On the Downside...

So let me start this off by offering some negatives to Boulder. They may seem trivial -- and many of them are -- but living here you need to get down to the trivial in order to find the bad...

1) The Weather. Overall much better than the northeast, but it is damn near impossible to dress properly. Never has the phrase "dress in layers" been more applicable. Clouds, wind and sun play a major, major role in what you're wearing...

For instance, a few days ago I'm running errands and the thermometer read 65 degrees. With the sun beating down it feels like 80 and there was no way you'd have more on than a short sleeve tee. Then five minutes later the clouds roll in, the wind picks up and all of a sudden it feels like 50 and you're looking for your sweater...Now kick in the fact that I'm a cyclist and those 30 degree swings feel like 50 when you're on the bike...

I still haven't gotten this one right...

2) Traffic/Construction. Broadway, Valmont, 28th street have all been undergoing major construction since we've been here. Nothing that can't be avoided but when you're just getting yourself situated getting from point A to point B it sure can add time to your travel...

3) Traffic in General. Just an impression but Boulder seems like a town that's just about filled to capacity. By that I mean at rush hour lights can back up a bit and things can slow down. Take that for what it's worth. I'm from a major city and I drove 1:15 to and from work every day so this is really a breeze, but I do notice it...and maybe I'm overly sensitive to it since I often have a screaming infant in the back...

4) Greenpeace. Boy I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel here for negatives. I don't feel like we can walk five minutes on Pearl Street without being stopped by a college kid dressed in Greenpeace gear trying to talk to me about saving the whales. I mean I respect the passion and the idealism but I do find myself trying to navigate around them so I don't have to say "No" all the time...

5) Liberalism. If you're a conservative or a libertarian like I am you will be in the distinct minority...let me emphasize the word distinct. This isn't as bad as it sounds since I don't involve myself in local politics anyway but this is a town that wears its politics on it's sleeve. I do just fine by keeping a little bit more quiet than I would in other places and picking the people I share my political views with...trust me on this one...

6) Snakes/Mountain Lions. Oh they're here. On my first trail run near our house I nearly ran over snakes twice. I had been warned about prarie rattlers in the summer but my knowledge of snakes had been limited to the zoo in NY so what did I know? I nearly pee'd in my pants...turns out they were harmless snakes but I waited till it was about 20 feet away before I kept running.

And mountain lions...yeah, well they come out hiding sometimes when they're looking for food. I actually came close to one yesterday. A little scary but after living here three months I already take it in stride. I just turned back and decided not to tempt said mountain lion into making me today's dinner.

Now if you're a big city type, adapting to mountain lions and snakes may seem a bit much, but in a way it's part of the fun. A slight element of the unknown inserted into your carefully-planned life and I like that...besides, I've seen plenty of 70 and 80 year old women hiking the same trails I am so if they can do it without becoming lunch meat then I figure I can too....

That's about it for the negatives so far. I'll try to think of some more but much of this blog will be a love letter to our new hometown so in the interests of fairness I thought it right to start with some negatives.