Observations on Denver

Some years we have Rockies' ticket package. We did last year, but we didn't go to a single game for a variety of reasons.  Work was the big one, but then, about this time just a year ago, I was under the knife for the second time as well.

We went to the Orioles game on September 1.

The choice of the date was not my own, September 1 is the opening day of blue grouse and dove season, but I didn't complain about it.  A young member of the family loves the Orioles and that's why it was chosen.  When you get old, as I am, you yield in favor of younger family members, so I did, without complaining.  You also learn, hopefully, not to complain where in former days you might have.

It was a great game.

I've been to Denver several times since my surgery, but they were all hit and run type of deals for work.  In and out, with no time to spare. This is the first time I've lingered in the Mile High City for awhile, and the first time over a weekend for a long while.  Therefore some observations, I guess.

It was hot.  "Unseasonably hot" is what I'm hearing.  I'm not a fan of hot.  As Wyoming has already been chilly in the morning, and I couldn't find my Rockies jersey, I wore a light flannel shirt.  I don't really feel comfortable in just wearing a t-shit in that setting anymore, so I when I got hot, right away, before the game, I went and bought a jersey.  Now I have two.

I can't wear my old New York Yankees pull on jersey anymore.  I'm too big and its too small.  My Sox jersey is messing a button.

It's really weird to think that at least into the 1940s people dressed pretty formally at baseball games.  Men were in jacket and tie, something you'd never see now.

We were there on Sunday.

Holy Ghost is, in my view, the most beautiful church in the region and the most beautiful one I've ever been in.  We went to Mass early Sunday morning.  It's stunning and it never fails to impress me with its beauty.  

A beautiful church really adds something to worship, and a sense of the Divine.

Not a new impression, but the street people problem is out of control.

I don't know what can be done to help these people.  Some, you can tell, are now so organically messed up that they'll never really recover.  

In various places, when approached for money by somebody on a street, I'll give them some.  But not in Denver.  The people on the streets are so messed up I know where that money is going.  Something needs to be done to help them, but I have no idea what it would be.

The day before I went down I read that the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) had taken over two apartments in Aurora.  Looking it up, it's apparently true, and they're using them for sex trafficking.

The greater Denver area, fwiw, has never been all that nice, in spite of what people might say. I recall going down in the 1980s, when I was an undergrad at UW, and parts of were really rough then.  16th Street was just starting to develop.  The area around LoDo was really really rough.  I can recall walking from an off street towards 16th past a really rough looking bar mid morning when a prostitute came spilling out of it, probably just getting off work.  The Episcopal Cathedral, St. John in the Wilderness, had lots of broken windows, broken by rocks thrown into them from the street.  Colorado Blvd in the region of what is now Martin Luther King Blvd was as complete red light district full of XXX movie theaters.  Lo Do was a no/go zone.

Coors Field really cleaned up a lot of that, and much of downtown Denver has really gentrified.  16th Street, however, is a drug flop house as is much of downtown Denver.  The legalization of marijuana, COVID, and a highly tolerant city council has created an enormous problem.

Anyhow, I don't go into Aurora much, but I don't really recall it being really nice.  I recall my father, who had experience with Denver going back to the 1930s, mentioning it had never been nice.

We had a big breakfast at Sam's No. 3.  It's a great cafe.  A real urban one, which probably makes it surprising that I'll go there, but it is great.

At the game, I had a hot dog.  I usually have "brots", rather than dogs, if I have your classic small sausage on a bun.  I'd forgotten, accordingly, what real dogs taste like.  I like them, but I don't like them as much as brots.

Converse Chuck Taylors are comfortable for sitting at a game, but not for hiking around a city.  Like my baseball jerseys, I like Chuck Taylors but given my line of work and my off time avocations, which I unfortunately seem to be able to engage in less and less, I have little call to actually wear them.

Regarding clothing, while I hesitated to post it, a lot of young women in urban settings don't dress decently when dressing casually.  I don't mean "dress up" either. Perhaps because it was hot, a lot of them had on "summer clothes" which showed way more skin, and other things, than is decent, in my view.  For that matter, coming out of a hotel a barista was coming in wearing a t-shirt who had chosen to omit undergarments and was showing, well, through.  I almost turned to my daughter who was with me and thanked her for not dressing like so much of what I was seeing, but I didn't.

On that, some of the younger women were clearly with a parent. Why would you let a child, even if not a child any longer, go out dressed like that?

I'm not really proud of noticing and I didn't glare or stare, but frankly with so much on display its impossible not to notice anything.  I'm old, but not dead, and there's way too much on display, certainly way more than is the case up here in the rude hinterlands.  A Christian should have custody of their eyes but I'd rather other folks make it easy to exercise.

Also on display were vast numbers of tattoos, some artful and some really bad.  Having a bad tattoo has to be a bummer.

I was reminded of how much I don't like country music.  My wife and daughter do, so we listed to one of the XM Radio satellite radio channels on the way down.  I never listen to contemporary country music, although over the years I've gotten to where I like some of the older stuff.

Anyhow, I was surprised by how much country music is just devoted to getting drunk.  It's weird.

A fair amount is devoted to bad decisions, particularly with alcohol and women.  Some has gotten inappropriate towards women in general.  One of the songs on the way down I heard was Country Girl, which involves alcohol, and also the lyrics "shake it for me, girl".  I've been around country people, including country girls, my entire life and I've never seen a country girl shaking whatever for anyone.  Indeed, I've always been impressed by how almost everyone who lives in the sticks knows how to swing dance and tends to wear, usually, a fair amount of clothing, even in the summer.

Churches of the West: Churches of the West: Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Casper Wyoming

Churches of the West: Churches of the West: Our Lady of Fatima Catholic ...: 

Churches of the West: Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Casper Wyoming

Churches of the West: Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Casper Wyoming: This Church was put in place in the early 1950s due to the expansion of the City of Casper, and has an unusual history. The church it...

Our prior entry, done quite some time ago, lacked an interior shot.  I could have simply added it to the old post, and I likely will, but here it is as a separate entry. More detail on the Church appears in the original entry.

 

Wednesday, January 23, 1924. Red Dead Relocation.

Mexican rebels decided to forego a blockade, but they took Saltillo and Monterrey.

Lenin's body was transported to the House of Unions.  Architect Alexey Shchusev was given the task of constructing a tomb for Lenin within three days.  He would accomplish the task, with the structure being obviously temporary.

Shchusev was originally a church architect, so his rise in the new Communist establishment is not admirable in any sense.  They should tear the crap he's responsible for after 1917 down, including the ice box that Lenin is kept in.

The US and UK entered into a treaty allowing the US to search British ships suspected of rum running.

Convention between the United States of America and Great Britain, Signed at Washington, January 23, 192437

The President of the United States of America;

And His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India;

Being desirous of avoiding any difficulties which might arise between them in connection with the laws in force in the United States on the subject of alcoholic beverages;

Have decided to conclude a Convention for that purpose;

And have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries:

The President of the United States of America:

Charles Evans Hughes, Secretary of State of the United States;

His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India:

The Right Honorable Sir Auckland Campbell Geddes, G. C. M. G., K. C. B., His Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States of America;

Who, having communicated their full powers found in good and due form, have agreed as follows:

Article I

The High Contracting Parties declare that it is their firm intention to uphold the principle that 3 marine miles extending from the coastline outwards and measured from low-water mark constitute the proper limits of territorial waters.

Article II

(1) His Britannic Majesty agrees that he will raise no objection to the boarding of private vessels under the British flag outside the limits of territorial waters by the authorities of the United States, [Page 159]its territories or possessions in order that enquiries may be addressed to those on board and an examination be made of the ship’s papers for the purpose of ascertaining whether the vessel or those on board are endeavoring to import or have imported alcoholic beverages into the United States, its territories or possessions in violation of the laws there in force. When such enquiries and examination show a reasonable ground for suspicion, a search of the vessel may be instituted.

(2) If there is reasonable cause for belief that the vessel has committed or is committing or attempting to commit an offense against the laws of the United States, its territories or possessions prohibiting the importation of alcoholic beverages, the vessel may be seized and taken into a port of the United States, its territories or possessions for adjudication in accordance with such laws.

(3) The rights conferred by this article shall not be exercised at a greater distance from the coast of the United States its territories or possessions than can be traversed in one hour by the vessel suspected of endeavoring to commit the offense. In cases, however, in which the liquor is intended to be conveyed to the United States its territories or possessions by a vessel other than the one boarded and searched, it shall be the speed of such other vessel and not the speed of the vessel boarded, which shall determine the distance from the coast at which the right under this article can be exercised.

Article III

No penalty or forfeiture under the laws of the United States shall be applicable or attach to alcoholic liquors or to vessels or persons by reason of the carriage of such liquors, when such liquors are listed as sea stores or cargo destined for a port foreign to the United States, its territories or possessions on board British vessels voyaging to or from ports of the United States, or its territories or possessions or passing through the territorial waters thereof, and such carriage shall be as now provided by law with respect to the transit of such liquors through the Panama Canal, provided that such liquors shall be kept under seal continuously while the vessel on which they are carried remains within said territorial waters and that no part of such liquors shall at any time or place be unladen within the United States, its territories or possessions.

Article IV

Any claim by a British vessel for compensation on the grounds that it has suffered loss or injury through the improper or unreasonable exercise of the rights conferred by Article II of this Treaty or [Page 160]on the ground that it has not been given the benefit of Article III shall be referred for the joint consideration of two persons, one of whom shall be nominated by each of the High Contracting Parties.

Effect shall be given to the recommendations contained in any such joint report. If no joint report can be agreed upon, the claim shall be referred to the Claims Commission established under the provisions of the Agreement for the Settlement of Outstanding Pecuniary Claims signed at Washington the 18th August, 1910, but the claim shall not, before submission to the tribunal, require to be included in a schedule of claims confirmed in the manner therein provided.

Article V

This Treaty shall be subject to ratification and shall remain in force for a period of one year from the date of the exchange of ratifications.

Three months before the expiration of the said period of one year, either of the High Contracting Parties may give notice, of its desire to propose modifications in the terms of the Treaty.

If such modifications have not been agreed upon before the expiration of the term of one year mentioned above, the Treaty shall lapse.

If no notice is given on either side of the desire to propose modifications, the Treaty shall remain in force for another year, and so on automatically, but subject always in respect of each such period of a year to the right on either side to propose as provided above three months before its expiration modifications in the Treaty, and to the provision that if such modifications are not agreed upon before the close of the period of one year, the Treaty shall lapse.

Article VI

In the event that either of the High Contracting Parties shall be prevented either by judicial decision or legislative action from giving full effect to the provisions of the present Treaty the said Treaty shall automatically lapse, and, on such lapse or whenever this Treaty shall cease to be in force, each High Contracting Party shall enjoy all the rights which it would have possessed had this Treaty not been concluded.

The present Convention shall be duly ratified by the President of the United States of America, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by His Britannic Majesty; and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington as soon as possible.

In Witness Whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Convention in duplicate and have thereunto affixed their seals.

Done at the city of Washington this twenty-third day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty-four.

Charles Evans Hughes

A. C. Geddes

Heritage of the Dessert was released.  The film featured some technicolor footage.

Sunday Morning Scene. Churches of the West: Saints Peter and Paul Mission, Haleiwa, HI

Churches of the West: Saints Peter and Paul Mission, Haleiwa, HI:

Saints Peter and Paul Mission, Haleiwa, HI

Photos from a moving vehicle are always difficult, so this only gives you a glimpse of this Catholic mission church in Haleiwa, O'ahu, Hawaii.

On the island's northeast shore, this Catholic mission church was built in 1953 and is served by St. Michael's Parish.

 

Courthouses of the West: Oklahoma County Courthouse, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Courthouses of the West: Oklahoma County Courthouse, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.: 

Oklahoma County Courthouse, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

This impressive art deco courthouse was built in 1937 and serves Oklahoma County, Oklahoma.  Apparently it was loosely inspired by Mayan temples, which is unusual.

It was a Great Depression works project.

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: South Goshen Community Church, Yoder Wyoming

Churches of the West: South Goshen Community Church, Yoder Wyoming:  

South Goshen Community Church, Yoder Wyoming

 This is the South Goshen Community Church in Yoder, Wyoming.  I don't know much about the church, which bills itself as "non demoninational"  

Yoder is a very small town south of Torrington.

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: St. Mary's Catholic Church. Park City, Utah.

Churches of the West: St. Mary's Catholic Church. Park City, Utah.: 

St. Mary's Catholic Church. Park City, Utah.

This is the beautiful St. Mary's Catholic Church in Park City, Utah.   The Church is obviously of relatively recent construction, although I don't know the vintage.

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: First Baptist Church, Rock River, Wyoming.

Churches of the West: First Baptist Church, Rock River, Wyoming.: 

First Baptist Church, Rock River, Wyoming.

This is the First Baptist Church in Rock River, Wyoming.  The Baptist church in the tiny town was founded in 2010 and obviously used a commercial structure for its basic design.

 

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: First Baptist Church, Rock River, Wyoming.

Churches of the West: First Baptist Church, Rock River, Wyoming.: 

First Baptist Church, Rock River, Wyoming.

This is the First Baptist Church in Rock River, Wyoming.  The Baptist church in the tiny town was founded in 2010 and obviously used a commercial structure for its basic design.

Sunday Morning Scene: Wind City Church, Medicine Bow, Wyoming

Churches of the West: Wind City Church, Medicine Bow, Wyoming: 

Wind City Church, Medicine Bow, Wyoming

These photographs are of Wind City Church in Medicine Bow, Wyoming.  The church is a fundamentalist Christian church of the sola scriptura branch of Protestantism.  It opened in 2019.

Sunday Morning Scene: Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Glenrock Wyoming.

 

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Glenrock Wyoming

This photograph is a side view of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Glenrock, Wyoming.  This Missouri Synod Lutheran Church is obviously of modern architecture but I don't know its date.

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: Church, Mills Wyoming

Churches of the West: Church, Mills Wyoming: 

Church, Mills Wyoming

This is a church Mills Wyoming.  Other than that it's a church, I'm afraid that I don't know anything else about it.

Sunday Morning Scene. Churches of the West: College Heights Baptist Church/Christ Reformed Church. Casper, Wyoming.

Churches of the West: College Heights Baptist Church/Christ Reformed Chu...: 

College Heights Baptist Church/Christ Reformed Church, Casper Wyoming

I'll admit to a lot of confusion on this one regarding what this church currently is.

The church was built as College Heights Baptist Church in 1963, at which time it would have been on the edge of Casper.  Signs on the church still identify it as College Heights Baptist, but signs leading up to it point people towards the large old elementary school nearby, which College Heights bought a decade or more ago. The same signs indicate that this church is now Christ Reformed Church.

Reading between the lines and reading the signs, what I think I take from that, although I'm frankly not certain, is that College Heights Baptist has moved into the very large school and uses it for everything and it is now letting Christ Reformed occupy its old church.  Having said that, I'm not really sure.  Christ Reformed is a member of the branch of the Protestant "Reformed" churches of which the Dutch Reformed are best known in the United States.

Churches of the West: The Extraordinary Form of the Mass a Week Later, and the Novus Ordo.

Churches of the West: The Extraordinary Form of the Mass a Week Later, a...

The Extraordinary Form of the Mass a Week Later, and the Novus Ordo.

I'm including this video of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass so that people like me, who have never seen the old Tridentine Mass, know what it is like.

It's been a week and a day since Pope Francis put new restrictions on the use of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, after his predecessors Popes Benedict and Pope St. John Paul the Great having allowed for the expanded use. It's also been, therefore, a week of really extensive discussion among Catholics, or at least among those Catholics who pay attention to such things, which is quite a few.  Generally, the reaction has been shock, to shock and understanding, to shock and angst.

The Pope's orders allow the Extraordinary Form to go on, but with much more in the way of restrictions at the Diocesan level.  Bishops can choose to omit it entirely if they wish to.  Most aren't, and in the US a lot of them gave immediate approval for those now offering it to continue to do so. 

Beyond that, however, the likely result of the order will be the eventual elimination of the Trindentine form completely, as newly ordained Priests will require Papal approval to offer it and they are very unlikely to receive it, at least from Pope Francis.  Why is that?

Well, while his actions were sudden, immediate, and came without warning, he made his opinions clear that in his letter.  His action was taken as it was his concern that the Extraordinary From was a center of ongoing and perhaps even building resistance to Vatican II, and he was done with that.

And in fact, while I'd like to dispute his action, I feel he was basically right.  I note that Catholic Answers host Cy Kellet, in his typical much more gentle way, essentially came to the same point of view, while also lamenting the action to some extent.

Kellet also noted, which would not have occurred to me, that when prior Popes authorized the Extraordinary Form they did not envision it going on forever.  This is occurring in the Latin Rite of the Church, and there was now intent to have two rites within the Latin Rite.  Just one. 

I'm sure that's correct as well.

The old rite was allowed to continue as an accommodation to those who were attached to the old form, and frankly to try to avoid an outright schism with the SSPX.  Pope Francis seems done with that as well and referred to those problems as a "schism", even though in later years it hasn't been regarded as one and Pope St. John Paul II was, if I recall correctly, very careful about formally declaring one in the hopes of avoiding one.   What happens now with these groups remains to be seen.  No healing of the rift is likely.

One thing that this has done for people like me, who have never seen a Tridentine Mass, is to expand our knowledge on the topic.  And in doing so, at least in my case, and in the views of some others I've heard discuss it, it has expanded our appreciation of the current Ordinary Form.

The Ordinary Form, or Novus Ordo as it's often referred to, has features the Tridentine Mass does not.  Those attached to the old form point out that there are prayers in the Tridentine Mass that are omitted in the Novus Ordo. That's true, but it's also the case that the readings in the Trindentine Mass never changed, but were the same year after year.  In the Novus Ordo they do change and something on the order of 85% of the readings in the Bible, Old and New Testament, are covered over a four-year period.  I was shocked, frankly, that wasn't the case in the Tridentine Mass.

Given all of this, frankly, Pope Francis was right.

Not that this means that the story we're dealing with here is really over.  Pope Francis is old, and obviously not in the best of health.  His papacy has been controversial with conservative Catholics, and he's gathered a lot of opposition in the pews and also with certain Bishops. To my surprise, Bishop Burke issued a statement questioning his ability to act on the Latin Mass as he did, which shows how deep some opposition is (I think there's very little question he can do what he did).  Given his age and trends, long term, there's more than a little bit of a chance this action may see modification by his successors.

Whatever that may mean, it's also worth noting that some of the current turmoil that we're seeing came about not due to Vatican II, but the abuse of it's "spirit".  The Novus Ordo, as we've already pointed out, wasn't really a product of Vatican II but came about in its era.  That's often completely missed.  Abuses occurred with the Novus Ordo that were never envisioned by the Papacy.  And, as Kellet pointed out, the "alter rails didn't have to come out".  In recent years there's been an effort to fix this and things have in fact dramatically improved in many locations.  Sort of a symbolic, if not actual, restoration of the alter rails.

That trend is likely to continue

Sunday Morning Scene. Churches of the West: Mountain View Baptist Church, Mills Wyoming

Churches of the West: Mountain View Baptist Church, Mills Wyoming: 

Mountain View Baptist Church, Mills Wyoming

This is the Mountain View Baptist Church in Mills, Wyoming.

The Baptist denomination is the largest single Protestant denomination in the United States and is particularly well represented in the American South. As this recent series of photographs shows, however, its well represented in the West as well.

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: Latter Day Saints, West Casper Wyoming

Churches of the West: Latter Day Saints, West Casper Wyoming: 

Latter Day Saints, West Casper Wyoming

This LDS building is in west Casper. I'm uncertain of the date, but I'd put it roughly in the 1990s.

Sunday Morning Scene. Churches of the West: Bethel Baptist Church, Casper Wyoming

Churches of the West: Bethel Baptist Church, Casper Wyoming: 

Bethel Baptist Church, Casper Wyoming

The Bethel Baptist Church in Casper, Wyoming is located in the Sunrise area indicating that it was likely built during the 1960s.  It features modern architecture.

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: Latter Day Saints, East Casper, Wyoming

Churches of the West: Latter Day Saints, East Casper, Wyoming: 

Latter Day Saints, East Casper, Wyoming

This very unusual looking Latter Day Saints building is in East Casper.  I don't know the vintage of the building, but almost all of the buildings in this part of Casper were built during the 1960s.

Sunday Morning Scene. Churches of the West: Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Casper Wyoming

Churches of the West: Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Casper Wyoming: 

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Casper Wyoming

This is another Lutheran Church, this one from a different branch of the Lutheran faith, in east Casper, Wyoming.  The church is a modern architectural structure.  I'm unaware of when it was built, but it was likely in the 1960s.

Sunday Morning Scence: Churches of the West: Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Casper Wyoming.

Churches of the West: Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Casper Wyoming.: 

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Casper Wyoming.

This is Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Casper, Wyoming which is a North American Lutheran Church member.  This church is fairly modern, although I don't know the date of its construction.  Occupying a hill in east Casper, the church has an attractive external appearance.