90+ temps - 400 days and counting...

Just toughing it out in Fort Collins while praying for a freak snow storm.

Everyone keeps telling me "this is really unusual weather for us..." Just like when we first arrived in February with the snow not melting on the ground. Or, all of the rain we had in the spring.

Nothing but unusual weather as far as the eye can see. That, and some pretty fierce pit stains.

c

I can think of worse things to do....

David described tubing on the Poudre (remember, that's pronounced POOTER - and I'm still not kidding) as "the worst experience of my life." Sure, he flipped out of the tube. Sure, the river current picked up in places. But the worst experience? When we have temps in the 90s?



At least I didn't drop him off at this spot....




Now THAT would've been some bad tubing!!!

c

Well, this seals the deal...

Oh, look. I think I just found Joe's future home away from home. Right under my nose. Just a short walk from my office - a Fort Collins institution. Al's Newsstand with more than 2,000 magazine titles and imported cigars. That translates to a minimum of 2-3 hours per visit.

A decent newsstand is all the man asks for. How can I possibly resist?

Joe's forwarding address to follow...

c

You can't pick your family...

Only a handful of people know that I'm a struggling, amateur genealogist. I've been researching a little known branch of my family for almost ten years. Today - out of the blue - I received a phonecall from someone responding to a request for help I posted on well-known genealogy website in 2002. A distant cousin from Philadelphia who has been working on his family history for 45 years. It seems our families converge a few generations back and (very lucky for me) he is interested in swapping documents, photos and GEDCOM files. Goldmine!

So, while we are swapping family tidbits over the phone and emailing photos back and forth - he spills it..."Carol, if you aren't aware of the Morgan family then you probably don't know that you're a descendant of Daniel Boone." Huh?? "Yeah, you know Daniel Boone - the Alamo - the BIG man." Wha - HUH??? Paperwork to verify this will follow.

No kidding. Reaction from the family was a little mixed. Kate was compelled to put me on speakerphone while her friends roared in laughter in the background. David laughed, said "cool" and went back to watching a re-run of Scrubs. And, Jane said "who??" Seriously. Who.

Then I remembered that a) Jane is starting 4th grade in the fall; b) Jane has only been exposed to a limited amount of American history; and, c) Jane is clearly not a product of TVLand the last vestige of historical drama:

Joe decided it would be much more impressive if I were related to Fess Parker. Arrrggghhh!

c

Fort Collins: one of the thirty fastest cities in the world!

Fort Collins has a long, long list of superlatives to its name: best place to live; one of the top ten smartest places to live - you get the idea.

Anyway, no one could have been more shocked to see the latest issue of Fast Company - where Fort Collins is selected one of thirty fastest cities in the world in the category of Research & Development with Shanghai and Seoul! Apparently the region is generating patents at a rate of 11.45 per 10,000 people per year - four times more than the U.S. city average.

This is pretty cool because the number of patents and level of attaining education (Fort Collins is #7 in the nation for most educated populations - college and beyond) are significant drivers of successful, sustainable economies - any economist will tell you so. Check it out at: http://www.fastcompany.com/cities/2007/index.html

c

How to speak like a native - Part 1

People in Colorado don't have accents. Which leads me to believe that maybe I do. Every now and then someone stops to ask "I'm sorry, what did you say?" But they are just too polite to say why they didn't catch it.

I've also noticed very few differences in expressions or slang. However, there are a few things that are clearly specific to the region:

• They pronounce the name of the state: Call-oh-RAD-oh not Call-oh-ROD-oh. People who reside here are Call-oh-RAD-ans.
• They use the extension "as balls" in place of the word "very" quite at bit: "It's as hot as balls today!" "She's bossy as balls today."
• They refer to tourists as "flatlanders" - as in people from flatter regions of the country - specifically the eastern states.
• Locals refer to the mountains as the 14ers as in the 14,000+ feet above sea level peaks.
• Fort Collins is FoCo or "The Fort" [I've also heard people refer to it as Vanilla Valley or Vanilla Bean City]
• There's Cowtown (Greeley), Hippieville (Boulder), The Springs (Colorado Springs), The 3-oh-3 or D-town (Denver)
• You're a Durangatan (if you are from Durango) or a Boulderite (if from Boulder)
• I've been told that ski-related slang is also used during the season: pow-pow (new as in powder) and flip the bitch (as in U-turn) - gaper (someone who's stunned - as in never skied a mountain before) - can't say that I've heard anyone use these so far....
• People say "I'm not gonna lie..." or "I'm just sayin'..." "no worries..." quite a bit - you also hear dude, man and bro used a lot
• I find they tend to put an 's after store names: Walmarts, King Soopers, Safeways...
• I think carbonated beverages are "pop" here - not "soda"

But I find it endearing to hear how much people love living here when they use expressions like:

• We're living the dream!
• The view looks a lot better from the top of the world!

c

Too hot!

No pictures to post this week. We've been staying in the shade or inside to beat the 90-100 degree temperatures. This heat is very different from Ohio's but I won't lie -- it's still pretty hot outside! No humidity means walking around with water bottles all the time. I now understand why people in the Southwest and Mexico still observe the siesta - you want to collapse midday!!!

Well, with luck this will pass very soon. I'm told June is the hottest month of the year here.

Here's hoping....

c