Happy Labor Day!

Today is Labor Day, which in Colorado often means a day hiking in the mountains. Years ago, when I was still married to my ex-wife Lisa, we used to go hiking on both Memorial Day and Labor Day in Rocky Mountain National Park, along with my sister Susan and late brother-in-law George. Memorial Day the higher trails were still covered in snow, which made it a bit tricky, but Labor Day was usually hot and sunny and dry. Another great place to hike was the Flatirons up in Boulder. You could leave your car at Chautauqua Park and hike up various trails that would take you to the top of those sheer-faced cliffs. That is where the photograph above was taken, although I don't think it was on Labor Day. Lisa and I had a friend who was a Catholic priest that we called Father Bob, and on that particular day he and a parishioner named Linda joined us on a hike there. In the photo are Susan and George in back and Bob and Linda in the front. I don't know why Lisa wasn't in the photo. These days I could always photoshop her in, but why bother now? George once mentioned to us that Bob and Linda must be dating, but my sister said she was just a devoted church member. Later on, Bob left the priesthood and married Linda, and so I guess Geroge was right all along. In any case, they moved to Phoenix, and I never heard from them again. Though the magic of the information superhighway (and why does nobody call it that anymore?) I found out Bob was teaching at a university in the Denver area. I sent him an e-mail, but never heard back. I suspect he just didn't want to revisit the past, which, of course, I understand. It was almost 40 years ago, after all. I did recently find out that Bob is now retired, and I suddenly realized he has become an old guy, just like me, and not the same as he was in that photo anymore. Time definitely moves much faster the older you get. I think Einstein said that, the more I think about it.