Opinion

Lammas or Lughnasadh, the beginning of autumn on the pagan calendar and the harvest in the northern hemisphere, is celebrated this week.

West Slope peaches the size of softballs soon will be sitting on farmers markets’ tables, while Labor Day weekend, summer’s symbolic end, nears and with it, football, an eye on the sky for our first snowfall, and a respite until ski season to the Sunday afternoon Interstate 70 phenomenon.

From county commissioner to Colorado governor, Clear Creek voters face very crowded ballots this year, and as the primary election approaches on Aug. 10, the opinion pages will no doubt become more crowded as well.

Before the usual avalanche of political letters to the editor — and the subsequent phone calls asking why some letters haven’t appeared — I’d like to review our policy.

• All letters must be accompanied by a verifiable name, along with information that allows us to contact the author.

Thanks for a great rodeo season

Editor:

The return of the Oh My Gawd Rodeo was a tremendous success. After a one-year hiatus, there was a lot of work to be done: the replacement of the bleachers, the insulation of a new lighting system and of course the painting.

It seemed we scraped and painted, scraped and painted and still scraped and painted. It has been rumored that if you could have wrung out one of the painter’s clothes, you could have painted a whole other section.

During a recent eye examination, I asked my ophthalmologist’s assistant about the normalcy of reading the chart more clearly using both eyes as compared with deciphering a line with one eye covered.

“Yes,” she replied. “That’s why God gave you two.”

“Hmm…,” I mused, “I’ve been wondering about that in terms of which we developed first: our ability to hear or to see.”

 “I don’t understand.”

Fabyanic needs more facts

Jerry Fabyanic is dead wrong when he implies that more development will help our county solve its fiscal problems. The facts from study after study show that most growth and development projects incur far more county expenses for services and infrastructure than they generate in tax revenue.

That is precisely why the more densely developed counties to the east have higher taxes. A standard growth strategy would be very dangerous for our county, as it would widen any “Henderson Gap” even further.

“To provide effective, efficient services while fostering sustainable economic growth to enhance our mountain lifestyle.”

  — Clear Creek County mission statement

Quiz time: The Henderson Gap is located between a) Guanella  and Loveland passes; b) Berthoud Pass and James Peak; c) Oh My Gawd Road and St. Mary’s once-known-as Glacier; d) none.

I recall addressing the relationship of being and doing in a column or at least in context of a related topic. Or I might’ve started to but then deleted it as I have with dozens of other false starts. Or it might remain sequestered on my hard drive or a disc waiting to be opened and reread. I’m not a pack-rat, since I regularly moving out stuff no longer needed, but that does not seem to be true about old writings. Like the world of quantum mechanics, my universe of ideas teems with potentials to be explored.

Maorilyn Marxuach was near and dear to us at the county courthouse. She worked with us for some 21+ years and we all considered her family. She was a mom, a sister, an aunt and even a grandmother to many of us here. She will be deeply missed in even the smallest things we do everyday.  

We wanted to share some thoughts about who Marilyn was to us as we are better people for knowing her. To her family, we send many happy memories as they will miss her more than words can say. Be strong. You are in our thoughts and prayers. Following are thoughts from her co-workers:

Some things are worth preserving

Editor:

I read my friend Jerry’s opinion on the need to save Georgetown and Silver Plume from the recalcitrant zealots who want to preserve the National Historic Landmark District, and I was left wondering if he isn’t a secret lobbyist for some energy or mining interest.