The lighter side of the Capitol, except when it isn’t.

SQUIRRELS!

The things that people will do to amuse themselves around here.

Senate Minority comms guy Josh Bly uses his lunch breaks to take pictures of squirrels and geese. For no apparent reason other than he likes to take pictures of squirrels and geese. 

OK, then.

OTHER THINGS OF A NON-HUMAN NATURE

The state Senate this week was treated (?) to a visit from a ram, a golden eagle and a thunderwolf (?). And no, this is not one of the wolves that have been allegedly sighted on the Western Slope. This is the Pueblo version of a thunderwolf.

In case you were wondering, and Capitol M did, one source identifies a thunderwolf as a mythical creature, also known as a Fenrisian wolf. “They are at the top of the food chain on the harsh world of Fenris and are among the most cunning and dangerous predators in the galaxy.”

Take note that the eagle is as far away from the thunderwolf as possible and eyeing the wolf somewhat nervously.

OK, then!

The three visitors are the mascots of Colorado State University, CSU Global and CSU-Pueblo, and accompanied in the photo by CSU President Amy Parson and CSU-Pueblo President Armando Valdez. They visited the Capitol on Monday as part of CSU Founder’s Day.

YOU WANT ANIMALS, YOU GOT ANIMALS

Animal stories, part three (and a tip of the hat to the late Uncle Larry and Little Tommy, and if you know who that is, you’re old like me).

Capitol M was recently asked if there would be a pet contest this year. Sure, why not?

The usual entrants are dogs, such as Rep. Karen McCormick’s golden retriever Pippin (a favorite), Jesse Paul of the Colorado Sun’s new baby golden, Ruthie; any dog belonging to Rep. Ryan Armagost.

But apparently this has miffed the non-dog owning lawmakers, who are agitating for cats and fish. 

Okay, then!

GOLIATH 2.0 VERSION 4

Goliath 2.0 continues to grow and change. And this week, there’s a little more to the original story. Capitol M is working diligently to get the WHOLE story, but for now, this nugget: the original Goliath is one of four, and dates back to the Eisenhower administration. 

At some point there will be a vote on which Goliath ought to become the permanent mascot of the House GOP. 

PUTTING AN URBAN LEGEND TO REST (TW: graphic)

If you’ve been around the state Capitol long enough, you’ll hear about a crack on the first-floor marble steps leading up to the second floor. The story of the crack is that it was caused by a man jumping off the third-floor rotunda, where the presidential portrait gallery is, and landing on that step. The story is that he was despondent about Baby Doe Tabor, who had died some 20 years earlier.

While the latter part of the story is probably always going to be a legend, the part about the man who jumped has been verified.

Ron Oehlert of Georgia reached out to Capitol M this week with the following photo and story.

“While I was attending junior high school at Smiley Jr. high in east Denver, we had a class field trip to tour the capitol and yes the tour guide did mention the crack and supposedly how it came to be albeit it was presented as more of a ‘rumor has it’ or urban legend type story,” Oehlert wrote.