By Nancy Culbreath, MSW

When you hear someone say they are a Social Worker, what

comes to mind? For a long time, the feeling was that a Social Worker’s primary job was helping troubled families. In fact, this is only a small part of this profession.

The goal of Social Work is to help everyone better understand the complexity of needs that arise in our society, and that there are solutions available.

Social work values include empa-thy with another person's situation, as well as listening without telling

people what they should do. Instead social workers give suggestions to help individuals learn how to in-crease their abilities to address their own needs and become self-reliant. A social worker’s professional educa-tion level may vary from bachelor’s degree, to a master’s degree, or even PhD.

Social workers assist patients in hospitals and mental health areas. They also work to help families be-come aware of the many resources that are available to them. Clients may need access to food banks and affordable housing. Mothers some-times need assistance accessing

pregnancy care or learning how to care for babies and young children. You will also find social workers in school settings to help students work with their families to reduce stress and other school issues.

Services are also available to help those who made mistakes that led to jail and prison time. With profes-sional help to understand what can be done to stay out of prison many are able to stay out of prison and lead a more productive life. Social work-ers are also a person to turn to when problems arise and to help individ-uals learn coping skills.

The Social Work field is broad, and situations varied. This means that experience is vital, and contin-

ued education helps Social Work-ers find suggestions and solutions to many social problems. Through Social Workers people are encour-aged to increase their capabilities, to change if needed, address their own needs, and become self-reliant.

by Dick Williamson

In 1898, naturalist John Muir, describing Yellowstone National

Park said, “you will be brought to a standstill hushed and awe-stricken before phenomena wholly new to you. Boiling springs and huge deep pools of purest green and azure wa-ter, thousands of them, are [s]plash-

ing and heaving in these high, cool mountains as if a fierce furnace fire were burning beneath each one of them; and a hundred geysers, white torrents of boiling water and steam, like inverted waterfalls, are ever and anon rushing up out of the hot, black underworld."

He did not overstate the wonders of this historic site. It is one of na-

ture’s grand treasures that we enjoy thanks to the wisdom and foresight of our forefathers. Americans knew little of the land we now call Yellow-stone until, in 1806, John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark Ex-pedition, left to become a fur trap-per. Over the next couple of years, he passed through a geothermal area he described as a place of “fire and brimstone.” Most people dismissed his claims as delirium and the sup-posedly imaginary place was nick-named "Colter's Hell". Over the next 40 years, numerous reports from mountain men and trappers told of boiling mud, steaming rivers, and petrified trees. Most of these claims were dismissed as fiction or myth.

In 1846 mountain man, Jim Bridger, reported observing boil-ing springs, spouting water, and a

mountain of glass and yellow rock. Like Colson’s story, these reports were largely ignored because Bridg-er had been known to tell a few tall tales. While there were some at-tempts by the U. S. Army to explore the area in the late 1850s, the Civil War ended those efforts.

The first serious expeditions of the area were the Cook–Folsom–Pe-terson Expedition in 1869 and the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expe-dition in 1870. The following year a government sponsored exploration led by Ferdinand Hayden compiled a comprehensive report, including photographs and paintings. The re-port helped convince Congress to set the land aside from public auction. On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the act that created America’s first National Park.

a c t i v e l i v i n gBEYOND60

By Bill Crabbe

There's this Northern European tale about the Borrowing Days,

and it goes kind of like this. They say that March “comes in

like a lion but goes out like a lamb,” except when it doesn't. Back in the day, that left people wondering why the nasty weather didn't seem to be going away. Well, there was this old brindled cow who was kind of full of herself. She went around bragging that she was so tough that even the rigors of March couldn't kill her.

She bragged about this enough that March got torqued off and decided to teach her a lesson. So, he borrowed a few days from April to extend his fury, killed the cow the point of be-ing quite dead, then skinned her, presumably to reinforce the point. Following that episode of bovicide the lousy weather extending into April that refused to become lamb-like has been called the Reehy Days, the Borrowed Days, the Borrowing Days, the Skinning Days, and a few other things. These are days where the hellacious weather is presumed to be a signal that any manner of bad things might happen. There are different, some more elaborate, ver-sions of this tale but they all have the same drift: smart-alecky animals, vengeful months, stolen days, bad outcomes for the animals. At this

point it is good to remember that people are animals.

You might ask yourself, why on earth would people concoct such a story? Well, I have a thought about that. I think we tend to be a bit lit-eral in saying that people believed some of this stuff. Think about it. They were kind of bored. Life was hard and for most people it was con-stant work just to survive. There was no radio, no TV, and there were no cell phones. There is only so much time you can spend sitting around a campfire dancing and listening to the same old epic sagas.

In any case, there is clear mes-sage here. If you are an animal, even a human animal, during March you might want to think twice before bragging about how tough you are. March may be listening.

Adv

ertis

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mar 5St. Patrick’s Day Lunch at the Greeley Active Adult

Center (1010 6th St). Enjoy a traditional lunch of corned beef and cab-

bage. Great entertainment by Brian Wendt, guitarist.

Don’t forget to wear green. Members $7, Non-members

$9. Seating is limited, be sure to call 970-350-9440

to pay for your seat.

mar 6Legendary Ladies. This year,

2020, is the Suffrage Cen-tennial. Join the Legendary Ladies show at Farr Library

and watch suffragists such as Ellis Meredith, Alice Ramsey,

Maude Nelson, Lady Moon, and Harriet Fish Backus. 4:00 pm at Farr Library,

1939 61st Ave., Greeley.

mar 11Balance and Walking Devic-es. Learn how to maximize

your balance and safe walk-ing practices with walkers, canes, and other assistive

devices. Presented by Bob Waldchen, PT with Encom-

pass Home Health. Call 970-339-0022 to RSVP by March

9. Event is 2-3pm at 4750 25th St., Greeley.

mar 1610 Warning Signs of Alzhei-

mer’s. Alzheimer’s and other dementias cause changes in memory, thinking and

behavior that interfere with daily life. Learn about 10

common warning signs and what to watch for in yourself

and others. 6:30-8:00 pm. Westview Church of Christ,

4151 20th St., Greeley.

Beyond 60, Active Living is sponsored by the Weld

County Area Agency on Aging. If you have a story

idea or something to share, please contact us at (970)

346-6950 or hdarby@weldgov.com. All content

is subject to editing and/or approval by Weld County.

Activities CalendarMARCH 2020

The Broad Field of Social Work

They Called It “Coulter’s Hell”Yellowstone National Park

NEXT WEEK’S SENIOR NUTRITION LUNCH MENU:

mon 3/9Soft Beef and Bean Taco, Pico De Gallo, Sour Cream, Mexicorn, Spanish Brown Rice, Tropical Fruit Salad, Milk 1%

tue 3/10Chicken Florentine with Rotini, Roasted Vegetables, Orange-Apple-Banana Fruit Salad, Wheat Roll, Butter, Milk 1%

wed 3/11Cabbage Casserole, Marinated Vegetables, Morning Glory Muffin, Butter, Orange Wedges, Milk 1%

thurs 3/12Lemon Dijon Chicken Breast, Brussel Sprouts with Malt Vinegar, Brown Rice Pilaf with Cream Gravy, Chocolate Zucchini Muffin, Butter, Milk 1%

fri 3/13Tomato Bisque Soup, Wheat Crackers, 1/2 Egg Salad on Wheat, Lettuce/Tomato, Three Bean Salad, Apple-Banana-Orange Fruit Salad, Oatmeal Cookie, Milk 1%

Did you know?Muffins originally come from England. The term "muffin" appeared for the first time in 1851 in a British magazine, the "London Labour". However, this kind of muffin was a sweet yeast-based pastry product that is different than from what we know today.

Powerful Tools for Caregivers Workshop:If you are caring for a loved one at home, this work-shop will help you learn to reduce stress, guilt and an-ger; relaxation techniques; set goals and problem-solve (family caregivers only). Workshop meets once a week for six weeks. FREE but registration is required

by calling 970-400-6130.

Tuesdays, 3/3/20 to 4/7/20, from 9:00-10:30 am: Greeley Medical Center, Greeley

Healthier Living Diabetes Workshop:Become a better self-man-ager of your diabetes by learning to apply the knowl-edge you already know such as reading nutrition labels and healthy eating, preventing low blood sugar,

developing an exercise pro-gram, and setting achiev-able goals. Workshop meets once a week for 6 weeks. FREE for people 60 and old-er, but registration required by calling 970-400-6117.

Thursdays, 4/2/20 to 5/7/20 from 9:00 – 11:30 am: Family Physicians of Greeley West Office

Walk with EaseIncrease your balance,

strength and walking pace while building confidence in your ability to be physi-cally active. This program is proven to reduce the pain and discomfort of walking. FREE for people 60 and older, but registration is required by calling 970-400-6117.

MWF, 4/6/20 to 5/15/20 from 9:00-10:00: Kersey Recreation Center

SENIOR HEALTH & Fitness

THE BORROWING DAYS