The Colorado State Open Thread will impress and amaze you and your friends with astounding facts of physical and mental stimulation concerning our square(ish) state at the geographic center of the 50 states of the United States of America. So sit right back and enjoy these facts and see if you can contribute your own to the discussion. We have a new Kosack neighbor in Youffraita and there are many, many more who occasionally read and contribute to this diary series who could use some information about our state.
Today, we COULD focus on Lauren Boebert’s admission that she led a tour through normally closed areas of the US Capitol three weeks before 1/6/2021 even before she was a sworn-in Congresswoman. She also admitted she tweeted the location of Congressmen before they were evacuated from the House chambers, but claims she posted nothing after they were on the move. Or we could focus on the now confirmed fact that her claimed reimbursements for mileage during the campaign (which amounted to claiming 39,000 miles) just might be a violation of campaign financing since she paid for the mileage out of monies raised for her campaign and there’s no way she drove the equivalent of 1 ½ times the diameter of the earth in vehicles where she whelped her son. The Colorado AG is looking into claims against her. But enough about her.
We could also talk about having received our mail-in ballots for Colorado’s oh-so-civilizing voting method so that people aren’t forced to take time from work or maybe not even vote, when we can fill out our ballots and drop them at multiple locations in the various precincts around Colorado. No worries about making sure it’s in the mail in time (although you can if you want), no worries about going into a polling center and sharing Covid with your neighbors and precinct judges (though you can if you want) and no worries about showing ID, being shot by Republican idjits, or whether your ballot was received (though you can worry about those things if you’re of that mind).
If you haven’t received your ballot yet, check online with the www.GoVoteColorado.gov to verify you’re registered to vote and find out how to either get a mail-in ballot or where to go vote in person.
How do I know if my mail ballot has been mailed to me?
A6. First, go to www.GoVoteColorado.gov. You can then log into your voter record. Once you are logged into your voter record, it should show you whether your mail ballot has been sent. If you run into any snags or have questions about the status of your mail ballot, please contact your local county clerk and recorder.
People who are registered with a party should get the ballot for their preferred party; those who registered as Independent should receive both Republican and Democratic ballots, even though only one may be voted on.
Today, however, I want to welcome Frequent Kosack Contributor (FKC) Youffraita to the Mile High City’s eastern neighbor, Aurora, so that you can educate her on all things Denver and Colorado, including the idea that Aurora is a big little sister of Denver but is generally still put down because it’s not Denver itself. From the various diaries published recently to Daily Kos, some of her interests are gardening, cats, live theatre, museums (especially art museums), various ethnic and Americana cuisines, especially BBQ) and she has arrived here with some conceptions from her time in the east, especially NYC and the state of PA, which she has sensibly left far behind in her (well, Weck’s) rear-view mirror.
Here are some links to “facts” about Denver and Colorado:
One thing I was unable to come up with an answer for was at what elevation do deer become elk. I think it’s around 7000 feet, but as I said, I couldn’t come up with a definitive answer. I’ve seen deer up to over 12,000 feet and elk down below 5000 feet. Around our house, we have had mule deer, elk, moose, mountain lions, black bears, bobcats, raccoons, coyotes, foxes, ermines, packrats, bats, horses, dogs, cats, least chipmunks, Golden-mantled ground squirrels, Wyoming ground squirrels, Chickarees, Abert’s squirrels, Tiger salamanders, turkeys, crows, ravens, hummingbirds, Downy woodpeckers, Hairy woodpeckers, Stellars jays, Gray jays, Mountain chickadees, Black-capped chickadees, robins, magpies, various hawks (sometimes hard to ID), Bald eagles, Turkey vultures, dark-eyed juncos, White-breasted nuthatches, Red-breasted nuthatches, pygmy nuthatches, house finches, Evening grosbeaks, Clark’s nutcracker, Pine grosbeak, Red crossbill, Great horned owl, Northern Saw-whet owl, Tree swallow, Barn swallow and more but my fingers are getting tired.
Please put down below your favorite recommendations for anyone coming to Denver, Aurora, Colorado in general (believe people about Colorado weather being fickle, especially if you’re at Red Rocks for a concert or Coors Field for a baseball game, people are generally friendly and there are few, if any places where formal attire is required (at least that I’ve ever been), from the front range of Colorado the mountains are always to the west, Brother’s BBQ is a pretty good chain around town, but my favorite place is www.waynessmokeshack.com but they’re remodeling so they have been closed for awhile. Please pass along any cautionary statements you might wish to (use sunscreen, stay hydrated, don’t over-work your body while you’re getting used to the altitude, Kosack gatherings can be fun) and don’t believe a thing you read on the Open Thread.
Oh, and one more thing — when you have any questions about anything to do with Colorado, you are able to ask in the Open Thread or send messages to any of us on the posts and we’ll do our best to answer your questions or give you our opinions on anything. Now, the floor is open for your posts: