The "Long" Run

Like the short run, this one goes down the hill to the Platte, but there it turns north, past the flagship REI store, and continues, traditionally, clockwise, first past Elitch's on the east side, turning around by Mile High Stadium and then south past the Children's Museum on the west. I have always thought of it as a paradoxically rural setting, populated by runners, bikers, dog walkers, bums, ducks, and geese. Iris and Murdoch actually scared me on a cold, sleety day in the fall. Even Iris, who doesn't swim as enthusiastically and energetically as Murdoch became obsessed with a beaver. The dogs were no threat to the beaver, but their single-minded pursuit of it--as they ignored my screaming at them--made me worried they'd become hypothermic and drown. (They didn't. But I have never seen the normally stylish Iris look smaller, wetter, or dirtier.) Anyway, after Murdoch's recent encounter with the Doggie Police, no place looks as friendly and innocent as it did. I nervously let them swim for a minute or two anyway. 41 minutes.