A clock is there in Loveland

You once told me a tale of a young girl who used to love to go to her father's jewelry store when she was small. You thought it pretty special, as a young lady, to have a dad who was a jeweler and a watch repairman. One thing that came out of that was your love of clocks. I can remember when I gave you two old toy soldier figures, one of a medieval damsel and one of a Roundhead type cavalier. You placed them in a clock on your mantel at home, the dashing horseman standing behind the access to the clock, his cloak shielding his heart's delight. I have to wonder as to what happened to those figures. Did the they make the move to your new home? Is that little man still guarding the honor of the love of his life inside the dusty recesses of your Art Deco clock?

Fast forward 12 years. I now live a short drive from old town Loveland. As a librarian it was natural for me to want to look up where your dad's old store was located. There are whole histories of the downtown, and of the clock that stands in front of the shop that you once visited as a girl. I pass by it every now and again, and whenever I do I think of the gal who once fancied a lad who loved clocks as much as she did.

We certainly were on time, my love. Here's to a place where time has no meaning.

Your WHMB

A history of Brown Street Clocks:
http://www.shiawasseehistory.com/brownstreet.html

Here is a history of all the historic buildings downtown Loveland. Your dad's shop is mentioned, how cool!:
http://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/NRSR/5LR9700.pdf

Exit 42

Once or twice a week I take a trip to Trinidad. The firm that I work for has quite a number of  businesses down there that love our product and thanks to the booming industry I've worked my way into I find myself on the road to Southern Colorado regularly, something I consider quite a boon to my existence, never a hardship.

Trinidad is once again a booming town, with more cannabis concerns opening up there every week. It is being seen, by some, as the "New Amsterdam", a town key to cannabis tourism trade in the state. As I come and go on 25 I see license plates from all over, with Texas, Utah, Arizona and, as you might imagine, New Mexico, leading the way. And while the town still has plenty of shabby chic about it, you can see that there is lots of money flowing into it, with plenty of new construction and a whole lot of reconstruction going on, bringing back to life the charm of the old brick town and the highlighting the power of the new green economy.

One thing about my journey that really stands out, and that is off ramp 42 on I-25. I know that in order to get to Durango back in the day you needed to either drop all the way down into New Mexico and make your way over and up or you headed west once you hit Walsenburg. I have to wonder, did you ever see that road sign, then, as you made your way to college? If so, did you ever think that, yes, wow, here's a road dedicated to my future husband?

No matter, when I pass it by I always think of you, of your life and what your times must have been like for you as a fresh, young college student. You told me tales of those times, of the boys who passed through your life, and I found those stories sweet, funny and interesting, somewhat how I feel about you and our times whenever I pass that sign.

It was long ago that you traversed the same highway that I find myself on regularly these days. Once more I find ways to connect to you, across the distance, from here on the road in Colorado.

May your road trips there in Washington be filled with adventure and insight and, as you cross the Cascades or wander the streets of Seattle, may you think of me and our times as well.

Your WHMB