There area a lot of things that Boulder does that give the city a bad reputation. It's a horrible town to drive in, and an even worse town to park in. They are actively trying to make parking more difficult to find, by cutting down the numbers of available spaces, in order to discourage driving. It is one of the more expensive cities to live in, with property values so high that most of the people who work regular jobs there can't afford to purchase, and even renters struggle to find housing. And I have made references to the excellent compilations of quotes actually overheard by clueless (mostly white, mostly female, mostly wealthy) people around Boulder on that frothy perfection that is Stay Out of My Namaste Space. But sometimes Boulder does things that are truly spiffy. Today was one of those days.
I already had plans for a girly day out with my buddy for life, now that her kids are back in school and my uber-busy few weeks have ended. We were going to meet for lunch and maybe do some shopping. Then she sent me a link to a city of Boulder event that we could not possibly miss, and we adjusted our meet-up time. Every year the city (Parks Dept, I think) maintains the planters along the Pearl Street Mall, changing them out with the seasons so that there is always something blooming when the weather is vaguely warm enough to support it. Right now everything is full of gigantic zinnias, marigolds, lantana, verbena, salvia, sweet potato vine, and all sorts of other high-summer blossoms. In the spring, they have thousands of tulips blooming from bulbs shipped here from the Netherlands, planted in neat little grids up and down the pedestrian mall. By the end of spring, all the tulips are spent, and dug up so that other lovelies can take their place. What we learned last week was that the bulbs are not stored and reused. They are given away. Let me repeat that. They are Given. Away.
We arrived at the 15th Street parking garage about 9 am, and strolled calmly to the roped off area in front of the courthouse. They were just setting up, with a little stage, PA system, and crates of paper bags. My BFF got in line at 9:15, and I trotted up two and a half blocks to Lucile's to get a cup of spice tea to go. By the time I got back, she was still maybe 10th in line, but the line now filled all of the roped maze and started back in a line toward 14th Street (to the east of the courthouse). The sun came out maybe 5 minutes after I got there, and another 5 minutes later, I was ducking out of line again, to sit in the shade just next to the line. There were six or seven women around my friend in line carrying on a conversation with her, mostly about gardening, and my friend was very good about drawing me into it even from my spot under the tree not 10 feet away. Just before 10 am, I got back in line, in time to hear the announcement from the organizers: Traffic along Pearl in that section was first blocked off 40 years ago, and the pedestrian mall was created soon after. It became a hub for cultural and social life in Boulder, and it is one of the most recognizable man-made features in town. They gave a shout out to the crew of the Parks Dept who maintain the plantings and appearance of the mall every day of the year. And then, they said that they had 450 bags of bulbs, with maybe 15-20 bulbs per bag. We walked up and got our free tulip bulbs, and dropped a tenner into the donation box for the continuation of the process. When we turned back east to put the bulbs in my car before shopping on the mall, we realized how long the line had grown. It went all the way down to 14th, turned the corner, and wrapped to the far side of the courthouse. The line moved quickly, but there were only 450 bags. I couldn't tell you how many people were in line, but I would be highly surprised if they all got flowers. If we do this again next year, we will do it exactly the same. Come early, get tulips. It's a plan.
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