Dear Louisville, CO

Dear L-ville,

Thank you for being pronounced 'Lewis-ville.' And thank you for having Davidson Mesa, multiple dog parks, colorful old mining history and an old town center that makes me grateful for those that came before me. It's awfully good of you to have single track trails a block from my front door, even if I don't use them nearly as much as I should. And wild open space walks with great views of the Indian Peaks Wilderness, Rocky Mountain National Park and beyond, even though I put in no more effort than taking Annie for a 15 minute walk. Thank you for having sunny snow-capped mountain views on a 90 degree day in July. And although it's sometimes annoying, I am grateful that you continually make me wish I brought my camera almost every time I drive home from work before dark. Oh, and thanks for the surprisingly good Mexican mole and friendly people. I'll have seconds of both, please.

I'm not one of those Louisville stubbornites that tries to hide the fact that you're conveniently close to Boulder and even Denver. Thanks for that too. Let's not pretend you'd be this awesome if you were an island. C'mon, don't gimme that - I say it out of love. Really, thanks a bunch for being 25 minutes away from checking in at an international airport and 5 minutes away from checking out of reality on back beat trails where all I can see is the disappearing slope giving way to a horizon revealing 14,000 foot peaks, while make-believing there's nothing in between.

Oh, and thanks for collecting all these things while still sporting a Super Target, Costco, Whole Foods, a never crowded movie theater and a hundred places to eat. 'Cause we wouldn't want to get stir crazy or depressed thinking about how we have to go to Boulder just for a good time or a good grocer. Such thoughts may lead to us wishing we lived down the road in the People's Republic of Boulder, and we'd rather not need a zip code to support how tragically hip and aware we are. We're hip enough here without the inflated costs, but don't tell 80301 - She just gets weird and defensive about that stuff.

And last of all, thanks for waiting to drop this whole CNN Money #1 place to live bomb until a month after we purchased our first home here. Good timing, friend. Congrats. It's been a good two years getting to know you. Sorry my dog is always treating you like her toilet. You know how it is.

Keep it up.

love,
eric