Christmas Eve In Denver

Today is Christmas Eve, and here in Denver we are having record heat and no snow whatsoever. In the mountains, things are not much better, and the ski resorts are getting worried. But still, there are Christmas lights everywhere, especially in downtown Denver, and so it still feels a lot like Christmas, as that song that is played over and over in the stores this time of year goes. And by the way, the photograph on the left is of Union Station, which opened in 1881, was rebuilt in 1914, and in 2014 was renovated into a shopping and dining destination, as well as a transportation hub, with a huge Christmas in the center every year.

Another Christmassy spot is the annual Denver Christkindlmarket, "an authentic, German-style holiday market" that was open November 21st through December 23rd this year. My sister Susan, the other Susan (our friend from the 10th floor of our condo building) and I went there yesterday afternoon and checked that market out. The other Susan was impressed with the wooden huts the vendors use to sell gifts and traditional German foods, which could be eaten outdoors or brought into the heated Festival Hall, which resembles a traditional German beer garden, complete with German music I associate more with Oktoberfest than a Christmas market. But regardless, everyone seemed to having fun. Instead of its traditional location in Civic Center Park, this year the festival was held at the Tivoli Quad on the Auraria Campus, just across Speer Boulevard from downtown, where I took the photograph on the right.

And of course, at the end of the day, kids go to bed hoping for a visit from Santa, while I go to bed wondering if I will once again be visited by those damn three spirits, trying to get me to change my miserly behavior, which up to now has not worked. The photograph on the left shows me in my night attire interacting with Marley down in hell, no doubt taken by a security camera last Christmas Eve. Hopefully this year they will finally give up and let me get a good night's rest.