Tap the Rockies

There is a place where the air is clean, the sun is hardly ever veiled, and the exquisite snow-capped mountains seem to have been freshly chiseled just yesterday. A land where healthy eating and active living are not only possible to attain, but difficult to avoid. A culture where acceptance is the norm, and beauty is the pervasive theme.

Colorado.

If you've never been there you'll think I'm overstating its reality, possibly bordering on being a mystical tree-hugger. If you have been there you'll think I'm understating its reality, possibly bordering on being a mediocre describer of a place that comes close to Tolkien's Rivendell.

I was born there, but we moved before I was a month old.

I spent a Summer there during college. More than 15 years ago. I traveled many roads, hiked many trails, and shook many hands. I never dreamed I would backpack to a Peak more than
14, 000 feet above my hometown of Virginia Beach-- 14, 110 feet to be exact, and yet my feet were still on the ground. It was mid-July, but the snow came steadily down.

I spent a good bit of time there in recent years as well. In Boulder. Where my sister Jessa lives. The streets there are smooth and clean. The people are laid back, lean, and artistic. It's a wonderful place to be.

My wife, daughters and I are returning to Boulder in August. We'll wake each day to the view of the Flat Irons, the warmth of the sun, the sound of mountain bikes passing by, and the taste of Whole Foods dark roast coffee. Carly and I will hold hands and take walks in the morning. Annie and I will share hummus in the early afternoon, and Shelley and I will sip wine and kiss in the evening.

I will officiate my sister's wedding while we are there. I'll pronounce this girl-- who to me is still in many ways the same baby sister my mother brought home from the hospital when I was eight-- and Chad, her wonderful lover, husband and wife. I will also sing to her, at her request, the way I did when she was a toddler. A song about love.

John Denver once sang about an east coast man who "would rather be in Colorado, singing of love in Boulder Canyon". I'm content where I currently live, but in August of 2009 there is no other place on earth I would possibly rather be than in Colorado, singing of love in Boulder Canyon.