life in Boulder, skies, music

Marianna's right: it's time for a contribution from me (= Stephen). On the other hand, it's also time for a swim. Tough call. But now that I'm here, a few random impressions to complement Marianna's posts and pics....

Visiting Boulder is a nice reminder of our 3-week housesitting gig in Santa Cruz a year ago. What we like about university-tourist towns: There's so much happening, and even on weekdays -- even late at night -- there's so much Life in the streets. Strolling through the Pearl Street pedestrian zone around 10:30 last night (Thursday), we saw almost as many folks as there were during prime shopping hours, restaurants still open, and crowds around musicians -- and not just a drum circle! On the street were 2 different acoustic pianos(?!), one featuring a 4-hand blues, the other with a sorta Jarretty explorer. And a nearby commercial area was overflowing with people at a free outdoor concert. Greg Brown's show had just finished at the theater where the nationally syndicated radio show E-Town will be taped tonight. Boulder's take on the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is about to begin, and... you get the idea. On the other hand... What is it with university students getting younger each year, anyway? Soon, I think we'll be seeing toddlers enrolling in college and being drunk and obnoxious.

A bit more about the skies in general, and sunsets in particular. We're used to living in the Sierra foothills, surrounded by tall pines that limit our horizon views. But, e.g., a coupla evenings ago we drove the half-hour NW from Denver to Boulder, with the full moon rising over the city behind us, and, beginning over the mountains behind and beyond Boulder, one of the most spectacular sunsets I've ever seen -- spanning several versions of Pachelbel's Canon in D, majestically blasting from our stereo. (I'd just paid 99 cents for a kinda bizarre CD, Pachelbel's Greatest Hit, featuring 8 different takes on that piece. Not that it made for the Song of the Week, which Toby wins with his own 99-cent purchase of Aqueduct's 2005 album I Sold Gold; track 3, Growing Up With GNR, is an indie-pop gem of a post-heartbreak song.) There are no cloudless skies, so there's plenty of lighting up to do as the sun heads down. Of course, as Marianna has also pointed out (and Liana warned us), the downside -- make that the downpourside -- is the sudden appearance of thunderstorms. Hmmm, maybe I'd better head for the pool while it's clear outside....