Yearly Archives: 2016

Family, Holidays

Ellis Day

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

This is the birthday of Richard Ellis, the first of our Ellis clan to arrive in the U.S. He came as an indentured servant in 1707, arriving in Massachusetts instead of Virginia. He was supposed to become the heir to a relative there. However, ship captains in the time had few scruples and made money as they could, in this case a form of temporary slavery.

Richard worked out his indenture and went on to found the still existing town of Ashfield, Mass.  He also became a captain in the Revolutionary Army. His descendants have spread out across the U.S. now, and into Singapore and Saudi Arabia, too. I’m declaring this a family holiday in his honor.

Politics

Here There Be Dragons

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We’ve veered into strange territory, again, in this election. Now Trump is behind so far that the Republicans are talking about not giving him anymore money. This is the fiscal equivalent of Dump Trump. There’s an article on Politico titled “Why Hasn’t the Republican Party Collapsed?” Trump continues to dominate the news, disproving the adage all press is good press. We’re in an interregnum now, polling wise, where Hillary’s lead appears impregnable, but the conventions are still not far in the rearview and wrapping it up this early seems precipitous. Some say another week of these numbers and you can start collecting Trump pins and hats for that losing Presidential candidate’s exhibit. We will see, we will see.

 

Jefferson County, Mountains, Shadow Mountain

Cars Should Kill U

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Lugnasa                                                                    Superior Wolf Moon

Cars Should Kill U
Cars Should Kill U

There was a bicycle race on Black Mountain Drive Saturday. Race organizers had spray painted encouraging words on the road: Shut up, Legs! You can do it. Not much further now. That sort of thing. This was all in white spray paint.

Another group or individual came out with blue spray paint and added these messages, two of four. I took the photographs this morning on the way home from Evergreen. Obviously, they’re disturbing. But more to the current point, they immediately reminded me of the spirit of Trump rallies where minorities, women, the disabled, immigrants are summarily belittled and mocked. Sometimes, violence ensues.

The cruel and awful thing about the Trump national campaign for the presidency is this; it gives the color of political legitimacy to sentiments like these, encouraging them to go beyond disdain and into violent territory. I don’t know the politics of the blue spray painter(s), but I do know that the sanctioning of hateful rhetoric and physical confrontations makes such attitudes much more dangerous.

die faggots
die faggots shut up
Family, Our Land and Home, Shadow Mountain

Joy. Fun. Fart Jokes.

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20160815_061917The grandkids have come and gone. Jon gets to see them for a weekend overnight every other weekend and all day Saturday on the other. He also gets a Wednesday dinner every week. These arrangements are temporary and will be changed when the divorce is final, sometime in October, probably.

It was a joyous time with the kiddos this weekend. Lots of laughter, fun, conversations, play. Ruth painted her elephant, Gabe watched two movies up in the loft, part of the time exercising on the elliptical and told fart jokes. (He’s 8.) The dogs love it when the kids are here. More play time. Lots of smiling canine faces.

20160814_161327Kate made BLT’s on Saturday night, spaghetti and meatballs last night. She also made two batches of rice crispy treats. Family stuff with the usual mild chaos, dogs and kids scampering here and there.

Now, though, we have a quiet house again and we like that, too. Our lives here are not solely about family, we each have our own work and we both need solitude. In large quantities.

The path of the divorce, in the often obtuse way of the world, has deepened our relationship with Jon and with Ruth and Gabe. That same path has begun to diverge from the dismal trek we experienced through June, July and much of August. It feels lighter. Jon’s back at work. Some of his legal matters are resolved. Investigative work that has to be done before September 16th, the initial pass at a divorce settlement, has hinted strongly at an outcome much more to his liking than Jen has proposed.

Life for the Denver Olsons, sans Jen, will not be the same, but I’m increasingly convinced that it will be better, for them and for us.

Humor, Science

This Just In

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Scientists Trace Heat Wave To Massive Star At Center Of Solar System

“PASADENA, CA—Groundbreaking new findings announced Monday suggest the record-setting heat wave plaguing much of the United States may be due to radiation emitted from an enormous star located in the center of the solar system.”  read more at Onion.com

Family, Jefferson County, Mountains

Lake Evergreen

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lake evergreen2

Jon, Gabe, Ruth on Lake Evergreen. By Minnesota standards Lake Evergreen would barely qualify as a decent city lake, but it’s one of the few closeby. Lots of folks come out for various ways to be on the water.

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Evergreen Nature Center
Evergreen Nature Center
Art and Culture, Family, Writing

Art

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Singapore ElephantRuth’s paint your own elephant arrived on Wednesday. In this new world Ruth and I sat talking about the parade of elephants in Singapore several years ago. She looked at the peace and love elephant my sister Mary bought for me.

She clearly wanted one, so I looked them up on the internet. No longer sold in Singapore at the Botanical Garden gift shop, I found them at the company that makes them for elephants parades held around the world, a place in Denmark. A couple of clicks later the folks in Denmark had my order for a blank elephant, one Ruth could decorate in her own way. An elephant from Singapore, seen on Shadow Mountain, inspired a ten year old, so her grandpop ordered one from Denmark. And it got here 5 days later. She’ll be working on it today, I imagine. Amazing.

Don Gosset, International Wolf Center
Don Gosset, International Wolf Center

Superior Wolf has begun to emerge from the many notes, stops and starts I’ve had on this novel. I began writing it in 1999. Now the whole feels available to me for the first time in 17 years. No idea why. Just enjoying the ride.

That work plus the to do list that sits by my computer has gotten the cotton out of my life and replaced it with energy. The Latin will return one of these days, too, I’m sure of it.

Most of the issue seems to be with rhythm. I need unobstructed morning time to work and I’ve been giving that away for the last several months. The work I do requires everday labor, requires attentiveness and the accretion of small tasks into a larger whole. In my psyche peace is most important and peace comes in part from having large blocks of time without additional pressure.

artArt continues to nag at me, but I’ve still not figured out how to include it in my life as well as I did when I was a docent at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Perhaps Jon and Ruth, both active artists, will help in some way.

Dogs, Family, Mountains, Shadow Mountain

Love Is Enough

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love is enough

The morning sun throws reddish highlights on Black Mountain to our west while our home remains in the early dawn. It’s cool here this morning at 41 degrees and a week of cool temperatures is in the forecast. The northern European residents of this home on Black Mountain Drive are pleased.

Jon’s getting ready for his one hour commute to Montview Elementary in Aurora. He has to be there by 7:15, his third day with students. This Labor Day to Memorial Day school year guy still shudders at the thought of hitting the desk in early August. Seems to violate some unwritten compact between students and schools.

Feeling much more engaged this morning. Writing about a problem often sneaks a mood change through as I consider what I’ve written. Took Kate out last night to the Twin Forks Restaurant on North Turkey Creek Canyon Road. This was to honor her steady work on the needlepoint project, Love is Enough. Three years, but now it’s done, ready to be cleaned, blocked and framed. She’s going to add a small metal plaque, Vega: 2008-2016. We clinked glasses for Vega, one of a kind.

 

 

 

 

Family, Feelings, Our Land and Home, Writing

Blunted

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Front, May 6th

A soft cotton buffer lies between me and the world right now. My edge, drive is blunted. Why? Don’t know. Might be attention to the emotional demands of the divorce. Could be too many projects in a row. Could be that THC I use at night. Could be I’m still not rejiggered from the move and prostate cancer. Could be that my circle of friends is in Minnesota and I’ve not made new friends here. Just not sure. It has been cool here the last week or so, so it might be that occasional fall melancholy sneaking in early, stimulated by the chill. Frustrating and I’m not sure what to do about it.

Life works best for me when I’m pressing into it, leaning in as Sheryl Sandberg said. Right now I’m leaning away or to the side or up against a wall. Not pushing forward, nor looking backward, sort of caught in stasis.

On the other hand I’m still exercising and the knee feels good. I’ve hit my mark on words per day on Superior Wolf. Kate and I are in a very good place, working together to help our little Colorado family as it careens through the dissolution of Jon and Jen’s marriage. The dogs are healthy.

The garage is much better organized. The garage, shed and decks have solid weather protection and the new green doors look great. The kitchen is officially finished with all the cabinets painted and Kate’s splash of green above the cabinets. Kate’s bathroom is set for a remodel that will make it safer and more beautiful. Jon’s very near finishing the loft. The walnut is planed and ready for staining. The art cart top is smooth and mostly dry.

Our finances are sound. We’re producing our own electricity and have our generator for emergencies.

Of course, there is Trump. Encouraging Second Amendment people to stop Hillary’s court picks. I. Mean. OMG!

 

 

 

Family, Health

Sloth-like

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Quite an unproductive day so far. Ah, the golden years.

bailey libraryKate’s off to the Bailey Library for the Bailey Patchworkers. She’s working on a wonderful Bat Mitzvah present for Ruth, a quilt with the squares made from counted cross-stitches sewn by her other grandma, Barb Bandel. She has three years to finish it so I think she’ll make it.

I admit reading the online news about the election is sucking up more and more of my time. The Donald Trumpette is a political car crash from which I cannot look away. Hillary, while an old pol and a centrist, doesn’t have near the I gotta see this appeal. The Donald today said, “I’m not changing my strategy or my temperament.” Whew. As the Cream said, “I’m so glad.”

We’re in a lull here between court dates, remodelers and the beginning of fall. Feels a bit sloth-like.

My knee injection seems to have helped. Lisa Gidday, our internist, agreed with me yesterday when I said it’s gotten worse. “Yep, you’re going to be thinking joint replacement at some point.” Well, I haven’t had any surgery this year so far. So, why not? Not really so cavalier about it.

However. I’ve gotten to the point where my life does have some new restrictions and I don’t like them. An example. Going to the Denver County Fair last weekend. I wandered around on the concrete floors of the Stockshow Building, the site of the Fair, for a couple of hours with Ruth, Gabe and Jon. When I got back, my leg did not like having done that. Hiking is painful, too. Point is, replacing that arthritic knee will make sense. Oh, boy.

Gertie is napping right next to the computer. Dreaming, she’s wagging her tail. Very sweet.