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by Kristine Crandall, Aspen Daily News Columnist Friday, July 18, 2008
In musing about the summer so far, a few high notes come to mind, along with some rumblings:
Baby birds
Front and center in the yard and on hikes over the past month have been the baby birds. An American robin family hatched and raised three blotchy-breasted babies in this summer’s first brood in my neighborhood. At one point, I looked out my window and saw the two parents scooting across the length of the lawn like the silly-looking cartoon roadrunner. On further investigation, I noticed the target of the parents’ attention — one of the youngsters sitting quietly on a rock in the perennial herb garden. What a classic nuclear family!
Full Story »
by Kristine Crandall, Aspen Daily News Columnist Friday, June 20, 2008 The other day I needed a boost. It was one of those cold days last week, the garden was almost stark naked — only a few intrepid lettuce seeds had sprouted (I almost required binoculars to see them), and I dumped my evening BBQ grill plans into the crock pot. In my uninspired stupor, I decided to put the time to some sort of productive application and went to tackle the grocery shopping.
Little did I know what a remedy it would be to read labels on food products. My mood lifted as I discovered gleeful promises of “new and improved,” “40 percent more,” “40 percent reduced fat,” “wholesome goodness,” and even “100 percent real cheese” (this on the Cheez-It box). And there were plenty of other labels on my aisle-wandering excursion that jumped out, singing words like “organic,” “minimally processed,” “no artificial ingredients or preservatives,” and “free Shrek hat mail-in-offer.” But after awhile all the labels began to look alike. Full Story »
by Kristine Crandall, Aspen Daily News Columnist Friday, June 6, 2008 Pick your favorite acronym. Some roll off the tongue — RFTA and CDOT are both catchy enough. ACRA works OK in the world of geek speak. Others are problematic, like RLUIPA. Maybe one could turn this bit of legislation — the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and an important feature of the Grace Church debate — into the moniker “really whip ya.”
My favorite is “NIMBY.” Full Story »
by Kristine Crandall, Aspen Daily News Columnist Friday, May 23, 2008 The following column is an adapted version of an essay I submitted to National Public Radio’s “This I Believe” project. The topic is one that never goes out of style — history.
In school, I studied history along with the other basics. I did my English and math homework first, though. To me, they were less abstract. From my history text, I memorized names and dates. Catchy terms like ‘Boston Tea Party’ and ‘Sagebrush Rebellion’ lodged in my brain, but not necessarily with their stories and historical significance. As a young girl, my concerns gravitated around the here and now, not the “then.” I wanted to know what was for dinner, how late I could stay up, what the shy new boy thought of me, or when I could next drive my dad’s old Willy’s jeep — scrunching my nose and pulling the gear shift with all my might. Full Story »
by Kristine Crandall, Aspen Daily News Columnist Friday, May 9, 2008 Official ski season has come to a close, meaning it is now time to put the finely woven designer parka and pants in storage, along with the cutesy-named shaped skis embossed with orange flames. Image is as embroidered into Aspen’s culture as the glittering gold on the parka. Sometimes image matches ability on the slopes, or it may serve primarily for après-ski success, or both. But now that the oh-so-important cell-phone conversations on the mountain to arrange social encounters have dried up, what’s one to do?
One obvious alternative is to get tricked out in Jackson Pollock-inspired lycra for the coast down to the Woody Creek Tavern on the newest carbon fiber bike. Another is displaying ounces of jewelry while walking up Smuggler with several designer dogs in tow, absorbed in iPod-land (the jewelry and music must somehow enhance the experience of walking uphill in the outdoors, I’m just not sure how). Full Story »
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