Sorry about the long absence: Dial-up is too slow to upload pictures and the weather discouraged me from walking over to Perk Hill—Christmas Eve morning a storm blew in, rattling the trees and making it uncomfortable to walk. Later in the day, just before the house descended into chaos, it snowed again.
Today I made it out of the house, dropping my father off at his volunteering job and then making my way to my favorite coffee shop in Denver, Diedrich Coffee at 12th and Downing. I really like this coffee shop, for in addition to its free wifi, it has a real sense of community.
Every time I’ve visited this coffee shop (and when I say its gay, it’s really gay), I see groups of people talking about the day’s news, and gossiping about the community. Amazingly the community is incredibly stable. I recognize many of the same people as having been here the last time I was here (a long time ago) and the first time I was here. It’s extraordinary what role this coffee shop plays in the community—I would love to live a block or two from here, able to walk in and read my newspaper with the same group of people every day, talking about politics and discussing the latest neighborhood developments. This sense of community is incredibly important for economic development and growth, and coffee shops are an integral part of it.
In terms of Christmas I received some nice presents—although I have managed to hurt my back—painfully. We exchange presents on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at noon I did something so painful to my back that I lay down and skipped our traditional Christmas Day dinner—which I could tell by the odor that made its way to the basement had gone from raw (last year) to burned (this year); I suspect our family’s traditional Christmas Day dinner is history (then again I might be history as far as the traditional family Christmas chaos is concerned).
Tomorrow I am hoping to do something that Jerry and John would do if they came to Denver: I am going to ride every mile of the Denver light rail system—hopefully taking a lot of photographs.
I am way behind on commenting on blogs and responding to email: if you are waiting for a response, I apologize. It may be awhile. I must leave my happy coffee shop right now and go shopping with my sister.
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