Spent the weekend in Denver with my old buddy J and his fiancee L. He's been there for almost four(?) years now, and pathetically, this is the first time I've gotten out to visit him. He has a lovely house in an area that features Craftsman bungalows (just like home!), and seems to be doing well at work for Lockheed...not that he can tell me what he's working on of course. He and L have adopted a dog, B, who has the magical quality of shedding hairs that are visible no matter what color clothing you're wearing. (In fact B's main breed - Swiss Mountain dog - is known for being "tri-colored". It's a feature.) We had just about a perfect Denver weekend. On Friday morning we picked up L's engagement and wedding rings, and got them insured on the way home so L could wear them with a clear conscience that day. They are, of course, gorgeous! J and I went cross-country skiing at Eldora near Boulder...and I'm happy to report I survived with most of my muscles in decent working order. J bought himself a new pair of gloves because the ones he had were waaaay too thin for the near-katabatic winds that were howling through the base area. Thankfully, once we were on the XC trails we had protection from the trees. I only wiped out twice: once when I wanted to turn - and failed - and once when I wanted to stop - and failed. I can carve an S or do a mean hockey stop on downhill skiis, but not on teles. No way. No idea how. Ouchie!
When we got home, J was unable to find one of this gloves. A thorough search was conducted, but no glove. Perhaps it had fallen out in the ski rental hut? Or on the way back to the car? Bummer.
That night we had dinner downtown (bison burger, baby!) as it started to snow. Neat! Happy, fluffy snow. Yay! Late that night when J when to pick up L from downtown (she was at a birthday party with friends), he said the roads were full of accidents - the temperature had dropped and created icy conditions. Thankfully they got back safe.
Saturday dawned with an even coating of snow. Fabulous! It being Denver, though, the morning sun slowly melted the snow, and B was able to roll about in the grass and mud, tracking only some of it back into the house. Silly dog. As we were watching him in the backyard, I happened to notice a glove partially visible in the snow. Was it the missing glove? Turns out that B had stolen J's new glove and taken it into the backyard for overnight safe-keeping! Well, at least we had both gloves back.
That morning we strolled along the Dinosaur Ridge, a simple but effective showcase of the local geology and its propensity for hiding dinosaur tracks and plant and animal fossils. While not particularly eye-popping, it did make for a nice walk and some insight into plate techtonics. The weather was warm and clear, which meant we had a great view of the surrounding landscape. After that we went over to the Red Rocks Ampitheater, a performance venue built into the dramatic rock shapes. It was impressive and beautiful, but by then my head was hurting due to altitude incompatibility so we called it a day. On the way back we stopped by their wedding venue; unfortunately there was a wedding going on and J didn't feel like crashing, so we looked at it from the outside and imagined how nice it will be in summer with the hogback mountains and flowers.
On Sunday we checked out the Denver Art Museum (nice acronym, guys). Designed by Daniel Liebeskind, the new buiding looks like a large, crazy, titanium ship. We took the architectural and the collections highlights tours which turned out to be a much better approach than just wandering the (confusing) halls. I really enjoyed the space, and how it encourages exploration. The curators have a challenge in figuring out how to display the art, but I don't feel the building detracts from the artwork on display. Rather, it put me in a more open and thoughtful mood, which accentuated the experience of seeing new art. Though truthfully, the angles also made me feel queasy. I was personally fond of the floor map.
It was a very fun and chatty and interesting weekend. We had good food, talked a lot, and do a bunch of things. I'm glad I went, and even gladder we'll be back in July to celebrate!
J's new favorite lamp
