My dear Uzamaki,

If you want to know how Colorado differs from Minnesota, I can tell you that the entire town turns orange when the Broncos play unlike Minneapolis where the Vikings are still the all round losers of the Super Bowl. One year I thought they would play each other and so one team would HAVE to win, but as usual, the Vikings choked- that was back in 1999. Within a couple years, the Broncos won a few Super Bowls, leaving Minnesota as the all round losers. Sad. If the Vikings played the Broncos, I'd cheer for the purple team with the horns. Especially this year!

Colorado is less cultured and has less theater and art and the symphony isn't well attended but it is well supported. In other words, people like to give the appearance of being cultured by having season tickets but then they don't show up for the symphony. Figure that one out. Colorado has the Fray and Minnesota last I was there had Prince. I'm sure that has changed!!!

Colorado has the highest education level per capita- it used to have the highest number of horses per capita. It is changing every year, haha. Both states have a high number of readers and also a very high number of self-publishing companies.

The bodies of water here are called reservoirs because most of them are man made unlike Minnesota with its 10,000 plus lakes. And mountain water is cold cold cold all year round. Instead of going to "the lake" people here go to "the mountains" where they have a cabin.

There are more Hispanics in Colorado. Nearly everything here is printed in Spanish and English.

When planes land in Colorado they need to watch for wind shear. I crashed a glider plane up at Eagle airport once due to wind shear. It is a mountain condition caused by sink. All of a sudden there is no support and the plane drops. Our airports have special equipment so that they can tell when and where it exists and alert pilots.

We have lots of rattlesnakes here in Colorado, very few mosquitoes or bugs and an annual influx of moths who fly to the mountains right about now. We leave our windows open all summer and don't regret it. We can sleep with the windows open most summer nights, as it turns cold until July when it can be a bit unbearable.

We have scheduled watering days- people water their lawns every three days in order to keep them green. The days they can water are assigned according to address. Not many flowers grow here but there are lots of beautiful wildflowers. In the summer we are always worried about wildfires. There isn't much water in our state and so water rights are a big issue.

Year round I need to pile on the lotion because Colorado is dry and almost a desert climate. We are very close to the sun, being a mile high or more, and so people can get burned more easily. And because we are so high in altitude, when people come here they need to get acclimated before they do lots of sports or hiking. They can get altitude sickness. Also adults get drunk easier because alcohol affects them faster. And kids are taught to drink lots and lots of water.

The stars are brilliant when you leave the city, where there is light pollution. We can nearly touch the sky at a mile high, haha.

The people in this state are not as socially conscious as Minnesotans and not as kind, either. They don't assume they should help you, they often are too independent to notice there is a problem. They tend to be Republican. Minnesotans pay twice as much state tax for social services as Coloradans do.

We don't get dressed up to go to church or the grocery store or even to the symphony if we don't feel like it. We are very casual here. There are churches of every ilk, but lots of people consider it church when they are out of doors.

The snow, when it dumps, melts within a couple days so our winters are like a roller coaster ride of weather. We had two major blizzards in March and April this year and have had snow as late as June.

Steamboat Springs celebrates Fourth of July with a cattle drive through the center of town each year. We call large acres of land where men raise livestock "ranches" while Minnesotans call them "farms." We raise cattle while Minnesotans raise diary cows. We have oil fields and oil men and oil companies as a major industry. We have no fishermen to speak of. Minnesota has rainbow trout and walleye, sunnies, perch and bass while Colorado has Cutthroat Trout, Rainbow Trout, Colorado Brown Trout, Brook Trout, Lake Trout. Kokanee Salmon and Sockeye Mountain Whitefish.

There are a few differences I recognize after living in Minnesota for 24 years and Colorado for 32... I AM OLD, lol. And I love both states with a deep and abiding love that makes me feel lucky to be alive.

Your friend, Barbara