David E. Steiner

Retired USAF, Teacher, Dad, Grandfather, Curmudgeon

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Rumors About a Visit by the Pope

 

I attended institutions of higher education for 10 years, I take two daily newspapers, I watch the evening news, but I still find out the most interesting things when I get a haircut.

It was there, the other day, I was told all about the Pope’s visit. And because I get my hair cut infrequently, I was among the last people in the Estes/Allenspark area to know it.

It may all be rumors, of course, but the barber shop grapevine has been right too often for me to ignore it. This time I heard that the Pope will arrive by helicopter and commute back and forth to Denver while he’s here. And I was also informed that either President Clinton or Vice-President Al Gore will be here to greet him.

As I listened to these predictions I thought about the implications of all this for a small town without a mayor and no public toilets and a postmaster who is likely to asked about 15,000 times this summer, “Which way to Camp San Malo?”

And those of us who live fairly close to San Malo (which I still irreverently call “Saint Malo”) may have to put up with intrusions by all manner of security forces, from the county sheriff to the Secret Service.

Who ever thought we’d see the Secret Service in our valley?

It’s still four and a half months away and a number of things could happen that could change the Pope’s itinerary. Even so, preparations are already under way and we can expect to see the phone company (I think this means I’m going to have to wait awhile for my private line), the power company, maybe some construction work, some new signs (perhaps even one on the highway near the fire station that says “Camp San Malo, 5 miles?) and I expect we’ll all be extra good about the highway trash pickup this spring. We wouldn’t want the Pope to think the valley is inhabited by a bunch of litterbugs.

According the Boulder Daily Camera, Allenspark residents view the Pope’s visit as either exciting or annoying. Our little community is overwhelmingly Protestant or lapsed something-or-other, so I expect annoyance will be the dominant mood. We can’t ignore the idea that it will be very good for business, however, so we’ll probably be enthusiastic in public and whine about it in private. Come to think of it, that’s how we respond to ‘most everything.

Anyway, for a place whose idea of real excitement is watching Miller moths drop into a pan of soapy water, a visit by the Pope may be more than we can handle.  I was planning a visit to Oregon this summer. As a result of my barber shop intelligence gathering expedition, I’m thinking the first couple of weeks in August sounds about right.

 

 

Columns

© 1985 – 2003, David E. Steiner

Allenspark Wind Columns:

Introduction

Why Allenspark?

Going Riding [August, 1985]

Electricity

Used Cars

Peace and Quiet [1986]

Liberals & Conservatives

Going to the Movies

The Screened Porch

The Beginning of The Season

The Weather

The Hilltop Guild Bazaar

The End of The Season

The Gift of Time

The Beavers

Addresses [1987]

Hiking

Watching the Trees Grow

Postal Rates

Changes in Estes Park

Square Dancing at the Pow Wow

Back to the Hilltop Guild Bazaar

The Solstices

Bird Feeders

Elevators

The Estes Park Hardware Store [1988]

Visitors

Limousine Service

A Memorial Service

A Hummingbird

Garbage

A Hiking Trip

The Estes Park Public Library

Wild Life

Riparian Rights [1989]

Weather

Fences

Commuting

Mountain Friendliness

A Motorcycle Trip

Satellite Television

“Weaving Mountain Memories”

Hotel Rates in the Old Days

The Price of Propane [1990]

The Front Range Almanac

June

Modes of Transportation

Miller Moths

My 50th Column

Modern Conveniences

Rock Climbing

On the Death of Otto Walter, Postmaster

Otto’s Memorial Service

A Big Owl Pot-Luck Dinner

A Whine About Telephone Service [1991]

After the Persian Gulf War

Some Changes in the WIND

The Trip to the Mountains

The Mountains in the Summer

Visitors

Of Dogs, Music, and Children

Muhlenburg County

To My Grandson

The Sale of Longs Peak Inn

World War II  [1992]

Murphy’s Law and the Computer

The South St. Vrain Canyon

“Whiteout”

The Hazards of Volunteering

Crime in Our Valley

Infestations

On the Death of Charles Eagle Plume

Can We All Get Along?

A Partridge in a Pear Tree

Lost Horizon [1993]

Walking

Rumors About a Visit by the Pope

Progress?

More About Fences

Woodpeckers

The Visit of Pope John Paul II

Forest Fires

The New Sewage System

The Snow Pool

The Good Old Days [1994]

The WIND’s 20th Anniversary

The Bunce School

The Shooting Gallery

The Estes Park Museum

Our Government

U.S. West Takes a Hit

The Year of the Hummingbirds

A New “Yield” Sign

Growth in Allenspark

Private Telephones?

The Salvation Army

Creation Science [1995]

Devolutionizing Big Government

Risks

Airports

Fort D.A. Russell

Domestic Terrorism

Old and New

Barney Graves

Life in the Wilderness

What’s In a Name?

Arthur C. Clarke

 

The Estes Park Trail-Gazette Columns:

July 1983

Carpentry

Estes Cone

Johnny Grant

Observations in Estes Park

The Bath House

Waving

The Sutherland’s Ice House

How Old is Charles Eagle Plume?

Dogs

Christmas Trees

Tree Murder

Mountain Driving

Garbage

Mail Boxes

More About Mail Boxes

“Are you related to ....?”

Spring

An Accident

The Wild Cat

A July Reunion

A Visit to Baldpate Inn

Opening Cabins

Summer

The Times, They Have Changed

Death and Transfiguration

The Population Explosion

The March of Time

Faith-Based Social Services

Looking for Pitch

Recent Writings I

Recent Writings II

Recent Writings III

Recent Writings IV

Recent Writings V

Recent Writings VI

 

 

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