Category: Uncategorized

I have been told that people enjoy lists so here is one from me. 10. The shift in the feel of the air that shows up around August 23. Everything moves from Summer’s heat to a crisp clean feel. Once it shifts the next three months move to Autumn. 9. The Colorado State Fair. Growing up in Pueblo, we were reminded often that we lived in Pew-town. Well, when late August hit we were the center of the state’s attention. Yes, I plan to go this year—cane and all. There is something reassuring about an entire barn full of bunnies.…

There is a new invasive species moving into Colorado. Rumors of its coming have been circulating for months. My first sighting of its arrival took place a few weeks ago. I am not sure why I still often look at the ‘plates’ on other cars. I find out-of-state plates a source of both curiosity and irritation—‘please feel free to visit but enjoy your ride home’. I am not a big fan of personalized plates, but I am a sucker for trying to figure out everything from the narcissistic gloats to secret codes. The arrival of the BLACK PLATE seemed like…

I just finished a 4,600 mile roadtrip which provided more than a few blog ideas. I had settled on writing about my second “fast food” encounter, and with a few hours of driving by miles and miles of cornfields, I was not lack for thinking time. All that ground to a halt when, on the final leg of the journey, I had that all too familiar feeling of my second Covid battle. I guess spending five days with a few thousand of my closest friends set up the Petri dish of viral abundance. I immediately got on the phone with…

It’s not that I am “anti-sugar”, I can still be very tempted by the pastry rack at Starbucks. However, I do my best to stay far away from refined sugar, which is both a discipline of 23 years of Type 2 diabetes, and a desire to maintain a healthy body weight. For the last few days I have been visiting in the South. I am always confused when I order iced tea and I am asked “Do you want sweet tea?” If I wanted sugar in my tea I would put it in. More than once I ordered Iced Tea…

” One of my simple pleasures is being the first person in the morning to go lap swimming in our HOA pool. There is something very serene about being alone in the pool, where not even a ripple shows. On a morning after a nice Colorado thunderstorm the water in the pool seems even more inviting. I started lap swimming about four years ago. Except for my two month battle to survive Covid, and prat fall this winter, I have maintained a pretty vigorous daily swimming routine. In fact, on July 4th I swam 84 laps to remind myself that…

I am a planner. I can tell you that Christmas Eve this year will be on a Sunday without looking at a calendar. I am already thinking about next summer when this one is just getting started. This can be a great gift, an irritation to those I share life with, or a setup for getting way out over my skis. In ‘Retirement # Two’ I am trying to wake up each day and see what happens. This does not preclude more long range possibilities. Yesterday was a moment where the day came to me. Grandson Mattias has a friend…

I am not much of a procrastinator unless I want to be. Over the years with six moves since 2009, I have collected a number of various sized ‘totes’ with the historical record of my life. In them are everything from year books, hundreds of photos, valentines from the 5th grade and every paper I wrote while working on my doctorate. That’s just a small representative sample. All of these totes ended up at our house in Arvada over five years ago. I added to the collection when I shut down my office in Greeley. MK, who never has been…

“Reunions” I admit I have a bit of jealousy when I see a group of 50+ people parading through Estes Park, all wearing lime green tee shirts. Embossed on them in bold letters and cool cheesy graphics something like “Baker Family Reunion 2023”. My family used to have a yearly “Pumphrey Pigout”. The last one about 13 years ago, was the unintended “Grand Finale”. It was epic. My young cousin Clint out—did himself—yes with T—shirts. This yearly blowout just faded away. My sister Rita and I were reminiscing about Pigouts of days gone by. There was the one where a…

George Winston, a prolific pianist/composer died this past week. We were the same age. How our family became familiar with him is a story within a story. It was 1987 and by a set of circumstances, we welcomed a foreign exchange student from Japan for the summer. This took some quick maneuvering as one of the requirements was, they were to have their own bedroom. Mateo, who possessed the only private room in the house, willingly offered up his space, perhaps to bring in some male reinforcement against three sisters. Tatsonori Horiyama, from Japan, became a member of our household…

Blame it on Baskin Robbins I am sure that having way too many choices began in my favorite ice cream store as a teenager. I suspect you have all had the experience of waiting behind three teenagers who had to try 11 flavors with the little spoon, before they settled in on Triple Chocolate Banana Walnut Fudge Ripple. Sometimes over—choice is no choice at all. I yearn for the TV days of three networks. Now on my cable TV, I have 600–some choices and I use only about five. Probably once a week, a family member or friend will say,…