Diver: Joshua Jackson, manager of Durango Natural Foods, the co-op that continuously supports the community through donations and partnerships, and is owned by over 10 percent of Durango.

Interesting Facts: Pregnant women should eat bacon. Choline, which is found in bacon, helps fetal brain development – perhaps an explanation for the first question.

Dear Diver,
What’s with the recent bacon obsession. Yeah, I like it as much as the next guy, but why do we have to make such a big deal out of it? Bacon-themed parties, bacon wallets, bacon in a box, bacon wallpaper, bacon band-aids – there’s even an ad for bacon at the hippie foods store and a local band called “Bacon.” What about America’s heart disease problem – not to mention sensitivity to our Kosher brothers and sisters? Enough already.
– Pigged Out
Dear Un-Cool,
Don’t forget about baconnaise, bacon candy canes and bacon toothpaste. Judging from your lack of appreciation for popular culture and coolness, I expect that you are old. With that, don’t you remember the “where’s the beef” craze in the ’80s? Did you write to your local newspaper when it came out? I’m sure that you can find much better things to do with your time, unless you are a close-minded person who seeks to criticize everything. Laugh a little and perhaps enjoy some smoky strips of tasty bliss with your breakfast; but be careful, or else your next purchase might be a bacon coffin.
– Diver

 

Dear Diver,
My husband refuses to camp. I think he went a few times when we were first dating, just to win me over, but now every time I bring it up, he makes up some excuse about yard work or wanting to “lay low.” There’s a great big, adventurous world out there and I’m afraid we’re missing it. I mean, that’s why I live in Colorado in the first place. If I wanted to sit at home and watch the grass grow, I’d move to the suburbs. How do I convince him to get off the couch and hit the trail?
– Not a Happy Camper
Dear Pansy-Lover,
Sounds like you have a lame husband. Perhaps you should load up the car with all of your camping gear, plus a case of beer and a pound of bacon, which should get him moving. If that doesn’t work, invite a good-looking male friend over for dinner and talk about camping all night. And if that doesn’t work, search “lame husband” on the internet, as I believe that there are plenty of support groups out there. Of course you could trade him in for a sportier model.
– Diver

Dear Diver,
A friend has owed me money for at least a year now, but appears to have let it conveniently slip his mind. There is no good reason that he hasn’t paid me back, since he definitely has the means and doesn’t even work as far as I can tell. Maybe it’s because that amount of money ($50) just isn’t that important to him, while to me, it’s a week’s worth of groceries. Am I being petty by holding a grudge or should I just come clean and offer a gentle reminder?
– Money Bag’s Friend
Dear Sucker,
Don’t you know that we all relinquished our sense of responsibility once we moved to Durango (if you’re a local, you inherited it). I’m sure that your friend’s priority is to go out every night and spend approximately $50 – of course your friend is probably buying everyone else drinks with your hard-earned money. With that, perhaps you should consider his “needs” for companionship and let him buy you $50 worth of bacontinis or bacon beer. You do know that the Durango diet consists solely of microbrew, leaving little room for groceries. Or perhaps he forgot, and you should remind him.
– Diver