About three weeks ago a reporter from the Denver Post contacted me about writing a feature story she was writing on rural communities for an upcoming issue. She invited me for an opportunity to visit with her and gather together others who had left their city lives behind in search of a different kind of life in rural Colorado. Being a strong proponent for our little piece of eutopia, I was eager to meet with Jennifer Brown and share with her some influential people of Nor

WALDEN — My eyes went directly from the flashing lights in my rear view mirror to my speedometer. The number there wasn’t good, and when the sheriff asked me if I knew how fast I was going, I was loath to repeat it. “Uh…faster than I should have been?” “Yes, and why were you going that speed?” The truth wasn’t much of an excuse. The stretch of Colorado 14 between Steamboat and Walden was straight, dry and empty that February day. If there was a reason I was speeding past the