Happy Halloween!

This seems like a good day to share some images from Evergreen Cemetery's yearly fundraiser, "Beyond the Grave," which took place the first weekend of October. Above, an actress representing Queen Palmer, beloved wife our city's founder, General William Jackson Palmer, expounds upon her short life and early death. After her performance (which took place in the historic chapel inside the cemetery), we all boarded a flatbed truck for an open air hay ride through the graveyard, with stops at various gravesites to enjoy several more thespians telling ghost stories and quoting Edgar Allan Poe. I've always enjoyed this annual production and found this year's extra enthralling and creepy.

Hope you had a fun Halloween!

The Lurker

I've been in the process of making some improvements to my aquarium, mainly in the form of adding tons of new plants and a few more fish. Fish are delicate creatures so it's the sort of thing that must be done in stages. This means the folks at the aquarium supply store have been seeing a lot of me lately, as I've been visiting there about once a week. On one of my shopping trips I found myself captivated by this tiny tank full of lurid purple coral and exactly one shy inhabitant. Can you see him?

Halfway There

This was taken in Monument Valley Park on Monday, five days ago, and as you can see, fall color is finally well under way at our elevation. I'll try and capture more of the prettiness for you soon. This is my favorite time of year.

This Is a Shame

Palmer High School is finally getting some much needed improvements. This was our city's first high school, dating back to 1874, although the current building was erected in 1939-40. Considering that it's over 85 years old, you can understand why it's due for some major upgrades. The gymnasium and football field are actually a block away in another building entirely, so students have always had to cross both Weber and Wahsatch to get to gym class (and trust me, this bungs up traffic around Palmer while classes are in session -- downtowners know to take another route during school hours) and I think part of this multi-year, $100 million renovation is dedicated to moving the athletics to a brand new building and closing part of Boulder Street to accommodate the expanded campus. A decision has recently been made to demolish four old Victorians to accomplish this, and that is a damn shame. This particular home on Weber and Saint Vrain has always been a favorite of mine, with its beautiful architectural details. Never mind the fact that it has been divided up into apartments for as long as I can remember and it sits right next door to the school's tennis courts, I hate to see it go and pretty I'm sad about losing it along with the other three casualties. I lived a few blocks up the street from this old grande dame for several years. Sigh. I grabbed this picture on October 2nd as the fire department was apparently playing some role in its demolition. I wonder if it's already gone.

The Supervisor

Yesterday was one of those perfect fall days, so in between errands I stopped by Monument Valley Park to sit on a bench and just enjoy the sunshine for a few minutes. While I was there, this northern flicker kept a watchful eye on me from a distance.

The Camels Kissing

Here are our famous smooching sandstone ungulates at the Garden of the Gods. Can you see the PDA?

Sunday Style!

Seen at the local No Kings protest yesterday. What a great sweatshirt!