When Russ and I were Scamping in Colorado last month, we visited Boulder with my son and his friends.  One site was a local park that’s home to the Flatiron Mountains, which are a series of five impressive flat-sided peaks. The destination is popular with hikers and climbers.

I almost went to college there at the University of Colorado in Boulder, so that was one reason for our visit. Back then (and maybe even now) its biology program had a good reputation, which attracted me. I was even assigned a roommate. But at the last moment, I decided to attend the University of Minnesota instead for financial reasons. The university wasn’t far from the park we visited, and as we drove past, it was fun to ponder how my life might have been different if I’d stuck with my first choice of college.

Anyway, back to Chautauqua Park. We hiked 1-1/2 miles UP and DOWN the base of the Flatirons. The spring flowers were out, which added cheerful color to our high-altitude breathlessness. My son’s friend went to college in Boulder and had climbed the mountains and he regaled us with tales of his adventures.

Afterward, we ate lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant. As our meal wrapped up, we discussed the agenda for the rest of our day. Originally, we’d planned to shop at the Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder, but nature won out when we decided we didn’t have enough time and would rather stop at Golden Gate Canyon State Park for a short hike. As we rose from the table to leave, emergency vehicles raced down the road. We wondered what was going on, but didn’t give it much thought until the next day when we learned about the Pearl Street Mall hate-crime attack.

Every Sunday since the Hamas-led attack on Israel in the fall of 2023, pro-Israel people have walked at 1 p.m. through the mall toward the courthouse to remind people of the hostages taken. Sometimes they sing the Israeli national anthem. It’s a peaceful demonstration.

On the day of our visit, a man yelled “Free Palestine” and threw a Molotov cocktail into the crowd of demonstrators. You can read national news accounts for a description of what happened next. In the end, eight people were badly burned and four had to be airlifted to Denver. One later died. The suspect (a recent transplant from Egypt) was quickly arrested and now faces a possible death penalty.

Blissfully unaware of these circumstances, and as more emergency vehicles passed us going the other direction toward downtown, we drove to Golden Gate Canyon State Park on our way back to Denver.  The park was recommended for hiking by my cousin who lives in Golden. We stopped at Panorama Point and enjoyed watching a dramatic thunderstorm roll past. As the storm turned toward us, we parted ways.

The next day when we learned about the Pearl Street Mall attack, we felt for the injured people, but also felt lucky that we had changed our minds about a mall visit and didn’t end up as collateral damage. The restaurant where we had lunch was only 10 blocks away from it.

What if I had gone to Boulder for college? What if we had eaten our lunch faster and decided to visit the Pearl Street Mall? I guess we’ll never know answers to the questions raised by these two close calls.

I dedicate this post and these images to the victims of the Pearl Street Mall attack.