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.

Father of two Brides

Two daughters. Both now married. Mixed-feelings. Thankful they are responsible young adults making their way in the world vs. missing the little girls I use to give wheel-barrel rides to. Today was the wedding of our 2nd daughter. A summer wedding, done in orange and hot pink against white, it was a pretty affair. Married by the Bishop of our Ward, accompanied by his good wife, our ever-constant friends, the ceremony was, like them, warm and kind. Our granddaughter was the cutest flower girl I've ever seen. The centerpieces, gold fish swimming in rose bowls of pink seaweed, were fun. The meal after the wedding was, like the wedding itself, small in numbers and intimate, but very, very nice. I enjoyed our eldest daughter's Matron of Honor toast a great deal, it was sweet and from the heart. And I especially enjoy her husband's comments at the end of the meal wherein he suggested that given the fact that we all have the cell phone numbers of the newlyweds, we call and wish them congratulations, say around 10 p.m. to midnight. He was not only fabulous help before, during, and after the ceremony, but he brings to our family a sense of humor and goodness that I cannot imagine being without. Our own son was likewise a big help and we enjoyed having him home albeit for a short time. And so, we're thankful for family and friends whom we can depend upon, whom we lean upon, and whom we love. I hope you enjoy the photographs.
Be well. Do Good.

Monet's Kitchen

Monet's Garden is well known. Those of us that like landscape design and architecture are well aware... But, less familiar is Monet's Kitchen. Google it. Image it. I'm a fan of the delft blue tile and copper. So.... for the longest time I've had plans to build a small weekend-get-away cabin/cottage. For years I've begun collecting things for this place.
Years ago, in the small Danish town of Dragor, just outside of Copenhagen, I stayed in a great old farm Bed and Breakfast. A retired couple from Minnesota was staying there. Daily, at breakfasts, we began talking of their weekend cottage that they had build in their retirement years. That experience, coupled with the great little ochre colored cottages of fishing-village Dragor, overlooking the Baltic Sea toward the west coast of Sweden, gave rise to this dream. Some of my future posts will be devoted to the fruition of this dream.
Be well. Do good.

River Walk

San Antonio, Texas has a wonderful River Walk. Great place. Indianapolis, Indiana has one as well; it's great fun to run along it, even in the winter. I like both places well enough. But I remember reading The Pueblo Chieftain years ago. One elderly lady, a mover-n-shaker kind of gal in Pueblo, was spear-heading this dream project of converting part of down town Pueblo, Colorado into a sort of mini-San Antonio, complete with a River Walk. Pretty ambitious for a city as small as Pueblo. But I watched with interest because I really like anything related to landscape architecture. (Frederick Law Olmstead, designer of Central Park and scores of other civic parks, campuses, etc., has long been a personal hero of mine.) I don't remember her name, but now as I walk or run along this amazing little River Walk area, I always think of her with appreciation. The Pueblo River Walk, an area where the Arkansas River is briefly diverted, is one of my favorite places. I regret that we have to drive 2 hours to be in a city, but, once in Pueblo, I always enjoy going to the River Walk. It's peaceful. Olmstead would have approved.
Be Well. Do Good.

Summer Nights & Summer Reads...

On Independence Day I like to take in a city Symphony Concert followed by a great city fireworks display. But this year we opted to stay home, watch A Capital Fourth on PBS, live from DC; Macy's New York City Fireworks on the Hudson River Parkway, a great place in and of itself, on NBC (and no one, except maybe Disney, does Fireworks like Macy's); and the 1812 Overture by the amazing Boston Pops on the Charles River (a GREAT place to run) in Boston, on CBS. With surround sound, we've enjoyed great music without the crowds and traffic. Our first "empty-nester's" 4th of July Cookout was fun: brats, fruit salad, deviled eggs, etc. We're also really enjoying a surprise find this summer: Fine Irish murder mystery books and British Television's "Midsomer Murders" on dvd. From the library we check out 5 at a time and watch one nightly. Take Agatha Christie, Murder She Wrote, and Diagnosis Murder, tweak 'em together and put it on a bit of steroids, and you've got this really great series, "Midsomer Murder". We began watching them before our Ireland trip, but while there British t.v. channel "TV1" showed episodes, so we felt at home.
For fellow history buffs.... David McCullough's latest book "The Greater Journey: American in Paris" deals with American's in Paris from 1830 thru 1900. Charlie Rose interviewed him tonight on PBS. Great next book to read. If anyone else plans to read it, let me know: let's plan on doing book talk emails, chapter-by-chapter
Be Well. Do Good.

Ireland & New York, Two Trips in One

An early summer trip to Ireland followed by time in New York City.... a lot of fun. Ireland was cold in mid June, but green and beautiful. It's rolling hills, quilt-like with fences made not by wood nor wire, but rather, green-growth bushes, makes for a unique pastoral beauty. Dublin is a large city with fine public transportation. With their Irish accents, the people are warm and helpful. "The Book of Kells" written in 800 A.D. was unique. Housed in famed Trinity College (which felt very much like we were in a Harry Potter book/movie) in Dublin's City Centre, this unique work of biblical art, influenced by Celtic culture & design, was worth seeing. Also, a unique Viking Tour of Dublin was worth our time. Unsuspectingly, we were allowed to go deep into underground crypts, seeing not only coffins, but leather skeletons. In fact, we were allowed to touch the hand of a Crusader. A train trip to southern Ireland's Cork region was especially fun. There on Ireland's southern coast we enjoyed a fine Museum "Queenstown Story" that highlighted the last place where the Titanic ship had taken on passengers: many of those 3rd class Irish immigrants featured in the movie. "Cove" is the English translation, from the Gaelic, for this little Celtic village with such rich history. Cork was also the site of Blarney Castle where the Blarney Stone was kissed, albeit lying down, head back and kissing this stone of historical significance, at the top of the castle. I was thankful for bars to hold onto as well as a man there that held me so that I wouldn't fall down, head first, to the ground so far below, where a beautiful garden lay; but dark, because it was a Poison Garden: all the plants growing therein were poisonous. Seems the keeper of the castle liked to have ready-available poisons in the event that an evening dinner guest ticked him off.

A fine meal with Irish music and storytelling was enjoyed one evening at Ireland's oldest pub, dating back to 1198. That my plundering & traveling Danish Viking ancestors may have been at this very pub back in the day was not lost on me. (I prefer to think that my Viking heritage is from one of the tribes that did not raid, but rather, stayed in Denmark where fishing for herring and agriculture pursuits were preferred over murder and theft. Of the 5 different Viking tribes, three were peaceful and opted to stay at home.) The Viking Splash land/water tour was a lot of fun too.

The River Liffey is a fine river that divides Dublin in two sections: the south side and the north side. I loved all the pedestrian bridges that span it, especially the "ha penny" (half penny) bridge. On a Sunday evening, (the sun didn't go down until 10:30) I took a nice walk thru a residential area and enjoyed unique plants and although very small, some very nice manicured yards. Irish wool mills were wonderful places to see hand woven sweaters. The country was strong financially in the 1990's, earning the nickname Celtic Tiger years. But now.... the country is experiencing extreme difficulties related to the worldwide economic recession beginning in 2007. Things are very, very expensive, and one pays, literally, for everything. To my surprise, they are dealing with an acute problem of Senior Citizen suicides. The country's economic problems have depleted the retirement accounts of the populace, and so those that had worked hard their entire lives are now left without retirement funds. This, understandably, has left them very bitter and angry. Also, religion, in general, is largely questioned. Bishops in the Catholic Church have been caught in lies and scandals leaving the populace distrusting and loathing religion. There is a faction of the population, in fact, that opts to relinquish all Christianity and return to the rites of the ancient Celts.

We enjoyed watching "hurling", on t.v. at nights. NOT the hurling game where my young daughters would fake throwing up, but rather, this most amazing competitive game where men compete in a kind of LaCrosse/Baseball/Soccer/Football sport. It is an amazing and wonderful sport. We really enjoyed this. It's fast paced, and requires great skill. Google it. Learn more about it. Hurling. A great game! One of my favorite parts of the trip was finding the Irish National Stadium and track where I was given permission to run at daily. It was a fine, fine track.

But....my favorite place to run is Central Park in New York, and it was there, upon our return that once again I ran over the many beautiful stone and wrought iron bridges and arches. For a unique treat to yourself, google these words: Bridges of Central Park, and then look at "images". What a fun place to run. We took in the opening night presentation of the ballet Cinderella by the American Ballet Company at Lincoln Center. I love that place. Yes, Broadway and the theater district where we stayed is always fun, Times Square is fun. But it is Lincoln Center where rich culture lives. We again attended a session at the Manhattan Temple across the street from Lincoln Center. I love how all the door handles there are brass motifs of the liberty torch on the Statue of Liberty. Simple, but very classy. And so being back in New York again was especially wonderful.
Be well. Do good.