Twenty-five years ago, Courtney graduated from high school. The funny thing is the reunion committee couldn't find her address, but they managed to track us down in Colorado. It's hard to believe it's been that long since she graduated. Courtney spent her birthday weekend going to the beach and participating in Bike the Drive in Chicago - the day they close down Lake Shore Drive to cars and only allow bikes. She rode from her house all the way down to the Field Museum. Even though she frequently bikes to work, it must be really relaxing to be able to bike on a wide road and not worry about getting run over.
Courtney's birthday also happened to fall on Labor Day this year - the last day in September it can possibly be. We, of course, spent a big chunk of the weekend doing yard work and home maintenance projects (mostly cleaning). Even with the drought this summer, several of our perennials grew like crazy. So, Bruce split them and replaced the plants (mostly bushes) that didn't survive the heat. I've been noticing that more and more of my neighbors have been digging up their dead lawns and replacing them with a more drought-tolerant landscape. Even the governor has authorized replacing some of the bluegrass in front of the Governor's Mansion with native plants.
My St Louis friend, Joyce, passed through Denver on her way to Beaver Creek, so we met up at the Lil Coffea Shoppe for a quick catchup. Not quite as tasty as our usual Ted Drewes Cardinal Sin frozen custard, but the conversation was great.
With angst over gender-identity these days, I thought this sign outside the restroom at the coffee shop was kind of quirky, but clever. It's nice to see someone putting more emphasis on hygiene rather than who's using the toilet.
I decided to try some different activities this week. I attended another Artist in Residence workshop at Hudson Gardens. This topic was on collage. The artist provided tons of old magazines for us to cut up and glue back together. I thought I'd be clever and do a mix of old and new with the frontiersman and the space shuttle. That's an astronaut peaking behind the beaver.
I went to the garden early to do a little sketching before the workshop. Since it was a Saturday, there was a bluegrass band playing on the patio of the coffee shop. This is the same coffee shop that my bike club often stops at when we ride the Platte River trail. You can't see it in the photo, but there are about 50 bikers sitting off to the side taking a break from the trail. That's why I never go out bike riding on weekends - the trails are too crowded.
But I did go out riding during the week downtown to REI. I needed to exchange my zip-off hiking pants. While I was there, I also tried on a new pair of photochromic transition goggles. With the sun coming up later, it's too dark to wear traditional sunglasses early in the morning. But the new goggles work great. I don't know how they do it, but they adjust to changing light conditions.
I also had to take Charlie to the vet this week to get his booster shots. He's always excited these days when we go someplace in the car. But when we got inside the vet's office, I think he realized where we were, because he turned right around and headed for the door. He got lots of treats, though, from the girl who gave him his shots. Plus, after it was over I took him next door to Murdoch's for a new toy. This is supposed to be a cow. It looks really strange, because the body is made out of ropes - a toy Charlie normally loves.
I also finished reading my book for this month's challenge. I chose Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I had to read it in high school (which incidentally was 55 years ago based on the invitations I've been getting to my 55th reunion). It used to be one of my favorite books and I still think it is very intriguing, though after seeing how the world has changed the past 55 years, my reasons for like the book are quite different. I've been on the waiting list for the Project Hail Mary book for the past several months, but my turn finally came up. I was going to read it to satisfy the Book Never Read but Saw the Movie category. Well, I didn't like the movie, and the book wasn't any better. In fact, I didn't even finish, so I can't really check that off. It's disappointing, because I think it could be a great story, but Andy Weir is just a bit too wordy for me.
