Riots And Then A Curfew Here In Denver...

After three nights of riots in downtown Denver, the mayor instituted an 8:00 P.M. curfew for both Saturday and Sunday.  During the day, people here have been peacefully protesting the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis policeman.  Then at night, the protests have descended into riots, with agitators throwing rocks, bottles, and fireworks at police, and vandals setting fires, breaking windows, and scrawling graffiti around the Colorado State Capitol Building, the Capitol Hill neighborhood, and even along the 16th Street Mall, seen in the photograph on the left during less turbulent times.  I certainly understand the reasons for the peaceful protests, but cannot figure out the reason for all the rioting and violence. And this is happening all over the country.  I saw on television an interview with several small business owners in Minneapolis, whose businesses have been destroyed just after they reopened after being closed down for two months due to the coronavirus.  How does destroying the lives of innocent people help the cause of racial injustice?  To me, it is unfathomable.

Reminiscing About 1130 South Michigan

My sister Susan and I have been reminiscing lately about her time living at 1130 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Susan rented a studio apartment on the 40th floor of that brand new high rise back in 1967.  The monthly rent was $146 per month, which shocked my parents and grandparents, who thought paying that amount was outrageous. After all, my Grandmother and Grandfather Spillard paid $70 a month for their spacious flat on East 85th Place on the south side of Chicago. After moving into her studio, Susan met her future husband George, who rented a studio on the 38th floor. After they got married, they rented a one bedroom apartment on the 24th floor, with a view of South Michigan Avenue and - if you turned your head to the left - Grant Park and Lake Michigan.  The photograph on the left shows a family gathering - I think it was George's birthday - in that 1 bedroom apartment around 1970. From left to right are my Uncle Bill (my mother's brother, in Chicago on a business trip from Cleveland), my father Nelson, brother-in-law George, and George's cousin Richard.

Meanwhile, my sister Susan and mother Mary were in the kitchen, looking at a long forgotten cookbook. Susan just loved her studio apartment, but she and George were never crazy about the 1 bedroom unit. Susan recently asked me to check on the cost to rent one of those studios these days, and I reported that you could get one on the 8th floor for $1,500, one for $1,700 on the 33rd, and God knows how much if her old unit was available on the 40th.  A long way from $146 a month.

Personally, I liked Susan's studio apartment best, too, but I still liked the view out of that 1 bedroom unit, as seen in the photograph on the left. Not only could you see Lake Michigan from the living room window, at night you could see the lights of South Michigan Avenue, and thanks to the giant Pepsi sign, you would always know the time and temperature.  Back then, South Michigan Avenue was a bit on the shabby side. These days, it has all been redeveloped, including a 76 story apartment building called NEMA, which is located approximately where the building with the Pepsi sign once was.  And if you want to check out more details about 1130 South Michigan, go to their official website at https://www.1130smichigan.com/.

Mustard's Last Stand

Mustard's Last Stand, seen in the photograph on the left, is located across the street from the University of Denver campus, and has been a neighborhood fixture ever since I moved to Denver from Chicago.  They also have a branch near the University of Colorado in Boulder, and serve Chicago-style hot dogs.  There is a Chicago vibe to the place, and during the summer they show Cubs games during the afternoon.  My friend Stuart, originally from the north side of Chicago and a DU grad, was waxing nostalgic about the place a few weeks ago.  My friend and former University of Denver Bookstore co-worker Larry, who grew up in Streator, Illinois - not too far from Chicago - also loved the place.

Larry, seen in the photograph on the right that I took at the DU Bookstore a number of years ago, was a Chicago Cubs fan, God knows why. Being from the south side Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago, I of course was a White Sox fan, and we had a bet each year on which team would have the better record, with the loser buying the other lunch.  Since Mortons of Chicago, an expensive steakhouse, was located downtown and impractical for a one hour lunch, we always wound up at Mustard's, and watched a couple of innings of the Cubs game as we ate. Every damn year the Cubs would have the better record, and so I always wound up buying lunch.  And then one year, due to some sort of cosmic error, the White Sox had the better record.  However, Larry decided to retire that fall at age 62 and take early social security, and so I never did get my free lunch.  Larry told me that his father died young, and he wanted to retire early just in case the same thing happened to him. Sadly, he was right, and passed away in 2016 at the age of 68.  I wish we did have that lunch together.  I would even have paid, just for old times sake.

People Dining In Restaurants? How Weird Is That?

Yesterday was the first day that restaurants and brewpubs in the State of Colorado could reopen for inside dining.  I knew this was going to happen, but it still seemed like a strange sight as I biked past Hopdoddy Burger Bar, as seen in the photograph above.  I have never been in Hopdoddy, located next door to Denver's Union Station, but I did read a review of it online that said they served small, expensive hamburgers that do not include fries.  And since it was on the internet, it must be true. Any port in a storm, I guess.

In The Bleachers With Steve Moore

I used to subscribe to the print version of the Denver Post, but eventually the carrier started dropping the paper in front of the building instead of at the door, which I found quite inconvenient, and eventually I cancelled it. After I retired, I resubscribed to the digital version. When I received the print version of the paper, I would always read In The Bleachers, a daily cartoon by Steve Moore, which was located in the paper's sports section.  I thought this cartoon was just hilarious, and have included three examples, all of which at one time or another found their way to the front of my refrigerator, just to prove my point.  It recently occurred to me that this cartoon is no longer in the paper, which is a pity.  Moore had to stop drawing the cartoon 2 years ago, due to a medical condition.  It is still drawn by a different cartoonist, but is only online, hidden in a digital file separate from the regular version of the paper.  Doing a little research on the internet, I found an interview with Moore done at the time he quit the comic strip, and it shows what a witty and upbeat guy he is. You gotta love that. I recommend checking it out at https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2018/07/09/exclusive-interview-steve-moore-to-step-away-from-in-the-bleachers/.

Denver Geese And Their Goslings

I went bike riding around Denver the other day, and took the above photograph of two geese and their 6 goslings meandering around Sloan's Lake Park.  I have seen similar scenes in Washington Park, too.  Sadly, the City of Denver culled over 1,600 Canadian geese last year, giving the meat to food banks. The reason they gave was that there were 5,000 of these geese taking up permanent residence in the parks, and they were a health hazard. This action brought strong protests from animal rights activists, as well as the general public. But now, the City of Denver is thinking about doing the same thing again this year. It was announced that they are waiting until all the goslings are hatched, and then will decide whether to resume the culling. You mean they will be killing the little goslings, too?  Who would do something like that? I was going to make a caustic comment about Follett Higher Education Group executives, but I am a better person than that, even if they did lay me off from the University of Denver Bookstore.

Happy Memorial Day!

Today is Memorial Day, and when I think of this holiday, my mind always goes to the time years ago when my then wife Lisa, my sister Susan, brother-in-law George, and myself would head to Rocky Mountain National Park for our annual Memorial Day hike.  Susan and George would drive from Fort Collins and Lisa and I would journey from Denver, and meet in Estes Park, where we would take one car and head for the trail-head.  Of course, since the higher you went, the deeper the snow and heavier the mist that time of year, it would get to a point where Lisa would start crying and demand we turn around and head back to the car. We would then drive back down to Estes for beers, which I think was the plan all along.  And truthfully, hiking is very iffy in that park until July, which I suspect was when the above photograph was taken by my sister Susan of, from left to right, myself, Lisa, my mother Mary, and brother-in-law George.  A much less stressful, but also far less exciting, time to visit the park.

A Bike Ride To Stanley Marketplace

When I visited with my friends Wally and Linda a few weeks ago, Linda mentioned that she and some pals recently took a bike ride to the Stanley Marketplace, a trendy mall located in Denver's Stapleton neighborhood.  The route she described sounded pretty nice, and so this past Wednesday I decided to take that bike ride myself.  To get there, you go through Washington Park, Cheesman Park, City Park (one of the oldest if not the oldest in the city), and through some really beautiful neighborhoods.  Stanley Marketplace was created from a former aircraft manufacturing plant located at what was once Stapleton Airport. Stapleton was Denver's airport for many years, but was not considered adequate for the future.  It could have been expanded, but the neighborhoods near the airport were quite affluent (and therefore politically connected), and convinced the city to build a new airport located near the Kansas state line.  And so instead of having an airport 15 minutes from downtown, it is now a 45 minute drive on a good day.  On the bright side, Denver now has a new upscale neighborhood, as well as Stanley Marketplace (a fun and funky mall), on the site of the old airport.  And if the conspiracy theories are true, Denver International Airport now also serves as a secret, out of the way landing spot for alien aircraft. Makes sense to me.

Reminiscing About Holidays In Ontario

I know that I have featured the above photograph many times - it is even on the shelf of my living room bookcase - but it includes so many family members that I can't resist posting it at the start of each summer vacation season.  And no - I did NOT take this photograph. It was taken in August of 1951, a year and a half before I was born, at a resort called Britannia, located on the Lake of Bays, near Huntsville, Ontario. From all accounts, this was a very nice place, and our family, my mother's brother and his family, and my mother's parents, would vacation there every year.  Eventually, the son of the original owner inherited the place, and raised prices so much that the family had to find an alternative resort.  One such place was called Lumina, also on the Lake of Bays, and still in business to this day. Another, which I myself remember, was Torpitt Lodge, located on Sparrow Lake, near Orillia, Ontario.  Those places provided many happy memories for us all.  In the photograph above, starting in the back row, from left to right, are my Aunt Elsie, my Uncle Bill (my mother's brother), my mother Mary, and father Nelson.  In the front row, from left to right, are my cousin Linda and cousin Judy (my uncle and aunt's children), my sister Susan, looking weird, my Grandmother Louise, and my Grandfather William (my mother's parents).  It is hard for me to believe this photo was taken almost 70 years ago.  Time is definitely fleeting.

A San Francisco Flashback!

It has been 8 years since I last visited San Francisco, which is one of my favorite cities in the world.  Back in 2012, I bought a book featuring 22 San Francisco walking tours, and then spent the Martin Luther King weekend out there.  I was able to take most of those walks, and even visit Big Sur, Muir Woods, the wine country, and a mission in Sonoma.  What a beautiful place to live.  Of course, since it is so incredibly expensive, a lot of bay area residents have moved here to Denver, and just go back to San Francisco for visits.

Not only does the city have spectacular views from it hills, it also has fascinating neighborhoods, ranging from my favorite - the Outer Sunset District, which runs along the ocean and is often shrouded in fog, to neighborhoods like Chinatown, seen in the photograph on the right.  I wanted to visit the city when I did because the University of Denver Bookstore, where I worked as the Finance Manager for almost 30 years, was being outsourced by the university the following month to Follett Higher Education Group. Although they were obligated to retain all employees for a minimum of one year, I suspected I would not be able to take much more vacation time after they took over.  And I was right.

Wally, my friend and former University of Denver coworker, and his wife Linda have two children who both live in the bay area, and visit the city quite often. Their son Peter lives very close to Golden Gate Park and has taken Wally and Linda all over the city. Once the pandemic ends, Peter intends to spend weekends taking people on tours, and Wally and Linda intend to be his first customers.  The last time they were there, they walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, and Wally just loved it.  He has strongly recommended that I do this the next time I am out there, and I definitely plan to do so. And maybe take one of Peter's tours, too.

The Inspector Banks Series

I have just finished reading two books in the Inspector Banks mystery series by Peter Robinson.  Both of these were ARCs (advanced reading copies) which I am now starting to read, thanks to the library being closed due to the coronavirus.  And these two ARCs have been sitting on my bookshelves for a while.  All the Colors of Darkness came out in 2008, which means I must have picked it up when I was working at the University of Denver Bookstore, while In The Dark Places came out in 2015, when I worked at the Tattered Cover Bookstore.  I must say, I never heard of Robinson before I read these books, which feature Inspector Banks and his police colleagues in the fictional town of Eastvale, located in the Yorkshire Dales.

I was surprised to find that this series is actually quite good. All the Colors of Darkness concerns a murder-suicide that turns out to be anything but an open and shut case.  In the Dark Places starts out as a simple theft of an expensive tractor in rural Yorkshire, but soon is connected to both a grisly murder at an abandoned airplane hanger and a missing persons case.  Up until now, I have not read many British detective myteries, but I must say I am glad I discovered these Peter Robinson stories, thanks to the lockdown.  I definitely intend to order the latest (number 26) in the Inspector Banks series as soon as the library reopens.

The Inside Story Of Colorado Women's College

I had dinner with my friends Wally and Linda a few weeks back, and after I told a story about an encounter with Mrs. Temple Buell back when I managed the Hatch's Bookstore in the University Hills Mall in the 1980s, Linda, a graduate of Denver's Colorado Women's College, seen in the photograph on the left, told me a story of her own about that school and Mr. Temple Buell himself. Buell was a very successful architect in Denver, and owned the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, a very successful operation located in the heart of the city.  Buell left this shopping center (valued at the time at 25 million dollars) to Colorado Women's College in his will, provided that the college pay the property taxes and he would keep the revenue until the title passed upon his death.  They also had to change the name of the school to Temple Buell College.

Donations to the school dropped precipitously due to both anger over the name change and the belief that the school no longer needed the money, due to that 25 million dollar pledge. Required to pay that huge property tax every year, the financially strapped school was sold to the University of Denver in 1982, and DU established the Women's College of the University of Denver.  DU continued operations on the CWC campus, and also located both it's music school and law school there.  The DU Bookstore, where I worked as the Finance Manager for almost 30 years, opened a satellite store on campus, and when DU sold the property years later, it moved the Women's College to a new building on the main campus, the garden of which can be seen in the photograph on the right.  Needless to say, Linda is not a Temple Buell fan.  And why does the gate say Colorado Woman's College instead of Colorado Women's College?  Do they have only one student?  The mind boggles.

Horse Country? In Fort Collins?

Apparently so.  Whenever I drive up to Fort Collins from Denver, I always see horses out in the pastures as I approach that northern Colorado city. Recently  I got off Interstate 25 one exit early and took a frontage road to the farm seen in the photograph on the left. The place evidently boards horses for people in the area, and there were actually a fair number out and about that day.

The horses were all socially distancing, and were too busy grazing to look at the camera.  Finally one briefly looked up from his or her meal and I was able to snap the photo on the right.  After taking these photographs, I headed down the frontage road, and reached the Fort Collins city limits and suburban style tract homes after driving just one mile.  You could even walk to your horse from there.  Talk about convenience. Roy Rogers would be proud.

And Speaking Of Chicago, The May Issue Of Chicago Magazine Is Out

As regular blog readers know, I grew up in Chicago and moved to Denver back in 1981. However, I still like to catch up with what is happening in my old hometown, which is why I subscribe to Chicago Magazine.  It is my opinion that the magazine is a bit elitist, almost exclusively focusing on the north side of the city (I grew up on the south side), reviewing trendy restaurants that specialize in items I would never consider eating even under threat of death.  It also features full-page ads for condos in the million dollar plus range, which would seriously strain my budget.

However, it still does have some interesting articles, often featuring fascinating  bits of the city's history, some of which I remember.  This month there is a story about Billy Jurges, a Chicago Cubs infielder who was shot by a girlfriend he had recently dumped.  The year was 1932, and the Cubs were headed to the World Series. His ex went to Jurges hotel room near Wrigley field, intending to shoot him and then herself.  When she walked into the room, she put the gun to her head, and Jurges attempted to wrestle the gun out of her hand, getting shot in the process.  Happily, Jurges was not seriously hurt, decided not to prosecute, and his ex-girlfriend went on to star as a showgirl, billing herself as the "Girl who Shot for Love."  Twenty years later a writer named Bernard Malamud, writing his first novel, remembered the story and wrote The Natural, which became a movie starring Robert Redford, and is my all time favorite baseball film.  Certainly worth the price of a subscription.

Still The Best Purchase Ever!

I know I have already done several posts about this, but after all this time I am still thrilled with the Chicago Transit Authority shower curtain that I purchased on Amazon a while back.  Whenever I sit on the can each day, I find myself gazing at this transit map, identifying the places I used to live, work, and go to school, and thinking about all the memories associated with them. And it only cost me around $20 or so.  How great is that?  Plus, I now have gotten at least 3 blog posts out of it, which is - as one of the credit card companies used to say on their commercials - priceless.  And don't forget - it is still not too late to download the 2020 Chicago Transit Authority Historical Calendar. Find it at https://www.transitchicago.com/historicalcalendar/.

And Now For Some More Florida Nostalgia...

Since I have been staying at home more often these days because of the coronavirus, I have been going through my boxes of photographs reliving old memories.  I found the photograph on the left of my sister Susan that I am pretty sure was taken in Florida back in the 1990s, during a trip to Stuart to visit our mother Mary.  Back then, Susan was quite willing to pose for a photograph.  These days, she has threatened to kill me if I even point the camera in her direction.  It seems hardly worth it.  It is a sad truth that many if not most women hate to have their photograph taken once they reach a certain age.  I really don't think that was the case in the past, considering how many photographs I have of family members at all stages of their lifes.  What the hell happened?  Beats me, but it makes me mad.

And just where was that photograph of Susan taken?  I haven't the vaguest idea. When Susan and I used to visit Stuart back then, we would often take day trips throughout South Florida. One of my favorite spots to visit was the Riverwalk in Fort Lauderdale.  You could stroll along the New River past yachts and sightseeing boats, finally ending up at an open air shopping center called Las Olas Riverfront.  It had all kinds of shops and restaurants, where you could have a drink, relax, and just do some people watching. Sadly, after the Great Recession of 2008, the place fell out of favor and was recently torn down to make way for a high rise. And was that photo of Susan taken on the Riverwalk, like the one on the right of her and my mother?  Since there are so many outdoor patios that we have visited in Fort Lauderdale, Miami Beach, and Coconut Grove, among other places, I can't say for sure.  But it really doesn't matter, does it?  Only the memories are important.

Speaking Of Cats - Another Denver Zoo Flashback...

Back on June 30th of 2010, one the tigers at the Denver Zoo gave birth to quadruplets, which generated quite a bit of publicity in the local media. They made their first appearance outside at the beginning of September, and I dutifully trekked to the zoo to take photographs.  Unfortunately, the light was not that great, and so it was a challenge to get a decent shot.

There were two places to take those photos: looking into the compound from outside, and from a viewing window inside the Tiger House.  The cubs all seemed to be pretty interested in what was happening inside, which made it the best spot for photographs, although I remember going back and forth between inside and outside the entire time.

I was pretty disappointed in the results, and so deleted all the photographs from my computer after saving them on a DVD.  Of course, now that the zoo is closed because of coronavirus, I wanted to feature the cubs on my blog, and spent several hours going through roughly 10,000 DVDs to find those photos.  And once I did, it all came back to me - those damn cubs refused to pose for the camera, and one even stuck out it's tongue, showing it's feelings on the matter.  No wonder I deleted those photos from my computer.

Mighty Aphrodite

Now that I have a lot of time on my hands due to the coronavirus, I have been going through boxes of old photographs, seeing what I can find that looks interesting.  One of these photos was of the above cat, whose name I could not remember.  When I showed my sister Susan the picture, she reminded me that it's name was Mighty Aphrodite (Mighty for short), who was one of her pets back in the 1990s. She and her husband George named it after Woody Allen's 1995 movie of the same name, starring Mira Sorvino, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in that film.  Why they named their cat after that movie I can not say.  What I do know is that the film opens with a scene shot at an ancient Greek theater, which is where a Greek chorus narrates the story.  This Greek theater is located on a clifftop in Taormina, Sicily, with a spectacular view of the Mediterranean.  I visited there a number of years ago, and loved not just Taormina, but all of Sicily as well.  And so why did they name the cat Mighty Aphrodite?  I suspect it was probably just a case of temporary insanity.

Pelicans In Denver

I was taking a walk through Washington Park the other day and noticed a number of pelicans out on the ponds, such as the one in the photograph on the left.  This is nothing new, but it still amazes me to see birds here in Denver that I associate only with the ocean, which is nearly a thousand miles away.  I found some articles on the internet that explain that these are American white pelicans, and migrate inland from the coasts for the breeding season, which I assume is now. These birds often layover in Denver because, according to a wildlife ecologist with Denver Parks and Recreation, "they like our parks and what our parks have to offer," kind of like Canadian Geese and Californians.  During the winter, they return to the Pacific and Gulf Coasts, although like those Californians and Canadian geese, they very well might never leave.  The Canadian geese got so plentiful in Washington Park last summer that the city of Denver wound up culling over 1,000 of them, giving the resulting meat to food banks.  The white pelicans seem to be a lot fewer in number, and so hopefully that will not happen to them.  As for the Californians, I think only roadblocks at the state line will keep them out.

The white pelicans here in Denver are much different from the brown pelicans that I am used to seeing in Stuart, Florida, where my mother Mary lived for almost 30 years.  For one thing, brown pelicans dive from great heights into the ocean to catch fish, whereas white pelicans feed from the water's surface.  I took the photograph on the right of my sister Susan and mother Mary pointing at those brown pelicans in front of the Pirate's Loft, a popular restaurant and resort hotel located in Port Salerno, Florida.  Several times during our visits to Stuart, my sister would exclaim out loud "Look! Penguins!," which definitely got people's attention, although all they saw when they looked up were the usual pelicans.  In her defense, my sister is, like me, originally from the south side of Chicago, where there are no pelicans, white or brown, or penguins, or for that matter, as far as I can recall, Canadian geese.  Easy mistake, right?

Another European Flashback - Rome!

I just love Rome - it is filled with ancient ruins, medieval streets and buildings, lively piazzas, and (at least during non-pandemic times) a population that loves to be out and about in their city. My sister Susan and I visited Rome last May, and stayed at a hotel just down the street from Campo de Fiori.  I took the photograph on the left of a man walking his two dogs in front of the entrance to the hotel.

The day after we arrived in Rome, we toured the Vatican, as well as the Vatican Museum.   I naively thought that May was the shoulder season and we would avoid the crowds, but soon found out that I was very wrong.  All the major sights in both France and Italy were packed to the rafters.  Rick Steves says that April and October are now the shoulders seasons, but I wonder if the crowds would be that much fewer even in those months. Perhaps it might be best to go to Europe twice each year - once in December to see the museums, and once in May to sit in the cafes. That, however, would involve winning the lottery.  In any case, the Vatican Museum was packed, and afterwards my sister said she really needed a drink.  We headed to the Trastevere neighborhood, where I took the photo on the right as we walked through narrow medieval streets to a cafe in Piazza di Santa Maria, where we took an outside table at what I later found out was one of the most expensive restaurants in town.  It figures.

The next day we took Rick Steves night time walk across Rome, which goes from Campo de Fiori to the Spanish Steps.  This was the third time I have taken this self-guided tour, and it never gets old.  In addition to tourists, this is a very popular walk for locals, and encompasses Rome's most popular piazzas. We wound up having dinner at a restaurant close to the Trevi Fountain, which was surrounded by a crowd about 12 deep.  I wonder if the fountain still runs in December?

Susan and I were staying at the Hotel Smeraldo, which I mentioned before was just half a block from the Campo de Fiori.  It was a comfortable place with modern rooms in what I assume were medieval buildings. We were staying in the annex across the street from the main hotel, and in the afternoons I would head up to the rooftop bar to have a look around and take a few photographs, where I took the photo on the right of the rooftops of Rome.  Is that not magical, or what? But what I really want to know is why there are still so many television antennas up there?  It must cost a fortune to live in this neighborhood.  Why don't they all have cable?  Imponderable questions for which we might never know the answer.

In any case, you can't go wrong visiting either Paris or Rome.  I know both cities, as well as all of Europe, are currently in the throes of the coronavirus, and all these streets are now empty.  Hopefully, that continent will be back to normal soon, and everyone in Rome will be back enjoying the Passeggiata, which is what they call their evening walk.  I wish I could be there then.

Like I Was Sayin'...

Darrel, my friend and former co-worker at the University of Denver Bookstore, gave me a copy of Like I Was Sayin,' a collection of Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko's columns from the 1960s to the 1980s.  I already had a copy on my bookshelf that I had read years ago, but Royko was such a witty and enjoyable writer that I decided to read it again.  Royko was born and raised on the north side of Chicago (a Cubs fan, but nobody's perfect), and started writing a column for the Chicago Daily News back in the 1960s.  When that paper folded, he moved to the Chicago Sun Times, and when that newspaper was bought by Rupert Murdoch, the right-wing newspaper tycoon, he moved to the Chicago Tribune, where he worked until he died of a brain aneurysm back in 1997.  Royko told it the way he saw it, and could anger both conservatives and liberals with his opinions.  I have to wonder what he would think of the partisan divide we face today.  I don't know, but what he would have wrote about it would have been hilarious.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is Mother's Day, and in honor of this holiday I am featuring a photograph of my mother Mary that I took at Denver's Cherry Creek Arts Festival, which takes place over the 4th of July weekend each year, back in the year 2000 (Y2K).  My mother used to fly up to Denver each summer to visit my sister Susan and I, and in turn we would fly down to visit her in Stuart, Florida, where she lived for almost 30 years, at least once or twice a year. And speaking of the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, it was just announced that it has been canceled due to the coronavirus.  Not the first and not the last arts festival to be canceled this year, either.  In any case, I hope everyone can still enjoy this year's Mother's Day, despite this damn virus.

Dinner With Wally And Linda

I had dinner with my friends Wally and Linda, seen in the above photograph, in the backyard of their home yesterday evening.  Wally is the former Operations Manager of the University of Denver Bookstore, where I worked as the Finance Manager for almost 30 years before the store was outsourced to Follett Higher Education Group (aka The Evil Empire), and Linda recently retired from the Denver School of the Arts. Both are doing well and social distancing during these times of pandemic. Wally is an accomplished woodworker, which by necessity requires social distancing, and spends a lot of time in his workshop, which Linda frequently points out used to be their garage. Linda spends a lot of time on Zoom, connecting with all her friends.  Whenever Wally passes her when she is on Zoom, he says it looks just like Hollywood Squares, and always asks which one is Phyllis Diller.  For that matter, whatever happened to Orson Bean?

The May Mutt Of The Month

I took the above photograph of the May Mutt of the Month as I was walking along South Pearl Street here in Denver.  It is an older neighborhood, with a business district that includes both shops and a number of restaurants, including Kaos, my favorite beer garden / pizza parlor. Of course, thanks to the coronavirus, Kaos is currently open only for pickup or delivery - none of this hanging out in the beer garden drinking happy hour beers, at least for now. If the dog in the photo is anything like my dog Irma years ago back in Chicago, I am sure it could do with a sausage and cheese pizza right now.  Hopefully it's owner frequents Kaos on a regular basis.  Anything else would be animal cruelty.

Walking With Stuart In Wash Park

I went for a walk with my friend Stuart, seen in the above photograph, in Washington Park here in Denver yesterday afternoon, joining other park goers seeking a little exercise during this time of stay-at-home orders. It was sunny and pleasant, in contrast to some pretty cold mornings we have had here lately.  Snowfall in Denver in May is not unusual, and so despite the pleasant temperatures, no one would be surprised to see one or two more storms.  While it might be just a little bit of snow here in Denver, closer to the foothills, in suburbs like Lakewood, where Stuart lives, it can wind up being a lot.  But my feeling is, if you live in Lakewood, you get what you deserve.  And I mean that with all due respect.

A New Location For The LoDo Tattered Cover Bookstore

The day before yesterday, Denver's Tattered Cover Bookstore, where I worked as the bookkeeper for 4 1/2 years, announced that it was moving it's Lower Downtown location from the 16th Street Mall 3 blocks north to McGregor Square, which is currently under construction. McGregor Square, seen in the above photograph, is a mixed use development being built across from Coors Field by by Dick Monfort, owner of the Colorado Rockies.  The Tattered Cover opened it's LoDo store in 1994, back when the area was still mainly a warehouse district and rents were cheap.  The area is now the entertainment hub for the city, and lately commercial rents have been going through the roof.  The entire neighborhood is very vibrant, and so hopefully the Tattered Cover's business won't suffer by moving away from the 16th Street Mall.  I once met the landlord for the Camera Obscura Gallery, a fine-art photography gallery which was another iconic Denver business.  He told me that the owner, Hal Gould, was providing a great service to the city, and he would make sure the store remained there as long as Gould wanted.  Eventually, Gould decided to retire, and closed the store, passing away soon afterwards at the age of 95. I just hope that Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort feels the same way about the Tattered Cover.

Cinco De Mayo

Today is Cinco de Mayo, the 5th of May, an annual celebration of the Mexican Army's victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla back in 1862.  It is not that big a holiday in Mexico, but it sure is here in Denver.  In fact, the Cinco de Mayo celebration in downtown Denver's Civic Center is the largest in the country.  This festival was supposed to have taken place this past weekend, but like the Kentucky Derby, which was supposed to be held last Saturday, it was canceled due to the coronavirus.  I was thinking about this the other day as I was biking past La Fiesta Flowers and Pinatas, located at 23rd and Federal, as seen in the above photo.  This is a party store located in what was once a traditionally Hispanic neighborhood, but is now quickly filling up with pricey apartment buildings and condos.  I assume that this would have been a big sales day for that party store, but thanks to the coronavirus, the store is closed. It is a family business, and I hope they will be able to hang on.  Local small businesses have been hit hardest by this pandemic, and most of them will not be able to get any Federal aid.  Evidently you have to be a large corporation to get small business assistance these days.  Go figure.

The Quest For Squirrels Ramps Up

Now that spring is here, my sister Susan's dog Blackberry is intensifying her quest to catch a squirrel. And just a few days ago, when I was taking her on a walk through the neighborhood, she almost caught one. For some reason, the squirrel was slow to climb up a nearby tree, and came within an eyelash of Blackberry's grasp. And then, for some reason, the squirrel decided to climb back down onto a patio, and I had to hold tight to the leash to make sure Blackberry didn't actually catch it.  What she would have done with that squirrel if she did catch it is unclear. Perhaps just chase back and forth with it? The times Blackberry has escaped out the front door of Susan's townhouse, I have spent many hours playing that exact same game with her. It is not fun, and I am sure that the squirrel would feel the same way.

Remembering The Good Old Days 8 Weeks Ago

Now that the weather has turned warm and sunny (for the most part), I have been doing a lot of bike riding. This past week I biked from my condo across the street from the University of Denver to downtown's 16th Street Mall, and from there to Denver's River North (RiNo) neighborhood.  This area north of Lower Downtown Denver (LoDo) was originally an industrial district where artists, priced out of other neighborhoods, moved to set up galleries and studios.  Now, of course, it is a playground for Millennials, filled with brewpubs, restaurants, and many new, high-end apartment buildings. There is nary an art gallery left anymore. It still looks like an industrial district, without a tree in sight, but for Millennials, if you can walk out of your apartment and find a brewpub on every other block, I suppose that makes up for a lot. In any case, just 8 weeks ago I biked past Ratio, one of the more popular brew pubs, and took the photo on the left.  Last week, as I passed by, thanks to the coronavirus, there wasn't a soul in sight.  What a difference.

There was also a crowd that day 8 weeks ago in front of Our Mutual Friend, another brew pub just down the street.  I have never been inside the place - or for that matter, Ratio, either - but I assume that Our Mutual Friend, seen in the photograph on the right back on March 7th, must have a Charles Dickens/Victorian England motif.  I was tempted to walk up to various people on the patio and ask them what Dickens classic they were reading while sipping their beer, but on second thought, decided not to risk having to ante up for bail. After all, I have a lot of expenses these days. If it wasn't for that...

Bill Spillard, Still With The "G"?

My Grandfather Bill Spillard was a very interesting guy. He ran away from his home in Elgin, Illinois to become a singer in vaudeville, was a song plugger on Tin Pan Alley, and then became a Federal Narcotics Agent. During World War II he worked for the OSS, doing background checks on potential recruits. After that he became an arson investigator, and I think was an assistant fire marshal in Chicago before he retired.  On the left is the sheet music for a song he wrote called Chicago: Your Town and Mine (he just loved his hometown of Chicago), and in the bottom right-hand corner I superimposed a photograph of him and my Grandmother Louise Spillard (who I featured on a blog post a few weeks ago), taken on their 50th wedding anniversary back in 1958.

My Grandfather Spillard also wrote a book, in collaboration with a writer named Pense James - published back in the 1940s - called Needle in a Haystack, about his adventures as a Federal Narcotics Agent.  The photograph on the right shows James on the left and my grandfather on the right, posing for a publicity shot.  The most memorable story in the book was when my grandfather was working undercover investigating a mob boss in Kansas City, and while he was at a restaurant meeting with this crime figure and his associates, an acquaintance walked up to my grandfather and said "Bill Spillard, still with the "G"?  Some goons took him away, and he was afraid they were going to kill him, but they just wound up putting him on a train back to Chicago.  Years later, when that mob boss was sentenced on different charges, my grandfather talked to him and told him he thought he was going to die that night.  The mob boss said that he sent those goons to protect him, and make sure he left town safely, because if anything happened to a federal agent, he would be in big trouble.  He said that night my grandfather was as safe as a baby in it's mother's arms.  I am ashamed to say I have never read Needle in a Haystack.  Now that I have lots of time on my hands during this pandemic, I think I will definitely read it now.

Blood Hunt

I just finished reading Blood Hunt by Scottish author Ian Rankin.  As I have mentioned before, since the Denver Public Library is closed due to the coronavirus, I have been forced to go through my bookcases for things to read instead of requesting new releases from my local library branch.  One of the books I discovered was this novel by Ian Rankin, whom I have heard good things about.  Rankin is best known for his Inspector Rebus series, which takes place in Edinburgh.  Blood Hunt, however, is a stand-alone novel, and was originally published under a pseudonym.  I picked it up on one of my visits to the semi-annual Beautiful Junk Sale, put on by the Action Center of Jefferson County. During the last hour of the sale, you can fill a grocery store bag full of books for $10, which I have done many times.  Between these Beautiful Junk books and the advanced reading copies (ARCs) I picked up for free when I worked at the Tattered Cover Bookstore, my shelves are bursting.  In any case, Blood Hunt is the story of former British soldier Gordon Reeve, whose journalist brother allegedly commits suicide while working on a story in San Diego. When Reeve arrives to collect the body, he investigates and finds that his brother was coming too close to finding out the truth about a multinational chemical company's deadly products, and was murdered because of this. Rankin is indeed a very good writer, and I really enjoyed this story.  Once the library reopens, I definitely intend to pick up a few Inspector Rebus mysteries and read those, too.