Each fall, columnist Laura Pritchett goes to her special place. From nature to inclusiveness to mini golf, the YMCA of the Rockies has offered her treasures large and small for 20 years — and counting.

Laura Pritchett
Pritchett: Bears are opportunists. Do them a favor and eliminate opportunity.
As someone living in bear territory, columnist Laura Pritchett knows she has sometimes slipped up. But vigilance can go a long way toward minimizing conflict.
Laura Pritchett: Next time, can we try a more compassionate Fourth?
Call me a curmudgeon. Call me a crank. But I know some of you agree that our current celebrations are neither compassionate nor kind, making them not much to celebrate at all. We are the “no thanks on the fireworks” crowd, the ones who worry about humans who suffer from PTSD — particularly when we […]
Laura Pritchett: A sort of Colorado Stonehenge, these ruins celebrate moonrise
Columnist Laura Pritchett learned there’s only one known, awe-inspiring place where a geological feature frames the Major Lunar Standstill — between Chimney and Companion rocks.
Laura Pritchett: Nonprofits are stepping up to help migrants. But we need a plan.
Columnist Laura Pritchett writes that desperate conditions drive migrants to Colorado. Until we can agree on long-term solutions, a concerted effort to ease their arrival only makes sense.
Laura Pritchett: The awesome art of the out-of-office reply
Laura Pritchett observes how composing a firm response to email intrusions, and accepting the same, can reopen the quiet wonders of life away from a computer screen.
Laura Pritchett: Hughes Stadium tract should become protected open space
Columnist Laura Pritchett writes that Fort Collins should seize the chance to save the Hughes Stadium tract from development and overuse, while honoring its past and preserving it for future generations.
Laura Pritchett: A New Year’s discovery — a lost letter to future me
For columnist Laura Pritchett, a 6-year-old letter to her future self revealed an overstretched woman yearning for calm and laughter. And it allowed her to measure her progress.
Laura Pritchett: An appreciation of time and health in a stretch of rampant illness
Columnist Laura Pritchett found the weight of emotional and physical symptoms of illness all around her drove home the importance of saving for a long-anticipated family trip.
Laura Pritchett: Reconnecting with nature at Aldo Leopold’s early home
For Laura Pritchett, a month living in the former residence of the author of an enduring “land ethic” prompted reflection on both landscape and cultural heritage.