I have to tell you, Nathan and I are really enjoying Colorado Springs. The weather is great, the scenery is beautiful, and the people are friendly. However, the last few days have made me question whether it is smart to be here without having a tranquilizer gun handy at all times.
On Saturday, we headed up to Denver to explore a little bit. Denver has officially entered itself on my list of cool cities. The downtown has retained all the old buildings and it is very pedestrian friendly. There are parks and funky shops and a pretty chill attitude that I love. The South Platte River runs through the west side of town near the football stadium, basketball arena, and amusement park. We found a spot to cool our feet off in the water and watch people innertubing and kayaking down the little stretch of rapids that curves around to a dammed off section where kids could jump in and swim.
Just up from there is the Denver Aquarium where we spent a few hours. I was pretty impressed with the setup there. They have a great variety of fish, sea turtles, sharks, etc., etc. (to be said like Yul Brenner), but then you turn this corner and BLAM! There are three Sumatran tigers only inches away from you licking their chops. 
They were absolutely beautiful and completely bored with all of us, thankfully. I did have to chuckle at the woman behind me who was telling her little baby "Look at the kitty cat, sweetie. He says 'Meeeeeow'." Yes, yes, set this child up for almost certain death, why don't you. He might also purr a bit after PICKING YOUR BONES CLEAN!
You might have seen on the news that there is apparently an African lion roaming the hills around the Springs. Or... it could be a big dog. It seems that the media here (as all media tends to do) is just giving the finger to the idea that the simplest explanation is probably the correct one. I'm thinking Sparky dug a hole under the fence and thought to explore a bit, but I'm probably wrong. It's much more likely that a non-native predator from a different hemisphere thought he would just take in the sights and sounds of our lovely hamlet and get a good stretch of the legs. It makes perfect sense.
Lastly, a bear broke into the local Circuit City. According to the Denver news "Authorities said the young adult black bear had become spooked after setting off an alarm at a nearby Fazoli's restaurant." Hey, we've all been there. We're sitting there enjoying our chicken parmesan when the guy comes around to bring us fresh, hot breadsticks and we lose all control of our bodily funtions. I feel the bear's pain. Sometimes Nathan is so worked up that the only thing to do is to take him to Circuit City to check out the deals on the bargain table up front. He gets very serious at that table. The bear was showing rational consumer behavior. In this tough economy, it pays to bargain shop.
5 comments:
Hey, my news said that the bear was HIV positive and also a muslim...Pretty terrifying. All hail the age of the buzz word!
I know the bears in CO are really scary and prevalent, but you should see the ones around Seattle. Fewer of them, but frightening none the less. Real Computer Nerds. They walk around with their pocket protectors and calculators, birkestocks w/ socks, and mutter about ones and zeroes under their breath. I pity the Starbucks baristas who must deal with them.
To think that I used to worry about your experiences in India. This certainly puts that into perspective!
Mom
What do you expect with all of that animal magnetism surging through your veins? You know you are hot when you attract beasts, not just the Beastmaster. Tell Nathan to take off that loin cloth and get some pants on! He moved to Colorado to work, not to work it :) Hope you come back this way some time in the future!
The sumatran tigers are on loan right now. I generally use them to pull my chariot to work. The gas prices are killing me. The bear was at Fazoli's carb loading for our wrestling match, which he did not show up to. If you see him, give him a tranquilizer dart from me!
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