Mid-Winter At The Zoo Part II

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I went to the Denver Zoo this past Monday to take a few photographs. The weather was pleasant, and all the animals were out and about, although it was still a bit of a challenge to take photographs of the new zoo babies. Try as I might, I was not able to get a photograph of the baby mandrill looking straight at me. The eyes are the window to the soul, after all, and I was hoping to see what was in the soul of an 8-month-old mandrill. I suspect nothing.

Dealing with a baby mandrill must be pretty hard work. These creatures were wandering all around the compound, and the mother was constantly leading its baby by the hand, which as you can see from the photograph on the right, was a point of contention between the two. I wonder what Doctor Spock would have said about this situation? And does anyone out there still remember Doctor Spock, author of the bestselling book Baby and Child Care? If you do, you are old, like me. And no, he was not related to Mr. Spock of Star Trek fame.

As for the baby orangutan, it's mother covered it up with her arms the entire time I was there. And I was there quite a while. The photograph on the left was the best I could do. And I have to say, if that mother keeps that baby on such a short leash for much longer, it will grow up with lots of issues some zoo psychologist will have to deal with for years to come. And I imagine that their per-hour rates are just as high as regular psychologists. Of course, I am probably not the first person to mention this. I am pretty sure that orangutan mother in the photo is saying to someone "Me? You're trying to tell me how to raise a child? Give me a break"

The Denver Zoo, by the way, was founded in 1896, and is located in City Park. And it is indeed very much like a park, and would be a pleasure to walk through even without the animals. It is filled with trees and flowers, and is one of the top zoos in the country. The photograph on the right was taken at the Toyota Elephant Passage, which is home to the largest herd of bachelor Asian elephants in the country. The theme of the plaza is, of course, Asian, and they even have a classic tuk-tuk that hordes of children can crawl over to their heart's content. I am still waiting to see elephants being driven around in one of those Toyotas, but I suspect I will be waiting a long time. All in all, despite those minor disappointments, it was a very pleasant day at the zoo, in the heart of winter.

Mid-Winter At The Zoo

I went to the Denver Zoo yesterday afternoon to take a few photographs. It was 60 degrees and sunny, and so I guessed that all the animals would be outside in the sun, instead of lurking in the shadows, and I was right. The monkey in the photograph on the left was clinging to the side of it's cage, directly in front of me, and quite willing to have it's portrait taken.

I feel that I have some kind of special rapport with these animals. I was trying hard to take a photograph of the new orangutan baby, and as you can see from the photograph on the right of it's mother, she looked perfectly fine with that, although the entire time I was there - which was a while - she covered up the baby with it's arms, blocking a good shot. This is where zoo interns need to step up, go into the compound, and persuade the mother to hold that baby up to zoo visitors. Which they currently don't do, which is a bummer. After all, why not? Those orangutans seem to be very gentle and friendly creatures.

I think the animal in the photograph on the left is Chlojo, an endangered Sumatran tiger that comes from the Nashville Zoo. But this is only a guess.  If I am right, I believe this particular tiger is known to go berserk when it hears country music. And at the Nashville Zoo, they must play it throughout the grounds from loudspeakers cranked up to full volume. It was recommended that Chlojo be transferred to Denver, where John Denver's Rocky Mountain High plays softly 24/7 in the tiger house.

The photograph on the right is of one of the Denver Zoo's hyenas, who yesterday were wandering around Predator Ridge, which is where I expected to see the four bachelor lions. I am not sure why they weren't there. Were these hyenas put there as food for those lions? Have donations dropped so low that the zoo is throwing less popular animals to the wolves (or in this case, lions) to save money? And where are the bachelor lions? Could living the good life here in Denver have made them soft, and they are actually afraid of these hyenas? Questions and more questions, but not an answer in sight.

Rooting For Detroit! (And San Francisco, Too!)

Our friends Linda and Wally invited Mark, who works at the the University of Denver's Anderson Academic Commons (the library), and I over to their home yesterday afternoon to watch the NFL Conference Championship game between the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers. Wally grew up in Michigan, and Mark has family ties to that state, too, and when you consider it has been 70 years since the Lions last won the NFL Conference, and have never won the Super Bowl, it is no wonder they were both very gung-ho for the Lions. On the other hand, both of Linda and Wally's children live in the Bay Area, and so Linda was all in for the 49ers. I had to leave right before half-time, when Detroit was ahead 21-7, but Wally and Mark were still worried about their team's chances. And so when I saw later that evening that San Francisco dominated the game during the 2nd half, and won by a score of 34-31, I realized that they did indeed have something to be worried about. As a lifelong White Sox fan, I feel their pain. And on the bright side, they will not have to go through all the stress and agony of watching Detroit play the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. I took the photograph above, by the way, of Wally, on the left, and Mark, on the right, before I left, when it still looked like Detroit might win it all. As we say on the South Side of Chicago, wait until next year, guys!

Recalling A Long Ago Trip To New York

Back in 2012, right before the University of Denver outsourced the DU Bookstore to Follett Higher Education Group, throwing everyone's employment into question, I decided to fly to the East Coast and check out Boston, New York, and Washington D.C. I liked Boston a lot, but was not too crazy about New York. Perhaps it was because I grew up in Chicago, and Chicagoans have a natural prejudice against New York. But I found the city congested, dirty, in many parts plain ugly, and nothing as beautiful as Chicago's lakefront. I remember I bought some sort of ticket package while I was there, and on my last day, I took a cruise around the city. The weather was not so great, but it would be my only chance to see the city from the water. It started out okay, with just a little bit of drizzle and some fog, and I took the photograph on the left of the Staten Island Ferry. I had taken this ferry the day before and enjoyed it, but unfortunately, at the end of the trip, you wound up on Staten Island (who would have thought it?), and I had to immediately take the next ferry back to Manhattan.

As I recall, on that trip we saw the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York Harbor, and cruised up the East River under the Brooklyn Bridge. The views of the Manhattan skyline were very impressive (on a boat you are far away from all the garbage you see when you are close up), but as the tour boat headed back to it's dock along the Hudson, the rain and fog got steadily worse, which was when I snapped the photograph on the right. When the boat docked, I quickly headed to a nearby bus stop and took the next bus to Penn Station to catch the Amtrak train to Washington D.C. New York might be dirty, but they do have a great transportation system. You can get out of town fast, which is important. I then headed to Washington D.C., where soon after I arrived they had a major snowstorm, which I trudged through to see the sights. But that's a different story entirely. Ah yes, all those happy memories, and I have them all on film.

Red Rocks

I drove through Red Rocks Park, located west of Denver between the cities of Golden and Morrison, this past week, and ran across deer crossing the road, as seen in the photograph above. Red Rocks is best known for its amphitheater, which hosts outdoor concerts in a spectacular setting. But it is also a park, owned by the City of Denver, that contains a whole series of hiking trails running through the foothills of the Rockies. Which is why it is host to a variety of wildlife, including these deer. I have also driven around Red Rocks during the summer, and for the benefit of tourists, when there are no concerts going on, they blast rock and roll music out of the amphitheater's speakers at the volume of a jet aircraft taking off. And not surprisingly, I have never seen any deer around when that is happening. I suspect they must all head up into the mountains, and only come back when they read in the paper that concert season is finally over. I don't blame them in the least. 

My Mother's 108th Birthday

Today would have been my mother Mary's 108th birthday if she was still alive today. I took the photograph on the left of her at Stuart Beach, one of her favorite spots, back on April 25th, 2007, at 2:50 P.M. Talk about a camera with all the details. She just loved Stuart, after moving there with my father Nelson back in 1976. Back then the town was just starting to grow, and if you wanted to visit a department store, you had to drive down to the Palm Beach Mall, about 30 miles to the south. Plus, you had to take US 1 part of the way, since Martin County was holding up completion of I-95 because it was slated to go right through the middle of town.  They eventually built I-95 far to the west, out in the middle of nowhere, which is quickly filling with new real estate developments. Port St. Lucie, just to the north of Stuart, is now the 6th largest city in Florida, with a main drag on US 1 filled with strip malls, fast food outlets, big box stores, and yes - a shopping mall. No more drives to West Palm Beach for shopping, although a significant number of residents now commute there to work each day. Is the trade-off really worth it? Doesn't matter - it is what it is.

My mother moved to Stuart from the Chicago area, where she had lived all her life, very reluctantly, just to please my father, who wanted to retire, play golf, and enjoy his life after working as a dentist for many years, a job he hated. They bought a condo at the Monterey Yacht and Country Club, where my Aunt Elsie and Uncle Bill, my mother's brother, had moved to a few years earlier. Both my mother and father loved the place. My mother learned to play golf, and soon had more friends than she ever had back in Chicago, including Marion Bellarosa, seen in the photograph on the left, next to my mother, on the fifth hole of that nine hole course. It was originally a par three, but the third hole was a dogleg, and golfers were driving across the Winn-Dixie Grocery Store next door to make par, endangering shopper's lives, and so they had to add a penalty line and make it a par four to avoid a potential disaster. As for the yacht club, it is located along the St. Lucie River, but since Monterey was not allowed to dredge, it is used only for parties. It has been 15 years since my sister Susan and I have been renting out that condo, and we have decided to take it back from our tenants this coming August, and live there 5 months a year. And I have to wonder - do they still hold Illinois Night down at the yacht club these days? Definitely time to find out.

Venice: Buy Your 2024 Entry Tickets Now!

This year, the City of Venice will be charging a 5-euro entry fee to daytrippers on 29 days during the months of April through July. This will be a test period in advance of the full implementation of the program in 2025. And actually, 5-euros is quite a bargain for visiting this beautiful city. A one-day ticket to Disney World starts at $109, after all, and there is, of course, no comparison whatsoever between the two. Those who are staying overnight in Venice are exempt, but still need to register. The reason for all of this is that Venice welcomes an estimated 30 million visitors a year, and two thirds of them only come for the day (many, I imagine, off cruise ships). I have visited Venice three times, and really enjoyed it, but during the day the areas around the Rialto Bridge and Piazza San Marco, as well as the passageway between, are indeed packed with tourists. That is the time to explore the far reaches of the city, especially those obscure canals that have laundry hanging across them. And then, you can head back late in the afternoon, when the daytrippers have all gone away. And I do recommend actually staying in Venice itself. It makes all the difference. The photograph above, by the way, I took back in 2005. And no - I did not take a gondola ride. It would have been like the experience Woody Allen describes in the film Manhattan, when he took a horse-drawn carriage ride through Central Park on prom night, but said it would have been much more enjoyable if he had had a prom date along with him.

Lunching With Stuart Along Beautiful Colorado Boulevard

And no, this is not the same Colorado Boulevard that the Little Old Lady from Pasadena used to terrorize. This is an ugly street of strip malls, fast food outlets, and car dealerships, located in Denver, Colorado. Stuart - seen in the photograph above - and I dined at an amusing little bistro yesterday afternoon called Qdoba, where they serve a pretty good chicken tortilla soup.  During the summer, you can dine on the patio, with a great view of traffic rushing past Native Roots, the 7-Eleven of Colorado marijuana outlets, but since it was a bit chilly out there, we decided to dine inside. And what did we discuss? Trump, of course. Yesterday was the New Hampshire primary, first in the nation, which Trump did indeed win, as we all found out later, but by a much closer margin than expected. Stuart feels that with the 91 indictments he is facing, Trump will soon be going to prison, while I feel his lawyers will use their delaying tactics to keep him out of jail for the rest of his life. We disagree on this point, but didn't put any money on it. And speaking of money, as you can see in the photograph, Stuart, a DU alum, is proudly wearing his University of Denver sweatshirt. Like most universities, they are always calling to see how you are doing, let you know about all the exciting things happening on campus, and ask for as much money as you can possibly gather up as soon as possible. I suspect I know exactly how Stuart handles those calls ("let me send you a blank check, and you can fill it in"). I myself am also a DU alumni, but I also worked at the DU Bookstore for almost 30 years, and when they give me a call, I just tell them I gave at the office. Go Pioneers!

Resurrection Walk

I just finished reading Resurrection Walk, Michael Connelly's latest Lincoln Lawyer novel. It took many weeks on the waiting list at the Denver Public Library to get, but it was worth it. Connelly writes great crime fiction thrillers, and this one is no exception. This time, after freeing an innocent man from jail, Mickey Haller - the Lincoln Lawyer - is inundated with requests for help from prison inmates claiming they are innocent, and he hires Harry Bosch, his half-brother and former LA police detective, to go through these letters and see if any of them might have merit. He finds one, sent by woman who is in jail for murdering her husband, a sheriff's deputy, and believes that the case against her just doesn't add up. And so Haller and Bosch begin an investigation to prove her innocence. Connelly rotates the sections of the book between Haller and Bosch's perspectives, and it works very well. And I am pleased to find that Connelly did not kill off Bosch in this latest story. Connelly ages his characters in real time, and so Harry is now 71 years old, too old to be a police detective. In his last book, Connelly had Harry possibly dying of cancer. But in this book, thanks to the insistence of his daughter Maddie, he has entered an experimental treatment program at UCLA, and the results look good. Why Connelly insists on aging his characters like that, I don't know, but I am very happy we will still get to read about Bosch's future investigations. I strongly suggest you put your name on the waiting list for Resurrection Walk soon. You might even get it before Connelly's next book comes out. Although I doubt it.

It's Lights Out At Denver's City And County Building

Denver's City and County Building is famous for its annual Christmas light display, as seen in the photograph above. Many here in the Mile High City consider it the cat's meow, while others, including my ex-wife Lisa, consider it kind of tacky. I myself like it, and even if some people do consider it tacky, tacky can often be quite fun. The lights are kept up through the National Western Stock Show, and since it ended yesterday, those lights have been turned off until next Christmas season. It is also considered a Colorado tradition for everyone in the state to leave their lights up until the end of the stock show, too, which is why I haven't taken down the Christmas tree in my living room yet. At least that is what I tell everyone who asks about it. I am still trying to think up an excuse for keeping the tree up until next weekend, but I really don't think anyone will consider it out of character. I am not known as "Crazy Old Man Hoyt" for nothing.

More South Side Nostalgia!

My laptop computer - a mere 3 years old, I might add - stopped working a few weeks ago, and I took it to where I purchased it to be repaired. It needs a new motherboard, and they evidently have to ship the part from China - via tramp steamer, no doubt. I'm sure I'll get that laptop back well before Christmas. I hope. In the meantime, I am using my late brother-in-law George's old iMac to post my blog, and in the process of uploading photographs from a flash drive, ran across the photograph above, taken from an old CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) Historical  Calendar. It shows a streetcar heading up the hill on 111th Street toward Longwood Drive, in the Beverly neighborhood, not too far from where I grew up in the South Side Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago. I was going to make a joke about how my sister Susan rode this streetcar as a child, but when I read the caption, I saw it was taken in 1948, and she very well could have, hopefully accompanied by my mother or grandmother. Of course, even back then, I understand she was very strong-willed, and so it would not surprise me at all to learn she did indeed ride it by herself. And by the way, you can upload this year's CTA Historical Calendar at https://www.transitchicago.com/historicalcalendar/. I suggest you do it right now - you'll love it!

Attending A Rodeo!

My sister Susan wanted to see a rodeo, what with all the advertisements about Denver's National Western Stock Show on the television lately, and so I purchased tickets online, and we attended one yesterday afternoon. After about an hour, Susan was asking herself why she ever wanted to see a rodeo in the first place, and so we left and went over to the building next door to look at the animals. The stadium where the rodeo was held was packed with people, and everyone seemed to be really enjoying it, to the extent that they weren't walking out of the place like we were. I told Susan what Ed, the former director of the University of Denver Bookstore, told me about the rodeo - "once is interesting, twice is a mistake," - and she is now a true believer. Perhaps everyone in attendance was seeing their first rodeo, and an entirely new crowd will show up next year. That would explain a lot.

It's My Birthday! I Am Old! What A Bummer...

Today is my 71st birthday, and I do not so much celebrate this day as wonder how the hell I got so old so quickly. Time really does move faster the older you get, and more and more I find myself reminiscing about "the good old days," a true sign of old foggy syndrome. Nonetheless, "just to be alive is a grand thing," as the aphorism in a fortune cookie I received at Pepper, my favorite Chinese restaurant here in Denver, wisely stated, and so we must all look forward, not backward. And, as is typical, I am ignoring that advice and looking backward, featuring a photograph of me when I was at my most charming best. It was taken years ago on a family vacation at Lake Wisconsin. I don't remember too much about it, except that the nearby town, Lodi, seemed kind of boring, and that the place we were staying at had a pet deer, complete with a bell around its neck, who wandered around the woods. The best part of the trip was that to get to the other side of Lake Wisconsin, you had to take what seemed to me to be a very rickety old ferry, which could only take a few cars at a time. To me, it was always a very exciting trip. And yesterday, I checked on Google Maps, and the Merrimack Lodi ferry is still there. They never built a bridge to replace it, like they have done in 99% of the rest of the country, which I think is just great. It is evidently an historic landmark, which I hope means they still use that same rickety old ferry I rode as a child. To me, that adds a sense of continuity to the modern world. What could be better than that?

My Sister Susan's Birthday

Today is my sister Susan's birthday, which we will be celebrating this evening at Grabowski's Pizzeria in nearby Lakewood, Colorado. Grabowski's serves the best Chicago thin crust pizza I have tasted since moving from Chicago to Denver. And speaking of Chicago, the photograph above was taken of Susan posing on the sidewalk in front of our house in the South Side Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago (these days you might face physical harm if you point a camera at her, so using an older photograph is probably for the best). I am not sure what the occasion was that she was dressed up for, but if it was to celebrate her graduation from Fort Dearborn Grammar School, it was taken back in 1955. And behind Susan is what might very well be my father Nelson's Nash automobile. If it is, that is one impressive looking car. And now that electric cars are becoming more mainstream, I would hope that some smart entrepreneur would think about making an electric version of that automobile (which I assume was quite a gas guzzler back then) and make a fortune. Especially if he or she could keep the cost close to it's original sticker price. That might involve an even greater technological innovation than Henry Ford's assembly line, but anything is possible, right? In any case, Happy Birthday Susan!

Spring Training Begins In Four Weeks! Really!

Hard to believe, but pitchers and catchers report to spring training sites in Arizona and Florida in a mere four weeks. This is a time of optimism for baseball fans, when every team has a chance to get to the World Series. This was the frame of mind I was in last year, when my South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, were thought to be a shoo-in to make the playoffs. I watched many of the spring training games on MLB.com, listening to the banter between White Sox announcers Steve Stone and Jason Benetti. But unfortunately, as soon as the regular season started, it became clear they were a very bad team, losing game after game, and finishing the season with over 100 losses. Before the start of last season, they lost all-start first baseman Jose Abreu to free agency, and this off-season all-star shortstop Tim Anderson. They even lost play-by-play guy Jason Benetti to Detroit. And so very few fans have hope for a winning season this year. But, of course, hopeless situations are not new for the White Sox - they are more or less the norm. As for their North Side rivals, the Chicago Cubs, they actually had a chance to make the playoffs last year, before going on a losing streak the last week of the season, and with new hot-shot manager Craig Counsell, they might actually have a chance this season (but not really, of course). They are the Cubs, after all.

Meanwhile, here in Denver, my adopted home team, the Colorado Rockies, also lost over 100 games last season for the first time in their history, but actually increased their attendance figures. People in Colorado will always attend games at Coors Field just to enjoy the beautiful ballpark, the views of the mountains from the stands, and, not least of all, the party deck on the third level, which allegedly serves $3 beers before game time (I have yet to personally verify that). Since the team consistently draws close to 3 million fans a year, no matter how they play, management has no incentive to actually put together a team that might be competitive, which would start by hiring front office people that actually know how to run a baseball team. These days, any money they spend is usually on questionable, often over-the-hill players, whom I will not name, such as Kris Bryant. The photograph on the right, by the way, shows what used to be the entrance to The Sandlot, a brewpub located inside Coors Field. Once upon a time, you could go there on non-game days, look out the windows at the field, and dream about Opening Day and the team's chances for the season. No need for anyone to do that these days, and so now they are open only to ticket holders on game days. Things just keep getting shittier, don't they?

Smart Phones Are A Major Hazard To The Unsmart

While Denver received only a few inches of snow yesterday, up in the Colorado mountains, the snowfall is being measured in feet, and strong winds have been creating blizzard conditions. This resulted in the closure of Interstate 70 in both directions on Monday, stranding travelers on both sides of the Continental Divide. Also, heavy snow caused an avalanche on Berthoud Pass, the main route between Denver and the Winter Park ski area, closing that road, too. But not to be deterred, many intrepid drivers are using map apps on their smart phones to find alternate routes to their destination, which mostly turn out to be dirt roads in desolate areas, covered in feet of snow. The Grand County Sheriff's Office is urging motorists to stop doing this, after having to rescue countless stranded cars. This is not, of course, just a Colorado thing. Humorist and travel writer Bill Bryson noted in his book, "The Road to Little Dribbling," that a couple visiting England used the map app on their phone to find a route to a nearby island, and wound up driving across a beach toward the open ocean. If they hadn't gotten stuck in the sand, they would have no doubt drove into the sea. Bryson mentioned that the couple were tourists from Texas. A lot of Texans also come to Colorado for the ski season, but I am sure there is no connection.

Watching Tottenham Play Manchester United With Mark

I visited my friend Mark yesterday morning to watch a soccer match between Tottenham and Manchester United, which ended in a 2-2 tie. The game was held at Old Trafford in Manchester, which has been "home ground" for Manchester United since 1910. However, Old Trafford was bombed back in 1941 by the Germans, and so the only part of Old Trafford that is actually old is the central tunnel. And after looking at that tunnel on the internet, I have to say it is not impressive. The rest of the place looks like any other modern stadium, as seen in the photograph above, showing Mark posing in front of the redeveloped East Stand, opened at the beginning of the 2000-2001 season. Mark is wearing his Tottenham jersey in the photo, which I strongly advise against doing if you are attending the game at a rival soccer team's stadium. Soccer fans in the UK are sensitive souls, and get a bit put out when people do that. In other words, run like hell. Mark, by the way, is still working at the University of Denver's Anderson Academic Commons (the library), and this past weekend was recovering from a busy first week of the Winter Quarter. Which is what I would have been doing, too, if I hadn't been laid off from the DU Bookstore by Follett Higher Education Group back in 2012. And after all these years, I am still not bitter about it. Not at all. No way.

A Tale Of Three Cities

It got down to 12 below zero here in Denver yesterday morning, and it was damn cold in the room where I sleep, despite the radiator running all night. I waited until it warmed up to a toasty minus 4 degrees outside before I got out of bed, and when I looked online at the front page of the Denver Post, it said that the real cold was still coming. Oh Joy! The photograph on the left, taken from the window of my condo, located across the street from the University of Denver, is very similar to ones I have used many times on this blog, but I don't care. I'll be damned if I am going outside and wander about looking for something original to shoot in this kind of cold. I guess I really am getting old. In any case, I checked online, and the Chicago area got between 5 to 12 inches of snow, and for a time, near blizzard conditions, as opposed to just a dusting here in Denver. The Arctic Cold Front we are experiencing here arrived in Chicago last night, and so it is nice that we all get to suffer together. 

Meanwhile, down in Stuart, Florida, where my sister Susan and I rent out the condo we inherited from our mother Mary, it is supposed to warm up to a high of 74 degrees, after a chilly start in the 60s. What is wrong with this picture? Perhaps we should insist on switching condos with our tenants during the winter months. I wonder how that would go over? The photograph on the right, by the way, is of the House of Refuge, a former life-saving station built in 1876 to rescue sailors who shipwrecked on the off-shore reefs. It is now a museum, and a very pleasant stroll along the ocean from Stuart Beach, where I wish I was at this very moment.

There Are Many Reasons To Return To Rome. ASAP!

I have recently been reading in various newspapers and travel magazines about ancient sites that have been opened or reopened to tourists in Rome. I mentioned in a previous blog post about how Largo di Torre Argentina, a square near Campo de' Fiori (one of my favorite spots in Rome) and the site of a number of ancient ruins, opened to visitors this past June after roughly 2,000 years. This is the place where Julius Caesar was assassinated, no less. And shortly after that, it was announced that Rome's "lost" imperial palace, Domus Tiberiana, located on the top of the Palatine Hill, has been reopened to tourists after a six-year restoration. This was the home of many of Rome's emperors, including Nero, who from all accounts was a really fun guy, especially after he was crowned emperor when he was 16 years old. Full of hijinks was that kid - kind of like a young Donald Trump. And, of course, there are new discoveries at Pompeii, including a Shrine of Serpents, naughty frescos in The House of Vetti, and a perfectly preserved ancient fast food restaurant (no frescos of Golden Arches found, surprisingly). Since one-third of Pompeii is still unexplored, I am sure there will be even more discoveries soon. And best of all, there is a new high-speed train that will take you to Pompeii in less than two hours. But only on Sundays, for some reason. Let's face it, the Italians are weird. The photograph above, by the way, I took of the Parthenon back in the spring of 2018 when my sister Susan and I visited Rome. The Parthenon was never undiscovered, since when Rome fell, the barbarians (i.e. Germans) left it intact because it was a church. And still is. You see, even barbarians have some scruples. Unlike Donald Trump.

What Three Million Will Get You In Denver

I often take walks in Denver's Washington Park, and when I do, I often pass by the house at 800 South Franklin, as seen in the photograph on the left.  Built in 1890, it was in the news a while ago because the person who bought it wanted to tear it down and replace it with new construction. Since it is the oldest house bordering Washington Park, there was a bit of an outcry about it. I never heard what happened, but recently saw a sign out front announcing that it is back on the market. It is located right across the street from the park, on the east side, with a view of the mountains in the distance. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and is 2,359 square feet in size. I looked at the interior photos on Redfin, and it does indeed look like a very nice home. The asking price, however, is $2,995,000. 

Now to me, that seems a bit excessive. In last month's Chicago Magazine, the Listing of the Month in the 312 Section of the magazine featured "The President's Mansion," located in Evanston, Illinois, and built by Evanston's inaugural village president back in 1874. It has 7 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths, is close to 10,000 square feet, and sits on a 3/4 acre lot. It also features fireplaces in all the public rooms, as well as the master bedroom, and is a mere 6 blocks away from the Davis Street Metra Station. It is currently for sale, with an asking price of 1.899 million. Of course, both places are well out of my league, but I have to ask if living across from Denver's Washington Park is worth 1 million more than a mansion in Evanston. If I was in the market, I would definitely choose the President's House in Evanston, and when I entertained the old University of Denver Bookstore gang, I would simply fly them by private jet to Chicago and put them up in those 7 bedrooms. That's what you can do with an extra million in your pocket. As for the view from that house on South Franklin, and quoting my father Nelson after a visit to Colorado, "If you've seen one mountain, you've seen them all."

More On The National Western Stock Show

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I went to the National Western Stock Show Tuesday afternoon to wander around and take a few photographs. Although Tuesday was a free day, I usually just buy a grounds ticket when I do have to pay. One year, there was some kind of deal which included a rodeo, and I duly attended. But as Ed, my old DU Bookstore boss told me years ago, "once is interesting, twice is a mistake." It is a family affair for the exhibitors at the stock show, and there are a lot of junior livestock competitions to encourage youth to go into agriculture. I took the photograph on the left at the end of one such competition, which shows two young girls waiting with their animals to have their official stock show photograph taken.

The best part of the show, in my opinion, is the petting zoo, which features lots of baby animals - and a few older ones, too - milling around in an enclosed compound. At the entrance, they sell food you can feed to the animals, and all of those creatures make a bull's-eye for the people just walking in to see if they can get a snack, such as in the photograph on the right. Tuesday afternoon that compound was filled with kids, their parents, and a lot of animals walking around, which was very impressive for a weekday, even if it was free admission.

Kids just love the petting zoo, and race around the place chasing all the animals. I think their parents get a kick out of it, too. I couldn't help but notice that there were two small fenced-off pens on either side of the compound called "resting areas," where the animals could lay down and take a break from the non-stop attention. 

And so, after a visit to the petting zoo, I decided to head home before the rush hour traffic got too bad. I really enjoy visiting the National Western. To the farmers, ranchers, and their families who attend this event, it is probably the highlight of the year for them. And for visitors, it is really nice to see that there is still a rural lifestyle out there that in many ways has not fundamentally changed over the years. A much harder effort to survive than it used to be, I imagine, but from observing all the exhibitors, very much worth it.

The National Western Stock Show!

I went to the Denver Coliseum yesterday afternoon to see the National Western Stock Show. It runs for 16 days and has been held every year here in Denver since 1906. I chose yesterday because the weather was fairly pleasant and also, not insignificantly, it was a free day. And as regular blog readers know, free is my favorite price point. I pretty much skipped all the vendor booths and food items and headed to the petting zoo to take some photographs. Then, down to the barn area, where there are cattle, sheep, goats, as well as other kinds of farm animals. I took the photograph on the left at the petting zoo, which was crowded with baby animals and about a million young children trying to feed and pet them.

The cattle barn was very busy, with everyone grooming their animals, leading them by rope to different areas, and even taking them for a shower. I was especially fascinated by people vacuuming their cows, as seen in the photograph on the right. Hopefully, they don't have to do that back on the ranch. It would take a lot of time, and require a very long extension cord.

The longhorn in the photograph on the left was being taken to a shower, and did not seem very enthusiastic about it, either. These animals are huge, and are kept in a special area of the barn for people to admire. In previous years, I have seen these animals taken upstairs for children to be photographed sitting on them, but not this year, although I have to admit I did not look very hard. The main floor where they have the trade fair is huge, and it is very easy to get lost among the many very weird items for sale. When I want to leave, I head outside and walk around the building to get to my car, saving 2 or 3 hours of retail hell.

The goats in the Junior Livestock Barn were all wearing masks for some reason. I have to wonder if there has been an uptick in Goat Covid lately? Happily, the goats and other animals in the petting zoo were all unmasked, despite the large number of people milling about in a pretty small space. The goat in the photograph on the right was very willing to have its photo taken. They were selling food at the entrance to feed the animals, and every one of those animals expected you to feed them. One even jumped up and put its front legs on my chest, no doubt demanding a few Pringles or whatever it is they eat. It was a fun day, and very interesting to see people who live such a different lifestyle from the rest of us. A way of life that we think is long gone, but happily, still exists.

Bookstores In Boulder Are Booming!

Bookstores in many cities are struggling to compete with Amazon and other online competitors, but in Boulder, Colorado they seem to be thriving. I recently visited the Boulder Bookstore on the Pearl Street Mall, and it was packed with customers. On a weekday afternoon, no less. This store has a huge bargain book section on the second floor, and there is always something there that I can't resist buying. Being a university town with a student population of almost 37,000, as well as many staff and faculty, provides a huge market for them. Plus, it's location on the Pearl Street Mall guarantees a steady stream of tourists and locals who enjoy shopping in such an attractive setting.

Another great bookstore is Trident, located on West Pearl Street, a block or so away from the mall. I have been visiting this place since I first moved to Colorado back in 1981. The store consists of two rooms - one full of books, and the other a coffee shop. It is a popular hangout for Boulderites, and often it is impossible to find a table. A lot of students spend hours on their laptops there, while sipping their coffee. And as you can see from the photograph on the right, the location could not be more picturesque. Once patrons finally leave, I suspect they head up into the nearby Flatirons to get their daily exercise, before heading to the bars for happy hour. You can't beat that Boulder lifestyle. Especially if you don't have to work for a living.

The Winter Quarter Begins At The University Of Denver

The Winter Quarter begins today at the University of Denver. I took the photograph above yesterday afternoon, showing a deserted campus, but it will be much more lively starting today. I always pay attention to such things, since I worked as the Finance Manager of the DU Bookstore for almost 30 years. Preparing for the first day of classes was a big deal for us, what with the receiving of textbooks, stocking them on the shelves, hiring temporary cashiers, putting together schedules to make sure all the cash registers were operating during peak periods, as well as many other tasks. The bookstore was outsourced by the university to Follett Higher Education Group in 2012, and the staff was kept on for a minimum of one year. During that year, I was not impressed with the company at all, and several years ago, Follett Higher Education Group was sold to a private investment group. I have no idea what it is like working there now, but whenever I walk past the bookstore, the place looks deserted. But in any case, it is good to see the students back on campus. They lend a vibrancy to the neighborhood that is lacking when they are gone. Perhaps DU should institute year-round classes, with no Christmas or summer breaks. It would really help both the DU Bookstore and the surrounding neighborhood, as well. What do you say, guys? Great idea, right?

Getting Nostalgic About Stuart, Florida

I have been thinking more and more about Stuart, Florida lately, as the weather turns cooler here in Denver. It is not terribly cold, at least not yet, but just enough to make a person miss hanging out along the water in a much warmer climate. My sister Susan and I would often visit our mother Mary down in Stuart, where she lived for almost 30 years. It is a beautiful place, with a quaint downtown and lots of beaches, not to mention many waterfront restaurants. Sadly, Jack Baker's Lobster Shanty and the marina it overlooked, where I took the photograph above of Susan and my mother in August of 1995, were destroyed by a hurricane in 2004. Hurricanes, of course, are the major downside of living in Florida. And these days, the insurance industry is raising the cost of property insurance so much that many people can no longer afford to live there. It would be nice if the State of Florida would do something to help lower those costs, but the governor, Ron DeSantis, is too busy running for president and fighting the evil empire that is Walt Disney to do anything about it. Everyone has their priorities, right? Perhaps he is hoping Donald Trump will be priced out of Mar-a-Lago. That'll fix him.

Epiphany!

Today is Epiphany, the 12th day of Christmas, the day the three wise men arrived in Bethlehem. It is also the last day you can leave your Christmas tree up and not be considered a bit of an eccentric (i.e. crazy) by your friends, family, and neighbors. I myself don't worry about that, since they all think I'm crazy already. But I digress. Epiphany is a national holiday in Italy, and celebrated all over the rest of Europe, too. Here in the United States, down in Louisiana, Epiphany marks the beginning of the Carnival season, culminating in Mardi Gras. Here in Colorado, in Manitou Springs - one of my favorite small towns - they celebrate Epiphany with the Great Fruitcake Toss, where fruitcakes are thrown by participants dressed as kings, fools, and a variety of other characters. Of course, January 6th is now famous (or more correctly, infamous) as the anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Down in Florida, an event featuring everyone's favorite wacko congressperson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, was scheduled to take place at a Florida resort to commemorate the "3rd Anniversary of January 6th," but was canceled by Westgate Resorts in Kissimmee when they found out what the event was really celebrating. They probably originally thought it was all about tossing fruitcakes, instead of a gathering of people nutty as fruitcakes.

The 2024 National Western Stock Show Parade

I took the light rail train down to Denver's Union Station yesterday morning to photograph the National Western Stock Show Parade, which marks the beginning of the National Western Stock Show, held every year at the Denver Coliseum. The crowd was already huge when I arrived, many wearing cowboy hats and western clothing, proving once again that Denver still is a cowtown at heart, at least during the show's 16 day run. The most popular part of the parade is at the begining, when cowboys on horseback herd longhorn cattle through the downtown Denver streets. I arrived at 17th and Wynkoop, where the event starts, and staked out what I thought was the perfect spot for a good photo. Until the parade started, and a police "ranger," whatever the hell that is, stood on the street directly in front of me, blocking my view. I did manage to get a single photo showing part of the longhorn action, and through massive cropping using Photoshop, wound up with the photograph above. Next year, I plan to wear my fake Chicago Daily News (out of business since 1978) press credentials around my neck and stand in the middle of 17th Street, directly in front of those longhorns, and take the perfect shot. What could possibly go wrong?

Perusing A Very Weird Edition Of Chicago Magazine

I went through the January issue of Chicago Magazine yesterday afternoon, and I must say, most of it struck me as pretty damn weird. The cover story was a list of the top 1,398 physicians in Cook County, divided by specialty. No article, just the list. And why that particular number of doctors? Did two of them lose their malpractice lawsuits just before press time? Then there was an article by the writer trying to find the person who was putting the graffiti tag "Mr. Mr. Fungi" in large block letters all over Chicago. She searched for him via social media, of course, finally arranging a meeting at a North Side coffee shop. And interviews a kid, on probation, discussing a rather boring lifestyle that to me produces not art, but simply defacement of property. Then there was a long article by an author who "wanted a Japanese-style kitchen knife made by hand," and found the process both artistic and magical. Seriously? Finally, I checked out "The Hot List: 10 places everyone's talking about (in order of heat)." As usual, a good 7 out of 10 of those restaurants featured food I would not touch, even if a gun was pointed at my head. But I was especially disturbed about a "mole whisperer" chef whose restaurant is famous for mole. What? Chicago's gourmet diners are now chowing down on small, brown, underground-dwelling mammals? I know they are all crazy (the Chicago gourmets), but this seemed too extreme even for them. I checked on the internet, and learned that mole (pronounced "MO-lay) is a traditional Mexican sauce, which I assume the authors of the article thought everyone not a total idiot would know. It probably tastes horrible, too. Otherwise, why would it be on The Hot List?

The 2024 CTA Historical Calendar is Here!

The 2024 Chicago Transit Authority Historical Calendar is here, ready to be downloaded onto your computer. This is an annual calendar put out by the CTA that features photographs of 'L' trains, buses, streetcars, and stations throughout Chicago. And unlike last year, most of the photographs are black and white images showing the Chicago of a bygone era, such as the one above, selected for the month of November. It shows a Chicago Surface Lines streetcar passing under the Douglas Park 'L' at Lawndale. Although there are notes giving details about each photograph, the year this particular photo was taken was not mentioned. The Chicago Surface Lines was the predecessor of the CTA, and the operator of the city's transit lines between 1913 and 1947. Definitely before my time. As for my sister Susan, no comment. Download the calendar now at https://www.transitchicago.com/historicalcalendar/.

The Heartbreak Of Missing The New Year's Gatsby White Rose Gala

I have never heard of the New Year's White Rose Gala, but ran across an advertisement for it on the internet this past Sunday afternoon, just a few hours before it was to begin. Evidently, it is wildly popular, a sellout for the past 20 years, welcoming 1,200 guests. This year, it was taking place at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Denver, featuring a Great Gatsby/Roaring 20s theme. I saw in the write-up that you could buy early bird general admission tickets for $75 plus fees, but those tickets were all sold out. However, the write-up also states that without a VIP ticket, your were "only skimming the surface of the party." The VIP tickets allowed access to the Speakeasy Dance Club and a high-end Casino, areas of "privilege and exclusivity." Sounds like mixing with that crowd would be loads of fun. Of course, most corporations, as well as colleges and universities, pledge to advance the opposite of those two selling points. I planned to ask my fellow partygoers about that if I attended, but unfortunately, all those VIP tickets ($149 plus fees) were also sold out. However, if you really wanted to go, you could still purchase last minute VIP tickets at $299. Of course, tables, at a cost of $149, were all sold out, meaning you would have to stand the entire evening. Also, elegant attire was required, preferably Roaring 20s themed. If my sister Susan and I were to attend, and feel that air of "privilege and exclusivity," we would not only have to shell out $600 for tickets (plus fees), but find a flapper outfit for Susan and a tux for me in just a few hours. On a Sunday, no less. And from what I could tell, there was no complementary food or an open bar at the event, and so we decided to pass. Disappointing, but perhaps we'll buy those early bird VIP tickets next year. I really want to see who the hell attends these things. Now THAT would be entertaining.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2024 Everyone! Last night people all over the world rang in the New Year with fireworks, and here in the U.S. a record number of couples scrambled to get married on New Year's Eve, making sure their wedding would be on 1-2-3-1-2-3, no doubt so they will not have trouble remembering the date of their anniversary. Makes perfect sense to me. In Denver, there were fireworks on the 16th Street Mall at both 9:00 P.M. and midnight. In years past, I have sometimes attended this event, which lasts only about 8 minutes, and because of the size of the crowd, several times I could not get to a place where I could even see the fireworks. All this before the 16th Street Mall was torn up for a major renovation. It must have been very cozy indeed down there last night.  Which no doubt helped keep everybody warm in the freezing cold. Do I sound like an old curmudgeon talking, or what? Needless to say, my sister Susan and I decided to skip the fireworks this year and have an early dinner at the Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom in suburban Lakewood. The photograph above, by the way, was taken many years ago of my mother Mary (on the left) and her cousin Marie (on the right) at Marie and her husband Ed's home in Evergreen Park, not far from Chicago's South Side Brainerd neighborhood, where I grew up. I suspect they skipped the fireworks that year, too. Happy New Year Everyone!