Author: Bill Radford
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The Country Life: “The Night Before Christmas,” a country tale
(With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore, author of the original) ‘Twas the night before Christmas And both inside and out Not a creature was stirring Except for the stupid rooster, who was still crowing about. The horse, the mule, the goats, the chickens All had been fed, And my weary wife and I Had just…
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The Country Life: Mail carrier doesn’t let snow, darkness or bumpy country roads stop her
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. While the U.S. Postal Service does not have an official motto, these words commonly…
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The Country Life: Dealing with feral cats
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save If you saw all the cats running around on our neighbor Shirley Zumpf’s property, you might think she was one of those “crazy cat ladies.” But the large cat population was not her idea. The…
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The Country Life: Who would take care of your animals if you’re no longer around?
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save My wife, Margaret, and I were driving to Denver to visit our son and his wife when our conversation took a dark turn. What would happen, we wondered, if we both died in a fiery…
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The Gazette’s 2015 Gift Guide: The Country Life
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save If you’ve got country folk on your shopping list – farmers, ranchers or simply people who wanted a bit of land or to get away from the city – here are some gift ideas. –…
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Dealing with a diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma, aka skin cancer
The news came in an early morning call from my dermatologist, Dr. Michael Turner with Colorado Springs Dermatology Clinic. It’s a good thing we did a biopsy, he said, because you have a superficial skin cancer. When you hear those three words – superficial skin cancer – it’s natural to focus on the skin cancer…
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The Country Life: Growing a giant pumpkin takes plenty of TLC
“Please,” the sign cautions, “do not climb, ride, sit on, write on or try to move the giant orange pumpkin!!!” It’s easy to see why someone might want to sit on the whopper of a pumpkin on display at the Smith Farms market stand at U.S. 24 and Meridian Road in Falcon; its curves make…
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The Country Life: Dumb bunnies, stubborn mules and more lessons
Three years ago this month, my wife and I moved to a little house on the prairie, beginning our country adventure. It’s been a learning experience. Here are some of those lessons: – It’s important to have friends in the country – particularly friends with heavy equipment. One morning, we discovered there was no water.…
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The Country Life: Harnessing the power of the wind – or not
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save When I moved to the countryside east of Colorado Springs, I was told to expect wind – a lot of it. There’s not much to block it on the prairie. Recently, my wife and I…
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The Country Life: Colorado AgrAbility helps keep farmers, ranchers on the job despite disabilities
My right arm was stiff and sore, a pain that worsened during the day; the next morning, I couldn’t lift it past my waist. The doctor’s diagnosis: a partially torn bicep, apparently from stacking hay bales. I was told to rest the arm and not lift anything heavier than 5 to 10 pounds; otherwise, I…