PUEBLO – If you own a combat helmet, you might want to dust it off and keep it nearby. It won’t save your life, but it may make you feel more secure when the refrigerator falls from the sky late this month or in early October.

LYONS – A long time ago, in fact when the Russians were still raping and pillaging Afghanistan, we had a visitor here in Lyons. This visitor was a European world traveler and had recently come from Kabul through the Khyber Pass.

We talked about the Hindu Kush Range and the Paropamisus Mountains as I showed him around Lyons. He kept shaking his head at how much these foothills reminded him of Afghanistan. Sure enough, it turns out that we are roughly at the same altitude, same latitude, same geology, same weather and just as landlocked as that most foreign of all countries.

Now that Texas Gov. Rick Perry has entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination, I think he has to be the odds-on favorite.

Conservative Christians and Tea Party Republicans alike have expressed support for him, and if he wins the nomination, he’ll likely pull most, if not all, the votes from independents who identify with those labels.

LYONS – “This is a small town.” How you utter that phrase tells me a lot about you. Most people I know are clearly divided between those who yearn to live here and those who think of small towns as mini-federal disaster areas that politicians should fly over in a great show of pity and sympathy.

PUEBLO – Score one for Congresswoman Michelle Bachman (R) Minn. – maybe. On the heels of the New York Legislature’s historic June 23 vote to recognize gay marriage in that state, she became the first presidential candidate to sign the FAMiLY LEADER pledge, titled “The Marriage Vow – A Declaration of Dependence Upon Marriage and Family,” a.k.a. the “Marriage Vow” pledge.

PUEBLO – I spent a good portion of Friday, June 10, driving from Pueblo to Denver and back. It’s not my favorite journey on Colorado’s roads. I’d much rather use those hours exploring the places few vehicles and people go.