I received these pictures yesterday from the department’s photographer – Tim Tonge. They are from a lightning-strike fire two weeks ago, and from mass decontamination training (as with all of the pictures, they are scrambled up).

It seems as though a tornado sets down in Castle Rock about every four years or so (at least the frequency of the last few have indicated this is a trend). The last time that we saw one here was the day after our wedding – four years ago. Well, time was up today. Ahna and I were watching some TV (with Ezra sleeping in my arms) when my Dad called….”there is a tornado in Castle Rock, just north of you.” What the? Sure enough, we flip channels and see a live feed from a news helicopter, then I ran outside (your supposed to do that during a tornado watch, right?) and saw the huge funnel cloud just about two miles north of us. The touchdown appeared to be just a few hundred yards from the firehouse that I work at, so I am really interested to see what the guys have to say in the morning. About 15 minutes after that tornado dissipated, another on set down just west of us by about a mile. At this time, it appears that there was little damage and no injuries in either tornado. Crazy. 

Here are some pictures (taken in Castle Rock) from the news and from people who sent in photos to the news sites.

Yup. 

We had the opportunity today to visit the Pepsi Center during the Community Open House Event. I happened to be watching the news a few weeks ago when they announced that the first 5,000 people to get tickets for today’s event would be allowed to get a special sneak peak at the transformation that the venue has undergone. Luckily, I got on-line, grabbed the tickets and made it in before they sold out – just hours after becoming available (sold out is a relative term, since the tickets were free). 

Originally I had gotten the three tickets for Ahna, Ezra, and I…but after realizing that Ezra probably didn’t need a ticket, Mary Jo was able to come along. We got down there during our alloted time period and got into the line that had formed outside of the Pepsi Center. I have to hand it to them, the event was very well managed and there was virtually no line of any significance…especially since there were 2,500 people trying to get in at the same time (two time slots available). Once inside, we snaked our way around the concourse level – with a ‘tour guide’ (ie: someone who leads a group of people down a defined walkway, doesn’t say anything at all, then tells us when it is time to go) – and eventually into the arena area. If the pictures don’t suggest it, it was very impressive and really cool to see. 

We decided that we would try to go to some of these type events just to have some involvement and understanding of the convention. Forget for a moment that we are supporting Obama, it’s really exciting to have a history-making event in our town. For that it is important enough to expose ourselves and Ezra to as much as time and money will afford. 

In one of the pictures, you will see the CNN Grill…they rented out a restaurant (Brooklyn’s) for an entire month and renamed it and re-plastered it with their propaganda. Oh, and you’ll notice some of the more reputable news sources on TV today (read: we didn’t waist camera space on Fox News) 🙂

As the ebb and flow of days go, yesterday was the yang to Wednesday’s ying – it was a lot more sublime and relaxed. Mostly. Ezra, Ahna, and I met with Pastor Kevin from our church in the morning to start the conversation with him about raising Ezra in the religious way that we are hoping for. As we expected, he was extremely receptive and very open…even commenting about what a wonderful opportunity this was for the congregation as a whole. Apparently there is another couple that are also members at St. Paul’s that are in a similar direction as us; and we hope to meet up with them sometime in the near future. 

Following the meeting, we took Mary Jo and Ezra to Watercourse Foods for their first meals at the all-vegetarian restaurant. It’s always refreshing to go there and enjoy such a large selection of foods that are friendly to the non-meat eaters – it must be tough to always be limited to a choice of pasta, salad, or garden burgers when going to most eating establishments. 

For the first time in over a decade, the city of Denver has turned back on the fountains in City Park. While we are a little confused as to the message it sends (a lot of water use during a drought, which is why they turned them off in the first place) by a city deciding that the DNC is more important that the water use; we did take the opportunity to drive down there after lunch and snap a few pictures. Unfortunately, the fountain that is in the center of the lake at the park was already having some maintenance done to it, so we only got to see one of the fountains in action. 

On the drive into town, we saw a brilliant new billboard by Denver Water…something they are calling a ‘floating billboard.’ I found a picture on-line to show it to you since we didn’t stop to get a shot of it…but we found it a little duplicitous to be promoting this message on one end of town, and to be wasting water in a fountain on the other end of town. 

That what it feels like…the sad part is that I am the only one that thus far gets to feel that way. Ahna and I had been wait-listed for community credentials to the acceptance speech at Invesco Field (home to the Denver Broncos), and we thought our chances of seeing the event in person were over. Well, yesterday I received an e-mail from the Colorado Professional Fire Fighters stating that the union had received 25 tickets for the event. The catch? You had to be a member of the CPFF; which means that I am able to get one, but not Ahna or Ezra. Really exciting and really a bummer at the same time. 

I’m sure that this is the first of a rapid succession of postings over the next 10 days that will somehow mention the first major political event of Ezra’s life: the Democratic National Convention. On Friday we get to walk through the Pepsi Center, then there is event after event in the upcoming days to attend – if we have the desire and willpower. 

Mary Jo arrived into town last night and will be here through Saturday. It worked out well that most of her stay is over a four-day of mine, so we will have the opportunity to do a lot of things together….there will be stories to come, I’m sure of that. 

PS: This line is for Cyrilla and Tanner (and anyone else who is a Cowboy fan): Denver beat the Cowboys…the Broncos are better than Dallas. Period. Enough said.

Okay, here is the picture of my ticket:

For our baby shower, someone who works with Ahna at school gave us a gift of a three-dimensional replica of Ezra’s hand and foot. She does this as a side business and was able to come down and visit with us as well as produce the replica just 9 days into Ezra’s life. It uses a non-toxic material that is very similar to plaster, and captures every crease and fold and detail. The finished product is a cast of a quality synthetic stone and is framed in a shadow box. We received it the other day and it has found a home on the dresser in Ezra’s room. 

If you are interested in getting one of these of your child (or pet or you, I suppose) for yourself contact Cheri Sullivan at www.littlepawsdesigns.com 

So both of those words describe the same event last night (don’t worry, it isn’t anything from home life). I was at work and we had been watching the Olympics all day, but specifically waiting for the men’s relay and Michael Phelps. As we sat there and watched the swimmers come to their lanes, and the first members of the relay jump into the water…..the bells went off for a call. Yep, all of that timing, all of that down time during the day, all of that ‘great schedule’ that we have….came crashing to a thundering halt as we had to leave the station just as the most anticipated sporting event in decades came to fruition. Arrgh! And to top it off, the nurses at the call location were all gathered around a TV watching the Olympics mocking the fact that we had been called out. Of course the race was completed by the time that we got anywhere near a TV, but we already knew the outcome (remember, none of the Olympics are live here in the Denver region). 

Don’t know if I should admit this or not, but there have been two times in my life where I teared up at the result of a sporting event….the first one was in 1997 when the Denver Broncos won their first Super Bowl (cheesy, I know). The second one was last night – but for a much different reason. I think that in 1997 I was way too involved on a superficial level with sports and the Broncos, so it was a large part of my life and who I idolized. After watching them loose 4 Super Bowl games in the early 90’s, it was great to see my favorite team break through and win the big game.

Last night’s emotion was one of a deeper understanding of absolute commitment and determination, of overcoming odds, of the week long roller coaster for everyone watching, of the culmination of a lifetime of practice, and of watching what I think we all realized is the most amazing athlete of this time period. I won’t pretend to think that any athlete is more important than a lot of other professions, but for some reason this achievement is miraculous and should be celebrated by all. Seriously, those races where unbelievable. I also won’t be so conceded (like most sports casters and specifically NBC) as to think that we won’t see another Michael Phelps – I mean there might be an 11 year old out there right now on her way to the top – but it doesn’t seem likely since it took more than 100 years to get to this point. Since I wasn’t able to watch the race last night, Ahna did record it for me. Ezra and I sat there and watched the race three times in a row in complete satisfaction. 

So the weather that has socked the Denver area in for the last couple of days (resulting in 3 inches of rain) has finally started to break – which is good for the health of the people here because if it is slightly cloudy or rainy for more than 3 hours here in Colorado, people start talking depression. It’s supposed to be 70 today increasing to 90 by Wednesday. Part of the weather is the stunning images that come from clouds, cold, rain/snow, and elevation. Here are a couple of pictures from two web cams this morning: one looking at Pikes Peak, and the other camera (and two images) looking in different directions from the peak of the mountain. Crazy!