Adventures in Boulder

Boulder, Colorado: Denver’s uppity well-off neighbor. It’s prettier, hillier, more educated and liberal. The air is cleaner, the people are whiter, and they all wear outdoor-recreation jackets with tasteful little logos on them. The University of Colorado’s main campus is here, and students cruise through the town on bikes, play Ultimate Frisbee in the park and occasionally celebrate 4/20. The environmental scene is huge, too, with local activists pulling such stunts as the Incredible Carfree Move (please note, Boulder is also home to offices of the indomitable Rocky Mountain Institute, whose work is not quite as exciting as moving a couch on a bike but may ultimately have a greater effect)…

In short: it’s a beautiful place, but a little insulated from reality. Still, Cousin Matt and Cousin-In-Law Emily live there, and that’s all the reality I needed. Anyway I was tired of Denver’s take on things.

It SNOWED again, you know. Dumped inches on Denver, closed all the highways crossing the Rockies, and thwarted my plans to camp at the lake. I’d been staying with Lynne for a few days, but she needed to get to work; it seemed like the perfect time to go visit Matt&Em, and anyway I’d been looking forward to seeing them since three states ago.

Matt&Em and their dog Zion (and their yet-unnamed baby girl, currently en route to Boulder via Emily’s stomach) live in a cabin tucked up under the Flatirons, which are part of the Front Range of the Rockies. The Flatirons are just how they sound: big huge gigantic nearly-vertical sheets of rock that stand proudly above the town, daring anyone to try crossing.

Matt says he sometimes imagines what it would have been like for American settlers— making it all the way to Colorado, then coming over a hill and seeing this wall of mountain for the first time. He says, if it was him, he’d just stop and make a home right here. Which, I might add, he did.

But anyway, that spring snow was mostly mush and it melted as soon as the sun came out. Suddenly it felt like summer, and it was a Sunday, and Em&I strolled downtown. Pearl Street is a pedestrian walkway, an idyllic cobblestone courtyard full of happy families. The tulips were out in force (Colorado has lots of tulips! Who knew!) and so was Gaffer, aka the “Harp Guy”.

I mostly sat on my butt and ate cookies while I was in Boulder, but I did manage to get some work in: Friday night, Matt and I went out to the food bank and helped sort some cans.

It was maybe an hour’s work, with 15 or so cheerful, jaunty people who finished sorting and promptly went out for beers. The food was coming in from the local supermarkets, part of the Easter food drive; some of it goes to agencies, and some is available here at the Community Food Share, where low-income families can come and shop for free.

There’s a massive amount of food in this warehouse, too: crates and crates of cans & boxes, shelves full of dry goods, refrigerators stocked with perishables, even a bakery section. I did a little note to self: when hungry, find food bank. Seems like a good way to not starve, and though most of the time there are people who need it more than I do, I would definitely shop here if I was hungry.

So how was Boulder? Good, overall. Lots of happy people, and I had a chance to get outside a bit. Still, I can’t wait to get my hands dirty again, have some more big adventures. Tomorrow I head to Paonia, to Zephyros Farm. It’s springtime, and there’s planting and weeding to be done, and people on the farm to meet, and I’ll be camping in my beloved tent. Let’s hope it’s a hoot.