Bach to Aspen...Just in Time

Prema made it Bach (back) to Aspen without a moment to spare in order to see a fabulous performance by Julia Fischer in the Benedict Music Tent (she played solo, unaccompanied, Bach Partitas 1-3).  Prema flew all the way to Aspen but as the aircraft was approaching the airport, wheels down and ready to land, the pilot had to pull up and return to Denver.  The issue, apparently common up here, was that even a minor tailwind of 10 mph requires the plane to land at a higher speed which then exceeded the ability to stop on the short runway.  So...she did come back on the next flight which was able to land safely.  In the news around Aspen this summer is that approval has been obtained to lengthen the runway.

I was able to pick Prema up and drive directly to the concert in time to get settled.  We didn't even wait for her checked bag.

Our day started as planned with a nice reunion with David Kim and his daughter Natalie.  David's other daughter Maggie was not feeling well so David's wife stayed in Vail with her.  We were all glad that Natalie and Maya were able to see each other again despite the slight change in plans.  We met at Aspen Highlands, the take off point for the bus "tour" up the canyon to the Maroon Bells area.  Here is a shot of the kids on the bus ride up the hill.

We (including Coral White) decided to take the walk up to Crater Lake and eat lunch there.  It was a beautiful day and the hike was quite nice though I will admit that it was a bit more strenuous than I anticipated.  The trail was quite rocky and uneven in parts, and was nearly four miles round trip with a substantial elevation gain.  We barely had enough water but in the end we all agreed it was a great day.  Conversation was continuous.  Really, I don't think there was more than 20 seconds of silence the entire day.

Here are a few shots of the day:

Maya and Natalie sculpted a turtle from mud from Crater lake.

...and the walk back.

After we said our goodbyes and made promises to reconnect soon, the B-Squad drove back to the condo for quick showers.  I went to the airport as described above.  As Prema and I were headed back into town Coral and the kids started walking to the tent.  We met them drove to the tent (none of us really felt like doing much more walking at that point). After the show we had a nice dinner out at a new favorite called Asie (I was told that's French for "Asian"). I dropped them off and since I couldn't find a place to park I just took the van back to the condo and walked the 5 blocks back to the restaurant.  While they had dessert I went out to the airport to get Prema's suitcase.  The condo finally went to sleep around 11 PM.

Heading to the Bells

We are heading up Maroon Canyon to experience the Maroon Bells today with some friends from Philadelphia. Here's the back story:  When Maya was performing as concertmaster of her youth orchestra at the Suzuki Youth Orchestras of the Americas in Minneapolis a couple of months ago she me a sweet girl named Natalie Kim.  They became quick friends and spent nearly all their free time together.  We met Natalie's father David who is an exceedingly nice and very interesting man.  And coincidentally, he is the concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra which is currently in residence at Vail, CO. So...David and Natalie are driving over to spend the day with us in the Aspen area.  Maya can hardly wait!

I have packed up lunches and water so we are ready to walk out the door in 15 minutes.  Will report back later.

This is a shot I took on July 9th when I was checking out logistics.  This is the bus-loading area at Aspen Highlands.  With a few exceptions, private vehicles are no longer allowed to drive up the canyon beyond this point due to the environmental impact of what would otherwise be very heavy traffic.

So much to blog about, so little time...

Last evening and today have been unusually busy.  I'll just list some highlights here and post a few pics for now. Hopefully tomorrow will offer up more time for details (but I kind of doubt it will).

If I recall, yesterday was occupied with practicing, a trip to the ARC, and then last night ... gee, seems like we did something but maybe not.  I know we did walk down to get ice cream and on the trip the kids played on some kind of spinning apparatus.  Getting a photo worth posting was a challenge.

Today Maya started her day as usual with a good practice session then headed to the music campus for a rehearsal with Tamara Goldstein.  While that was happening Jamuna, Abe and I went to the airport to meet Mrs. White.  She is a great friend and the kids' first and primary strings teacher in Rapid City.  She'll be visiting and helping with practicing all week and then return for another week later in early August.

We then went up to the music school and all of us listened carefully to a very interesting presentation about the art and science of musical strings.  Maybe I will elaborate another time.  Of note, attendee musicians received a free set of strings.  I left my outer shirt on a chair.  Hopefully it will be there tomorrow.



After the strings lecture Dr. Goza and Mrs. White went with Maya to her studio class while the rest of us went back to the airport to get Mrs. White's wayward luggage.  I was not feeling well at all - something I ate (?) - but we managed to buzz back into town to get some items at the PO for Jamuna.  We then headed back toward the music campus but were distracted by a fruit stand selling fresh, local produce.  We purchased some peaches, cherries, apricots and sweet corn.  Made it to the music campus just as the studio class had ended.

Came back to the condo but a weekly cleaning service was in the place so we made ourselves scarce and took a walk into town to introduce Mrs. W. to some of the attractions.  We returned just in time to collect ourselves and walk toward the music tent where Mrs. W. and the girls went to hear Libby Fayette, the winner of this year's violin competition, play with an orchestra.  On the way we stopped at a "Physics in the Park" event where the kids fiddled with geometric shapes and bubbles.  The girls left for the concert but Abe and I hung around for a demonstration (lame) and then headed to Paepcke Auditorium to listen to a very interesting lecture about dark matter.  Whew.  We all ended up back at the condo.  I'm ready to call it a night.

Another Beautiful Day

This afternoon Maya and I walked over to the Pitkin County Library so she could check out some books and so I could sheepishly return a book Jamuna just completed last night (she had just checked it out yesterday morning and already finished reading it).  The cause of my low-hung head was that Jamuna had dropped the book in a small creek yesterday, ruining the book.  I had to pay for it, but now we have a new but water-damaged souvenir.  Oh, did I mention that I just got our library card yesterday?

Later we went to the ARC for more swimming and ice skating.  We met a nice young lady named Jenny who is going to give the kids ice skating lessons on Friday.  I will report more on her at another time but I do know that she is quite an accomplished figure skater.  We enjoyed using public transportation.

We are back at the condo, working on dinner.  I don't seem to ever be able to have all the parts ready at the same time so the kids are eating in phases.  I just had a bowl of cereal.  Hopefully we will have the strength to make it down the avenue to the ice cream shop.

Here is a view of the front of our building.  We are on the second floor, on the left side.

Serendipitous Shortcut

We started our day with delicious crepes with butter and/or Nutella.  This was a made-from-scratch creation of Dr. Goza's. We learned a trick about adding a bit of lemon juice to maple syrup to give it a nice, different flavor.

Abe and I walked the 0.83 miles to the post office this morning (we finally checked it via GPS today) with a stop at the hardware store to get a Wii cable we needed.  On the way back to the condo we found a shortcut behind the post office which led us past an old school which is now called The Red Brick Building.  It houses a consortium of art organizations ranging from drawing/painting, acting, writing, and more.  It also serves as an exhibition center for local artists.  We'll be going back there, no doubt.

I know I stated the art building was the "Red Brick" building, but we did also pass the Yellow Brick Building.  We haven't figured out what goes on there but will check it out another day.

Sign of the day:  I like the concept quite a bit.  Funny that the sign derives from Canada.

Program Notes

Last evening Maya, Jamuna and I attended a Chamber Music event which included Maya's AMFS teacher Paul Kantor.  It was nice to see him perform and to say hello backstage afterward.  The program started out with a woman playing flute and another woman singing operatic soprano.  We weren't expecting that.

At each event there are ushers handing out programs the size of a small phone book.  The "books" are full of interesting information including program notes that describe the background of the composer at the time the piece was composed and how various influences may have shaped the music.  We quit bringing home programs after the first concert in order to reduce waste but now I realize that a new (identical appearing) program is produced each week.

I will pick up a current copy tomorrow as I want to quote a line for the record.

Tree vs. Sidewalk

Another nice feature of the Aspen community is that in nearly every instance when there is a conflict between a tree and a sidewalk, the tree wins.  We love that outcome, but it does make for some interesting walks.  It is quite common to come to a dead-ended sidewalk in the middle of a block and have to walk out in the street to the end of the block.

Walkabout

We took a break this afternoon and took a stroll down to the fountain.  Here are some random shots taken along the way.

I was trying to avoid another unhealthy trip to the ice cream shop then along came this bear handing out chocolate candy.  Oh well.

This entrepreneur sits in the area of a playground and sells balloon creations for a few dollars a piece.  Not a bad gig on a nice, busy day but I hope this isn't his only income source.  Maybe he is a retired CEO floating around on his golden parachute.

Aspen Time

I've heard several individuals mention the start time of an event and then qualify the statement as either "Aspen time" or "real time".  As you might imagine, Aspen time runs a little late.

I don't think Aspen time applies to parking your vehicle on the street.  If you want to avoid a parking ticket in Aspen the trick is fairly simple. Move your car to the opposite side of town every two hours.  There are four parking districts in which there is both free and paid parking available. If you're in a free spot you must be gone in 120 minutes, or else you will get a ticket.  And you may not just move down the block, you must move across town or find a pay slot (I'll have to check on this, but I'm fairly certain that is how it works).

But here is the interesting part...

A few days ago Abe and I met a parking enforcement dude driving this seemingly mundane conveyance.  But notice the two gadgets mounted on the roof by the American flag?  Those are high-definition cameras which record images of every car the scooter passes, on both sides of the street.  It interprets every license plate as well as landmarks around the car.  An on-board computer then determines if the car has been in the same spot more than the permitted time period and if a violation has occurred the officer is alerted.  THEN, if it is a pay spot, he checks to see if a payment stub is on the car dash.  If there is no pay stub (they don't have a meter at every spot but rather there is one location on each block that takes your money and prints a stub which you then display on your dash) he has one more place to check.  You see, in Aspen you can pay for parking with your cell phone.  If you have paid the fee a text message is sent to a Blackberry handheld device which notes the car make, plate and time paid.  If your car is on that list you are in the clear, otherwise...

I suppose that is TMI (too much information) for some, but I found it all very interesting.  Aspen has a lot of nice community amenities for which I was wondering how funding was raised.  Sales tax is in line with other places we've been, ? property tax, lodging room tax? .... Abe suggested they probably generate a lot of revenue from parking fines.  Maybe he is right.

PS: The man said he can drive 25-30 MPH and the system still works perfectly, and emblazoned on the back of the scooter are the words: "The Enforcer".

PPS: The man was very nice, kind of proud of the whole thing.  He showed us the computer monitor which displayed side-by-side images of a car - one taken moments before we started asking our questions and one taken two hours ago.  He also showed us the handheld device with the list of cell-phone payment messages.  We saw him a little while later in another part of town and he waved to us.

Wildlife at the Music School Campus

Another go, go, go day is winding down. I'm tired but want to jot down a few observations.  Maya had a good lesson with Mr. Kantor this morning after which we drove through an incredible downpour and hail storm on the way to the airport.  No photos to show but it was quite a sight to see the overflowing culverts and storm drains.  Thankfully the storm passed quickly and Prema got off right on time.  Unfortunately she was delayed in Denver for nearly four hours.  She ran into a friend there, as is often the case when traveling from Denver to RC.  On the Aspen to Denver flight Prema sat right behind two of the Takacs Quartet members.  She had fun chatting with them for a bit.  We saw them perform several evenings ago and they were quite good.

Back to the music school campus.  Here is a photo of my view as I sat and waited for Maya to complete her activities.  It is difficult to see the details of the small lake but as I was sitting there I saw a few ducklings misbehaving, apparently completely unsupervised.  Then father duck came out of the grass and they seemed to settle down.  Later, father duck had his head underwater when mother duck make a fancy landing across the water.  Upon resurfacing he seemed oblivious to her presence.  Then a muskrat swam across the lake, all the while trout were jumping here and there.  Oh, and through all of this one of the several student orchestras was rehearsing in the room just ten feet to my left.  Very nice.

In the afternoon we went to the rec center for swimming and ice skating.  Then home for more practice. Supper, laundry, grocery store...

Prema made it home, and I'm going to read for a few minutes then get some sleep.

On the Maya Calendar

We are back on the Maya calendar today. She has a rehearsal and then her private lesson with Mr. Kantor.  Sadly we then will take Prema to the airport where she will be leaving on a jet plane to head back to SD for a week of sight-saving work.

Yesterday was a nice day with no defined obligations.  Practices occurred intermittently throughout the day then we went to the ARC for some recreation.  Here is a view of the "play" pool.  I did some work in the lap pool which is off to the right of the camera view.  The kids went ice skating.

There is a fun water slide, a hot tub, a "lazy river" channel and the large open area.  It is quite a bargain for us to be able to use this facility at the local resident rate due to Maya being a student at the AMFS.

For supper we went to one of our favorite places, Little Annie's, named after a productive silver mine which was named after the daughter of the miner who first exploited the natural resource.  This kids hopped a ride while the rest of us walked.  We all arrived just before a major rain event.







I started to say something at the table while awaiting the arrival of the food and realized no one was listening to me.  At least Jamuna was reading a book. I was thankful for the moment of peace and quiet.

Mmmmm, baked snap peas !

This morning Abe, Jamuna and I walked to the post office and were greeted by two surprises.  One was a box of my favorite snacks from my good friend Neal.  It included chocolate-covered blueberries, baked snap peas, caramel Nips, and some newspaper clippings.  Wow!  Thanks Neal.

We also received a card from UPS stating a package I ordered to General Delivery could not be delivered.  I think I have this figured out now.  When I don't know how a seller will ship an order I now use an address which includes "General Delivery OR....", and also include the street address.

We saw these folks using this alternative conveyance while on our way home from the bookstore. Oh, we stopped at the bookstore and picked up a couple of Aspen history books, one of which is about the Aspen Music Festival.

JB on stage....Spectacular !

Just returned from a performance by the Aspen Chamber Orchestra with special guest Joshua Bell.  What a spectacular show on a beautiful evening in Aspen.  The music was performed in the Benedict Music Tent which is quite an interesting building with an interesting history.  Although it is a tent, it is more like the main terminal at Denver International Airport.  It is a permanent structure.

Here's Jamuna and Abe waiting patiently.




Along the way to the tent we walked past this unusual lawn furniture.

Maroon Bells

Today I navigated the bus system up to Maroon Lake.  There is a visitors' center there and an array of easy hikes.  I didn't do much other than gather information.  Next chance we have I hope to take the family up there for a hike and picnic.

The mountains in the background are the "bells", so called because of the shape.  These peaks are part of the Elk Mountains, the westernmost range withing the Rockies.  The term "maroon" refers to the geologic "maroon formation".  More info can be found here.  Corrections and additions are welcome.

More Yesterday....

It is a bit blurry, but after we returned from the morning walk we were all at the condo at the same time.  Maya was finishing her morning practice and I believe Abe even picked up both his guitar and viola. Yeah Abe!  We had a light lunch then Jamuna opened some birthday presents:

Her "big" gift was an iPod Touch.  She has been sloooooowly earning it by good behavior and diligent practicing but we decided to give it to her for her birthday.  There was concern that if we waited until she collected enough "credits" to earn the prize, Apple may be out of business or the product would be so far out-of-date that it would  not even work.  She also received a variety of other important items such as pink Keen sandals, socks, T shirt, astronomy book, wacky rubber bands, and more.

She received her cake too but we did not cut into it until just about bedtime because the girls (Mom and Dr. Goza included) had to have their nails done - or something like that.  I didn't get back to the salon in time to document that festive event.

While the ladies were getting fumigated in that nail salon Abe and I found a nice barber shop where Abe received a haircut.  The barber, Ross, was quite nice and interesting.  One nice thing about the Aspen locals is their interest and appreciation of the great music that happens here each summer.  Ross spoke about some of his favorite composers and how he and his wife along with lots of others would go to the music tent (more on that some other time) and lie on a blanket in the grass outside the tent and listen to the music drift over them as they gaze up at the Aspen leaves and stars.  Sounds nice.  Similarly, the day before, we met an employee at a sporting goods retail shop whom we had seen at a recital the night before.  His name is Bruce Lee, and we will likely be seeing him again, one place or the other.

On the walk back from the barber shop Abe expressed his suspicion that the rest of the gang might have stopped for ice cream so we detoured by Paradise Cafe and sure enough, there they were.  We finally made it back home in time for me to whip up something for supper, change out of my shorts, and rush off to a free lecture on mathematical invariants at the Aspen Center for Physics. It was engaging and fun but got a bit confusing. I enjoyed a nice walk back to the condo in the rain. Abe was here and the girls were attending a couple of music events.  Around 10 PM everyone was here for a piece of cake, then bedtime.

Yesterday...

Yesterday was so busy I was truly too tired to finish a post I had started in the afternoon.  I will probably have to catch up over the course of the day today.  Keep in mind that I am documenting some minor events and details that might bore some readers but we may want to look back on all of this someday and it will be the details that add color and depth to our reminiscence.

In the morning yesterday Jamuna and I made another trek to the post office and grocery store.  On the way we took a detour past the Aspen Art Museum.  We didn't stop in but will surely return to check it out. Not sure what was going on with the inflatable kid.  More on that some other time, I suppose.

Just across a footbridge over the Roaring Fork River is the John Denver Sanctuary.  It was a sad and peaceful place but at the same time full of life, hope and sunshine.  John Denver lived in Aspen and was a big part of the community until his untimely death in 1997.

The sanctuary includes many large, cut granite boulders with engraved lyrics from several of John Denver's songs. If your are a fan of his music you will want to visit this spot.

After a while we headed to the PO then Clark's Market.  Other than the initial trip to Clark's we have been going on foot and carrying our purchases in a backpack.  This is good on many levels: limits what we buy, exercise, saves energy, etc.

On the trek home (I'll measure the distance one of these days) we did drop by a wonderful little bakery to get a loaf of bread and a cake we had ordered for Jamuna.  I will have to plan better in the future as it was a bit challenging moving about that crowded cafe and bakery with a stuffed, heavy backpack.

Happy 13th Birthday JAMUNA !!!

Today is Jamuna's first TEENAGE birthday.  She requested pancakes for breakfast and would like a "skillet meal" for supper.  Our plan is to walk to the post office and then to the John Denver Sanctuary.  At this point I'm not sure where else the day will take us.












Here is a photo Jamuna took about six weeks ago near our home in South Dakota.  She did a minor bit of post-processing to produce this nice image.

Still on the learning curve...

Today we slept a bit later than usual after returning late from a fantastic concert by the Takacs Quartet.  It was an interesting program in that of the three parts none was actually a quartet.  Regardless, the music was pleasing and the Harris Concert Hall is a very nice venue.

This morning I visited the town bookstore called Explorer Booksellers.  I barely penetrated the front section of the first floor before I ran out of time.  If I am ever missing in Aspen, look there first.  After that, Jamuna and I walked down to the post office and stopped in to check out the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES).  This is a very busy nature education center with loads of interesting programs for kids, adults, and families.  We purchased a membership and signed up for a class called Stone Age Living Skills where we will learn to start friction fires, shape cutting tools from rocks, make rope, and a lot more.


Upon return from that recon mission we ate a quick lunch then Jamuna, Abe and I took the shuttle to the ARC (Aspen Recreation Center) for swimming and ice skating.  I forced myself to swim some laps with the hope of getting back into a regular program.  We'll see.

Maya practiced violin much of the morning then attended her studio class with Mr. Kantor.  She also had a rehearsal session with a Tamara Goldstein, a pianist who works with Mr. Kantor.

Here is a view of one of several building at the music school campus.  The place is more beautiful than it looks in this shot.  Imagine a cool breeze, chirping birds, and Cottonwood seeds floating in the air like large snowflakes.

Right now I will be taking a long walk with a backpack full of recyclables to the recycle drop-off site, then to the post office, then grocery store and wine store.

Packages arrived on schedule...

Yesterday was a long day.  I drove to the Denver airport to retrieve Jamuna and Abe.  They traveled alone from Dallas after having been escorted to the gate by Donna D., the kids' surrogate mom at DFW WOW!  Thanks Donna!

Jamuna and Abe appeared at the top of the escalator after getting off the plane with all their stuff, stopping at Wolfgang Puck's to pick up some chicken and mac&cheese, and riding the train to the main terminal.  They both seemed quite comfortable with this semi-independent travel event.  They were a bit grumpy, apparently the result of having stayed up visiting with friends until 4:00 AM.  Here is a photo of the four hour drive back to Aspen.

This was the most peaceful ride in the van that I can recall.

Upon arrival at the Aspen condo, we unloaded the van, fussed a bit, ate a snack, and then Prema, Maya, Dr. Goza and I went to the music school to observe a violin master class.  We watched a new friend, Serina Huang, beautifully play a piece she will be performing with the Baltimore Symphony this weekend.  She is awesome, and her dad is pretty cool too.

Rocky Mountain High Fireworks

Almost forgot that the City of Aspen was shooting off fireworks tonight but since we are staying just a few blocks from the base of Aspen Ski Area we heard the first few bangs then ran outside.

I was too shortsighted (lazy) to set up a tripod so I balanced the camera on Prema's head to capture this memory.

The show was great despite a light drizzle. The temp is in the mid-40s.  I suppose that is all just fine in light of the extremely high wildfire danger in the area.

Independence Day Aspen Style

We returned from the music school campus just as the big parade was winding down.  After parking at the condo we walked a few blocks to the heart of the action.  It was quite a celebration for a small mountain town.

After lunch we all enjoyed a scoop of ice cream, especially Maya. For the record, Maya had chocolate, Prema had half peanut butter cookie dough, half cappuccino-something-truffle, and I had raspberry-chocolate swirl.  Dr. Goza opted for a peach sorbet.

Fly Fishing in Yellowstone

I arrived back in Aspen after a long drive through Wyoming and Colorado yesterday. I was sad to leave but am happy to back with at least part of the family. I'll go pick up Abe and Jamuna tomorrow at DIA.

Two days ago I took a hike to Cascade Lake in the Canyon area. After about three miles on the trail John S. and I arrived at the lake and found a nice place to sit and have lunch. Within a few minutes of sitting down I spotted a bird with a white head and wondered if it was a Bald Eagle. John commented that it looked too small for an eagle, and he was right. I located the bird with my binoculars and saw that it was an Osprey, a fish-eating bird. As I was saying the words, "Wouldn't it be cool if it would dive into the water and catch a fish?", it did just that. I was able to follow the whole process and watch the bird fly the length of the lake and then skillfully land in a tree, never letting go of it's catch.

John did not have binocs with him on this hike but thankfully the great bird reappeared for an encore about five minutes later. John was able to watch the entire performance while I tried to snap a photo. Here is a cropped and enlarged shot just to give the idea of what it was like.

After lunch we experimented with an expired can of bear spray. It expired in 2008 but still had quite a bit of pressure. The wind shifted while I was trying it out and some of the spray came back on me. I never really doubted it but now I know why this stuff is so effective. It was a good experience for us to know how it would feel to use the spray and to see first-hand how far and long it will shoot.

Occupation Site

Here is a group of classmates walking down toward an "protohistoric" Native American occupation site, probably about 150 years old. Can you see it? There are a several teepee poles leaning among the trees down the hill in the shadows. More later....

Antlers

This is Jim Garry, the instructor of my Yellowstone Association Institute course. He is a fabulous teacher with apparently unlimited knowledge about all thing Yellowstone. It has been a treat to spend the past few days with him. Here he is explaining about the development of elk antlers. We stumbled onto this specimen on one of our hikes. It is amazing that bull elk will grow their full antler rack in about five months just in time for the rut (late summer mating competition). They shed their antlers each year and then start over again, no matter how large.