Rock Climbing on the Cheap

DSCN1481[1]

It isn’t easy being a spontaneous family. We were exploring around Marble last Sunday when we decided to climb this cliff. The youngest one in this picture said “Hey, if you stand on her shoulders, then I can stand on yours, and we will probably be able to make it to the top.”

I was dubious, as a father should be, but it sounded good to me.

The barn boots on the one on the bottom weren’t the best item for climbing mountains in, but she seemed to do ok.The middle person hooked his nose onto a ledge (called in climbing lingo a “nose smear”) for added traction and holding power.

The little guy in red scrambled up like a monkey and summited with no problem.

Before you go calling the child welfare department, you should know that for this particular photo, I tilted the camera.

Rock Climbing Steep and Cheap

DSCN1481[1]

It isn’t easy being a spontaneous family. We were exploring around Marble last Sunday when we decided to climb this cliff. The youngest one in this picture said “Hey, if you stand on her shoulders, then I can stand on yours, and we will probably be able to make it to the top.”

I was dubious, as a father should be, but it sounded good to me.

The barn boots on the one on the bottom weren’t the best item for climbing mountains in, but she seemed to do ok.The middle person hooked his nose onto a ledge (called in climbing lingo a “nose smear”) for added traction and holding power.

The little guy in red scrambled up like a monkey and summited with no problem.

Before you go calling the child welfare department, you should know that for this particular photo, I tilted the camera.

New Children’s Picture Book

Contact: Jerry Begly 970-963-3815 or jerry@jerrybegly.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 4-24-10

New Book by Marble Cartoonist

“Dad, the Tooth Fairy Didn’t Come!”

Treesock Press

(Marble)- Who knows more about the Tooth Fairy than local cartoonist Jerry Begly? He’s the father of
seven children, and a kid’s ski instructor at Snowmass ski area.

In his new picture book, “Dad, the Tooth Fairy Didn’t Come!”, Jerry captures the perfect “Oh no!” moment all parents face: forgetting to exchange money for teeth. To make matters worse, the Tooth Fairy really starts missing deliveries when the family begins growing. The result? Tie-on Tooth Fairy wings, a mountain of teeth in the living room (complete with ski lift and a train), and a mysterious “hero” who will win your heart and mind.

“Dad, the ”Tooth Fairy Didn’t Come!” is 48 pages of wacky cartoons that were put together at Jerry’s Marble home using on-site solar and wind power. “I think this is the first childrens’s book with that distinction,” said Jerry from his art studio that sits off the grid and has a commanding view of the Marble valley.

“Dad, the Tooth Fairy Didn’t Come!” debuted February, 2010, and copies have already made their way to England, Brazil, Canada, and China, as well as from coast to coast in the U.S.

A graduate of Colorado Mountain College, Jerry Begly has been a freelance cartoonist in the Roaring Fork Valley for several years. His cartoons have appeared in numerous books, newspapers, and trade publications, as well as pop culture items like t-shirts and hats.

News staff interested in reviewing the book, or interviewing Jerry, can receive a complimentary copy by contacting Jerry Begly at 970-963-3815, or emailing him at jerry@jerrybegly.com .

“Dad, the Tooth Fairy Didn’t Come!” is available for purchase at www.jerrybegly.com/book , and is a production of Treesock Press.

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Chickens In Your House

 Last night the Crystal River Caucus met at the Marble community church. The group was essentially divided into two camps: those who think it’s OK to restrict what people do on their own property, and those who believe in “live and let live”. The bulk of the evening was spent discussing the much-debated Special Geographic Area plan. In the past, it was presented to the Gunnison County Planning Commission. They rejected it.

The plan had a few minor revisions in it since the County Planning Commission rejected it, however, it is essentially the same document.

For example: Under the original document, if you didn’t finish building your house and get a certificate of occupancy within 17 years, the approximate cost of fines would be around $1,000,000.00. That’s correct. One million dollars. I’m not making this up! Based on my comment in the public meeting with the planning commission during the first proposal of the Special Geographic Area, the fine has a “reduced” price.

In last night’s meeting, I congratulated the caucus board for being so magnanimous. I said that it reminded me of Russia. When the Russians were oppressed after the Bolshevik Revolution, the government made farmers put animals into their houses. Horses, cows, pigs, chickens. Whatever people owned got to live with them in their homes. It showed the government’s power. After a year, the government told the people, “You can take the cow out of the house.” The relieved farmers were grateful. After another period of time, the government told them that they could take the pigs out. The farmers were quite grateful to the government. Finally, they were down to the chickens, by which time things seemed to be quite normal.

I told the caucus board, “In the same vein as the Russians, I thank you. By reducing the fine in your proposal, we are now down to simply having the chickens in our house.” They didn’t appreciate that comment.

There were comments thrown out to the board like, “How does limiting the size of houses ‘protect and promote the economy’ as shown in your reasons for the regulations”? Or the concerned citizen who rhetorically asked “Isn’t this document a vehicle for telling us what color to paint our houses, or anything else that you want to control?”

The caucus board then resorted to fear of the future. Oil rigs in our quaint little town were one of the first bogey men thrown at us. Then there was loss of tourist income. We don’t have many tourist businesses here. As a matter of fact, we don’t have many businesses at all. We don’t even have a gas station. Our natural beauty was in jeopardy. It was interesting to note that both low brow houses (the epitome of a small town) and recently built, large, well thought out houses, were all used as reasons to accept the Special Geographic Area proposal.

The Special Geographic Area document is full of legal faux pas, ridiculous assumptions (the county isn’t doing enough to protect natural beauty), socialism, government intrusion, innuendo, scare tactics, personal opinion, and illegal proposals. (The county doesn’t have jurisdiction on federal land which encompasses over 90 percent of the proposed area).

The Special Geographic Area proposal is not what this small town community needs. Trash it. Get on with current issues, not scare tactics about the future. Now let’s get government doing the things that it is supposed to be doing.

The Mad Ripper of Marble

He struck again. This time his rage was directed toward a poster from another town. It was torn off, stepped on, crumpled up, and (gasp!) REPINNED to the plywood door on the Fed Ex box using only ONE PIN! What could it mean? What message is he trying to send us?

For the last several months, someone, or someTHING has been taking down posters, banners, fliers, and notices that people staple at the multi mailbox area at the bottom of our road. Ironically, there seems to be some type of pattern, so we hired a private detective from England. He came up with several interesting clues:

  1. Fliers containing missing animals are “safe”.

  2. Multiple fliers will always be attacked, unless they contain the words “private”, “campfires”, or “neighborhood”.

  3. The word “Woody” scores bonus points, and assures immunity from the Mad Ripper (we ALL love Woody and his wife. They brought food to our town.).

     

    In order to be allowed placement on the “open to the public” flier area, potential pieces of paper must be submitted for review to an unknown entity at an unknown address, and meet unknown criteria. This is easy enough.

Some suggestions have been bandied about how we can have fun at the expense of the Mad Ripper. We could put up a note like this one:

Dear Fellow Neighbors,

I’m tearing down every piece of paper that I don’t want to see on this space. You people don’t understand the unwritten rules for posting things here.

Signed,

The Mad Ripper

When the Mad Ripper tears down the “note” that we put up, we can replace it with another one like this:

Dear Fellow Control Freaks,

Some impostor is pretending to be me. I am the original Mad Ripper. Notice how I rip down the posters, and fliers around here. There is no one as good at it as me. Just because some poser smart Alec doesn’t like what I do gives them no right to imitate me.

Sincerely,

The REAL Mad Ripper

Then we will rip down most of the above letter, leaving the phrase “mart Alec” and “ad Ripper” on it.

After a few days, we will tear that note off, and replace it with 50 fliers stapled up which read,

Lost Woody

Somewhere in our neighborhood, there is a private animal.

If found, please build a campfire.

Then we will tear off all of those fliers, and staple them upside down. After a week, we will take all of them down. Then we will take a plain 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper with no writing on it. We will staple it to the Fed Ex box with 500 staples, and no comment.

This is going to be fun.