The Summer Solstice - Tomorrow At 2:24 A.M. Denver Time!

Tomorrow is the Summer Solstice. In England, the grounds at Stonehenge are open to the public on both the Summer and Winter Solstices. Tonight the gates to Stonehenge will be opened at 7:00 P.M., sunset will occur at 9:26, and sunrise will occur on Sunday at 4:52 A.M. During that time, Modern Day Druids will have the run of the place, performing their various rituals and chants. Here in Denver, Druids keep a pretty low profile, although I believe they conduct their ceremonies in front of Monkey Island in Denver's Washington Park, as seen in the photograph above. Monkey Island is where the hippies used to gather during the 1960s, and according to an article in the now defunct Washington Park Profile, the ghost of a young girl who disappeared from there back then still roams the island at night. In any case, it is important to remember that the original Druids used to practice human sacrifice, usually by drowning, hanging, or burning. And do modern day Druids follow the same religious rituals as their forebearers? I don't know, but what I do know is that the Summer Solstice here in Denver will take place at 2:24 A.M. tomorrow, and I strongly suggest that everyone get the hell out of Washington Park by midnight at the latest. Better safe than sorry, after all.

World Cup Fever!

My friend Mark and I got together at his house yesterday morning to watch Czechia play South Africa in a World Cup match that took place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The game was pretty boring, I'm afraid, with little action, and ended in a 1-1 tie. I checked on the internet, and prices for the game were fairly reasonable for a World Cup match, going for a median price of $460, meaning that a fan going to the game in person only had to shell out approximately $500 to watch a bad soccer game. World Cup Fever is hitting North America pretty hard, especially here in the U.S. But the main cause of this malady is not the mad desire to attend these soccer matches, but the high price of tickets to World Cup games people actually want to watch. Tickets to today's game between the United States and Australia, being played in Seattle, are currently going for $2,000 and up in the nosebleed sections and $3,000, $4,000, and even $5,000 each closer to the ground. Which is crazy. This is all due to the invention of "dynamic pricing," in which higher prices are charged depending on the demand for tickets. This wonderful system is why you have to pay $100 for an Opening Day ticket to watch the Colorado Rockies at Denver's Coors Field that will cost $30 the next day. No wonder fans are coming down with fever. And yes, the photograph above is of Mark in front of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, teleported there through the magic of Photoshop. Which is far more interesting than being teleported to a Waffle House, as a high-ranking Trump Administration official claims happened to him. Nothing but the best and brightest for that regime.

Baby Goat Night At New Terrain Brewing Company

Last night was Baby Goat Night at New Terrain Brewing Company, located up in Golden, Colorado, and my sister Susan and I decided to head up there and check it out.  This event is extremely popular - the only available parking space was blocks away, and every table was taken, although we were able to snag a couple of stools and use the ledge of a window to set our drinks on. The baby goats were provided by a company called Guided Goat Hikes, which provides goats for Baby Goat Yoga (where you let the goats crawl all over you as you do your yoga routine), Baby Goat Happy Hour, like at New Terrain, and yes - hikes in the mountains with goats tagging along.

The baby goats at New Terrain were kept in a small, fenced-in area, and small groups of people were allowed in for a set amount of time to get up close and personal with them, including the young girl in the photograph on the right. We arrived around 5:30, and the line to get into that goat pen was pretty damn long. Happily, I was able to just stand by the fence and take photographs from there, which worked out pretty well, although in such a small space, it proved difficult getting good photos of those goats with all those people picking them up all the time. But no matter - all you have to do is take about 500 shots and usually three or four will turn out well.

Left to their own devices, these baby goats are quite entertaining, often jumping up on tables and crates and things, such as in the photograph on the left. But the only chance to take photos like this is when one group leaves and the other comes in, which is not a lot of time. But no matter. I can always take a guided goat hike if I want more photo opportunities.

New Terrain's website states that while the baby goats are in the fenced area, small Nigerian Dwarf adult goats will be walking around the beer garden. I don't know for sure if those are what the goats in the photograph on the right are, but they were the only ones I saw walking around the beer garden, so perhaps they are, although they look like regular old goats to me. But what do I know? In any case, Baby Goat Night at New Terrain is a quarterly event. The first took place on May 13th, the second was last night, and the next two take place on August 5th and September 9th between 5:00 and 8:00 P.M. There are food trucks if people get hungry, and, of course, New Terrain's beer, which is very good. It is definitely worth checking out, although unless you arrive very early, you will need to go on a bit of a hike to find parking. It is a shame they don't provide a few extra goats to accompany you on that hike. You could let off the rest of your party at the entrance to New Terrain, load a couple of goats into the back seat, find that elusive parking spot, and then hike up the hill back to New Terrain and drop off those goats for the next arrival. Just a suggestion.

Discussing The DU Budget Crisis With Stuart At Spanky's Roadhouse

Yesterday afternoon I had a late lunch with my friend Stuart, seen in the photograph above, at Spanky's Roadhouse, located just to the west of the University of Denver campus in South Central Denver. I was surprised to learn that Stuart, a DU alumnus like me, had not heard about the major restructuring and budget cuts that are taking place at DU. The university was facing a $30 million budget shortfall this past fiscal year, mostly due to the decline in the college age population and in the number of international students. They made up the shortfall by not filling vacant positions, cutting expenses, and making up the remaining difference using endowment funds. The university's board of trustees approved a balanced budget for fiscal 2027 last week, but in addition to cutting expenses and not filling vacant positions, the university will also consolidate five of its schools into two and eliminate five of its academic departments. This will require, according to Chancellor Jeremy Haefner, "some rightsizing of our employees." Interestingly enough, Stuart, who has a master's degree in international studies from DU's Josef Korbel School of International Studies, received an e-mail announcement from the dean of that school yesterday morning announcing that three faculty members would be leaving. It appears DU is wasting no time in rightsizing those employees. I suggested to Stuart that now is the time to make that big donation to his alma mater, but he did not seem enthusiastic about the idea. And no, I myself will not be making a donation to them anytime soon, either. I did work for DU for almost 30 years before getting "retired" (i.e. laid off) after the DU Bookstore was outsourced, and so I consider that to be my donation. You're welcome.

The Chicago White Sox Are The Real Deal - I Think

I know it is only mid-June, but my South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, are actually playing great baseball and are currently tied for first place with the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central Division, sporting a 38 and 32 record. Granted, the AL Central is a weak division, but that means the Sox actually have a chance to make the playoffs after losing over 100 games the past three years, including setting the record for the worst team in the history of Major League Baseball in 2024 with 121 losses. In their last homestand, the Sox have taken the series against both the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers, who are currently the two best teams in baseball, which is no mean feat. And best of all, the crowds have returned to Rate Field, cheering their team on to victory. And as you can tell from the photograph above, White Sox television announcers Steve Stone, on the left, and John Schriffen, on the right, are definitely enjoying their time at the ballpark these days. They finally are calling games that actually matter. And will it last? Will the Sox continue their winning ways? I certainly hope so, but no matter what, the Sox have finally put together a good team, which bodes well for the future. And they are doing all this without their star player, Munetaka Murakami, the "Japanese Babe Ruth," who is currently on the IL (injured list). When he comes back, the sky's the limit.

The 50th Annual Parker Days Festival

Yesterday afternoon my sister Susan and I drove out to Parker, Colorado, located 23 miles southeast of Denver, for the 50th Annual Parker Days Festival. To tell the truth, I never heard of Parker Days until this past week, when I saw an item in the paper about it taking place this past weekend. I have driven through Parker maybe twice in my live, and my opinion always was that Parker consisted of one downtown block containing a few historic buildings, surrounded by thousands of suburban housing developments. I couldn't have been more wrong. Parker is, in point of fact, two downtown blocks containing a few historic buildings, surrounded by thousands of suburban housing developments. But the festival was actually quite impressive, and much larger than I thought it would be.

This event is described on the Parker Days website as a family festival with music on 4 stages, 200 marketplace booths, over 25 food vendors, over 50 carnival rides, and many activities for kids. And I must say, this festival reminded me of a county fair, minus all the farm animals. This area is very popular with young families looking for a place where they can afford a home with a nice backyard and which has good schools, which probably explains why there were so many booths selling home improvement items and services. Those 200 marketplace booths filled 2 blocks on Main Street and all of adjacent O'Brien Park. Not being familiar with Parker, I missed the turnoff for downtown, but happily, wound up on the other side of town at the Pace Center, which is where festival goers were advised to park. Since there was a very large crowd attending the festival, I wound up driving around the Pace Center's parking lot three times without finding a parking space. Then I looked up and saw the Pace Center Parking Garage right across the street, where I immediately found a spot. Next time I'll know. 

This festival was very popular with kids, who were taking full advantage of all the kid friendly activities, including the carnival rides. Face painting seemed especially popular. Hopefully the paint is removable, and they will not need to consult a specialist to remove that paint in later years. As I mentioned before, this festival was very well attended, and it was fun to walk around checking out all those booths and doing a bit of peoplewatching. The downtown area was very pleasant, and there were a number of historic buildings along Main Street. My only complaint is that although you could tell those buildings were from the 19th Century, there were no plaques on them telling their history, or even the date they were constructed. The only way to know would be to do research on the internet before you went there. In any case, Susan enjoyed the festival, too, and said she thought Parker was a nice little town, but she wouldn't want to live there. I'll second that.

Graduation Day At The University of Denver

Yesterday was graduation day for undergraduate students at the University of Denver. This was an important day for the DU Bookstore when I worked there as the Finance Manager, before it was outsourced to Follett Higher Education Group. The gift and clothing buyer and her staff would bring tables of gift and clothing items to the Ritchie Center, where the ceremonies take place, and sell a lot of merchandise.  Meanwhile, back at the bookstore on this day, when it was part of DU, the place was filled with students selling back their books and returning rentals. After the ceremonies, parents and their children would fill the bookstore picking out last minute items to take home. And then, by about 1:00 in the afternoon, all those customers would leave, and the store was virtually deserted except for staff for the next two and a half months. Things are much different these days. Last year I went into the Ritchie Center on graduation day, and there was no sign of the Follett-run bookstore at all. National bookstore chains do not seem as interested in going the extra mile to increase sales as institutionally owned stores are, which is not a big surprise. And instead of two graduation ceremonies, one for graduate students on Friday and one for undergraduates on Saturday, each commencement is now split into a morning and evening session, reducing the number of students by half at each ceremony. Which is a good thing, since instead of just bounding up the stairway and entering the auditorium, everyone attending the ceremony now has to line up single file and undergo security screening, including a metal detector, which takes a lot more time. And as for the bookstore, I discovered that these days many if not most students access their books online, eliminating the need to come into the bookstore to buy textbooks and sell them back at the end of the term, resulting in a lot less foot traffic. On the bright side, since these days the DU Bookstore seems to be empty of customers most of the time, the staff probably doesn't even notice a difference once the students leave for home at the end of the school year. Just the same-old same-old every day. An entirely different world in just 15 years. Regardless of that, congratulations to the Class of 2026.

Talking About Cubs Fans...

There was an article in the Denver Post this past Wednesday by sportswriter Patrick Saunders about how Cubs fans turn Coors Field into Wrigley Field West whenever the Chicago Cubs come to Denver to play the Colorado Rockies. It is believed that there are over 100,000 transplants from Illinois in Colorado, and Saunders interviewed a number of them for his article, including Skip Perry, who with his wife Paula own Wrigley's Chicago Bar and Grill in Golden, Colorado. Perry is originally from the Chicago suburb of Waukegan, while his wife is from Arvada, just to the north of Denver. They have run Wrigley's since 2008, and it is quite the Cubs fan hangout. After the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, 750 fans poured into their bar, which at the time had space for 400. Years ago, Skip and Paula would charter a bus and take 75 Cubs fans to Coors Field whenever the Cubs were in town, but decided to phase that out when rounding up those 75 fans after the game began to get problematic. In any case, I drove to Golden to check out that bar and grill yesterday. It is located on West Colfax Avenue, right up against the foothills, as seen in the photograph on the left.

I stopped in around 2:30 on Friday afternoon and found that every space in the parking lot had been taken. Now THAT is impressive. Fortunately, they have additional parking across West Colfax, which is where I and a number of others found spaces. I took the photograph on the right of their outdoor patio, which seems very nice indeed. I also looked in at the main dining room, which is equally very pleasant. I definitely have to suggest to my friend Stuart, who is originally from Lincolnwood (a northside Chicago suburb) and a devoted Cubs fan that we take a break from the Old Chicago in Lakewood the next time we have lunch, go to Wrigley's instead, and catch part of a Cubs game. I will definitely make sure to wear my Chicago White Sox cap.

Watching The Cubs Avoid A Sweep At Coors Field With Susan And Mark

I went to Denver's Coors Field with my sister Susan and friend Mark, seen in the photograph on the left, yesterday afternoon to watch the final game of the series between the Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies. The Rockies took the first two games, and were hoping for a sweep of the series, but alas, it was not to be. They lost to the Cubs 9-3. Rockies starting pitcher Ryan Feltner set the Cubs down in order the first three innings, but in the 4th gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases and then a grand slam home run to Seiya Suzuki. Relief pitcher Blas Castano gave up a two-run homer to Alex Bregman in the 7th, and the damage was done.

The Cubs have been struggling a bit lately, going 3 and 7 over the past 10 games, and I suspect Cubs fans would not have been happy if they were swept by the team currently sporting the worst record in baseball. There were 35,128 in attendance at yesterday's game, and almost all of them were Cubs fans. Coor's Field is known as Wrigley Field West whenever the Cubs play the Rockies, to the great annoyance of the Rockies' manager Warren Schaeffer and Rockies players. But let's face it - well over half the population of Colorado are transplants, and many of them come from Chicago. What do you expect? At least they didn't play Steve Goodman's "Go, Cubs, Go" over the loudspeakers after the Cubs victory. Thank heaven for small favors. And yes, that is indeed the Cubs in the photograph on the right celebrating their win yesterday afternoon as they headed to the dugout and moved above .500 in the standings.

Big Changes Are Coming For The University Of Denver

Today is the last day of finals at the University of Denver, and graduation ceremonies take place this Friday and Saturday. Things seemed pretty normal as I walked across the campus yesterday afternoon, but big changes are coming. Earlier this spring DU announced that it was dealing with a 20-to-30-million-dollar budget shortfall. Much of this is due to reductions in the number of international students, the overall decline in the number of college age students, and the Trump administration's funding cuts. DU has stated that it will be able to balance the 2027 fiscal budget by reducing expenses and leaving vacant jobs unfilled. Plus, over the past two years, 10% of DU staff and faculty have accepted buyouts as the university has cut staff. DU has gone from an enrollment of 14,130 in the fall of 2021 to 11,499 in the fall of 2025. And so yesterday, in order to deal with this trend, DU announced that there will be a major academic restructuring that will involve closing and merging departments and closing schools. This will, of course, result in more jobs being eliminated, but DU did not give out any specifics.

I take a special interest in all of this because I worked as the Finance Manager at the DU Bookstore for almost 30 years before the store was outsourced to Follett Higher Education Group and all bookstore staff were laid off. In my case, I "retired," but with the same result. It now appears quite a few DU employees will be experiencing the same fate. Of course, this financial crisis has not stopped DU from buying The Cable Center, a cable museum and event space located on campus, for 19.5 million, and constructing the STEM Horizon Building, an 80,000 square foot facility for 112 million. Private colleges and universities across the county are dealing with major challenges, and a recent survey has predicted that 442 out of the nation's 1,700 private institutions could close in the next decade. However, Chancellor Jeremy Haefner has stated that DU is not in that group in trouble of surviving, since it has an endowment of around $1 billion. Not much comfort for those who will be going through what Haefner calls "some rightsizing of our employees." And by the way, I took the photograph above of Driscoll South, where the DU Bookstore is located and I spent those nearly 30 years, from directly across the street in the University of Denver Community Commons, which became fully operational in 2021 and cost $54 million. 

Beholding A Bevy Of Beautiful Bison At Genesee Park

I was driving past Genesee Park on Interstate 70 a few days ago, about 20 miles west of Denver, and noticed that the buffalo herd managed by Denver Parks and Recreation was out and about and very close to the fence that surrounds them, as seen in the photograph above, making for a perfect opportunity to take a few photographs. Denver maintains two bison herds, one at Genesee Park and the other at Daniel's Park in Sedalia, south of the city near Castle Pines, Colorado. These herds are descendants of the last wild bison in North America. When Europeans first arrived in North America, there were 30 million bison, but by the 1880s they had been nearly wiped out. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were only about 1,000 left. To try and save the species, a herd was established in 1908 at Denver's City Park by the Denver Zoo and the City of Denver.

The 18 bison at the Denver Zoo in 1908 were all that remained in Colorado. They were moved to Genesee Park, operated by Denver Mountain Parks, in 1914, and a second herd was established at Daniel's Park in 1938. Happily, there are now estimated to be 500,000 bison in North America today. Beginning in April 2021, the City and County of Denver began donating surplus bison to the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Tribes in order to help return wild bison to their native homes and tribal lands. While I was at Genesee Park, I noticed that there were a fair number of calves there, helping to increase the herd's numbers, such as the two in the photograph on the left.

As you can imagine, I was not the only person who was there observing the herd. When I drove into the parking lot, I saw a large number of children around a picnic table, who turned out to be part of an outing sponsored by the Denver Mountain Parks Foundation, getting ready to view the bison. And as I was walking back up the trail to the car, a large group of tourists passed me by, also heading to view the bison. There were three vans from three different sightseeing companies in the parking lot as I was leaving, which means tourist season is now in full swing in Colorado. And by the way, it was only this year that I discovered how to get to this particular bison viewing area. After passing by what looked like a road leading to a parking lot near the bison compound over a period of months as I drove west on I-70, I finally got off at the Chief Hosa exit, turned left onto Genesee Drive, took another left on Genesee Lane, and drove one mile to the parking lot and the Patrick House Trailhead, which is where the buffalo - I mean bison - roam. Of course, bison are native to North America, while buffalo are native to Africa. The song Home Home on the Range should go "Oh, give me a home where the bison roam," not buffalo. I would talk to someone about this, but have no idea who to contact.

The June Mutt Of The Month

I took the photograph above of the June Mutt of the Month up in Boulder, Colorado a few weeks ago. It was standing on a corner a block north of the Pearl Street Mall, waiting to cross the street with its owner. And as you can see, it was more than happy to pose for a portrait, smiling happily for the camera. And why not? It lives in Boulder, after all, a veritable paradise for both people and animals. Speaking of the Pearl Street Mall, I always find it amusing to see so many dogs there, despite the "no paws on the bricks" signs all over the place. Boulder has a reputation of being a very laid-back kind of town, and as far as I can tell, nobody seems to mind well-behaved dogs being on the mall, which is the heart of the downtown area, not even the police. Which is fine with me, just as long as those mutts are willing to have their photographs taken. Fair is fair, after all. Otherwise, I might just have to file a complaint.

The 2026 Denver Chalk Art Festival

The 2026 Denver Chalk Art Festival took place this past weekend in Denver's Golden Triangle neighborhood, on the streets surrounding the Denver Art Museum, Kirkland Museum, and Clyfford Still Museum. This festival started out back in 2003 as La Piazza Italian Chalk Art Festival at Larimer Square, a popular Denver gathering spot, and continued at that location until it was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. The next year it was part of the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, and in 2022 was moved to the current location. CherryArts, which co-produces the Denver Chalk Art Festival, expanded the event and added a music stage, food booths, and more artists, requiring a larger space. In any case, the basic elements of the festival are still there, namely hundreds of chalk art paintings on the streets of Denver.

My sister Susan and I attended the festival yesterday afternoon, and it was a bit of a challenge both for participants, vendors, and visitors. A series of wind gusts hit the event while we were there, spreading around large amounts of dust and rubbish, and blowing down some of the booths. A viewing platform, which allowed visitors to climb up about six to eight steps to see the art from a higher perspective, also blew down. As we passed by the wreckage, Denver Fire arrived with a stretcher, and so I assume some people were injured. In any case, after the first few major gusts, the next ones were not as bad, just annoying, and so everyone stayed around and kept viewing the art.

This festival took place on both Saturday and Sunday, but we decided to go on Sunday, since we would be able to see the completed works of art. Going on Saturday, people would see the artists creating the drawings, which I am sure is fascinating, but too much like watching paint (technically chalk) dry for my taste. This festival is open to both professionals (called Featured Artists) and amateurs. Many of the chalk drawings have the names of businesses chalked above the piece. I have always assumed that the businesses actually commissioned a specific artwork to be drawn, but that is not the case. Sponsors who donate $500 can specify which artist's work they want their name placed above but are not allowed to dictate what the artist will draw. If no artist is specified, the business name will be placed above a random work of art. Which could be dangerous, since the subject could turn out to be anything. I suppose the people deciding which business names will be placed over which chalk drawing would not do something like putting the name of an HMO like Kaiser above a skull and crossbones, but you never know.  In any case, this is always a fun festival to attend, and it was this year, too, despite the 100 mile per hour winds or whatever the hell they turned out to be. Like I said, damned annoying.

The 13th Annual Park Hill Art Festival

Yesterday afternoon I attended the 13th annual Park Hill Art Festival, which is being held on the grounds of the Park Hill Masonic Lodge, located on Denver's East Side. This festival is produced and promoted by a company called ColoradoArtWeekend.com, the same one that produced the Centennial Art Fest last weekend. I recognized a number of booths from last week, but with over 100 artists displaying fine art and crafts from Colorado and beyond, there were, happily, plenty of booths I didn't recognize to check out. This festival is more compact than other art festivals I have attended, but being held in such a nice residential neighborhood only adds to the ambience.

The Park Hill neighborhood is divided into South Park Hill, North Park Hill, and Northeast Park Hill. This festival is taking place in South Park Hill on East Montview Boulevard, a tree-lined street filled, for the most part, with what can only be called mansions. On the eastern border of Park Hill is what used to be Stapleton International Airport. Back in the 1990s, the residents of that neighborhood had so much political clout that they were able have Denver's airport moved to what seems like the Colorado-Kansas border instead of allowing Stapleton to expand onto a large empty tract called the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, a former chemical weapons plant, now a national wildlife refuge. And so now, Park Hill is free of the sound of commercial jets taking off and landing. Of course, instead of being able to get to the airport from most parts of Denver within 20 minutes, it now takes far longer. And instead of a quick and cheap cab ride, it takes an expensive Uber to get there. However, I am certainly not bitter about that. Not at all. No way. In any case, the Park Hill Art Festival continues today from 10:00 until 5:00. It is definitely worth a look. Enjoy the art and the serene ambiance of one of Denver's more quieter neighborhoods. 

Visiting Eldorado Canyon State Park

Like many people, I use Microsoft Edge as my web browser, mainly because that was what was provided when I bought the computer. The home page is filled with all kinds of articles and videos, including news stories, various features, top 10 lists of this or that, you name it. Yesterday I read an article in which the author listed her 5 favorite state parks in the country, and one of them was Eldorado Canyon State Park, located just to the south of Boulder, Colorado. I have known about Eldorado Canyon, and how popular it is, for years, but never got around to visiting it. But after reading that article, I decided it was finally time to drive up there. You reach it via Eldorado Springs Drive, which starts out paved and then turns into a gravel road as you approach the town of Eldorado Springs, a strange little town with a lot of old homes from around the turn of the 20th Century. Just beyond the town the state park begins, and you wind up a road past trailheads and technical climbing spots to the visitor's center, passing spectacular scenery along the way, such as the view of South Boulder Creek in the photograph on the left. Evidently the state park and the town were all part of a very popular resort complex, with the Crags Hotel located a thousand feet above the town, reached by train or a funicular, and the Eldorado Springs Resort in what is now the town of Eldorado Springs. Glen Miller played at the dance hall at that resort, and President Dwight Eisenhower and his wife Mamie honeymooned there. The pool from 1906 and the ballroom are still there today. This resort complex had its ups and downs in later years, and in 1978 the State of Colorado purchased the land to the west of town and made it into a state park to prevent it from being turned into a rock quarry. And good for them! It is definitely worth a visit. Just don't take 45 years to do it.

Man One: An Amos Walker Mystery

I just finished reading Man One, Loren D. Estleman's latest Amos Walker hard-boiled private eye novel. I've always enjoyed reading this series, which takes place in modern-day Detroit. This time, a young widow named Sage Holland drives non-stop from Alaska to Detroit to seek out Walker's help with a stalker. Holland was accused of poisoning her husband and convicted of manslaughter, but the verdict was overturned. However, her husband's brother, a police officer, believes she is guilty and has been following her cross-country, wanting her to pay for the crime. Insisting she is innocent, Walker agrees to take the case. This is a good noir style mystery, and Estleman really does a great job of evoking Detroit in the wintertime, giving us a good feel for what it is like there these days. It is a short novel, 192 pages, and really holds your attention. Estleman, a former police-beat reporter, is the author of eighty novels (33 in the Amos Walker series) and two hundred short stories, but is not as well-known as other mystery writers, at least outside the Detroit area. Which is good for readers, since you can usually find even his latest books on the library shelf and not have to put your name on a waiting list. I recommend picking up a copy today.

Clear Creek Opens To Tubers Early This Year!

Clear Creek, which runs through the heart of Golden, Colorado is open to tubers and kayakers much earlier than usual this year. I took the photograph above of a tuber and his kids this past Monday. They had the creek all to themselves that afternoon, but the scene will be much different this weekend, when everyone is off work and the temperatures will soar to almost 90 degrees. Of course, there is a downside to this favorite recreational activity beginning early: it is happening because of the lack of snow this past season in Colorado and other western states. With a much smaller snowpack, there has been much less melt off, which usually causes Clear Creek to rise and the water to run fast, making conditions too dangerous to be on the river. Getting a few weeks more tubing in this year is a high price to pay for water shortages and increased wildfire danger. It might very well be a long long summer this year.

The View From Willis Case

I drove up to Denver's Willis Case Golf Course the other day to take a few photographs. This course dates from 1929 and is located on a hill overlooking Colorado's Front Range. You can also see historic Lakeside Amusement Park from there. Lakeside is a family-owned amusement park located in Lakeside, Colorado, and opened in 1908. It is the oldest amusement park in Colorado still operating at its original location. In the photograph above can be seen the Tower of Jewels, an original building from 1908, and the Cyclone roller coaster, added back in 1940. The great thing about this park is that you can get in for $5.00, and then if you want, purchase individual tickets to the various rides. There was a major renovation back in the 1930s, with additional rides added and new buildings and ticket booths built, all in the Art Deco style, making a visit to the park at night, with all that neon, a really fun experience. The park is most famous for the Cyclone wooden roller coaster, which I have ridden a number of times. Sadly, back in 2022, someone injured their wrist while riding it, sued, and as a consequence, state regulators had Lakeside close down the Cyclone until they were able to make it safer. It has been closed ever since, but I read on the website of KYGO, a local FM radio station, that a social media page called American Coaster Enthusiasts has reported the coaster is "being tested," leading to speculation that the Cyclone might be back in operation this summer. Lakeside has no comment about that, but at least there is a glimmer of hope. 

Meanwhile, Back In Chicago At Rate Field

My South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, have been playing great baseball of late. They just finished a very successful homestand at Rate Field against the Twins and Tigers, and went 18-10 in the month of May, the second-best winning percentage (.643) in the American League after the Tampa Bay Rays (18-8, .692). They traveled to Minneapolis yesterday to start a series against the Minnesota Twins sporting a five-game win streak. And, I might add, the White Sox are currently 32 and 28 and are a game and a half out of first place in the AL Central. However, their rookie sensation, Munetaka Murakami, who has 20 home runs and is tied for the American League lead, went on the injured list with a right hamstring strain on Saturday, and is expected to miss four to six weeks. And last night the Sox lost to the Twins 9-6. Oh no! Can the White Sox continue their winning ways without Murakami? Could the curse of the Black Sox (the result of the White Sox throwing the World Series back in 1919) be rearing its ugly head again? Only time will tell. We White Sox fans are a pessimistic lot, with good reason. It is going to be a long six weeks.

Watching The San Francisco Giants Hammer The Colorado Rockies With Mark And Susan

I went to Coors Field here in Denver with my friend Mark and sister Susan yesterday afternoon to watch the Colorado Rockies play the San Francisco Giants, and it wasn't pretty. The Rockies won the first two games of the series, and if they won yesterday, they would have swept the Giants at Coors Field for the first time since 2018, not to mention escape last place in the National League West, leaving the Giants in the cellar. But it was not to be. Rockies pitchers gave up 25 hits, nine doubles, one triple, and three homers (one a grand slam) on the way to a 19 to 6 loss. And it took 3 hours and 38 minutes to do it. The only seats we could get were in right field behind the foul pole, which is where a fellow fan took the photograph above of the three of us (from left to right, myself, Susan and Mark). We could not see the action quite as well as from our usual seats, but that was probably for the best, considering the combined 6 errors and the fact it took 6 Rockies and 5 Giants pitchers to struggle through this game. Attendance was almost 38,000, and I was surprised at how many people stayed until the end, until we were heading for the exits. And realized it was Kids Day, when after the game all kids in attendance could run the bases. The line to do this completely circled the main concourse. There may have been 38,000 fans at the game, but a good 30,000 of them seemed to be in that line. Just another fun day at the ballpark.

The First Annual Centennial Fine Art Festival

Yesterday afternoon I attended the first annual Centennial Fine Art Festival, which is taking place this weekend at the Streets at SouthGlenn in Centennial, Colorado, a suburb just to the south of Denver. The Streets at SouthGlenn is the former site of the Southglenn Mall, which opened in 1974 with Sears, The Denver, and May D&F as the anchor stores, all three of those department stores now long gone. I remember going to this mall on a regular basis years ago, but when the Park Meadows Mall, one of the major shopping destinations in the Denver area, opened in Douglas County in 1996, sales at Southglenn began to decline and stores began to close. The mall was demolished and replaced by the Streets at Southglenn, a "mixed-use lifestyle center" with retail, dining, open space, and even apartments. And I must say, they did a good job with the place, and it is an excellent spot for an art festival. I am surprised it took so long to make it happen.

This festival has a lot of really nice art, including "paintings, sculpture, jewelry, glass, ceramics, photography, wood, fiber, and more," as it states on its website. I really enjoyed walking around looking at the art, especially the photography, and it is a great location to just hang out, too. As I was looking at the artwork, I noticed several artists who also displayed their work at the Denver Arts Festival, including the artist whose paintings are displayed in the photograph on the right, as well as photographer Shaun Downey (https://shaundowneyphotography.com/, once again displaying his wonderful animal portraits at his booth, especially the ones taken in Africa. It made me think about the business end of these festivals. Shows like the Denver Arts Festival and the Cherry Creek Arts Festival are run by independent non-profits, to whom the artist applies directly in hopes of getting a booth at their festival. The Centennial Fine Art Festival is run by ColoradoArtShows.com, which is a for-profit company that produces art shows throughout the state, including next weekend's Park Hill Art Festival, Evergreen Mountain Arts, and the Lake Dillon Art Fest, all of which I have attended at one time or another. I assume if you are accepted by this company to display your art, you can display it at one or all of the festivals the company produces. There is a similar company in Florida called Howard Alan Events that produces a number of art festivals I have visited in the Stuart area. Definitely a good way for artists to show their work to a much wider audience, especially if this is the main way they make their living.

The Centennial Fine Art Festival also has musical entertainment both Saturday and Sunday, and the first thing I noticed about the music I heard yesterday afternoon at this festival was that it was really good. They were playing blues music while I was there, and I looked the group up on the festival's website when I got home. They are The Delta Sonics, seen in the photograph on the left, and according to the website they bring "over 30 years of Colorado blues history" with them. They are six-time Westword Best Blues Band winners and a "go-to backing band for national legends like BB King, Robert Cray, and Bo Diddley. Very impressive indeed. This art festival goes on today from 10:00 until 5:00 and I strongly advise you to stop by if you get a chance. Enjoy!

Springtime At Red Rocks

I took a drive through Red Rocks Park just to the west of Denver yesterday afternoon, and not surprisingly, they were preparing for a concert that evening. This happens every time I drive up there these days, since concert season is now in full swing. I checked the internet when I got home and saw that Michael Franti and Spearhead were returning to Red Rocks "for a night packed with uplifting energy, reggae grooves, and feel-good anthems" that night. I was tempted to attend, but I suspect they charge actual money to get in, and so the thought quickly passed. Red Rocks is a great place to hike or even to just drive around and enjoy the scenery, such as in the photograph on the left. There are a lot of deer around there much of the year, although they seem to make themselves scarce during concert season. I have never actually attended a performance at Red Rocks but have been tempted many times. Ticket prices and scenes from the past of concert goers being pelted by hail have always dissuaded me. So far.

Just south of Red Rocks is the town of Morrison, Colorado, settled in 1874 and filled with a number of historic buildings. Bear Creek Avenue, the main drag, is lined with restaurants and bars that attract concertgoers before they head up to the amphitheater. Whenever I drive through town, I always seem to catch the light right across from Tony Rigatoni's Italian Kitchen and its Roof Top Tavern, seen in the photograph on the right. That rooftop patio looks kind of nice, and as I wait for the green, I often think of stopping in there one of these days. Perhaps before the concert the next time Michael Franti and Spearhead return to Red Rocks. 

The Secret Of Secrets

I just finished reading The Secret of Secrets, Dan Brown's latest international thriller featuring Robert Langdon, a professor of symbology. In this novel, Langdon is in Prague to attend a lecture by his girlfriend Katherine Solomon, a noetic scientist about to publish a groundbreaking book that will change the nature of our understanding of human consciousness. Basically, she has a theory that the out of body experiences of people in near-death situations can be replicated and that human consciousness is actually separate from the physical body. Which means it is possible for your mind to be at one with the universe, travel anywhere while your body remains in place, and even exist after death.  However, the morning after the lecture, Solomon disappears, and it becomes apparent that a mysterious organization wants to stop her book from being published, at any cost. Langdon desperately begins a search for her across Prague and soon realizes that it might be the U.S. government itself that is behind it all. Brown is the author of The Da Vinci Code, which was a big bestseller, and the best thing about these books is following the characters through exotic locales as they solve the mystery at hand, in this case throughout the City of Prague. I am glad I read the book, but in this novel, there is a lot of scientific detail about noetic science which to me slows the story down. And in fact, this book is almost 700 pages long, an astounding length for a thriller like this. It was an interesting story, I did like it, but this is not a book I would ever read again. 

A Colorado Baseball Tradition Continues

We are fast approaching the month of June, which means the Major League Baseball season is in full swing. Here in Denver, the Colorado Rockies started out looking much improved from last year, but have quickly gone back to their losing ways, sporting a 2-8 record over their last 10 games and currently on a 5-game losing streak. But this is not a surprise, given that the Rockies currently have had 7 consecutive losing seasons, with 2025 being the worst, finishing with a 43-119 record. But it is still pleasant to head out to Coors Field on a sunny and warm afternoon to enjoy the ballpark and the view of the mountains, and then afterwards head a couple of blocks south to the Wynkoop Brewing Company for a Happy Hour beer - or glass of wine, if you so choose - on their patio, which is what my sister Susan is doing in the photograph on the left. This is a great place to sit and watch the crowd coming out of the ballpark after the game as they head to the light rail station behind Union Station, located just across the street. Best of all, those Happy Hour craft beers are one third the cost of what they charge for a Coors Light or Budweiser at Coors Field. Of course, they need to charge that much in order to pay for those expensive major league contracts, such as Kris Bryant's 7-year, $182 million deal, the downside being that he will probably never be able to play baseball again due to chronic lumbar degenerative disk disease. However, Bryant is still engaged in rehab and says he is not giving up, and definitely not retiring. And no, I am not bitter about that. He is an ex-Chicago Cub, after all, and Rockies management should have been very wary about the deal for that reason alone.

The Wynkoop, as I have mentioned before, was started by John Hickelooper and his partners back in 1988 in Lower Downtown Denver (LoDo), long before it became the premier nightclub and hipster enclave that it is today. "Hick" went on to become the mayor of Denver, then governor of Colorado, and is currently the U.S. Senator from Colorado. If he had lost the Senate race, I have no doubt he would have come back to the Wynkoop as the maître d', but alas, he won, and so that is Denver's loss. In any case, the Wynkoop is located in the J.S. Brown Mercantile Building, built in 1899, with a really nice, old-fashioned barroom, the bar itself Hickenlooper obtained from the old Tivoli Brewery, an historic building built in 1864 and the former home of the Tivoli Brewing Company, which was the second oldest continuously operating brewery in the country until it went out of business in 1969. It was eventually converted into a shopping center in the 1980s and is now the home of the Tivoli Student Union, serving a number of colleges, including the University of Colorado at Denver. But I digress. That old-fashioned bar is a great place to hang out in the winter, a fine refuge from the cold and snow, but when the weather is nice, I'll take that balcony every time. See you there after the game!

It's May 2026, The 50th Anniversary Of Our Parent's Move To Stuart, Florida!

My sister Susan and my parents, Nelson and Mary, moved from the Chicago area to Stuart, Florida back in 1976, purchasing their condo on March 25th of that year, almost 50 years ago to the day. The previous year, my parents, along with me, visited my Uncle Bill (my mother's brother) and Aunt Elsie, who lived at the Monterey Yacht and Country Club in Stuart, to see if they might like to retire there, too. The complex has a 9-hole golf course, but sadly, no yachts, since they were never allowed to dredge the St. Lucie River. My father, who loved golf, and used to play with my Uncle Bill every year when the two families vacationed together in Canada, decided he did indeed want to retire there, and went down to Stuart the next year to select the condo where Susan and I now spend half the year. My mother was not sold on moving away from Chicago and her family, but after a few months, she fell in love with the place, stayed on after my father passed away, and lived there for almost 30 years. Stuart has changed a lot since then. There are a lot more people, especially just to the north, where its neighbor, Port St. Lucie, has grown into the 6th largest city in Florida, resulting in a lot more traffic, even during the summer. New houses and apartment buildings are going up all over, but all in all, it is still the same place as before. The downtown is very charming and vibrant, buildings throughout the county can be no higher than 4 stories, and strict environmental regulations keep the beaches from becoming overdeveloped. And yes, those are indeed our parents in the photograph above, not too long after they first moved to Stuart. Fifty years is half a century, which is quite a lengthy span. It almost makes me think I myself might actually be getting old. Which is, of course, nonsense.

The Denver Arts Festival

This past weekend I attended the Denver Arts Festival, the first art festival of the year around these parts. It took place at the Conservancy Green in Denver's Central Park neighborhood, which, I might add, is located way the hell out in the far northeast corner of the city. Central Park is built on what was once part of Stapleton International Airport, Denver's main airport until 1995. But being only 20 minutes from downtown, the city decided to replace it with Denver International Airport, conveniently located close to the Colorado-Kansas state line, to the joy of taxi drivers throughout the area. And speaking of convenience, this art show originally took place at the Denver Pavilions on the 16th Street Mall, right downtown. When it outgrew that space, it was held on the grounds of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. But after the Central Park neighborhood was built, it was moved there for reasons I still don't understand.

But enough complaining. This festival features Colorado artists and, according to the Denver Arts Festival's website, a "select group of national artists," and I must say that much of the art was indeed very good. Of course, as usual, anything I was interested in was in the $3,000 to $5,000 price range, and since I have a number of expenses coming up, I decided to be conservative and not make any rash purchases. Interestingly enough, the web site also states that "Central Park is in the top 1% of median income and education levels in the nation," which I think was added to lure all those artists to the event. But I do have to wonder if people in this neighborhood really are in the top 1% income bracket. The houses are all very nice and relatively new, but don't appear to me to be domiciles of the superrich. And could some of the artists been tempted to raise the prices of their artwork because of that demographic? Just too many difficult questions to think about on a pleasant Sunday afternoon.

Happily, there were 16 booths featuring photography at the festival, and many of those photographs were quite good. I was especially impressed with the animal photographs of Shaun Downey (https://shaundowneyphotography.com/), especially the ones from Africa, some of which can be seen in the photograph on the left. I was also impressed with the work of Chris Robleski (https://www.theflashnites.com/), who specializes in night photography. I especially liked his photographs of rural, deserted buildings lit from within. It reminded me of the work of a photographer from Chicago named Xavier Nuez, who ventures into abandoned urban structures and lights the interiors in spectacular fashion. Nuez actually displayed his work at this same festival a few years ago. I checked on the internet and he is still around, and his work is as good as ever. Be sure to check out his website at Xavier Nuez | Light Painting Fine Art Photography | Chicago.

It's Memorial Day! Time For A Hike!

Or perhaps not. Years ago, my then-wife Lisa and I would often go hiking with my sister Susan and brother-in-law George. And the first hike of the year would always be in Rocky Mountain National Park. Lisa and I would drive up from Denver, and Susan and George from Fort Collins, and we would meet up in Estes Park. Taking one car, we would drive to a suitable spot, such as the Glacier Gorge Trailhead, and start hiking. However, the higher we went, the deeper the snow, and the thicker the fog. Eventually, Lisa would say enough, and we would head back down to the car and stop for a beer in Estes Park on the way home. Which is probably what George had in mind all along. And in fact, Memorial Day is usually not a good time to hike in the mountains. For that matter, June is pretty iffy, too. Best to do your mountain hiking July through September to avoid snow and fog and Bigfoot and God knows what else. But then again, you would have no reason to turn around and head for the nearest pub. Such a conundrum. And by the way, the photograph above was taken in Rocky Mountain National Park around 1984, not on Memorial Day but sometime in mid-summer. From left to right are me, Lisa, my mother Mary, and brother-in-law George, with the photographer none other than Susan. And not a flake of snow anywhere around us. Happy Memorial Day!

The 2026 Boulder Creek Festival

The Boulder Creek Festival is taking place this weekend along Boulder Creek in Boulder, Colorado, just off Broadway and Arapahoe Avenue. This festival runs from May 22nd through Monday, May 25th and features 30 bands on 3 stages, over 200 artisans, and food options from 30 restaurants. Boulder is a wonderful place to attend events such as this, thanks to its stunning location up against the Flatirons and peoplewatching opportunities unlike anywhere else. I attended this festival yesterday and had a good time just walking around and snapping photographs. Parking spaces were non-existent close to the event, but all you have to do is head a little farther away, and plenty of street parking opens up. Let's face it - most Americans are pretty lazy when it comes to walking more than a couple of blocks.

There were indeed a great many artisan booths at the festival, featuring artwork, clothing, and many many craft items, much of it, this being Boulder, quite weird, including a company called the Dopamine Management Department selling "small batch clothing inspired by exploration of self and the world around us," Tubular Tim's Tiedyes, and clothing from the Kosmic Blues Electric Emporium. Despite being a very expensive place to live these days, it appears Boulder is still trying to hang on to its hippie past.

I was quite impressed with the tapestries on display in the photograph on the left, especially the one that appears to show an octopus wearing some sort of skeleton mask. But unfortunately, I couldn't think where to hang it in my apartment and so decided against purchasing it. The good news for everyone out there: it's still available! In any case, the Boulder Creek Festival continues both today and tomorrow, although keep in mind that Monday is Memorial Day, when the Bolder Boulder 10-K race takes place. This popular event draws several million runners and spectators to Boulder each year, along with their cars, I might add. At least that's what it seemed like to me the last time I was in Boulder on Memorial Day. In other words, crowded but lots of fun. Enjoy!

The Denver Beer Company - A Neighborhood Gathering Spot

My sister Susan and I stopped in at the Denver Beer Company on South Downing Street here in Denver the Monday before last and I was surprised to find it was doing a booming business. I expect the place to be hopping on a Friday or Saturday, but a Monday? Located where the University, Platt Park, and Rosedale neighborhoods meet, it is within walking distance of all three and has attracted a huge following among the neighbors. Every night there are retirees, families with children, young singles, and thanks to the proximity of the University of Denver, college students, too. It is also very dog friendly. Surprisingly, a woman sitting at a table across from us introduced herself and told us she lived in the same building we did, which I thought was kind of nice. It is indeed very pleasant to sit out on the patio in the late afternoon and enjoy the pleasant weather and the ambience, which is what Susan is doing in the above photograph. And best of all, the Denver Beer Company has very good beer. Despite that, Susan actually decided to order wine instead. Talk about sacrilege! What can you do?