I think most of you can relate to the use — and probably overuse — of Facebook by most people. As soon as you log in, Facebook asks “What’s on your mind” as a daily reminder to post any and everything that crosses the old noggin. And the main problem is people will tell you.

I realize you have to be a tad older to recall the phrase “I know nothing …NOTHING!” made popular on a sitcom called “Hogan’s Heroes.” “Hogan’s Heroes” was a weekly show about some Allied prisoners of war in a German camp whereby the prisoners got by with all kinds of sabotage and mischief right under their captors' noses. The goofy Kommandant Klink ran the POW camp aided by his trusty yet bumbling Sergeant Schultz.

This past week found Ol’ Dutch back on the river driving for kayaking trips for Mountain Man Rafting. Now this was not the plan and Miss Trixie kinda Tom Sawyered me into it as her schedule was full to overflowing. As usual. But there is never a bad day on the Mighty Rio Grande River and so I got to see some new places as we kayaked east of South Fork on Friday. The Mountain Man/Narrow Ridge kayaking trips are perfect for beginners to experience their first time. You'll learn new things and have a lot of fun.

I am sure if you ever played tag you have heard the phrase “ready or not.” The way it worked was all the players in the game would run away and hide somewhere and the person that was “it” would count to ten or whatever and then look up and say ready or not here I come. What followed was a hectic search for those who had hidden.

As soon as you read BYOB, I bet you thought Ol’ Dutch had fallen off the wagon and was suggesting that you “Bring Your Own Booze” to some pending future social event. And that is what the acronym has meant probably since Jesus turned the water into wine as He only did that once leaving future weddings on the dry side unless someone snuck in a fifth.

Just this past weekend Miss Trixie drug Ol’ Dutch to the annual Creede Colorado Rock and Mineral show to look at the pretty rocks. And it's not like I am not interested but I have a pretty good collection of said specimens myself and so tramping up and down the aisles and having to talk to people is kind of a stretch for this old man. Oh, I don't mind once I get there and actually, I found some great people this time to talk to, so it was definitely a win in the end. But I think Ol’ Dutch is more like an old water pump these days that takes a little bit of priming to get me started.

Another 4th of July passed us by this past week and Ol’ Dutch let er’ slip by without nary a mention, which is bad on all accounts. So late, but not forgotten, I have to give credit to all the founding fathers who gave their lives, property, and fortunes so we could be free.

I am appalled by the proposed Kroger-Albertson merger and its impact on grocery workers in the San Luis Valley and throughout the state. Many will sink into poverty if stores are closed or divested, through no fault of their own. It’s especially unfair to the grocery worker retirees.

I was born and raised in the San Luis Valley, and I’m petrified over what the future holds for my community. If the Federal Trade Commission allows the two largest standalone grocery chains in the country to merge, the combined Kroger (City Market) and Albertsons (Safeway) will present a serious threat to our local economy. It reminds me of the apocalyptic satire, “Don’t Look Up.” In the film, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence play astrologers trying to warn the public about a comet approaching Earth. But people are indifferent to the looming threat that will destroy them.

Miss Trixie reminded me today that this is the 10th anniversary of my starting to write for the Valley papers. Since that time, I became syndicated, and it allowed me to meet many good people — and a few not-so-good ones — across the country. It's been a wild ride sometimes as you have traveled along with Ol’ Dutch and Miss Trixie on all kinds of adventures from the headwaters of the Rio Grande river to the outlet of the same into the Gulf of Mexico. Not a few people have told me that “it seems like a lot longer” when I told them it was my 10th year.

I am sure that most of you have heard the old phrase, “No good deed goes unpunished.” You also know by now that Ol’ Dutch likes to include some background of the origin of such phrases here so that you, my readers, will have some intellectual-sounding fodder to bring up at the next social meeting you attend. So, I went to the source for everything, aka The Internet, and there seems to be some schism about who came up with such wisdom.

There may be a few readers who can remember the original game show Password invented by CBS Network in 1961. In its long multi-year run, it has called NBC and ABC home, as well, and continues today. For those of you who are not familiar with the game, it consists of two teams of two people. One of which is a well-known celebrity and the other one is chosen from a field of willing contestants.

This past week Ol’ Dutch celebrated another one of those pesky days that thankfully come along only once a year. Yep, you guessed it. Another birthday rolled around and right on past like a freight train off a washed-out bridge. And I see that most of you missed it as I didn't see you at the party nor did you send an appropriate gift to the house. Which I guess is my fault for not announcing the whole affair so you could come and honor so great a guest as me.

I know it will come as no surprise to my male readers out there just how important it is to have what is known as the “right answer” when dealing with partners of the female persuasion.

Miss Trixie and I have arrived back at our digs in Colorful Colorado safe and sound albeit not without some struggle. Of course, it's like that with most things in life and so a person can only keep moving forward and work through things as they come.

It's been a hectic week that included unpacking and setting up the household for the summer so far. Miss Trixie had to make her semi-monthly trip out to the Amish store to stock up on things she needed. We also got to visit the new Amish bakery and that's always a treat with their tasty homemade baked goods and other culinary delights.

Spring is perking right along and even though some recent pics of places like Yellowstone show a plethora of snow still on the ground, it won't be long now until the buffalo there will be head butting nosey, picture taking tourists once again.

It has been my honor to serve the San Luis Valley as a Director on the SLV Rural Electric Co-op Board for the past four years. Now it is time for the District 7 Director-at-Large election. Note that ballots will be mailed out to members on May 11.

It is that time of year again when Spring comes rushing into the Southern United States with a passion and leaves a person never knowing if you will need the furnace or the air conditioning on any given day. And having been down in those parts some ten or more years in a row, Ol’ Dutch knows that hot summer weather will find us faster than crap through the proverbial goose.

When I decided to become a counselor, I did not think I wanted to counsel children. I had previously worked at Tu Casa, Inc., with the Children’s Advocacy Center of the San Luis Valley (CAC) under its umbrella. Even though I did not work directly with the children at the CAC, I did occasionally work with the family in one way or another.