I'm reading a book called Vacationland, which tells the story of Colorado's high-country tourism and leisure-focused lifestyle industries. The book is filled with ads and propaganda designed to lure tourists, attract new residents, increase political influence, and ultimately strengthen the state's coffers through its (often manipulated) landscape.

I don't always think of ads as propaganda, but Vacationland makes it clear that the effort to get people into the Rockies was a coordinated push that went well beyond the commercial hopes of any one person or organization. It was a network of boosters looking to transform the state.

One result, according to the author, was a catalog of cliches many of us still use to describe the Colorado high country and many other wild places. Things like: sparkling streams stocked with trout, snow-capped mountains, lush alpine meadows, fragrant pine forests, and so on.

Another result: People bought in. Colorado's tourism numbers skyrocketed, and its population growth soon followed.

I'm skeptical that the PR and marketing efforts to promote Colorado's natural resources are responsible for most of this change. (The author notes that road building and other development were vital.) It seems kind of cynical, though, to attribute the state's popularity to human actions. It really is beautiful there, and visitors' connection to the land -- our experiences in the wild -- matter, too.

Did a couple of days of hiking with my buddy last month. As a flatlander, I was so grateful for the chance to spend some time in the Rockies.

The post about the melanistic groundhog promoted me to share this photo.

I had no idea what piebaldism was or how rare it was to see a deer with it. I'm not sure if the stats online are correct, but they suggest about 2 percent of whitetail deer have it.

Again, not sure if this is accurate, but I read somewhere that indigenous groups believed piebald deer were signs that a big change was coming. I just had my first kid before seeing this, so that definitely tracked.

Anyway, really cool sighting. My wife spotted the same deer later that summer. We haven't seen any since.

Did an overnight trip in April, camping at what the state considers a wilderness site on the tea-colored Batsto River.

The New Jersey Pine Barrens is the largest wilderness on the East Coast between Boston and D.C. It's a unique environment, with a lot of cool ecosystems. No virgin forest here, as industry had its way with the land and resources for centuries.

This trip was something like 20 miles through Atlantic white cedar swamps and pitch pine forests.

It might not dazzle like the west at first glance, but it's a place I love more than most.

For me, it's a few things.

1. A way to burn time that doesn't feel like a digital sugar rush.

2. Support, camaraderie, and kindness, primarily from /r/stopdrinking.

3. Niche stuff, like ideas for local hiking and backpacking trips, propaganda posters, and kayaking info.

I appreciate fiction, but I almost always read nonfiction. It's probably because I typically choose the books on topics I'm interested in, and I want to learn about them. But I also love the way a great nonfiction writer can weave a narrative so strong that it's just as much literature as it is journalism.

Some of my favorite examples of nonfiction that do this well: Soul Full of Coal Dust, Toms River, Desert Solitaire (Abbey can be problematic, though, so be warned), The Pine Barrens, This Land, and on and on.

I guess I'm kinda stuck in the environment/nature section these days!

I didn't post much on Reddit over the last few years, but I figure I ought to contribute to the communities I want to see thrive. My friend and I took our kayaks out last week and saw a bunch of beautiful sights, including egrets and great blue herons. Here's a landscape shot.