I'll Leave My Heart in Boulder

I’ve been in Boulder for the last 10 days. Ten long, absolutely heavenly days. Unfortunately, my stay will soon be over and almost as soon as I get home I’ll begin thinking about next year’s visit. It’s safe to say these two weeks are some of the richest, most relaxing days of my year.

I first started coming here in the summer of 2001 to attend the Graduate School of Banking. I studied hard and graduated from the three year program with some degree of merit. Enough anyway that they invited me back to teach one of the third year courses, a bank management simulation. I jumped at the opportunity and so this 2 week stay at the end of July has become a regular part of my summer.

Sam asked me, while we sat waiting for my plane, what I loved most about Boulder. My answers spilled out effortlessly, tumbling, one after another.

I love the mountains,
I love the bohemian people,
I love the climate,
I love that you can walk anywhere you want to go,
I love the big beautiful campus that sprawls across the center of town,
I love my students,
I love teaching,
I love the rich exchange of ideas,
I love the break from the craziness of work,
I love the massage I get from Jessica each year,
I love taking daily yoga classes at The Tree House and Om Time Yoga,
I love walking along Boulder Creek,
I love the coffee houses and the independent bookstore on Pearl,
I love Wahoo Tacos and the pear lemon sorbet at Karma Cuisine,
I love waking up early and having eggs and bacon for breakfast every morning,
I love that this is a Dr. Pepper town and you can get the diet version nearly every where you go,
I love working only 6 hours a day,
I love attending live music performances and poetry slams at night,
I love that I have time every day to read as well as take a nap,
and I love - oh my God how I love - the light.

The light in Boulder is simply amazing. I suppose this kind of light happens in other parts of the country, but I’ve never seen anything quite like the light in Boulder. It ‘s the sort of light that warms and intensifies everything it touches. Sometimes I feel like my heart will break from the pure brilliance of color here. It’s something you just don’t experience in the hazy summer heat of Kansas City.

All this will come to a close tomorrow as I head for the airport. I’ll be happy to see Sam and Katherine and Miko and Steve and Jenne’ and Nena, and I’ll be happy to sleep in my own bed again and to hear the buzzing of the cicadas. But if you catch me with a far off look on my face, you’ll know where I am.