Spring is finally here, thank god. I felt it this morning when I let the dogs out in my boxer shorts and a tee shirt. It was warm at 8 am. I want to thank the group of Native Americans, mostly Utes, who blessed this valley on the twelfth of April, with their spirit and prayer and brought the sun back to us. If there is one thing this year has shown me, it’s that prayer works. Maybe praying to as many gods as possible is the key. I have no clue. All I know is that what has been done to this valley since we white folk took over is a blasphemy upon the mother earth. I’ve lived in this valley for much of my life, and the native spirit of this place has only grown stronger in my imagination, even while the spirit is crushed by a disgusting attitude of entitlement by the wealthy who have bought this valley up and are destroying the peace of the land with overdevelopment and mansions that are empty most of the time. There has been a curse on this place since we stole this valley. I’m one of us. It does not feel right. Aspen is a lie. This is not Aspen. It should not be called Aspen, because it isn’t Aspen. This is Ute City. The greedheads have had a plan for “Aspen” for a long time. They won. Even before the 1960’s, when this valley was full of wild spirit, where cowboys beat up hippies, and things made more sense, there was a plan to create a high end resort community. These planners succeeded, but at what expense? Every year it becomes harder and harder for workers to even afford to live here, but Aspen Ski Company manages to raise ticket prices on us anyway. Those who think they own this place, have desecrated it. Greedheads have no gratitude, only a sick sense of entitlement. Trust me, I was raised by them. Hunter Thompson had a pretty good idea of how to fix the Aspen problem, the high end stores, the ground floor real estate offices, etc. By just getting rid of this stupid Aspen name, this disgusting brand of over-consumption and self-entitlement, we could certainly make a dent. He thought Fat City USA an appropriate name. As a substitute for Aspen, Fat City is perfect. But this isn’t Aspen remember. This is holy ground. Native land, just like the rest of these Aspenized States. The owners of Ski Co should give it up and go back to where they make most of their money, the military industrial complex. People who own ski companies should be for peace, not be in the trade of weapons of mass destruction. Thank you to the group of Indians who came and gave us the gift of spring. This land is your land, and I was beginning to think that spring would never come. I feel sick and sad and I’m sorry in the name of all the white land rapers who have come before me. Aspen, we should be ashamed of ourselves. Why do “civilized” people have such a hard time understanding one simple rule: respect mother earth. Anyone for a revolution?