I started the day with an aimless walk around Boulder from my motel. There was a path then led down to Boulder Creek, and across a bridge, then eventually to the Pearl Street mall. I had an unusually good breakfaast at a local restaurant, The Kitchen, that seemed to specialize in fresh ingredients (incuding the best glass of orange juice I can remember having) and unique recipes from scratch. After breakfast I perused the mall. It had much the feel of downtown Livermore on one of the event days, but here there are artists and such all the time. It was nice to see, at least once.
I eventually made my way back down to the park by Boulder Creek, and watched folks who were having fun in the water, including folks riding inner tubes, and folks swinging off ropes into the water. It appears to be a very popular place for people to come in the summer. The day was very warm, and walking got a little wearisome, so I can understand the appeal of the cool water. After coming back and resting briefly, I went out and got some lunch, then went up Table Mesa to NCAR to take some pictures. Unfortunately the sky was kind of hazy all day, and the light when I was up there wasn’t great. I then returned to the motel to rest up a bit for the evening’s festivities.
I saw my second play from the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, and my first in the outdoor Mary Rippon Theatre on campus. I was surprised at the outdoor theater. It is actually contained in the courtyard surrounded by four class buildings. It’s a very nice theater with stone benches, sort of like a Greek theater. There’s plenty of room, and they give you padded seats with backs to make it comfortable. The odd thing is that there are only two entrances at the back corners of the theater, which means exiting at the end is very slow. My only minor gripe with the staging there is that the actors are mic’d for amplified sound which is a little unpleasing (particularly as I was sitting close, and the speakers were away from the actors).
I saw The Tempest. It was a good projection, with many of the same actors from the previous night’s play. A very interesting set with a shipwrecked ship motif. It contained a couple of unique elements, Ariel did a lot of fabric work hanging in the air, and some of the spirits were introduced with large puppets later in the play. While I wasn’t completely blown away, it was a very good production. The actors in this company are clearly very good.
Tonight I saw yet another Shakespeare play, from yet another (new for me) company. This time I was back at my alma matter for the 
This play was performed in the University Theatre, which is on the CU campus, just down from The Hill. They used a simple set consisting of a basic wooden structure with some stairs and platforms that were periodically reconfigured, but it worked fine. The acting and the overall production was outstanding. The sword fighting during the battle scenes was particularly energetic and realistic. I was happily surprised to see that Falstaff was played by Michael Winters, who I saw do such a great job last summer as King Lear in Ashland. He was also a wonderful Falstaff.
A lovely warm summer evening at Concannon vineyard provided occasion for another wonderful 
Tonight I saw another Shakespeare play, and another new festival for me. I saw 
Tonight I saw my third Shakespeare play, produced by the third company, in less than a week. I saw 
For the second time in two days, I saw one of Shakespeare’s plays. This time it was The Taming of the Shrew, put on by the 
Tonight I saw my first Shakespeare play of the summer, and my first production of the 
There’s been a long drought of posts, which indicates my fun level has been at a very low ebb. But tonight I kicked-off the new 
I had the pleasure of a quick visit from a friend from far away. While on her first trip to the area, Oksana was able to stop by for a quick visit. She had time for us to get together for one day, and we went into San Francisco and did some sightseeing. We got to experience heavy Bay Area traffic going over the relatively new Bay Bridge, and then we headed over to Lands End in San Francisco and did some hiking along the trails with the great views of the Golden Gate. It had been about a year and a half since I’d been over there. It was a grey day, but the temperature was good for climbing around. Oksana seemed to really enjoy seeing the area.
After the hiking, we headed into Golden Gate Park and went to the 
It’s too bad we didn’t have more time, but Oksana seemed to enjoy the whirlwind tour and her first taste of this area. It was a very nice day.
My cousin Laurie passed away in early November, the first cousin on this side of the family to go. It shocks me to think I hadn’t been back to that area in about 15 years, so I decided to go back for the memorial service. It was nice to see family I hadn’t seen in a long time. None of us are getting any younger, and it was great to reconnect. The service was very nice, and Laurie’s daughter Lisa had some very nice things to say.