A Dangerous Man

I just finished reading A Dangerous Man, the latest Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novel.  I really enjoy this series, and this book is just as good as the others.  The stories feature Elvis Cole, a Los Angeles private eye, and his silent partner Joe Pike, a mysterious former L.A. policeman and mercenary who you would always want to be on your team.  This time Cole and Pike try to find a young woman who has been kidnapped for unknown reasons, but which seems to involve the Mafia.  I really enjoyed this story, and finished reading it in just 3 days, which for me is pretty damn quick.  Pick up a copy today.

More Thanksgiving Nostalgia!

I have no idea if the above photograph of my mother Mary, sister Susan, and brother-in-law George was taken on Thanksgiving Day or not, but I do know it was taken in the dining room of Susan and George's townhouse up in Fort Collins, and that it was the occasion of some such festive event.  Whether it was Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, or some other holiday, we were all together and happy, and that's what really counts.  Yesterday, it was just Susan and I - along with her two dogs, Tutu and Blackberry - having Thanksgiving dinner at my condo in Denver, and we were truly grateful to still have each other.  I would have taken a photo, but Susan refuses to let me photograph her these days.  And the fact that she is often holding a sharp knife in her hand when she tells me not to photograph her makes me think she might really mean it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sometimes I don't know what holidays my family are celebrating in old photographs, but I can say with almost 100% certainty that the photograph above of my sister Susan, brother-in-law George, and mother Mary was taken on Thanksgiving Day.  It was definitely a bright, sunny, and warm Thanksgiving, not the cold and snowy holiday we are celebrating today. Colorado can have a lot of extreme weather in just a few hours time, thanks to its elevation.  During the winter, it can approach 70 degrees one day, and the next be below zero.  Some years there can be almost no snow at all, and other years we get dumped on.  I hate to say it, but I think we are probably in for a nasty winter this year, based on the weather so far.  Which of course will not stop Coloradans from wearing shorts the entire time.  It must be the altitude that makes them crazy.

The Big Snowstorm

The weather forecasters predicted we would be getting a major snowstorm here in Colorado Monday night and Tuesday, and for once they were right. I drove up to Fort Collins Monday afternoon to take my sister Susan around on her errands, and the snow started up there around 1:00 in the afternoon.  By the time Susan and I went out to get food to bring back, the streets were snow-packed and slippery. I decided to stay over in Fort Collins to avoid a dangerous drive home, and when I woke up the next morning, the patio was covered in 16 inches of snow, as seen in the photograph on the left.

I shoveled the driveway a little bit at a time, cleared off the car, and went back inside to watch the weather reports.   The snow finally stopped, and the sun came out in the afternoon. I took Susan's dog Blackberry out on a walk (the first time in two days she was willing to go outside) and then headed home to start defrosting my Thanksgiving turkey. The roads were snow packed, but traffic was light and I got home in a timely fashion.  The only sour note is that my building does not plow the individual parking spaces, which put me in a "fowl" mood.  And yes, that is indeed a joke.  You get what you pay for.

Going Postal While Hiking The Highline Canal

A few Fridays ago I drove to Greenwood Village, a suburb about 20 minutes south of Denver, and hiked the Highline Canal trail, seen in the photograph on the left.  Greenwood Village is a pretty expensive community, with most if not all of the homes valued at well over a million dollars.  Several times, years ago, when I worked for the Highlands Ranch Post Office, they would send me to Greenwood Village to substitute for the regular rural carrier.  And I must tell you, it was never a pleasant experience.  It was a very complicated route, and it took over half the day just to sort the mail.  Then  I would head out to deliver that mail knowing it would take well into the evening to finish.  The route was more or less divided into three areas - huge homes with large pastures for horses; a woodsy area with homes set back in the trees; and a rather new area with homes that were absolutely enormous.  What do they do with all that space?  Rent rooms to students? Keep their horses in there?

Usually it was daylight when I delivered the mail to the homes with the horses, some of whom can be seen in the photograph on the right, but when I got to the homes in the woods, the sun was beginning to set, and I knew it would be a long night.  By the time I got to the neighborhood with the gigantic homes, called The Preserve, it was pitch black, and I still had a long way to go.  One time I remember having to get out of that subdivision to buy gas (out of my own pocket, by the way), since the tank was almost empty. I then had to return to finish delivering the mail.  It wasn't until after midnight when I finished, and keep in mind that you don't get paid by the hour, but by the route.  You get the same amount of money whether it takes you 2 hours or 12.  In short, the scenery and the weather were both very pleasant that recent Friday, but I spent the entire time thinking about how much I hated that damn job.  In that regard, I suppose this is more of a rant than a reminiscence.  Oh well.

The Anti Genius League

On a recent walk down Colfax Avenue here in Denver, I ran across the meeting place for the Anti Genius League, as seen in the photograph above.  I looked down the alley, half expecting to see a group of people standing in a circle, passing around a bottle, but was sadly disappointed. When I got home, I googled the Anti Genius League on my computer, hoping to see if I could find their meeting times (I was thinking I could make room in my schedule), but amazingly enough, nothing turned up.  I think this is the first time this has ever happened.  Until now, I have always believed Google knew everything. Still another one of my cherished beliefs destroyed. Sad, as Donald Trump likes to say.

A DU Kind Of Sunset

I took the above photograph of the sun setting over the University of Denver's Ritchie Center the other day from the balcony of my condo here in Denver.  The sky was a spectacular color, and the television weather forecasters, who feature sunset photographs on their nightly reports, say that it is the low angle of the sun that causes such dramatic results.  I guess that is one benefit of such short daylight hours, but happily, in less than a month the winter solstice will occur (get ready, all you Druids out there), and slowly but surely the days will begin to get longer.  Can't wait - no wonder the winter solstice was such a big deal back in pagan times.