CO Culture

Teri has commissioned me to write her blog post tonight. And since I'm a considerate spouse and won't be compiling a huge collection of embarrassing photos of her, you'll get to hear me talk about my home state.

At lunch recently, all the Colorado transplants at work asked me, as a near-native, what I thought Colorado culture is. It was harder than I thought. I brought up a love for outdoor sports, but the most passionate skiers/snowboarders/mtn bikers I know are from the midwest. I mentioned treehugging and granola, and they attributed that almost entirely to Boulder. I stupidly said we have a burgeoning arts and food scenes, and I just got made fun of.

So what is Colorado culture? After some inspiration from my tiniest brother tonight, I realized what it was: The Barrel Man (R.I.P.) Here's why:

1. Extreme weather doesn't bother him. If anything, it makes him stronger. Like a superhero. (Coincidentally, wind chill right now is -9. And I was out shoveling earlier in a hoodie, a pair of earmuffs, and nothing else.)
   
2. He loves football. People always brag about Colorado having a franchise for every major sport. But nobody gives a hoot about anything else if the Broncos are winning.
3. He's independent. Do you see him flanked by a dozen other flabby nude people in barrels, leading cheers with him? No, you don't. And he likes it that way.
   
4. He doesn't give a crap if other people think he's crazy. Seriously, Coloradoans love it when people think we're cuckoo. We use it as fuel. How else do you explain the Heene's?

I guess in the end, Colorado culture is really just a mutt, and an ugly one at that. But it's our mutt, and it'll never bite the neighbor kid (unless that neighbor is Texas, and we'll come at you with all our rabid, mongrel fury.)