Still digging up dirt

As one of my favorite musicians, Red Knuckles, used to say “mighty fine and a great big howdy!” After 17 years of being an archaeologist I am very happy to be starting a new career as a reporter and photographer here at the Sun. My wife and I have been in Saratoga full time for just about two years now, but since I still don’t know many of you I’ll give you a brief introduction to myself.

I was born in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, but raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. I think the D.C. area is a place everybody should visit for its outstanding culture, architecture, and natural beauty, but I was not built to live with so many people in such a small area.

After graduating from high school, I made my escape to the Rocky Mountain West and settled down for college in Fort Collins. In what was a great surprise to me I ended up living in Fort Collins for 22 years. While there I acquired both undergraduate and master’s degrees in anthropology and worked a very successful a career in archaeology. Not long before I left Fort Collins, I married my beautiful wife, Jillian, who is an archaeologist with the Forest Service. When Jillian had the opportunity to move her duty station to Saratoga, we took a leap of faith and moved to the Valley along with our oldest dog, Pancake. Since living here we adopted Meatball, another rescue dog.

We have been very happy in Saratoga, and life in a smaller town is treating us exceedingly well. We bought a great house with an amazing view of the golf course, Old Baldy, and the Medicine Bow mountains and it cost less than our old house in Fort Collins. Instantly, we found the residents of Saratoga, Encampment, and Riverside to be welcoming and now feel we are a part of this neck of the woods. Being a part of, and giving back to the community has been a priority of mine, and I think working at the Sun will really help me with that. I have also been on the board of the Saratoga Museum since last summer which has given me the chance to be more involved around town lend some of my archaeological expertise to a great little museum.

My wife and I are lucky enough to be starting our family here as Jillian is due with our first child at the end of October. I have to say I have been really impressed with the medical care we have received here and in Rawlins.

Getting to cover schools, sports, politics, entertainment and people in general gives me a great vision for the future of my child here in the Valley.

While I do not have a background in journalism I have been writing archaeological reports and journal articles and giving lectures for the last 17 years. I’ll have to adapt my writing style a bit, but I think I can bring a new perspective to the Sun and its readers. Growing up in the Washington, D.C. area, where national news is local news, made politics a part of my daily life. I also played football, soccer, and lacrosse, until my sophomore year in high school when I became a comparative runt at 5’ 7” and only 150 pounds. I never got any taller, but I sure have gotten heavier since then.

In a rare occurrence for the D.C. area, my family has a farm where I grew up taking care of horses and became familiar with horse shows, even if it was that sissy English riding.

During high school I worked for a while setting up concerts and sporting events at George Mason University, and got to understand what backstage life is like and what rigors touring musicians and athletes face. I’m also a musician who played in a bluegrass band for several years down in Colorado. I’ve finally been getting out and playing some music around town, so maybe I’ll see some of you folks in that capacity.

As for how I view the sociopolitical world around me, let’s just say I may not be as conservative as many in the Valley. I consider myself a moderate, but in Wyoming that seems to make me a liberal. I intend to keep my reporting free and clear of any socio-political views I have, but in my monthly columns you should be prepared for a dose of my views on the world. I am a gun owner, but I believe in gun control. I am a straight, married, white male, but I believe in the right of anyone to marry whomever they choose. I think there are major problems on both sides of the aisle in Congress, but we have to work within the Republic that we have, which includes the necessity of voting for our beliefs. It is a pet peeve of mine that so many people blame congress for not acting like the supreme court, the president for not having the powers of congress and the supreme court for being both too political and not political enough.

I think education is the key to our future, and teachers are underpaid and undervalued. Those are just a few of my thoughts on the world at large.

So, if you read something of mine that you don’t agree with down the road, let’s have a civilized debate. I have a pretty thick skin and a good sense of humor, which are already proving to be critical around the office here at the Sun. I invite any comments, criticisms and questions the readers of the paper have for me. Stop by the office and say howdy if you get a chance, I’d love to meet as many of you as I can.

 

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