I can’t say that if you try to do everything on this list you’ll win a gold star, but you will definitely save money, feel virtuous and lose weight. It’s a tough-love list of resolutions that work: Cook: Preservative-laden fast food costs more and makes you fatter. Bake bread: Simple, cheap and cheering. Eat local: […]
Linda Hasselstrom
Posted inWotr
The healthiest landscapes are hidden
The healthiest wild lands in the nation cannot be found on recreation maps. The bushes in these secret spots aren’t littered with old toilet paper or empty beer cans; there are no crowds, no loud music and no admission fees. No motels, camp sites, toilets, souvenirs or asphalt paths. No gas stations, no boat ramps, […]
Posted inSeptember 9, 2008: Reclaiming the low country
A Western primer
The Rocky Mountain Land Library asked a panel of Western writers a simple question: What books would you recommend to the next president? What does the next administration need to know about the American West? Our respondents were both generous and inspired with their suggestions. Although I’m sure they would all agree with author Rick […]
Posted inWotr
Push, whack, shove, wallop and pound
I started with hard red wheat. Our pioneer ancestors mostly ate bread made of cornmeal until the wheat began to thrive in the arid climate and thin soil. Hand grinders like mine pulverized it fine enough for bread, even cakes. Kneading, I could see my grandmother’s strong arms working the dough on the cupboard by […]
Posted inJune 11, 2007: Brave New Hay
Western open space: Land of intrinsic worth
In some parts of the West, conversations about land use can be hazardous to your health. This time, you can leave the brass knuckles at home; all you need is a bookmark. The writers in Home Land aren’t just old-time Westerners; they include a descendant of New York coal miners, a wildlife biologist, and a […]
Posted inWotr
Picture a town that celebrates its old businesses
We’ve heard the story so often we could tell it ourselves. And we do. Another family-owned business in another Western town closes. This time it’s Roedel Drug in Cheyenne, Wyo., dispensing medicine, greeting cards, lipstick, film, lavender soap, teapots and good fellowship for 118 years. When I moved here 15 years ago, Roedel’s employees […]
Posted inWotr
Free advice for tourists traveling West
The West’s drought has made us so desperate for moisture, we go outside to sweat. Even sagebrush, a Western icon, is in danger. Experts estimate that 600,000 acres is dead or dying in Utah alone. But come West, Podnuh! Step up to that gas pump, pretend that nozzle is a Colt .45, and pump away […]
Posted inWotr
Straight talk about Mad Cow from a mad rancher
Let’s get this straight. The cows aren’t mad. But you should be. “Mad cow disease” (BSE) develops in animals — or humans — when they eat parts of infected animals. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy can occur when cattle are forced to become cannibals. Cows in their natural habitat may butt heads, but they don’t eat each […]
Posted inWotr
It’s time for a radical change on the range
At a recent get-together of 435 members of the Quivira Coalition in Albuquerque, N.M., I visited the future of the grasslands. In a dark bar, I even met the rancher’s worst nightmare — a Buddhist vegetarian. Yet my glimpse onwards filled me with hope. In fact, I’m surprised at how closely the time-to-come resembles the […]
Posted inWotr
How to dis-credit yourself without really trying
I made my first telephone call in the 1950s by turning a crank on a wooden telephone box. Some neighbors on the party line always listened; in that small ranching community of rural South Dakota, everybody knew everybody’s business. Perhaps for that reason, most of us dealt honestly with each other. We paid cash for […]
Posted inWotr
Real ranches don’t have “ette” in their name
Listen up, folks, here’s a vocabulary lesson from a rancher and writer who’s tired of bad writing distorting Western history. A ranch is not just any patch of rural ground, and the saying, “All hat, no cattle,” is more than a joke. It’s true most ranchers prefer not to reveal the size of their places, […]
Posted inMay 10, 1999: My beautiful ranchette
When you’re alone on the open road
During the winter, I live in the southeastern corner of Wyoming, in the capital city of Cheyenne. In summer, and in any weather when the roads are passable, I spend as much time as I can on my ranch in the southwestern corner of South Dakota. My two homes are about 280 miles apart, but […]
Posted inDecember 26, 1994: Albuquerque learns it really is a desert town
Easy does it: A sport to make your blood run slow
Even a pudgy mammal like myself knows better than to hibernate all winter, but choosing a winter sport is tricky. Downhill skiing is out; standing at the top of a steep hill with slippery little boards strapped to my feet gives me the fantods. This spell-checker doesn’t know that word, but I do. Cross-country skiing […]
Posted inAugust 3, 1987: In Denver, the rule is: Exhale, but don't inhale
What to do in the West when there’s nothing to do
Argue with radio preachers. Sing hymns with Jimmy Joe Bobby and his Swinging Salvationeers. Defend secular humanism as a religion. And more … Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/19.14/download-entire-issue
Posted inDecember 8, 1986: With isolation and great vats of time
With isolation and great vats of time
Art Cuelho, in his 20-by-24-foot garage studio in Big Timber, Mont., runs Seven Buffaloes Press, perhaps the only independent rural press still around. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/18.23/download-entire-issue
Posted inJuly 9, 1984: Can Edward Abbey learn to love Glen Canyon Dam?
The rancher-environmentalist feuding should end
I ask my fellow environmentalists to think and investigate before they make sweeping condemnations of ranchers; and ranchers to be similarly understanding with environmentalists. We have much more in common that most of us know. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/16.13/download-entire-issue