2010 | the SPOT (work in progress)
A year in the life of 39° 44 49 N 105° 10 21 W. A study of the biodiversity and visual variety at a single spot at the urban-wildlands interface on South Table Mountain, near Golden, Colorado. The project began in September 2010; weekly visits to the spot will conclude in August 2011.
2010 | Cold Mountain Ranch (work in progress)
Development, oil and gas extraction, and mechanized recreation all threaten the Roaring Fork Valley and its ranching heritage. Not surprisingly, rancher Bill Fales is a proponent of conservation, having placed his property in a land trust in perpetuity. He is also in favor of the expansion of wilderness designation within his and adjoining counties.
Ranching in Colorado would, arguably, not exist without the use of public lands. Fales' ranch is no different. In order to give his animals the space they need in the summer--and the pasture grasses on his ranch the time they need to grow high in order to feed his cattle come winter--he must graze on public land. That means securing grazing permits on BLM and U.S. Forest Service land. But it does not preclude the use of wilderness lands either. Unknown to much of the public, wilderness areas can serve as grazing lands under the Wilderness Act of 1964.
2005-06 | AGUA MODERNA: The Colorado River of Texas
There are two Colorado Rivers in this world.
There is the Colorado that everyone knows, having carved its way through millennia of rock to create the grandest of canyons. Now, perhaps, it is more famous for its fragile utility. The vein--from which farms, cities, and industries of the desert southwest suck their blue blood--is in dire shape. Its waters, allocated long ago among seven parched states, no longer complete their natural course; they dwindle to a trickle somewhere in the Sonoran Desert and cease to exist before they reach the Sea of Cortez.
This overuse is not particularly unique among America's rivers; this is modern water.
Then, there is the other Colorado; it carves its way entirely through Texas. So far, its waters still flow to the Gulf of Mexico. But for how long? As with its more renowned cousin, many straws draw from this drink. Texans have a peculiar definition of conservation: in order to conserve water, they use water, lest it be wasted by flowing past downstream. So, Texans infiltrate their Colorado River--utilitarian consumption.
Still, this is not terribly unique; this is modern water.
Texas's Colorado River, like all great rivers, is so many things to so many people. Its course and its waters support population growth, represent economic security, and offer recreational opportunity. This river transforms as it flows from the reservoirs known as the Highland Lakes, to the Austin waterfront of Town Lake, to the twists and curves of Bastrop County, the irrigation canals of rice country, and the estuarine marshes of Matagorda Bay. Water--this Colorado River--brings life, and money, and people to the landscape.
This is not at all unique. This is just modern water, another Colorado River.
2003 | Funny Blood: Love in a Time of Leukemia
Karin Weidenhammer was 24 years old when she was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. She was working as a medical assistant when she started feeling something other than normal, so she was able to draw her own blood. After sending it to the lab for processing, she read the results to herself the next morning. Her blood was consistent with someone with leukemia. Four days later, she began chemotherapy.
I had known Karin for two months when she was sealed away in her hospital room.
A year in the life of 39° 44 49 N 105° 10 21 W. A study of the biodiversity and visual variety at a single spot at the urban-wildlands interface on South Table Mountain, near Golden, Colorado. The project began in September 2010; weekly visits to the spot will conclude in August 2011.
2010 | Cold Mountain Ranch (work in progress)
Development, oil and gas extraction, and mechanized recreation all threaten the Roaring Fork Valley and its ranching heritage. Not surprisingly, rancher Bill Fales is a proponent of conservation, having placed his property in a land trust in perpetuity. He is also in favor of the expansion of wilderness designation within his and adjoining counties.
Ranching in Colorado would, arguably, not exist without the use of public lands. Fales' ranch is no different. In order to give his animals the space they need in the summer--and the pasture grasses on his ranch the time they need to grow high in order to feed his cattle come winter--he must graze on public land. That means securing grazing permits on BLM and U.S. Forest Service land. But it does not preclude the use of wilderness lands either. Unknown to much of the public, wilderness areas can serve as grazing lands under the Wilderness Act of 1964.
2005-06 | AGUA MODERNA: The Colorado River of Texas
There are two Colorado Rivers in this world.
There is the Colorado that everyone knows, having carved its way through millennia of rock to create the grandest of canyons. Now, perhaps, it is more famous for its fragile utility. The vein--from which farms, cities, and industries of the desert southwest suck their blue blood--is in dire shape. Its waters, allocated long ago among seven parched states, no longer complete their natural course; they dwindle to a trickle somewhere in the Sonoran Desert and cease to exist before they reach the Sea of Cortez.
This overuse is not particularly unique among America's rivers; this is modern water.
Then, there is the other Colorado; it carves its way entirely through Texas. So far, its waters still flow to the Gulf of Mexico. But for how long? As with its more renowned cousin, many straws draw from this drink. Texans have a peculiar definition of conservation: in order to conserve water, they use water, lest it be wasted by flowing past downstream. So, Texans infiltrate their Colorado River--utilitarian consumption.
Still, this is not terribly unique; this is modern water.
Texas's Colorado River, like all great rivers, is so many things to so many people. Its course and its waters support population growth, represent economic security, and offer recreational opportunity. This river transforms as it flows from the reservoirs known as the Highland Lakes, to the Austin waterfront of Town Lake, to the twists and curves of Bastrop County, the irrigation canals of rice country, and the estuarine marshes of Matagorda Bay. Water--this Colorado River--brings life, and money, and people to the landscape.
This is not at all unique. This is just modern water, another Colorado River.
2003 | Funny Blood: Love in a Time of Leukemia
Karin Weidenhammer was 24 years old when she was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. She was working as a medical assistant when she started feeling something other than normal, so she was able to draw her own blood. After sending it to the lab for processing, she read the results to herself the next morning. Her blood was consistent with someone with leukemia. Four days later, she began chemotherapy.
I had known Karin for two months when she was sealed away in her hospital room.