Today (yesterday having company and playing tea party eats up writing time), my granddaughter was off school. She wanted to come hang out with me and have “Girls Night” which means, she plays a kitty cat game on my ipad until there is no more juice and we watch Paw Patrol or Ladybug and Cat Noir Tales, or anything on Disney+. And I have junk food not available at her house, so there is that.
She of course asked if we could go to the “zip line park” which is a park close to my house that has a kid zip line and it is one of her favorite thing to do when she is here. The weather today has been a mixed bag. We have had beautiful weather, even reaching 79 this week. But that was the other day, not today.

We headed to Sonic for something yummy but before we could even get to the main road, my dog, my co-pilot, companion on adventures, playmate to my granddaughter, that dog. She pooped in the way back part of my jeep. Fun Times. Got that cleaned up and headed to Sonic and got the treats and we were on our way to Boulder, Colorado to see the Columbia Cemetery.

Boulder is less than a 30 minute drive and there are some quicky and interesting things to see there. And there are some beautiful drives to various peaks. My favorite is Flagstaff peak, but all of them are equally as beautiful.

I love taking pictures of old cemeteries and the headstones on the graves. I used to be so scared of them as a kid. Probably because I attended more funerals than most children as my father was usually the minister presiding over the service and my mother was usually the soloist. So my sister and I became pros at the finer points. Whisper voice is always used, ask if you can sign your own name in the book, take a prayer card or program, walk forward with your parents, look at the arrangements and memorial displays, glance at the body – but not too long only 1 or 2 seconds – then to the family and tell them you are sorry for their loss, give them a hug, then find yourself a seat in the furthest seat in the chapel. Mom would give us each a piece of gum, a multi color ink pen (the one that was white and blue and had black, blue, red, green, and purple ink) and a word search book. I also learned that if you ask your parents for money for the soda or candy machine and they said no, that the family of the deceased would say, “Oh its ok, let her have one. Its bad enough she has to spend her evening/morning/afternoon here.” And they would hand me a bunch of change and I was soon to be in junk food heaven. But it was the horror movie trailers for the 1970s that made me scared of cemeteries. The ones that featured a hand coming up from the ground…I was traumatized for life. Or at least until my 20s. I would spend many a Saturday driving around Central California, Rural Missouri, and all over Texas taking pictures of headstones and grave yards.

When I learned that the Columbia Cemetery was a historic landmark , I knew I needed to explore and see what was there.

Because this is a walking cemetery, and because it was snowing/raining and I had a 6 year old and a dog that gets excited when the 6 year old is walking with us and forgets all manners and if she asks for the leash, its just a party that I did not want to attend.

What I could see was a very cared for resting place. Getting clear pictures was a little tricky given the snow/rain mix. I tried zooming in as close as I could, but it is still spotted with snowflakes but the beauty and craftsmanship is still visible.

That is not my best ever driving and picture taking, I even pulled over, but this is the best one of the bunch. (Who knew it was trickier to get a picture driving in a town than driving up the mountains – not me!)

There is a side gate that provides some instruction and history of the cemetery and rules for pets. The cemetery was created in 1870 by the Columbia Masonic Lodge and is the oldest cemetery in Boulder. The names on the headstones are prominent in the history of Boulder.

The cemetery is also called Pioneer or Masonic, or Park, or even City Cemetery. The Carnegie Library has a collection of photographs showing people posing with family at various headstones. I reminded me of the days when family would go to their local cemetery or the family cemetery and have “grave cleaning days”. Maybe its just a Missouri thing (where I lived as a child and then again as a married person) but some of my family would go down to the “bootheel” and other friends and family went “home” (which could have been where they were raised or where their parents were raised) and have grave cleaning and picnic lunch. It was simply taking care of weeds, mowing the grass, putting fresh flowers on graves and making sure all headstones were still secure and there wasn’t damage on them. Now a days, people have “perpetual care” agreements with larger cemeteries for lawn care and headstone maintenance. I always felt like Jefferson Barracks Cemetery in St Louis, Mo was my family cemetery since my parents, both sets grandparents, as well as various aunts and uncles were interred there.

Another interesting thing that is in Boulder is NOAA. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, they weather people. Driving into Boulder, (at least from my direction) you drive past the the facility entrance complete with a guard station. Also, if you go past the main gate, there is a side road that goes around the complex and up to a trail head at the back of the complex and it has a fantastic view of Boulder, Boulder County and if its a clear day, sometimes the Denver skyline can be seen. There are other government offices in the complex. Today, I did not grab too many pictures but I did get a few.

Fog was rolling in and the pictures are not as clear as I would like, but sometimes the weather does not help when driving and snapping.

A quirky but fun place from my childhood is also here. Do you remember Mork & Mindy? In the series, Mindy works at her father’s music store in Boulder. They would also show an exterior shot of the house where Mindy rented an apartment. It is a private residence and because it is a private residence and people are out here peopling all over, they have a fence around the yard. I tried to grab some pics, but there was always 2 or 3 cars behind me, but I did get these.

There is not tiny museum or gift shop, just some people living there, working and paying bills. There are also no trespassing signs and a rather large sign warning of cameras and alarms. Its still a nice stroll down remember when.

There are several Boulder things on my list, like going to the Dushanbe Tea House or going to a concert at Chantangua. I can’t wait to visit all of them.

The goal is 60 new things before I turn 60 and I have 51 more to go and I can’t wait!