(the lights from our old neighborhood)

one of my favorite things about our time living in amsterdam were all the lights decorating the city. strings of lights outlined the bridges arching over the canals and illuminated the water, lampposts that dated back hundreds of years lit the cobblestone streets and all the businesses had decorative lights in the evening… and this was all year round. during the holidays, each neighborhood had a signature lighting motif. when theo started talking he would point to all the pretty brightness and call out, “LIGHT STRIKE!” at christmas he loved an evening bike tour of the city circling through different neighborhoods to see all of the light installations.

when we moved to boulder, the first thing that really endeared me to this town is the giant star lighting up flagstaff mountain (that and the simple salad and brique poulet of brasserie ten ten - would someone PLEASE reopen that restaurant??) a drive up canyon guarantees a view of the star, but what’s really exciting is when you are somewhere random (which is a regular occurrence for me as i am always getting lost despite having lived here for a decade) make a turn and all of a sudden it is in sight. “LOOK, LOOK at the star!” we still holler with delight … “LIGHT STRIKE!” 

(the star from a distance)

(we hiked up there last christmas on a more temperate night … by “hiked” i mean we drove up there and climbed up the hill from the road. i do NOT recommend doing this in vans (as i did) because it is VERY steep and slippery!)