Readers, I would like to introduce myself as the new editor of Sky-Hi News and the absolute coldest person in Grand County. 

Less than three weeks ago I was living in Baja California, watching bananas ripen on a tree outside my window. Today I am wearing snow boots wondering if it will I will ever feel my toes again.

So, how did I get here?

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Well, you can take the lady out of the newsroom, but you can’t take the newsroom out of the lady. After taking a year-long sabbatical with my partner and living abroad, we were ready to set down roots and become a part of a community. Even more so, I was ready to be in journalism again.

I grew up on a small ranch in a rural agricultural community near Phoenix, enduring the extreme heat of the Sonoran Desert. As a journalist I spent my career in Arizona, covering sustainability topics and rural ranching communities dealing with extreme drought, urban sprawl and wildfires. Despite the obvious stark contrasts between the saguaros of Arizona and the aspens of Colorado, Grand County feels very familiar to me.

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Telling the stories of farmers, livestock ranchers, the Colorado River, wildlife, rodeos, national parks, outdoor recreation, local government, tourism and artists feels like home. Except now instead of wearing oven mitts in my car so I don’t burn my hands on the hot steering wheel, I wear gloves while scraping the ice and snow off my windshield.

On my drive up to Grand County from Mexico we drove through the Colorado River delta — a place where the river once emptied into the sea. But in the age of mega-drought conditions, it no longer follows its natural course, too dammed up and dried out to meet the Gulf of California now.

The Colorado River has sustained me and my family for generations in Arizona, we have relied on it for our primary drinking source, and I have a deep reverence for how precious water is. I walked home from school every day along the canals that transported Colorado River allocations to farms, climbed trees to pick the fragrant citrus it grew and caught toads in the rich sediment it left behind.

Now, the mighty headwaters of the Colorado are essentially in my backyard. It feels like a full-circle moment.

I am excited to get to know the community and tell your stories. I look forward to experiencing seasons, and actually enjoying a summer outside without the threat of heat stroke. Hopefully, I will figure out how to dress properly for the winters here, and until then I am taking sock recommendations.

If you have story ideas, news tips, fun facts or leads on a dog-friendly home I can rent, please email talatorre@skyhinews.com or call 970-364-6166.

Tara Alatorre is the editor of Sky-Hi News. You can reach her at 970-557-6031 or talatorre@skyhinews.com.