Whether conquering the coals of a casual backyard barbeque or relaxing over a romantic four-course treat, one of life’s simple summer pleasantries is dining outdoors. Feasting on a delightful meal while lounging on a patio or deck in the warm sunshine and fresh air is nothing short of an obligatory pastime. Time seems to whisk away with sweet nonchalance into dreamy oblivion when dining outside with good-humored company. Here in Aspen, the epicurean nirvana is heightened when enjoying a tableau vivant of regional specialties like blue agave margaritas, a warm brie paired with the perfect merlot, a main entrée of fresh Colorado lamb, or a palate cleansing antipasto before dessert.

Using a little imagination, dining al fresco in Aspen’s thin Rocky Mountain air is like dining in sylvan realm of Fairyland, the fictitious setting of Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream . Many bistros and cafes in this charming Victorian ski town pride themselves on well-appointed porches, patios, and decks in woodsy settings with postcard-perfect mountain panoramas and menus of artisan haute cuisine.

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For most of us bottom-of-the-money-food-chain commoners – meaning the wage-paid hungry, tired, and poor – it can be difficult to fully envision one billion dollars, particularly if you’ve never stepped foot in a Red Mountain estate or flown first class, much less in a private jet where the stewardess was offering caviar instead of airline peanuts or Dom Perignon for mouthwash. For the mathematically handicapped, a billion dollars is a one followed by nine zeros. A little unscientific research from around the Internet concludes that a billion minutes ago, the Roman Empire was still in its prime, with one billion minutes equaling somewhere in the ballpark of 1,900 years. In pennies, a billion dollars would cover almost 14 square miles, an area four times the size of the downtown Aspen municipality.

All this begs one question: Who are these mysterious and faceless billionaires?

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