Colorado & Boston - Living in Twilight

Life goes on, split between two different states. In August and September, Chris came to Boston where we mostly spent time with his family in Connecticut and so last week, I took a week out in Denver and thankfully got there right when the temperatures were in the 60's (they have been warm in Boston, too) and leaves had just fallen. It was sunny and crisp, pretty windy, but nice. Derby Doo is in tip-top shape and still looking like a seven year-old pup, even though he's my parents' age, almost 70. He got a lot of petting and walking and a quite overdue bath.

Chris and I went out for our favorite mexican food and Chic Fil-A (seriously miss that), tried new small breweries Cooper Kettle Brewing Co, Arvada Beer and Dry Dock Brewing, shopped in the Highlands, and hiked around Red Rocks to my heart's content. I had every intention of burning the copies of Mixmas 2011 while there on my better computer's CD drive, but ran out of time. Nonetheless the track list is final and I'm excited to ship around Thanksgiving weekend. This year's disc is dotted with lots of Amos Lee, lots of Weepies and lots of modern Motown singers. True.

While working in Denver and Boston, I had a rare chance to personally meet two very close colleagues of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Bernard Lafayette and Rev. James Lawson who were speaking at events related to the film Freedom Riders which Facing History uses as a teaching tool for Civil Rights and an example of upstanders banding together. What's an upstander, you ask? Facing History posted an incredible new little animation last week that I love:

I've been taking a writing class since September which has brightened my free time tremendously, and I think I'm going to keep a small writing group going with a couple of the guys in the class afterwards. We often joke that the class is nearly 50% therapy, but also 50% writing and encouragement from our teacher and peers. I often stumble with remembering things from childhood for assignments, but am trying to look at old pictures, old diaries, and of course listen to music - things that were once "tapes" and help jog my memory. I'll probably look at some family slides and Super 8 films when I'm next home in Monterey.

Here's some photos of Colorado, there's more on Flickr:

above and below - my favorite coffee shop at Denver Art Museum (DAM!) - I'm not quite sure if they drew me a heart or someone's butt cheeks in the cappuccino, but whatever!