Leaving Denver, for now...

This is our last day in Denver.  Per my (Larry) usual habit, I got up around 7:00 and took an hour’s walk.  That has been one of the joys of being here in downtown Denver.  The weather has been uniformly good—mornings have been cool to brisk.  It is just a couple of short blocks to a wonderful walking trail that follows Cherry Creek to where it meets the South Platte River.  After walking along the river for awhile, I turn back towards town through a lovely park and then up 16^th street back to our apartment building.  Of course, most mornings, I stop off at McDonald’s for my diet coke—an addiction that I guess I will have learn to do without once we leave here.

The confluence of Cherry Creek and South Platte River.

 This morning was picture perfect—a cloudless cerulean (have always wanted to use that adjective) blue sky with temperatures in the mid 50’s and bright, almost blinding sunlight.  As it was Saturday morning, there were few to share the trails and sidewalks, unlike workday mornings when there are lots of people—commuters and runners as well a large number of bicyclists and skateboarders.  One nice thing that the city planners have done here is that along the creek and river trails, the pedestrians and bicyclists are each assigned one side of the river.  You don’t have to always be looking out for a mad biker “passing on the left.”

In the six weeks that we have been here, we have really grown to like and appreciate Denver—it has all of the amenities of a large city—culture, theaters, parks and restaurants—but it is still manageable and still on a “human scale.” As we have said before, we are definitely thinking of returning for a longer, if not permanent stay.

But of course what we will miss will be Charlie and his parents.  We will miss his deep chest chortle when something delights him like blowing a raspberry on his tummy, pretending to eat his hands or feet, or giving him a million kisses! We will miss watching him learn and develop.  When we first arrived back in the middle of August, he was barely able to sit up without tumbling over and you knew that he wanted to crawl, but he just hadn’t mastered the technique. 

Walking along Cherry Creek; Charlie thought the sound of the rushing water was neat, but he really liked the taste of his right big toe.

 We watched him get up on his knees, rock back and forth a number of times, and then do a face plant. We will miss his scrunching up his shoulders, putting his hands together and giving you the most beautiful smile imaginable.  Now he tootles to wherever he wants, without a second thought--and if you turn your back, he has discovered something that you really don't want him to be doing

We will miss holding him, reading to him, and feeding him. He makes his mouth into a perfect O and rocks back and forth, waiting for the spoon to deliver the oatmeal, squash and pear mush. We know that we will be able to see him regularly on Skype—but of course it is not like being here.  We also know that we will see him again in about three months—but goodness, he will probably be walking and even speaking a word or two.  How can we leave? We keep asking ourselves.