The third day of my little vacation started off with a trip down to Denver to go to the Denver Zoo with a friend, and two kids, 5 and 7. The downside was that it was a very hot day (upper 90s), so walking around was tough, and a lot of the outdoor animals were either hiding, or just sleeping in the shade. Still, we did get to see a lot of animals, and the kids did seem to have fun. I learned two things: great appreciation for a parent who has to be around small kids all the time; and amazement at the amount of energy a 5 year old can have, running back and forth, climbing over everything, seeming to get tired, then getting recharged and running all over again. All in all a fun trip.
After making my way back up to Boulder, I got up to The Hill just in time for a classic summer afternoon rain to come pouring down on me. I dodged in to have some dinner, and by the time I came out an hour later it was all dry. It stayed quite warm although the clouds never went away throughout the play.
I returned to the outdoor Mary Rippon Theatre to see a wonderful production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. It was a very enjoyable staging, basically set in a Catskill Mountain resort in the early 1960s, with lots of classic oldies music setting themes throughout. The cast was again outstanding. Michael Winters was again Falstaff, but this time as a hilariously smarmy resort comedian. Lots of stylized exaggerated movements and posturing. Again, many of the same actors from the plays of the previous two nights. It was a really enjoyable way to end my first, and hopefully not last, visit to the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.