Hadn’t previously made it to Denver Botanical Gardens – been on my to-do list – but certainly didn’t think my first trip would be in December. Not too many outdoor plants survive a Colorado winter. Evergreens, conifers – what else could there be?
This annual holiday lights extravaganza features some new elements, and includes the grand illuminated O’Fallon Perennial Walk and the Romantic Gardens.
Don’t miss:
Interacting with a large field of sound-reactive, animated LED lights
Warm drinks and tasty treats
Arrived just after 730pm, work day delay. Bundled, layered. Clear night, temps in the 20’s.
Spectacular gardens of light under a night sky crescent moon. Purples, blues, orange, whites. Chinese lanterns, light sabers & a large glass-blown Chihuly too. Warmed by the park’s Christmas spirit, quickly forgot ’bout any outside evening chill.
Highly recommended. On my calendar for next year – FAAAANNNTASTIC!
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- Chihuly’s “Colorado” glass sculpture is now on view permanently
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- Bronco PRIDE – Blue & Orange
Denver Botanical Gardens 2016
Long 7-hour haul from yesterday’s trail marathon in Nebraska. Fitting I had tickets the following nite to this year’s Trail Running Film Festival in Boulder. My 2nd year attending, 4th year festival has been in existence.
Back at the Dairy Arts Center, arrived to a sold-out event. Guess word’s got out – HA!
12 films, 3+ hours of sit-down. Sat 2nd row – packed, crazy full auditorium. Festival organized by runners, for folks who appreciate trail running & adventure. Well done. Tough to pick ONE fave film this year.
All 4 feature documentaries were unique in their storytelling. “One step at a Time” followed 3 ultra runners as they attempted the FKT (fastest known time) on the Oregon section of the PCT. “Outside Voices” featured outspoken runner Jenn Shelton, an entertaining, train wreck of a gal. “2016 Orcas Island 100” documented a 100-mile ultra-race on Washington’s scenic San Juan Islands.
…but for me, this year’s fave: “The Hard Way”
inspirational story of Bob Hayes, an 89-year-old who runs 30 races each year, cuts his firewood by hand & does things the hard way to remain active and alive. The film takes us on a journey that’s about more than running, it teaches us to live life with purpose and momentum.
LOVE LOVED this guy’s determination. Absolute anything is possible…at an age.
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- Boulder’s Dairy Arts Center
The Hard Way (2016) by Jeremy Lurgio & Erik Petersen
One of life’s guilty pleasures is my annual serial drama/talent show/comedy of errors – all that is… EUROVISION.
With the exception of a few – Abba & Celine Dion – Eurovision winners never cross the Atlantic nor make any US impact. Rap, rock, jazz, lotta ballads, lotta Euro pop. Each country nominates an artist & supplies an original tune…Eurovision is a ‘song’ contest.
That said, can say it’s rarely about the music.
Yeah, yeah…a few catchy hooks can crown a champ – but generally it’s a performance that wins. In 2014 Austria’s bearded lady, Conchita Wurst, ‘rose like a Phoenix’ stage-surrounded by wings forged from fire; in 2006 Finland’s Lordi costumed as ‘monster men’ screeched metal with ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’. Year over year – kinda all over the place – never know what you’re gonna see.
This year’s event comprised 40+ contestants; my early faves: Russia, Ukraine & Iceland.
Iceland didn’t make the Finals; Russia won Fan Favourite; but ultimately, it was Ukraine’s Jamala whose performance intensified as the week-long competition progressed & polled enough votes to secure her country’s first ever victory.
Jamala’s 1944, partially sung in ethnic Crimean, inspired me to learn more about her great-grandmother’s story & Stalin’s forced resettlement of the Crimean Tatars.
The forcible deportation of the Crimean Tatars from Crimea was ordered by Joseph Stalin as a form of collective punishment for collaborating with the Nazi occupation regime in Taurida Subdistrict during 1942–1943. The state-organized removal is known as the Sürgünlik in Crimean Tatar. A total of more than 230,000 people were deported, mostly to the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. This included the entire ethnic Crimean Tatar population, at the time about a fifth of the total population of the Crimean Peninsula, as well as smaller numbers of ethnic Greeks and Bulgarians. A large number of deportees (more than 100,000 according to a 1960s survey by Crimean Tatar activists) died from starvation or disease as a direct result of deportation.
Mark your calendars (maybe watch in secret but…) join the craziness & tune-in next May – EUROVISION 2017 LIVE from Kiev!
Crimean Tatar
1944
When strangers are coming…
They come to your house,
They kill you all
and say,
We’re not guilty
not guilty.
Where is your mind?
Humanity cries.
You think you are gods.
But everyone dies.
Don’t swallow my soul.
Our souls
Yaşlığıma toyalmadım
Men bu yerde yaşalmadım
Yaşlığıma toyalmadım
Men bu yerde yaşalmadım
We could build a future
Where people are free
to live and love.
The happiest time.
Where is your heart?
Humanity rise.
You think you are gods
But everyone dies.
Don’t swallow my soul.
Our souls
Yaşlığıma toyalmadım
Men bu yerde yaşalmadım
Yaşlığıma toyalmadım
Men bu yerde yaşalmadımVatanıma toyalmadım
