Virere

Nobody likes weeds. Pulling them is my least favorite aspect of lawn care. Keeping a healthy-looking green lawn is challenging enough in Colorado's climate without having to worry about weeds. What drives me nuts, even more, are those annoying weeds that pop up in the cracks of the sidewalk, or in the median strips of our neighborhood streets. So, it's a bit strange that we have a piece of art in Englewood which seems to depict greenery growing in a spot where it shouldn't.

Virere is a piece by Lawrence Argent that sits in the median strip just south of the intersection of Broadway and Yale. Argent is best known here in the Denver area as the creator of the piece at the Colorado Convention Center called I See What You Mean, also known by locals as the "Big Blue Bear." This piece marks the northern border of Englewood. Once you've passed the big blades of grass, you're in Denver. The name of the piece means green in Latin.

I may not like grass that grows in the cracks of the road, but I can appreciate this unusual piece of art. It's a fun landmark to designate where you are along South Broadway. You can visit this piece yourself at the intersection of Broadway and Yale in Englewood. Just be careful crossing the street if you plan on getting close. The traffic moves fast on Broadway.

Cheesman Park

My last post was about a recent visit to a cemetery, and so is this one...sort of. On another one of those warmer days that came between snowstorms, I managed to spend a little time at Denver's Cheesman Park. Nestled in the heart of the city, it is definitely a favorite place for locals to spend a sunny day.

One of the iconic features of the park is the Cheesman Memorial Pavilion, which was constructed in 1908. The pavilion was built in the neoclassical style from Colorado Yule marble. It features a few reflecting ponds on the west side, which aren't reflecting anything right now. It is winter, after all. The pavilion once hosted open-air performances of operas and Broadway musicals. The structure was funded by the family of Denver pioneer Walter Cheesman, and so the park bears his name, as well.

Though the park is considered one of the city's best spots to spend a peaceful afternoon, it also has a more sinister side. Cheesman Park is considered to be one of Denver's most haunted locations. You see, once upon a time, Cheesman Park was Prospect Hill Cemetery.  When the decision was made to change the land to a park, families were given 90 days to arrange for their loved ones to be relocated. While many bodies were moved, after several years more than 5,000 remained. An undertaker named E.P. McGovern was contracted to remove the bodies that remained and transfer them to Riverside Cemetery. He was paid $1.90 per body and let's just say he wasn't terribly ethical about how he went about doing the job. It is said that he took to using child-sized caskets, and thus turned one body into several, resulting in more ka-ching for him. So, supposedly, the previous residents of the park are not terribly happy.

As if all of this wasn't enough, when McGovern's plan was discovered, the remaining bodies were never moved. It is estimated that roughly 2,000 corpses still rest beneath the surface of the park. It is not at all uncommon for human remains to be uncovered by workmen in the area. As recently as 2010, four skeletons were discovered by crews doing irrigation work in the park.

So, Cheesman Park ends up being a nice place for a picnic on a warm day, and a creepy place to visit for a ghost tour. Cheesman Park is located, roughly, at 8th and Franklin St. in Denver.

Mt Olivet Cemetery

The weather has been pretty wild here in the Denver area lately. We had beautiful, spring-like weather one weekend, then the next weekend it was a blizzard producing two feet of snow! This weekend might be a mix. It's that time of year, I guess.

Well, on one of the warmer weekends, I managed to get out of the house and do some exploring. I literally wandered aimlessly and ended up at Mt Olivet Cemetery in Wheat Ridge. Cemeteries are one of my favorite photography subjects, so this was a great place to spend a bit of time.

Mt Olivet is a Catholic cemetery and was dedicated on September 25, 1892. It is the final resting place of over 150,000 individuals. At the time it was opened, Mt Olivet was in a pretty isolated location; separated from the city of Denver by quite a distance. Now, the growth of the area has filled in that space. The cemetery now sits just a block north of busy Interstate 70.

Even though it is no longer in the middle of nowhere, Mt Olivet is still a beautiful and peaceful place. It features many unique monuments, including several dedicated to some notable individuals. Though I did not have time to explore them all, one that is notable and easy to find is that of Apollo 13 astronaut Jack Swigert. He's the one that was played by Kevin Bacon in the movie, in case you, like me, have a brain that is filled with movie knowledge. Swigert was also elected to represent Colorado's 6th District in 1982, however, he passed away before being able to take office. A statue of Swigert in his astronaut's uniform resides at Denver International Airport.

One of the more notable features of Mt Olivet is the numerous mausoleums spread across the grounds. Some of them are strikingly unique examples of modern architecture.

Mt Olivet is a truly lovely cemetery. I took well over a hundred photos during my visit, and am having trouble deciding which ones to share. I may just need to do another photo dump post in the future. I will certainly need to pay another visit when the grass is green and the leaves are back on the trees.