Place of Refuge: Our Nest

I read. I learn from my reading. I'm motivated to see what I've read. So I travel. I learn from my travels. But when all is said and done, I prefer the sanctuary and solace of home. 5 nights out of 7 I'm found in our backyard patio soaking while reading in the hot tub. Looking up thru the lattice ceiling of the patio I often track the movement of flights. I've come to know which are Phoenix bou vs. Los Angeles and, which are en route to Salt Lake, as well as those going to Kansas City. Their flight altitude differs, lower, from those going to the West and East coasts. With binoculars nearby, I sometimes see the flames from their engines, whose sound I also enjoy. But other than that, the nights are silent. No sirens. Stars are easily seen. With mini-lights, a yellow bulb glow of a white Cape Code lantern lamp, and two oil-fuel torch lights ablaze, and an iced drink in the summers and hot cocoa in the winters, I'm insulated from the chaos of the world.

So too, a wooden stork I carved and painted, Jord, guards a Potager garden below from atop a white garden trellis in a nest of blooming petunias. A Danish Vimpel (ship's tall mast banner) waves in the wind from atop a flag pole at the opposite end. This garden, flanked on one side by a hedge of lilac bushes, gathered from the 4 homes of all our Maternal and Paternal grandparents, is a reminder of our heritage and a touch of Denmark. Rhubarb, along with Raspberry and strawberry fruit, twice-bearing,early summer as well as late fall, and fruit trees, some who have never yet born fruit, and those that have born aplenty, add to this area of repose.

15 large terra cotta pots along the north yard fence line once was home to brillant color from a variety of planned color scheme flowers, serves now as a water-conserving garden bed for what Atlantic Coast Native Americans called The Three Sister: Beans growing up stalks of Corn amid the sun-sheltering, weed-inhibiting, and moisture conservation large leaves of Squash.

A front yard with window boxes of ever blooming annuals and 3 circular floral beds amass in color and manicured grass carpet welcomes us warmly when driving home. Ours is not a home of the affluent, but one of our means, yet well-kept and maintained; we are appreciative of it, and of our location on this mostly quiet cul de sac, where we raised our children, and where now another generation of young children's voices can be heard and bikes can see seen on neighboring front yards.

This is home. A nest we've built with our children. These 3 fine kids of ours are now grown and live afar. To remind us of them however, our back yard's West fence line features 3 flowering crab apple trees. Each grow and produce colorful fruit, pleasing not only because of their spring color and aroma, coupled with their ample fall harvest, but more especially because they remind me of each unique, amazing person our kids have become and are becoming.

Be Well. Do Good.

Tudor Windows & A Good Race

I won the bid, the only bidder, so it was a great buy actually, for 4 Tudor Windows on eBay this summer. Recently I used my frequent flyer miles to fly to Connecticut to bring them back home. At 101 lbs., they were 1 pound over weight, which caused great problems for me at check-in at Hartford International at 5 a.m. But I had packed them well, and they made the flight home just fine. They're fine old windows with 4 different family crests, and were in a mansion on Long Island, New York, facing the Atlantic. I've some sanding to do in order to remove salt water rust on the metal frames, but I'm pleased to have them. I hope to place them in a bay window configuration in a reading bench area in the little cottage I hope to build.

Western Colorado is known as "The Western Slope." They raise sweet, fine corn. But more noted for their sweet, fine peaches. (Of which we bought 2 boxes, ten bucks a box for "ripe", - perfect for canning/freezing/jams. Yum.) Grand Junction, the home of one of our daughters, is the central hub of this region. Nearby is Palisade, a quiet little town of hard working people, the backbone of our country. It was here that I recently ran, with my new son-in-law, a 5 mile race at the Palisade Peach Festival. My daughter and wife cheered me/us on, it was great! 12th place was a pleasant surprise, but my 6:49 per mile pace was an even more pleasant surprise. The area is much hotter than home, and so I was glad to get back to The Land of Cool Sunshine. But we enjoyed being with part of our family, something that means more and more to me the older I get. All 3 of our children no longer live near us. After having been with them on and off during the summer, I'm back to adjusting to the empty nest once again. Mixed feelings. I've come to accept that this point in time is what I refer to now as "Their Time Now". I don't mean to be cynical, but perhaps age and the bumps along the way have had some effect. It's something I want to be on guard about. I would prefer to be optimistic and up beat. I certainly try to take care of my health. I just had my eyes lasiked, and while I love waking up without reaching for glasses, running without eye glasses, etc., I can no longer, however, read without over-the-counter glasses, and they distort things, I've fallen on stairs twice while wearing them. I'm not sure I would do it again had I the choice again. And I'm certainly aware that our society caters to those in their 20's and 30's. As such, I'm not sure at this point where I fit in it.
But, I'm going to keep on running, and I start my 5th season at the cello in our local community/college symphony. I'm last chair, but participation forces me to practice my great little cello I've named "Miriam". It's good to be around young people. Good too to be part of something bigger than self. AND, to be "Papa" along with my sweet and pretty red-haired "Nana" companion...........pretty cool indeed.

Be well. Do good.

Eating at a Mortuary? Josh Groban Concert

I had a return flight into Denver from Connecticut last week where I picked up 4 Tudor Glass windows I had bought on eBay. Wasn't impressed with Hartford, but that's another story. My wife had job-related training the later part of the week, and so when I got into Denver on Wed., I stayed with our son, who had taken 3 days off work, and then we were joined by my wife, and then one of our daughters who drove into the city as well.
We went to a JOSH GROBAN concert at the Pepsi Center. What a fun entertainer. Great music. But what was best was being together as family. What a pleasant and fun time we had together.
OLINGER MORTUARY, a decades-old established business in Denver, was the mortuary that took care of my maternal grandparents. I knew of the name. With several "branch offices", I was most familiar with the one on 26th and Federal, "Crown Hill Cemetary", not far from our son's apartment, I went there in fact to visit my grandparent's grave sites. What I was surprised by, was the Olinger site nearest downtown, had been sold and then converted into a trendy, swanky, eclectic restaurant named LINGER. The old Olinger Mortuary sign above the building still looks the same during the day, but at night, the O is no longer lite, and the word Mortuary reads "Eatuary".
While the food wasn't great, we did enjoy the dessert menu printed on toe tags, the beverage menu was contained in a doctor's/coroner's metal flip chart case, water was served in replicate embalming fluid bottles with "WATER" painted on the brown glass, etc. We even got a kick out of the toilet in the bathrooms: the sink is on top of the toilet tank so that when finished, one washed his/her hands and the water is recycled to the toilet tank for the next flush. We had so much fun laughing at this restaurant. Great memories!
"Little Man Ice Cream" is next door. What a fun place and what great ice cream. This neighborhood is within walking distance of Denver's Elitchs Garden's Amusement Park, the Denver Childrens Museum, The Denver Aquarium, and the water walkway where Cherry Creek and the Platte River meet. Confluence Park and Riverfront Park are the new refurbished downtown areas/communities/lofts that link 16th Street Mall & downtown Denver (to the east) over I-25 and the Platte. A fine pedestrian bridge spans the interstate linking these communities. It's a great place. If one is going to live in a city, I suspect Denver is as good as any, and this area would be my preference simply because it's so pedestrian.
Still, I think I'm happiest in the nest we've created here at home. I've a backyard, patio with hot tub, greenhouse, and Danish potager gardens where I feel very safe, very content.
Be well. Do good.

Summer Race, Run, & Fun

This is the first summer we've both had off. We've usually always taught summer school. But my wife had surgery planned for mid-summer, and I, laservision surgery, and so I'm glad we've done this. More-than-usual trips the Pueblo, Colorado Springs, and Denver are the result of previously-made plans. We've taken in some fun things.
29 years ago this summer we became engaged. I was working at a Dude Guest Ranch in Creede, Colorado. I had weekends off so would drive back down here to be with my gal, or she would drive up to Creede where we would enjoy it's art and Repertory Theater. It had been a long time since we've been up there, but we took in a matinee there recently. It was fun to be back there, walking hand-in-hand. Also, we took in a fine new movie, "17 Miracles" in a nice stadium-seating theater in Colorado Springs. It was the touching story of the Willie Handcart Company. We had done a re-enactment of part of that trek a few summers ago now. It featured the dedicated life of Levi Savage. Great movie, great soundtrack. And I've had some amazing summer runs and races as I train for the upcoming Kansas City Marathon. Even brought home a 2nd place trophy, had an amazing race that day. But the best part of that day was not merely my race results and the way I felt while running (as great at that was), nor the parade and beautiful floats. What resonates is time with family. For years I've disliked the entire Pioneer Days experience. I've always felt very isolated. Marginalized. Outsider looking in. This year...my own little family, me and my granddaughter playing in Jack Dempsey park, some of my nieces & their families joining us at a park, visiting, having lunch, listening to live music (who can forget the Cajun piece wherein my son-in-law gets his 6 month pregnant wife up, they dance and he says, "we're goin' to do some 'gator huntin' now, gunna get me a gator." Ha ha ha). And giving our granddaughter wheelbarrel rides, the way I did with out own kids, was especially memorable. She enjoyed the trampoline too.
We had a lot of fun. .... it was very, very nice indeed.
Be Well. Do Good.