Waring House - Blue Glass and Blues

Back of the Waring House

I hadn't been to the Denver Botanic Gardens for, well, decades. The last time was when I visited my sister by tacking on some time when in the area for a meeting. Since moving to Fort Collins, I am on a board for a non-profit organization that promotes ornamental plant varieties that are adapted to the high elevations and hash temperature conditions of the northern Great Plains - Plant Select. The second meeting of the board that I attended was in the dining room of the Waring House on the grounds of the Gardens. I arrived a little early, and was able to peak around and get a look at the Dale Chihuly artwork that is integrated into the grounds of the existing

Waring House interior

botanical exhibits on the grounds. As it turned out, the afternoon meeting was scheduled on the same day as one of the summer concerts - that evening was blues guitarist B.B. King. The meeting in the Waring House couldn't have been in a more stately venue - wood paneled rooms, wooden tables and chairs, art on the walls - a classic experience. I was fortunate to view just a little bit of the Chihuly works in the daylight and after dark. All of this, with getting to see B.B. King and his band perform in between. Here are more exterior views of the Chihuly Exhibit at the Denver Botanic Gardens, with B.B. King as a part of the landscape as well - beginning with, Before Dark:

With In Between, B.B. King:

And ending with the view of the art, After Dark:

I became aware of B.B. King when I was in high school and his song The Thrill Is Gone made the popular charts. The version found here is what I remember from the 1970's. The 88-year-old King playing forty-four years later is familiar, but just not the same, even compared with four years ago, but he still hands out his guitar picks to the crowd. The Chihuly Exhibit runs through November 13th. I had to judiciously meter out my pocket camera use - I didn't charge the battery since my earlier camping trip in Oregon, so was running on a low battery warning the entire time.