Open the Window and Kick Off Your Shoes – A BillsWeek Summer List

Ok, I know that technically it isn’t summer yet, but when temperatures hover around 90 degrees and the cold beverage container is “sweating,” I’m not interested in whether the sun has reached its greatest distance south of the celestial equator. It feels like summer in Colorado and I LOVE it, and here (in no particular order) are some of the reasons why:

• Open windows
• Hot (usually) dry days and (mostly) cool nights
• Trees and trails
• Thunder storms
• Shorts (on myself and others)
• Bare feet
• Showing snow to tourists from the east - in July
• Outdoor movies on Fillmore Plaza (I never go, but I like the idea)
• Driving up to 10,000 feet to cool off
• Going to the mail box or taking out the trash without having to put on more layers
• That blast of dry air when you first get off the plane after a trip back east
• Hiking to the old homestead ruins at Golden Gate State Park
• Sidewalk dining at Las Margaritas
• Fresh strawberries and blueberries
• Trail Ridge Road
• Movies and music at Chautauqua in Boulder (I’d like to go more often than I do)
• Fewer obnoxious kids on the city busses going to/from school
• Driving to neighboring states without fear of snow
• People everywhere enjoying being outside – walking dogs, chatting with neighbors, riding bikes, just hanging out
• The outdoor pool at the health club is open
• Russian ladies in the park watching their grandchildren
• TV reruns of Christmas shows
• Peoples’ dogs on the patio at Liks (ice cream)
• Nearly weekly events in Civic Center from People’s Fair to Pridefest (one of the largest in the U.S.) to Taste of Colorado (I don’t go often but I fully recommend them)
• Watching the Rocky Mountain Rowing Club early Saturday mornings at Cherry Creek Lake (I do this every week)
• Fresh strawberries and blueberries mixed into fine vanilla ice cream
• Concerts in City Park (I rarely go but it’s really great to have the option)

And finally:

• When it’s summertime in Colorado, I almost forget that I’ve recently, seriously thought about moving to California.