It was a long, hot weekend in Mile High and those folks who are normally holed up in their quiet pockets were outside, roaming the city and causing a ruckus.

Friday night Chris and I went up to Westminster to water his grandmother’s lawn, which was quickly becoming straw in the harsh sun.

We spent most of Saturday at the Westword Music Showcase in the Golden Triangle.  Sunday, we ran errands in the morning and went out at Lala’s for Sunday Supper to celebrate our brother-in-law’s birthday.  Normally, we’d spend a Sunday summer evening in City Park with our friends and neighbors.  City Park Jazz is one of the things I love most about living in our neighborhood. In fact, it’s one of the greatest gifts the city of Denver gives — a free jazz concert every Sunday evening from June to September at the City Park pavilion.  We love to bring bread, brie and salami and lots of wine and enjoy on a picnic blanket.  Sometimes we meet friends, other times, it’s just us.  And it’s always a lovely time.

Sunday changed all that.  A fight erupted at the concert and a local Denver police office was shot in the head and killed.

City Park Jazz: Police Office Shot and Killed

I can’t tell you how much this breaks my heart.  Not only do I feel sad for the police officer and her family – she was a single mother, but I also feel sad for the many people this concert benefits each week.  City Park has some rough edges, yes, but it’s a beautiful place that the city attempts to keep clean and safe.  Now, it’s changed and scarred and shadowed.

And we’re not going for a while, even though it now with the stepping up of police patrols and security, it may become the safest place to be on Sunday night.  It’s not a place I want to be right now.

City Park Jazz Summer 2011