Photos during the time of ...

(With apologies to Mr. Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

Avoiding everything is getting old and is certainly cramping my style, but slowing the transmission of a novel virus has its points.

I've mostly been wandering around close to home. People are out socially distancing. It is certainly a time to be out observing social behavior under atypical circumstances.

How are people behaving around you? How are you reacting to the different situations?

I've been back to Fiddler's Green to see more of the statues and I walked down Little Dry Creek Trail to look at Holly Reservoir. Here are some photos.

A reminder of the old west in modern Arapahoe County.

That odd little mound near Arapahoe Station.

An ensemble at Plaza Tower One, Village Center. A bear, plates falling down and some logs.

The elephant puzzled me until I saw the mouse on the pavement in front of it.

Denver likes murals.

This wild boar looks like a matching statue over near Englewood Station. Much of the art in this area is also part of the Denver Museum of Open Air Art. 

This piece of modern art...well, I'll let the artist explain it….

Giraffes!

They're still working on Marjorie Park.

There are extravagant water features all around Denver. This one is at the apartments called "The Cascades". I suspect there's a little nose twerking of nature here in the high desert.

Pike's peak from Quebec.

Another consequence of the virus.

A photo I took of the sun through a welder filter. You know that photographing the sun directly will damage your digital camera, right?

Interesting tunnel under Arapahoe on Little Dry Creek Trail. It's blocked now but maybe later...

Little Dry Creek at Holly Park

Mount Evans from Holly Park. They're done nice views from this little park on Little Dry Creek Trail.

Holly Park

Although Little Dry Creek is almost never dry, Holly Reservoir usually is. Like many stream constructions in the area, Holly Reservoir is a buffer in case of flash floods.

If you want to hike the whole thing, Little Dry Creek Trail begins at Yosemite near Briarwood and Davies Streets and runs about 4 miles to the Highline Canal. It's a well maintained trail, easy at sections but the stretch along Arapahoe is a constant grade that can wear you out after a time. It grades up toward the east.

One of the socially acceptable activities during the time of The Virus is hiking. If you're into biking, that's okay, too.

Meanwhile...

I hope you don't think that the only things I do are what I report in my blog two or three times a month. Most of my activity is family and community business. I have a Carolina dog that keeps me busy at home and along with washing dishes and cooking occasionally, I make frequent trips to local grocery stores and there is the weekly trip to the old neighborhood where I am still the assistant librarian at the church I used to attend.

But I'm supposed to walk at least 20 minutes every day to keep my heart going. Almost literally, "if I stop, I stop." Luckily, even my local walks are interesting. Some of the neighbors like to talk and most of them have friendly dogs (Denver is dog territory). The scenery is even spectacular in the neighborhoods.

A while back, I walked over to the other side of Arapahoe to check out Fiddler's Green. It's at the north rim of the valley formed by Little Dry Creek. It's the southern border of the patch of tall buildings in South Denver called "The Denver Tech Center". I go there every week to the Arapahoe at Village Center light rail station, but I had not checked out the surrounding area. 

The big draw is Fiddler's Green Amphitheater, a major venue for stage shows in the area. But it isn't much to look at unless you're going in and that requires a ticket.

On the other hand, there is much more packed into the area. The other day, I noticed a bronze statue of an elephant near the rail station. It was so uncharacteristic that I couldn't quite figure out what it was from a distance. It's a reminder that there's so much up the hill (probably anywhere) that you always miss things, so you have to keep going back.

Adjacent to the amphitheater is Marjorie Park with it's collection of fanciful statues, including many from the Alice stories of Lewis Carroll. There was construction going on when I visited so I could only get a few shots through the gates.

The park was originally named Samson Park after the pet Yorkie of the Museum of Outdoor Arts founders John and Marjorie Madden. The name was changed in 2015. I'll have to return after they finish construction.

Luckily, nearby Tuscany Plaza was accessible with it's collection of statues.

There is outdoor art all over the place in the Village Center/Fiddler's Green area. On the way back from the train station, I got a picture of the bear outside Plaza Tower One, the prominent 22 story building at Village Center.

In fact, you could wander around the entire Tech Center for days looking at art and architecture. 

And, of course, the views of the Rockies in this area are stunning. It's easy to get so used to them here that you forget how breathtaking they are.

The little park running through Walnut Hills is a corridor for wildlife. I spotted this big redtail hawk a couple of days ago. If you have problems seeing it, it's because they are well camouflaged in their leafy surroundings.

Speaking of wildlife, last week, a friend and I hiked up Waterton Canyon to Strontia Dam. Groups of male bighorn sheep were lounging around. I guess the females are lambing. There were plenty of birds and we saw a herd of deer on the other side of the river. 

Not a great shot but incentive to go back sometimes with my telephoto lens. There is a big difference between optical and electronic enlargement.

The Corona virus is interesting from a sociological standpoint. It's a repeat of so many epidemics that I've been through over 66 years of life but this time it's close to mass hysteria. The electronic media has opened up the world to many exciting possibilities, but it has also become a tool for manipulating huge numbers of people who have adapted quite well to it and are very open to manipulation.

It is keeping me inside more to avoid all the mad dashing around and store emptying.

Stay safe and be a neighbor for those that are more vulnerable and we'll get through it all.