys” were talking about the end of school and all of the rituals that they remembered. The topic shifted to what we called Field Day—basically a time of relay races, frisbee throws, bean bag tosses and whatever kind of competition that can be dreamed up. The three guys all talked about the shift from a time when there were only three ribbons awarded—Blue, Red, and Yellow, to “everybody gets a ribbon”. Participation trophies—yuch. It got me thinking about my time at Ben Franklin…

I just finished my first Long Covid Cohort with my Kaiser health care team. In September of 2021, I spent an 18–day stint in the hospital with a very severe Covid infection. In early December, after a pretty successful comeback from the battle, in which I got amazing medical care, I could barely get out of bed. It was if I had Covid without a temperature. They called it Long Haulers back then. I thought “What the Hell??? So this is my reward for surviving this microbe”? I was told by the lead Covid Doctor at Kaiser—“Mark, I can’t say…

In the Spring of 1976 I made an impulse buy. In the week or so before Easter you could buy baby chicks that were dyed pink or blue. I am not sure where I was on a Saturday morning, but the store I was in was selling ducklings. I remember bringing the box home to show Amy with two little peepers looking up at us. I don’t remember her mom being thrilled by our new additions, however she was a good sport. How they got their names I am not sure, but welcome to our home on East Broadway, Moses…

This past Monday I went to the orthopedic department of Kaiser for my bi-monthly meeting with the foot care nurse. It has been a nice benefit of follow-up after my stint in the hospital last year. Waiting rooms have their own vibe. There I sat, along with a number of folks who were all trying to act like they weren’t nervous. I watched as a mom wheeled a little boy into the space. He had a fully casted right leg. I found myself making up my own stories as to how he broke it. They called his name and I…

On May 24th 1981, I loaded up my Toyota Tercel in Enid, Oklahoma to move back to my parents’ basement, where I would restart my life. In the previous two and a half years my marriage had ended and my brother Don had been killed. I was a mess. I walked away from what was a very satisfying and successful five years as the Chaplain of the Enid State School. I had no plan other than to make a new life for myself. I had a joint custody arrangement with my kids’ mom. They were to go to school in…

Sometimes my kids surprise me in ways that make my heart smile. My son Mateo is spending the week in Mexico City. He has joined a long time friend there to just play. A couple of weeks ago he shared with me about this upcoming journey. This opened up conversation about the six weeks I spent in Mexico, during the winter of 1970, on an Interterm anthropology course taught by one of the finest teachers I ever had—Bob Rhodes. It was the third week of the class when Professor Rhodes called all 30 of us together and said, “Ok, you…

My soul has finally caught up with my body. There is nothing like a 3000 mile, 13 day road trip,to test a 75 year old body. I got to see a number of sites that I had only heard about. The Salton Sea in California should not be there… but it is—all 30 miles of it. Google it up and discover a strange man-made anomaly that was created 100+ years ago by accident. This week I read an article that a 560 billion dollar lithium deposit has been discovered there under the lake—the debates begin. It’s well worth a side…

In 1964 I became an indentured servant at the family business—Cleaver Carpet. I became the “assistant” to both the cleaning crew and the installers. Being the owner’s kid gave me very little perks, other than that I got to learn a whole lot about how people live—for $1.15 and hour. When we were working at a home, the men who actually earned their living would often bring their portable radio. There were two AM music stations in Pueblo—KDZA, which was the classic Top Fifty pop station, and KPUB which was REAL country. Guess which one the guys made me listen…