I never dreamed of being a horticulturist and I’m not sure I knew what Extension was until graduate school. But somehow those two worlds collided and I found myself sitting in a back desk at the La Plata County Fairgrounds in July 2007. I came to Colorado with experience, four years of working with large-scale vegetable farmers in South Florida, which in all honesty, has a bit of a different growing season than we do here in our corner of the world. Freezes were a big deal where I worked, especially because the vegetable growing season is October to April or so. Summers are too rainy, hot, buggy, and humid (four descriptors we hardly ever use here).

Seventeen years later, I never dreamed of being middle management. But here I am – starting Monday, I will be embarking on the next chapter of my Extension career: Western Region director.

I am not even fully sure of what that entails, other than I will have more direct reports, I will be on more Zoom calls, and I will travel more often (the Western Region encompasses 15 counties on the Western Slope from Wyoming down to New Mexico). The hope is that some of the knowledge and skills I have developed can be translated to other Extension personnel here and that I can provide a strong relationship between campus and us down here in the boonies. I like the idea of inspired leadership, showing others how we can be a conduit to communities, and empowering and educating other offices on how to foster new relationships.

But I will no longer be the “plant guy,” much less the “plant guy that writes for The Durango Herald.” Those two things are essentially done. And that is a struggle and makes me a bit teary. While I probably won’t miss all the elm seed bugs that are brought into the office, I will miss helping folks identify them and trying to control (good luck with that). I am going to miss my Master Gardener volunteers. A huge community asset that gives over 3,000 hours of volunteer service every year, they have become my second family (with the local group of small-scale vegetable farmers and food advocates running a close third).

My family and I have no intention of leaving Durango, as I am not sure we could find a better place to live. Yes, things have changed since I grew up here in the ’70s. Yes, traffic is worse and the cost of living is a challenge, to say the least. But I can also be in a river with a fishing rod, up in the trails with the wife and dogs, or at the ski area with the kids all within 30 minutes and that is something that cannot be replaced. We reminisce about the businesses that closed, or the friends or teachers who have passed; we complain about the politics and bureaucracy; and yet we are always reminded that our neighbors will almost always be there for us, that we still see someone we know every time we go to Kroeger’s or City Market, and that I still see a hundred thousand stars on a summer night from my front lawn.

The connection that we all have made through the paper and ink of this newspaper is something that I will miss. Truly miss. I have shared my life, my family and my career with you these past 17 years. We have shared about 120,000 words (and lots of parenthesis).

Perhaps the Herald will have me back once in a while. And don’t ever forget that the wind is still blowin’ and the sun is still shinin’.

Darrin Parmenter is the director and horticulture agent of the La Plata County Extension Office. Reach him at darrin.parmenter@co.laplata.co.us or 382-6464.