Sidetracked Charley

Reflections in a Still Pond July, friends and I at a Chamber of Commerce event were noting, is entirely too busy. And once, I am told, nothing other than the 4th happened in July in Angel Fire. And we were not the community which had parades or fund raisers for the fire department or set off the fireworks. Those were Red River, Wheeler Peak, and Eagle Nest. So an effort was made to fill the calendar. I do believe we have created a monster. It was only the 22nd, just after the garden tour, and those of us making our command appearances at the ribbon cutting for the newest Texas owned business in our New Mexico mountain town were already looking all in. Nine more days to go. This weekend is the High Country Arts and Crafts Fair in Eagle Nest. Some of us will no doubt attend. I am staying home. And I confess I did not do the garden tour either. I was tending to my own garden. And celebrating my new camera. And culling through emails requesting my involvement at events into Septembe...

Last Wednesday it was announced, totally out of the blue, that the parent company, Santa Fe New Mexican, was closing the Sangre de Cristo Chronicle, our local paper. And right before tourist season, totally without notice, and they believed we would all latch on to the tit of the Taos News. We all met on chats and Facebook forums discussing how this would effect us, and our visitors during the summer. We like to think we are the electronic age and the internet replaces all other media. But that really is not true. There are still a vast number of people who are unconnected to the information highway. There are people like me even, who staunchly refuse to go the smart phone route and chip apps. I have friends on the internet that do not Google. And how does a stranger in a strange land know where to begin - The newspaper. There is information out there in the ether but sooner or later it has to be downloaded and printed out for those unconnected or out of their comfort zone. Bot...