Rallying Against the Darkness

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

~Chinese Proverb

As those who follow this blog now realize, I love the winter holidays. What I love the most about the holidays - Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule, what-have-you - is the way that each is an expression of the human spirit - each is an effort to come to terms with the darkest days of the year through lights and celebrations of family, friends, and community.

This weekend, Steve and I attended two holiday light events, Denver Zoo's Zoo Lights on Friday and Downtown Denver's Parade of Lights on Saturday.

Denver Zoo Lights

Last year, we tried to see the zoo lights, having been told that it was a "must do", but we were overwhelmed by the road transformed to a parking lot by would-be visitors near the entrance to the Denver Zoo. This year, Steve's co-worker Melody invited us to join her on a CU (University of Colorado) alumni event at the zoo. This VIP night meant that crowds were low, so we could get the better photo and meander with ease.

At the entry gates, we were provided with paper holiday glasses, similar to 3D glasses, that make each light point look like a snowman. We wore these for a while, but ultimately the lights were captivating enough and the paper glasses (see photo of Steve and Melody) went away. Not all of the zoo was open, but we could see many animals - pachyderms, mountain goats, reptiles, giraffes, seals - and many are much more alert some were at night. Below are pictures taken by Steve and me, which are not nearly as excellent as the photos taken by Melody's boyfriend, Ted with his Canon SLR, tripod, patience, and excellent eye.

Steve and Melody

Me, Santa, and Melody













Steve, "swimmin' with the fishes"


Denver Parade of Lights

On Saturday evening, Steve accompanied me to Denver, while I did some freelance market research for my old boss. At one of our favorite Denver establishments, the Vine Street Pub, I had the Recession Burger - an inexpensive, no frills pre-formed patty, bun and handcut fries - and a glass of house wine, while Steve enjoyed his all-time favorite nacho and a beer. We were both tired, and debated attending the Parade of Lights in Denver's downtown, but ultimately figured, "We're here. We should go."

We were both a bit impatient, so we decided to walk the parade route backwards until we would encounter the front of the first float. Within minutes of hearing the horn blast that signaled the start of the parade, Steve found short-little-me a most excellent hole in the crowd from which to view the parade. A few bands, a penguin ballon, and a float or two passed, then... Nothing. Impatience kicked in again and we decided to continue our walk against the parade route. Here's a sampling of what we found.

Steve stands in front of the Denver Post/Rocky Mountain News balloon. The nearly 150-year-old Rocky Mountain News is looking for a buyer over a six-week period of time and will, if not sold, go out of business. Sorry for that sour note in my usually positive blog, but the longevity of Rocky Mountain News in remarkable and it is sad that it is likely to go away.


This blurry picture captures the chaos around the manager scene float, the culprit for the parade stoppage, which lost a tire and held up the floats and bands behind it. The angels were shakin' it to keep the crowds entertained while two guys (Joseph? Two wise men?) stood on the tilting float. What happened to baby Jesus? Did he roll off the float? Had Al Queda staged an act of terrorism against the wheel on this Christian float? We couldn't help but see the humor in it all, while people further down the parade route were surely growing impatient.


Parade goers look on from a parking garage.


Sugar plum fairy float. I liked the Stetson hat on the onlooker on the left, which is quintessentially Western, something I still enjoy about Colorado.


Steve guessed that this was a "Macy's parade reject". "What child still knows who Dennis the Menace is?" he asked. Note the stop light in the background. Every time the balloons reached an intersections, the handlers had to put them in a limbo position to squeeze under the lights.


Tin soldiers converse near the Nutcracker float.