... an account of Ouray County, Ridgway, and the unexpected and uninvited external forces that suddenly descended on a sleepy agricultural community where three generations of farmers and ranchers had tended to their crops and livestock through the rhythms of the seasons.

Today, a new traffic light signals, "go" to new Hummer's and other fancy sports-utility vehicles where once pickup trucks ambled slowly down the one main street in Ridgway. Fast-food restaurants have found a home in this small town, not many, but one or two—enough to send a sign to residents that change is here to stay. Change is inevitable. How folks deal with it is something else.
This letter from Ridgway was written by a reformed New Yorker and tells the story of his love affair with the West, his reconciliation with change, and his thoughts on the future.