I've never been one to make New Year's Resolutions,with me things happen or they don't. Example: I never once set out to quit tobacco,but with a limited income,I decided to place buying more marijuana as a priority over tobacco. Not long afterwards cancer hit and just decided to continue course. Instead of resolutions,I've adopted my own version of the Year in Review where I name my life's top events. Last year's was moving to Fountain Colorado with Rose and the Grandkids.. Here's this years:
#1 Birth of Sohfeya
With both Johnathan and Kahlea I got to visit them when they were 2 weeks old. If I was lucky,I got to spend an entire week with them in Georgia and Florida respectively and even luckier if I got to visit them once a year afterwards. I knew Rose was pregnant when I moved to Fountain and part of my coming here had to do with helping out the household during the last few months of her pregnancy and afterwards. Sohfeya came a few weeks early and this time I was at the hospital for her birth. Since then,we have become quite the team as often I spend the bulk of the day with her. Here's one thing I notice. With Johnathan and Kahlea while we have a close relationship,when the in laws are in town,they quickly bond as they were with them from birth and grew up with them till they moved to Colorado. Sohfeya,while she's getting adjusted to the in laws visiting over the holidays is still wanting her Granddaddy time.
#2 Seeing the Mets and Broncos
While it is very part time and sporadic,one of the most enjoyable jobs I've ever had has been working as an Events Assistant.While I mostly work sporting events,one of the more notable events was working as security for Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper's Presidential kickoff rally. It might be the only time I'll ever receive compliments from the Police. I've worked Denver Nuggets basketball and Colorado Avalanche hockey,but the most enjoyable assignment has been working Colorado Rockies baseball games. Of all the events I work,baseball crowds are the most easy going. No confiscations of weapons or people attempting to sneak alcohol in or out. One of the perks as a baseball fan is anytime between the 4th and 7th inning,depending on crowd attendance,we are free to watch the game. In September,my favorite New York Mets came to Colorado for a three game series. There's a couple in town where our annual get together involves taking in one Mets game. My job permitted me to take in the other two and for the third and final game,I was able to see from the fourth inning on. Mets won two out of three games.
Tickets to Denver Broncos games are hard to obtain. In Denver, there is a 10 year waiting list for season tickets and the few individual game tickets are expensive and gone within hours after they are put on sale.If you want to Denver Broncos and don't have a season ticket,one best bet is knowing someone with season tickets. I've been a Broncos fan since 1977 and have lived in Colorado off and on since 1980 and never got to see a game in Denver till this season. The owner of a hair salon where the daughter of a friend works has season tickets and as a perk he gives tickets away to his employees. Saw the Denver Broncos vs the Jacksonville Jaguars. Attended the game with my friend Valerie who is as hard core a Bronco fan as I am.My style of rooting for the Broncos which outside of Colorado has elicited complaints and ire completely fit in at Mile High. Broncos lost unfortunately.
#3 Recording with Charlie Parr
From the time of our Adventures in Music and Storytelling event in Duluth,Charlie Parr and myself said we would collaborate again and at the many shows of his where I would attend,if we had a chance to chat,it would come up. When Charlie and I first met,on the late Jazzy J's program Twin Cities Radio on the Net,he was a recognizable name in the Twin Cities music scene and was just beginning to branch out. Plans were made for the Duluth show when Charlie was in Denver,performing in a park where people had to bring their own lawn chairs. At the time Charlie and I could make plans by talking one on one in person. We would still try to talk one on one but much went on in Charlie's life since Duluth..Tours in Europe,New Zealand and Australia. East Coast and West Coast tours as well as signing on when the major folk record label Red House Records. We had agreed to do a second Adventures in Music and Storytelling in Minneapolis at the Hook and Ladder Theater. One problem arose,Charlie has management now and they had other plans for him. I brought up the idea to record something and Charlie quickly agreed. To insure this project going forward Charlie,his manager,and myself met for lunch at the Hard Times when I was in Minneapolis in May and his manager was in attendance at my show Adventures in Music and Storytelling held at the Hook and Ladder. In November,Charlie and I went into the Minnehaha Recording Studio and we recorded " Annie Jones" an original story of mine. It is scheduled for release in January. Charlie's latest album,the self titled "Charlie Parr " was named one of the top Americana releases of 2019. 2020 should be an exciting time.
#4 Fountain Colorado
The original plan was for me to move to Colorado 4-5 months ahead of Rose and her family. They were going to sell their Florida home and return to Colorado. When they arrived,I was going to live with them. It was assumed that the new home would be in the Denver Metro area. As we all know,plans change in the human experience. It took them a year to move,and for various reasons like the skyrocketing cost of housing in Denver and Rose's husband preference for a smaller area,they ended up in Fountain Colorado.
Fountain Colorado is a suburb of Colorado Springs. It is in close proximity to the Fort Carson Army Base. The entire Colorado Springs area is a military stronghold with NORAD, Peterson AFB,and the Air Force Academy located here. It is also a highly conservative area. The fundamentalist group Focus on the Family is located here. In the 2016 Election,the area gave overwhelming support for Donald Trump,the strongest in Colorado.
It was for those very reasons that Rose's husband preferred to live in Fountain. He and Rose are both Army veterans and he in particular relates best with active service people and vets. Fountain works well for Rose and her husband.
While it is great living with and being a regular part of my grandkids' life,living in Fountain has been difficult for me. There is no public transportation in this town. Seeing as I don't own a car,I am completely dependent on Rose to get anywhere. Uber/Lyft rides run about $10 each way in town and to get to Colorado Springs it cost even more.With jobs mostly being in Colorado Springs,I've estimated it would cost me $50 a day in transportation costs alone. I love my part time job in Denver,but I need 2 or 3 days of work in the week to make it worthwhile given transportation costs and it doesnt work out a lot of the time. While I was living in Denver,working an entry level job in addition to the part time job I still hold,I was just a few thousand dollars short of reaching the limit to what I can make under Social Security. Now,even with a family friendly discount on rent,I'm barely cutting it. In moving in with the family,I only committed myself to a couple years depending on what was going on with the kids. With Johnathan and Kahlea both in school,the time to move on could be approaching. I'm on a few low income senior housing waiting lists in Denver,a couple of them because I'm not a resident of Denver,I get pushed back on. I'm hopeful about one list I'm on,but we'll see what happens.
And that pretty much sums up 2019! All I can say about 2020 is I'll be turning 65 shortly,looking forward to the release of " Annie Jones " and I'm making tentative plans to be part of the 2020 Minnesota Fringe
Happy New Year!
