Independence Day

This year Independence Day has another meaning for me.  Since the end of my marriage earlier this year, I have had a growing sense of independence as I do things more on my own.  It lends itself to a large amount of self-discovery – some of which is a little frightening.  I am also learning to ask for help – harder than it sounds. Similarly, I am having to seek out activities with others, which I hadn’t had to really do while in a long-term, committed relationship.  So, I invited Altan to spend the weekend with me.  We did mellow stuff around town – starting with the Mile High Flea Market!

The Mile High Flea Market is a huge place populated by all kinds of vendors. It has everything from used baby dolls to tires to antiques to turkey legs and mangos to jeans. Here is Altan offering a welcome to the merchandise fiesta.

These photos offer a sample of some items for sale.

Antique dog figurine:

Chinese character statue (also in the antique store):

Random stuff and sad-looking panda in a random stuff stall:

Used tools:

Striking shirts:

Butt-hugging jeans.  This particular methods of jeans display was pretty pervasive and it fascinated me.

Altan made a friend:

Some evidence I was there:

Later, after lunch, we journeyed via bicycle to get some sweet action at Sweet Action Ice Cream. They’ve got vegan options, Stranahan’s Brickle, red velvet ice cream, baklava ice cream, and all kinds of other amazing flavors.  Altan pointed out this bit of street art on the way there and I fell in love with it immediately. 

Here’s the part where I accept help.  My commuter bike has been out of commission for some months as I procrastinated on fixing the flat tire it had. I tried to get it started but had serious problems getting the tire off the rim.  Altan lent a hand and ended up working diligently to finish the project (as you can see below), which was fine with me since I had a hand injury anyway (sliced a finger pretty good while preparing lunch the day before).

The weekend wasn’t totally candy and puppies (what really is in life?) but it was generally fun and relaxing.