Weathering the Storm: Wyoming's Climate, Courtside Action, and Personal Journeys

Wyoming's January skies are as unpredictable as a cowboy's lasso, but Mark 's here to help you keep your hat on straight with the latest weather twists and turns. Not only that, I'm serving up a courtside view of our local heroes, the Cowboys and Cowgirls, as they face off in nail-biting basketball showdowns. Meanwhile, the conversation takes a serious turn towards the pressing issues at our doorstep: the effectiveness of Texas border measures and the concerning rise in cancer rates in Hot Springs County. Tune in for a heartfelt blend of community news and lively local sports that'll keep you rooted in the wild, wonderful world of Wyoming.

But it's not all storm clouds and full-court presses; in this episode, we also carve out space for personal growth and introspection. Alongside our special guest, Marcy, we'll share a roadmap to becoming the architect of your own destiny. Learn how to embrace the discomfort that comes with self-improvement, find purpose in community involvement, and why comparing yourself to media portrayals is the thief of joy. It's about taking the reins of your life with kindness, courage, and a dash of Wyoming grit. So saddle up for an episode that's as rejuvenating as a mountain breeze and as empowering as a sunrise over the prairie.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:22

Good morning and welcome to let's Talk Wyoming. I'm Mark Campbell and today we'll take a quick look at that beautiful Wyoming weather we're having. We'll talk about the Wyoming cowboy and cowgirl basketball team. We'll look at some other situations that are happening in the area, we'll talk about a dam here in Wyoming and finally we'll have our mental health moment for the month of January, as we have Marcy back. Thanks for joining us and we hope you enjoy the show.

Speaker 1: 1:00

Taking a look at Wyoming weather here on the 30th day of January Got a couple more days. Where did January go? And I tell you, here in Wyoming, here, especially in Hot Springs County and most of the state, our weather has just gone totally wacko. We have gotten warm from our deep freeze we had earlier and with our snow We've had 50 degree plus days, another 50 degree plus day today and it looks like the weather's going to stay that way for a while going into February. And I tell you what I'm enjoying every bit of it. And I heard a lot of people are saying we need some moisture. But we've got a lot of time coming up in the months of February and March when we get a lot of our winter storms. So Wyoming weather. Man, I tell you what we got. To love it, we'll take every bit of it. We know there's probably another cold snap coming but, man, we're going to bask in this while we can.

Speaker 1: 2:00

In Wyoming sports it's been absolutely unbelievable January for the Wyoming Cowboys and the Wyoming Cowgirls. Last weekend the Wyoming Cowboys, who are pretty much a rebuilt squad they had one player back, had so many players leave last year and they've had some bumps and bruises but they do play an exciting brand of basketball. They had the board of war against CSU in Laramie last week at the Dome of Doom we haven't talked about the Dome of Doom for a long time Took on, of course, csu. Csu was coming in rated 23rd in the country and the Cowboys, down by 11 with a little over a minute left in the game, came back and tied it, ended up winning the game in overtime. Just an out unbelievable finish for the Cowboys. It's one of those that you wish that you were there, wishing that Laramie was a little bit closer. So the Cowboys are starting to make a few waves. Got a lot of attention by that victory. They play this week. They have Air Force tomorrow, or actually to tomorrow, actually actually today because it's actually on the 30th that they play Air Force down at the Academy.

Speaker 1: 3:12

Now the Wyoming Cowgirls. I tell you what. I've started getting pretty interested and behind the Cowgirls they have tied from UNLV for first place in the conference. They've got a big matchup Wednesday night in Vegas as they take on UNLV. Unlv beat them last year in the Mountain West tournament and they beat them during the season. Unlv is a pretty physical team. They're pretty athletic and they just haven't been quite as sharp as I thought they were going to be this year. Cowgirls come in and stay close, play their basketball. I think that they can make a run at this thing. It's going to be a great game.

Speaker 1: 3:54

I will definitely watch both games tonight and tomorrow night and I use the Mountain West app. If you get the Mountain West Conference app, they have all those games on there. It's hard to watch the games on ESPN or such. They usually don't carry them. So I watch them on the app. I can take and stream that to my TV set and watch the games. So I'll tell you what. I'm getting pretty pumped up Cowboys, cowgirls doing their thing and other stuff happening around the country, as we've all been watching.

Speaker 1: 4:30

The border issue, talked about it many times and what's going on down in Texas at Eagle Pass, with kind of a head-to-head between the federal government and the state of Texas. You know they're talking about shutting down that Eagle Pass area and when you start really looking at it, I don't know if this is just a lot of play-acting or what's happening. I applaud trying to stop the people coming across that stretch, but Texas has 1,200 miles of border and to me most of these are just going to move. Okay, eagle Pass isn't open, we'll just move them somewhere else down the line. Looks like Texas had a victory but ultimately they just take and move them. The cartels can move them to other places along the Texas border, move them into Arizona. See that there's much positivity. It's getting people a little riled up and feeling good about Texas standing up to them. But when you really sit back and look at it, I just wonder how important it is. But I've been watching a lot of videos of all these immigrants that have been taken to all these states where it's been cold. We've got something on our hands that I don't know how we're going to solve and the impact it's going to have on us and finally, kind of a downer one that I don't really mean to be down on it, but here in Hot Springs County and in Wyoming, you know, if you start really looking.

Speaker 1: 5:54

I looked at our terse bulletin this week and I can't believe the amount of people that are fighting cancer. We've had some deaths here recently. A gentleman in the community it just passed away in his 50s. A lot of people have a lot of different opinions why they're so bad right now, but then people I think everybody's got to wake up and figure out what is going on between sudden death and these cancers. I heard the terms robo-cancers and these people are finding out they have cancer and they're dead two weeks later. Something's going on. I tell you, time to wake up, figure this out. It's just not a good thing out there. I pray for all those people that are facing cancer and other things right now from a lot of different things in our lives. It's not a good time when you're dealing with that type of stuff and for families it's really hard.

Speaker 1: 6:48

Today in our history section we want to take a look at Alcova Dam in Reservoir by Annette Hein from wildhistoryorg. Immeasurable wealth, declared the Casper Star Tribune in 1930, is only awaiting the touch of a Latin's magic lamp, water, to bring it to existence. The paper anticipated a boom in local agriculture from the construction of the dam in the North Platte River in Central Wyoming, some 30 miles southwest of Casper, wyoming. The dam, completed in 1937 by the US Bureau of Reclamation, was named for the nearby town of Alcova, which was originally planned as a health resort in 1890. The town lay just downstream from a steep-walled canyon that had hot springs at the canyon floor and was reportedly named for coves in the course of the river. The crowd of tourists that were expected to help the resort prosper never happened, however.

Speaker 1: 7:46

Alcova remained a small town by 1903, there was a school for children of local ranchers there. Businesses catered to travelers between Casper and Split Rock Country or Rawlins Wyoming. Life in Alcova could be primitive in those early days. Rachel Royce Cowden, who grew up there in the early 1900s, wrote down some of her memories, which were published in 1991 in the Alcova Centennial Book Memories of Alcova. During the winter of 1903, her mother took all pieces of tarp, gunny sacks or anything she could find to cover the dirt floors. Sheep ranching drove the area's economy, meaning that all the bills and obligations were paid just twice a year after spring shearing and the fall after the lamb sales, cowdins family ran a livery stable and boarded horses. They also fed travelers. One role that mama had was that no one would come in wearing guns. Some of the men always sat, so their back was to a solid wall where they could watch all the doors and windows.

Speaker 1: 8:52

The Casper Chamber of Commerce and Casper newspapers began lobbying for construction of the dam as early as 1905. When Pathfinder Dam was built just upstream of Alcova for flood control and water storage, most of the stored water was reserved for Nebraska farmlands In. Many Wyomingites who wanted a water source for local agriculture began to promote a second dam for the purpose. The main obstacle unto the construction was that it would be on a major undertaking requiring federal funding and support. The Casper Star Tribune claimed in 1927 that a second dam on the platt would cost $13.6 million and irrigate more than 88,000 acres of fertile land near Casper. The resulting agricultural growth, the paper maintained, would provide a more stable base for the local economy than the current oil boom. The Bureau of Reclamation and the state began to investigate the Alcova area for a dam site. In 1933 President Franklin Roosevelt authorized construction of this dam, the Casper Alcova Project as part of the National Industrial Recovery Act designed to help the country out of the Great Depression. The Casper Alcova Project was later named the Kendrick Project for Wyoming Senator John Kendrick. The irrigation district set up to distribute the water renamed the Casper Alcova Irrigation District.

Speaker 1: 10:19

Agriculture in central Wyoming, which is dry and windy, with a short growing season of poor soil, has historically been more centered on ranching than farming. While irrigation help produce crops, it also allows ranchers to raise feed for their own stock or to sell to others In the agricultural industry. For many reasons, having a large supply of stored water provides more security than depending entirely on each year's rainfall. Alcova Dam was built in a notch where the Platte River flows into a ridge of rocks and out the other side. This puzzling geological feature, known as a superimposed stream, is seen elsewhere in Wyoming, at Devil's Gate and the Wind River Canyon, among other locations. The notch at Alcova began to be created when the Platte was flowing in a channel hundreds of feet higher than it is today. Under this channel, some ridges of rock harder than the loose sediment around them lay buried Over time. As the river flowed, water cut down through everything, hard rock and softer sediment alike. It sliced gaps through the hard rock ridges that later remained after the softer sediment had eroded away. Alcova Dam was built in one such gap and the water backed up into a lake behind the ridge.

Speaker 1: 11:34

W E Callahan construction of Texas and Gunter and Shirley of California began construction of the dam in August of 1935, one month before President Roosevelt gave final authorization for the project. Builders wanted to take advantage of the low summer flows and good weather for initial work of clearing the dam site and tumbling to divert the river. Many of the men who worked there were from the Natrona County Transient Relief Camp formed in response to the hard times of the Depression years. The book Memories of Alcova noted that many of the men were on relief or unemployment and were unable to equip themselves with proper working clothes. The dam was finished in 1937 at a cost of $20 million.

Speaker 1: 12:19

Tourism and recreation use of the area began as soon as the lake was filled in 1938. The Civilian Conservation Corp, a national organization created as part of President Roosevelt's New Deal, built roads and facilities for camping and boating. People came from Casper and other parts of the state to fish or boat on the new lake. This helped stimulate the economy in the small town of Alcova, which had a population of 76. Tens of thousands of people visited the lake every year.

Speaker 1: 12:49

The burial reclamation maintains water levels at Alcova at a relatively constant level in order to ensure sufficient water to fill the Casper Canal during the irrigation season. Water levels in the Pathfinder and Seminole Reservoirs upstream, by contrast, are allowed to fall dramatically in drought years, so that Alcova's water levels can be maintained. The steady water levels also make Alcova more attractive for recreation than the other reservoirs. The canal, one of the main features of the Kendrick project, flows on the northwest side of the north platform Alcova to Casper and provides water to irrigators in the Casper-Alcova Irrigation District. Some 66,000 acres of unclaimed federal land were initially set aside for sale to landowners who would get water from the Casper Canal. Under standard burial reclamation policies, irrigation water from the project could be supplied to only 160 acres for a single landowner. The 160 acre figure had been chosen for regions of the country such as the Midwest with more fertile soil and a longer growing season. Most ranchers and Wyoming by necessity are much larger. Even 20 years after the dam's construction was completed and the maximum plot was increased to 480 acres, settlement was slow, only 24,253 acres of the original 66,000 were replaced under irrigation.

Speaker 1: 14:15

A power plant with two generators was constructed, alcova in 1955, which now provides some 88 million kilowatt hours of electricity to the central Wyoming. This was supplied electricity for about 8,000 Wyoming homes. According to the US Energy Information Administration data, in 1990, there were 300 landowners in the Casper-Alcova Irrigation District. As of 2003, there were around 500. Today the water is mostly used for growing alfalfa or irrigating pastures, usually as part of a larger ranching operation. Although the growing prediction of the Tribune Herald for unlimited riches never came true, the Alcova project brought great benefits of tourism, hydropower and irrigation to central Wyoming. This is an interesting story. Talking about the dam and what it provided the fishery down there in that area is just unbelievable. It's time for our mental health moment for the month of January. We want to welcome back Marcy. It's been a while since we've talked. How's January going?

Speaker 2: 15:21

It's going well, mark. Today I wanted to talk about different things to start doing for yourself in the new year.

Speaker 1: 15:27

All right, that sounds good, we're ready for that.

Speaker 2: 15:30

Yeah, today I wanted to first focus on what you already have. I feel like in the new year, we often get all these advertisements or people directing us to add all these new things into our life, but sometimes I think, like Oprah had said, be thankful for what you have. You'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you'll never, ever have enough. So I think we need to focus on what we currently are doing, things that maybe we need to focus on in our life, such as appreciating what we have Maybe that's your family, your health, having a job right now, different things that we currently do have.

Speaker 1: 16:13

That is a good point for us too. What can we do to make that happen?

Speaker 2: 16:19

Well, I think we also need to work on living in the now. There's so much that we do on a day-to-day basis, whether it's saving for retirement, focusing on that wedding or that trip. We also need to enjoy our lives now. That means focusing on, let's say, washing the dishes, taking that meal with friends and savoring that time together. It's called mindfulness, Mark. Have you heard of that?

Speaker 1: 16:50

No, I haven't. This is the first time I've heard of that.

Speaker 2: 16:53

Yeah, so it's focusing on the five senses Feeling, hearing, seeing, tasting and touching Every day. I also suggest people not use their phones at meals. Put your phone away, turn off your electronics, maybe just focusing on one meal a day with your family or your partner or your roommates, where we're not focusing on what's next.

Speaker 1: 17:18

That is a good idea.

Speaker 2: 17:20

I also think we need to start ignoring what others are doing. I don't mean to not care about different things going on in people's lives, but I feel like we constantly are comparing ourselves to the accomplishments or the goals or the lives of, maybe celebrities or people that we see in the media, when, at the same time, we're kind of comparing our behind-the-scenes to their highlight reel. I suggest unfollowing accounts that maybe make you feel bad about yourself, or maybe reducing the celebrity gossip sites you're looking at Just doing things to make yourself feel better about your current situation.

Speaker 1: 17:58

Very good. Yeah, that is. We get pretty well drawn into that sometimes and get a little bit obsessive with following those certain people.

Speaker 2: 18:08

I really think that in our society we all don't want any kind of discomfort. We want quick fixes. But I think in the new year we need to start being really honest with ourselves. What's not working? Where could we maybe focus more of our time and energy? Let's say you want to build a business. What are you doing to build your business? What kind of things do we really need to get a little more strict with ourselves? Let's say, waking up an hour earlier to go do that walk or that jog. We kind of need to stop bathing ourselves in some aspects of life because, at the end of the day, no one else is going to push us if we don't push ourselves.

Speaker 1: 18:49

That is a good point, I think, especially maybe getting started a little bit earlier and trying to get stuff done before you get distracted by everything else around you.

Speaker 2: 19:01

Yeah, I think. Personally, I suggest this next point is focus on things greater than yourself. That might be an organization that helps animals, a religious organization, an alumni network. I think we all need to tap into community with things that are for the greater good and whatever that could mean to us, but we need to make sure that we're joining in with different things in our society. That allows us to be part of a team that can help with loneliness meaning and also just getting out of the house and doing something productive.

Speaker 1: 19:40

On that point. I think in the past in some areas it's really hard to find those opportunities. Do you have any suggestions how we can follow or how we can find those opportunities to volunteer?

Speaker 2: 19:52

Yeah, I just suggest Googling. So, whatever you're, let's say you really like animals, maybe animal rescue in your community, or maybe you really like coaching sports you know every community maybe also asking a friend or a trusted adult or person that you know, a coworker, asking how you can get involved. Often people we really want to help others, so luckily with the internet and different resources. Also, volunteer match is an online database that has hundreds of volunteer opportunities and some are even just online. So volunteermatchorg that's for volunteering. But you know, I think in every community there's there's a space for everyone. That just takes kind of putting ourselves out there.

Speaker 1: 20:40

Well, I know the local church if you have a local church that they're always looking for people to help with a lot of things in church, so it's a good opportunity there too.

Speaker 2: 20:50

I also suggest that sometimes you know, maybe we have a bad experience and something, but maybe you know, giving yourself some opportunities to try some different things. You know, maybe pick a list of three different places to visit let's say, a church or even some kind of hospice, or even just going to a group workout class but giving ourselves a chance to try some different options because, you know, if we have one bad experience, I don't think we should be shutting ourselves down to finding that community.

Speaker 1: 21:22

Very good, okay, what else, marcy?

Speaker 2: 21:26

And I think the last thing is start acting like you care about yourself. So I challenge everyone that's listening over the next week to treat themselves like they would treat their best friend. They're they're, you know, someone they care about. So that means that we need to focus on our own needs before we can help others. So maybe that's finally going to the doctor and getting that checkup. Maybe it's asking for help getting some counseling. Maybe it's even spending a little extra time today doing something that brings meaning to your life. You know all these different articles and resources about what we can do for others, but at the same time, if you're not taking care of your health mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, financially you know there's only so much that can help. We need to make sure we're focusing on the whole person.

Speaker 1: 22:22

That's very good, Marcy. I think those are some good points and I know that you have more for us and we look forward to the next time we have you on to listen to the rest of those. And again, we appreciate you sharing this with us and we hope that you have a good finish to the month of January and just an outstanding February coming up.

Speaker 2: 22:44

Yeah, and I last one last point, mark. I think we need to realize we're the CEO to our lives. So if you want to see change or you want to see progress, it's on you to take those first steps. We've all been a beginner so you know that first step can be the scariest, but it can be very rewarding.

Speaker 1: 23:02

Very good. Again, thanks, marcy, for coming on, and we'll talk to you again in February.

Speaker 2: 23:07

Okay, thanks, Mark.

Speaker 1: 23:14

Thanks for joining us today and we hope you enjoy our podcast. As per the Code of the West, we ride for the brand and we ride for Wyoming. Three, two, one, three, two, one go.