The Last Home Game Of The Season

My friend Mark (seen on the right in the photograph on the left) and I went to the final home game of the Colorado Rockies at Denver's Coors Field yesterday afternoon. The game started out warm (70 degrees) and sunny, but heavy rain began falling in the top half of the 3rd inning, precipitating (no pun intended) a 2 hour rain delay. By the end of the game, which the Rockies won 10-5 over the Washington Nationals, there were only a few thousand chilly (now 54 degrees) fans remaining in the ballpark.

As they have done in past years, the players took a walk around the field after the game, greeting fans and thanking them for their support, including Charlie Blackmon, seen leading the players on their walk in the photo on the right. It is a really nice tradition, but this year the players did not throw tee shirts and other Rockies paraphernalia to fans in the stands, as they have done in the past. Management is no doubt saving every penny to sign top free agents this winter.

Sadly, this was probably the last game in a Rockies uniform for Trevor Story (seen in the photograph on the left wearing number 27). Story is considered one of the best shortstops in baseball, and will be a free agent this off-season. He wants to sign with a team that is dedicated to winning, which the Rockies organization is not. All star third baseman Nolan Arenado felt the same way, and demanded a trade this past February, which resulted in him being sent to the St. Louis Cardinals, which are headed to the playoffs this year after winning 17 straight games. Since the Rockies draw 3 million fans a year whether they win or lose, winning is evidently not a top priority for the powers that be. It might be "wait until next year" for eternity here in Denver.

Driving To Kenosha Pass With Stuart

I went with my friend Stuart, seen in the photograph on the left, up to Kenosha Pass, in the mountains southwest of Denver, to look at the Aspens yesterday afternoon. They are now close to their peak colors, and were really pretty, despite the drizzly weather. Kenosha Pass is about 20 miles from Fairplay, an old mining town located in South Park, which I understand is the locale for a cartoon show on television of the same name.

Despite the rain, there were a lot of people on the pass, hiking along the Colorado Trail, which extends 485 miles from Denver to Durango. I myself would not want to make that trek, especially on such a cold and rainy day as yesterday. Lots of people take their dogs along with them on this trail, and some take them along even if those mutts are old, and can't walk it on their own, such as the one in the photograph on the right. God bless those people who love their pets that much.

After a short hike, Stuart and I decided to head back to his car, and drive to beautiful, but jarringly boring Lakewood, and the Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom. It was at least 20 degrees warmer back in Lakewood, and not raining, allowing us to dine on the patio, and look out over Lakewood, or at least it's parking lots. I much prefer the view from Kenosha Pass, as seen in the photograph on the left, but on the other hand, getting a pint of beer up there is quite a bit harder.

One Strange Date

I just finished reading One Strange Date, another of Laurence Shames Key West comic mysteries. As I have said before, these are pleasant, laid back stories that feature a lovable, 90 year old ex-mafia guy named Burt the Shirt, who is always helping visitors and newcomers alike out of jams they get entangled with in Key West. This time, a Florida State coed, originally from Key West, drives down to Naples, Florida from Tallahassee to date a supposedly wealthy guy who she met online. As expected, things go very wrong, and she and her new acquaintance head to Key West for refuge and help, chased by both the police and mobsters. I really enjoy these books. They were once distributed by a major publishing house, some hitting the bestseller list, but are now self published by Shames. I strongly suggest you go to Amazon (now the sole distributor) and order either this or any of his other Key West books. They are all a lot of fun.

Watching Tottenham Play Arsenal With Mark

I watched Tottenham play their arch-rival Arsenal with my friend Mark (seen virtually in the above photo at London's Emirates Stadium) yesterday morning. Mark is a big Tottenham fan, and both of us have gone many times to watch their games at Esters Neighborhood Pub - a popular local cafe here in Southeast Denver - with the Colorado Spurs, the local fan club. I imagine those fans were pretty unhappy with the team yesterday morning, since Tottenham looked pretty flat, and lost the soccer match 3-1. It is still pretty early in the season, so no need to panic. However, sports betting is now legal here in Colorado, and so I would strongly advise those Colorado Spurs fans against betting the farm on their team. I learned that hard lesson betting on my Southside heroes, the Chicago White Sox, and lost my villa on the French Riviera, not to mention my place on the Ile Saint-Louis in Paris. God, I miss my servants.

Remembering Panama City Beach

Back in April of 1975 my father Nelson, mother Mary, and I (along with our beagle Irma) drove from Chicago to Stuart, Florida, where my Uncle Bill (my mother's brother) and Aunt Elsie had recently retired. My father had just retired from his dental practice (a career he despised), and he and my mother wanted to see if they might want to retire there, too. We drove south to Biloxi, and then around the Gulf of Mexico to Stuart, on the east coast of Florida.  On the third night of the trip, we stayed at a motel in Panama City Beach, Florida, right on the gulf, where I took the photograph on the left.

I always remember this spot because it was the first, and possibly only, place where I could hear the waves hitting the beach as I fell asleep. How great is that? We were practically the only guests there, since Panama City, back then at least, was a summer resort nicknamed the "Redneck Riviera," and it was actually kind of cold when we stayed there. Since that time, the place has been hit by a number of hurricanes, and after rebuilding, has grown in size quite a bit. It has also become a very popular spring break destination. Does this mean it is now warmer there during the spring? If so, is this one of the few positive effects of climate change, or a big negative, what with the college crowd? By the way, the photo on the right is of my father walking Irma along that beautiful white sand beach. And yes, they moved to Stuart the very next year.

The Stodgy Brewing Company

My sister Susan and I took a break from visiting Odell Brewing Company's lively patio last week, and checked out Stodgy Brewing, a new brewpub on Laporte Avenue, in an older part of Fort Collins, Colorado. The patio there is really nice, as seen in the photograph above, and the atmosphere is, well, stodgy. There was more of an older crowd there, and it was a lot less lively than at Odell, but the beer was good and it was a very peaceful place to have a pint or two. Odell Brewing is a much larger operation, of course, with larger crowds, including hipsters, families with kids, senior citizens, CSU students, and colleagues getting together after work for a beer. I still like Odell's patio best, but if you are looking for a more quiet spot to hang out and relax, Stodgy is definitely the place to be.

No Time For Portraits

Most of the time, this tiger at the Denver Zoo is perfectly willing to pose for a photograph, but not this past Monday afternoon. As seen in the photograph on the left, it was lounging in the grass when my sister Susan and I walked up to the viewing window, but then immediately walked past us into a corner, out of sight, when I started taking photos. I just hate it when zoo animals get camera shy. I say get those interns into the compound, give them some long poles, and have them move those cats into view.

On the other hand, the Colobus monkey, seen in the photograph on the right, never looks me in the eye when I visit the zoo. All it does is stare off into the distance, looking very depressed. And I suspect it probably is, locked up for life in a small compound, constantly being hassled by it's roommates, repeating the same routine day in and day out. Does the zoo even provide counseling for these animals? At the very least, many of them should be on anti-depressants. Be sure to contact Denver Zoo officials about this issue, although please don't mention my name.

A Cool (As Well As Kool) Day At The Zoo

It was a cool day at the Denver Zoo this past Monday afternoon, but that didn't stop the hippopotamus in the photograph on the left from going for a swim and playing with a giant beachball. Which gives me another idea on how the zoo can make some extra revenue to pay their million dollar a year grocery bill. The zoo already lets visitors hand feed the giraffes, and get up close and personal with the camels, all for additional fees, and so why not let them swim with the hippos for an additional charge, too? Now that would make for great photographs, if I say so myself.

The monkey in the photograph on the right didn't have to worry about the cooler temperatures - I think it stays in a glass fronted, inside cage year round. And after looking at it's expression, I suspect it holds me, as well as all other zoo visitors, personally responsible for it's imprisonment. It is a shame that these animals are forced to live their lives in such an artificial environment, and perhaps they should be sent to a different zoo, one that can provide an outdoor habitat. Or at least let the poor thing go home with zoo employees in the evening, to give it a change of scene. After all, what could possibly go wrong? 

The First Day Of Fall

Today is the first day of fall, and with it has come cooler temperatures. It has been pretty hot here in Denver this summer - a lot of days in the 90s, and some in the 100s - and although many people are pretty happy to see fall arrive, for me it has been a bit of a shock dealing with high temperatures only in the 60s. After this kind of summer, that feels pretty cold, especially too cold for biking. And, of course, it will only get colder as fall goes on and winter sets in. On the plus side, it definitely beats Siberia, which I think was Money Magazine's number one retirement spot for 2021. How do they determine those rankings, anyway? In any case, all is serene in Washington Park, as can be seen in the photograph above. But it is always serene in Wash Park, Thank God.

Life Has Returned To The Auraria Campus!

I took the light rail train to downtown Denver this past Friday afternoon to take care of a few chores, and on the way home walked across the Auraria Campus, where I was pleased to see there were actually people out and about, a major change from the last time I was there. Auraria is home to the University of Colorado at Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and the Community College of Denver, but during the summer months, the place is deserted. I went into the Tivoli Student Center last June or July, and it was completely empty, evoking a very eerie feeling in that huge Victorian structure. I am glad to see there is now more life in the place, which was once a brewery when Auraria was an actual neighborhood. 

The saddest part of my visit to the Tivoli this past summer was that the Tivoli Brewing Company was closed until further notice. This is a brew pub located on the first floor of the complex, and occupies part of the space the original brewery occupied 150 years ago. Of course, back then it was a major operation, on a par with Coors, but today is a small craft brewery. However, I suspect the beer is now much better. And so I was happy to find the place open once again, and people once again sitting on it's patio, enjoying both the day and the beer, as seen in the photo on the right. MSU has a brewing program, by the way, and Tivoli Brewing is heavily involved with it. It makes me wonder if it is too late to go back to school and get a degree in beer? Nah - probably a bad idea.

And as usual, I finished my stroll with a visit to the 9th Street Historic District, where it is always 1880. This is the one block that was preserved when the entire neighborhood was leveled to build the Auraria campus. This was a big mistake, but one made by a lot of other cities, too, back in the 1960s and 70s. The City of Chicago destroyed an old Italian neighborhood, the site of Jane Adams' Hull House (which alone was saved from the wrecking ball), to build the University of Illinois Circle Campus on Chicago's West Side. These days, thanks to historic preservation groups across the country, I don't think something like that can ever happen again. At least I hope so.

A "Whatever Floats Your Boat" Kind Of Weekend

There were a lot of different events taking place around Denver this past weekend, including the Englewood Block Party, the Handmade in Colorado Expo in Skyline Park, just off downtown's 16th Street Mall, and Oktoberfest, which is located on Larimer Street, near Coors Field, and which drew the largest crowd by far. I was worried I would not be able to attend, since this year they are requiring people to buy an $8 online ticket, which loads onto your phone and gives you $8 credit toward food and drink. To me the process seemed very complicated, and besides, I didn't want to eat or drink anything, just walk around. However, when I got there, the sidewalks were still open to allow people access to the bars and restaurants along the street, and I was able to enjoy the festival from there. And I was very happy to see that such traditional German foods as Das Turkey Leg, as seen in the photograph on the left, were still being served.

Meanwhile, over in McGregor Square, just across from Coors Field and where I have watched a number of Colorado Rockies games on the big screen this year, it appeared that football fans had taken over the place, and it was packed. I assumed they had all come to watch the Denver Broncos game, and stayed afterwards to watch the LA Chargers play (no doubt there were many California transplants in the crowd. I can tell). It is not surprising that football has replaced baseball in McGregor Square, at least on Sundays. Denver is crazy about the Broncos, and the team gets coverage 365 days a year, even during the heart of baseball season.  Who will be the quarterback, draft day prospects, spring football camp, the regular training camp, it goes on and on and on. I often think the entire state needs professional help to deal with this obsession.

And if you are interested in fighting for the freedom to avoid vaccinations and be able to spread COVID-19 to one and all, in addition to protesting the 2020 election that was stolen from Donald Trump at the same time, this past Saturday was the day for you. As I was biking home, I ran across a protest in front of the state capitol and seen in the photograph on the left. There were lots of impassioned speeches, and demands that our precious freedoms (avoiding vaccinations) be defended at all costs. A lot of the cars driving on Lincoln Street honked enthusiastically as they passed by, and a good time was had by all. Talk about obsession, not to mention flat out crazy. On the bright side, I think both the Oktoberfest crowd and the football fans outnumbered them by a large margin.

A Little Wisconsin Nostalgia

In honor of my recent visit to the State of Wisconsin, I am today featuring a photograph of myself and a friend taken during a family vacation on Lake Wisconsin back in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Of course, it was Bayfield County that I recently visited, which borders Lake Superior, and Lake Wisconsin is actually in the south central part of the state. But after all, it is still Wisconsin. What I remember most about those vacations - besides that deer - is that you had to take a rickety old car ferry across the Wisconsin River from Lodi to Merrimac, near where I remember we were staying. Sadly, that ferry has now been replaced by a bridge, which I think is a real shame. Taking that ferry back and forth multiple times during our stay there was one of the highlights of the trip. I humbly suggest tearing that damn bridge down, and getting that ferry out of mothballs, even if it is over 60 years old. They built things to last back then, after all.

Not Dark Yet

I just finished reading Not Dark Yet, the lastest Inspector Banks mystery by Peter Robinson. These books take place in rural Yorkshire, and I must say, Yorkshire seems to have a lot of grizzly murders. Not Dark Yet is a sequel to Many Rivers to Cross. In that book, in addition to solving the murder of a Middle Eastern boy, Banks is concerned about his friend Zelda, who was kidnapped from her native Moldova as a teenager and forced to work as a sex slave until escaping, and appears to be in a precarious situation. In Not Dark Yet, Zelda has been kidnapped by the Albanian mafia. In addition, Banks and his team are investigating the killing of a disreputable real estate developer and his assistant. Personally, I enjoyed both books, and was quite surprised at the number of negative reviews on Amazon of Many Rivers to Cross. The reviews of Not Dark Yet were about 50-50, and I am not sure why. I think the characters and plot of these books are as good as ever. Plus, you learn a lot about rural Yorkshire. Of course, most of these reviewers are British, and probably still bitter about Brexit, which makes them surly about almost everything. I myself recommend you pick up copies of these two books at your local library, and decide for yourself.

The Trip Home

My sister Susan and I, along with her dog Blackberry, headed home from Duluth, Minnesota, back to Fort Collins this past Saturday afternoon. On our way, we stopped off again in Clear Lake, Iowa (a really, really nice town), where I stopped at the Clear Lake Cemetery to see if I could find the graves of Viola Thayer, my Great Aunt who died at the age of 17, and Alec Nelson, her grandfather (my great great grandfather), who came to Clear Lake with his daughter Sophie in 1879. It was, of course, like looking for a needle in a haystack, and I have decided that I will need to get professional help (genealogical, not psychiatric). The photo on the left is of that 19th and early 20th century cemetery. 

We were planning to stay the night at the Motel 6 in Stuart, Iowa, where we stayed on the way to Duluth, and from experience knew that there were only two restaurants in town, neither of which had a patio. Therefore, we stopped in Des Moines, Iowa (hometown of Bill Bryson, my very favorite travel writer), and dined at Lua Brewing, which has a really nice dog friendly patio, as seen in the photograph on the right. Driving through an old 19th century neighborhood - with beautiful, mansion-like Victorians - to get there, and feeling the energy on the patio at Lua, I was shocked to find that Des Moines is actually a really nice city. Who woulda thunk it? The musical group in the photo, by the way, is from Rochester, Minnesota, and pretty damn good, but I can't remember their name. You'll have to call Lua for that.

The next day, we left Stuart, Iowa and drove across the state of Nebraska (which is not fun) and across the Eastern Plains of Colorado, which is actually torture. I took the photograph on the left on the road between Sterling, Colorado and Fort Collins. My sister wondered why I was taking that photo (while driving at 70 miles per hour on a two lane highway), since there is nothing there, and I told her that that was the point. To the east of both Fort Collins and Denver are the Great Plains, where there is nothing but cattle - no trees, few people, and on this road, very few other cars. In the southeast part of Colorado is the site of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. A very desolate, lonely place indeed.

It seemed to take forever to get back to Fort Collins - I kept thinking it would appear over the next rise, but it never did. Thanks to the time change back to Mountain Daylight, we arrived just a little bit before sunset, and both Susan and I and Blackberry agreed that after that trip across the plains, we needed to immediately head to the patio at Odell Brewing Company, which we did. I took the photograph on the right of Odell's wine bar, which is separate from the beer garden, in order to prevent fights between wine and beer drinkers. Things are politicized about EVERYTHING these days. As we sat there, drinking our pints, I realized that thanks to Blackberry, we had visited three brew pub patios three days in a row in three different states. What a good dog! 

The Truth About Duluth

My sister Susan and I, along with her dog Blackberry, stayed at a Motel 6 in Duluth, Minnesota during our recent road trip, and I must say, I was really impressed with the city. It is located on a hillside overlooking Lake Superior, and features neighborhoods with large Victorian homes overlooking the water. It also has pretty parks lining the shore. I took the photograph on the left from the observation tower in Enger Park. I read about it on the internet, and was kind of surprised to find there were no signs leading to it. I just had to take various streets leading upwards until the entrance to the tower appeared.

On the last day of our stay, we drove along the lakefront and stopped at Leif Erickson Park, near the center of town. There is a beautiful rose garden there, although we were hesitant to enter it, since a sign said dogs were not allowed. Although Blackberry seems to think she is a real person, with all the rights that that entails, she actually is a dog. However, after seeing a number of local dog owners breaking that rule, we decided to walk along the path toward the waterfront, careful to stay off the rose garden itself, even though Blackberry would have enjoyed all those smells.

Along the lake is a path that seems to extend all along the shore. Next to it is a scenic railway line that heads north beyond the city, taking tourists past all the natural wonders of the area. As we headed back to the car, we spotted an old EMT ambulance, with "Neebish Island Misfits" prominently lettered along the side. It was parked right in front of a fire hydrant (naturally), and begged the question "What the hell?" I googled it later, and although I found Neebish Island, located in St. Mary's Channel between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, I saw no reference to it's misfits. They are probably ashamed of them. And one other thing - those fire plugs all have tall sticks attached to them. I assume that is so they can be located when the city is covered in snow. If so, it looks like they get a hell of a lot of it in the winter, which I suspect starts there in just a few weeks.

The previous evening, we had dinner on the patio of the Canal Park Brewing Company. We checked in, were told the wait for a table would be about 20 minutes, and that they would text us when a table was ready. We then went to sit on the breakwater, along the biking and walking path, just in front of their patio, as seen in the photograph on the right. After about half an hour, I checked back, and was told that they tried to text us twice. Evidently, they had put in the wrong phone number (I just hate texting, by the way), and so we wound up dining on the patio after sunset, which in September, in Duluth, can be a bit chilly. We had to be outside, since we had Blackberry, and the previous evening, as we were dining at the Tavern on the Hill, a really pleasant and lively place across the street from the University of Minnesota - Duluth, we got a phone call from the Motel 6 front desk telling us that Blackberry, who we left in the motel room, was constantly barking, and they were receiving many complaints. Not that Blackberry is spoiled or anything, but I had to drive back to the Motel 6, pick her up, and drive back to the restaurant, leaving her in the car. On the bright side, I had time to have two War Pigs Foggy Geezer IPAs. I wonder if I can pick up a six pack of that here in Denver? One can only hope.

An Afternoon In The Town Of Bayfield

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, my sister Susan and I, along with her dog Blackberry, took a road trip last week, and spent a morning visiting Herbster, Wisconsin and environs, where I own 40 acres of impregnable wilderness. Afterwards, we drove to the nearby town of Bayfield, which sits on a hillside overlooking Lake Superior, and resembles a small New England village. Bayfield is pretty upscale, and popular with artists. Much of it is the same as it was when we last visited there 55 years ago, but I am pretty sure that the old Bayfield Inn, which I believe I remember from back then, has been replaced by a modern structure, the rooftop patio of which can be seen in the background in the photograph on the left. The old building was a beautiful 19th century hotel, and I hate to say it, but the new one kind of detracts from the Victorian atmosphere of the town.

On the other hand, the best parts of Bayfield are the old homes on the hillside overlooking Lake Superior and the downtown area. It is a beautiful community, very pleasant in the summer months, but pretty nippy in the winter. Bayfield is the jumping off point for the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, and you can take a ferry to Madeline Island (the largest of the Apostles) from downtown. My father Nelson, mother Mary, and Susan and I did just that years ago. As I recall, the island looked no different from the shoreline on the mainland, and so this time, we decided to skip it. Years ago, you used to be able to drive your car across the ice to that island during the winter, but with climate change, I would suggest checking with the locals before trying it.

What a joy it would be to live in one of those houses on the hillside, such as the two in the photograph on the left. The one on the corner has a sign in the front yard saying it is not for sale. However, my sister told me the house seems to be leaning a bit to the left, and if we rang the bell and pointed this out, he or she might change their mind about selling. Or simply call the police.

The official population of Bayfield, as of 2016, was 475, which to me seems pretty low, considering all the houses in the town. That makes me think a lot of these places are probably occupied just during the summer months. Of course, with global warming, Bayfield might one day be one of the few places in the U.S. with livable temperatures. And my 40 acres south of Herbster, now just landlocked forest, might be a prime spot for a subdivision. I could be rich if I live another 75 years or so.

Make no mistake - Bayfield is a great place to visit and hang out, and so I am not surprised that the cost of housing is outrageously expensive. Even staying at a hotel here is pricey. I checked rates at the Bayfield Inn, and they wanted $250 a night to stay there. And so, as it got later in the day, Susan and I and Blackberry headed back to Duluth and the Motel 6, located near the port, where the rates are fairly affordable, and you don't have to take out a reverse mortgage to take a vacation. We will definitely come back to Bayfield one of these days, and, in the meantime, if one of us wins the lottery, maybe we can afford to stay at the Bayfield Inn for a night or two. But certainly not three.

A Long Delayed Visit To Bayfield County Wisconsin

The last time my sister Susan and I visited Bayfield County was around 1965 or 1966, when we drove there with our parents, Nelson and Mary. As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, we took a road trip last week, and after visiting Clear Lake, Iowa, we headed to Duluth, Minnesota, and the Motel 6 luxury resort and spa located there (nothing but the best for us, after all). The next morning, we headed to Bayfield County, where my Grandfather Hoyt and his brother-in law, known to us as Uncle John, each purchased adjoining 40 acre parcels south of Herbster, Wisconsin, the city limits of which can be seen in the photograph on the left. If I am not mistaken, the place is even smaller now than it was 55 years ago. And yes, I still own and pay taxes on those 40 acres that my grandfather purchased back in 1918.

The photograph on the right shows downtown Herbster, with Lake Superior in the background. As I recall, there was once a tavern on each corner of this interssection, and a cafe just down the way, neither of which is still there. There is a restaurant in town, which was not there the last time we visited, but other than that, not much else. I picked up some Northern Wisconsin real estate magazines in a nearby town, and was surprised - no, shocked -  to find that lakefront real estate in Herbster was selling in the 600K range. Wow! Why couldn't my Grandfather Hoyt and Uncle John have bought real estate on the lake? And no, I am not bitter.

And where they did buy property? About 5 miles south of Herbster, deep in the woods. Before making the trip, I checked various GIS maps, and made some phone calls, and found a route to where the property line starts. Uncle John let his 40 acres go for taxes during the depression, and it is now owned by the county. My grandfather decided to keep his half, and my father Nelson inherited it. Once I had a full time job, he offered to give me those 40 acres. All I had to do was pay the taxes on it. I really thought I was getting a good deal, but after years of writing those checks to the tax assessor twice a year, I have had second thoughts. The photograph on the left is of the trail I took after parking along the side of Campbell Road, about two blocks away from where the property line begins.

I took the self portrait on the right where I think my property begins. It is two blocks by four blocks, and after reaching this point, I realized that if I wanted to go any further, I would have to claw my way through heavy vegetation and closely spaced trees for the next four blocks if I wanted to see the whole property. My sister Susan decided that she would stay in the car with her dog Blackberry, and if I did continue, I would have been gone quite a while, which I didn't want to do. And besides, I now had a good idea of what it all looks like. Years ago, my grandfather built a log cabin on the site, and he, my grandmother, my father, and his cousin Grace stayed up there until Thanksgiving. My father told me it was so cold by then, he had to get out of the horse drawn school wagon and jog along side to keep warm. I told him he must be pretty damn old to have taken a horse drawn school wagon, which I don't think he appreciated. In any case, I hope to return one of these days to Herbster and see if I can photograph the remains of that cabin. Hopefully in less than another 55 years.

Road Trip!

My sister Susan and I, along with her dog Blackberry, took a road trip last week, our first stop being Clear Lake, Iowa, the town where my grandfather Claire Hoyt was born and raised. I was hoping to find photographs and information at the local library about his life there, along with his mother Sophie, his grandfather Alec Nelson, and his half sister, Viola Thayer, who died back in 1910 at the age of 17. Sadly, they had virtually no records before 1920, and so my quest for information goes on. Afterwards, we toured the town, which has lots of beautiful 19th century homes like the one in the photo on the left.

Clear Lake is a wonderful place, with a park along the lake, as seen in the photograph on the right, and lots of friendly people. My grandfather's mother, Sophie Nelson, and her father Alec, originally from Prince Edward Island, in Canada, moved there in 1879. Sophie married my great grandfather Nelson Sillick Hoyt in 1883, and who tragically died just 3 years later. She later married Albert Thayer, and they had two children - Gladdis and Viola - before they divorced. Sophie continued to live in Clear Lake before moving to Long Beach, California, to live with Gladdis, and later with my Grandfather and Grandmother Hoyt at their house in the Southside Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago. My sister Susan knew her as that nice old lady who lived in the room in the back.

I found a lot of references to the family in the Clear Lake Mirror, the local newspaper, which reported on everyone's travels, celebrations, and if they had been able, what everyone had for lunch that day. One paragraph said that Alec Nelson and Sophie Thayer were selling their house on 2nd Street, and moving to another. However, I have no idea if those houses still exist. I have Viola Thayer's photo and postcard album, but all the postcards are addressed only to a person, and Clear Lake, Iowa. Evidently, no street numbers were needed back then. There are a lot of modest cottages near the lake, such as the ones in the photograph on the left, and I am still trying to figure out how to find the houses that they lived in.

Both Susan and I (and for that matter, Blackberry) enjoyed visiting Clear Lake. It was like visiting a bygone era in America, one where everyone is laid back and friendly, and so much of the town is just like it was back when our family lived there. If I can ever figure out how to access more information about where everyone lived, and where they are buried, I will definitely go back, and possibly even take the drastic step of getting a room and staying in the town for a few days, instead of just a few hours. After all, I am retired, footloose, and fancy free.

More Brainerd Nostalgia

Today I am featuring a photograph of my mother Mary, taken in the backyard of our house in the Southside Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago, sometime in the late 1950s or early 1960s. My mother just loved that house, and even hated leaving it to go on vacation. The back porch (seen in the background) was added on later, after I was born, and functioned as a really nice, wood-paneled den. I really miss that house and the Brainerd neighborhood. I visited it when I went back to Chicago 11 years ago (I took my first blog photograph there), and both the house and neighborhood still seemed really nice. But I guess what I really miss is the past, and you can't go back and visit that unless you can get hold of a DeLorean automobile and a flux capacitor, which believe it or not, O'Reilly Auto Parts does feature on their website. Seriously! Check it out at https://www.oreillyauto.com/flux-500.html.

The Calm Before The Storm

I took a walk on the University of Denver campus the other day. There weren't too many people around, just a few new students and their parents, but that will change this Monday - the first day of classes at DU. As regular blog readers know, I worked as the Finance Manager of the DU Bookstore for 28 years, until the bookstore was outsourced by the university. The start of classes was a truly busy time for the store, and the entire staff, in addition to a lot of temporaries, would work on the sales floor for several weeks.

Making sure everything ran smoothly was a top priority, and a major effort was made to have all the books on the shelf by the first day, and that lines at the cash registers moved quickly. Cards with the time random customers arrived at each line were handed out, and given to the cashier when they were rung up, to make sure the wait time was reasonable.  The bookstore was outsourced to Follett Higher Education Group by DU back in 2012, to guarantee an income stream, even though the store had always made a profit. The administration also wanted to show the Board of Trustees that staff numbers were being reduced, even though the bookstore funded it's own payroll. For the year I worked there after the store was outsourced, before they could by contract terms legally lay me off, I found that Follett did not take "rush" nearly as seriously. Limited numbers of books were ordered to reduce overstock returns, requiring many special orders and angering students. Cashiers would sometimes be scheduled to leave all at the same time, with just me at the register at peak sales periods, prompting a call to the offices - where management was sheltering in place - to point out that fact. Fortunately, Follett alienated so many students that eventully those lines got a lot smaller during the start of classes. I wonder what "rush" will look like at the old DU Bookstore this year? Glad I won't be there to find out.

Walking The Ile Saint-Louis

I have been watching a lot of PBS's Rick Steves Europe episodes lately, and thinking about the last trip I took to Europe with my sister Susan, back in May of 2019. One of my favorite memories is walking along the Seine on the Ile Saint-Louis, located in the middle of the Seine River in Paris, just across from the Ile de la Cite, where Notre Dame is located. This island is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Paris, and walking along those sidewalks, with those beautiful buildings, and the view of the river, is a joy. I took the photograph above on one of my walks. I suppose I could go back there, knock on doors, and make an offer to buy their place at a price I could afford, but on the other hand, I don't want to wind up in a Paris jail. The one that housed Marie Antoinette, before she was beheaded, is still in use on the Ile de la Cite. Talk about bad karma.

The September Mutt Of The Month

I took the photograph above of the September Mutt of the Month in front of the Rock Bottom Brewery on Denver's 16th Street Mall (slogan on the drink coasters: "You've Hit Rock Bottom"). This patio seems to be a popular spot for people with dogs. Considering the hot summer we have had here in Denver, I just hope their owners set out a nice bowl of beer for these poor mutts. It's the very least they can do.