The Colorado State Open Thread series was begun to help bring Coloradans closer together, and occasionally have meetups. We have had meetups at my houses in Morrison, Denver and on the Pikes Peak cog railway, for the highest elevation meetup in Kosak history. Previously I posted a poll asking people when they might like to get together and I listed four or five dates through the warm days of summer. I only had four responses, so I’m going to make an executive invitation — I will have a Kosak meetup this coming July 20th at the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, which is north and east of Denver.
Grizzly bear with his (her?) water tank.
I expect the weather to be warm, if not hot, and the animals hide out in the middle of the day. It will take a couple of hours for me to drive down from Estes Park to get to the Sanctuary, and it will take time to get there from the Denver metro, the Springs and other points. The Sanctuary actually recommends arriving about 4PM or so in the summertime and staying until sunset because the animals will gradually get more active as the heat of the day lessens and at sunset the wolves howl, the lions roar, and I’m not sure what the other animals might do to celebrate. To accept their recommendation, I’d like to schedule our meetup for 4PM at the main ticket entrance to the Sanctuary. We can wander together or individually along the raised walkways, enjoy the natural scenes playing out below and then, when the sun goes down, we can either head back to our homes or maybe enjoy a dinner out someplace close by.
Mrs. Lion
I strongly encourage carpooling not just for the environmental savings, but also it will give people more time to interact with fellow Kosaks on the way to and from the Sanctuary. I volunteer to serve as a clearing house of volunteers for driving, how many spaces are available in their vehicle and where they are starting from. Please send me a note via Kosmail similar to: I would be happy to drive. I have room for three passengers in an SUV and I will be heading from Estes Park. I can pick up riders in Estes Park, Lyons, Longmont, the park and ride at I-25 and highway 66, and points south and east to Keenesburg. I would like to stay for dinner with others, so we might be late getting back (this is my entry). I will take notes from volunteers and pair the drivers with the riders and let you work out the time arrangements, etc.
The tigers love playing in water
I am not going to ignore one of the more important subjects of this past week here in Colorado. This is the decision from the state Republican party to recommend burning all Pride flags because “God hates flags” — a not subtle reference to the Westboro “Baptist Church” in neighboring Kansas that was virulently anti-Gay to the point where they would protest at military and other funerals if there was a possibility of getting negative publicity for themselves. The Colorado Republican party, under the leadership of Dave Williams is trying to stir up the anti-LGBTQ+ fervor among their members. There are several Republican party officials who have called for his immediate removal and some have even left the party over this, though it remains to be seen whether a large number will be changing their affiliations this week as has been promised. Next, with Kyle Clark, has plenty on this story and some other stories on politics, including Ranked Choice Voting, in the episode at
I find it incredibly weak (but expected) that the head of the Log Cabin Republicans would not be willing to leave the party over this. He did decline the endorsement of the Republican party for his race for Congress over this, but Kyle Clark asked Archuletta if there was anything that the Republican party could do that would cause him to leave the party. He said it would take getting the sense that the majority of the party hates him, and Kyle (and I) are incredulous that this guy is so desperate to ignore all that has been said and done by Republicans over the decades. I say it’s expected because none of the Log Cabin Republicans should be in the Republican party, but somehow they still are there.
Don’t forget to vote — by mail or dropping off the ballot in a fixed mailbox. There’s still two weeks to go, but if you vote this week, you won’t risk your ballot not being turned in on time. If you have already voted (like me), thanks for your support. On to November!
I hope to see you on July 20th for the gathering. Please let me know by Kosmail if you’re able to come or if you have any questions. Until then, the floor is yours...
