Sunday, July 25, 1999

Last Monday evening we attended a Ragtime Piano Concert in a little town by the name Niwot at the Chris Finger Piano Company. (Great name for a piano store.) Probably 100 people attended and this was maximum capacity. We had a wonderful view of the performer and especially his hands and the keyboard. These fellows were pumping ivory so fast that their hands were a blur; wonderful music by masterful musicians. The neat thing about the entire evening was that you could talk to all the performers. The master of ceremony was a dentist from Boulder, who is also a piano player, not as masterful as the featured artists, but nevertheless an excellent pianist and composer by the name of Jack Rummel.

This past Saturday we explored the North Park area. The most spectacular portion of our trip was the Trail Ridge Road right through Rocky Mountain National Park. It is truly breathtaking in every sense of the word complete with tickle tummy sensations when looking down and the scene about you. We picked up some lunch in the little town of Walden and met an elderly lady in the restaurant who was very friendly and probably one of the original owners. She told us her special joke about Walden. “Walden is so small that the town prostitute is still a virgin.” The town was not all that big, but had a nice friendly atmosphere about it.

This evening we will be catching a Shakespearean performance at Colorado University, Mary Rifkin Theatre (outdoors) to see the “Merry Wives of Windsor”. They are really promoting their Shakespeare performances in Boulder. This coming Friday we will be off to Cheyenne, Wyoming, just up the road about 100 miles to catch a rodeo at the Cheyenne Frontier Days. This is national event with the top riders entering these rodeo events and we are excited and looking forward to this.

Ken is off to Winter Park today to explore the mountain biking trails up there. It is about 1 ½ hours drive each way. Also, he just got a brand new bicycle toy with the latest high tech design. Most unusual in that the front wheel is not connected like a conventional bicycle, but is attached off to the left of the wheel. He loves it!

My corn is about 3 feet high and I’ve picked some lettuce, spinach and beets. And this is a result of planting the garden from seed the second week of June.

This past Wednesday I was given a tour of the Miller property’s trees and shrubs. Steve Miller is a radiologist at a local Boulder hospital and his wife, Maria, is horse trainer, rider, etc. Steve loves trees and planting/gardening and delights in the results of his efforts. It was a very educational tour and the notes taken together with the books I recently bought about gardening in this area will be beneficial in planning some new plantings of trees, shrubs, perennials and grasses with more tolerant drought resistant specimens. It is truly a different way of gardening from New England.

We also have our “As the World Turns” soap opera and we seem to be in the middle of a land feud between the woman who owns the building lot adjacent to ours and another woman who owns probably 50 acres plus adjacent to her property. One of the delicate negotiation problems is that the water drain that feeds our pond (half shared by Kate) is located on Sarah’s property. We have to get permission from Sarah to have someone go onto her property with an augur and unplug the entry to the drain, which is grown over with weeds and preventing the water from spilling into the pond. We met Sarah last Thursday. I brought over one of my creations as a friendly gesture type gift to which she responded very warmly and gave me the traditional hug and kiss on each cheek. Sarah is Saudi Arabian and a nice person. We discussed the problem we were having. She also filled us in on that legal happening have been happening with regard to the property dispute. She has spent $150,000 in legal fees to this point. In learning about this happening, it seems that Kate is a real hard nose type person who can really light into a person unmercifully. One of our delicate situations is the fact that Kate owns the private road we use to our home. We have legal rights to use the road, but you can see the delicate situation around us. Also, since Maria and Kate are sisters, we want to maintain friendship and good neighbor policy with everyone involved. We are becoming diplomats.

In our discussion with Sarah, we found out her husband is very ill and needs a heart transplant. He also was educated at a Boulder university in Political Science. We believe they are and have been very influential in politics. With all this information uncovered, it seems that Sarah has more lawyers and money and we don’t believe that Kate will be able to win this legal battle because of all the intricate legalities.

Also, it is a very different system in Boulder County when you wish to build a home. Just recently a fellow by the name of Gould bought 40 acres of property at the beginning of the private road and plans to build a 10,560 square foot home. Wow! Mansion! Good for us, because this will result in an increase of value in our property. However, Boulder County sends to adjacent land owners information on the home, the lighting requirements, the building requirements, etc. If you have complaints they advise which office to call, etc. Also, if you have a well dug on your property, you do not own the water and must pay for this usage of such water. We are constantly learning.

Also, I have just signed up for a pottery course. This should begin August 3 and will run for 6 weeks.

Last Thursday I met a friend at Chautauqua Park at 6:30 a.m. We left one car in that parking lot and drove to El Dorado Canyon (about 12 minutes drive) and left a car there and started our hike on the Mesa Trail. It is a 7 mile hike, some up hill but no direct ascents and finished this is 2 hours. My red corpusules are multiplying and feeding more oxygen to the body. Wow! When I visit Connecticut I am told I will definitely notice the difference.

Well, this is the latest in the Colorado tales. What’s happening in your lives? Please let me know.

Love,

Diane and Ken