The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
It’s been a weird summer and transition into fall. Summer was at first really dry and then sometimes extremely wet with waves of intense storms. September is normally crystal clear, but storm clouds have been a regular occurrence. There is still a fair amount of green in the aspens so barring a major wind event, the colors could linger a while which is becoming a new normal with early October gold. There have been too many summer memorials for locals. But as difficult as they can be, there is always an underlying tone of love and for that we can be grateful.
Outside the bubble, Disney at first caved to a Donald toady threatening government consequences if Jimmy Kimmel wasn’t booted — and then caved to a people’s uproar by putting him back on the air this week. I love that. While the widow of Charlie Kirk, Erika, said at his memorial last weekend that, “The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.” Donald took a different turn, “joking” that, “I hate my opponents, and I don’t want the best for them,” the same weekend he publicly pressured the Attorney General of the United States to go after his political rivals. Funny.
Love vs. hate. Sigh. Even as I sometimes take pointed positions that people don’t like, I’ll still take the side of love.
So, to find some grounding perspective, I wandered into the conspiracy web when the rains came last week. I discovered Joe Biden is really a robot and Donald apparently doesn’t know how to change his Depends. There are real time travelers making social media posts and there is video evidence we are in the Matrix as people being filmed simply disappear! No one died from Covid, but millions died from the vaccine which contains tracking chips being used by Bill Gates with 5G technology to track you! I wasn’t aware aliens have outposts deep in the ocean while the moon landing was obviously filmed in Arizona — did you see that astronaut drop a hammer, and it fell to the ground really fast! Let’s not even touch on reptilian humanoids and the fact Denver’s airport is really the headquarters of the New World Order.
None of it might matter anyway as a “comet” with the name 3I/Atlas is really an alien spaceship heading through our solar system at 36 miles per second. The mysterious object appears to emit its own light, rather than reflecting sunlight, suggesting it is actively glowing. This glow could come from a nuclear-powered source or engine. It is following a hyperbolic path, indicating that it is not gravitationally bound to the Sun. Buckle up. How could the intergalactic crew like what they see down here? Continuing war, regular government deception and bribery, climate change, the reallllly rich humans like Elon on a voracious quest to do whatever they can to acquire more, more, more at any cost while 62% of the global population lives on less than $10/day. To the aliens on the ship, it might be easier to just kick over the pesky anthill that seems to be closer to nuclear war than ever and that could upset the galactic balance.
Anyway… in case the aliens pass by without noticing us ants, there are things around here that at face value might appear straight out of some conspiracy but are not that unusual for this valley. Saturday was a sweet Elk Avenue scene as women in flowing robes and horns, yes horns, and men in leather, feathers and animal masks wandered around the dining parklets talking to visitors. In the background were sophisticated looking high schoolers dressed up for the homecoming dance. In some respects, the young women in dresses and young men in suit jackets and ties were the weirder looking group for CB than the painted faces of Vinotok.
For me of course, the Vinotok altars were a highlight. While a conspiracy theorist might point to them as some sort of tracking grid, they spoke to the local valley. The altars honoring our humans (and pets) that have preceded us to the other side, were powerful — choking up powerful this year. Vinotok is a unique hyper-local festival centered around tradition and storytelling. It honors the place and its people and is an autumn love letter to Crested Butte. Thank you.
Now we get the CB Film Festival which brings a touch of sophisticated visual storytelling. The films are usually engaging, the energy a bit more focused on the mind than the physical as is normally the case here in the valley. There will be no shortage of what appears to be thought provoking movies and events to attend, so take the time to engage in at least one this weekend.
As I watch construction row building everything from housing to classrooms to solar panels, to fire stations, it makes me thankful that is not our normal state of existence. A lot of it will last another summer but let’s hope we all take a breath after that. Churning up the wetlands at the new fire hall (to install a dry hydrant) and near Brush Creek (to lay down utility lines for affordable housing) stings my heart but should be completed before I return from the next trip with the grandkids. Still…
Many astrologers say our universe is prepping for big changes right now. They describe this time as feeling like we’re living in between two worlds that aren’t fully formed; one is in the process of disintegration, and the other is yet to be built. They are calling next spring The Great Reset when greed and power give way to unity and love. Perhaps 3I/Atlas is heading our way not to kick over the anthill, but to make sure we get the love message.
So, as our mountains magically turn to gold, be grateful for the little things here that would be huge for most people anywhere else. Give thanks for the blue sky, the seasons we experience, the sounds of the birds, geese and elk in autumn. Appreciate what this high mountain valley offers in the transition from summer to winter. Gratitude opens new channels of love as you navigate weird times – and Lord knows we are in some weird times… or is that just another conspiracy theory? And in case 3I/Atlas is manned by aliens and tracking us — I love you!
—Mark Reaman
