As a four year resident of Colorado, there’s still some things about the state that leave me stumped.
Why do so many people wear shorts when the temperature is in the teens or twenties (minus teens for those in more civilized countries that use the metric system)? Yeah, the sun may be shining, and there isn’t much humidity, but 15 or 20 is still cold! Is this some fashion statement, to demonstrate how “outdoorsy” the shorts-wearing person is, like SUV ownership or something?
What’s the deal with those “VAIL[superscript last two digits of current or previous year]” bumper stickers I see on many upscale sport-utility vehicles and cars?
Why are Boulderites so fascinated with Tibet? Boulder has a slew of Tibetan-themed restaurants and gift shops, and it seems as if one in four cars in the city has a “FREE TIBET!” bumper sticker.
I’ll take on #3 since I just answered it yesterday in a MPSIMS thread:
You have to remember that Boulder has a (relatively) huge concentration of Tibetan Buddhists. The Naropa Institute attracts Buddhists from all over the country. Dorje Dzong and Kharma Dzong (founded by Trugpa Rinpoche) give us two Tibetan Buddist temples for a population of only about 40,000 full time residents. Boulder is one the firmest Buddhist strongholds in the region. Keep in mind that their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is also in exile from Tibet.
Short answer: there is a higher awareness of the Chinese occupation of Tibet due to the pervasiveness of the Buddist community in Boulder.
A lifelong resident chimes in, born raised and a native.
#1. Because many true Coloradoans are used to the climate here. I may be one of the few that actually wears jeans and I do that in the summer time in public. I rarely wear a jacket though, even in snowy and very cold conditions. Very hard to manuvuer (sp) your car while driving with a coat on. I usually end up leaving my coat in the car. It can be 15 degrees outside and I walk out with out my coat. Screw the coat unless you are walking in Summit county with your dog in almost blizzard conditions. (I miss those days.)
#2. Easy, they probably have a cabin or condo up in the Vail Valley and have parking up there. My parents used to have a cabin in Blue River outside of Breckenridge but it obviously is some ridiculous sign of “I’ve got property in Vail” and I am better than you. You rarely see those in Colorado Springs though guess I will have to look around…I have lived in Grand Junction, Denver and C. Springs.
#3. It’s Boulder. No offense to my fellow Boulderites but Boulder is in a class of it’s own. Gimme Denver or Grand Junction and I am a happy camper but Boulder you might as well take me and my money.
BTW, when you enter Colorado Springs via I-25 you get to see the directions to get to Focus On the Family < gag > I live about five minutes from there < gag again >.
Any other Colorado questions? I hope I can help you out.
I don’t live in Colorado, but I do live in a cold climate (WI) and I wear shorts when it’s cold out because…I like wearing shorts! I hate wearing jeans and in warmer months I only put them on when I go horseback riding. I don’t feel the cold as much on my legs as I do on my upper body, so I’ll be wearing shorts with a sweatshirt and a windbreaker on top and I still feel comfortable. Plus, shorts take up less room in the laundry so I can go a few more days without having to do that chore
I always wanted to paint a big pink triangle on that sign when going to CC. Problem was that I’m straight, and I didn’t think I should be the one to do it, but I thought it would be funny.
As for the OP, #1, Its sunny man! Soak up the Vitamin D! I love being able to tell people that I used to shovel snow in shorts and a t-shirt after a blizzard. I miss Colorado winters…sunny and snowing…Now I live in Prague where its just cold and rainy and grey and no sun and it SUCKS. BUT I’m off to South Africa for 2 weeks for work tomorrow, so I get a summer break, which helps!
> Any other Colorado questions? I hope I can help you out.
Okay, here’s a couple more that have me stumped.
There’s a strange tradition in Denver, where several rock stations will play Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon on Thanksgiving. When did that get started, and why?
Has anyone else noticed a “Boulder drawl,” where a large percentage of the city’s residents sound like … well, therapists?
I’m still stumped on the shorts-in-winter thing. In Buffalo during January, nobody wore shorts outside except frat boys. In Chicago in January, I don’t remember anyone wearing shorts outside. I think that the habit of Coloradoans wearing shorts outside may be some fashion statement, because a disproportionate number of them are from the “wear a cloth baseball cap at all times” crowd, complete with goatee (if male) or ponytail pulled through thee cap (if female).
I’m a little late to get to this one, but since it involves my favorite subject other than beer, Colorado, I’ll jump in.
1.Remember, We in Colorado are pretty damn far from any ocean, so it is basically fairly dry here. When it is a still day, temp around 15, it really doesn’t seem too bad to be outside in shorts, because you don’t have the humidity aided bitting cold of the East Coast or Midwest. As a Coloradoan, we have two options, short or Levis. And unless it is windy, Levi’s offer no benefit other than that, and you have to deal with that frozen stiff Levi brushing your leg and feeling strange deal.
Parking permits.
I never realized that it was a Colorado only phenomenon. I just kind of assumed everybody did the same thing. It is too long of a song to play very often, and since it mentions Thanksgiving a couple times, it always made since to me that Thanksgiving was the best time to do. I will ask some radio employees I know if they know the specifics of when it got started.
Yes. My friends have always attributed it to politically correct Orwellian conditioning. People are so afraid that they might say something wrong, that their brain carefully rechecks every word for possible offense before it leaves their mouths, resulting in the slower, measured drawl.
About 30% of the city is high on pot at any given time, and people become so use to using the ‘talking to a pothead’ soothing and mellow voice, that they start doing it all the time.
All of the ones I have seen have been for Vail 99. The explanantioin I heard for these was that they were printed for the skiing world cup, which was in Vail in '99. Keep in mind though that I have never been skiing even though I was born here and have lived here for my entire 23 years.
#1 - grew up in Ft. Collins, CO… moved out to the East Coast as a teen and could NOT figure out why people were bundled way the heck up when the weather wasn’t below freezing AND windy AND wet. Used to wear sandals with no socks in freezing weather as long as it wasn’t snowing or raining, just because it wasn’t cold enough to wear shoes yet. Took me about two years on the East Coast to start losing the antifreeze in my blood.
Miss the mountains deeply, miss the sunsets. And can someone please import me a horizon that doesn’t have an ocean in it???
