6 Days When Your House Looks Like This

When your house looks like this:



You really only can go do this:
Or smile like this:

13 Days A Day in the Life

5:15 Wake up

5:30- 6:30 Check email and do other computer stuff.

6:30-7:45 Breakfast with family.

7:45- 8:15 Actually get a shower, get dressed (interesting with most of my clothing packed)

8:15-8:50 Drive Kevin to school on the way to downtown library.

9 am- 10am Get to library an hour early so we go for a walk around the Golden Triangle. Spend a half hour in front of the library waiting talking to one woman who just to Denver and avoiding the man who was having an ongoing dialog with himself the entire time.
10 am-11am Grab a ton of books for me to look through then head to the kids room so Alder can play.

11am 11:30 Visit with Trish in the bowels of the library.

11:30-12pm Drive home.

12pm-12:45 Eat lunch. Me ham sandwich and salad. Alder saucy meat.

12:45- 1:30 Stare at wall, too hot to go outside.

1:30-2:15 Got to fabric store for felt for furniture at new house (wood floors! and more solid fabrics for Alders quilt.

2:15-5:00 Stare at wall. Pack one box of 'shoose' and outdoor gear. Draw pictures together on unmade boxes. Talk to Kevin on phone during which time Alder manages to remove his diaper and climb into fireplace- like lightening.

5pm-6pm Take Alder out front to play with hose and get clean. He also spends time walking up and down the block.
6pm Write about my day.

This has been the slowest day I have had in years, it was as if someone had added fifteen seconds to every minute for me. Oh well, it passes and I can smell something good coming up from the kitchen.

20 Days What Weekends are Made For

This weekend was full of all the goodness summer weekends are supposed to be. It started with a wonderful heavy rainstorm that lasted all the way through dinner with friends on Friday night. Saturday morning was cool and smelled of rain. I caught and hour of time alone drinking coffee and reading on the deck of a cafe, a rare treat.







There's Kevin at the back of the boat looking at the shore

Later that morning the three of us headed down the hill to Sloan's Lake for the Dragon Boat Festival. Kevin was on his school's team "The Flying Tigers". As our neighbor who is a member of the local Toaist society 'he came in second twice'. But they did okay for a team of 18 who only practiced once. That evening we lazily watched 'Superstar' and laughed a lot.

Sunday Grandma and Aunt Karen took Alder to watch Kevin race again while I spent the day with Alder's godmama having a nice Sunday brunch and going to the Earth Works Expo. Well the expo was disappointing but getting to spend time together before the move was wonderful. We moved out here to Colorado together almost twelve years ago.

31 Days a Walk Across Denver

Alder and I walked across Denver yesterday. We started out at the Tattered Cover, our favorite bookstore, where I actually splurged on a few books:

Simple Sewing Patterns and How To by Lotta Jansdotter

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowlings

Embroidery Techniques and Patterns by Marie-Noelle Bayard

Finding Your Inner Mama by Eden Steinberg

The Bake Shop Ghost by Jaqueline Ogburn

This is the most books I have ever bought without them being for other people, I know we can't really afford it but soon we will be without the Tattered Cover and their huge stock of books to browse through. Okay so I finished Harry Potter at 3:30 last night but that was worth it.

After Alder climbed the stairs, five times we headed west towards home visiting friends along the way. We also stopped into Stuben's for some lunch. And then headed into down town. There is something eerie and enjoyable about walking through a business area during the weekend when it's all quiet. Then it was past the train station where the cross country train was stopping for dinner. Over the train bridge, the south Platte river bridge, and the new walking bridge (see photo) to the slog up the long hill home. Five hours and seven miles later we were collapsed on the floor.

A friend of mine calls this sort of stuff urban spelunking but I think yesterday was more urban trekking. It isn't a replacement for being out in the hills or mountains but it can be fun.

A Day in the Life

8:30 am-10am Bike ride, Clear Creek Trail Lowell Blvd to Sheridan Blvd plus around Mountain View lake. Riding around is the perfect nap activity. He always starts out the ride happily watching everything go by but after ten minutes he's out. I need to figure out a good pillow for him since every time I put one in there for him he leans the opposite direction.

10-12 Play around house, Alder figures out how to open the gate at the bottom of the stairs, we figured six foot heavy wooden screen might keep the kid in, ha! Another figuring out project, how to make a lock. It isn't that I don't trust his ability to climb the stairs, it just his habit to slide down them and crumple into a heap at the bottom that concerns me.

12pm Walk to library to pick up books on hold and have picnic. Denver Library is great I can find just about everything I want to read and have them drop it off at our library. I used to love searching things out but now taking Alder to the library is a little chaotic, his Shiva really shows through, so we limit ourselves to children's sections.

1pm- 3pm Swimming both in the big pool and the kiddie pool. As the temperature rises into the nineties here there is really nothing else we can do but go to the pool when Kevin has the car. Alder loves the water and is even moving himself around a little in it. Of course he loves the kiddie pool where he can cruise the edge, but we have fun in the deep water to, although a lot of parents cringe or are in awe when I dunk him under.

3pm- 3:30 Picnic #2 under shady tree.

3:30- 6pm Long walk that includes buying Koolaid to dye yarn and searching out a creamcicle. It was one of those days where just being outside in the shade was where I wanted to be, we just never quite made it home from swimming since I had two goals in mind and a habit of choosing what streets to go down by how much shade they had.

6pm- 7pm Collapse on floor together.

7pm-8pm Make and have dinner.

8pm Alder crashes on meditation mat in living room (his new favorite cozy spot is the mat and a two pillows on it which he dives on to with a look of glee).

8:30 Dye yarn, berry blue and lemon-lime. One of my hands is still greenish the other blueish. And I still need more color. The yarn is not turquoise/ green / natural I think it needs a darker blue tone to fill the natural areas, I'll get some food coloring paste today to do that. Otherwise the process was really simple. All you need is large containers (I used the giant yogurt ones), lots of Koolaid, white vinegar and water.

8:30 Watch Transamerica. Really great movie.

10pm Kevin unearths himself from studying at the library.

10:30 All of us are in bed.

Traffic on a hot spring day; SPC

Traffic on a hot spring day
Originally uploaded by Ink Spots.

The temperature is reaching into the 80s. It's taking three turns of the light to go one block. I still have my sweater on and can feel the sweat on my back. Why didn't I bike?

Inspiration

Amy and Trish 2005
Originally uploaded by Ink Spots.

I was sitting working on another sewn cover for a book thinking about how exciting and satisfying it is to work on projects like this and to finish them (not always my strong suit). But over the past few years I have been inspired by these two women to focus on my projects. It isn't anything they have said to me just the example that they have set for me. But they aren't just tireless artists they are amazing women who I love spending time with. They have become some of the people who I have connected closest with in Denver. I will miss them a lot when we go. But they are the sort of friends that don't disappear because of distance.

note: a year ago trish stopped smoking but the picture is one of my favorites so I had to use it.

On the occation of a sunny day for yard saling

Some people go to the spa, others go off to some fancy mall, all in search of a little indulgence. Today I got to indulge myself in yard and estate sales. It was a bright sunny morning and Kevin needed study time so I loaded Alder up in the car and headed over to some of the ritzier neighborhoods of Denver.

Our first stop was a small sale where we picked up a CD. Then back into the car and the next sale on I walked away with 4 books. Then we came across a sign for an estate sale (these are always thicker). The day was worth it just to be able to go into this house. It had been built in the '60's and still had all the original modern styling. Including the turquoise, walnut and brass kitchen. There was even an atrium with a fountain (dry). While I spent most of my time looking at the house I did find a few pieces of clothing for me.

Next we came to another estate sale but this one was run by one of those companies that over charges for everything. Again we enjoyed the architecture but no buying went on there.
At this point I thought we were heading home but we passed by a school having a rummage sale and I couldn't pass it by (this was the point of the day after all). This was the only stop on the trip that I wished that I was alone. There was so much stuff in giant piles that I could only look at a little while holding Alder. Here we scored another book some clothes for both of us and some baked sale goods.

Now we were going home, except there was this one sign that just struck me as one I should follow. There wasn't much at the sale but a ton of CDs, I walked out with 8 including a few I had been looking for. At that point I was out of energy and cash so we headed home.

LIST of scored stuff
CDS
Sarah McLachlan Surfacing
Jonatha Brooke 10 cent Wings
O Brother Where Art Thou? sound track
Afro Celt Sound System Vol 3
Greg Brown One More Goodnight Kiss
The Story The Angel in the House
This American Life Lies Sissies and Fiascoes
Nomad Nomad
Laura Love Octoroon

BOOKS
TC Boyle The Tortilla Curtain
Benjamin Kunkel Indecision
Haven Kimmel A Girl Named Zippy
Allegra Goodman The Family Merkowitz
Myla Goldberg Bee Season

CLOTHING ME
1960's Wool Jacket with fake fleece lining.
Silk Turtleneck
Linen Shirt
Jeans

CLOTHING ALDER
Cow Overalls
Garden Overalls

So I like to indulge in a little consumerism every once in a while. When it's used I don't mind.

Gardening begins

Denver is funny it wavers between cold and hot but rarely has much weather in the 50- 75 range. This week has been an exception to this. So I got the call this morning from my friends that I share a plot with in an urban garden that this afternoon they were going to head over to start weeding.

Jenna and Nils at work

So I know it's been raining a bunch lately but I wasn't ready for the forest of weeds that had taken root. These were the sort of weeds that had decided that they were staying for a while. So there were were shovel, polanski and rake bruting the weeds out. Along the way we found two rows of lettuce that had reseeded itself and a few squash plants.



Nils with Alder

The garden was natural habitat for Alder he was a content and curious babe among the dirt and plants. To keep him out of the way of the tools we would stick him in a far corner of the plot among the weeds (which were up to my chest in some spots) and he would find his way back. The way he was talking to himself you could tell he was on an adventure.

Just a Day in the Sun

Since we got the bike trailer Alder and I have barely gotten in the car. It is so nice to be able to get around town faster than walking but with out driving. Today was a little much, we were meeting Kate (godmother) to go for a bike ride and to the Botanic Gardens plant sale across town. This meant that we rode eight miles before we started.

The day was good. Playground time with a second adult to chase him around. Discovering how to climb ladders (doesn't he know he is supposed to walk first?). Picnic in the shade. Godmama Kate carrying Alder as we walked through the gardens. Of course that part gave me serious garden envy. Meeting up with Papa for Brazilian Limonade (one of the earths greatest inventions).

Alder is really good in the trailer but we were in and out of it for eight hours. Even a mellow kid like him has his limit. Luckily we caught up with Kevin near school and got a ride home.

It's hard for me to remember that I have to shorten my rides now that I have him with me. It used to be that if I had a free day I would just head out. If it got too much I would jump on the bus. But with a trailer the bus isn't an option.

So we're finally home and both exhausted and well sunned (one of us is so thoroughly dirty that he was sticking to himself). I can only hope that it doesn't get as hot this summer as usual (reason number three that we are leaving Denver: average summer daily temp in in the mid 90s!)

Unfortunately I forgot to put the card back in my camera so no pictures.

way down on evans

I have a love of wandering areas of town that aren't really for walking. So I was excited when I discovered that the place where I was having the windshield replaced was in just such an area. For the two hours that I had to kill Alder and I walked (I pushed he sat) past all sorts of industrial stuff, stopped into a thrift store, and climbed a very long hill.

Technically I was having issues with getting any street into the picture since I didn't have anyone who could take a picture far enough away. If anyone has suggestions I'd love it. These two are the best of the lot.


Click the photos to enlarge them.

Way Down on Evans; Self Portrait Challenge

Hit this link to see the post, this entry got messed up. LINK

Visit From Grandpa

My Dad left yesterday after a four day visit. He is becoming more and more a grandpa each time he sees Alder. It's interesting to watch him see his grandson and how he is amazed by the changes in him since January. I guess I've gotten used to Alder's constant changes and new skills but to my Dad they were all new and thrilling. We didn't do a lot but had fun, ate good food, and talked. It was really lucky that he was around Thursday afternoon, I suddenly got one of those brain rattling headaches (damn sugary dessert) and all I wanted to do was sleep a little. Kevin was in school but my dad just took Alder and played for a few hours. It was magic to get to sleep off the headache. I was well enough afterwards to make a big curry dinner, his favorite.

Here are some pictures, click on them to see them larger.


Grandpa and Alder at the playground.



Alder loves the feeling of sand through his fingers.



Half of this playground is large boulders arranged to look like water animals, the rocks are only carved in occasional areas to accent the natural shapes.



After the playground a yummy lunch at Devils' Food.

Adendum

The post before this was pretty negative and I feel like I should give a little toast to Denver so here are some links to some of the greatest people, and places that I've gotten to know here.

My friend Amy's art is outstanding. here

Pond Patrol, is Gio's imagination at its best. here

Tran and her husband Josh have started in a basement with a few screened tee shirts. here

There is even lots of dirt to be "DUG". here

The Tattered Cover is the best bookstore I have ever been to. here

There is even great music. here and here

And interesting theater. here and here

Ways that I am ready to move

In my article I wrote about yesterday I talk about how it is more important to become aquainted with the wild that is near by than those inspirational trips to the "greats". I talked about the little bits of wild that exist in the city.

But for me right now I am ready to move from the city to someplace where there is more wild near by. I want to be able to go for a morning walk on a dirt road and smell the leaves or spend less time driving than hiking. Denver is great, but after four years I am done being in a city.

Perhaps it has to do with Alder and how he has made me slow down and appreciate my days more. Or the fact that sometimes I feel both lost and confined. What ever is causing this feeling I am ready to move to a smaller city or town. I am ready to know more of my neighbors and to care more what happens around me.

Living here has jaded me. In our last apartment there were some kids living in a basement apartment who were prostitutes and cooking meth. We lived in once of the nice neighborhood, right on a park with a zoo and museum. The houses around us were sell for over three hundred thousand dollars and most blocks have monthly meetings and socials. Yet in our small six apartment building we had these kids, a stripper with a "sugar daddy" and a family that had the police called on them a few times a week because the dad beat the mom.

I know these problems exist in all sizes of communities, but I am ready not to be loaded in with them so many at a time. Apartment living, which I did for the first 18 years of my life, is not for me. If I am going to deal with people who frustrate me, who are either rude or beyond my help, I want more of my own space to retreat.

I have found myself getting snippy on more occasions lately, especially with teenagers. I know it is because I do not have anyplace that is truly away. In our apartment now we are hemmed in. To the west is the other apartment in the building, sound travels through the walls. To the east are some awful neighbors who have late night drunk/ stoned parties on their deck which is fifteen feet from our bedroom window.

When it is nice out we can even sit in our yard since the landlord decided that he would xeri-scape it, without putting either thought or effort in to it. The front yard is small rocks, too large to set a chair on and too thin to keep the black plastic from showing. Out back is just a slab of concrete. There is no respite here. At least the apartment itself is nice, a bit on the dark side, but nice.

But complaining isn't what I meant to do, I just wanted to explain why I am ready to move. There is also one other big reason (not including all the important ones I haven't mentioned) Denver summers are way too hot for me. I would rather have a few weeks below zero that a few weeks over 100. Alder was born on a cool day, it was only 95 but the next week of my recovery it was all over 100. We don't have air conditioning.

Of course I will miss things from Denver. I've made some of the best friends I have ever made here and it really is an easy city to have fun in and get around. But the other things still trump those. Not to mention that there are over 800 acupuncturists in the Denver area (no work for Kevin).

So for the rant.

More Kites

Kite Festival

What We Do

I have been slacking on putting up pictures lately. So this entry is full of them.

This week has been a bit odd. The weather has been all over the place and we were still dealing with no car until yesterday. Right now it's threatening to snow.

As usual we've spent quite of bit of our time either in the library or the park. The library lasts only as long as I can handle re shelving books behind him. But we managed an hour on Wednesday with the bonus of seeing Trish who came upon us as Alder was traversing the lobby (which is the width of the entire building) on hands and knees.

After the library we spent a few hours in the park. We found a spot on a hill overlooking a soccer game played by construction workers during their lunch break. Alder was more interested in climbing on the stroller or putting his fingers through the grass then the game.

Yesterday was busy. We finally have a car again (Kevin's parents are lending us their spare one) which meant grocery shopping and Target. I do not like Target's policy allowing their pharmacists to make moral judgments about filling birth control scripts but it is impossible not to shop there without spending an obscene amount of money.

While we were there I made the mistake of walking through the toy isles and saw all these great wooden toys which I wished Alder had to play with. We left with only swim diapers. Saving our meager sum for groceries.

If I haven't mentioned it before Alder is no longer a baby. No he isn't walking yet but the way he moves and interacts and looks is just more toddler like. This showed itself while we were in the Sunflower he was trying to pull things off the shelves. Oddly he kept on grabbing healthy useful stuff like avocados. To keep him from grabbing everything we ended up snacking on a box of cereal for most of the time.

He is sleeping right now all knocked out from getting up at five. Splayed out on the bed he looks older than his eight months and it is starting to feel like he has been around for longer in our lives. I guess in some ways he has. Before we even were married we would talk about a life we could have. There was always a child in these tales we would tell ourselves. I think even then he was alive in our imaginations.

A Day in Our Life 1

I have been thinking about how many of my dear friends and family are out there doing things, big things compared to my daily Alder thing, you know getting PhDs and Masters, teaching, saving the world. I miss being part of a larger community of articulate adults some days. Lots of days Alder is asleep and I'm just not sure what has happened to my day. I am not dismissing what I am doing as less important, but when I've just given Alder his twenty-fifth belly raspberry for the day I feel a little lonely for the world of ideas. I know that this picture of my life isn't complete, I'm copy editing and starting Sun and Moon, as well as writing when I get a chance, but this is what days feel like pretty often.

7 am wake up, as Kevin yells that he's leaving to catch the bus.

7 am-8am doze on and off as Alder plays on the floor in the bed room.

8am-9am brush teeth with Alder trying to climb my leg, spend the rest of the time with Alder playing only on the bed (he loves being bounced down on the piled blankets.

9am- 9:30 am feed both of us while doing a load of laundry and listening to NPR.

9:30am-11:30 am put Alder down for a nap, it's a little early but he's rubbing his eyes. Oops, I fell asleep with him for the entire nap.

11:30am-12:30pm Try to dress both of us even though most of the clothing is waiting to be folded in baskets. Then remember that it's cold out and do the whole thing again while listening to NPR.

12:30pm-12:52pm Realize that we only have one bus ticket so prepare to walk downtown as event of the day, then see that Kevin has left us tickets. Repack the backpack and go to bus stop.

12:52pm-1:30pm Ride bus across town, look out window, make faces at other riders.

1:30pm-2:15pm walk to St. Marks, visit with Gio for a little bit, enjoy our drinks (me:latte Alder: soy milk)

2:15 head over to Twist and Shout, while talking to grandpa on the cell.

2:30pm Ask staff about the Haimowitz CD that was recorded in the Plainfield church, I know they don't have it but I was bored so it was something to do, they can't help me because they can't figure out what I am talking about.

3:00pm Go to Tattered Cover, I get to drool over books (metaphorically) and copy down titles I'll take out of the library, Alder gets to drool over books (literally) while he pulls them out in the children's section. I clean up in his wake.

3:40pm Head over to Papa's school, stopping in A Bend gallery to look at Bruce's new works and what ever else they have up.

3:50pm Get to the school before Kevin is done with his last clinic patient. That's okay Dr Goa, Jay, Molly, Corey and others that I don't know their names are there to monopolize Alder's time.

4:15pm Leave with Kevin, godmother Kate calls to talk (she's been teaching skiing to Dell executives and band kids all day)

4:30pm Can't make it home before dinner so we stop at Bocaza (yum!)

5:05pm Watch as we miss bus, next one is in a half hour.

5:05pm-5:35pm Burr! We're cold!

5:35pm - 6:24pm Bus ride home.

6:30pm- 7:30pm Papa watches Alder as I get a little down time on the computer.

7:30pm - 8pm Put Alder to bed.

8pm um that's now.

I think I will do this occasionally just to remember what a day is like with a babe when he gets older.

First Hints of Spring

I love when spring feels like it is really settling in, especially after winters as snowy as ours has been. But March and April are those tricky months so I know that the snow is not done and that there will be the day that I go out dressed for sixty when it starts to snow. Alder and I can get out and wander. The last few days have been in the sixties so we have been taking advantage of the weather (except yesterday when I was randomly sick and spent my time sleeping or going to the acupuncturist).

Wednesday we spent an hour or two in the front yard. Alder has figured out that only hard things are good to put in his mouth. This means we're just eating rocks and sticks, the pointy things are quickly disappeared. Alder is truly a summer boy he loved the chance to be naked in the sun.
Alder his new crawling skills.

He wouldn't be my son if he didn't know a tasty rock when he saw one.
Now lets explore the rocks.
Today we walked down to the river, I think I was getting ahead of myself since it is still running high and cold with spring run off. Instead we visited the REI and used part of our dividend on a rain jacket for him (baby's first piece of gear) and to play in their play ground. Afterwards we walked along the river for a bit and then over to a quiet square where Alder could crawl around while I ate. On the way home we stopped by a friends house where Alder spent some time chasing his bottle around the slanted patio.
At the REI playground.
Alder gets up close with the art.

Here's a mini video of Alder VIDEO

And this is for Sam who couldn't be here for the walk... we love you Sam!!!!!!

Now were home and tired. Alder is a sticky dirty tired kid who does not want to go to sleep and I am in a tired, sore (7 mile walk), ready for tired boys to be sleeping, sort of mood.

End note: Alder ate a bowl of beans and a bowl of yogurt this morning, it worked we to keep him happy all day. When Kevin came home he just fed him a ramekin full of yogurt and apple sauce. This kid loves to eat real food.