state of pride

(...i love colorado)

if you live in colorado, you get it. state pride out here runs deep. it's not rare, or even weird, to see the colorado flag on t-shirts or stickers; people have colorado license-plate bumper stickers claiming their native connection to the state, their love of running, or something else equally colorado. colorado university stickers are rampant, from cu to csu to metro state college.i would guess 1 of 3 cars you're next to at a light has a state of colorado something on their car.  there's a whole line of 'i run/bike/ski colorado' products out there, and you would be hard pressed to find someone that doesn't try to round up the time they lived here to look more legit with the natives (even i am victim of that-i am very quick to tell you i've been here over 20 years just to look cooler than you who moved here two years ago). 

and who wouldn't want to boast of being a native of this great state? we have mountains, city and amazing weather at any given time. we have all four seasons, but nothing to extreme to make you feel trapped in gray for months, or bored with placid weather all year round. the city is big enough to have fun things to do, and small enough you can feel comfortable, familiar, even make friends with locals at your favorite spots. it's just western enough that you can wear cowboy boots to any wedding and get away with it, hipster enough that you can ironically wear a plaid shirt and felt, tie-up boots to church, and sporty enough that you can wear yoga pants and tennis shoes just about anywhere you go. and still fit in. you can take breaks at lunch to go to the gym, and you can compare 14ers, snow-shoe paths, and rock climbing stories with your friends on a regular basis. you can leave for the weekend to go skiing because you 'have a pass' or you can stay in the city all weekend because you've got better things to do than fight ski traffic and crazy crowds on the hill. 

reality is: it's a colorado thing.

and i love it.