Well, after about 3 months of scouring the rental market from afar, I have found a home!

It’s in south central Denver, not too far from downtown, close to bike paths and public transportation. I’ve been doing the whole Google Earth Streetview exploration of my neighborhood, and am happy to see a good variety of locally owned, family run, ethnic stores pretty close.

I also found that Google Maps now gives walking directions and times. I’m only an hour and 24 minute walk from downtown, so I’m guessing 30 minutes or less by bike. (Oddly enough, Google couldn’t calculate the time to walk from Ohio to Denver, the route I will be taking in just a few weeks)

So what’s next? Well, I have to find furniture. I’m on Freecycle for that. I need to find a job, and have some leads on that. And then there’s the little stuff, like finding a bank (what works for you?), figuring out the public transportation, and am I really allowed to raise chickens in the city?

About two or three weeks ago, on my normal bike ride home from work, I came across these signs. They’re still there, if not actually upright. They demarcate about 50 yards of the Skunk Creek Greenway Trail between Foothills and the railroad overpass. They look like this:

Natalie Goldberg, in her wonderful pair of books Writing Down The Bones and Wild Mind, urges the writer towards greater specificity. Not “tree,” but elm. Not “car,” but white 1996 Ford Courier. Specificity in writing helps put your images into the reader’s head. It helps put the reader into your story.

I can’t help but think the writer of these signs could have benefited from her advice. I mean, what kind of “agressive bird” are we talking about here? Canada goose, flicker, infatuated red-winged blackbird? A blue jay on a rampage? A confused swallow? A finch with an oversized ego? This sort of thing makes a big difference in how I prepare myself for possible danger. It’s important!

You have to live in a place that has only had 3″ of precipitation the whole year to appreciate a KCNC weather map like this. Boulder is a little ahead of Denver in the moisture levels but, still, I’ve been looking forward to the monsoons like a little kid waiting for Santa. The sky has finally let loose and I’m wishing I could record the sound of water hitting the sidewalk. Oh, wait - the gutters are spilling into my empty cistern. Joy, joy, joy!

This sign in my neighborhood makes me giggle.

When I first moved here, I made reference to the street in Lodo right after Wazee and pronounced it “Win-koop.” I was immediately warned that such pronunciation would instantly label me an outsider. Wanting to fit right in and not draw attention to myself, I quickly adopted the “Whine-koop” pronunciation. Well, the other night I ate at the Wynkoop Brewery and the waiter walked up and said, “Welcome to the Win-Koop.” Today I heard a co-worker and longtime Denverite say “Win-koop.”

Is there a right answer?

I vote for the “whine” pronunciation. Otherwise the wine store Wines Off Wynkoop doesn’t have a very clever name.

I’ve been seeing the Disruptive Thinker Transport around town and thinking that it was possibly a bus for the Recreate 68 training camp but no, it’s Crispin Porter + Bogusky. These are the people who crafted the big tobacco Truth campaign. They recently joined the Famous Boulder Innovators community and while I’ve seen news about their new Microsoft account, this is the first local noise that has gotten my attention. Thanks to John Winsor for the picture and the explanation.

I live over 1,000 miles away from Denver and have never seen it’s fair mountains/plains. And yet, I expect to, upon pulling into Denver for the first time with my car loaded with all my earthly positions, to pull up to my dream house, move in, and sleep there that night.

And so I wonder how people did this before the internet, and how people would do it if they had no connections already.

Our entire house hunt has been done on the internet, mostly through Craig’s List. There seem to be plenty of houses available, so we’re not worried. Prices seem high, compared to Indiana- I’ll probably pay in 1 month in Denver what I paid for housing for this entire summer in Indiana.

And let me tell you about some of these houses I’m seeing for reasonable prices - forget Washers and Dryers, these have hot tubs, HDTV’s included. After living in a dorm or pretty crappy off-campus houses for the last 4 years, these places are like palaces.

And some even look like palaces. There was one house on Craig’s List that had a beautiful 3 story Victorian house as the picture. Intrigued, I read more. The caption read something like, “The house you will be renting is behind and to the left of the BEAUTIFUL VICTORIAN HOUSE in the picture.”

Also interesting is figuring out what the area around the house is like. All these areas of Denver- I’m sure they hold meaning to locals, but Cherry Creek, Lodo, Lakewood- they mean nothing to me. So simply looking for houses is helping me learn a bit about Denver… but there is only so much you can know.

So, my dear readers, my questions to you are these: Where should I live? What places should I avoid at all costs?

The Boulder Rural Fire Dept. opened their doors to locals yesterday so we could see the equipment and heros up close. Highlights were the arrival of the Flight for Life helicopter (just after a drop off) and the Boulder Emergency Squad’s demonstration of the Jaws of Life. Near the top of the list: aiming the big hose into a pool of water.

There were lots of little kids in awe of the big trucks and hoses but the exhibit that most impressed me was Code 3 Associates.

It’s a non-profit that provides animal disaster response across the US. This Big Animal Rescue Truck (BART) is the only one of its kind in the US. The crews live there and work in the Vet clinic on board. They come fully equipped and they don’t charge for their help. What an amazing mission and they’re based in Longmont.

Just ran across an article in the Highlands Ranch Herald on the display of 14 sculptures across Douglas County, including Castle Rock, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree and Parker.

“Art Encounters is a year-long outdoor sculpture exhibit that showcases a number of sculptures, in various media and styles, displayed in highly visible areas in Castle Rock, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree and Parker. The project is designed to promote public interest in art, develop community pride and draw visitors to the retail or civic areas where they are displayed.”

Kick-off events started Wednesday and runs until June 14th. The sculptures will remain on display for a year, at which time new sculptures will take their place.

This program not only adds beauty and interest to the locations in which they have been displayed, it also benefits the artists. Along with exposure of their artwork, selected artists receive $500 and “have the chance for their artwork to be purchased.”

I live in Douglas County and appreciate that the DCCC (Douglas County Culture Center) has done the work to bring the sculptures into the community. I think I’ve seen one of them in the Highlands Ranch Town Center already, and didn’t realize it was part of this new arts & cultural program.

Besides viewing the actual sculptures out on the streets and the horse pictured above–LOVE junk sculptures–you can view the statues on the Douglas County website.

Has anyone else noticed that Sunflower Market’s brand products come from the other side of the world? Pickles from India, Roasted Peppers from Bulgaria and Strawberry Jam from Poland.

Yes, the food is cheap compared to Whole Foods but questions are raised:
are there no cucumbers grown closer to home that would meet SF Market standards? No peppers or strawberries in American that fit the bill?

I think the owners have missed the ‘buy local’ message but I will pick up some more of those peppers next time I’m in the store. Pretty tasty.