Arizona Restaurants The Southwest Travel: Arizona Restaurants The Southwest Travel
by maribeth
Comments Off on My Mom: A True Original
My Mom: A True Original
My Mom: Mary Ellen Trigger Rogers Clemente
“I was great for telling stories,” my mom, née Mary Ellen Rogers, told me as we sipped frosty beers and munched on chips and salsa in an old cowboy bar in Scottsdale, Arizona. “When I was a young girl, my neighbor had a beautiful horse called Suntan,” she continued. “I dreamed of having a horse, so I started telling the story that Roy Rogers was my uncle. It was a plausible story, since my father was from Wyoming and, of course, my last name was Rogers.”
As I listened to my mom recount this tale—one that I had heard before but was relishing even more beneath the sweltering summer heat of Arizona here in this beloved watering hole where so many had come before–I sensed that she had lived this story so much that she almost believed it to be true. “When I was in the sixth grade, I had a leather belt with letters that hung down, spelling out TRIG. You know, as in Trigger, Roy Rogers’s horse. I was tall with long, bushy, blond hair, so I did sort of look like a horse.”
“I remember people calling you Trig,” I said.
“Yes, a few people—those that are still alive—still do,” my mom added as she scooped up the chunky salsa with her tortilla chip.
Writing & Books: blogging Bonjour Colorado books milestones writing
by maribeth
Comments Off on Marking Four Hundred Blog Posts
Marking Four Hundred Blog Posts
Planning Ahead: Stamping Out 400 in the Super Soft Outer Banks Sand of North Carolina During My Visit There Two Weeks Ago
Four hundred–woo-hoo! I can’t help but wonder what the word count is on that milestone. Writers, you may know, always talk in word count. I suppose I could find out but I certainly don’t have the time.
It takes a lot to do a blog post, especially mine at Bonjour Colorado, which tend to be full-on stories with lots of links and photos. But I love it. I started out as more of a book person–I’ve authored five, in fact.
Yet blogging on destinations from Stockholm to Santa Fe has allowed me to broaden my coverage on favorite places, people and experiences. And posting on a variety of subjects from The Thrill of a Bike Race to Skiing with Rock Stars to Traveling Like a Pampered Pet and Other Tales from the Road to Take Me to the River Especially on a Rafting Adventure allowed me to have a taste of and report on new happenings I likely wouldn’t cover outside of this blog. Posting podcasts with interviews with people such as Ken Burns, Cheryl Strayed, Susan Herrmann Loomis and a host of other illustrious figures whether well known or not, has permitted me to share with you interviews and information from my Travel Fun radio show. Writing a beauty post such as A Happy Ending to My Own Horror Story as well as a tribute to my mother at My Mom: A True Original helped me to open up even more to you, dear reader.
Art & Culture Colorado Denver Four Corners Hotels & Lodging The Southwest Trip Planning: Denver Art Museum Goulding's Lodge Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Western Art Westerns
by maribeth
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The Western: An Epic in Art and Film
The Western: An Epic in Art and Film
Denver Art Museum Entrance
Love this Remington
A Great Synopsis of Westerns
Symbolism in Art
I love Westerns. I love the Denver Art Museum. I love the exhibition The Western: An Epic in Art and Film. Sorry for gushing but I think it’s wonderful!
I saw it in Denver a few weeks ago and I had a smile on my face as I walked through every room of this beautiful show–once again DAM has done a magnificent job with this installation, which creates a setting that makes you feel as though you just stepped into the wild, wild West.
Tune into KOTO.org at 6:30pm MST tonight to listen to my Travel Fun interview with Thomas Brent Smith, co-curator of the exhibition The Western: An Epic in Art and Film. Even if you’re not able to attend the show in Denver, which runs through September 10, you’ll learn much about Westerns and why we love films and artwork that depict the great American West. Thank you, Thomas, for such an eloquent and articulate conversation about the show and why Westerns conjure up such an array of emotions for so many.
