Weekend in Colorado

Following closely on the heels of my trip to Seattle, I flew out to Colorado for some meetings at the US Olympic Committee.  The USOC is based in Colorado Springs, which is only an hour south of Denver.  Naturally I took advantage of the adjacent weekend to explore the area and play with Amanda and some of her friends.  It was great to see her and enjoy the mountains in early spring.
 

Dawn over the plains
(it's all downhill from here to the Mississippi)

I spent most of Saturday with Amanda in Denver.  We drove around town so she could introduce me to all the cool neighborhoods, and we stopped for brunch/lunch at tiny restaurant called Bang!  We split a French toast and finished off with more sensible lunch fare. 

Orange and cinnamon French toast with fresh fruit

cobb salad

the sign speaks for itself

After visiting the neighborhoods, Amanda and I met up with her sister Rachel and a group of Amanda's friends for dinner and a movie.  We saw Monuments Men at the Alamo theater and then (per usual) talked for way too long outside in the freezing cole parking lot.  It was good to see Rachel again, and I enjoyed meeting Amanda's friends after hearing so much about them over the years -- it almost felt like I already knew them.  Needless to say, this was a group of smart, interesting women with whom I'd definitely want to hang out with more if I ever ended up in Denver on a longer-term basis (and even if I don't). 

On Sunday I was back in Colorado Springs for my flight home -- but the flight didn't leave until mid-afternoon, so I had time to explore Nature. 

Pikes Peak
I decided to drive to the top

Sadly, the road was closed due to snow at about 11,440 feet elevation.
Never made it all the way to the 14,000 foot summit.

Views from the turn-around point.

View of Colorado Springs from the foothills.

During my meetings with folks at the US Olympic Committee I asked them if there was anything I should do/see while I was in town.  Inevitably the response included something like this:

"The Incline.  You should definitely hike up the Incline.  Except, wait.  You're from the East Coast, so you'll probably die.  Maybe just drive around."

Of course this meant that the first thing I did after getting down from Pikes Peak was to climb the Incline at Manitou Springs.  Originally a gondola ran from the center of town at Manitou Springs to the top of a nearby hill.  Now, with the gondola gone, it's essentially an insane staircase of doom up which all the locals run/climb/stagger on sunny weekend mornings. 

The trail goes straight up the mountain,
climbing 2,000 vertical feet in 0.88 miles

I made it to the top in a respectable 40 minutes (the only person who passed me was
an insanely fit Air Force cadet).  It was definitely not the easiest thing I've ever done.
About 2/3rds of the way up I realized that if I lived in this town I would quickly be
in incredible shape.

The rest of the story:  My calves were in pain and agony for the next four days.

Layover rendez-vous

Okay, so this was awesome:  My flight from Salt Lake City to Reno went through Denver, where I had a two-hour layover.  Not enough time to leave the airport to visit Amanda, but plenty of time for her to meet me for a late lunch on the other side of the security line.
 

 

The food was a far, far cry from our preferred travel fare, but it was enough to prevent starvation and seemed reasonably free of disease (which is more than can be said of some of the food we've eaten together -- see here and here for that story). 

 

Quiche Lorraine

And besides, the real treat was to see Amanda.  I got to hear about the new musical her classes will be putting on and some of her recent dating exploits; I told her about work and how I want to use her apartment as my final project in the interior design class.  We didn't have quite enough time to solve all the world's problems, or even to plan our next big adventure (which, as our "Turning 35 Trip", will somehow need to top our previous adventures in Greece, Turkey, Peru, Morocco and Spain), but it was a great little visit -- and all the more pleasant for knowing that we'll see each other again in a couple of months for some theatre in New York.

Denver - Christmas Spider

Getting out of Denver was kind of an ordeal.

My flight was supposed to leave at 8:00am, but when I tried to check in I learned that it had been canceled (surprise!).  "Not to worry," said the agent comfortingly, "we've already rebooked you for the first flight out on Friday morning."  Her benevolent smile evaporated when I reminded her that this was Wednesday morning, and that suggested that two days in the airport wasn't acceptable. 

Thus began a morning of handwringing and anxiety for the United agents as they called around to other airlines and tried to figure out how to operate their printer.  They never succeeded in the latter endeavor, so finally they sent me over to the Delta line with a handwritten note along the lines of "Hi Delta, Please let this guy on your plane.  Love and kisses, United."

The line at Delta was longer than at United.  It would have been a boring wait if I hadn't been so intrigued by the fact that Alaskans apparently celebrate Christmas with giant spiders.
 

Yes, kids, if you're really good this year, a giant spider will crawl out of our chimney!

Nine hours later, I finally boarded the plane to Salt Lake.  After another hour's delay on the runway, we were on our way.  Farewell, Denver!


 

Denver - Christmas Day

I awoke with a start in the wee hours of the morning -- I had forgotten that there was a videoconference scheduled in my bedroom for exactly that time, and if I didn't hurry, I would be caught sleeping in bed when everyone else dialed in to resume negotiations.  I scrambled out into the living room and sat down on a sofa, wondering how long the call would last before I could go back to bed. 

Then I realized that it was absurd for there to be a conference call at 3:00am on Christmas Day in Amanda's guest room.  So I went back to bed.

Then at 7:00am I awoke with a start and opened my laptop to start working on an issues list for the contracts that we would be negotiating today.  I figured it was a crappy way to start one's Christmas, by working, but at least this way I might be done by the time Amanda woke up.  Funny thing, though, how the email chain that I'd received during the night instructing me to create the issues list didn't seem to be in my inbox anymore.

That's because I'd dreamt it.  So I went back to bed.  Again.  And resolved that, regardless of any assignments (real or imagined) that I might receive today, I simply wasn't going to work on them.

Because it was Christmas! 

After my second work misfire, I couldn't fall asleep agin -- and since it was a glorious, sunny day with pristine new-fallen snow everywhere, I decided to get up.  I lit a fire in the living room and settled down on the sofa with my copy of Les Miserables.  At 530 pages into the first volume, Jean Valjean was finally on the verge of rescuing Cosette from the Thenardiers. 

Eventually Amanda got up and surprised me with a stocking full of wonderful little goodies that "Santa" had left the night before.  Then we made breakfast.  Amanda made quiche with spinach, bacon and cheddar cheese . . .

while I made some of Lady's French toast . . .

all of which was delicious.

By the time we had cleaned up breakfast, it was time for today's main event:  Les Miserables!

Despite my not having finished the book, the movie opened today in theaters, and we had tickets to see it this afternoon.  We waited in line, jostled with folks who didn't understand the concepts of lines, and ended up with excellent seats in the giant auditorium. 

The movie was essentially the Broadway musical, but with a few cuts here and some expansions there.  It was inevitably over-the-top and grandiose, but it's a story that calls for nothing less -- and it was thrilling to see what the movie form could do that the stage version couldn't.  By and large the actors (with the exception of Russell Crowe) were strong singers and well cast, and the storytelling swift and effective.  I missed the depth of the novel (though not the hundreds of pages spent on irrelevant side notes), but the tale was still powerful enough to render me an emotional wreck from the time Jean Valjean sang "Bring Him Home" until the end.

Now we're back at home, winding down the day.  I fly out to Utah tomorrow for the next leg of holiday visits, so in a minute I will need to go pack my bags.  It has been a quick trip, but very pleasant and much appreciated.  Merry Christmas!

Denver - White Christmas

It's rare that the weather cooperates and does exactly what it should at the moment it should be done.  But last night that happened! 

After a relaxed and uneventful Christmas Eve Day, Amanda and I went downtown for dinner at a new restaurant called Le Grand Bistro & Oyster Bar.  We ordered oysters and soup and hearty winter fare to warm us against the plummeting temperatures outside.
 

Kumamoto oysters from California, and
Bar Cats oysters from Chesapeake Bay

Roast beets, arugula, herbs, candied walnuts, cured foie gras

Lamb shank, raosted root vegetables, fried goat cheese & mint fritter, lamb jus

Red wine poached pears, almond custard, rosemary crème fraîche

Following dinner, we walked across the street to see the closing night performance of Irving Berlin's White Christmas at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

 

If you're familiar with the play (or the Bing Crosby movie it's based on), you'll know that its most famous song is "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" and that the story ends happily when it finally snows on Christmas Eve. 

 

As we left the theatre, we were delighted to see that, as if on cue, it was snowing outside as it had been on stage -- we would have our very own white Christmas!

 

 

Denver - Tableau vivant

It was late on Christmas Eve when Amanda and I posted our tableau vivant Nativity scene.  We considered taking a few minutes to wish our readers Merry Christmas and offer some cheery words about the birth of Our Lord, but we were sleepy and decided to let the image speak for itself.

Then we remembered all of our art history classes and realized that, while a picture may speak for itself, it's hard to predict what it will say.  I mean, what if the Christmas motif was just a vehicle or a symbol for some other message?  Like, we're having a child out of wedlock without even violating the law of chastity!  Or, we're moving to Egypt!  Or, look how many scarves Amanda has!

Hehehe.  We decided to let it simmer overnight. 

Truth is, none of those messages was intended (except maybe the last one -- girl has a gazillion scarves) -- our tableau is just a straightforward representation of the Savior's birth as it would have looked if someone like, say, Wes Anderson had been art director instead of Saint Luke.

It's a powerful composition, one that can tell us a lot about the meaning of life and spirituality and the stuff in Amanda's apartment.  Let's take the elements one by one:

First, you have the new father, who, at great risk to life and limb, has just accomplished his first swaddling and is now wondering, "Is it bad for my eternal salvation if I am allergic to the Baby Jesus?"













(It's worth observing, too, how Joseph's scarf is wrapped in the traditional Moroccan manner, which suggests that, in addition to being a humble carpenter, he also has traveled widely during his university years.)

Then there is the Virgin Mary, who is just happy they made it to the stable in time -- and who also has no intention of letting Joseph out of swaddling duty, "allergies" or no.

To Mary's left (our right) stand the three wise men.  One of them looks a lot like William Shakespeare, but if you look closely, you can see that the resemblance is only in the head.  The other one actually is Sancho Panza -- apparently he was kind of a big deal in the Middle East before he moved to Spain and started hanging out with Don Quixote.  As for the black king (who is black because one of the kings is always black), nobody knows what is name is or where he came from -- based on skin color, some historians posit that he is from Africa, but that theory fails to account for his obviously Asian elephant.

Swinging around the front of the table, we encounter a black rectangle that, from the rear, looks like an iPhone.  But that would be anachronistic, because iPhones didn't exist at the time of Our Lord and Savior's birth.  Instead, it's a digital portal that allows Joseph and Mary to see Jeanette-Isabella, who went to get a torch and, in so doing, became the first Olympic torchbearer in history.

Although Jeanette-Isabella's important contribution is still
celebrated in song, she is often omitted from the traditional nativity scene. 
I asume that is due to a sense of disappointment among the apostles
for her choosing a pony-tail instead of a sleeker up-do.

On the other side of the stable, we find the famous shepherds who were keeping watch with their flocks by night. Or, more accurately, two shepherdesses who belong to a latino-russian women's cooperative that raises miniature llamas for their wool.  The Latina shepherdess is clearly enjoying Christ's birth (her family has been Catholic for generations), but her Russian colleague seems to be more focused on the babe in the mirror than the Heavenly Babe.  (She later came to grief when she forgot to fill up on oil before the wedding feast.) 

Note the ever-attentive sheepcat keeping an eye on
the one straying from the ninety-and-nine.

Hovering over the entire scene is an angel, which symbolizes the actual angel who announced the birth of Christ to the shepherdesses.

Don't be thrown by its resemblance to a wooden bird -- some angels
take on alternate identities for security reasons

As we consider each of these elements that make up one of the most iconic gatherings of all time, we should reflect on the value of family and the blessings that we receive daily from on high.  And we should recognize that it all could have turned out very differently.  For example, Joseph could have had a seizure and died from his baby allergies, leaving Mary to raise her child alone . . .
 

Or, the angel with the lilly could have made the Annunciation to the wrong half of the couple, resulting in an even stranger single-parent situation (because what woman would marry a pregnant man, even if the conception was immaculate?) . . .

Or, we could have ended up at the wrong stable altogether and given a lot of unwanted attention to a couple struggling to cope with the fact that they had just given birth to a demon cat.
 

But again, none of those things happened -- and for that we are all eternally grateful.  So, joy to the world, and to all a good night.

Denver - Christmas Eve

 

Denver - Productive and leisurely

It's a good thing I went to church last Sunday and heard the Christmas message then -- because that sure didn't happen today.  Instead, I slept until 10am (nine hours of sleep! in a row!) and spent the rest of the day being moderately productive and 100% on holiday -- in both senses of the word:  I relished the feeling of being on vacation and was finally able to get into the spirit of the Christmas holiday.

The productive part came early, in the form of Christmas shopping.  Amanda needed to pick up one last gift from this quirky store full of ecclectic oddities and hipsters with facial hair.  While Amanda made her purchase, I perused the shelves and came away with a Peruvian butterfly and a cloisonne vase.  As the clerk wrapped the butterfly for me, he assured me that it came from a no-kill butterfly ranch in Peru that was run by a father and son team -- the butterfly had therefor lived a full and happy life and wasn't pinned to the glass until after it had died in its bed surrounded by loved ones.  He also threw a handful of shiny crystal fragments into the box ("for effect") before closing it.  I stifled a laugh and looked around to see if the Portlandia camera crew was hiding in the corner.

Morpho didius

 

And, before you start judging me for going Christmas shopping and buying things for myself, I will also say that I may or may not have gone to other stores and purchased other items for other people.  Either way, we ended up at the Tattered Cover book store, where we sat and read and soaked in the wonderful atmosphere of a good independent book store. 

 

Moi, reading How To Be a Woman
(which, lest you wonder, was a sort of feminist memoir/essay,
 as opposed to an actual "how to" guide)

Amanda opted for the new Lemony Snicket book

From the bookstore, we wandered over to Cholon, a nearby restaurant where we had dinner reservations.  The service was fantastic and the food, which seemed to belong in the Asian/Southwestern fusion style, was good -- and by "good" I mean perfectly adequate but not extraordinary.  My favorite part was the sauces; my least favorite part was how the menu didn't really give us a good sense of how big each plate would be -- we ended up over-ordering.

 

Giant rice cake with salsa

Pork-belly potstickers with ginger mustard

Duck spring rolls with cilantro yogurt

Celery root soup with miso butterscotch, Asian pear and green apples

Seared salmon with miso-buttered corn and shitake vinaigrette

Sauteed brussels sprouts with ground pork and mint

 

Yellow curry mussels with pork belly and French fries

 

With happy tummies full of food, we walked over to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts to see the Nutcracker.  It has been years since the last time I'd seen the Nutcracker performed live, and I had forgotten just how much fun it was.  All the beauty of ballet, plus the fun and energy of the holidays -- there's nothing better than seeing all those little girls in the audience dressed up in their best dresses, clearly wishing that they could be Clara!

 

For normal people, the night would have ended after the ballet.  But no -- in true AJW/JJD style, we decided to make it a double-header tonight:  After the ballet, we went to a nearby cinema and saw The Hobbit in 3D.  Because Wizards and dwarves are kind of Christmasy, right?