Boulder Summer Pleasures

I have been back in Boulder a little more than two weeks now, trying to cram each day as full with as many of Boulder's summer pleasures as I can.  I had a house guest last week, my friend Nicki who works with me at DePauw and with whom I share those Prindle breakfasts each morning; her visit provided an excuse for intensifying my savoring of Boulder's summer joys.  In just the first twenty-four hours of her visit, we had dinner at the Wednesday evening farmers market, strolled up and down Pearl Street, walked around Viele Lake with my friend Rowan, had a mojito on Rowan's beautiful deck, hiked the South Fork Shanahan Trail, toured the Celestial Seasonings tea factory, had lunch at the Boulder Dushambe Tea House, took photographs at Boulder Falls, rode the Carousel of Happiness in the mountain town of Nederland, had a scrumptious bakery treat in Nederland, and drove around Chautauqua - and that was all in less than one day.


Since being home I've also gone to see the hilarious play Noises Off at CU, attended two surprise birthday parties (a 40th and a joint 90th), participated in the women's summer book group at church, hosted my writing group, and hiked repeatedly on the trails near my house.

But the summer pleasure I've savored most fully has been the Colorado Music Festival up at Chautauqua, to which I subscribe with my friend Diane.  Each year the festival contains within it a mini-festival.  One year it was all the Beethoven symphonies; other years it has been the world's great piano concertos, the world's great violin concertos, and a tribute to Brahms.  This year it was "Magnificent Mozart." So for five evenings last week I went up to Chautauqua with Diane to hear Mozart's Requiem, his Jupiter Symphony, his Prague Symphony, the overture to the Magic Flute, selections from The Marriage of Figaro, and a head-to-head comparison between works of Mozart and his arch-rival Salieri (with commentary by F. Murray Abraham who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Salieri in the film Amadeus).

On each festival evening, I arrive at Diane's house on Columbine around 6:45.  We walk over together to Baseline and take the free Hop to Chautauqua, to avoid parking up there.  The Hop is always filled with people I know from every part of my life: my church, the philosophy department, old friends.  We stroll around the historic Chautauqua grounds and gardens before the concert begins.  Then there is the concert itself, of course.  We each buy a fresh-baked cookie during intermission.  And after the concert we walk back down to Diane's house beneath the stars, marveling at the glories of Mozart's music and the beauty of Boulder at the peak of its summer pleasures.