Life in Colorado versus life in Minnesota

My dear Uzamaki,

If you want to know how Colorado differs from Minnesota, I can tell you that the entire town turns orange when the Broncos play unlike Minneapolis where the Vikings are still the all round losers of the Super Bowl. One year I thought they would play each other and so one team would HAVE to win, but as usual, the Vikings choked- that was back in 1999. Within a couple years, the Broncos won a few Super Bowls, leaving Minnesota as the all round losers. Sad. If the Vikings played the Broncos, I'd cheer for the purple team with the horns.

Colorado has less theater and art and the symphony isn't well attended but it is well supported. People here like to give the appearance of being cultured by having season tickets but then they don't show up for the symphony. Figure that one out.

Colorado used to have the highest number of horses per capita. It is still a cow town, with a big stock show every January, where cowboys compete for rodeo prizes by falling off their horses onto sheep, tying the wooly's feet together with lassos.

Both states have a high number of readers and also a very high number of self-publishing companies.

The bodies of water here are called reservoirs because most of them are man made unlike Minnesota with its 10,000 plus lakes. And mountain water is cold cold cold all year round. Instead of going to "the lake" people here go to "the mountains" where they have a cabin or a condo, which can be like staying at a hotel, only you own the room.

There are more Hispanics in Colorado than Minnesota and nearly everything here is printed in Spanish and English.

When planes land in Colorado they need to watch for wind shear. I crashed a glider plane up at Eagle airport once due to wind shear, a mountain condition caused by sink. I was flying along and all of a sudden there was no air support; the plane simply dropped out of the sky. Our International airport has special equipment so that personnel can tell when and where wind sheer exists and alert pilots.

We have lots of rattlesnakes here in Colorado, very few mosquitoes or bugs and an annual influx of moths who fly to the mountains in June. Some do not make it. They wind up being vacuumed by my friend Jane, who stands under a light in the dark of night and sucks them into her Hoover.

We leave our windows open all summer and don't regret it. We can sleep with the windows open most summer nights, because though days can be a bit unbearable, nights remain cool.

We have scheduled watering days- people water their lawns every three days in order to keep them green. The days they are allowed to water are assigned according to address. In the summer we worry about wildfires. There isn't much water in our state and water rights are a big issue. In fact, a law had to be passed in order for us to legally collect the water that drained off our roofs; we weren't even supposed to use this water to hydrate our own gardens! Thankfully, all that changed with new legislation.

Year round I pile on the lotion because Colorado is dry and almost a desert climate. We are very close to the sun, being a mile high or more, and so people get burned more easily. Because we are so high in altitude, when people visit this State, they need to acclimate before they do lots of sports or hiking. Altitude sickness begins with a horrible headache. Adults get drunk easier because alcohol affects them faster. And kids are taught to drink lots and lots of water, every day, every day, every day.

The stars are brilliant in this state- except around Denver, where there is light pollution. We can nearly touch the sky, being a mile high!

The people in this state don't assume they should help you, like they did when I lived in Minnesota. They are often too independent to notice there is a problem. And until Obama, they tended to be Republican. I have been told that lots of Californians moved here when their real estate rose to ridiculous heights. I imagine if this is true, many of them were Democrats.

We don't get dressed up to go to church or the grocery store or even to the symphony if we don't feel like it. We are very casual here. There are churches of every ilk, but lots of people consider it church when they are out of doors.

The snow, when it dumps, melts within a couple days so our winters are like a roller coaster ride of weather. We had two major blizzards in April and May of this year and have had snow as late as June.

Steamboat Springs celebrates Fourth of July with a cattle drive through the center of town. Large acres of land where men raise livestock are called "ranches" while Minnesotans call them "farms." Coloradans raise cattle and buffalo while most Minnesotans raise diary cows. We have oil fields and oil men and oil companies as a major industry. We have no lake fishermen to speak of, but many fly fish in our rivers and streams. Minnesota has rainbow trout and walleye, sunnies, perch and bass while Colorado has Cutthroat Trout, Rainbow Trout, Colorado Brown Trout, Brook Trout, Lake Trout, Kokanee Salmon and Sockeye Mountain Whitefish.

These are some of the differences I have noted, having lived in Minnesota for 24 years and Colorado for 34... yes, I AM OLD, lol. I love both states with a deep and abiding love that makes me feel lucky to be alive.

Your friend, Barbara