Live Theater Again, Finally!

So here we are, 17 months and change since Darren & I last saw live theater. From time to time he’s pointed out that if we died, “Rent” would be the last thing we saw and NOBODY wants that. (Apologies to the Rent-heads out there, but that show just doesn’t do it for me.) We moved to Longmont during the pandemic and hadn’t been able to check out the local theater scene, but today was the day!

Jester’s Dinner Theater on Main Street in Longmont, Colorado, seats about 100. According to the website the owners have been in the current building since 1999, but the building itself is much older. The only other dinner theaters I’ve ever been to had buffets of varying quality, so I was pleasantly surprised to have a menu to choose from. And it was all very good – a cup of soup and a salad with grilled salmon for me, pork loin with new potatoes and vegetables for Darren. Once our table was cleared (and we had passed on pre-ordering a dessert for intermission), we turned our chairs toward the stage and waited for the show to begin.

As a little background, if you didn’t know me in Jonesboro (Arkansas), you might not know that between 1979 and 1988 I played the piano for 10 high school musicals and 8 community theater musicals. And when I say I played the piano for a musical, I mean I played every audition, every rehearsal, and every performance. Some shows had a full (but small) orchestra, some had just piano, drums, and a keyboard bass. I’ve played some performances as a piano solo because there wasn’t even room for a drummer. In my later years I played in the orchestra for a couple of shows (and many hours of auditions) at the Arkansas Rep, but high school and community shows are where I developed my chops. As an accompanist, you haven’t lived until that panic-inducing moment when a performer skips a verse and changes keys without warning!

Okay, back to today. This afternoon’s performance of “Oliver!” (a show I played for once upon a time) brought back so many memories. Noisy scene changes in the dark, while an off-stage pianist vamps their heart out. Pieces of the set that wobble and creak but thankfully never collapse. No body mics, just actors projecting their voices naturally. Kids who probably started puberty since they were originally cast in their roles. Adults with a look of panic, because they’ve lost their place in the dialogue. Accents mutating between scenes. And did I mention that the young lady who was our server also played the female lead role? As soon as the curtain calls were over, she was handing out checks and running credit cards. None of this is meant as criticism, because it was all GLORIOUS! Everyone on-stage and off seemed to be putting their heart and soul into this show. I’ve seen a lot of amazing performances by professional casts, and I’ll be thrilled when Broadway shows start touring again, but I’d forgotten what a treat local theater is. Fifteen seconds into the first song my cheeks were wet with happy tears.

That’s it for me today. A huge “Thank You!” to the cast and crew of Jester’s for today, and another to everyone I know who makes their own contribution, large or small, to live theater. The world needs you, now more than ever!

Green Mountain – July 13, 2019

This was supposed to be an ordinary Saturday morning solo hike in my neighborhood, nothing to write about, but…

This little fellow gave me quite a scare!

And I was *so close* to where the trail comes out on a road and I could turn back toward home! But when a rattlesnake is in the middle of a narrow trail with tall grass on either side, the smart play is to turn around and backtrack to another way off the mountain. Although I have to admit that we stared at each other for a few seconds while I made that mental calculation. And took a picture as proof when I tell this story later.

Anyway, here’s a picture of hazy downtown Denver. The buildings in the foreground are the complex where we live.

A fairly short hike, but it definitely got my heart rate up!

“Save Our Healthcare” rally in downtown Denver – September 22, 2017

This morning, I donned my “Nevertheless, She Persisted” shirt and headed into downtown Denver for a a “save our healthcare” rally. As background for non-Coloradans, our Republican senator, Cory Gardner, says he hasn’t decided yet how he will vote on the Graham-Cassidy bill. What he *has* said is that that he “needs more information”. [Here’s a hint, Cory. If a healthcare bill is opposed by the AMA, the American Hospital Association, the National Association of Medicaid Directors, AARP, etc. etc., it’s probably not a good bill.] So this morning, several hundred of us rallied in a downtown park, then marched and chanted the four blocks to the federal building where Senator Gardner has an office.
There were a number of speakers during the rally. A local pediatrician. A state senator who is also a practicing medical doctor. A representative of Planned Parenthood. A young medical student who shared her family’s experience with the Bridges to Care program and how getting health insurance through the ACA saved her mother’s life (and by extension, her own dream of going to medical school). A local minister who was recently arrested while protesting in Washington DC. But the speaker whose words really stayed with me was a disability advocate who was first arrested 30 years ago while protesting lack of wheelchair access on buses. She said two things that I want to share.
1) Disability is a natural part of the human experience. It’s not a tragedy until mean-spirited legislation makes it one.
2) People with disabilities are the canaries in the coalmine. If the Graham-Cassidy bill passes and tens of millions of people lose their healthcare, people with disabilities will be the first to die. But they won’t be the last.
The rally was an uplifting experience for me. We were loud but peaceful. We obeyed traffic laws when we marched. We were clear about what we wanted, but the overall atmosphere was one of hope, not anger. When the minister called for a moment of silence, he said “If you pray, then pray. If you’re a thinker, then think. If you like to meditate, then meditate.” I loved the inclusiveness of that. After all, we don’t have to worship the same way to agree that healthcare should be a basic human right. And when we softly sang “We Shall Overcome”, complete with an improvised verse about “Black and white together, gay and straight together”, I had tears in my eyes. I came home feeling better about the state of our country than I have in a while.
A few shots of the crowd, plus one of Cardboard Cory.

Green Mountain- September 6, 2017

Green Mountain is what I think of as our “home park” – there are trailheads about 1/2 mile from our house. This satellite picture illustrates how close it is, the start and end point is the front door of our condo.

I didn’t hike there much this summer because I was busy checking out other trails, plus there’s virtually no shade. But this morning was nice and cool, so I gave it a whirl. Even hiked some trails that I hadn’t been on before. Unfortunately, my pictures didn’t turn out that great because of the haze hanging over Colorado lately. I’m not complaining, I’m thankful we’re not on fire like most of the states north and west of us. But here are a few pictures anyway, so I’ll remember this hike.

Red Rocks Amphitheater:

Pretty wildflowers:

I’ll probably be hiking Green Mountain more often, now that my summer project is behind me. Plus there are 20+ miles of trails, so I have a lot left to explore.

Map and stats:

Genesee Park – August 30, 2017

After Monday’s hike in Corwina Park, I was inspired to learn more about the Denver Mountains Parks system. According to the website, Denver owns 22 parks outside the city limits, although I can find information on only 13 of them. One that is reasonably close to our house is Genesee Park, which is where I went this morning. If you’ve ever driven west from Denver on I-70 and passed the signs marking a bison overlook, you’ve driven by Genesee Park.

The park is bisected by I-70, I chose a loop on the north side. The first part of the trail seemed like it was in the shadow of the interstate, but the road noise faded quickly. The next thing I noticed was that the trail was sloping down, down, down. I soon realized that the parking lot is the highest point in the park, and tried not to think about how I would get back there. Instead I enjoyed the shade, the little creek, and the occasional peek through the trees. 

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After 3.3 miles of almost constantly sloping down, I finally reached what seemed to be the lowest point of the trail. Imagine my disappointment at the lack of a ski lift to carry my butt back up. But Beaver Brook was pretty enough to distract me for a little longer. 

The trail crisscrossed the brook repeatedly. Sometimes on shaky wooden bridges:

Sometimes on split logs:

And sometimes I just picked my way over some rocks:

(One more reason why real hiking shoes are preferable to sneakers!)

Eventually I left Beaver Brook behind and started going up. And up. And up. At some point I took these pictures, the rock formation isn’t anything unusual but I needed an excuse to stop for a minute and catch my breath. 

After 6.5 miles, just when I was ready to give up and live in Genesee Park forever, I heard interstate noise again. Almost back to the car, hooray! Okay, so it was another mile after that, but at least it was a fairly easy mile.

This was definitely the toughest hike I’ve done solo. A lot of the trail was rocky and difficult. The climb back up was exhausting. Somewhere along the way I fell. (No blood this time, so that’s a win!) But I’m proud that I pushed myself and tested my abilities.

Oh yeah, obligatory picture of the Rocky Mountains, taken from my car on the way back to I-70:

Map and stats:

Corwina Park – August 28, 2017

Last week wasn’t a great week for a variety of reasons, so I didn’t do any hiking. Or maybe it wasn’t a great week *because* I didn’t do any hiking. Either way, I was happy to lace up my hiking shoes and head out this morning.

My first thought was to hike at Lair o’ the Bear Park, I’ve been there several times and love it, but then I remembered that Corwina Park is just a little further west. It’s a beautiful area, the south side of the highway from Kittredge to Morrison is lined with a series of adjoining parks – O’Fallon, Corwina, Lair o’ the Bear, Little, and Mount Falcon. Corwina isn’t very large, but I was intrigued by the Panorama Point Trail. It did not disappoint.

The first mile or so of the trail was fairly steep, but the little creek running beside it and the ample shade made it quite pleasant. 

Once I lost the shade and the creek, there were the usual Colorado trail sights – pine trees, aspen, and rocks. 

The loop up to Panorama Point was steep and rocky, I was glad for my hiking poles. I enjoyed the view at the top so much, I took multiple pictures trying to determine the best way to frame it. Please tell me which one you think turned out best. 

On the descent back to the parking lot, I peeked behind this big rock

and found this pretty scene.

All in all, a very good hike. Difficult enough to be interesting, but not frustratingly so. I just wonder how busy it is on weekends, I saw less than 10 people today.

Map and stats:

Clear Creek Canyon Park – August 18, 2017

Summer project complete! I’ve hiked every trail in my book, and been to every JeffCo Open Space park!

[Okay, so I didn’t technically make it to *every* JeffCo Open Space park. There are 3 that don’t have addresses and are listed as “undeveloped” in the brochure. I don’t think I’m supposed to go to those.]

My last two parks were Clear Creek Canyon and Centennial Cone. It just so happens that they’re adjacent. 

I hiked a trail that starts and ends in Clear Creek Canyon and loops through one corner of Centennial Cone. I’ll probably hike more of Centennial Cone another time, but for now I’m marking them both off of the list.

For the first part of the hike, every time I turned a corner I was treated to another beautiful view. 

Then I turned another corner and was in a meadow, which surprised me.

Back downhill to the trailhead, it was a good hike. Map and stats:

Instead of heading home, I crossed the highway to get a closer look at Clear Creek. Beautiful. 

Notice the cairns? Here’s a better view.

Lovely day, lovely place, great way to end my summer project. Now to decide on my next project! Any suggestions?

Cathedral Spires Park – August 16, 2017

This post is kind of a cheat – I went to Cathedral Spires yesterday morning, but I didn’t hike. I knew before I went that this park is all about rock climbing, not hiking, but I thought there might be at least a little bit of trail I could handle. Ha!

First, I parked my car and walked across the street to size up my chances.

Hmm, looks pretty steep. Maybe I’ll just take pictures instead. 

Then a couple of guys started up the trail with their climbing gear,

so I thought “Why not?” Turns out the trail isn’t just steep, it’s also covered in loose gravel. It was probably less 100 yards before I thought better of it and stopped. Time for a few more pictures before heading back down. 


Lots more pictures of the rock formations and of the Platte River. 


What a gorgeous place, glad I drove all the way out there even if I didn’t hike. Plus I stopped at another park for a short hike before I headed home. Wait, did I just call a 4.5 mile hike “short”? What’s happened to me?? 😆

Two JeffCo Open Space parks left to go, if the weather cooperates I should finish this week!

Apex Park – August 9, 2017

Glorious weather this morning, cool and sunny, so I decided to skip breakfast and get an early start on a trail. I’ve been stalling on hiking in Apex Park, a lot of reviews say the mountain bikers have taken it over, but it’s a JeffCo Open Space park and I want to complete my list, so…

Turns out my fears were unfounded. Maybe on weekday mornings, the people healthy enough to mountain bike are at work or school. Maybe I’m just lucky. Whatever the reason, I only saw a few bikers and all of them were polite.

Some highlights from the trail – a pretty view of Golden

A friendly deer

A little grove of aspen

A lush spot alongside a creek, complete with wild raspberries

And a little history lesson

The reviews I read before going said to not miss the Enchanted Forest part of the trail. If you grew up going to the Enchanted Forest at Goldsmith’s in downtown Memphis every Christmas like I did, you’ll understand my excitement. Sadly, Santa Claus was not in this Enchanted Forest. But it was worth the extra miles, it seemed at least 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the park. And the sunshine sparkling through the trees was beautiful, the pictures don’t do it justice. 

After that, I walked along a pretty little creek for a while, and crossed it several times. 

One last picture from the parking lot, you can see the trail zigzagging up the hillside. 

Fun hike! I’d do this one again, especially on a non-crowded day like today. Map and stats: