Happy Halloween!

Today is Halloween, a favorite holiday here in Denver, as well as the rest of Colorado. In fact, this past Friday night, 2,000 people showed up in Boulder, hoping to recreate the Pearl Street Mall Crawl, causing significant damage to that area. Years ago, the Pearl Street Mall Crawl, a Halloween tradition, drew thousands of people each year, finally causing the city to block all roads into Boulder, in order to finally put an end to that annual event. I myself prefer a much more laid back Halloween, and fondly remember the days when my sister Susan and I would visit our mother Mary, seen in the photograph on the left, at her condo in Stuart, Florida, during that holiday period. This photo was taken in the year 2000, just before our world changed forever, very much for the worst. Back then, we would walk around Old Town Stuart, go to the beach each day, and have a very mellow Halloween. I miss those days very much.

My favorite Halloween photograph is the one on the right, of my mother and sister, that I took at an arts and crafts fair in Vero Beach, Florida many years ago. This photograph was actually taken in August, long before Halloween, but unfortunately, we decided not to buy those ghost decorations, which would surely have been a hit in front of my mother's Stuart, Florida condo. In any case, have a Happy Halloween, and try to avoid going to any and all Halloween crawls.

Untitled Creative Fusions At The Renovated DAM

I attended Untitled Creative Fusions, held quarterly at the Denver Art Museum (the DAM), last night. It was fine as far as it went, but I still miss the good old days, when the event was called Untitled Final Fridays, and took place on the last Friday night of every month, complete with a free buffet table. Back then, the evening was much lighter in tone, and around Halloween, there were people dressed up in costumes, museum employees telling ghost stories, and humorous tours of the collections. Also, every month there would be a performance by two comedians from the Curious Theater, pretending to be Joan and Charlie, the subjects of one of the museum's more well known paintings. These days, the themes are much more serious in tone. The title of this month's Untitled Creative Fusions was The Spirit Survives. In the photograph on the left are Felix Ayodele and Steve Jones performing the welcoming celebration in the new visitors center, with images by Alejandra Abad.

Later on, there was a performance of "I Will Survive" by the Playground Ensemble, which the program describes as "expressing triumph over heartbreak and the will of the spirit's capacity to restore itself through the gift of expression." They can be seen performing the song in a classical style in the photograph on the right. There was also a tour of the Latin American Galleries by a local comedian, and so I was expecting to get a few laughs out of it. However, the presentation was done in a more or less conventional manner, without a hint of humor. It is sad that these evenings can't go back to being more lighthearted and fun. Is there no more time to just kick back and enjoy yourself? Am I becoming more of an old curmudgeon than ever?

I spent most of the time in the newly renovated Martin (the North) Building, but decided to head to the lobby of the Hamilton Building to see if there was a free buffet table there, since the museum now has two restaurants up and running again. However, the visitors center is where the buffet table used to be located before the North Building closed, and I didn't see so much as a single cheese square there. And so I was not optimistic. On my way across the bridge over the street to the other building, there was a very colorful art piece, as seen in the photograph on the left. I am not sure what it is, or what it is suppposed to represent, but it was indeed pretty. 

Once I reached the first floor of the Hamilton Building, my worst fears were confirmed. There was a cash bar (which was not doing a brisk business), but no free buffet table. I am not sure why. The whole reason it was eliminated in the first place three years ago was because the North Building was closed, and there were no longer any kitchens to provide the hors d'oeuvres. Did the museum blow it's entire budget on the remodel, and can't afford to provide a buffet to museum patrons one night every 3 months? Evidently so. And I couldn't help but notice that the stairwell in the newly renovated Martin Building is the same shabby one as before. Perhaps we should set up a Go Fund Me page for the museum to take care of these issues. I'll get right on that.

Fall At The Fort

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, the fall foliage is quite beautiful in Denver this year. It is also very nice up in Fort Collins, too, where I took the photograph on the left at Colorado State University's Annual Flower Trial Gardens. The school tests and analyzes more than 1,000 plants each year, and the gardens are very popular with the entire Fort Collins community. Of course, it is quite a struggle to keep my sister Susan from picking some of those flowers, which might possibly result in an arrest for plant theft, a Class 1 felony in the State of Colorado. And by the way, CSU's University Center for the Arts can be seen in the background of the photo.

Fall is also a great time to hang out on Odell Brewery's dog friendly patio, seen in the photograph on the right. It is a fun, mellow place that attracts a wide spectrum of people, including students, seniors, gatherings of co-workers, and hipsters, such as my sister Susan and myself. As sunset comes earlier, and temperatures drop, I suspect people will start fighting each other for those spaces by the fire. I wonder if Odell takes reservations?

And, of course, the days are indeed getting shorter. In just over a week, we will turn the clocks back one hour and the sun will be setting before 5:00 in the afternoon along Colorado's Front Range. I personally feel that we should have year round Daylight Savings Time, but since half the people surveyed favor this option, and the other half favor year round Standard Time, I don't think that will ever happen. I guess we will just have to start happy hour a little earlier, like noon.

Sunday Afternoon In Wash Park

The foliage is very beautiful this fall in Denver, as well as the rest of Colorado's Front Range, and so I decided to take advantage of a bright sunny Sunday, and go for a walk through the neighborhood, ending up at Washington Park. The park was developed in 1899, and is the centerpiece of the Wash Park neighborhood, one of Denver's most desirable. Since it was a Sunday afternoon, there were a lot of people out and about, enjoying the day. Washington Park is probably the city's most popular. Whenever the local news media wants to highlight a particularly nice day, and don't have any actual news, they usually come here. The park is just a 15 minute walk from my condo, across the street from the University of Denver, and just minutes away by bike. The bicyclists, by the way, are pretty intense, dressed in their stylish outfits, and going as fast as they possibly can, despite a 15 mile per hour speed limit. It is much more peaceful to stick to the trail along the lake, as seen in the photo on the left.

Years ago, my then wife Lisa and I found a house on the east side of the park, with a wonderful view of the mountains beyond. They were asking $279,000. Of course, back in 1982, that was a fortune, way out of our price range. These days, I don't even want to think about how much they would want for that house, even if it were for sale. On the positive side, I am saving a fortune in taxes by not owning that place. Such is my thought process as I walk around the park on a Sunday afternoon, trying very much not to hear the song "Saturday in the Park" by the 70s era group Chicago, starting to form in my brain, despite the fact that it was actually Sunday.

The DAM Renovations Are Finally Done...

After three years of work, the new visitor's center and renovation of the North Building of the Denver Art Museum have finally been completed. This past Friday, as a card carrying member of the museum, I was able to take a tour of the new facility before the doors opened to the general public on Saturday. I must say, I was very impressed with the new visitors center. It really is quite an improvement over the previous incarnation. The photograph on the left shows the view of downtown Denver from the new lounge area.

I took the photograph on the right of the new entryway, which is quite snazzy indeed. I was happy to see that the first floor on the main level of the renovated building now houses art galleries, unlike before. It seemed like an awful waste of space having a large ballroom and lecture space instead of art, and it was wise of the museum to have rectified this.

While the new visitors center is a major change, the galleries on the 2nd through 7th floors are more or less the same, but repainted and given a few modern touches, including more video presentations. I was happy to see that the photography gallery is now much larger, although the first exhibit in the expanded space is called Curious Visions: Toward Abstract Photography, which is not my favorite example of that medium. I always like to recognize what I am looking at when I see a photo, but that's just me.

As can be expected, there were a lot of VIPs at the museum's Friday preview, including my friends Linda and Darrel, the former Accounts Payable Supervisor at the University of Denver Bookstore, whom I met leaving the museum as I was arriving. They both were very impressed with the remodel, although since the galleries on floors 2 through 7 were not altered that much, they wondered why it took three years to complete, as do I. Plus, in the Hamilton Building, which remained open during the remodel, galleries on three of the four floors are now closed for art installations, several of which won't be ready until next year. Was the remodel just an elaborate ruse to avoid hosting a buffet table on Untitled Final Fridays every month for the past three years? And will the DAM once again return to providing that buffet table, starting this Friday evening, now that two restaurants have returned to the museum? I, for one, intend to find out this coming Friday night, and if there is no free food to be found, I shall demand to know the reason why.

Getting Together With The Old DU Bookstore Gang Again

This past Saturday night my friends and former University of Denver Bookstore colleague Chris and her husband Jim hosted a wonderful Italian feast for some of the old DU Bookstore gang. And it was a very pleasant evening indeed. In the photograph above - from left to right - are Linda and her husband Darrel, the former Accounts Payable Manager for the DU Bookstore, Jake and his wife Valarie, the store's former Operations Manager, and Jim and Chris, who was the Accounts Payable Assistant at the bookstore. Among other things, we learned that Linda and Darrel spent some time in Santa Fe this fall, and also took a short trip to Chaco Historical Park in Northwest New Mexico. Valarie and Jake own a cabin in the mountains west of Walsenburg, Colorado, which they frequently visit, while Jim is planning to retire this coming April, when he and Chris will have plenty of time for travel. I myself told everyone about my own recent travels, although I did take a lot of ribbing for always staying at the Motel 6. And I just don't understand that - Motel 6 has beds, a television, internet, and ice machines. What more does anyone need?

Returning To Colorado Via Beautiful Santa Fe

My sister Susan and I - along with her dog Blackberry - drove from San Diego to Lordsburg, New Mexico on our way home from a California roadtrip, and the next day stopped in Santa Fe, New Mexico, one of the most historic and beautiful cities in the country. Susan and I visited there back in 2018, but it is a place worth coming back to again and again. We stayed the night at a Motel 6 on Cerrillos Road, and the next morning walked around the Santa Fe Plaza, on which is located the Palace of the Governors, under the portico of which Native Americans sell jewelry and other handcrafted items, as seen in the photograph on the left. I still find it mindblowing that it was built in 1610. 

We also walked to La Casa Sena, which is a restaurant where Susan, her late husband George, and I had Thanksgiving dinner a number of times, the entrance of which can be seen in the photograph on the right. Built in 1864, it has an absolutely beautiful interior courtyard. Sena Plaza is right across the street from the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, founded by Archbishop Lamy, who was made famous in the book Death Comes to the Archbishop, by Willa Cather.

Afterwards, we walked up Canyon Road, famous for it's art galleries and restaurants. It is a beautiful street, and can be seen in the photograph on the left. A little up the road is El Farol, a restaurant and bar located in a building from 1835. The last time we were here, we had a drink, with Susan's dogs Blackberry and Tutu, on the dog friendly patio. This time, we needed to head home to Colorado, and had to skip having a drink on that patio. Maybe next trip.

It is amazing to me how many old adobe homes are still standing in Santa Fe, including on Canyon Road, as seen in the photo on the right. They are very simple structures, and many look like they could use some tender loving care, but they have been standing for hundreds of years, and the owners probably feel they will stand for several hundred more. One of these adobe dwellings, the oldest house in Santa Fe and now a museum, was built in 1646. Again, it is just so amazing to have such an old settlement only 6 hours from Denver. What a wonderful place indeed.

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Visiting Family In San Diego

On our last evening in San Diego, my sister Susan and I, along with Susan's dog Blackberry, visited our Uncle Jack, cousin Denise, and her husband Paul at their home on the north side of San Diego. We sat around the kitchen table and had a nice chat, giving me a chance to talk family history with Uncle Jack, who was about to celebrate his 99th birthday in a few days. Jack was almost 14 years younger than his brother - my father Nelson - and went to my old alma mater, the Illinois Institute of Technology, becoming a civilian engineer for the US Navy. He later became a professor of engineering at San Diego State University. Afterwards, Denise, Paul, Susan and I (along with Blackberry) went to dinner at the Backyard Kitchen and Tap House in Pacific Beach. Uncle Jack felt more comfortable staying at home instead of dining out, and I'll be damned if I forgot to take a photo of him and Denise and Paul before we left. No matter - I am featuring a photograph on the left of Uncle Jack watching the 4th of July parade back in 2017, during a family reunion in Cannon Beach, Oregon. He hasn't changed a bit.

I took the photograph on the right of Denise (sitting on the left), my sister Susan (center) and Paul at the Backyard Kitchen and Tap House. I googled the place on the internet, and found that their heated patio was very dog friendly. In fact, they actually had a menu for dogs. That is the first time I have ever seen something like that, although I suppose it is standard operating procedure in California. And I'm sure that fad will be heading east very soon. The food was good, the patio very pleasant, and it was fun catching up with Denise and Paul, who moved to San Diego from Oregon nine years ago to help Uncle Jack out as he got older. Hopefully, we can all get together next year for another one of those Hoyt family reunions in Cannon Beach.  

Seeing The Sights Of San Diego

My sister Susan and I finished our tour of California in San Diego, one of my favorite towns. Our first stop was La Jolla, located on cliffs overlooking the Pacific. While the downtown area is very quaint, filled with expensive shops and trendy restaurants, we spent most of our time walking along La Jolla Cove, a truly beautiful spot to hang out, and seen in the photograph on the left. Just before we left town, we stopped at a 7-Eleven, where Susan went in to buy a few items, and witnessed a crazy woman swearing and throwing punches at the store manager, while the cashier dialed 911. The crazy lady claimed her father owned the store and wanted everyone to leave. Was this a homeless person, or just another eccentric La Jolla millionaire? We didn't stay to find out.

Our next stop was the Hotel Del Coronado, a luxury hotel right on the beach that opened back in 1888. When I booked our hotel reservations before the trip, the choice in San Diego was between the Hotel Del or the Motel 6 at Hotel Circle. They both had similar amenities, but the Motel 6 won out due to it's location close to Old Town San Diego, a very historic and lively spot. I took the photograph on the right of the hotel as we walked around it, taking in the atmosphere of the place. I noticed a lot of people with badges, evidently attending conferences at the hotel, and wished I had worked for an organization that held their meetings there. Not that I ever had any complaints about attending the Rocky Mountain Skyline Bookstore Association's conferences at the Ramada Hotel in Northglenn, Colorado - a break from work is a break from work, after all. In any case, this is the hotel where the movie Some Like It Hot, starring Jack Lemon, Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe was filmed. Thought it looked familiar.

On our first night in San Diego, I googled "dog friendly patios in Old Town," near where we were staying, and found Casa de Freds, about which Susan was dubious, but turned out to have great food and be very lively. Old Town San Diego has a number of historic Spanish Colonial buildings, and the area has a Hispanic vibe. The whole neighborhood was packed with tourists and locals, and it took forever to find a parking spot. As we were being led to our table, I asked the hostess why the place was so crowded, and she told me it was Taco Tuesday, which evidently is celebrated every week there like it is New Year's Eve. And yes, that is my sister Susan in the photograph on the left, seated at our table at Casa de Freds, looking ecstatic about my taking her photograph.

Big Sur

One of my favorite parts of my sister Susan and my roadtrip to California was the drive down the Pacific Coast Highway from Carmel by the Sea to Big Sur and beyond. I must say, it is a beautiful drive, with the mountains plunging dramatically down to the sea. I took the photograph on the left as I was driving the route. It was one of the few that turned out well - it is actually pretty hard to take photos like that, especially if you don't want to wind up going over the cliff. Happily, we did not.

Big Sur itself is quite beautiful, and there are many scenic viewpoints where you can pull off the road and take photographs, which I did when I took the photo on the right. It is beautiful all the way down the coast, but it is a long drive, and as we got near to Santa Barbara, we were directed by police to turn around, due to the Alisal Fire that started that afternoon, and wound up taking a long detour over a mountain pass to get there. Despite the late arrival at the Motel 6 in Carpenteria, it was still worth it to see that coastline. And besides - the Motel 6 left the light on for us!

A Visit To Santa Barbara

My sister Susan and I, along with her dog Blackberry, visited Santa Barbara during our West Coast road trip, and the highlight for me was seeing the mission there, which is located on a hill overlooking the town and the sea. The original mission was built in 1786, although the current building dates from 1815, which is still quite old. It is considered the most beautiful of all the missions. I personally can't verify this, since I haven't seen all the missions, but it is still, in my opinion, pretty damn nice.

The 21 California Spanish missions were built between 1769 and 1833, each a day's walk from the other, and their purpose was to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. Many of the settlements that sprang up around them became the state's major cities. I understand that there was a movement to stop teaching the history of the Spanish missions in California schools due to political correctness issues, but I am not sure if this was ever done. Since the Spanish missions are such an important part of the settlement of California, I certainly hope not.

The best part of Mission Santa Barbara is the view from it's front steps of the city and the ocean beyond, as seen in the photograph on the left. After admiring the view, we headed to downtown Santa Barbara and walked around a bit, admiring some of the remaining Spanish era structures, such as the Presidio, and peering into the windows of the upscale shops along State Street. Santa Barbara also has a wonderful beach and pier, which we checked out too, before heading through traffic clogged L.A. and Orange County to San Diego. We were originally planning to stop at Santa Monica, Venice Beach, and Newport Beach, but since traffic was so bad, we ran out of time, and decided to head on to our final California destination. I guess that is just L.A.'s loss.

Hopelessly Lost In Oakland

After spending the day in San Francisco last week, my sister Susan and I - along with her dog Blackberry - headed to our luxury resort hotel in nearby Oakland - the Motel 6 on the Embarcadero. Somehow, someway, I wrote down the wrong freeway number on my handwritten map, and we wound up driving all through the city. I was very surprised to find that Oakland is actually a pretty large city, with a downtown filled with high-rises. Eventually, we made our way to the Embarcadero, and were pleasantly surprised to find that the motel was right on the water, fronted by a marina. The building and rooms did not look like the usual Motel 6, so I think it must have been built as an independent, upscale motel, and bought by Motel 6 later on. It was indeed an unexpected treat.

We went to dinner at a waterfront restaurant at nearby Jack London Square, where we sat on the patio (required, since we had Blackberry along) and watched the sunset as we dined, as seen in the photograph on the right. Jack London Square is a popular spot for locals, and we really did enjoy walking around the area. However, I did not enjoy having to order - and pay for - our food and drink using my mobile phone at the Belcampo Meat Company. Fortunately, the waitress was able to guide me through the process, or it would have been a fast food kind of evening. When Susan suggested a second round, I insisted we head to a different place, and a few doors down discovered Plank, a local hot spot, with a huge patio overlooking the water.  And they actually - thank God - took cash. The place was very lively, and a lot of fun. The next day, we tried to find the local McDonald's for breakfast, and once again I got lost - this time for almost an hour - before a local gave me instructions to the freeway. I later discovered that I had been driving all over Alameda Island most of the time, which is a very nice town indeed. It was definitely worth seeing, even if I was hopelessly lost at the time.

San Francisco - A Beautiful City With Not A Single Available Parking Spot

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, my sister Susan and I just returned from a road trip from Colorado to California. Our first stop was San Francisco. Unfortunately, we visited on a Sunday. This day happened to be the finale of "Fleet Week," featuring a massive air show, and it was also the day the Italian Heritage Parade on Columbus Avenue took place. Every resident of San Francisco was evidently required to attend these events. Since Susan and I had her dog Blackberry in tow, we had driven into San Francisco instead of using public transportation, and every place we went - Russian Hill, Pacific Heights, Fisherman's Wharf, you name it - there was not one parking space available. I was only able to take the photograph above of the view from Lombard Street because a woman in the car in front of us was standing up through the sunroof taking selfies, giving me time to snap a few photos. God bless her for that.

Blackberry's Excellent Adventure

My sister Susan and I have just returned from a 9 day road trip from Colorado to California and back. We brought Susan's dog Blackberry with us, and I must say, traveling with a dog really changes what you can and cannot do. In fact, Blackberry often seemed to be in charge. The last time we went on a road trip, we left the dog in the motel room when we went to dinner, and as soon as we got to the restaurant, I received a call from the front desk telling me that Blackberry was barking non-stop, and they were getting a lot of complaints. I then had to drive back to the Motel 6 and get her. Because of that, on this trip, we had to dine outside each night, and only patronized dog friendly venues. Also, since dogs are not welcome on public transportation, we had to drive everywhere we went, which made life kind of hellish in San Francisco, as you can well imagine. Blackberry, by the way, decided that she wanted to sit on my lap and help me drive the entire trip, although I didn't actually let her take the wheel. Sitting on my lap for over 3,000 miles, we did seem to bond. And Blackberry really appeared to enjoy herself, full of energy and wanting to explore - and smell - virtually everything she encountered. Glad you had a great time, Blackberry!

It's Mid-October - Best Time Of The Year In Florida!

It has been a while since I was last in Stuart, Florida, where my sister Susan and I own the condo that our parents Nelson and Mary retired to back in 1976. We are currently renting it to pay expenses, and I suspect our tenants would not be happy if we headed down there and asked to "crash" in the living room. We used to head down there quite often to visit when our parents were alive, and I remember October being especially nice. The weather was cooler, it was still light enough to dine along the water and admire the view, and the "snow birds" had not yet arrived, meaning less traffic and no waiting for tables at restaurants. I wish I was there now. The photograph above, by the way, is of my father looking very jolly during a walk through Circle Bay, the condo complex next door to my parent's condo building. Dad thought Stuart was Camelot, and just loved living there. He only had 7 years of retirement there before he passed away, but at least he was able to have those years to enjoy after a lifetime of working at a job he hated. There is at least some comfort in that.

My Anniversary (Of A Sort)

Today would have been my 39th wedding anniversary if my then wife Lisa and I didn't divorce back in 1987. That was a long time ago, but I have been marking the occasion each year on my blog, usually showing a photo - being the rascal that I am - of Lisa and I in front of a wedding cake at our reception, with Lisa in her wedding dress, hand on hip, looking truly pissed off at something. It was a really funny photograph, but this year Lisa and I got together for coffee a few months ago, when she was visiting from San Francisco, and so to be nice, I thought I would feature the more romantic photo we took on our honeymoon, in front of the Maroon Bells near Aspen, Colorado. I guess I am just getting sentimental in my old age.

A Baseball Playoff Update

The baseball teams going to the American and National League Champion Series have been decided, and sadly, my South Side heros, the Chicago White Sox, are not among them. The White Sox lost their Division Series against the Houston Astros 3 games to 1, and will be heading to their respective golf courses until spring training begins next year.  This was not unexpected, since the White Sox seemed to be able to beat bad or mediocre teams, but struggled with teams that were actually good. And so the Houston Astros will play the Boston Red Sox for the American League Championship, and the Atlanta Braves will play the Los Angeles Dodgers for the National League crown,with the winners meeting in the World Series. As both Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs fans - not to mention Colorado Rockies fans - are fond of saying: "Wait until next year!"

Back To Normal For The RTD

I frequently like to take the bus up to the corner of Colfax and Josephine here in Denver, near the Tattered Cover Bookstore, where I used to work as the bookkeeper, walk from there downtown, and take the light rail train home. It is definitely a cheapskate's dream, what with a $1.50, three hour pass for seniors. For a while, during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, I was often the only passenger. People were no doubt put off by being told by the CDC that taking public transportation was a death trip. However, these days, it seems like things are back to normal. This past Friday, the bus was actually almost full, and the light rail train is often packed at rush hour, and after Colorado Rockies games. People are still required to wear masks when taking RTD, which is a good thing, considering the pandemic is still with us, but it does feel good getting back to normal.

Motherloaded

I went into The Motherloaded Tavern in Breckenridge, Colorado a few weeks ago to check out the bar in the back of the place. Years ago, the restaurant was a Northern Italian restaurant, which my then wife Lisa and I dined at several times when we would spend a weekend up in the mountains every October. I don't recall ever having a drink in that back room bar, but remember that it seemed to be quite a rowdy place, with a huge banner on the wall proclaiming "The Kingdom of Breckenridge." I took the above photograph showing what it looks like today. It seems to be much more upscale now, and frankly, pretty boring. Maybe it livens up during the ski season. One can only hope.

Columbus Day - Replaced By Indigenous Peoples Day In Chicago Public Schools!

Today is Columbus Day, although that holiday is quickly disappearing. As regular blog readers know, I was never crazy about school, and always welcomed a day off when I attended Fort Dearborn Grammar School in the South Side Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago, back in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Columbus Day was one such holiday, but the Chicago Board of Education has eliminated Columbus Day and replaced it with Indigenous Peoples Day, celebrated on the second Monday in October. I guess if that had happened back when I was going to school, I would not have been all that upset about the change. A day off from school is still a day off, after all. The above photograph, by the way, was taken by me in Mrs. McCormick's Fort Dearborn classroom, showing what my daytime environment looked like back then. As I recall, I got reprimanded for taking that photo, but fortunately, she did not seize the camera. After all, history would have been deprived of a very important look at that era if she had.

The October Mutt Of The Month

I took the above photograph of this month's Mutt of the Month on Odell Brewing Company's patio up in Fort Collins, Colorado a few weeks ago. There are a lot of mutts on that dog friendly patio, although my sister Susan's dog Blackberry pretends not to notice them. She is more of a people dog, and tries to enthusiasticly greet everyone she meets. I think she loves the adoration. And I suspect that might result from deep felt feelings of inferiority, which should probably be professionally addressed. Unfortunately, Susan cannot afford a dog therapist. What a pity.

Remembering A Day Trip To Charleston, Illinois

Years ago (I think back when I was in high school) my parents, Nelson and Mary, and I took a day trip to Charleston, Illinois from our South Suburban Chicago home to visit the various Abraham Lincoln related sights in the area. Lincoln's father and stepmother's final home was in Charleston, and their 1840s log cabin and gravesite are located there. A mile or so north is the house of Lincoln's stepsister, where he visited his stepmother and family for the last time back in January of 1861. The photograph above is of my mother and I in front of Thomas and Sara Bush Lincoln's grave. Do I look like a total nerd in that photograph or what?

Stop The Steal!

Recently, the Odell Brewing Company, along with the Northern Colorado Wildlife Center, held their Top Dog contest on Odell's patio at their brewery up in Fort Collins. There were 15 dogs chosen to compete, based on how much money they raised for that organization, and one dog was chosen based on it's social media presence. Sadly, my sister Susan's dog Blackberry, whom I entered in the contest, did not win. However, I am wondering if I should take a page from Donald Trump's playbook, declare that the election was stolen, and demand that Blackberry be given the title. Of course, if I launched a protest, the very next time Susan and I visited Odell's, we would probably be banned from the patio for life, and so perhaps that is not a good idea after all. And by the way, the photo on left is of my sister Susan and Blackberry at the Canal Park Brewing Company, in Duluth, which sadly was not having a Top Dog contest. And after we had driven all that way, too.

Walking In The City

I am still doing a lot of walking around Denver these days, what with the beautiful fall weather. Granted, Denver is no Chicago, but it is a pleasant city, with wonderful Victorian neighborhoods, and a lively downtown, although it did seem like a ghost town during the height of the pandemic. Of course, there has been a rise in crime in the city, especially in the LoDo area. Lately, on weekends, when the bars there close at 2:00 A.M. a lot of the revelers like to take out their guns and shoot up the street. But hey, every city has it's problems, right?

Denver is much different now from when I moved here back in 1981. For one thing, all the rail yards west of downtown have been transformed into parks, expensive condos, and apartment buildings. Plus, there are new pedestrian bridges over the Platte River and I-25, leading to the Lower Highlands (LoHi), which has become a very hip and popular neighborhood as a result. However, I strongly recommend staying out of the Platte River, which many residents like to wade in on hot summer days, despite my many warnings. It is a breeding ground for E. coli, and what with industrial plants dumping tons of pollutants into it over the years, the odds are you will immediately dissolve upon touching the water.

The Playoffs Begin!

Playoff games begin today for the Chicago White Sox, as they face the Houston Astros in a best of 5 series. They were hoping for home field advantage, but that was not to be, and the series will start in Houston, moving to Chicago's Guaranteed Rate Field on Sunday. And can the White Sox beat Houston and move on to the 7 game American League Championship Series? I hope so, but I do have some reservations. I watched two of the final three regular season games against Detroit this past weekend on MLB.com, and I noticed that the Sox won the games I watched, and lost the game I didn't. This has pretty much been the case all season. The problem is that this series will be broadcast on a cable station I don't get. Does this mean that if I can't watch the games, the Sox will lose the series, and it will be all my fault? Is it too late to set up a "Go Fund Me" page, so I can attend the games in person, and guarantee a series victory? Ante up, fellow White Sox fans.

Hiking Along Clear Creek In Golden

My friend Stuart (seen in the photograph on the left) and I drove to Golden, Colorado yesterday afternoon to walk the path along Clear Creek, which runs right through the center of town. There were a lot of walkers, bikers, and people on boards over weird looking motorized balls on the trail, as well as a few tubers on the river. When we got to the end of the path, a city employee walked up and told us that they have just extended the trail across the river into the mountains, and recommended we try it out. Since it was almost dinner time, we decided to put that off until another day.

Yesterday was a perfect fall day, and we walked the path several times before heading to the Table Mountain Inn for dinner on their patio. The photograph on the right shows Table Mesa in the background, Golden's most prominent feature. This mesa separates Golden from both Denver and suburban Lakewood, giving the place an isolated, small town feel. Golden was founded in 1859 and contains 8 historic neighborhoods, not to mention a quaint Victorian downtown. Plus, the Golden City Brewery, located in the owner's backyard, behind his 1870s era house, is the second largest brewery in Golden, after Coors. Is that great, or what? It is that kind of town. 

Trouble In Paradise

Last week I drove up to Breckenridge and nearby Boreas Pass Road from Denver to view the aspens, and also to just walk around one of my favorite mountain towns. On the way home, I stopped at the Frisco Scenic Overlook - off I-70 between Frisco and Silverthorn - for the very first time, and took the above photograph. Years ago, my then wife Lisa and I would stay at a condo complex called Wildernest every October, which is located in Silverthorn. The complex backs up against a national forest, and is a really nice place to spend a weekend. Back then, it was fun to dream about buying a condo like the one we stayed at, and be able to spend every weekend up there. But just this past week, still another forest fire started north of Silverthorn, reminding me of how frequent those fires take place across the west these days, and how worrying it must be as those fires come ever closer to your home. Is living up there really worth the cost, both financially and psychologically? Of course, these days, what with the high price of real estate in Colorado's mountains, that is one worry I will never have. I think that is called looking at the glass as half full.

The Cheesman Park Art Festival

The Cheesman Park Art Festival took place this past weekend at - you guessed it - Denver's Cheesman Park. This is the festival's 8th year, and I must say, it has grown considerably since it's start in 2013. I spent an hour or so there last Saturday afternoon, and it was very well attended. So much so that it was sometimes difficult to get to the artist's booths, especially since every other person had a dog in tow, and everyone seemed to be stopping in the middle of the street to admire them. But once again I am starting to sound like an old curmudgeon - it was a beautiful fall day, the art was very good, and it was well worth visiting. And so there - I am being positive at last.