A Tale of Two (or more...) Cities

The storming of the Bastille by French Painter Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Houël. During his long life Houël witnessed the reign of Louis XV, the French Revolution, and the period of Napoleon's First Empire. (Wikipedia)

One of my favorite books is A Tale of Two Cities which was written in 1859 by Charles Dickens. It is a historical novel set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution and tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in the Bastille in Paris and his release to live in London with his daughter Lucie, whom he has never met. The story is set against the conditions that led up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror. The book opens with a paragraph that could well mirror the times we are living through right now: 

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

We, you and I, are now in month nine (it seems so much longer...) of the 2020 pandemic. Literally and figuratively we are now entering "the season of darkness" having set our clocks back just a couple of weeks ago and with the COVID virus seemingly completely out of control going into the Holiday season. Whether the next few months will live up to "the winter of despair" remains to be seen.

Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution of 1789-1799 much of his stirring account takes place during the Reign of Terror, perhaps the most violent period of the revolt. From the summer of 1793 through the summer of 1794, more than 50,000 people were killed for suspected counter-revolutionary activity or so-called “crimes against liberty”. One-third of this number died under the falling blade of the guillotine. Some accounts put the number of victims actually closer to 250,000. As I write this, more than 249,000 Americans have fallen victim to our own current reign of terror for which we, as of yet, have no real cure.

Just as historians and authors look back upon the past so too will their counterparts in the future look back and study the time we are living in. It may sound cliché, but we are living history. Living through history of course means that we are feeling our way, charting our own new path through the perils of our time. No one of us has all the answers, though collectively we may have a few if we can ever reach consensus. 

One of the things historians of the future will surely look at are all the statistics being generated in the information-overload culture of today. There is always a story to be told behind the numbers and already, just 9 months into our current predicament, there is a story to be read by simply looking at one statistic - the number of new COVID cases. If you do a Google search for COVID in your location you're likely to be given a chart, courtesy of the New York Times, that gives the number of COVID cases by day from  March to present. The numbers by themselves are of course staggering - who back in March, "...the spring of hope", would have guessed that cases in the U.S. would be upward of 11 million and that a quarter million of us would not be here this Thanksgiving to break bread with family and friends. To me though, as staggering as the numbers are, its the pattern of the charts across different locations in the U.S. that speak to how we have taken such a divided approach on how to deal with the unfolding nightmare of this newest of new viruses. 

Lets start with the chart for Colorado:

It would appear that Colorado was able to largely contain, though never eliminate, the spread of COVID-19 at least until recently. Compare the shape of our graph to another U.S. location:

Clearly what was going on in location "D" was very much different than what we lived through in Colorado. 

Let's look at another location's graph (see if you can guess by its shape where it is):

Think about why a location might see such a pattern of new cases. What was going on - what were they doing, or perhaps more importantly what were they not doing, to see new cases behave as they are reflected in location "B".

Here is a location that was perhaps as unique in its locale as any...

yet it's graph nearly mirrors that of location "B". In terms of geographical distance location "C" couldn't be further removed from location "B" so why are the two graphs so similar to each other and so dissimilar from Colorado's?

OK, you get the point; its this type of data and the behavioral questions it raises that will keep PhD candidates busy for years to come. You don't need these graphs to know that different places in the United States have had widely different responses to dealing with COVID. Some were pragmatic and scientific in their approach while others to this very day continue to downplay the seriousness of the situation. To use another historical reference, they say that Nero played his fiddle while ancient Rome burned back in the year 64. His supposed fiddling now has come to represent the epitome of acting irresponsibly in the midst of an emergency. It would appear from the graphs that some today have as much of an affinity for fiddle playing as Emperor Nero did nearly 2,000 years ago.

Here are just a couple of more to show the disparity between U.S. locations:

So, have you figured out where some of these locations are? Here are the actual locales:

A: Colorado

B: Florida

C: Hawaii

D: New York City

E: Texas

F: Utah

G: Washington D.C.

H: Washington State

I'll leave it to far greater minds than I to further extrapolate the real meanings behind the disparities in the data but I'd hazard my own guess that in the years to come some of these locations may look back on their graphs and raise the question: what could they have done differently? 

In the end, A Tale of Two Cities is a classic love story about the love two men share for a woman, and ultimately about Man's love for his fellow Man and the sacrifice some are willing to make for that Love. In that, there are lessons to be learned by all of us.

Here's hoping that the "season of Light" still awaits...

All good things...

Photo courtesy of National Park Service

All good things must come to an end, or so the saying goes. Today is Election Day in these “United” States of America and the country is as not-united as I have ever witnessed it. Stores are boarding up their windows in anticipation of civil unrest regardless of who wins. Are you as sick of all this as I am? 

I was in California at the start of this year and saw an election themed t-shirt proclaiming support for “Any Functioning Adult”. I’m not sure that’s what we’ve ended up with after a truly dismal election cycle but we clearly have a clear choice as America lurches to the polls (assuming you’re not one of the majority who have already cast their ballots prior to today.)

Did we get this?

Everyone is saying we won’t even know tonight who the winner is (perhaps the T.V. networks would have better served us if they had postponed their hours of coverage until tomorrow evening) and one side is already announcing they have a team of lawyers set to contest the results should they end up on the losing side. Yet it’s America who has really lost, regardless of who garners the magical 270 Electoral College votes this evening (actually we won't know for sure until December 14th). There’s more than enough blame to be hurled around by both sides but can anyone really argue we as a country are in a better place today? I know, I know, some would resolutely say “Yes!”, but truly they must be in the minority. 

Some wounds take a long time to heal, while some never do. Again, regardless of who “wins” tonight, the changes wrought during the last four years (be they good, bad, or indifferent in your opinion) will likely last far longer than the time they took to inflict. Love him or hate him, Mr. Trump has irrevocably changed  this country we call home and we will be living with the ripple effect for generations. It’s good that so many Americans have decided to participate in their civic duty this year. It is after all our country; it does not belong to Mr. Trump or Mr. Biden. And it is us, 300+ million strong, who in the days, months, and years to come must still decide and come to grips with what we want this “one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” to look like. I don’t think God was in line at the polling site this morning but if so, may she continue to bless America.

And may we hope that another old proverb comes true: 

"All's well that ends well."

Boo!

 BOO! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I know, I know, we're coming up on the scariest night of the year. No, I'm not talking about Election Eve, but rather that other standby of good cheer, Halloween. American elections have only been around since 1788 while the celebration of ghosts and goblins heralds back more than 2,000 years to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. 

I used to work with a lady who professed that Halloween was her favorite holiday of the year and she used to love to get dressed up in some pretty amazing costumes she designed herself. She used to encourage me to do the same but I demurred using the excuse that I was already scary enough. 

Of course this year has perhaps been one of the scariest in recent memory. Short of wars, famines, and global climate change, pandemics rank right up there on the short list of frightful events. Halloween festivities (is festive even the right descriptor for Halloween?) likely will be a little subdued this year given that we're already wearing masks and we're supposed to separate from one another by whatever the new standard is - 6 feet, 20 feet, miles? A friend I went walking with yesterday is being clever in her approach to still celebrating All Hallows Eve and still staying safe as are many others. The local ghosts and ghouls won't leave her house disappointed. For us adults (I think I still fit into that category despite what my wife sometimes tells me) there's plenty of spookiness already (like having to take on the hat of Teacher while home schooling AND trying to get their own work done) but hopefully next week's election will at least give us some certainty in some very uncertain times. At least I think it will, once we know the actual results by early January or whenever the Supreme Court deigns to inform us who is to lead us for the next four years. 

So for those of you who still love Halloween the scary times will likely continue long after October 31st this year. And for those who don't, not to worry. I saw my first official Christmas T.V. commercials last night. Now that was really scary.

I think there's another Holiday in between moving from celebrating Ghosts and Ghouls to Santa and elves (elves, actually, could probably do double duty on both Halloween AND Xmas - kind of the Yin and Yang of Holiday characters). My local hardware superstores (Lowes and Home Depot) seem to have forgotten entirely about Thanksgiving having rushed to get the Christmas decorations out for sale by late August. Perhaps they think we don't have much to be thankful for this year, but I think they are wrong. I give thanks for the special people in my life as well as the simple gift of simply being alive when so many of our friends, family, and neighbors will have unexpectedly empty seats round the Thanksgiving table this year. There was fear of a Holiday COVID spike due to folks getting together to celebrate the season, but given the numbers in Colorado right now that boat has already sailed. So lets all stay safe (Yeah, wear the mask, stay as socially distant as you can, etc.) but while your at it, please pass the turkey...

Here's a short video I put together to put a little Halloween fright into your day as well as a second one I shot up in them high Country during the recent snowstorm (it might get you into the mood for sleighs and sleighbells, HO, HO, HO!):

'Til next time, BOO! and Merry Christmas!

Absolutely positively the trip that wasn’t...

The plan was to be writing this in the ninety-plus degree heat of Palm Springs, CA but COVID put a nix on that. We had reservations at the Palm Springs KOA but the message from them was that while most everything was open (pool, amenities, etc.) mask-wearing was 50-50 at best and they told us that we’d be coming “at your own risk.” Digging a little deeper on the internet showed that the positivity rate for the Palm Springs area is running anywhere from two to three times the rate of metro Denver which, if you have been paying attention, you know is increasing to levels not seen since early summer. 

So we decided that the prudent thing at this point was to stay put. I hate being prudent. 

Like most of you I’m getting really, really tired of COVID yet there doesn’t appear to be any end in sight. I feel for whoever happens to be President in 2021 because it appears that no one on this blue ball called Earth truly has the answer to our pandemic woes, least of all whichever candidate you cast your ballot for. I perhaps feel most for Mr. Biden who at least seems willing to pay some heed to the medical community but then I wonder why, for goodness sake, he even wants the job given the seemingly insurmountable issues we will face in the next 12-18 months. 

So instead of heading west towards California I was able to talk my better half into taking a day jaunt to the Pawnee National Grasslands to see the Pawnee Buttes. Palm Springs it is not, but this quiet expanse of prairie located about two hours northeast of Denver does offer majestic views and some great hiking. We were there on a weekday and had it almost to ourselves with just a handful of cars in the parking lot and not a single soul on the trails we took. The drive to get there is somewhat convoluted but we were determined. I had not been to the Grasslands before even though I’ve lived in Colorado since 1971 so shame on me. My only excuse is that like many of you when I head out of Denver I usually head uphill instead of out onto the open plains east of town. Anyway, we were happy we made the effort to get to this remote part of Colorado. Here’s a sample of what there is to see if you ever decide to do the prudent (there’s that word again) thing and venture somewhere less traveled.... 

All aboard!

I'm a slacker. I admit it. I've been going to Leadville for 40+ years and it was only last weekend that I first rode the Leadville train. Of course, in its present incarnation as the Leadville Colorado & Southern Railroad, its only been hauling passengers since 1988 so I guess I'm not too late to the party.

We took my wife's mother along for the 2 1/2 hour jaunt from Leadville up towards Fremont Pass gaining 1,000 vertical feet along 9 miles of track. It's an out and back ride and features spectacular views of the Arkansas River valley as well as Colorado's two highest peaks, Mount Elbert and Mount Massive. The railroad encourages mask wearing and social distancing but, as they tell you when you get on board, they are not policemen and make no effort to enforce the guidelines. On the day we went I'd guess it was about a 50-50 split between those wearing masks and those not. The train features seating inside and outside and seemed to offer a fair amount of room to spread out. Dogs are also allowed to ride then train. My mother in law brought along Bijou and you'll see this little white fluffball featured in the video below.

Tickets were $40 a person and there is some light food and beverage service onboard. And yes, there are restrooms on the train as well. All in all, it was a great trip and I'd recommend it to train buffs and anyone who likes to occasionally ride the rails. It was certainly a nice break from all the stuff going on in the world right now. If you can't make it up to Leadville in the next couple of weeks (the weather seems to still be cooperating for trips like this) just sit back and come along for the ride in the video. Oh, and if I ever come out of retirement I want the engineer job on a railroad like this one...

Fall in my neck of the woods

October 1st. Sitting here in a sweatshirt and jeans rather than shorts and tee shirt and almost - almost - turned on the heat this morning when I got up. Back when I was working I would be getting up before the sunrise at this time of year and on my commute I could always tell what time of the year it was as I watched the eastern sunrise move north along the horizon in spring and early summer and then start it’s leisurely jaunt south as fall settled in.

This year of course is like no other. Between COVID, civil unrest in the streets, and it being an election year there’s enough stress to overwhelm almost anyone. Watched the first “Presidential” (it was anything but) debate and all I can say is ouch, just ouch. What a painful experience. I don’t care which side you’re on, vote for whoever you want, but if this is the best America can do then we have a bigger problem than a pesky (if 204,000 lives lost can be called pesky) virus and people marching in rightful protest.

But that’s not what I’m here for today. I’m extremely fortunate to be able to spend much of my free time in the Colorado high country and I don’t think any time of the year is more enjoyable than early fall. The aspen have been changing colors for a couple of weeks now, the temperatures, especially in the mornings, are downright cool, and it seems as if Nature is taking a pause, a silent breather between the hustle and bustle of busy summer and the soon to come somnolent snows of winter.

In the video below you’ll tag along for a meandering trip capturing some of the sights of a fall between 8,000 and 12,000 feet (there’s a reason they call it the high country...). Some of my favorite spots in the state include the areas around Leadville and Twin Lakes, Monarch and Cottonwood Passes, Taylor Park and the Taylor River, and Gunnison and Crested Butte. By the way, they finished paving Cottonwood Pass out of Buena Vista and its a beautiful road trip well worth your time. Monarch Pass is always spectacular in the fall, especially the east side, but just before the top we like to head over “Old Monarch Pass” which is still a dirt road (suitable for passenger cars and SUV’s). We went over Old Monarch Pass last weekend while filming the video and there must have been a recent wind storm as several still-green pine trees had fallen across the road though someone had already come through and chain-sawed a path so vehicles could still get through. 

Once down the Pass we turned right on the beautiful road to the little (“tiny” might be a better descriptor) town of White Pine tucked 10 miles off the highway. Back in 1878 White Pine’s rich silver deposits were beginning to be mined. Though never quite a boomtown it was certainly busier than it is today and that’s fine by me. People still live in White Pine mainly during the summer months and I’m not sure if anyone really winters over as winter road maintenance is minimal making access difficult. On a crisp but sunny Autumn day however, its as beautiful and tranquil spot as any in Colorado. There’s even a small historic cemetery where some of those folks who lived out their final days in White Pine  in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s now enjoy their eternal rest under the shade of a beautiful aspen grove and whispering pines.

Heading over Black Sage Pass, still on dirt roads, towards Waunita Hot Springs takes you through some of the prettiest aspen in the state. The day we drove it we didn’t see another single vehicle between White Pine and Waunita Hot Springs (yes, there is still a hot springs pool though it’s use seems to be primarily reserved for private groups and events). As you crest Black Sage Pass the vistas open up giving some spectacular views.

Gunnison is a town I could easily live in, at least during the month of September! We always take a drive just outside of town along Ohio Creek (you can make this a long loop to Crested Butte over Kebler Pass either by car or bike). There’s apparently a lot of wealth in Gunnison County and along Ohio Creek it’s on display as you can see some incredible ranch homes the equal of anything you’d see in far more crowded Aspen. 

Well, this blog is getting a little long so I’ll let the video speak for itself. It seems each year I try to capture the feeling of what Fall is like in Colorado and each year I wish I could do the season justice. I'm starting to realize how hard that is, but still I try. There’s still time to head up high to see Colorado’s version of fall foliage in a blaze of golds, oranges, reds, and yellows. Oh, and the mountain views aren’t half bad either. It’s easy to get caught up in life in Denver and forget that just a couple of hours away there’s a whole other world that may not take you to a different state but will definitely put you in a different state of mind.

The times, they are a-changin'

Come gather 'round, people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters

Around you have grown

And accept it that soon

You'll be drenched to the bone

If your time to you is worth savin'

And you better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin'

Bob Dylan

Mr. Dylan's prophetic words certainly rang true this Labor Day weekend. Colorado saw temps from the 90's plummet to freezing conditions and snow. Wildfires raging in our state and those to the west brought flakes of ash that were soon replaced by snowflakes. And it was just the first week of September. I was fortunate, along with apparently the majority of the population of the front range, to spend the holiday weekend up in the Colorado High Country. From stand-up-paddleboarding at Twin Lakes to crowd-watching along the main street of Leadville there were tons of people everywhere. Fortunately the smoke where I was wasn't horrible until Monday when you would have thought there was a fire right next door. For the first time in my life I actually didn't ride my beloved bike because the smoke was so thick. It actually gave you a sore throat just breathing and the ubiquitous COVID mask actually served a secondary purpose as a filter against the wildfire particulates. 

One of my nieces and her friend spent a couple of days with us but left before Monday's smoke. The picture above is my niece doing a handstand on her paddle board, something I, being the wimp that I am, did not even attempt to emulate. Then again, I know from first-hand experience how chilly the waters of Twin Lakes are even when the air temps head north of 80 degrees. They are both young adults and it makes one wonder what the world will be like over the course of their lifetimes. 2020 will forever be remembered for COVID but as bad as that virus has proven to be it may pale compared with some of the other things going on that my niece Payton and her friend Kaylee will be dealing with long after I'm gone. 

Today's Denver Post had an article on climate change and how its only going to get worse. I know, old news right? But just consider some of the items the article pointed out:

• A record amount of California is burning
• Parts of Oregon that usually never burn are also alight
• Colorado's wildfires have set new records for acreage burned
• The Atlantic has seen 17 named tropical storms, a record for this time of year
• Last month it hit 130 degrees (what does that even feel like?) in Death Valley
• Phoenix, AZ hit records on Sunday of 112 degrees after seeing 115 degrees the preceding day. There hadn't been a day below 100 degrees since July 23rd
• Siberia, not known for its balmy climate, saw temps of 100 degrees on June 20th

And, according to Georgia Tech climate scientist Kim Cobb "It's going to get a LOT worse" in years to come. There may even come a time, in twenty or fifty years, folks look back on the 2020's as the good old days. Hard to fathom that living in this moment, but who knows?

And while I can't match the list above with my own observations I can attest to the fact that the Colorado Aspen are starting to change color early this year (it seems I've been saying that for the last couple of years so maybe I am seeing a trend?). Don't believe me, just watch the video I shot this last weekend in one grove of Aspen near Forebay Reservoir above Twin Lakes. As Bob says, the times they are a-changin'.