Dwellings

I am feeling a wave of anxiety with the start of a new week. It is the last week in Denver.

Yesterday, Bobaloo and I went to say goodbye to Boulder. It is where we started in Colorado. When I look back at me when we first came here, I was so scared of everything and everyone. There have been many changes. I was able to find the closest Target on the third day of living in Boulder, for the next two weeks everywhere I went I mapped out by its proximity to Target. Now, I can find any Target in a twenty-mile radius.

It was the first time we lived together, my first home without my parents, and the start of many fine adventures. I will miss Pearl Street and the 470 square foot apartment we shared, called “The Shoebox.” Our first summer was filled with afternoons with Gary the Squirrel, grilling, and we started what would become a three and a half year Yahtzee tournament.

We lived in the “Chicken Coop” after Boulder. It has been torn down along with all the bad memories of the place that could do no right. We met many great neighbors in this place. We were able to walk around downtown Golden whether to see the creek or get a beer and play air hockey. I look back at that time and remember how excited I was to start school and Bobaloo finally got the hang of fly-fishing. This was the year my brother went to Iraq for the first time, I became an aunt, and we went and saw John Prine for my birthday.

The place we live in now is my favorite and I will miss it a lot. The apartment has no name yet. I love the two patios, especially the one overlooking the pool. We are minutes from Red Rocks where we have seen Widespread Panic every summer. There is a lot of sunlight in the windows. It is the first place we unpacked every box and decorated. We have the proximity of the mountains and the city. This apartment has seen us check out the Denver scene, learn to snowshoe, host our first Christmas, and get married. We have made excellent friends at the local watering hole, and have had great neighbors, aside from the yapping dog.

Goodbye Colorado. Not forever, just for now.