Wide Open by Jason Aldean

At the corner cafe,
She scrapes some quarters off the table,
Says, "Thanks, yeah, now maybe I'll be able
To get that black Mercedes,
I've been saving for."
The other girls say,
"You oughta undo a couple buttons,
Start showing off a little something."
She says, "Naw, y'all go ahead,
Think I'd rather stay poor.
See I'm just making rent."
She said, "This ain't where my road ends."

"This may not be my town,
But it'll do for now,
Til I can figure out,
Who I am,
Where I'm going."
She's slinging eggs and bacon,
With a college education
Just hanging out and waiting,
For a better plan,
She's ok not knowing,
She's young,
And the world's wide open.

There's a rusty old Ford,
Lives out back behind the diner,
Sitting there waiting on her to make her mind up,
It tends to sling a little gravel,
And take her who knows where,
Maybe head out west,
Into in God's hands, I guess.

She throws down that apron,
Takes the money she's been making,
Her life's out there waiting,
Got a better plan,
That's where she's going,
She's young,
And the world's wide open.

Welcome to Boulder

I visited my friend Danielle in Boulder on Saturday. Boulder definitely has a reputation as the funkiest city in Colorado. Danielle told me how when she first moved there, when something weird would happen, people would just tell her, "Welcome to Boulder." I'd never been there before, but after one day, I love it.

Danielle took me downtown to the area where they have a farmer's market. It was over by the time we got there, but we walked by the creek and explored the public library, which is really awesome. It's built out of red rock and spans the creek. There's a waterfall inside, and the part that spans the creek is a coffee shop. Very cool. After checking out the library, we followed the path along the creek, which was not only very picturesque but very, um, Boulderesque. For starters, completely at random, we saw an old vacuum cleaner sitting by a light pole. In case anyone wanted to sweep the gravel off the path, apparently. With a very long extension cord. A little further down, we saw a guy rocking in a hammock hung in a tree by the creek. As we got a little closer, though, we realized that he wasn't alone, and he wasn't just "rocking." Welcome to Boulder.

After that, Danielle took me to her favorite coffee shop/book store. It was a really cute local place with exposed brick interior, huge windows, hanging plants, and a fun, laid-back atmosphere. Plus good coffee. I'm sold. We walked around the shops and streets and had some more "Welcome to Boulder" moments, including a veggie dog stand and a T-shirt with a picture of a tree stump tied up with yellow tape that said "Crime Scene - Do Not Cross."

Oh, and the biggest Boulder moment of all. We walked outside and heard a lot of yelling, hooting and hollering. We looked over to see what was going on, and found ourselves looking at the Boulder Naked Bike Ride. Actually, we were too far way to really see anything, but close enough to know that it was indeed a naked bike ride. Big fat welcome to Boulder.

I really loved it, though. It was a beautiful town, and much smaller than Denver, where I feel like I'm drowning in a sea of people. Closer to the mountains, too. If I stay in Colorado after seminary, I would think about living in Boulder. I need my family to move to Colorado, though.