Start your 2022 by learning something new about something old
The Geiger Counter’s weekend picks
Don’t know what to do this weekend? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Pull up a seat to the counter, and I’ll tell you about everything that’s hot and happening.
A new year is an opportunity to get outside of one’s comfort zone. This can be done by challenging yourself to read more, crossing items off a bucket list, learning a new skill or traveling. It’s still January, so hopefully the New Year’s resolutions haven’t all been completely broken just yet.
One way to discover something new is by brushing up on history. Saturday, Jan. 22, is the 200th birthday of Barney Ford, an escaped slave who became an entrepreneur in Breckenridge.
The Breckenridge Heritage Alliance will be celebrating with the opening of a new exhibit at the Barney Ford House Museum, 111 E. Washington Ave. The exhibit features artwork from the Rocky Mountain PBS “Colorado Experience” episode about Ford by Denver artist Leilani Abeyta. Complimentary tea and cookies will be served until 3 p.m.
If you can’t make it to Breckenridge, the heritage alliance will also have a virtual tour of the museum.
On the subject of food, Hearthstone Restaurant, 130 S. Ridge St., will serve oysters on the half shell with mignonette this weekend to mark the occasion. The dish was a signature of Ford’s at his restaurant.
There will also be a Ford snow sculpture at the upcoming International Snow Sculpture Championships available to view starting Friday, Jan. 28.
While you’re in the neighborhood, this weekend is the last opportunity to check out Breckenridge Creative Arts’ instructor exhibition. Head to the Old Masonic Hall, 136 S. Main St., to see 12 artists display paintings, ceramics and more through Sunday, Jan. 23.
If you’re feeling inspired, BreckCreate has started its winter classes, so you can study art from those very same instructors in mediums like drawing, glassblowing and metalsmithing. Some new classes this season include painting for teens, as well as mugs and fiber arts for families. Visit BreckCreate.org to sign up.
Rather discover facts on a more exotic destination? Then learn about other countries from your neighbors with Summit County Library’s Travel Series.
For the past 15 years, traveling locals have been invited to show off their pictures from various trips. This year’s series started Thursday, Jan. 20, with a presentation about living and working in Malaysia.
Each talk is at 6 p.m. on a Thursday, and futures topics include a road trip through national parks, Egypt and the Atacama Desert in South America. Visit SummitCountyLibraries.com for the full schedule.
Brain teasers, trivia and word games are another fun way to learn and exercise the mind. My current favorite, and one possibly already familiar to you due to it being a viral hit, is the browser-based game Wordle by Josh Wardle.
For those who haven’t heard about it, the game’s singular task is to guess a five-letter word in six tries. The letter squares change color with each guess submitted to help clue you in. A gray square means the letter isn’t in the word, a yellow square means the letter is correct but in the wrong spot, and a green square means the correct letter is in the right spot. The mechanic is similar to the game show “Lingo.”
It’s a quick distraction since having just one word to guess per day means you can’t get sucked in for hours on end. Additionally, everyone is given the same word to guess. This makes it slightly competitive as you ask friends how quickly they guessed correctly, and it’s why the emoji-based sharing feature is a clever way to share results without spoiling the answer.
Jefferson Geiger is the arts and entertainment editor for the Summit Daily News and managing editor for Explore Summit. Email him at jgeiger@summitdaily.com.
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