Today’s Walk on the Saint Vrain Greenway
First observation: If the gas pipeline is not under the marker, then just where is it? And is it okay to dig here anyway?
Today’s weather forecast called for rain by mid-day. It was fairly warm early, so I put the birds on the patio and headed off to the County Line Road trailhead at 9:30 for my walk.
Looking toward the mountains as I began my walk, the storm was beginning to look ominous…
The next few pictures are to document some of the damage that was done to the greenway trails by the September 2013 floods.
The Saint Vrain River charted a new path for itself as a result of the floods, severely damaging many of the bridges that connect the walkways through the river basin. This particular bridge now is a bridge to nowhere.
For some odd reason, rivers do not follow instructions.
Yes, there really is a detour sign in the original riverbed.
An hour and forty minutes later, I’m 6.75 miles from County Line Road to Main Street and back again. The skies are looking a bit more ominous as I hopped into the car to drive home and bring the birds inside before it starts to rain.
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: It’s now 1:50 p.m. and the skies are beginning to clear and the temperature starting to rise. Perhaps the birds will get a little more time on the patio this afternoon.
Note: With the exception of the first, all the images above are thumbnails of the original images. To see what I saw, click the image to embiggen in a new browser tab.
The GOP Establishment Now Faces Its Nightmare Scenario: Trump Versus Cruz
Republican elites wanted an appealing alternative to Trump, But they now face the prospect of a race between an unsettling billionaire and a scary senator.
The only prospect more daunting to savvy Republicans than that of a November ticket headed by Donald Trump is that of a November ticket headed by Ted Cruz.
Every bit as extreme as Trump on the issues, equally combative and at least as ethically challenged, Cruz is Trump with an extra helping of meanness. So unappealing is the prospect of Cruz as the party’s nominee that there has long been a quiet consensus among Republican and Democratic strategists that the selection of the Texas senator as the party’s standard-bearer could lead to a Democratic landslide in the fall.
If Trump’s a bad dream, Cruz is a nightmare. As the Washington Post observed in January (when establishment Republicans in Iowa were scrambling to upend the senator as the front runner in that state’s caucus competition): “There’s an opportunism to Trump’s positions, of course, just as there is to Cruz’s softened position on ethanol. But Trump’s pliability is obvious; Cruz’s isn’t. For lobbyists and senators and members of the Republican National Committee, pliability is important.” …
Nancy Reagan and the Problem of the Two Nancys
There were two Nancy Davises in Hollywood in the early ’50s. One ended up in the White House—the other one ended up flipping burgers in a snack bar.
Nancy Reagan, who died March 6, often explained that she and the future president met cute. She had been threatened with blacklisting in the early ’50s—by mistake, she said, after having been confused with another actress who had the same name—Nancy Davis. The other Nancy Davis, Nancy and Ronald Reagan said, really was a Communist. Reagan, then president of the Screen Actors Guild, helped the first Nancy prove she wasn’t the Communist Nancy Davis, and she was able to work again. Along the way, they fell in love, and the rest is history.
In 1987, I found the other Nancy Davis working at a snack bar in Ventura, California, and interviewed her for The Nation. When I asked about the first lady, she said, “She’s been lying about me for years…. I never was a Communist. I told Reagan back in the fifties that if she didn’t stop saying I was a Communist, I’d sue her.” …
Shiva Is A God Who Likes Marijuana — And So Do Many Of His Followers
A Hindu holy man in Kathmandu smokes a chillum, a traditional clay pipe, on March 6, the eve of a festival honoring the god Shiva.
Shiva is one chill deity.
He’s one of the three major gods in the Hindu religion. And he has a penchant for pot.
“Shiva loves marijuana. So we come to share Shiva’s prasad [offerings] with everyone else,” explains a 60-year-old holy man who gives his name as Radhe Baba.
It’s the eve of the festival of Shiva Ratri, or “The Night of Shiva” — March 7 this year. The celebration marks the day Shiva saved the universe from darkness and married the goddess Parvati. …
The Jelly Bean Problem
You’re wandering through a faraway land one day when you pass a plum tree. Excited, you pick a plum from the tree, but just as you’re about to take your first bite, you’re confronted by a nearby man.
“You stole one of my plums,” he says.
You try to give the plum back and explain that you didn’t mean to steal from him, you just really like plums so you picked one.
“Those aren’t mutually exclusive,” he says. “It sounds like you both really like plums and meant to steal one from me.”
“I guess, yeah, but like…” you say.
“The penalty for stealing plums in our faraway land is death,” he says.
“Shit,” you say. …