Rocky Mountain Hi!

im back in Boulder to spend Thanksgiving with my Girl of the Golden West. So i thought id share my sensory feast with you, a bit of a side dish of synesthesia to go with your turkey tomorrow.

Colorado isnt really so much “golden” as yellow. And the yellow of the ground and blue of the sky together….why does thst seem so pleasing and…toylike? I decided it’s because they are nursery colors—remember when a lot of baby blankets and clothing used to come in yellow, because back in them days, people didnt know a fetus ‘ sex? pastel blue, yellow and pink, thise were the colors of the nursery. you do get the pink here too, at dawn and sunset.
But it’s yellow because its dry. when denizens of this state visit Pa they must be overwhelmed by the verdancy! Everything is green and dripping at home. when I left the grass was still emerald although the trees were bare.

i spent the first 2 days feeling like i was trapped in somebody’s computer screensaver. Could i really be seeing, in real time, these snow-dusted jagged peaks, everywhere I looked? They were so familar, so picture-perfect, i had trouble….realizing them.

And Old Sol! He and i werent getting along at first, he seems so much more intrusive snd bolder than at home. of course i tried never to LOOK at the sun,that would be painful, but with this huge naked dome it isnt easy, and even if you dont, he’s always treacherously angling blinding darts off all the chrome and mirrors of people’s cars. i spent all day Monday feeling like I’d just had my picture taken with a flashbulb: as soon as one green blot faded from my retinae, another drive-by hit my pupils. Sunshine is overrated.

Yesterday the forecast was ”cloudy”—but the clouds reminded me of a fraying bedspread or tablecloth not quite big enough: they stretched out flat-looking from the top of the dome of the famously Big Sky,but couldnt get to cover the horizon, which remained blue all around. i wonder if they ever see, out here, the totally greyish-white sky which sometimes overarches the East for days at a time.

Mask mandates are everywhere. ”Gauze up!” my BMD reminded me as we descended to the lobby this morning—and i rejoined “What gauze up must come down!” to my own inordinate amusement—I crack me up😂😜. But a lot of people here wear western hats (#metoo! i brought my outback hat!) so the effect with the masks is kinda picturesque and romantic..Gunsmoke-y. As opposed to the Andromeda Strain feeling i get back East. But we’re done with masking in NEPa .

Here’s what i dont get: Boulder is happenin’. It’s a college town, its a foodie town. And very wealthy. Pearl Street, the pedestrian mall in the center of town, is lined with expensive boutiques and very. very good restaurants. It’s already lit up like, well, a Christmas tree. But—everything shuts down at 8 PM! A visiting Manhattanite be like, “ Yeah, great, but, um: where’s the rest of the night?”

Two great hotels if you ever come here: Hotel Boulderado, where we are ensconced, and in Estes Park, Hotel Stanley. They are both very old hotels and have been acquired by the Grand Heritage Hotels chain, which has done a beautiful job renovating and improving them. yesterday we toured Hotel Stanley, which is mostly famous for its association iwth Stephen King and “The Shining”. It’s a glamouous old pile, built 112 years ago by the guy who invented the Stanley Steamer auto.

Welp—its late, though two hrs earlier here than for the other Ettes. I’ll say goodnight, and wish the happiest of Thanksgivings to Simon and the Simonettes, and to all of our readers.