After learning great news about the state of renewable energy in Colorado last week, the Senate confirmation of Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary today was icing on the cake. I’m grateful that a Native American woman with a profoundly sensible land ethic has been put in charge of the public lands of this great nation. After years of vicious assaults on wilderness, National Parks and Monuments, and climate science, the US government is now poised to begin a brave new era of protection and conservation of the precious heritage of natural resources in this country: Haaland is a true conservative, an advocate for our most fundamental truth, the earth itself.

This news adds to the growing sense of peace and ease within me that began with the inauguration of a wiser, more compassionate president; bumped up last week when I was reassured by one-who-knows that renewable energy is an unstoppable economic success; and escalated with the relief of receiving my first Covid vaccine Friday. Speaking of which, Ranchergramma shared this picture on her blog the other day, along with her joy and gratitude about the role her family played in the Hotchkiss vaccination pod. I’m grateful to the Gallob clan for their integral role in the success of this event, as well as their overall multi-generational pillars-of-the-community contributions to life in our valley.