This Weekend

I've had a wonderful time this weekend - I love to drive a vehicle, and go exploring.  On Saturday, Beatrice, our new friend, Melissa (from Atlanta, Georgia), and I set forth to drive over Trail Ridge Road before the snow closes it for the season.  Melissa had never been inside Rocky Mountain National Park, and the closest thing to her being in the mountains before was a quick look around Nederland one afternoon, several months ago.   I planned on driving up 36 to Estes Park, then through RMNP on Trail Ridge Road, then down to Grand Lake and Granby, take 34 and run into I-70 west of Georgetown, and then close the loop via Idaho Springs and Golden.  We did most of that...
   The views were spectacular, as always.  Beatrice and I had hoped to see some of the larger wildlife in the Park, as we had in June.  Then we saw elk, moose, and big horn sheep.  We were hoping to see all of those, plus mountain goats, and other smaller creatures.  We saw two Stellar jays and two chipmunks...  rather a let down in mammal sightings.   But the aspens were at their peak, and there were streaks of gold along the mountain sides. The Rocky Mountains are truly a magnificent sight.
   On the way back, I missed the 34 turn in Granby, and we came back on 40, then I-70, 6 and 93.  It still made a beautiful sight-seeing loop.  We left at 10:40 in the morning, and returned at 6:10 in the evening.  We had a late lunch at the Blue Water Bakery at Grand Lake.  It was indescribably delicious, as it was the last visit.  This time I picked up four croissants to bring home....  incredibly tasty!
   Late this morning (Sunday) we drove over to Longmont, and showed Melissa Prospect New Town, and then drove through the Old Town residential sections of Longmont.  Beatrice and I needed to pick up a few things at Target, and we lost Melissa for 30 minutes in the Longmont super store...  Melissa was about to call Bea on her cell phone, when Bea managed to spot  her and tapped her on the shoulder. Melissa just about jumped out of her skin.
    Melissa also gave us a copy of her CD, Box of Stars.  She is an amazing singer, and wrote her own lyrics and music for the ten songs.  The second song, Trains, just caught me up and took me to another time and place.  Melissa is a magical lady....
    And, on the football side of things, the Florida Gators won; the Colorado University Buffaloes won; and the Broncos won.  All is right with my world.

Sigh - It's Really Fall

I guess I have to admit that fall, or autumn, is actually here.  I wore a sweater this morning when I walked Lola and Cooper, as the 38 degree morning felt a little chill.  Of course, the temperature is supposed to rise back up into the mid- to upper-70s this afternoon, but I definitely needed my sweater earlier.  There's a cloudless, light blue sky outside my window, and the birds and squirrels have been partaking of their nuts and seeds in abundance.  I'll be heading off to walk Rosie in an hour or so, and then I'll visit the public library on my way back - one of the Inter-library loan books I requested has arrived, and I have two weeks to consume it, before it must be returned.
   Yesterday, Beatrice and I wanted to get away from Boulder, so we drove over to the town of Longmont and played tourist.  We wandered through the Old Town area, and we both purchased books at Barbed Wire, a new and used shop.  I found a copy of Carolyn Keene's Dana Girl mysteries that is based on Chincoteague Island - The Haunted Lagoon - and added it to my collection.  I've had several copies of the book, and gave the last copy I had to my cousins, Nancy and Aleda, on Chincoteague, when Nancy turned 13...  A few years ago, Aleda wanted to know if I still had a copy, and I had to tell her that I'd the books to her family, back in the 1970s and hadn't seen them since.  She was able to find a copy in the Chincoteague Public Library.  The edition I purchased yesterday was printed in 1959....
   Bea and I also wandered around the "Old Town" residential areas, and had a wonderful time looking at the older houses and how the current owners have made small changes to fit in with the times.  We saw a magnificent brick house that had been built in 1899 - the original wood floors and woodwork around the windows and all doors and passageways was intact.  It was gorgeous.
   After several hours of looking at the old neighborhoods, we drove a bit down the road and visited Prospect New Town in Longmont.  It's a newer housing enclave that started out on an 80-acre tree farm.  It combines all sorts of architecture and housing, but it's a quiet community with mature trees, great landscaping, wide sidewalks, community areas and play grounds.  You can choose between starkly modernistic buildings or more traditional architecture.  There are condominiums, town houses, row houses, duplexes and large single-family homes.  Some of the buildings have businesses on the ground floor, with homes built above... It's a fascinating and eclectic place.

Damp Colorado - Yesterday and Today

Boulder Creek west of Broadway this morning

Trash cans cause whitewater in Castle Rock

Colorado Springs

Denver's Confluence Park

I-70 in Glenwood Canyon closed for 8 hours after eight one-ton-plus boulders rolled onto the road, taking out guard rails and barriers

Downtown Denver

Elbert County

Longmont's St Vrain River Spillway

A Great Book and Longmont

I finished reading Tracker late last night; it's the latest installment of C. J. Cherryh's atevi world Foreigner series.  I found the first book intriguing, but I found one of the main characters, Bren Cameron, to be an extremely anal-retentive and over-written character.  In the second book, I actually began to appreciate Ben's insights and started picking up on the nuances I had missed in the first book.  Tracker is the sixteenth book in the series, and I own a copy (or two) of all of them.  C. J. Cherryh has created a wonderfully nuanced alien world and culture with the atevi people, and, a few books ago, introduced another alien race, the kyo.  Then there are the humans that are tossed into the mix, with age-old politics, mistrusts, and prejudices.  It makes extremely satisfying reading - and, if, occasionally, there is some new "parallel" technology that is mentioned, that causes problems with all sections of the populace - well, that's even better.  I highly recommend the entire series to anyone who wants a good, lengthy escape from our reality!
  Beatrice and I looked at six different apartment complexes yesterday, in four different cities.  We drove to each complex, parked the car, and got out and wandered around, looking at the grounds, the apartments themselves, and speaking with any tenants we ran across.  We looked at one place here in Boulder, three in Longmont, one in Lafayette, and one in Louisville.  All have rents that we can afford, and all but one had two bathrooms - it had a shared shower and tub, with two separate toilet and sink spaces.  We liked the Victoria Inn Apartments best - but they are located in Longmont, which would mean an extra 45 minutes of RTD bus travel on the Bolt, from Longmont to Boulder.  The bus stops are across a street in either direction.  There is a large grocery store a block away; and, directly behind the apartments is a veterinarian's office, several restaurants, a small convenience store, and a place called "Daylight Doughnuts" that opens at five every morning and serves fresh pastries and coffee.  The grounds have lots of grass, large trees and shrubs, a lot of birds and squirrels, and friendly tenants.  It was very nice.
   My biggest question at the moment is when does my apartment manager want me moved out.  I left them a typed notice, saying I was preparing to move, but that I needed a definite move out date.  I asked whether they wanted me out on the 18th of June, 30 days after they notified me of the non-renewal of my lease; or if I could pay (and stay) through the last day of June.  I am still waiting for a written answer from them.  So - things are up in the sir for me and my cats.  We know we have to move, but not when.  We don't yet know where we'll move.  I dislike the feeling of "hanging in the air" but that's how I feel at the moment.  -  Oh, well... I'll know soon enough.

I Am Moving

Yes, I am moving out of the apartment that has been "home" for nine years.  The man who owns the building has decided to put everyone on a month-to-month lease, and has major renovation plans in mind.  He's decided that my apartment is the one to start with, so I have 30 days to move out.  He believes that by renovating these 500-square-feet studio apartments, he will be able to charge $1500 per month in rent, and get it.  I'm afraid that I didn't impress him with my reaction - Diet Coke sprayed out of my nose from bottled-up laughter.  This is the lowest-rent apartment complex in the city of Boulder.  The owner has increased the rent to $800 per month; this includes water and sewage, trash pick-up, and electricity.  I pay extra for my television delivery and for the use of my telephone and internet service.  There is no air conditioning, nor is there central heating.  There is a radiator strip that has a length of five feet, and is placed directly under the only window in the apartment and alongside the sliding glass door that opens onto either a balcony or a patio.  Your view is either east or west.  There is a tile floor everywhere, except the linoleum in the full bathroom.  There are three overhead lights in the apartment - the entrance hall, the walk-in closet (which one must walk through to enter the bathroom), and the bathroom.  There are three electrical outlets in the main, open area of the apartment, two outlets in the closet and one in the bathroom.  There is a full-size refrigerator freezer (which takes up the electrical outlet nearest the kitchen area), a three-burner ranger, a non-working oven, and a single sink with a garbage disposal. There are two cabinets above the sink and no drawers at all in the kitchen.   -  Having written that out, I'm glad to be moving.
  The only problem is that I do have a small income.  My friend Beatrice (who lives on the second floor in this building) and I have decided to become roommates.  We are seeking a place that has two bedrooms and two baths, and where I can have both cats with us.  We are looking for any place that we can afford that is within walking distance of the bus service here in Boulder, out in Gunbarrel, Niwot, Lafayette, Louisville, and/or Longmont.  I have friends that will help me make any deposits needed, and who will help me/us move.  The biggest problem is the short time-span I have to find a new place.  I'll be busy on the internet, and on the phone, for the next couple of weeks.  I'll try to keep the same phone number, but that can't be guaranteed....  It's all up in the air.  (Which, actually, is keeping me sick to my stomach...)

Mental Health

It seems that all of our local news coverage is about the "Craigslist baby" in Longmont - and I can understand how such a story can seize the imagination and horror of people around the world.  A woman, who is almost eight months pregnant drives to an address to check out an offer of slightly used baby clothes for sale.  When she arrives at the home, she is taken inside, and then led into the basement to look at the offered clothing.  Instead of clothing, she finds herself at knife-point, and her child is abruptly cut from her abdomen.  The victim manages to call 911 and say her location and report the attack.  Luckily, she survives this traumatic event.  The baby, however dies.  The woman who is accused of the crime brings the baby into the same hospital where the mother is undergoing life-saving surgery, and claims that she has miscarried the child.  The accused woman's husband had come home, at her call, in which she told him she had miscarried their child.  The husband drove his wife and the baby to the emergency room.
   Why is today's blog titled "Mental Health?"  Because the woman accused of the above crime has two teen-aged daughters (16 and 18), and she lost a son at the age of 10 or 11 months in 2002.  Even though she was not pregnant, she convinced her husband that she was.  Apparently the death of her son has been a corrosion in her mental wellness.  She had told her husband about going to the clinic for pre-natal check-ups, and he believed her.  She had been a licensed Nurses Aide - surely she knew her own body...  But it's clear the woman suffers from mental problems.  One simply does not lure pregnant women to one's home  and surgically remove the other woman's baby to claim as one's own.
   Earlier that day, there was also another bloody incident in Longmont.  A man in his early 30s was served with legal papers stating that he couldn't approach his wife or child - the wife had shown that the man was a physical threat to both her and their child.  The papers were served on Tuesday night.  Shortly after midnight, the young man went to his parents home in Longmont, and attacked his Mother with a knife.  He chased her out of her house, across the front yard, across the street, and into a neighbor's yard while stabbing her.  He left her lying in the neighbor's yard.  The neighbor called the police.  In the meantime, the young man went back to his parent's home, and windows on the second story were broken out from the inside.  Loud voices were heard, screams, then silence.  When police were able to get inside the house, they found the father dead in an upstairs bedroom, and the suspect had killed himself with a knife downstairs.  The mother is in critical condition, but is expected to survive the attack.
   The suspect was known to have mental health issues.  He was being seen by a psychiatrist, and he was supposed to be taking medications.  Police say they have been called to the suspect's home, and his parents' home multiple times in the past; generally because of a "mental break down" of the young man.  My question in this case is - was the Judge aware of the young man's mental problems?  Might things have gone better if the protection order had been accompanied by the young man's mental counselor?   - And, believe me, I know how under-staffed and over-worked local mental health officials are in this area....  But it should have been known and recognized that this action might cause a verbal or physical outburst from the suspect....
   And, finally, a 12-year-old girl is currently being held in the Boulder County Juvenile Detention Center because she has tried to poison, and kill, her Mother twice in the last two weeks.  The girl has placed chlorine bleach into a beverage her Mother drank (and consequently had to visit the Emergency Room at the hospital) and, a week later, poured bleach into her Mother's bedside water carafe before bed.  The girl's reason for doing such a terrible thing?  Her Mother had taken away the girl's iPhone  for disobedience.  I wonder what the exact disobedience was?  And, what is happening to our society when a 12-year-old thinks it's perfectly normal to poison her Mother for a disciplinary action?
   I am really distressed by the recent events in Longmont and Boulder County.  I feel empathy for all of the people involved in the three stories I've told above.  But I am definitely worried out our society - and how it perceives mental illness, in the first two cases - and the total lack of empathy and feelings, in the third....
   I do not and can not condone any of the things that I have described above - and, yet, having to combat mental illness every day, myself, I have a slight notion of the feelings that might have driven the accused in the first case, and the suspect in the second case.  I cannot feel anything but disquiet about the third case.

Boulder County Fair Opens; Mixed Thoroughbred News

Today the annual Boulder County Fair will open for 10 days of entertainment, competition and carnival rides at 9595 Nelson Road in Longmont.  The Fair grounds are very spacious, and will need to be for the expected crowds at the 144th Fair, with the theme of  "144 Years of Fun on the Farm."  Today the petting zoo will open at 1 p.m., and other exhibits open at noon - cooking, sewing, quilting, flowers and veggies will be evaluated and graded.  The Future Farmers of America and the 4-H Clubs will have horse shows, and animal judging - goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, calves - all the usual fun and interesting County Fair classes and judging.  I had hoped to be able to tell you about the midway, but the website is currently down - it can be found at:  http://www.bouldercountyfair.org   I hope to get over there this weekend and see things for myself.
  No news of any fresh wildlife sightings so far today - Rosie was her usual good natured self this morning; and either Blackberry or Chocolate was having fun overturning the water bowl both in the hutch and the outer pen area this morning.  Lovey and Nedi have been stuck to me like glue since I returned home Wednesday night - other than wanting lots of love (as usual) they seem to be fine.
  Thoroughbred horse racing news is a combination of good and bad.  ....  St. Nicholas Abbey, the European champion who broke a pastern last week while training, underwent surgery and seemed to be doing well; then he colicked, and had a second surgery.  He is now doing "better than expected" and it's hoped he'll be able to enter stud duty next year.  ....  John C. Malone and his wife Laura have purchased Bridlewood Farm, where I worked for Arthur C. Appleton in the 1980s.  Bridlewood is a fully operational thoroughbred breeding and training facility near Ocala, Florida.  ....  Yesterday, near the back stretch of Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, a small training barn burnt to the ground, killing 19 horses, according to the Shreveport Times.  It was reported that one horse was saved, and that a nearby barn, which stabled horses trained by Cecil Borel caught fire also, but was immediately put out.  According to the Times, the destroyed barn belonged to Alan Fox.  Patrons at Louisiana Downs could see the smoke from the fire from the grandstand, but there was no possibility of the fire spreading to the actual race course.