Missing Stuart Beach

Although today is an exception, it is starting to get cold here in Denver, and we are getting a little bit of snow once in a while, too.  Working at a part-time job out-of-doors, I am really beginning to notice the change of seasons and am very much missing the beach in Stuart, Florida, where my mother lived for over 30 years. The above photograph shows my mother (on the left) and my sister (on the right) trying to look jolly for the camera one hot August day at the beach many years ago.  My sister and I still own my late mother's condo, but we rent it out, and the tenant does not seem enthused about us dropping in once in a while for a week or two.  One thing I noticed when we were down there, however, is how many people who live in Stuart have not been to the beach in years. My mother would only go when we visited.  I guess they feel the beach will always be around if they want to go, but the problem is, perhaps they won't be.  I am just beginning to realize that for all of us, it is later than you think.

Tiger Cubs Just Love Hyenas

I went to the Denver Zoo Sunday afternoon, and arrived just as Denver Zoo staff members were presenting a talk on hyenas.  When they brought one of the animals into the building, everyone in the crowd was riveted, but no one was more riveted than the tiger cub in the above photograph.  He was just fixated on the hyena, and couldn't take his eyes off it.  I assume he just wanted a playmate, and hoped the hyena would be released into his cage so they could romp together. Let the good times roll, guys.

The Down Side Of Zoos

I went to the Denver Zoo today to take some photographs, and realized that at the zoo, some animals are more equal than others.  The Denver Zoo just recently constructed a huge space for both the lions and elephants to roam around in.  However, the jaguar in the photograph above is stuck 24/7 in a very small cage, and spends his time pacing up and down along the bars of his cell, dreaming of being set free.  This is truly just inhumane.  As my friend Roddy, the photography professor at the University of Denver once said, maybe they should just eliminate zoos entirely, instead of prolonging the suffering of these animals.  Definitely something to think about.

Pizza At The Bonnie Brae

I took the above photograph of my friend and former DU Bookstore colleague Wally and his wife Linda at the the Bonnie Brae Tavern Friday night, where we shared an excellent pizza.  The Bonnie Brae Tavern has been around South Denver since the 1950s, and still serves great food, even if the decor hasn't changed since the place opened.  No problem - I liked the 50s! Wally and I were originally just going to have a couple of beers at Jordan's, right across the street from the University of Denver, but Linda stopped by, rounded us up, and drove us to the Bonnie Brae.  I think Linda was worried about all the trouble Wally and I would have gotten into if she didn't intervene, and intervene quickly.  We are, after all, two wild and crazy guys.  Well, at least crazy, anyway.

Friday With Wally At Jordan's Irish Pub

I met Wally (see photograph above) Friday afternoon at Jordan's Irish Pub - just across the street from the University of Denver, where Wally currently works and where I was once employed - for happy hour.  We had a couple of IPAs, and then Wally's wife Linda stopped by to keep an eye on us and make sure we didn't get too out of line. Jen, the bartender, agreed that this was indeed a necessary step.  Two wild and crazy guys on the loose in Southeast Denver is never a good thing.

The Little Red Book

I burn a lot of calories at my part-time job, and as a result have lost 20 pounds over the past 4 months. However, on the days I don't work, my weight balloons.  Therefore, I dug out "The Little Red Book," my father's old calorie counting guide, to watch my calories on my days off.  And yes, I think the book was written by Chairman Mao, but I digress.  My father (seen in the photograph above with my mother during the late 1970s), bought the book to try and reduce his weight after my sister told him that people were mistaking him for Sidney Greenstreet, the "Fat Man" in the movie The Maltese Falcon.  His dieting results were mixed, but I am going to use the book anyway just to make sure the family gets its monies worth out of this 35 cent volume.

Dinner With Valarie!

I had dinner with Valarie - my friend and the former Operations Manager of the DU Bookstore - last night at a recently opened brewpub in Wheat Ridge, a suburb just to the northwest of Denver.  We had a very pleasant evening, but when I went to take her photograph for this Blog, she struck the above pose.  It is almost as if she doesn't like the photographs I take of her, and wants to cover herself up as much as possible.  That can't possibly be true, can it?  I mean can it?  Really?