Boulder Bolder

I don't quite live in Boulder but I live close enough to see it from my house. Living here in the Foothills brings a number of challenges to someone who doesn't like to be outdoors. I feel like, well, like an outsider. Here's a little bit of info: Boulder has won a number of awards: 2011 Best of Boulder "Tree City USA"; 2010 National Geographic "Top 10 Winter Towns"; "Best Quality of Life for Mid-Sized US Cities"; Tripadvisory.com "Top 25 Destinations in the US"; and, most pertinent to me: Men's Health 2010 "Healthiest Town in US"; Backpacker Magazine "The Best Cities to Raise an Outdoor Kid" 2009; and Forbes.com "America's Top 25 Towns to Live Well" 2009 (We were #1!).

Boulder has 300 days of sunshine a year. That's a lot of sun to miss by taking naps and generally staying inside.

Here are some things people say are great about Boulder: beautiful country, good social scene. good outdoor recreation, good climate, fresh air, flatirons, mountains, very active, hiking trails, great for foodies, close to skiing...it goes on and on...

And a couple of quotes: Boulder has "over the top-liberalism and extreme fitness" (well, it's good to fit in a least a little bit) and "recreating outdoors is the norm here, and it's in your face." So true.

But what about Louisville, my home town? Louisville won CNN/Money 2009 Best place to live - #1! One of the top 10 reasons for moving here? "The great outdoors". We have 30 miles of trails, 26 city parks, a rec center and great open space. Our population is 18,800 and we, too have all that great sun.

What to do with all this information? Well, it's time to get a little bolder in Boulder.

Living here and being an indoorsy woman has it's difficulties. (1) I never quite feel like I fit in, (2) I don't own the right hiking shoes (because I don't hike), (3) I don't carry the proper water bottle (I carry a 32 oz Diet Coke), (4) I'm not fit (probably because I never get outside - I understand the correlation) and (5) I don't shop at Athletica or Title Nine or even REI. I wish I did. But they seem to me to be outdoor clothing purveyors -and I never go outdoors.

The biggest thing is the feeling that I don't fit in. It's like everyone knows a secret and I'm totally left out. It's my own problem, I understand, but a problem in my life just the same. I feel no need to do what others do just to fit into the "in-crowd" but I have a feeling that this crowd knows something great that I'm missing, thus my new project.

All of this leads me to think that my new project will be good for me - set my feet more firmly in my community. Heck, I already drive the Subaru. I might as well jump in with both feet.