The beauty of re-creation

Dear Editors,

Regarding Dennis Pierce’s letter to the editor last week, I agree with Pierce that an effort needs to be made to acquire and protect the Hermosa Park inholding, along with the Mitchell Lakes parcel. But, the 265 acres that the Glacier Club wants to cut out of the Haviland Recreation Area is another story: this parcel should not be allowed to face imminent destruction.

Pierce may want to label me a “selfish recreationalists.”But, the true beauty and need for Haviland Recreation Area is that it’s a working families kind of place; not too difficult to get to, with a wonderful lake, campgrounds, picnic areas. The kids can be left to run around and discover nature’s wonders first hand. If the crowd gets to be too much there is land for long walks, or horseback rides. Haviland Recreation Area affords regular working folks a breathing space to unwind and “re-create” themselves in an exquisitely beautiful area before returning to our respective struggles for the legal tender. I don’t think it’s selfish to believe this treasure should be preserved for all the people and their children to come.

Beyond this there’s the matter of the land itself, an entity worth considering in terms of its contribution to our biosphere; read, our life support system. That land includes some wetland that has managed to remain relatively pristine. Healthy mountain wetlands are an incredibly valuable – and shrinking – resource, so why must tunnel vision trump that basic fact of biology? What about the wildlife that visits the lake? They occupy an extended living space and need those 265 acres of habitat more than ever because their larger neighborhood (the Hwy 550 corridor) continues to be built out.

On an even larger scale, consider current climate trends with their promise of less water in our mountains.

These greater challenges should no longer be allowed to get shrugged off because of an unwise impulse to ignore our future well being.

The USFS should not allow the Glacier Club to wrestle this parcel away from the public trust, only to demolish it with 100 trophy vacation homes and a water guzzling golf course in a market whose long term outlook is bleak. Why not leave it be? Allow it to continue functioning as the biological system it is – one that benefits all (including the existing Glacier Club complex) in countless ways – just as it is?

–Sincerely, Peter Miesler

via email

Bra-less and offended

Dear Editors,

Regarding your article “Opportunities for the Spirit and the Flesh” (Aug. 16 issue), I am astounded that you would promote an event with such an insensitive title as “Boobs & Bras” – offensive for those women whom the event is supposed to help.

Sponsoring an art auction to raise funds for women undergoing cancer treatment is a laudable project but the show theme, “Boobs and Bras,” adopted by the Women’s Health Coalition, is extremely offensive to the 1 in 8 women with breast cancer who can’t wear one because they don’t have any and who can’t even deal with the anguish of looking in a mirror, seeing the loss of part of or all of a major symbol of womanhood. And what woman with a prosthesis wants to see “Dancing Prosthesis,” hanging in the FLC Art Department or pictured in theTelegraph?? It’s enough to try to deal with the sight of her own...

– Kathy Morgan

via email

A bad case of bicicloendophobia

Dear Editors,

I just finished a nice bike ride. This time I was on a road bike instead of a mountain bike. Yet, not surprisingly, my fear of the front fork and skewer set in and clouded my boost of adrenaline. What is it about downhills and fears of going seriously end over? And sometimes not just merely end over, but a not-so-glorious superman aerial terminating in a crippling collision with an unforgiving ground. There’s no difference between riveted, rocky trail and super smooth asphalt here, especially when the phobia takes nearly complete control. I call it bicicloendophobia. The fear of something, anything really, compromising the front portion of any given bike to a point of dangerous failure, and always while traveling at top speeds down hill. Is this something that most people on bikes experience? There are phobias for nearly anything. Sometimes I find myself stopping en route just to check the front quick-lock and test the true of the front rim, even when I can clearly see by glancing downwards while riding that neither of these concerns coincides with logical deduction. Maybe the simple act of sharing a self-perceived strange phobia will render the bothersome neurosis null and void. Bicicloendophobia. Strange. (Long pause) Though . . . wait a minute! It could be worse! This therapy in the form of writing and sharing a perhaps unusual, perhaps common, situational phobia has, as a matter of fact, revealed a silver lining. A silver lining around aluminum rims, that is. My fear must not be as bad as I thought. And why? Well, and this is maybe where the interpretation of my phobia shifts from neurosis to reasonable precaution – I do usually wait to check the vitals of the front end of my bike on the uphills or flats. Ha, ha! Rarely, I just realized, do I need to abort the mission of gravity-driven adrenaline rush by stoppingduringthe downhill. This is key. As fast as some phobias come, perhaps I can let this go after all. (Long pause) I mean front forks and skewersaremuch stronger than I think, right? And wouldn’t it be nearly impossible for something to materialize out of nowhere and jab the fastly spinning spokes of my front wheel and lock metallurgically with the front fork. And really, was I kidding myself in presuming that this sort of fear affects me and me alone? Bicicloendophobia.Really.    

– Steve Saletta

via email

Another side of divorce

Dear Editors,

Well, my divorce situation is dramatically different than the picture that has been painted by the article in last week’sTelegraph. I was with my wife for 5 years before we decided to get married, and we split up after being married for six years. We chose to have a child and to make it easier for the legalities of raising a child, we tied the knot. And I still have a good friend from being married to her. We are co-parenting our daughter together in different households. There wasn’t infidelity, nor was there any physical abuse. There was, however, emotional abuse that we both inflicted on each other. This is what happens when I (and my ex) put the responsibility of meeting my (and her) needs on someone else and expecting her (me) to meet them. I have a great relationship with my ex, and divorce, for me has been a great gift. I have a huge amount of gratitude for being in a relationship with her for 11 years. There were good, really good and really effed up times all rolled into our marriage. We are both able to say that we have a good friend from being married to each other. I wanted to put this out that there is another side to being divorced, where two people who have irreconcilable differences can recognize them, accept them and move on from them, and still be friends.

– Steve Swett

Durango