I was going to write about population, water and the Southwest, largely where I’m still headed. But then came headlines about the Occupy Movement; an essay on the Cassandra dilemma, and my ongoing frustration that a nation founded on the…
In 1940, the Roosevelt administration hired out-of-work writers and photographers from coast to coast to create “travel guides” for each of the 48 states. The Federal Writers’ Project sent documentarians to the far corners of America. One of the most…
BACK TO JACKSON HOLE… Approaching my old home grounds, Jackson’s Hole, I start gearing down. Deep breathing, concentrating on traffic, letting all else blur by. But a parking place has to be found and by then I’ve remembered the sagebrush…
The Sand Flats & the Slickrock Bike Trailhead… 1981 & 1995 In the early 198s, soil scientist Lynn Fenstermaker conducted soil tests near the Sand Flats above Moab. At the…
The twins were born March 7, 1916. That was a night. Mary had to run up the hill a little way to get Mrs. Wheeler to come stay with Mother while Dad went after Mrs. Carrol, the Midwife. I had…
EDITOR’S NOTE: For Part One of: ‘The Calm before the Swarm,” go to: http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2011/12/01/the-calm-before-the-swarm-by-jim-stiles/ After decades in operation, the Atlas Uranium Mill, once the lifeblood of the community, ground to a halt, closed in 1984 and never re-opened. The domestic…
Overall, America’s insatiable desire to chomp on overseas food has been growing. About 16.8 percent of the food that we eat is imported from other countries, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, up from 11.3 percent two decades…
Cowboys and Rednecks I was at a roadside café the other day, listening to this fella’ go on about cowboys and rednecks. To his way of thinking, it seems, there was no difference at all between the two and he…
Everyone has a favorite campsite. Whether it dates from a happy childhood, undergraduate hi-jinks or racial memory from prehistoric humanity makes no difference. If you’re lucky, you have a favorite secret campsite, one that will hopefully remain unknown forever. In…
In the late 80s and early 90s, I was taking a lot of pictures of Moab’s ‘survivors.’ the ones who decided to tough out the hard times and make a new life. Here is Part 2 of my collection of…