Mark Pumphrey (@revpump) profile picture

Mark Pumphrey

@revpump
 colorado
lyftingmeup.com
Joined April 2009
  • Tweets8.2K
  • Following590
  • Followers608
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Photo by Mark Pumphrey (@revpump)Photo by Mark Pumphrey (@revpump)Photo by Mark Pumphrey (@revpump)Photo by Mark Pumphrey (@revpump)Photo by Mark Pumphrey (@revpump)Photo by Mark Pumphrey (@revpump)Photo by Mark Pumphrey (@revpump)Photo by Mark Pumphrey (@revpump)Photo by Mark Pumphrey (@revpump)Photo by Mark Pumphrey (@revpump)
Chandler’s Farm…How About Them Apples? lyftingmeup.com/2026/10/31/c…
Chandler’s Farm…How About Them Apples?

Chandler’s Farm…How About Them Apples?

Sometime around the beginning of the COVID pandemic, I started playing Words With Friends. It was a transition from Scrabble to a slightly more complicated game. There are some members of my family…

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Zach lyftingmeup.com/2026/10/23/z…
Zach

Zach

In August of 1991, two of my daughters came to see me at my office at the Alamosa church. “We need to talk with you.” When two 17-year-olds show up with an announcement like that, you know you migh…

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Aging Is Undefeated lyftingmeup.com/2026/10/17/a…
Aging Is Undefeated

Aging Is Undefeated

I have come to the conclusion that aging has never lost a contest. Not one. The score is something like Aging: Several Billion. Humanity: Zero. Yet every morning we get out of bed and insist on a r…

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Pumpkins… Not to Be Confused with Pumphrey lyftingmeup.com/2026/10/10/p…
Pumpkins… Not to Be Confused with Pumphrey

Pumpkins… Not to Be Confused with Pumphrey

It’s October, and orange is everywhere. One of my new favorite vocabulary words is ubiquitous… aka, all over the place. And yes, they are. Pumpkins, that is. I know I often start these rants with “…

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Chili Cook-Offs lyftingmeup.com/2026/09/19/c…
Chili Cook-Offs

Chili Cook-Offs

The Whisper Creek Activity Committee sponsored a Chili Cook-Off today. It was a well-promoted event, complete with a jumping castle and all the chili trimmings. MK spent the better part of a week w…

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Going to the Fair lyftingmeup.com/2026/09/05/g…
Going to the Fair

Going to the Fair

Over the past ten years of writing this blog, I have proudly spoken of the gift it was to grow up in Pueblo, Colorado. If you grew up in the Steel City, Pew-Town, or the home of the Colorado State …

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Laughter Through Tears lyftingmeup.com/2026/08/29/l…
Laughter Through Tears

Laughter Through Tears

When I decided to write this today I asked myself, “Who the heck do you think you are to write anything about Dolly Parton”? What the hey… let me add my voice to the chorus of humanity that found t…

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How You Know You have Arrived at Geezerdom lyftingmeup.com/2026/08/23/h…
How You Know You have Arrived at Geezerdom

How You Know You have Arrived at Geezerdom

I have had season tickets to the Broncos for 43 years. I used to drive 250 miles each way to Denver from Alamosa to catch a game. I have sat through snow storms, last year’s AFC Championship debacl…

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Ground Breaking lyftingmeup.com/2026/08/15/g…
Ground Breaking

Ground Breaking

“Ground Breaking” We attended the groundbreaking ceremony for Bear Creek Christian Church—formerly known as First Christian Church of Colorado Springs. Like many churches over the centuries, they h…

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Joy lyftingmeup.com/2026/08/08/j…
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Fire Can’t Destroy Memories lyftingmeup.com/2026/07/04/f…
Fire Can’t Destroy Memories

Fire Can’t Destroy Memories

The most destructive fire in America, on the eve of our nation’s 250th birthday, is the Aspen Acres Fire southwest of Pueblo. It has consumed more than 105 square miles and continues to grow. One o…

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Grandma Opal Wisdom lyftingmeup.com/2026/06/27/g…
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I —Ran
Image from Mark Pumphrey (@revpump)
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Image from Mark Pumphrey (@revpump)
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Graneros Gorge lyftingmeup.com/2026/06/13/g…
Graneros Gorge

Graneros Gorge

Last week I took myself on a road trip to Taos, New Mexico. It’s a six-hour drive down I-25 to Walsenburg and then a beautiful jaunt over La Veta Pass to Fort Garland on Highway 160. Then it’s a le…

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Alamosa lyftingmeup.com/2026/05/23/a…
Alamosa

Alamosa

In two weeks it will mark 40 years since we loaded all our belongings—along with four kids, two cats, three cars, and my dad’s freight truck. We had also commandeered my sister Rita Jo to help. She…

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Wisdom from the Waitress lyftingmeup.com/2026/05/14/w…
Wisdom from the Waitress

Wisdom from the Waitress

Well, if an 11,000-mile odyssey wasn’t enough excitement, how about arriving home and then leaving again five days later for another road trip—this one a modest eight-day drive to Southern Californ…

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Wisdom from the Waitress lyftingmeup.com/2026/05/14/w…
Wisdom from the Waitress

Wisdom from the Waitress

Well, if an 11,000-mile odyssey wasn’t enough excitement, how about arriving home and then leaving again five days later for another road trip—this one a modest eight-day drive to Southern Californ…

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Sleeping in My Own Bed lyftingmeup.com/2026/05/10/s…
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“Frankly My Dear, I don’t give a Damn” lyftingmeup.com/2026/02/22/f…
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