The Day After Labor Day - Back To School

Today is the day after Labor Day. Back when I was a kid attending Fort Dearborn Grammar School, in the Southside Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago, this was the day summer vacation ended and school started up once again. This was a truly depressing time for me. When school let out in June, it seemed like summer vacation would last forever, but it never does. In any case, I took the photograph above of some of my friends on the way home from school, at the edge of Brainerd Park, back in the 1960s. The kid on the right is Neil Finn, who lived on my block on Aberdeen Street, and I think the one in the center is one of the Kloak kids, who lived across the alley, but I can’t remember the name of the one on the left. Perhaps it is a sign of early Alzheimer's.

A Taste Of Colorado Returns...

A Taste of Colorado, an annual Labor Day event here in Denver, returned this weekend after being canceled last year due to the coronavirus. However, this year it is taking place on the 16th Street Mall, instead of Civic Center Park, it's traditional home. I decided to bike downtown yesterday afternoon and check it out. All the merchandise booths were spread out along the mall, mostly selling products you neither want nor need. I must say, it looked like a lot of other events that take place on the mall, making it seem much less like a festival than when it was held at Civic Center.

All the food booths were located in two small, fenced-in areas known as Skyline Park, with food trucks along the street parallel to it. To get to the food booths, you had to go through a bag check, and they weren't letting bicycles in. But as far as I could tell, there would be no way to take a bike in there, anyway. People were just packed together, as seen in the photograph on the right, that I took from outside the fence. I am not sure why the festival was moved from Civic Center Park to the 16th Street Mall, but if it was due to Covid-19, I think the plan backfired. As I recall, it seemed much less crowded at Civic Center. And also, at that location, they had big name music acts, too. I myself saw Johnny Rivers and Credence Clearwater Revival (minus John Fogerty) there, among other bands. This year, the stages were much smaller, and the bands all local. Hopefully, next year, the festival will be back at Civic Center, and much more like the old days. And do I sound like an old curmudgeon, or what?

The Cherry Creek Arts Festival

Yesterday afternoon, I walked from my condo across from the University of Denver to the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. This is one of the top art festivals in the country, and usually takes place around the 4th of July. However, last year it was canceled due to the coronavirus, and postponed this year until the Labor Day weekend. Another change was that the festival was moved this year from the streets of Cherry Creek North (Denver's chicest shopping district) to the parking lot of the old Cherry Creek Shopping Center, a few blocks to the south. The food booths and music stage were located on the outdoor concourse of the old center, as seen in the photograph on the left, while all the artist's booths were in that parking lot. The art was top notch, but I must say the ambiance definitely has suffered. The streets of Cherry Creek North are filled with fancy shops, classy restaurants, and lots of trees and benches. And shade. Lots of shade.

Even though the art was good, the parking lot was charmless, and pretty damn hot. I can usually take the heat, but even I felt it yesterday. However, it was definitely worth it. I especially liked the photography, and a number of the photographers (in fact, the majority) were from the Chicago area. There were very impressive photographs of a ruined church on the South Side of Chicago, some artsy black and white scenes of the city, evocative portraits of people from the South Side, and even a series of very good photographs of Cuba by James Cole, a travel photographer from Plainfield, Illinois, just southwest of Chicago. His booth can be seen in the photograph on the right. I really enjoyed this festival, but next year, I hope it returns to Cherry Creek North, Covid or no Covid. 

The Poudre River - Back To Normal?

It has been over a month since mudslides from the Cameron Peak burn scar caused havoc in Poudre Canyon, just to the northwest of Fort Collins, Colorado, but happily, everything seems to be back to normal. My sister Susan and I, along with her dog Blackberry, drove up to Poudre Park Thursday afternoon, and everything looked very copacetic, at least as far up the canyon as we went, which truth be told was not that far. I took the photograph above of someone actually fishing in the river, which implies that there are fish in there, and that those fish survived the disaster. Of course, I have never actually seen a fish in one of Colorado's rivers or lakes, just as I have never seen an actual moose in either Colorado or Wyoming. I still say the existence of moose in this region is a myth promulgated by the tourist industry. As far as I am concerned, you are much more likely to see a unicorn. And as far as fish in Colorado go, the jury is still out.

September At The Zoo Part II

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, I went to take some photographs at the Denver Zoo yesterday afternoon, and was happy to see that the zebras were all out and about and walking around their compound, instead of sticking their faces in the feeding trough the entire day, like they usually do. The zebra on the left was even taking time to smell the flowers along the way, and when it got done, it walked right over to where I was standing and posed for a portrait. He or she kept standing there by the fence, and I got the feeling it wanted me to come over and visit. Of course, if I did that, I would be grabbed by security and put in the zoo's dungeon, probably for many years. 

One of the tigers was out and about, too, although it was pacing back and forth along one side of it's compound, and I was lucky to get the photo on the right, even though it was not looking me in the eye. I suspect it was distracted by something else, possibly some young children he or she thought would make a tasty meal. Dream on, big guy.

The clouded leopard was also pacing it's cage, and seen in the photo on the left. I have featured this cat before. For years, there was both a male and female in the compound, and they produced a number of cubs. However, after the kids left home, and they were empty nesters, they began to quarrel, and had to be separated. It's the same old story. Today they have joint custody of the compound, and take turns roaming it.

September At The Zoo

I went to the Denver Zoo yesterday afternoon to take photographs and get a break from doing the laundry, which for me is an all day task. It was warm, but cloudy, and so most of the animals were out and about, including the mandrill in the photograph on the left, who appeared to be deep in thought, no doubt pondering the meaning of life.

The monkey in the photo on the right actually spends it's days on an artificial island, and could easily make a break for it if it wasn't afraid to brave the water separating it from freedom. It is a small little thing, and no matter how many times I have tried to photograph it, it will never look me in the eye. Probably a sign that it is a bit on the shifty side. In fact, to me, the hair on the top of it's head kind of looks like devil's horns. And I mean that with all due respect.

On the other hand, the ring-tailed lemur, seen in the photograph on the left, always looks right at me. It does not seem to be a happy look, but at least he or she poses for the camera. It's tail, by the way, is about 20 feet long, but I was not able to capture this in the photograph. Maybe next time. And is it just me, or do none of these monkeys look particularly happy? Which makes sense, since they are intelligent creatures, and know they are sentenced to prison for life.

Dining With Stuart At Old Chicago

I had an early dinner with my friend Stuart (seen in the photograph above) at the Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom in beautiful, exotic, but depressingly suburban Lakewood, Colorado yesterday afternoon. While dining, Stuart and I discussed the fortunes of our respective baseball teams: my Southside heroes, the Chicago White Sox - who are on track to reach the playoffs - and Stuart's team, the Northside Chicago Cubs, who traded away their top three players last month and as a result are genuinely terrible. The Cubs have always had a loyal following, and for years were known by fans as those "lovable losers," before winning the World Series back in 2016. Happily, they are now back to the team Cubs fans prefer. The bleacher bums must be ecstatic.