Free Friday

Remarkable if not surprising -- very few shoppers in downtown Grand Junction on Black Friday. Perhaps they drove over the mountain to the malls in Denver? Very good lunch at the Bin 707 Foodbar, great treats at Enstrom's, fun at the Museum of the West.

One of the rituals of home ownership needed Laurie's attention in the afternoon, and I volunteered to join in the fun: time to rake the leaves to the curb!

The time remaining before sunset put plans for a final big hike at Glenwood Springs out of reach until tomorrow, so we invited Negrita on a local stroll. Our path followed the perimeter of the new golf course laid in as part of a sprawling development; land, Laurie said, that was entirely open when she arrived.

Still the same question after fifty years -- where do they think the water is going to come from to keep all the residential services, the agriculture industry, and these golf courses going?  The Colorado River is sold, and the drought is getting worse, as discussed in this National Research Council report.







For now, the land is still a natural wonder bounded by towering sandstone cliffs and towers. With luck, it may still be that way for my grandchildren.