Our summer has been trying to hang on in desperation, but the autumn season just keeps pushing the temperatures down, down, down. Well, that is not as bad as it sounds, but the 32 degree mark keeps peeking out from the thermometer. Also, the aspen are beginning to turn a bright yellow around the edges.
Last weekend, we saw the end of daily rain showers, at least for a while. Our neighbors across the street, the Bakers from Chugwater, Wyo., finally gave up the fight and headed back home and, of course, the sun came out the next day and we havent seen a drop of precipitation since. Isnt that the way it always happens? What we observed from our front seat of observation was snow about three different days last week that left the peaks around here sparkling white about halfway down the slopes. Nothing in Rico yet, thank heavens! The hourglass up on Mt. Expectation west of us was white to the bottom of the site.
We have a neighbor, Benn Vernadakis, who is a sporty type of fellow and belongs to the Fines Double racing team in our Southwest Colorado area. This team specializes in desert type racing and usually in Mexico on the Baja. A club in Mexico invited Benns club to compete in the San Felipe Championship Challenge, a special truck (pick-up type) run of endurance on a 252-mile desert loop near that town. Benns team won. Their time was 7 hours and 23 minutes, or close to that minutewise 12 minutes ahead of the second place winner! The power steering went out on the last 50 miles, and it was grueling. Congratulations to this desert-loving racing team.
Our friend, Rico-ite Susan Robertson, returned recently from a sentimental journey to a village in northern Germany. She lost her brother a couple of years ago or so, and she was left with only her immediate family. Some time ago of course, not known to her a third cousin over in Germany had been searching for any remaining members of his family known to be in America, and he found Susan here in Rico! She spent two weeks with her second and third cousins, totally overcome with their hospitality and the trip to the North Sea, the village church dating back to the 1200s, etc. Her forgotten family, the Luthjes, brought a wonderful and happy addition to Susans life story.
We havent done the Nice Person Award of the Week for some time, and we have a nice person to award this honor to in this edition of the Rico Report. Some of you know Bill Brandt and his wife, Jean. They are frequent visitors to Rico (from Yuma, Ariz.) and friends of MaryLou and Jay Milstead, who live over in west Rico. Bill always needs something to keep him busy, so knowing that this older couple here in Rico needed some firewood, he put his heart into it and then neatly stacked a nice-sized pile in their garage. Well done! And, the thing is, he is also a senior citizen, but in excellent shape, for sure! Congratulations to Bill, and thanks!
Marlene Hazen has lived in Rico for two decades. An active member of the community, she participates in organizations such as the Rico Womens Club and Rico Historical Society.