I drove up to Boulder yesterday afternoon to check out the annual Art Festival on the Pearl Street Mall. It has been at least 3 or 4 years since I was last up there - too busy working two jobs or working overtime at my day job to make the 45 minute trip, I guess. It still is a great feeling to crest the hill on US 36, however, and look down at the Boulder Valley, nestled beneath the Flatirons. It makes me wonder why I haven't just made the time to come up here more often.
There seems to be a lot of new buildings and different shops since I was last here, but Boulder is still Boulder. I walked up and down the mall looking at the art booths, the street performers, the old hippies, and the college kids, all enjoying the day and the Boulder "vibe." I took the photograph on the right of a typical Boulder piano player, working hard and willing to do anything for tips. it made me think I should have never quit those piano lessons I was taking back at Fort Dearborn Elementary School.
The mall was very crowded - as usual - Saturday afternoon, but all you have to do is walk a few blocks west on Pearl Street and you see scenes like in the photograph on the left. Keep walking and you are in the mountains. It is probably the best thing about Boulder, and why is it costs so damn much to live there. My friend Stuart worked up in Boulder for a number of years, commuting by bus from Lakewood, and said he eventually tired of the scene, but now that he is no longer working up there, he says he misses it. Perhaps it stays fresh if you only visit once in a while. It is still, I am happy to report, 25 square miles surrounded by reality.
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