Bye-Bye, Denver

Denver Performing Arts Center

I've paid my last month's rent in Denver, done a major purge of our belongings as we downsize yet again, started packing up for the move, and begun the hard process of saying goodbyes to the nice people who have befriended me since I got here in November 2010.  The movers take away our stuff on May 29th, and yet another move begins.

While I actually like change, the process of transition is painful, and I feel like I've done it enough times in my life to not want to make a habit of it in the future.

Living in Denver has overall been a positive experience, even though the reason for coming here was not.  Denver is quite a nice place to live - a very vibrant city- and living downtown in a loft has been fun. It's been great to be able to walk to almost everything, including the performing arts center, lots of good restaurants, museums, sports events, etc.  The not-so-nice part of living downtown is that it is quite a young, partying city, so on dog walks on Sunday mornings, there is always at least one (and sometimes more) piles of vomit that we pass as well as broken glass and various other things that we definitely want to avoid.  Downtown Denver has a large homeless population - about 11,000 - who are always a reminder of the need to help others and all that we have to be thankful for.

The weather here has been a constant source of amazement to us.  From our very first day that we moved in when the weather turned from sunny 70s to an actual blizzard in a matter of hours to Mother's Day 2014 when it snowed all day long (and today - the day after - as well).  We have had brutal subzero weather and desert-like heat spells; there have been remarkable winds that literally lift furniture and carry it away.  

So I end this blog - From Grits to Granola - which was created to chronicle my transition from Atlanta to Denver.  I don't know if I will start another to discuss my move to California.  I might.  Or I might do something else to keep in touch - an Instagram account or perhaps I could actually do my very first post on Facebook (or not).  But please know, Readers, that I thank you for reading my blog and often sending me comments.  I think of you often and hope that if your travels bring you to southern California, you will visit this particular Little Old Lady from South Pasadena.

Annie Sends Her Love

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Fair Weather Fan

I've always considered myself fortunate that I am married to a guy who doesn't watch sports, because it's not something that usually interests me.  So many men are obsessed with sports viewing, including my father as I was growing up.  Every night and all weekend, he would sit in "his" chair and watch whatever sports were being broadcast on the only television in the house.  If the game wasn't televised, he'd listen to it on the radio.  He was a particularly big fan of the NY Mets and the NY Giants.  The constant background clatter of sports throughout  my childhood and teen years turned me agains the whole idea.

In my adult life, we've moved so many times that it's hard to pick a team and stay with it.  So we generally maintain a mild passing interest in how the local teams, whichever they may be, are doing.  But occasionally, and only when they are doing exceptionally well (because let's be real here - winning is ALWAYS more fun than losing), we may actually watch a game and may actually care who wins said game.  This has happened here and now with the Denver Broncos as they get ready to go to the Super Bowl.

I would definitely classify myself as a fair weather fan, not the type of fan who is there, win or lose, for my team.  I became interested in the Broncos because of Peyton Manning, team quarterback.  He has such a good back story - he was an outstanding quarterback for Indianapolis for many years, but was injured a couple of years ago.  He had four neck surgeries and was out of football for two years while he recovered.  His old team didn't want him any more so he became the Broncos quarterback for the last two years.  Amazingly, at the ripe old age (for football) of 37, he's had his best year ever and has broken dozens of football records.  With a story like that and everyone in Denver talking about Peyton and the Broncos, I couldn't resist watching him play.  I have to admit that when he throws and a receiver catches, it's a thing of beauty.

A couple of months ago, my daughter came to Denver to photograph Peyton.  When I mentioned this, it was as if she were taking the Pope's picture.  People here are crazy about him.  Just walking down the street in Denver, you can find at least half of the people you pass wearing an orange shirt with number 18 - Peyton's number - on it.  I thought, as a joke (because I knew he would never wear it), I would buy Barry a #18 shirt, until I saw the price - $99.99.  Never mind.  Yet, it seems like just about everyone in Denver has one.

These photos were taken within two minutes of  each other to show that I'm not exaggerating about how many people wear Peyton Manning shirts in Denver.

So we are "United in Orange" as the Broncos head to my home state of New Jersey for the Super Bowl.  Hopefully, we are afflicted with a very temporary ailment and will go back to not caring at all about sports in about two weeks.

2014

I've never been able to overcome a childlike excitement when a new year rolls around. It's an opportunity to review what I've accomplished in the year just past (not much) and what I hope to achieve in the brand new year.  It's always a new chance to succeed, even when experience dictates that this is not likely to happen.

As I get older, time seems much more precious, and I don't want it to pass without acknowledging the joys of life.  Unfortunately, with joy also comes sadness.  As I prepared my holiday cards this year, I was sad to eliminate some names of those who are no longer with us.  And, I'm afraid, this will happen more and more as I and others age.  I've yet to know anyone immortal and yet our finiteness is something that we don't even want to think about, let alone dwell upon.  So the best antidote is to try to be in the moment and enjoy every ounce that I can wring out of life.  I will dedicate the next year to emulating my puppy Annie, who seems to enjoy every day to the fullest.

I wish you all a healthy and joyous new year.  I haven't written on this blog as much as I used to.  That is due, in part, to having less new things to experience in Denver as we passed our third anniversary here.  After moving from state to state, I feel like it takes about two years to feel comfortable some place, so we have passed that mark.  Once I stopped posting on a regular basis, then I felt like I had to write something brilliant and insightful to make up for the lack of posts.  This is a high standard that I can't seem to measure up to, so I don't write at all.  Please forgive my laziness as I think of my friends in various places quite often and fondly.

I believe that 2014 will be a year of great change for us, and change is always exciting.  We have yet another move to look forward to and, after that, I hope that we can stay in one place for a while.

So, I would be remiss in failing to report the national news story that is happening all around me here in Denver.  New years day marked the first legal sales of recreational marijuana in Colorado.  As we walked Annie early morning on January 1st, there was already a line at a dispensary two blocks away from our apartment.  As we walked further, there were new rules of conduct posted on the Sixteenth Street Pedestrian Mall.  This will indeed be an interesting social experiment to watch, and I definitely have a front row seat.  So I will let you know how it goes.

Here are two photos from new years day:

The sign for the dispensary is on the side of the building with the green cross.  Initially, only dispensaries that previously sold medical marijuana will be licensed for recreational use.

Sixteenth Street Pedestrian Mall

A Most Happy and Grateful Thanksgiving to All

Happy Halloween from Annie (the Princess)

End of Summer Vacation

We spent last week in Estes Park, Colorado, which is the home of Rocky Mountain National Park.  It's scenic, so not much to say and will let my pictures do the talking.

There was a double full rainbow but it was raining too hard to stand outside and take the photo of the whole thing.

Annie walked around with a pine cone in her mouth, looking like an idiot.

Is it possible to be too cute?

Well, the summer is fleeting, and, for me, it has definitely been the Summer of Annie. Not much else has been accomplished as our puppy settles into our family.  There is much to do on a daily basis to care for a puppy - 3 meals a day, a couple of walks, some training, some playing, some holding chew toys to stem the chewiness of teething, taking her to the vet, groomer, puppy school, etc.  But she is so worth it.  Her puppy exuberance is delightful, and she is a big, big presence in our lives.

Since we live downtown, we must walk her where there are sometimes a lot of people. When she was smaller (she's now 4 months old and about 12 pounds), we couldn't go more than about two steps without someone stopping us to ask if they could pet our puppy or to tell us (and Annie) how adorable she was.  It was so common that when Annie heard the words "so cute", she actually answered to them by greeting the person who uttered them.  She was so used to being stopped that, if someone walked by without acknowledging her, she would turn around and look at them as if to say "didn't you see how cute I am?"

It actually got tiresome to make so little progress as we were walking.  By the time the twentieth person (and I'm not exaggerating) asked to pet her or what kind of dog she was, I wanted to brush them off but couldn't be that rude.  It made me understand what it must be like to be a celebrity who is constantly barraged by fans seeking a photo or an autograph.  So it made me wonder if there is actually such a thing as being too cute.

Now that Annie is getting older, she isn't stopped quite as much, although we still get a lot of comments as we walk by folks.  I wonder if she is disappointed in the drop in interest.  It also made me think about what it must be like to be a person who is terrifically good looking and how it must feel to be this person as he or she ages.  I personally wouldn't know what this experience is like but for those who trade on their good looks in the early part of their lives, getting older and less attractive must be truly devastating.  Perhaps they, like Annie, think that they were just "too cute" in their good years.

For the first two months we had Annie, all that was required of her was (1) that she look cute and (2) that she pee and poop in the right place.  But now that she's maturing, she is expected to follow commands and actually behave like a good dog.  What a bummer for her but she is slowly accepting that her cuteness will only get her so far now.  I wouldn't say that she is a star pupil in puppy school, but she is coming along.  

All in all, we are happy to have this cuteness in our lives and apologize for boring the non-dog loving readers.

Puppies and Other Memories

Annie and her Porch Potty

As I write this, I have a pile of puppy in my lap.  It's amazing how a 6 or 7 pound puff of fur can be so life changing.  Annie has been in our home for 19 days now and has turned life as we knew it (calm and quiet) upside down.

We realized some changes would be required in getting a puppy.  After all, it's been 5 years since we had a canine in our lives and 18 years since we had a puppy.  We still and will always miss our wonderful beagle Zoe.  Even after she's been gone for 5 years, it's just as likely that when we call for this new puppy, we will say Zoe instead of Annie.  I'm afraid that Annie will actually think that her name is "Zannie" because we so often start with a "z" before realizing our mistake.

Having a new puppy has made me think more about Zoe, but it's odd that when I think of her, it is always as an older, overweight and cranky dog, not as a dog in her prime of life.  She wasn't nearly as lovable in her last years, yet I loved her so much.  When we would come home, there was no excited greeting like there used to be.  Instead, she would merely look up and give us the equivalent look of "oh, it's just you" and resume snoozing.  So I find it strange that I don't have a clear memory of what she was like when she captured my heart.  Sure, there are photos, and I especially cherish the ones of her as an adorable puppy with her big flapping beagle ears and too small body.  But a lot of the years with her are now just a blur to me.

Unfortunately, the same is true for humans as well.  My mental image of my father, who died about 10 years ago, is him as old and frail as he was in his last years, not as the robust man he was as I was growing up.  I'm not sure why these are the images that come to mind, but I'm hoping to change this cycle, starting now.

Emily, Chew Toy, and Annie

So I'm trying right now to savor the puppy moments - both the good and the bad - in the hope that they will be emblazoned in my mind.  The times when she's just a puddle of puppy in my lap, so limp and relaxed that she's like a dish rag.  The cute little pink tongue that can't wait to lick my face or licks off the water from my feet and legs when I get out of the shower.  The rascal times when she goes back to chew on the very same thing that she was just scolded for chewing.  The sitting for what seems like hours holding a chew toy for her.  The racing around the room at break-neck speeds for no particular reason, climaxing with a flying leap into her bed.  The praise that we give her when she goes potty in the right spot that compares to the accolades she might get for discovering relativity.  And the manic victory lap she does after this effusive praise.  I hope to take this all in and remember.

This is part of a constant effort to be more in the moment, to enjoy now and to keep these memories with me.  I hope I can achieve this, but it's questionable as the puppy is so darn exhausting that there are times when I wonder if I'll even remember my own name when this puppy period is over.

Aaahhh - some needed rest for Mommy

Denver Chalk Art Festival 3.0

I've done a blog post of this event since we've been in Denver so here it is again.  I always look forward to this because it is colorful, artistic and yet so very temporary that I can't go and not take pictures.  We went early in the morning so the drawings are not in a completed state and some of the shadows were challenging.  Here are some of the 2013 entries:  

You can see the building where we live in the upper right corner

Meet Annie

Annie, 9 weeks old

Annie, an Australian Labradoodle, came home this weekend.  She is bouncy, fun and puppy-like, but also a lot of work.  I will have to be indulged as you may see more photos of Annie than you want, but cute puppy-moments abound.  Please feel free to ignore them.

Utah . . . Wow!

We took a road trip to southern Utah and all I can say is Wow!  I had no idea how very beautiful and different looking this place is.  It looks like every Western that I ever saw as a kid and, in fact, many of those movies and television shows were filmed in this area.

We went to a number of state and national parks, including Arches, Capitol Reef, Bryce and Zion.  My personal favorite was Bryce, which looked like something from another planet.  The photos can't begin to do this place justice.  If you haven't ever been to this part of the world, try to get there - it's so unique.  Even the drive on Interstate 70 was amazingly beautiful.

OK - this is just to see if you were paying attention.  This is our puppy - coming home this weekend.

Beyond Ridiculous

May 1, 2013

The calendar says May 1 but the weather says January.  Help!!

May 1, 2013