The Big Snowstorm

The weather forecasters predicted we would be getting a major snowstorm here in Colorado Monday night and Tuesday, and for once they were right. I drove up to Fort Collins Monday afternoon to take my sister Susan around on her errands, and the snow started up there around 1:00 in the afternoon.  By the time Susan and I went out to get food to bring back, the streets were snow-packed and slippery. I decided to stay over in Fort Collins to avoid a dangerous drive home, and when I woke up the next morning, the patio was covered in 16 inches of snow, as seen in the photograph on the left.

I shoveled the driveway a little bit at a time, cleared off the car, and went back inside to watch the weather reports.   The snow finally stopped, and the sun came out in the afternoon. I took Susan's dog Blackberry out on a walk (the first time in two days she was willing to go outside) and then headed home to start defrosting my Thanksgiving turkey. The roads were snow packed, but traffic was light and I got home in a timely fashion.  The only sour note is that my building does not plow the individual parking spaces, which put me in a "fowl" mood.  And yes, that is indeed a joke.  You get what you pay for.

Going Postal While Hiking The Highline Canal

A few Fridays ago I drove to Greenwood Village, a suburb about 20 minutes south of Denver, and hiked the Highline Canal trail, seen in the photograph on the left.  Greenwood Village is a pretty expensive community, with most if not all of the homes valued at well over a million dollars.  Several times, years ago, when I worked for the Highlands Ranch Post Office, they would send me to Greenwood Village to substitute for the regular rural carrier.  And I must tell you, it was never a pleasant experience.  It was a very complicated route, and it took over half the day just to sort the mail.  Then  I would head out to deliver that mail knowing it would take well into the evening to finish.  The route was more or less divided into three areas - huge homes with large pastures for horses; a woodsy area with homes set back in the trees; and a rather new area with homes that were absolutely enormous.  What do they do with all that space?  Rent rooms to students? Keep their horses in there?

Usually it was daylight when I delivered the mail to the homes with the horses, some of whom can be seen in the photograph on the right, but when I got to the homes in the woods, the sun was beginning to set, and I knew it would be a long night.  By the time I got to the neighborhood with the gigantic homes, called The Preserve, it was pitch black, and I still had a long way to go.  One time I remember having to get out of that subdivision to buy gas (out of my own pocket, by the way), since the tank was almost empty. I then had to return to finish delivering the mail.  It wasn't until after midnight when I finished, and keep in mind that you don't get paid by the hour, but by the route.  You get the same amount of money whether it takes you 2 hours or 12.  In short, the scenery and the weather were both very pleasant that recent Friday, but I spent the entire time thinking about how much I hated that damn job.  In that regard, I suppose this is more of a rant than a reminiscence.  Oh well.

The Anti Genius League

On a recent walk down Colfax Avenue here in Denver, I ran across the meeting place for the Anti Genius League, as seen in the photograph above.  I looked down the alley, half expecting to see a group of people standing in a circle, passing around a bottle, but was sadly disappointed. When I got home, I googled the Anti Genius League on my computer, hoping to see if I could find their meeting times (I was thinking I could make room in my schedule), but amazingly enough, nothing turned up.  I think this is the first time this has ever happened.  Until now, I have always believed Google knew everything. Still another one of my cherished beliefs destroyed. Sad, as Donald Trump likes to say.

A DU Kind Of Sunset

I took the above photograph of the sun setting over the University of Denver's Ritchie Center the other day from the balcony of my condo here in Denver.  The sky was a spectacular color, and the television weather forecasters, who feature sunset photographs on their nightly reports, say that it is the low angle of the sun that causes such dramatic results.  I guess that is one benefit of such short daylight hours, but happily, in less than a month the winter solstice will occur (get ready, all you Druids out there), and slowly but surely the days will begin to get longer.  Can't wait - no wonder the winter solstice was such a big deal back in pagan times.

A Stroll Across The DU Campus

I walked across the University of Denver campus - where I worked for almost 30 years as the Finance Manager of the DU Bookstore - this past week.  It's oldest building, University Hall, can be seen in the photograph on the left.  University Hall was built in 1890, but in the mid 1990s it was renovated and modernized, which took away it's interior Victorian charm, but did allow for such luxuries as electricity, heat, air conditioning, etc. People who worked  in that building were soft, not like our pioneer ancestors, but that's just my opinion.

On the way home, I took a photograph of the new student center being constructed, as seen in the photo on the right. This building is replacing the north side of the Driscoll Center, which was built in 1984, the year I started working at DU, and which housed a cafeteria, pub, student offices, and a new ballroom.  The old ballroom, located across the street in the south side of the Driscoll Center, was converted into the DU Bookstore, where I put in my time during those 30 years. My question is whether the name of the student center will be changed when construction is completed.  That is what happened when what was then called DU's CWC campus in the Park Hill neighborhood of Denver was sold to Johnson and Wales University, and the Lowell Thomas Law Building, located on that campus and named after the famous broadcaster, was closed.  To the dismay of the Thomas family, the new building on the main campus was named the Frank H. Ricketson Jr. Law Building, and now houses the Sturm College of Law.  Another case of what have you done - or given money for -  lately?  The way of the world these days, it seems.

The Night Fire

I just finished reading The Night Fire, the latest detective novel by Michael Connelly.  Once again long time Los Angeles detective Harry Bosch teams up with Renee Ballard, an L.A. police detective who works the night shift out of the Hollywood division.  Bosch is now retired, and working cold cases in his spare time, and Ballard, with access to the resources of the police department, helps him out. In The Night Fire, Bosch is working both a cold case and a recent murder of a judge, while Ballard is helping with the cold case and also investigating the murder of a homeless man.  Connelly is a very good writer, who always tells a good story, and this book is no exception.  I would still be on the waiting list at the library for it, but Peter, my friend and former office mate at the Tattered Cover Bookstore, gave me an advanced reading copy, for which I am very grateful.  As for the rest of you, you better put your name on the waiting list now. Thanks Peter!

Denver's Central Platte Valley

I took the bus to Denver's Tattered Cover Bookstore on East Colfax Avenue the other day, and from there walked downtown, finishing up at the light rail station in Denver's Central Platte Valley, seen in the photograph above.  When I first moved to Denver back in 1981, this area consisted of railroad yards and factories.  And now, virtually the entire area has been developed into pricey apartments, restaurants, bars, and retail.  I read in the Denver Post that the latest apartment tower, The Pullman (named after the Pullman car, no doubt), is about to open, with monthly rents starting at $2,785 per month.  Are there really enough people moving to Denver who can afford rents like that?  There are a lot of people already living here who can't afford to buy or rent even more moderately priced residences, and are either moving out of state or to other places in Colorado.  Perhaps everyone in the Central Platte Valley has 10 or 12 roommates to help pay the rent, like my old DU Bookstore co-worker Aziz had when he lived in Paris.  Sounds cozy.