Spanky's Urban Roadhouse - Finally Turning Down The Sound?

My sister Susan and I returned to my Denver condo after her physical therapy session, and found the elevator out of order. Since Susan is having a difficult time walking after a fall, we decided to head to nearby Spanky's to wait until the elevator was back in service. I have not been to Spanky's, located just to the west of the University of Denver campus, in quite a while. The last few times I have been there, the music was turned up so loud you could not hear the person sitting across from you talking, and it actually hurt your ears to sit there. This time, however, the music was turned way down, and there was a fairly decent crowd actually interacting with each other. Was this a fluke, or has Spanky's decided to cater to a more mature, neighborhood type crowd? Let's hope the latter is the case. And by the way, the photograph above is of my sister Susan sitting at our table at Spanky's, contemplating her 90 Shilling.

It's Cold As Hell Outside - And Just How Cold Does Hell Get, Anyway?

It got up to a whopping 8 degrees yesterday afternoon here in Denver, but the heat wave is now over, and as of this morning, it is a rather cool six below zero. And naturally, I have to have drop off my car to have some work done by 8:00 A.M. so that I can catch the bus home without having to wait an hour or so. Nothing like waiting for a bus in below zero temperatures, especially with a wind chill of around -15. It would definitely be time to head to Stuart, Florida and those nice 70 degree temperatures, if only my sister Susan and I weren't renting our condo out down there to help pay expenses. And I am pretty sure our tenants would not want us to show up with our suitcases and "crash" there for a few days - or even better, a few weeks. Still, the snow does make it very pretty, especially in Denver's Washington Park, where I took the photograph on the left the other day, with Monkey Island in the background.

We've told our tenants down in Florida we will extend their lease for one more year, and so we will have to wait 18 month to start living the good life, commuting between Denver and Stuart at our leisure. In the meantime, we will just have to grin and bear it. Of course, the geese in the photograph on the right have the option of heading south any time they want, but instead choose to hang out here in Denver all year round, just like those damn Californians. And why do the geese put up with below zero temperatures instead of simply flying south? There is a reason why the word "birdbrain" was invented.

Living The Dream At Water Tower Place

A few days ago I mentioned in a blog that there was a short article in the January issue of Chicago Magazine about how various malls in and around Chicago are trying to attract customers at a time when malls are losing their popularity. One of them featured was Water Tower Place, which I used to visit on my day off from my job managing a Walden Bookstore in Chicago's western suburbs. I would walk a block from my apartment in Forest Park, board the "L" and be downtown in no time at all. I would then walk up North Michigan Avenue to Water Tower Place and have lunch at the McDonald's there. Then I would peruse Marshall Field's and the Rizzoli Bookstore before heading to Oak Street Beach and Lincoln Park. None of those stores are there anymore, and as far as I am concerned, that mall will never be like back in the good old days. I took the photograph on the left in 1978 showing the actual Water Tower (built in 1869 and famously surviving the Great Chicago Fire two years later), with the much more modern Water Tower Place in the background.

The nice thing about living in Forest Park, just west of Oak Park and only a block from the "L" stop at Harlem and Lake, was that you could head downtown even during a major snowstorm, and back in 1979, when I took the photograph on the right of the park around the old Water Tower, the snow never seemed to stop. Coming home from work each day, it was like driving though a canyon, with tall piles of snow on each side. Where I lived, we had to drive to a local elementary school with a plowed out parking lot in order to park your car. But on Fridays, my day off, I could head downtown without any hassles whatsoever, courtesy of the CTA. Granted, I lived in a studio apartment right across the street from the Daisy Hill Meatpacking Plant and the "L" train barn, but nothing is perfect in life, right? Just ask Donald Trump.

Urban Farmer

I went for a walk around Lower Downtown Denver the other day, and just for fun checked out the menu at Urban Farmer. This restaurant replaced McCormick's Fish House, which was a very popular restaurant at the corner of 17th and Wazee, just down the street from Union Station. Former President Bill Clinton famously ate there once after touring the nearby Tattered Cover Bookstore. I never paid much attention to it's replacement, Urban Farmer, and assumed it was some sort of casual dining spot specializing in vegetarian dishes. In fact, it is a steak house, and their steaks are quite pricey, some approaching one hundred dollars. And if you also want a potato, vegetable, or salad, it is extra. How many people can afford a dinner like that? Even if you are well off, would it not be a bit off-putting to spend such a large amount on a single dinner? I guess that is what expense accounts are for. I long for the days of the $8.95 steak special at Hops Bar and Brewery, where I used to dine in both Denver and Stuart, Florida. Gone but not forgotten, I'm afraid.

Saying Goodbye To Fort Collins

My sister Susan's townhouse up in Fort Collins is just about ready to be put on the market. Susan has decided she no longer feels comfortable living by herself and having to deal with stairs every day. And so she has moved to Denver, and is staying with me at my condo. This past Tuesday I drove up to her place to have new carpeting installed, per the recommendation of the realtor. It took over five hours to complete that installation, and so I took the opportunity to drive around town one final time and take a few photos, including at the Annual Flower Trial Gardens, located outside Colorado State's University Center for the Arts. It is quite beautiful when it is in bloom from May to October, but this time of year seems a bit stark, not to mention deserted, as seen in the photograph on the left.

Fort Collins has a lot of open space, in addition to many bike and walking trails that run all through town, including along the Poudre River and Spring Creek, seen in the photograph on the right. With a beautiful CSU campus, a wonderful and vibrant old town, and Poudre Canyon just a few miles away, it is a wonderful place to live. And I haven't even mentioned the Odell Brewing Company and its great patio. I am sure we will be up there to visit from time to time, but it really won't be the same. Of course, I am assuming the townhouse will sell quickly, although after the realtor told me her concerns about deferred maintainence at the townhouse, that might not be true.

Fort Collins has a lot of wildlife, too. It is the only place owned by a family member where I have seen large deer with huge antlers hanging out in the front yard. Susan has also seen foxes and skunks running around her place, and some people have even spotted bears and moose in the area. Granted, I did not see any such animals there this past Tuesday, and had to make due with the photograph of the squirrel on the left, which technically speaking is still part of the wildlife population. Of course, we also had such beasts where I grew up on the South Side of Chicago, and so exotic it isn't. But Fort Collins is still a great town, no matter if the wilder wildlife tend to hide out. 

My Mother Mary's Birthday

Today would have been my mother Mary's 107th birthday if she were alive today. The photograph on the left was taken in front of her condo in Stuart, Florida, a place she really loved. She and my father Nelson moved there from Chicago back in 1976, and after he passed away, she continued to live there for almost 30 years. She had more friends down there than at any other time in her life, and even hurricanes didn't faze her. In her later years, she was hard of hearing, and slept soundly through those storms without hearing any of the howling winds outside. All for the best, I now realize. Happy Birthday Mother!

The January Issue Of Chicago Magazine

I just finished perusing the January issue of Chicago Magazine. From the feature story on the cover, titled Our 30 Favorite Things to Eat Right Now, seen in the photograph above, you can tell that this publication is obsessed with food. This article features the top dish at 30 different restaurants in Chicago, and I have to admit, some of these menu items sound good. On the other hand, a lot of them leave you shaking your head. More interesting was an article about street photographer Jay King, who spent the pandemic going down into his basement and printing photographs he took during the 60s and 70s. In the article, King said he took these photographs, which are featured in this month's issue, not to sell, but because he enjoyed taking them, which is as it should be. There was also a small article about how some of the major shopping malls in the Chicago area are reinventing themselves as entertainment centers as the popularity of malls declines. Two of these malls I used to visit when I lived in Chicago, including Oakbrook Center in the western suburbs and Water Tower Place on North Michigan Avenue. And all I can say is that they will never recreate the atmosphere at Water Tower Place back when Marshall Field's and Lord and Taylor were there. I would often take the "L" downtown on my days off, have lunch at the Water Tower Place McDonald's, and then browse the Rizzoli Bookstore across the way. Now that's what I call living the dream.

A Surprisingly Harsh Denver Winter

Here in Denver, people are pretty spoiled when it comes to winter weather. Usually, we will have a day of snow and cold, and the next day the sun comes out, the temperatures climb, and people are once again walking around in shorts in January and February. Not this year. It has been constantly snowy and cold all month, and the snow never disappears from the side streets. When it does warm up, it is into the upper 30s instead of the 50s and 60s Denverites have come to expect. All this during a time of global warming, when things are supposed to be getting hotter. We might as well be living in Duluth. The photograph above I recently took while I was sitting at a stoplight in the Washington Park neighborhood at sunset, on a particularily cold day. And by the way, all the local newscasters and weather forecasters call that neighborhood "Wash Park," not to mention always calling Breckenridge "Breck." For some reason, that is starting to really bug me.  It must be my inner curmudgeon coming out. And I notice it has been coming out a lot lately. Go figure.

The Furies

I just finished reading The Furies, the latest Charlie Parker private eye/supernatural novel by John Connelly. I really like these books. They read like a hardboiled private detective story, but there are always supernatural elements involved. The Furies consists of two separate but connected stories. The first is called The Sisters Strange, which involves a career criminal returning to Portland, Maine and reestablishing his relationship with the Strange sisters. Unfortunately, he has stolen a rare coin collection from a very dangerous individual, risking the lives of the Strange sisters as well as others, bringing Charlie Parker into the picture. The second story is called The Furies, in which Parker takes on two separate cases, both with the task of protecting women facing grave danger. This is the first Charlie Parker novel in two years, and I really did enjoy it. Connelly successfully mixes two different genres very skillfully, and the result is an absorbing tale. I recommend you pick up a copy at your local library today.  

Reminiscing About Park Forest Plaza

I ran across the above photograph of my sister Susan and mother Mary in a photo album that belonged to my late brother-in-law George. It was taken outside the Trail Room restaurant in the Marshall Field's department store at Park Forest Plaza back in the early 1970s. I really liked Park Forest, a planned community built in 1948, south of Chicago, catering to GIs returning from World War II. The Park Forest Plaza was an outdoor shopping center in the middle of town, with lots of green space, and was a very pleasant place to hang out. I especially liked the Marshall Field's department store located there, one of that chain's first suburban stores. Sadly, that shopping center closed in 1996. They supposedly turned the place into a "regular downtown," but when I visited back in 2010, it was not very impressive. Hopefully, it is a more vibrant place now, but I have my doubts. The Trail Room, by the way, was very popular with senior citizens, and functioned as a kind of meeting place for them, sorely missed when it closed. Things are always changing, but sadly, for the most part, not for the better.

Missing High Tea With The Grand Champion Steer By Just Minutes

The National Western Stockshow's Grand Champion Steer and Reserve Champion Steer were invited to high tea at Denver's Brown Palace Hotel yesterday between 11:00 and 1:00. I had to drop my sister Susan off for a 1:00 P.M. hair appointment, but was hoping to get down there in time to photograph those two steers as they were led outside the hotel on their way back to the stock show. And I was so close - I could see the steers from a distance as I approached, but when I arrived they were already in the trailer, and the best I could do was get a photo of the Grand Champion Backside, as seen on the left. 

However, the Grand Champion Steer no doubt felt empathy for me, and looking through the slat on the side of the trailer, as seen in the photograph on the right, did it's best to pose for a portrait, bless it's little heart. Last year I actually made it inside the Brown to take photos, but was sad to find that the animals were confined to a small pen off the main lobby. Since they had been invited to high tea, I expected them to be given a place at the center of a large table, with bowls of tea and assorted biscuits in front of them, and stock show dignitaries and the steer's young owners seated on either side.  What a disappointment it was to find otherwise.

After those two steers were driven off to God knows what fate, I went into the lobby of the Brown Palace, where various cowboys and cowboy groupies were have a high old time at high tea, as seen in the photo on the left. This hotel has been around since 1892, and I have a sneaking suspicion that high tea might be a bit pricey. Although I have never had tea there, I did go to the Brown's Ship Tavern once on Christmas Day, for lack of anything else to do, and ordered a beer featured in the Denver Post that was made from water from beneath the Brown Palace Hotel. And yes, it did indeed taste like water, and at a premium price, too. As I recall, I drank my watery beer, shouted a "bah humbug" to the room at large, and went home. In any case, maybe next year those steers will finally be given a place at the table. One can only hope. Fair is fair after all.

Dining At Shells And Sauce

My sister Susan - seen in the photograph on the left - and I decided to celebrate our birthdays Wednesday night at Shells and Sauce, an Italian restaurant just east of the Denver Botanic Gardens. It is a cozy neighborhood joint with great food, and the portions are pretty damn generous, too. The meatballs are about the size of basketballs, and they even gave us a free dessert in honor of our birthdays. The service was also very good, and I heartily recommend Shells and Sauce for your next dinner out, even if you happen to live in someplace like Sicily. It'll be worth the drive.

The only downside to the evening was that it had been snowing non-stop for the past 24 hours, and the roads were horrible. Fortunately, I found a parking spot just down the street from the restaurant, and I took the photograph on the right of the Winter Wonderland that was Denver this past Wednesday night as we were going inside. Denver had another fairly large snowstorm at the end of December, and the city received a lot of criticism for it's policy of not plowing the side streets, resulting in touch and go driving for about two weeks. This time around they decided that they would indeed plow the side streets, making them marginally better. Amazing what an upcoming mayoral election can do to light a fire under elected officials.

It's My Birthday!

Today is my 70th birthday, and in honor of this I am featuring a photograph taken of me back when I was at my most charming best, attempting to drive a pedal car fire truck. For the life of me, I can't remember it, and so I don't think it was actually mine. I must have stolen it. Whether I was caught and served time, I also can't remember, but I never saw that fire truck again. Probably part of the terms of my parole. What a young whippersnapper I was back then. Now I am old. Bummer.

My Sister Susan's Birthday!

Today is my sister Susan's 81st birthday. She was born at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, just to the west of our south side Chicago neighborhood, back in 1942. As her birthday gift, I let Susan pick out the photograph I would use on today's blog. I had wanted to use a photograph of her taken at our mother's condo in Stuart, Florida, sitting in her bathrobe with curlers in her hair, but Susan rejected it outright, instead choosing the photograph above, taken in front of our south suburban Country Club Hills home back in the early 1970s. That's fine. Whatever. In any case, Happy Birthday Susan!

The January Mutt Of The Month

I took the above photograph of the January Mutt of the Month from the window of a Starbucks in Old Town Fort Collins, Colorado, after spending the morning visiting various historical sites in that city. It was very cold outside, and I felt sorry for the poor dog having to wait outside while it's owner sipped coffee in the warmth of Starbucks. After finishing my coffee, I walked around Old Town a bit, and as I was heading back to my car, the poor thing was still out there. Hopefully that owner will buy it a winter coat soon. Or better yet, just leave that poor dog home on such cold days.

Lunching With Mark At Chez Subway

I had lunch with my friend Mark, seen in the photograph above, this past Saturday at Chez Subway, an amusing little bistro located on Leetsdale Drive here in Denver. Mark is doing well, and things are going good at his job at the University of Denver's Anderson Academic Commons (the library). He and his brother Mike recently got back from a one-day trip to visit a friend who lives near Lamar, Colorado, a town in southeast Colorado dangerously close to both Kansas and the Oklahoma Panhandle (site of the Dust Bowl back in the 1930s). Mark really likes both Lamar and the countryside around it, and enjoyed the road trip very much. I myself have driven through eastern Colorado on the way to both Chicago and Stuart, Florida and find it very very ugly, but that's just me. Mark and his brother will also be visiting Maui, along with their parents, in the next few months, but before then I will need to give Mark a warning - Maui is no Lamar.

Living The Good Life At 1130 South Michigan

I found the above photograph of my late brother-in-law George in one of two photo albums that were on the back shelf of my sister Susan's townhouse up in Fort Collins. I was cleaning that closet out in the process of getting the place ready to sell, since Susan no longer feels comfortable living by herself anymore, especially in a residence with a steep staircase. One album contained photographs from George's time growing up in the Panama Canal Zone, and the other had photographs from around the time he and Susan met and got married. I suspect the photograph above was taken of George by his friend Dennis in George's studio apartment at 1130 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, a wonderful building right across the street from Grant Park. That was where he and my sister Susan, who lived in a studio on the 40th floor, met and got married in 1969. I loved that apartment, and also their lifestyle, and wished I could have lived in that building too, although it never happened. Oh well - at least I now live in the paradise that is Colorado. You have to take your paradises where you find them, after all.

Visiting The Petting Farm At The National Western Stock Show

I visited the National Western Stock Show this past Tuesday, including the Petting Farm, one of my favorite places to take photographs. It is very popular with children, of course, and even though it was a weekday, the place was packed with kids and their parents. You can pet the animals and even feed them - ice cream cones filled with food are on sale for $3.00. I myself prefer to just take photographs and let others do the feeding.

Some of the animals like to be fed and petted. Some do not, such as the two in the photograph on the right, pretending to be asleep to avoid being hassled by the hords of young children running amuck. And it seemed to work - none of the little miscreants went near them. And no - I am not anti-children. I am just an old curmudgeon. There's a difference.

Some of the animals simply endure the petting, but don't look happy about it, such as the one in the photograph on the left. It might be my imagination, but he or she seems to have a distinctly hostile look, either because it doesn't like to be petted or because it doesn't like to be photographed. And now that I think about it, it does seem to have the same expression my sister Susan has when I aim my camera at her.

In any case, it was a fun day at the National Western Stock Show, which will continue through January 22nd. You still have plenty of time to attend, although there are no more free days. I would advise everyone to simply buy a grounds admission ticket and skip the rodeo. My friend and former boss Ed once gave me advice about going to the rodeo: once is interesting, twice is a mistake. I myself say once is also a mistake. And just for fun, I am also including a photograph of the animal on the right that bumped into me when I was inside the petting farm. Frankly, I am not sure what the hell it is. All of the animals in the petting farm are supposed to be babies, and so I suspect this is a young alpaca or llama, but who knows? I grew up on the south side of Chicago, and you didn't see too many of these creatures running around, at least until after you had a couple of drinks.

The National Western Stock Show - Part II

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I went to the National Western Stock Show Tuesday afternoon with my sister Susan to walk around and take a few photographs. It was Free Grounds Admission Day, one of my very favorite days at the stockshow. And while it is of course fun to peruse the vendors on the main floor selling some of the weirdest products on earth, the best part is downstairs where all the animals are housed. Unlike at the zoo, at the stock show you can get right up in their faces and make sure they are looking you in the eye when you photograph them, such as the goat in the photograph on the left.

I think the goat in the photograph on the right wanted to be fed, or petted, or something. Heeding the warning on the sign that said that some of these goats might bite, I resisted doing either, but did manage to snap a photo. All of these animals are entered into what are called junior market shows, and have been raised by 4-H and FFA junior market exhibitors. That is all well and good, but these guys need to tell their damn animals not to bite.

And why was I taking so many photographs of goats, as opposed to, say, cows, which are all over the place at the stock show? The reason is that goats seem to have much more personality, and more interesting expressions than cows, which just tend to sit and stare at you with a blank expression. And by the way, the goat in the photograph on the left seems to be enjoying itself at the show, living the good life, admired and the object of attention, unlike back at the ranch, where it is forced to perform the chores that goats do there, whatever the hell that may be.

As we were leaving for the day, we passed the booth where you could have a photograph taken sitting on a Longhorn steer. Talk about fun! I offered to pay to have a photograph of my soon to be 81 year old sister Susan sitting on that moo cow, but sadly she declined. It seemed like a gentle beast, and so I was disappointed that she would not take me up on my offer. I could try photoshopping her image on top of the steer in the photograph on the right, but it would be pretty hard to make it look real. Some people just have no sense of fun.

The National Western Stock Show!

My sister Susan and I went to the National Western Stock Show this past Tuesday and really enjoyed it. This is a major event here in Denver, and also, as the website says, the "premier livestock, rodeo, and horse show in the country." To me, it is all about the animals, and I just love taking photographs there. On the left is a photograph of some minature cattle who happened to be tied up along the wall as we entered the cattle barn when we first arrived.

The stock show features many youth events and competitions, and at Murdoch's Junior Barn there are many interesting looking (i.e. strange) goats, such as the one in the photograph on the right, waiting for their turn to take part in various competitions. They all seem like very friendly creatures, despite the sign at the front warning they might bite. Nonsense I say, although I did not test them to see if this was true.

On the other hand, looking at this little guy in the photo on the left did give me pause. Why does it have a face mask and full covering over it's body? Is it due to covid, or can't it be trusted to not attack at will? If the latter is the case, what happens when it is in the arena during the big competition? Does it simply attack the other goats, or is it actually entered in some sort of World Wrestling Federation type of event? So many questions, so little time to find out the answers. In any case, it was a fun day and I am definitely glad we went.

Denver Reflections

I have lived in Denver for over 40 years now, moving here from Chicago, where I grew up. And after all this time, do I still miss Chicago? Definitely - Chicago is a much larger, more cosmopolitan city, and thanks to it's lakefront, far more beautiful a city than Denver. On the other hand, Denver is a much more livable place, with wonderful parks, interesting neighborhoods, and last but not least, just a short drive away from the mountains. Plus, unlike when I first moved here, it now has a major league baseball team, as well as lots of interesting things to do, thanks in large part to the many millions of Californians who have moved here and insisted on not living in a boring place. Of course, mostly due to those same Californians, Denver is now a pretty expensive place to live. I am very thankful I bought a condo across the street from the University of Denver back in 2000. If I hadn't, I would now be living in suburban hell (and yes, I do mean Aurora and Lakewood). Best of all, Denver is just a 2 day drive from either Chicago or San Francisco, and for a quick weekend get-away, it is just 6 hours from Santa Fe. And so, on the whole, I am happy I moved here. Which is good, since I am now far too old to move anywhere else.

Pondering Life Back In Frontier Days

I had to drive up to Fort Collins last week to have the two upstairs bedrooms in my sister Susan's townhouse measured for new carpeting. I was told the carpet measurer would arrive between 8:00 and 5:00, but received a call just before 9:00 that he would be there around noon. With 3 hours to kill, I drove to Old Town to take some photos. One of the places I stopped at was the Old Fort Collins Heritage Park, where I took the photograph on the left of the Auntie Elizabeth Stone Cabin. It was built in 1864 next to the newly relocated Camp Collins, an outpost established to guard travelers heading to Oregon on the Overland Trail from attacks by Native Americans. Auntie Elizabeth and her husband built the cabin next to the camp and ran the dining hall there. It was cold as hell that morning, and I had to wonder what it must have been like to live in that cabin during the winter. Camp Collins was closed in 1867 after it became apparent Native Americans in the area had no intention of attacking anyone, but by then, a new town had grown up around it.

Auntie Elizabeth became quite a civic booster in Fort Collins, and passed away in 1895 at the age of 94. Just 6 years later, the corner of Linden and Jefferson Streets near where that cabin and Camp Collins once stood looked like it does in the photograph on the right. This is now the heart of Old Town Fort Collins, and contains numerous bars, restaurants, and a variety of small, independently owned retail shops. Granted, not too many people were out and about that day because of the cold. In fact, I found them all later crowded into the Starbucks on the first floor of the Great Northern Hotel trying to get warm. Regardless, Fort Collins is a really nice town, a wonderful part of Colorado, and it is no wonder that when pioneers on the Overland Trail passed by, many of them said "to hell with Oregon, let's stay here."

My Brother's Bar

My sister Susan and I stopped at My Brother's Bar (seen in the photograph on the left) in Lower Downtown Denver this past Saturday night for a beer. And yes, there is no sign outside identifying it - everybody in town just knows where it is. This bar and restaurant is the oldest in Denver, and has been in continuous operation since 1873. I have not been in the place since the 1980s, and did not remember how charming it is, what with the old wooden bar, tin ceiling, and cozy atmosphere. Members of the Beat Generation, including Neal Cassady and Jack Kerouac, used to hang out here, and unlike other places they used to frequent, such as Charlie Brown's Bar and Grill, it actually serves draft beer. The Buckhorn Exchange, dating from 1893, is another place that doesn't serve draft beer. What is the deal with that? They don't still light those places with gas lamps, after all, so why not put a few microbrews on tap?

In the back of My Brother's Bar is an outdoor patio, which features the Platte Street Streetcar seen in the photograph on the right. I am not sure how they obtained it - perhaps the driver of that streetcar crashed it along the side of the road, left it there, and then went into the bar for a stiff drink. Another possibility is that it was left behind when the Forney Museum of Transportation moved out of the Denver Tramway Building next door to make room for REI: "Oh my God! We forgot the Platte Street Streetcar!" "Never mind. We can't go back for it now." I much prefer guessing what happened than just looking it up on the internet, as regular blog readers have probably guessed by now. More fun - and a lot easier - that way.

A Stuart Beach Flashback

After days of temperatures below freezing here in Denver, and side streets still covered in snow, I have lately been thinking about the good life back in Stuart, Florida. Granted, it sometimes can get cold in Stuart this time of year, but 50 or 60 degrees is a heck of a lot better than temperatures hovering around zero. Of course, even when temperatures are in the 70s, January is still not swimming weather down there, but it is still nice to hang out on Stuart Beach and watch the tourists in their swimsuits pretending to have fun. I took the above photograph of my sister Susan and mother Mary on the boardwalk at Stuart Beach back in August of 1995, a much more appropriate time for going in the ocean. It appears that I snapped that photograph right after Susan came out of the water with her boogie board. I had to throw that boogie board out when Susan and I began renting out my mother's condo after she passed away, but now that Susan is fast approaching 81 years young, I doubt she'll demand I buy her a new one. I hope.

Spring Training Begins In Just Under Six Weeks!

Hard to believe, but baseball spring training begins in just under six weeks. And both the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs have made some major improvements to their teams. As regular blog readers know, my South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, were a major disappointment last season, finishing at exactly .500 when they were predicted to be World Series contenders. The Cubs, in a rebuilding mode, were expected to be horrible, and they were. However, both teams are actually trying to improve. The one team that hasn't made any moves is the Colorado Rockies, who finished dead last in their division this past season. Each year team owner Dick Monfort predicts that the Rockies will be contenders, and each year they stink. However, the Rockies still draw almost 3 million fans to the ballpark, who enjoy the ambiance and ignore the disaster on the field. Why tamper with success? On the bright side, both the White Sox and Cubs will be coming to Coors Field here in Denver this year, and so hopefully will be able to pick up a few easy wins. Every bit helps.

Epiphany!

Today is January 6th - Epiphany - which celebrates the day the three wise men arrived in Bethlehem. I personally believe that everyone should leave their Christmas decorations up until at least today. Speaking of which, the past few years my sister Susan would leave her Christmas tree up until around Easter, telling her neighbors it was to keep her spirits up during Covid, in an attempt to dispel rumors that she was crazy. Back when I lived in Wheaton, Illinois, I had a neighbor across the courtyard who left his or her Christmas tree up all year round, but then took it down once the Christmas season arrived. Now THAT's crazy! Of course, here in Denver, it is a tradition to keep your holiday lights up until the end of the National Western Stock Show (January 22nd this year), which includes the lights on the City and County Building, as seen in the photograph above. Regardless of what you do, Happy 12th Day of Christmas Everyone!

Lunching With Stuart On A Brisk January Afternoon

I drove out to west suburban Lakewood from my condo here in Denver yesterday afternoon to have a late lunch with my friend Stuart at the Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom. Although the big trades and signings the White Sox and Cubs have made during baseball's off-season came up in conversation, we devoted most of the time discussing the failure of the Republicans in Congress to elect a new speaker. Evidently the right-wing MAGA crazies are being prevented from electing Kevin McCarthy speaker by the even crazier, burn it all down, far far far right-wingers. And how will it all end? I don't know, but as Paul Krugman said in an opinion piece yesterday, prospects don't look good. And by the way, I took the photograph above of Stuart as we were leaving Old Chicago. The high temperature yesterday was allegedly a balmy 30 degrees, but as you can see, that pleasant temperature did not lure dinners to the outside patio. Go figure.

Treasure State!

I just finished reading Treasure State, the new Cassie Dewell novel by C.J. Box. Box is best known for his Joe Pickett series, but the Cassie Dewell series is pretty good, too. It takes place in Montana, and originally featured investigator Cody Hoyt, whose partner was Cassie Dewell. Box killed off Hoyt for whatever reason (and I am not bitter he decided to kill off a Hoyt), and the series now features single mother and private investigator Dewell working out of an office in Bozeman, Montana. This time she is hired by a wealthy Florida woman to find a con man living in Montana who stole millions of dollars from her. It is a good story and a quick read, and I recommend you pick up a copy at your local library today.

Little Man!

My sister Susan wanted to celebrate New Year's Day with an ice cream cone, despite the cold, and so we headed over to Denver's Lower Highlands neighborhood (LoHi) to Little Man Ice Cream, seen in the photograph above. It was a pretty cold and dreary New Years Day, and so I was able to find a parking spot near Little Man pretty easily. Most of the time the place is crawling with hipsters, and parking is at a premium. Because of the weather, Susan did not want to venture out of the car, and so I went and got her the cone myself. It was the first time I have patronized the place, and the staff were pretty jolly and in the holiday spirit. And the scoops of ice cream were pretty generous, too. I don't know if that was because it was New Years Day, or the way it always is there, but I will definitely be back.

The 2023 CTA Historical Calendar Is Here!

The 2023 Chicago Transit Authority Historical Calendar is here and available for downloading to your computer. I anxiously wait every year for this calendar, which features historic photos of the City of Chicago and the CTA buses, trains, streetcars, and other forms of transportation from past eras. This year is the 75th anniversary of the CTA, and the 2023 photographs seem to feature notable moments at the CTA through the years. Unfortunately, most of these events took place in relatively recent times. Seven of the twelve months feature photographs from the 1960s and 70s, and three from the 2000s. This doesn't seem like nostalgia to me - the photos look exactly as I remember it when I lived in Chicago, and imagine it to still be today. Only two months feature photographs from before 1960, including the one featured above. Still, you can't look a gift horse in the mouth. Hopefully, next year the calendar will be back to its old self, by which I mean photographs featuring such things as horse drawn streetcars. Be sure to download the calendar at https://www.transitchicago.com/historicalcalendar/.

Ringing In The New Year At New Terrain

My sister Susan and I celebrated New Year's Eve at the New Terrain Brewery up in Golden, Colorado, and seen in the photograph on the left, last night. Of course, we didn't stay until midnight. We actually left a little earlier than that: 5:30 P.M. to be exact, just before the band began to play and all chances of conversation ended. Everyone there seemed to having a good time, and as usual, there were lots of kids and dogs running around having a good old time, too. 

Before sunset, there were actually a few brave souls outside enjoying their beers, but once darkness came and the temperature plunged, they either left or came inside. This place is best enjoyed outdoors, where you can better admire the view and enjoy the weather, but I'm afraid that will have to wait until the temperatures warm up a bit, at least as far as I am concerned. In any case, Happy New Year Everyone! Hopefully 2023 will be as fun-filled as 2022.  There is nothing better than living in interesting times, right? Right?