The Game of Thrones Coop, or, How to Work Too Hard

Like a lot of you, in the early months of the pandemic, I got chicks. Three little puff balls from the feed store, one black, one white, one reddish. For a time, they lived in a big cardboard box, with a heat lamp to keep […]

Birthday Running Bash

What better way to celebrate a birthday than by running a marathon? Okay. There may be lots of better ways to celebrate a birthday. But I’ve decided to run 26.2 miles. You can join me in Dolores, or, in spirit, by running wherever you are. […]

Wherefore Art Thou, Dog Owners?

Editor’s Note: This piece by Maddy Butcher was originally published in the Washington Post. Here it is, but without the many links to research, statistics, and references. Sorry ’bout that! By Maddy Butcher Tina is smart and, sometimes, I’d swear she can read my mind. […]

Count Me as One Earnest 2024 Human

What started as a task to write about technology and life in the rural west has morphed into a mandate, self-imposed, to take back my brain from tech-soaked deviations. You could say the topic got the better of me. I’m guessing it’s got the better […]

Dating in the Rural West

Editor’s Note: This piece was originally published in the Washington Post. For those of you hitting a paywall, here you go! Maddy Butcher is the author of “Horse Head: Brain Science & Other Insights” and director of Buck the Trend, a mental health forum for […]

Playing Checkers

Editor’s Note: This is an unedited version of Maddy Butcher’s opinion piece that appeared in the Washington Post. Maddy Butcher writes: There was a whole lot of hootin’ and hollerin’ when, earlier this summer, the judge at the federal district court in Casper, Wyoming, ruled […]

Mind Yer Spring Step

Editor’s Note: Colorado Parks and Wildlife sent out this notice and we’re passing it along as a general Hippocratic Oath for outdoorists everywhere. Be a good steward to wildlands and wildlife. And don’t be an ass to other folks. If you’re riding horses or encountering […]

This Ain’t Disney

Editor’s Note: This is an unedited version of a piece written about horse slaughter, animal rights activists, and rural, agrarian life. An edited and alternate version was published in the Washington Post. Thwarted by a paywall? Read it here. M.B. Maddy Butcher writes: They meant […]

All Death is Not Bad

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece was originally published in the Washington Post and is republished here. I am throwing in some pretty random pics. Sorry – no provocative images here! It’s dedicated to Barry, pictured first, a horse I lost last year and still miss […]

E-Bikes and Othering

Editor’s Note: This piece was published in the Washington Post. But here it is for those of us hitting the paywall. By Maddy Butcher Who gets to use the trails on this country’s public land? And how should they do it? The latest debate is […]