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?

The Wildlife Of Washington Park

I have to admit, the wildlife in Denver's Washington Park are not all that wild. Most of the population seems to consist of geese, who tend to arrive and never leave, such as the fellow in the photograph on the left. In fact, when the population gets too large, the City of Denver culls many of them and gives the meat to food banks to feed the poor. In fact, I noticed a goose at the park just last week fitted with a tube on its neck with WN49 printed on it. That can't be a good sign for that particular goose. In fact, I would have to say its goose is cooked. In 2019 and 2020, the city culled over 2,000 geese from its parks (known locally as Goosegate), to the strong objection of animal rights activists and residents. Some activists even tried to stop the culling in federal court, but a judge denied the injunction. And so it goes on.

Of course, squirrels make up a good part of the wildlife population at Washington Park, too. But let's face it, squirrels are everywhere and pretty damned boring. And always seem to be begging for food. Or stealing it. My sister Susan had a lot of bird feeders in the yard when she owned her townhouse up in Fort Collins, and whenever I was up there, the only creatures I saw on those feeders were squirrels. To a lot of homeowners around here, they are known as tree rats. On the other hand, fortunately for them, nobody tries to catch a squirrel to cook for Christmas dinner, and the City of Denver, as far as I know, has never tried to cull them. At least yet.

In other parts of the Denver area, bears are often seen wandering around neighborhoods, not to mention deer and elk. The most exciting wildlife seen in Washington Park to date are coyotes, although I myself have never seen one wandering around there. I only know of their possible presence due to the warning signs in the park, such as the one in the photograph on the left. However, I did once see two coyotes along the banks of the Platte River, a few miles to the west of Wash Park. At least I think they were coyotes. I suppose they could have been wild German Shepards. They were on the opposite side of the river, splashing around, and I would have gotten as close as possible in order to make a positive identification if I was on that side of the Platte, but those are the breaks. Perhaps next time.

Watching The Colorado Rockies Play The Texas Rangers At Coors Field

My friend Mark, sister Susan, and I drove down to Denver's Coors Field to watch the Colorado Rockies play the Texas Rangers yesterday afternoon. We bought the tickets a week earlier, and so were committed to attending the game, despite the cool temperatures and the forecast for rain. Combined with the fact that the Rockies lost to the Rangers the previous evening by a score of 10 to 0, it was not surprising that attendance for the game was a little sparse, as seen in the photograph on the left that I took during the playing of the National Anthem. The box score I checked online after the game said the attendance was 18,726, but I suspect there were a lot of no-shows. When the game started, it was cold and windy, and then the rain started. But we had umbrellas, and after a while the rain stopped, the sun came out, and Coors Field was surrounded by blue skies.

It was a close game, and an exciting one, with the Rockies ahead 4-3 at the start of the 9th inning. However, I had paid in advance for 3 hours of parking in a lot just a few blocks away, and by the time the 9th inning started I needed to move the car or face being towed. Susan and I left Mark to watch the final three outs - no doubt the Rockies' closer would make quick work of the last three Ranger's batters. After finding a metered spot, I would meet up with Mark after the game, when he would no doubt fill me in about a great Rockies victory. Before we left, the usher was kind enough to take the photograph on the right of, from left to right, Mark, Susan and me. Once Susan and I got to the car, the rain started up again, and it was really pouring by the time I took my umbrella and walked back to the ballpark to meet Mark, who informed me that the Rockies blew the lead, gave up two runs, and went down in order in the bottom of the 9th, losing by a score of 5-4. Who could have seen that coming? The Rockies now have a record of 19 and 31 (a .380 winning percentage), currently the 2nd worse team in the Major Leagues. All I have to say is thank God for the Los Angeles Angels.

Graduation Madness!

It is graduation time once again, and living across the street from the University of Denver's Ritchie Center, I get a reminder of this two or three times a day during the month of May, when it seems like every high school in the Denver area holds its graduation ceremonies there. I took the photograph above yesterday afternoon of the crowd gathering outside the Ritchie Center after commencement ceremonies for Aurora, Colorado's Gateway High School. It is a festive time for graduates, but kind of hellish for residents living nearby. Graduation attendees often park in tenant's assigned spaces at apartment and condo buildings in the area, despite signs declaring "No DU Event Parking," put up in the hope the new graduates are able to read. And the traffic after the ceremony lets out clogs all the streets in the area, making getting out of the neighborhood a true adventure. In any case, it is just another rite of spring here in the DU neighborhood. And the crowd is indeed cheerful and very festive, creating a celebratory atmosphere. And so, only a bit grudgingly, I say Happy Graduation!

Our Mutual Friend

And no, this is not a blog about that classic novel by Charles Dickens, which according to Goodreads is "a satiric masterpiece about the allure and peril of money," which of course would be a worthwhile topic. Instead, this is about the brewpub by that same name, located in Denver's River North (RiNo) neighborhood (aka hipster central). I have passed this place many times - it has been around since 2012 - but have never gone in to have a pint and learn its connection to Charles Dickens. Which I suspect I will have to do, since their website doesn't mention anything about it. Just the price you have to pay to get the facts. No thanks necessary.

The Opening Round Of The City Series, And The Excitement Is Palpable...

This past weekend was the opening round of Chicago's City Series, a highpoint in the city's baseball calendar, when my South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox and the North Side Chicago Cubs face each other in a series which many local baseball fans consider just as important as the playoffs. All three games at Rate Field, home of the White Sox and seen in the photograph on the left, were sellouts (over 38,000 people per game), and the atmosphere was electric. Friday night the Cubs pounded the Sox by a score of 10 to 5. The next night the White Sox came from behind to beat the Cubs 8-3, to the delight of the thousands in attendance. Yesterday's game was a classic. I checked in on MLB.com and saw that the White Sox were already down 3-0 before having to leave to do errands (me, not the White Sox). When I got back home and tuned in the game, it was tied 4-4 in the 7th inning. Then, in the bottom of the 8th, the Sox scored three runs and led by a score of 7-4. Now all they had to do was get three quick outs and take the series. Except the Cubs scored three runs in the top of the 9th and tied the game, which went into extra innings. And, of course, the Cubs, who are in first place in the National League Central, scored a run in the 10th for an 8-7 lead. All hope lost, right?

No! Backup catcher Edgar Quero, coming into the game hitting .151, hit a home run with a man on base to win the game 9-8, to the joy of Sox fans everywhere. And this is not a small thing. The White Sox are 7 and 3 over their last 10 games, one game out of first place in the American League Central, and Chicago Tribune baseball writer Paul Sullivan says, and I quote: "the Sox not only look like they have turned a corner in the rebuild but also might be bona fide contenders in a watered-down American League Central." He even suggests this might be a repeat of the 1977 season, when both the Cubs and White Sox were in first place for weeks before both teams faded at the end. That was the year the White Sox were called "the South Side Hit Men," Harry Caray was in the television booth, and organist Nancy Faust began playing "Nah Nah Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" whenever an opposing pitcher was removed from the game. And, I might add, my hero Bill Veeck owned the team. A time I remember very well. The photograph on the right, by the way, shows the White Sox players greeting Edgar Quero after hitting that game-winning home run. And I have to say, I can't wait for the second round of the City Series in August, when the White Sox will meet the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Hopefully with both teams in first place.

Hearts Were Broken Yesterday: Celtic Once Again Wins The Scottish League Championship

Just like Gregg Phillips, the Trump Administration's pick to lead FEMA's (the Federal Emergency Management Agency's) office of response and recovery, who claims to have once been teleported to a Waffle House, my friend Mark and I teleported to Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland yesterday morning to watch Celtic Glasgow play Heart of Midlothian FC of Edinburgh for the Scottish Premiership soccer championship, proof of which is the photograph above of Mark at Celtic Park, which has NOT been manipulated through Photoshop. Hearts only needed a tie to win that title, but gave up the lead on a penalty kick, losing to Celtic by a score of 3-1. Celtic has now won this championship 14 out of the last 15 years and this victory marks their fifth-straight Scottish league title. The only comparable records in Major League Baseball for a feat like this are the New York Yankees winning four World Series in a row from 1936 to 1939, five in a row from 1949 to 1953, and four out of five World Series between 1996 and 2000, which made me a true hater of the New York Yankees to this day. Imagine if the Yankees or the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball's current fat cats, had won the World Series 14 out of the last 15 years. The Commissioner of Baseball would currently be hiding out in an undisclosed location, no doubt planning his escape to a shack at the tip of Patagonia. In any case, the game was indeed very exciting, and everyone outside of Glasgow was rooting for Hearts. But it wasn't to be. It was heartbreak for Hearts, and as a Chicago White Sox fan, I can truly sympathize.

The Pedal Hopper - A Sure Sign Summer Is Coming

I was in Denver's RiNo (River North) neighborhood last weekend, and no less than three pedal hoppers passed by as I was walking down Larimer Street. Pedal hoppers are also known as "party bikes" or "bar cycles," vehicles that are pedal powered by the riders, and which are basically pub crawls on wheels. Here in Denver, they make a circuit through the Lower Downtown (LoDo), Ballpark, and River North (RiNo) neighborhoods, starting and ending at Bierstadt Lagerhaus and stopping at the Refinery, the ViewHouse, the Gin Mill, 1up, and the Matchbox. All for $360, split among the 6 to 16 people in your group. Which is reasonable enough if you can round up 16 people to fill the seats in that bike. Of course, that doesn't include the cost of drinks at those places, which evidently was not a problem for the young hipsters seen in the photograph above. And by the way, another cost might be for an Uber to get you home if you do indeed have a drink at each stop. What fun! Just another Saturday night in Hipsterville. Looks like it is going to be another long long summer for the people who live in those neighborhoods.

Discussing Baseball Over Lunch And Coffee With Stuart

I had a late lunch yesterday afternoon with my friend Stuart at the Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom in Lakewood, Colorado, a suburb just to the west of Denver that epitomizes everything that is wrong with suburbia today. But as I have said before, you can't actually see Lakewood from the bar at Old Chicago, and so no problem. And I am here to report that Stuart is actually very excited about his team, the Chicago Cubs, who are solidly in first place in the National League Central with the 3rd best record in baseball. Stuart was raised on the North Side of Chicago and has thus been indoctrinated into cheering for that team, sometimes referred to as "those loveable losers," who I am sure will once again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at the very end of the season and once again break the hearts of Cubs fans everywhere. I myself am from the South Side Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago and have no worries about my playoffs hopes for the White Sox being dashed. We Sox fans always expect disaster, but happily, as of today, the Chicago White Sox are one game above .500 and one game out of first place in the American League Central. After several years of futility, this is great news. It means they are actually once again a fully functioning baseball team, playoffs or no playoffs. You can watch a game and reasonably assume they have a 50-50 chance of winning, which during a rebuilding process is a great thing. As for our adopted hometown team, the Colorado Rockies, they are 10 games under .500 and 3 and 7 over their last 10 games. The Rockies are also in a rebuilding mode and are now under the management of actual baseball people, but are still a long way from the playoffs, or for that matter, playing .500 baseball. And by the way, I took the photograph above of Stuart smiling happily in front of the Barnes and Noble, where we stopped for coffee after Old Chicago, no doubt with of visions of World Series victories dancing in his head.

Wearing Your Antlers Proudly, And Why Not?

When I was at the Denver Botanic Gardens this past weekend, I could not help but notice that one of the visitors walking around enjoying the ambiance had antlers on her head, as seen in the photograph on the left. Talk about an interesting family lineage. Of course, if those antlers are not natural, I suppose she could be a Druid, proudly showing off her dedication to that pagan religion, although the summer solstice is still over 5 weeks away. That is when those Druids gather in Denver's Washington Park and at midnight perform their ancient rituals, including human sacrifice. Is that covered by the First Amendment? I'll have to check. Just goes to show that Denver is now indeed a cosmopolitan city, not just the hick cowtown it was when I first moved here back in 1981. Progress, right?

The Denver Botanic Garden's Spring Plant Sale

My sister Susan and I attended the Spring Plant Sale this past Saturday afternoon at the Denver Botanic Gardens, a section of which can be seen in the above photograph of a pond with huge spooky faces hovering over it. This is an annual sale, the best part of which is that admission that day is always free. I myself just liked walking around the gardens and enjoying the day, although Susan pointed out that nothing was in bloom yet, and insisted we go back later this summer when we will have to pay actual money to get in. As you can probably tell, I am not a big plant person. Years ago, I did used to attend this sale religiously when it was the Denver Botanic Garden's Plant and Book Sale. Back then, they had thousands of used books on sale in the main building, all at very reasonable prices. Then, a number of years back, they stopped selling books, citing the cost of storing them between annual sales. My late friend Valarie, whom I worked with at the University of Denver Bookstore, put together a similar annual book sale for the Jefferson County Action Center's Beautiful Junk Sale, famous for its final hour, when you could fill an entire shopping bag with books for $10. However, that ended too for the same reason: storing the books before and after the sale. In any case, the Denver Botanic Gardens is a very pretty place, with ponds and waterfalls and wonderful landscaping. Just be sure to go there when those damn flowers are in bloom.

Watching Tottenham Play Leeds With Both The Tottenham AND Leeds Supporter Groups!

My friend Mark - seen in the photograph above - and I went to Ester's Pub here in Denver yesterday afternoon to watch a Premier League soccer match between the Tottenham Hotspurs and Leeds United with both the Colorado Spurs and Leeds United Colorado supporter groups. Tottenham is desperately trying to avoid relegation down to the Champions League (the AAA of English soccer) and every win is important. And I must say, it was a very exciting and hard-fought contest, ending in a 1-1 tie. It was really fun to have fans of both teams in the same room, voicing their opinions: "That was definitely a penalty," "No way was that a penalty," etc. Three teams will be relegated down to the Champions League, and with the tie, Tottenham is 2 points above that relegation zone. I do understand how this system motivates teams to win and owners to continuously strive to improve their teams, but I am very glad that it is not used in Major League Baseball. If it was, the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies would never get back to the big leagues again. Thank heaven for small favors.

The First Annual RiNo Street Fair!

This past Saturday the first ever RiNo Street Fair took place. The River North Art District, RiNo for short, is the ground zero neighborhood for hipsters here in Denver. It was originally a factory and warehouse district, and when Lower Downtown, just to the south, became too expensive, artists moved their studios and art galleries to the much cheaper RiNo neighborhood. And then, of course, hipsters discovered it and moved there in droves. The neighborhood is now filled with expensive new apartment buildings, brew pubs, upscale shops and hotels, and colorful street art wherever you look. The street fair was held on Larimer Street between 28th and 31st. Larimer still had many Victorian commercial buildings, and so is pretty vibrant and walkable. But just to the west, large new apartment buildings stand next to empty or still operating warehouses and factories, and there are still plenty of vacant lots waiting to be developed, which to me makes the area pretty unattractive. But hipsters seem to love it. As for all those artists, RiNo is now pretty pricey, and to me those galleries and studios seem to be few and far-between these days.

In any case, the street fair featured 100 artisan booths, food trucks, pickleball (why not?), and craft beer from Ratio Beerworks, Our Mutual Friend, Bierstadt Lagerhaus, and Odell's Brewing. And this event was very well attended. I enjoyed walking around and checking everything out, but have to say that RiNo doesn't really need an organized street fair, since the neighborhood is more or less a 24/7 street fair anyway. There are always food trucks and vendors selling merchandise on Larimer Street, and the brew pubs have patios that extend to the street, making patrons feel part of the action. And there is an alley, seen in the photograph on the right, located behind the Denver Central Food Hall, that is filled with bars, restaurants, and esoteric kinds of shops, with the walls on either side covered with murals. People are always walking up and down and hanging out in that alley, creating their own impromptu street fair. A fun neighborhood to visit, but as for living there? Having an apartment located next door to fenced-in former warehouses or huge vacant lots waiting to be redeveloped would be tough to get used to. Of course, real estate agents refer to that as local color. And seems to work.

Mother's Day 2026!

Today is Mother's Day, and my sister Susan and I were talking just yesterday about how much we both wished our mother Mary was still here with us. When our father Nelson retired back in 1976, they moved from the Chicago area to Stuart, Florida, and they both loved it there. We visited them in Florida as often as possible, and after my father passed away in 1983, our mother stayed on in Stuart, telling us she had more friends there than at any other time in her life. Although she can't be with us today, we still have great memories of our time with her, and for that we are grateful. And by the way, I took the photograph above of mother in front of the House of Refuge Museum on Hutchinson Island, just a few miles south of Stuart Beach, sometime in the early 2000s, a favorite place of ours to hang out and enjoy looking at the ocean. Happy Mother's Day, Everyone!

Friday Afternoon On The Boulder Mall

It was a perfect day up in Boulder, Colorado yesterday afternoon, sunny and warm after a few days of cold and snow, and so everyone was out and about on the Boulder Mall enjoying the day. The Boulder Bookstore, located at the west end of the mall and seen in the photograph on the left, was doing good business, and there were several musicians in front of it, entertaining the people walking past. And even though commencement took place last Saturday, there were still a couple of coeds in their graduation gowns walking down the mall having their photographs taken by relatives. Hopefully, they own those gowns and didn't just rent them. Otherwise, they will be looking at a visit from the rental gown police.

As usual, there were a fair number of people on the patio of the Bohemian Biergarten, no doubt having a beer and a late lunch, as seen in the photograph on the right. This place specializes in Central European cuisine, and most if not all of their draft beers are imported from Europe. I have walked past this place many times and really like that patio, but have never actually stopped there, mainly because they specialize in Central European cuisine and most if not all of their draft beers are imported from Europe. After all, right next door is The Post, which specializes in fried chicken. They also brew their own beer and have a happy hour from 2:00 until 6:00 featuring $5 pints. How can you top that? 

At the east end of the Boulder Mall is Postino, which also has a very nice and very popular outdoor patio, mainly because of a happy hour which features $6 glasses of wine between 3:00 and 5:00 every day. The rest of the time those glasses of wine sell anywhere from $11 to $15, and so I understand why those bar stools, seen in the photograph on the left, are always occupied. On the other hand, they only have 3 beers on tap, the snobs. What's the deal with that? In any case, it was a great day for a walk on the mall, not to mention a great day for people watching, too. It is Boulder, after all.

The Final Snowfall Of The Season?

The Denver area received a rare May snowstorm this past Tuesday and Wednesday, most likely the last snowfall of the season. Here in central Denver, we received about 6 inches of the white stuff, although the roads seemed to stay pretty clear. Meanwhile, up in Evergreen, in the foothills west of Denver (elevation 7,200 feet), they received 15 inches. After the snow stopped Wednesday, my sister Susan and I headed up there to get a final taste of winter. I took the photograph on the left at Evergreen's Dedisse Park, showing Evergreen Lake in the background. Despite the relatively high snow total, the pavement was dry up there, too, and people were out walking around the lake and just enjoying the day. It is indeed very pretty up there during the winter, and I can see why people enjoy living there, but it does have its downsides. I once knew someone who had a house in Conifer, Colorado, located south of Evergreen at an elevation of 8,300 feet. He loved living up there but eventually decided to move back to Denver. Shoveling snow 9 months out of the year eventually just got a little old for him. Figure that.

Evergreen is a suburb of Denver and is considered to be located in the foothills. For some reason, here in Colorado, and probably elsewhere, too, they consider anyplace at an elevation between 6,000 and 8,000 feet the foothills. Being from Chicago, this absolutely mystifies me. After all, the highest mountain in the Appalachian range is Mount Mitchell, at an elevation of 6,684. So why are they mountains back there and poor Evergreen is merely in the foothills? Life was never this complicated back on Chicago's South Side. In any case, Evergreen is an upscale community, as you might expect, but it still does have a crime problem, as you can see from the photograph on the right showing kids engaging in winter activities right behind the "No Winter Activities" sign. And just after I took that photo, the entire family climbed up there to also engage in illegal winter activities. No wonder the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department has such a major presence in that area.

As we were heading out of town, I turned onto the road leading up to the top of Mount Blue Sky (formerly Mount Evans and at an elevation of 14,271 feet definitely a mountain, right?) and drove a few miles before u-turning and pulling off to the side of the road to take the photograph on the left. As I mentioned before, Evergreen is a pretty upscale community and homes there are not cheap. But low and behold, as you can see from that photo, I think I have found a fixer-upper that can probably be had for a song. It needs a little work but just look at that view. A little bit of repair to the roof and walls, a new fireplace, and you will have a place to hang your hat. Be sure to talk to your realtor today. And no thanks necessary.

The April And May Issues Of Chicago Magazine

I recently went through the April and May issues of Chicago Magazine, the one magazine of the three I subscribe to that I actually read. The cover story for the April issue is "The Best New Restaurants, Our 13 Favorites, Ranked." The introduction to the article written by the magazine's editor states that the current trend in Chicago restaurants is "the arrival of midwestern cuisine," and that two of these new restaurants, Creepies (No. 1) and Petite Edith (No. 5) "are doing this particularly well, creatively incorporating regional elements into dishes at their French-inspired bistros." I'm not exactly sure how they can mix French food with Midwestern, but then I am not a gourmet, by any stretch of the imagination. All I know is that they don't mention the average cost of dinner at either of those places, although they do say that Petite Edith is famous for introducing Chicago to the $225 duck. Enough said. The one restaurant that I thought might be good is the number 12 pick, Pizz'Amici, a pizzeria located in the West Town neighborhood. The food critic who wrote the article says you will say wow three times between each bite. But the next time I drive back to Chicago and want to get a taste of classic Chicago pizza, will I go to Pizz'Amici, located in a North Side hipster haven, or to my old favorites, Vito and Nick's and Aurelios's, those South Side Chicago institutions? You know the answer to that one. And the most interesting thing I read in Chicago's April issue is that Iowa has made a bid to relocate the Chicago Bears to the Hawkeye State. Seriously.

The cover story for the May issue of Chicago Magazine is "The Insider's Guide to Vacationing in Wisconsin." It consists of 8 articles featuring different areas in that state that are especially worth visiting. And one of them is "The Apostle Islands and their Gateway, Up North - Way Way Up North - to Bayfield and Beyond." This is a part of Wisconsin I know very well. Back in 1918, my Grandfather Hoyt and Great Uncle John bought 80 acres south of the town of Herbster, which is a 30-minute drive from Bayfield. The photograph on the right is of me standing on that property several years ago. Bayfield is a very pretty town on a hillside overlooking Lake Superior, and the article mentions bookstores, bars, restaurants, and various types of shops worth visiting, as well as great places to stay. Bayfield is the gateway to the Apostle Islands, which consist of 22 islands popular with kayakers and outdoor enthusiasts. Madeline Island is the only one that is inhabited, and a ferry connects its quaint town of La Pointe with Bayfield. 

My Great Uncle John let his half of the Herbster property go during the Great Depression, but my Grandfather Hoyt kept his half, and gave it to my father Nelson, who gave it to me, and which I still own. It is about 6 miles south of Herbster and is accessible via a snowmobile trail, about a one and a half mile walk from the nearest road when snow isn't covering the ground (August). Unfortunately, the trees are so thick, the property is inaccessible beyond that trail. I do wish my grandfather had bought 40 acres in Bayfield, as seen in the photograph on the left, instead, but those are the breaks. Others articles of interest in the May issue are a photographic essay called "Chicago on the Move," featuring pictures of people in transit in Chicago, whether by public transportation, car, or on foot, a piece about the State of Indiana making a bid to relocate the Chicago Bears to Hammond, and why it would be good for Illinois taxpayers, and an interview with Joel Mokyr, the Northwestern economic historian and Nobel Prize winner. All in all, two worthwhile issues to peruse.

Springtime In The Rockies!

Denver and Colorado are currently experiencing severe drought conditions. As of yesterday morning, snowfall in downtown Denver was 49% of average, 29 inches below normal. Basically, we virtually never had winter this year. And it was the most snow-starved season in 30 years for ski resorts in Colorado and Utah. The good news is that yesterday and today Colorado is experiencing its biggest May snowstorm in decades. While 4 to 8 inches are predicted to fall in Denver through this afternoon, snowfall in some parts of the mountains is expected to be over 2 feet, which will help with the drought, but by no means end it. March and April are considered to be the snowiest months in Colorado, although not so much in recent years, and so everyone is excited about this May storm. The television weather forecasters are positively giddy about it. And Denver Public Schools has canceled classes for today, although to be honest, I think that might be going a bit overboard. The University of Denver, seen in the photograph above that I took from my living room window yesterday afternoon, has also canceled classes for today. As the former Finance Manager of the DU Bookstore, I do have to admit that I just loved snow days - what a joy to wake up to - and so I guess I can't begrudge anyone getting a day off from work or school today. Enjoy!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Today is Cinco de Mayo, the 5th of May, the holiday that celebrates Mexico's victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. This is not a big holiday in Mexico, mainly just celebrated in the City of Puebla, but it was also observed beginning in the 1860s by Latinos in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Texas. The Chicano movement began celebrating Cinco de Mayo in the second half of the twentieth century, and the holiday gained nationwide popularity beyond the Mexican American community in the 1980s due to advertising by beer, wine and tequila companies. Here in Denver, the largest Cinco de Mayo celebration in the state took place around Civic Center Park this past weekend. There were three stages featuring music and other entertainment, lots of artisans selling merchandise, and many food booths, as seen in the photograph on the left.

Most of Civic Center Park is currently undergoing a major restoration, and so this year the festival took place almost entirely on the streets surrounding the park, which seemed to work out just fine. But since all the big Cinco de Mayo celebrations took place this past weekend, are there any other celebratory events taking place today, the actual holiday? Definitely. It is a tradition here in Denver for many in the Hispanic community to get in their cars and cruise down Federal Boulevard, waving Mexican flags out the windows, honking horns, blasting loud music, etc. Once, a number of years ago, I somehow wound up driving down Federal on Cinco de Mayo. As I recall, you could only go south on this street, and all the cross streets were blocked off, forcing you to continue down Federal for what seemed like miles in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Tonight, 3 to 5 inches of snow is forecast, so who knows what the turnout will be? Wish I could be there, but as they say about the rodeo, once is interesting, twice is a mistake.

The May Mutt Of The Month

I took the photograph above of the May Mutt of the Month not at this past Sunday's Furry Scurry, but at the Jensen Beach Florida St. Patrick's Day Parade 7 weeks ago (there has been a significant backlog of Mutts of the Month lately). My sister Susan and I were waiting for the parade to begin when this huge dog and its owner walked past us, drawing attention from one and all. Most if not all restaurants in Florida do not allow dogs inside their establishments, but I bet that if this guy had brought his dog into the Mulligan's on the corner and insisted the dog stay, they would make an exception. "No problem - looks like a service dog to me." And by the way, the crowd seen in the background of the photograph were hanging out at Lures Riverfront Restaurant. I have never gone there, but whenever I drive past, it always seems to have a huge crowd at their outdoor bar. There aren't that many stools in front of the bar, but nobody seems to mind just standing around with their drinks and chatting. All I can say is that they must have one hell of a happy hour. I definitely plan to stop in there one of these days. Hopefully that dog won't be around when I do.

The 33rd Annual Furry Scurry!

Yesterday morning the 33rd Annual Furry Scurry took place in Denver's Washington Park. This is an event organized by and which benefits Humane Colorado and starts with a 2-mile dog-walk through the park, "followed up with fun, food trucks, the Flealess Market and more." Last year I was late getting to this event and missed the start of the walk. And so this year I made sure I left plenty of time to walk to the event from my condo, thus allowing me to take the photograph above right after the dog-walk started. Last year organizers estimated around 12,000 people and 5,000 dogs were in attendance, making this one of the largest dog-walks in the country. I suspect yesterday's event was just as well attended, all for the benefit of the cats, dogs, horses, and other pets in the care of Humane Colorado (formerly known as the Humane Society of Colorado). Definitely worth getting up a little earlier on a Saturday morning to attend. 

It's The First Saturday In May! Time For The Kentucky Derby!

The 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby takes place this afternoon at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. This is, of course, the most prestigious horserace of the year, the start of the run for the Triple Crown. And here in Denver, people will be dressing up and heading to the bars in Lower Downtown (LoDo) to watch the race and show off their attire. But if you want to do it in style, you can attend the Denver Derby Party, which organizers say is the largest Derby party west of Kentucky. It will be taking place at McGregor Square, just across the street from Coors Field, and will feature a huge stadium screen, live entertainment with DJs, a fashion contest, and unlimited food and drinks, all for $150 a ticket. If it wasn't for prior commitments, I would be there in a flash. In any case, when I think of the Kentucky Derby, I always think of Hunter S. Thompson and his sports article titled "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved." Thompson was sent to cover the Kentucky Derby for Scanlan's Monthly back in 1970 along with illustrator Ralph Steadman. Facing a deadline without a coherent story, thanks to a week of partying, a desperate Thompson typed up his notes and produced a wild, first-person narrative that marked the start of gonzo journalism. He sent the story in, waited for his journalism career to end, and was surprised when he started getting rave reviews for his new style of writing, getting personally involved in the story. It wound up changing his life. He became a successful and famous writer but also wound up creating a persona and image that would stay with him for the rest of his life, a role he could never stop playing even if he had wanted. The sometimes-high price of fame.