Beltane                                                                                       Moon of the Summer Solstice

We have become much more familiar with the Denver metro area. The southern suburb of Littleton has become our medical neighborhood. We visit it often, perhaps a bit more often than we’d like. Jazz clubs Dazzlejazz and Braun’s are regular evenings out. The Curious Theater has entertained us with the work of contemporary American playwrights. Museums from the Colorado History Museum to the Museum of Science and the Denver Art Museum. Restaurants with Western flair like the Fort and The Buckhorn Exchange. Many sushi spots including the unusual Domo which features Japanese rural cuisine.

Most of our time has been spent here on Shadow Mountain or in the immediate vicinity: Conifer, Evergreen, Bailey. These mountain communities are quite different. Evergreen is a tourist destination for day trippers from Denver, but it has a distinct flavor that makes it much more than a tourist town. It has homey cafes, gourmet restaurants, an excellent jewelry store, two synagogues, small shops and large grocery stores. Conifer is a geographic anomaly, not incorporated, but quite large physically with three different “activity areas” two anchored by their own large grocery stores King Sooper and Safeway and the third with a Staples, a great ice cream place, Liks, and our vet, Sano Vet Hospital. Bailey is distinctly downmarket compared to Conifer and Evergreen, but it has a rough mountain charm. Our favorite marijuana dispensary, the Happy Camper, is outside Bailey. We visit each of these towns frequently.