We were recently contacted by the mother of local veterinarian Lisa Berg (who works at the Animal Clinic of Woodland Park on hwy 24) about publishing a poem her daughter had written about her inspiration for becoming a vet. Being long-time pet owners ourselves, we naturally loved the poem and enthusiastically agreed to publish it here for all to enjoy.
A Veterinarian’s First Love.
My dream started out when I could barely crawl;
Dragging stuffed animals room to room and down the hall;
Into the bathroom for band-aids and toilet tissue;
These tools I knew could cure any veterinary issue.
As years went by my focus never wavered;
With a goal in my head it was my education I favored;
Study hard and get good grades I was frequently told;
And my childhood dream would surely unfold.
At eighteen I was finally able to adopt my very own pup;
As I bent down to see her into my arms she jumped up;
She nuzzled my face and whined in my ear, so innocent yet clever;
I knew then I would treasure and protect her forever.
For the first time in my life true selfless love was revealed;
My heart melted and I knew then that my fate was sealed;
In her soulful brown eyes I saw my future reflected;
With hearts entwined I knew my goal would not be deflected.
Off to college we went, eight long years we would need;
The coursework was hard; but together we would succeed;
When veterinary school was tough she would lick away my tears;
Her steady presence of love and joy could ease all my fears.
During her life she was with me through many difficult transitions;
From college to marriage to surviving serious medical conditions;
My love for her was strong and pure; she never took a back seat;
Through the trials of my life she was always there at my feet.
The years flew by, and my life became all I had dreamed;
But with each passing year my beautiful girl aged as time deemed;
Her bouncing gait slowed and her muzzle tuned grey;
She struggled to rise and she turned food away.
Then one day, many years after our hearts first connected;
I gave her one last gift, my tears mixing with the solution I injected;
With a breaking heart I whispered to her as she lay on her fleece;
I looked in her eyes and knew she understood I was helping her find peace.
Despite overwhelming sadness and grief that seemed too difficult to bear;
Other pets enriched our lives, other souls became precious and dear;
But a piece of my heart stays reserved for one who watches from above;
The little mixed breed dog who was my very first true love.
Lisa G. S. Berg, DVM
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Florissant, Colorado
If you've always wanted a yellow chicken
costume, but have never figured out how to justify the expense,
here's your chance! Wild Wings 'N Things, the business
responsible for the waving yellow chicken on highway 24, is for
sale for $110k. It's a nicely decorated restaurant with (in our
opinion) great wings and sandwiches, what we think of as 'medium
food' - not fast food, but not a real sit-down restaurant,
somewhere in between. Seems they just recently opened, it's
surprising to see the business for sale so quickly. You can learn
more about it here.
For a decade or so, Crestwood Park has
been little more than a parking lot, a picnic table, some trees and
grass. Finally, the city's plan to develop the park is underway.
Earth-moving equipment has been busy the past couple weeks, and
they're currently building forms for what appears to be a large
retaining wall around the future tot lot and climbing wall area.
Once complete, the park will feature those activtities as well as a
picnic shelter, half basketball court, and dual purpose area that
will be an ice skating rink in the winter, and a lawn volleyball /
badminton court in the summer. A fitness trail will also be added
to the northeastern leg of the park. To see the architectural plan
for this park, follow this
link.
The Christmas season really kicked into
high gear today in Woodland Park. For starters, it was the first
weekend of Christmas tree cutting in the Pike National Forest (see
the previous article about that). The steady stream of cars heading
up Rampart Range Road was equaled by a steady stream of cars
heading down with beautiful trees on roofs, in pickup beds, or in
trailers. We found an amazing grove of spruce trees which yielded
one very good tree for our living room; everyone seemed to be
having good luck finding the perfect tree. In the evening, highway
24 shut down as the annual parade took over the road. Lights and
smiles were in abundance, though too many of the floats were
silent, not enough Christmas music being played if you ask us. The
weather proved about perfect too...it had rained earlier, providing
a shiny street for the parade lights to reflect off of, but during
the parade itself very little precitpitation fell, and only a few
gusts of wind came along to disturb the masses gathered to watch.
Be sure to check out the calendar here for other Holiday events
coming up.
For a long time, the city has helped out
local charitiable organizations, to the tune of $45,000 a year.
Beneficiaries include such groups as the Community Cupboard, the
Symphony Above the Clouds, and the Woodland Park High School After
Prom Committee (in addition to many other groups). Well, those
funds have been cut in a recent vote where Mayor Pro Tem Phil
Mella, Gary Crane, Terry Harrison, and Ken Matthews voted to
eliminate the funds while the other three Councilmembers voted
against the idea (Jon DeVaux, George Parkhurst, and Steve Randolph
voted to leave funding intact). This comes from the same city
government that, in 2007, budgeted $153,200 in operating expense
for recreational activities alone (such as $26,600 for the soccer
league). 2007 budget for the Downtown Development Agency? $228,047.
2007 budget for the YMCA planning, a project which they wanted to
wait to start until sales tax revenue increases from the new
Wal-Mart were confirmed? $128,000 (on top of $140,000 spent in
2006). The same city government that is building an outdoor
pavilion as part of Woodland Station in an effort to attract events
is cutting funds to local groups that are trying to do the same
(such as the Symphony).
If you'd like to voice your opinion on this matter, please come to
the City Council meeting on December 6th at 7:00PM in the City
Council chambers at 220 W. South Ave. It's not too late to get the
city to reverse this decision. If you support the decision, all the more reason to come to the meeting as we expect there'll be quite a few people speaking in opposition.
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