Denver

So many little things to note about Denver that I think of in the moment and then forget to write down, and can't think of when I sit down in front of my blog.

But why not try anyway? Here, some miscellanea:

1) It is supposed to snow tonight. In October. Wha'???

2) Having a real fall again is AWESOME to behold. We have two huge maple trees in our front yard that are just barely starting to change -- I can't wait. And it's brisk and cold now too. I baked chocolate chip cookies today, and warm chocolate chip cookies on a cold fall day may just be the exact composition of Heaven.

3) Fermenting crab apples (almost wrote that crap abbles, lol), such as those that have fallen off the tree in our backyard, smell delicious. Don't worry, I have not tried to fashion a drink out of them. They sell pumpkin beer here that does the trick. I just like the smell.

4) We are truly a swing state. I have never seen such a diversity of political lawn poster endorsements in my life. Our block alone is evenly divided.

5) Denver's large interstates are designed such that you have to constantly keep merging left; all right lanes become exit only lanes. It's annoying but perhaps it's meant to keep you vigilant?

6) The curbs in our neighborhood are slanted such that if you ride your bike parallel to them and steer ever so slightly on to them, you can glide right up them.

7) S and I are totally acclimated, which makes me think that we are going to drink our cousins and my brother under the table this Christmas. Not that we don't anyway. And not that drinking competitions should be endorsed. Still, the thought is personally satisfying. Altitude adaptation for the win!

8) The difference between morning and afternoon here is often 30 degrees or more. Riding my bike to school, I can get near-frostbite on my fingers at 7am and be sweating in my t-shirt by 3pm.

9) The food in this city is strangely bland. Seriously. You have to work to find real flavor here. This phenomenon is very distinct from San Francisco, where everything was seasoned, a lot, and brilliantly.

10) Our neighbors are the most neighborly neighbors we've known, with the last apartment building we were in being a close second, and that's only because we hang out and drink beers with our neighbors here all the time.

To be continued!