I’ve been summering in boulder long before pot became medicinal. back before the buffs were the laughing stock of the pac 12, before the big 12, back when the big 8 was really the big 2 and everyone else. back before we had to buy open space.  back when boulder was boulder.

Many things have changed since but one thing that remains constant from that — the boundaries of boulder. boulder is bounded by the university of Colorado to the south, 28th street to the east, Nederland to the west and boulder community hospital to the north. i’m not saying  there aren’t some things beyond our borders if you a mind to go, all except for north boulder. that’s just a vast track of nothingness. sure, I might go a little farther north when i fall asleep on the skip and ride all the way to where the bus stops and the money runs out. but that’s it.

so imagine my surprise when i done learned different.  it started mostly as rumors, little snippets of excitement about a place that was a throw back to old boulder. boulder before the fast cars and fast money. I didn’t put much stock in it ’til Happy Jack and Mikeymikey started jawing about it. still them two ain’t the most reliable sources.

but when Gunner G tells me about a place he seen with his own eyes, coming down from the shelter (another reason we all be avoiding North Boulder), well i gotta listen. not only that, i gotta go see it for myself. and that’s what I done.

and sure enough, there is a place, next to lucky’s market and logan’s espresso cafe – what we called a coffee shop in my day – a place that looks like an old quonset hut taken from gomer pyle’s tv show… you can look it up if you don’t know the reference, i ain’t wikipedia. the sign above the door read:

nomad

Marque of the Nomad Theater

well you can imagine that would be a place after my own heart. i just had to find out more. and i did. i’ll tell you what i found out in my next installment. when i get around to it. i can hear the boulder creek calling to me…

til then, give to the poor my friends, one day that might be you.