mistressofmuses

The capitol building, with a bit of the crowd and some rainbow-y art.


I took this picture of Bella that turned out surprisingly nice!

Yesterday we went to Pride. :)

Taylor decided not to come this year - they were worried it would be too hot for them.

We'd originally planned on trying to leave about 10:30 or so, but it wound up being quite a bit later by the time we actually got out the door (so I'm glad no one else was waiting on us, ha.)

We decided to take the train downtown and the bus over to the park, because trying to get there by car and find somewhere to park is near impossible.

We also brought Bella with us. (Previous years, Cy has gone, but I think it would be far too long and hot a day for him. His feet have pretty bad arthritis, and he just gets tired a lot more easily.) This was the sort of thing we *want* Bella to get exposed to - lots of noise and people and things going on, but we also weren't completely sure how she'd handle it. When we got her about four months ago, she was pretty reactive to sounds, and experiences like "riding in a car", "getting on an elevator", and "crossing over a small grate in the garage" were terrifying. She's improved a lot, but hasn't ever been on the train, or on a bus, or in a massive crowd, etc.

She was SO good! You would never have guessed it was the first time she'd dealt with any of it! She was well-behaved, and friendly, and so happy to meet so many people (who of course all wanted to pet her.) There was the benefit of her being small enough that Alex could pick her up when needed, which was helpful with the hot ground. We also had to take pretty frequent breaks in the shade for her to cool down and get some water. She was pretty sure it was the best ever, and loved all the attention she got.

The crowds themselves were... a little less than previous years? It was weird that both the train and bus - which we're used to being extremely full - were both nearly empty, both heading down and heading home. Once we were AT the fest, it was closer to normal, though I feel like it wasn't AS packed as the last few years. I don't think it was the weather - this was hot, but by far not the hottest Pride fest day. I do wonder if there were people who decided not to show up for safety concerns. :(

We encountered a few protesters at the lines for bag check when coming inside. Just "repent, you're going to hell" shit. They had big signs and megaphones, so they were loud, but there were also only like... seven of them. They were outnumbered by Parasol Patrol members standing with their big umbrellas between the line and the protesters (they mainly aim to protect kids from protesters, but were here anyway).

There were a couple conspicuous absences, though it's also possible we just didn't see them. Usually Target has a huge multiple-lot booth, and we didn't see them this year. The Log Cabin Republicans were also not there as far as we saw. (Alex had hoped to point and laugh. They were gutsy showing up last year with a "Why the GOP is better for gays" sign.) However, we did skip one side of the fest, so we may have missed either or both of them.

We mostly tried to go to smaller organizations than any of the corporate tents. There were the usual banks or the like, mostly trying to hire, but much like last year, it felt like there were fewer of those than a few years before when it had started to feel like all corporate stuff and nothing else. For better or worse, there were a lot more tents - ACLU, some state of Colorado governmental departments, some lawyer groups - with "know your rights" type materials. Better if it helps someone, worse that it seems more necessary.

We came away with a few pamphlets and things for some organizations that we'll try to remember to look into. I think I've been saying I'll check out Secular Hub for way too many years now, and I always forget (though in part it's because their big weekly thing is on Sunday, for people who are looking for a replacement for a church community, if they've left the church or been rejected, etc., but I work.) History Colorado had a newspaper issue about queer history in Colorado, which is cool - we've been planning on going to a couple of their museums, too.

One thing that I was really happy to see was The Center mainly focusing on older adults. They've got a whole slate of programs that are open to all ages, but are geared toward 50+ adults. That was... really nice to see. Previous years, The Center has been one of the ones who had pamphlets about support groups, or social events, etc. that looked to be a "for everyone" thing, which turned out to mainly be for teens or young adults. I know I've talked to a bunch of people, including here on DW, about how once you're 30+ it feels like queer spaces are Not For You, and you get sideeyed for existing. (And that gets more and more acute the older you are, so 40+? 50+? Forget it, why aren't you doing your taxes, hur dur.)
I don't know if we'll manage to go, but it at least feels like the sort of space that WOULD be friendly for us to go to. I'm not yet 50, but I'm old enough that I feel out of place at a lot of the meetup things I have tried to go to. Alex is only a few years shy of 50. I'll have to take a look at when some of the groups meet and see if any work around my work schedule.

I ran into someone that I was dress-twins with! I was wearing my bi-pride colored galaxy dress from NerdyKeppy - they were wearing the ace-pride one! We complimented each other on our styles. ;)

I'd been hoping to find another acrylic rainbow ring, to replace the one that broke. (The superglue did not hold.) Those used to be a standard at some of the "cheap pride swag" tents that set up right inside the gate, but they didn't have them last year or this year. :( I've had that thing for a long time! Alas.
[I found the exact same ring listed online, but only as part of an assorted lot, marked as "actual rings may vary", so I'm not confident it would be included, or that it would be the right size. I wound up ordering a stainless steel ring that's an anodized rainbow, so we'll see if that one works for me.]

Visited Terra and the Atomic Pixies tent, and bought a bunch of stickers. Alex and I both bought a shirt. We bought a flag. I *didn't* go into the queer indie books tent, even though I wanted to, lol. We did get a lot of free stuff.

We made it roughly halfway around before Alex and Bella were both getting tired. I went down one of the remaining sides, and just reported back if there were worthwhile things to visit. (Like a vet that had a tub of ice water for dogs, ha.) This was by far the longest day that Bella has ever had, so it wasn't surprising that she was getting a bit tired. And Alex had to keep carrying her, so he was also pretty tired!

We skipped the last side of the walkway, so we may have missed some tents that I'd mentioned not seeing.

Bella fell asleep briefly on the train back, and again in the car when we stopped by the grocery store.

Then as soon as we got home, she was back to energy level 10/10 and wanted to play, lol.

( 3 more pictures; two of Bella, one of the smallest spider: )