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Juxtapose

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Some final words on Amsterdam.  It's a city of great juxtaposition where, for instance, you might have a corner gambling casino next to an apartment building next to a law office, next to the motorcycle shop, which we noted while waiting for a tram. Even more startling, at least to me, is the prostitutes on the right, the cities oldest church on the left and down where the people are walking is a day care center. Amsterdam is a city on built on a human scale and, because of the canals, a city whose center has changed little for centuries. It is a very easy city to walk, very compact with many streets too narrow for cars. An easy city to bike, of course.  I read that 78% of Amsterdamers have bikes. No one wears a helmet and their fatality count is usually 5-6 per year, which means the death per kilometer pedaled is tiny. Bikes get their own lanes everywhere, which no doubt helps tremendously, but the bike lanes constantly cross streets and sidewalks. And the riders must contend...
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overheard in East Harlem

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Two women at the bus stop at 103rd and 1st Ave. in front of the projects. "I didn't grow up here. No. I moved here in '66. I lived at 429. Then we moved to 446 and then 419, where I am am now. You like it back where you're staying? " "Oh yeah. Its real quiet back there. I don't hear no gunshots or nothing."
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Fossils

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Sunday morning under grey skies with a hint of snow flurries. Went to a cafe for a bite then headed west to the Florrisant Fossil National Monument, one of the best places for carefully preserved fossils of delicate things, like insects, in the whole world.  It was clearly getting colder and snowier as we climbed in elevation, much to our delight.  Thought the park had been open for two hours, we were the first at the welcome center and were happily greeted by a very bored ranger who was glad to have people to talk to. We saw fossils, watched the informational video and then headed out to see the enormous petrified stumps and revel in the snow.  We also took the opportunity to get our National Parks lifetime passes, now that we are both 62. Lifetime pass for $10! Bless you Teddy Roosevelt and all who have kept the flame burning. 
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