The University of Colorado in Boulder co-exists in peaceful harmony with a Zen Retreat where you are challenged to snatch the pebble from the hand of the Master and listen to the sound of one hand clapping. The campus also plays host to Yorick and Hamlet and an entire cast of madcap Shakespearean characters during the annual celebration of the celebrated bard's works during the Shakespeare Festival and summer camp for kids who may want to enjoy a midsummer's night dream under the skies of the Rocky Mountains. It's a wonderful city of art, culture, Zen, outdoor activity and the home of Celestial Seasonings Tea where you can tour the tea company and learn about the quirky cave the tea company founder had customized for himself in the Ozarks to live life as a metro sexual caveman. Yes, indeed, and in fact, a true man cave or woman cave. Today’s, empowered female would be just as happy dragging her male mate into the cave by his ponytail!
The scientific diversity of the 1,500 acre university campus is evident in the fact that it has world class research facilities utilized by scientists and educators from around the world, and the Fiske Planetarium is world renowned. The outdoor theater on campus is home to the Shakespeare Festival, and the 25,000 students who populate the campus are in tune with the spirit of the city and it's orbiting spheres of art and culture.
Public art is arranged, well, artistically around town and the numerous galleries and museums offer indoor displays of some of the best of the west, especially when you saddle up at the Leanin' Tree Museum of Western Art where cowhands and cowpokes go hand in hand on canvas and in bronze for a visual exploratory explosion of the old wild west in all it's glory.
Long before Abbott and Costello perfected their vaudeville routine of Who's on First, there was a mobile performing arts and vehicle of culture that traveled the countryside bringing lecturers, performers and the arts to small towns and the unwashed masses across the vast American continent. It was a trickle down of culture that was rampant in the large cities, but the rural areas were deficient in this area, so the Chataqua Movement brought the arts to the people. Teddy Roosevelt said that the "Chataqua Movement is the most American thing in America!" Today the Chataqua Park in Boulder, opened in 1898 is the longest continuing permanent site west of the Mississippi still in continual use since it's inception! It is host to the Colorado Music Festival, the Film Festival, music and performing arts such as theater and dance, along with a host of family entertainment throughout the year. It is not only designated as a historic site on the National Register, but is also recognized as the greenest one listed. They utilized earth friendly products, keep energy costs to bare minimum and re-cycling is practiced with religious fervor. The sustainable Chataqua mantra!
If tea and meditatation are your spiritual medication, then set a course on the Sea of Zen and drop anchor at the Boulder Zen Retreat. You'll enjoy a full plate of discussion on mindfulness and sitting posture and the role of ritual in Zen. You will travel on the same path as the teacher who asked the Zen question, what is the sound of one hand clapping? Please, do not attempt to answer this as that is the answer itself. It's as simple as Zen! Incense fills the air with fragrance and there are discussion groups for men and women, so in effect there is men Zen and women Zen, other wise it would be a Zen gender bender for those who may not be comfortable with their current sexuality and could lead to the creation of the transcendental transsexual. Either way, at the end of a retreat you may have the spiritual cahones to snatch the pebble from the hand, just as David Carradine's Grasshopper character on the old Kung Fu television show.
If you feeling like stripping down, feel free at the Front Range Naturist Center. it's social nudity at it's bare bottom best and there are numerous functions throughout the year including a Halloween Costume Party, (seems to defeat the purpose of nudities) and a Christmas party with some new ideas about where to hang a sprig of mistletoe for maximum impact!
Chocoholics can immerse themselves in a Boulder version of Willie Wonka's chocolate factor at Piece, Love and Chocolate! This boutique of sweets is a chocolate dream come true. They have an eclectic array of chocolate confections and local creations as well as gifts and novelties. They also feature products from other professional chocolatiers and chocolate artisans from around the world.
Zen, Nudity, Chataqua and Chococlate! Who could ask for anything more…make it happen, make it Boulder!