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Today's post comes a little late in the day, but better late than never! This is a tall window in the stairwell of the Hagia Sofia coffeehouse in Old Colorado City. I took this photo a long time ago (no time to go out and take fresh photos with wedding season weighing down on me at the moment!), so actually I don't even know if the Hagia Sofia is still there. I'll have to go and check it out again one of these days, if I ever get a minute to just sit down and breathe!

Hens and chicks

The hens and chicks in my front garden are looking good! I took this photo yesterday morning after watering the garden. I like how they look in black and white. Very sculptural.

Colorado Springs Bike Fest, Part 2

Another shot of the Bike Fest (see yesterday's post). This is on Bijou Street right next to Acacia Park, looking east. Amazing motorcycles everywhere!

The Colorado Springs Bike Fest

Yesterday was the 11th annual Colorado Springs Bike Fest, which means our downtown was inundated with literally thousands of motorcycles of all shapes and sizes. Thousands! Pat and I stopped by to have a look. We didn't hang around for long because it was so scorching hot out (95 Fahrenheit, or 35 Celsius), but what we did see was pretty cool! Here's a shot of Tejon Street at Bijou -- you can see the bikes go on for blocks, and that doesn't show the half of it!

Town 'N Country Launderet

I've always loved this old sign behind the Red Top restaurant on Circle and Boulder. Year after year it just gets crappier and more weathered, and no one ever bothers to spruce it up, even though the launderette in question is always busy.

Mr. Squirrel has something to say

I was in the backyard the other day, checking out the progress in my gardens, when I heard a persistent clucking sound. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from but it sure sounded angry! The more I looked around me for the source of the noise, the louder and angrier it got. Finally I had the sense to look up, and what do you know, Mr. Squirrel was up in our maple tree, giving me the what-for. He sure had a lot to say! I ran inside and grabbed a camera so I could capture his cute little face. I sure wish I could speak squirrel. I wonder what he was saying. He was probably telling me to get out of "his" yard ;o)

Clematis

The clematis in my secret garden is going crazy this year! It must be that extra aggressive pruning I gave it last month. Don't you love the inky color? Gorgeous!

Hibbard's Department Store

This is the Hibbard's Building, which used to house Hibbard & Co., an old fashioned department store that operated for generations at this address on Tejon Street. Those of us who've lived here a long time can remember shopping there. Hibbard's carried clothes, jewelry, cosmetics, shoes... all the stuff you'd find at a modern day department store, but in a late 1800's building. Four floors of shopping, it was great! Hibbard's finally closed its doors in 1996. I did plenty of shopping there when it was still open, and I fondly remember the old fashioned elevator. I'm sad that Hibbard's has been turned into lofts and commercial space, but I have to admit that 1892 to 1996 was a pretty darn good run for a department store!

An indecent proposal

Yesterday I went in to my studio to get some work done (Sundays are so quiet, it helps me to get caught up). Sometime during the late afternoon I took a peek out the window to see what the weather was doing, and I spied this note on my car, pinned under the windshield wiper. Huh? "Debra? Will you marry me sweetie? XOXO" -- what on earth?!? I must admit that it was an alarming thing to find on my car! My first thought was, of course, oh no, somebody got the wrong car!, quickly followed by what the heck do I do with this piece of paper? After all, if it's legitimate, it's important that it get to the right person.

Sigh. Why does this weird stuff always happen to me? What an awkward position for me to be in! If I throw it away, does that make me a bad person? I feel compelled to find this Debra person and deliver the note to her! On the other hand... this is a little fishy for several reasons:

1) If a person is in love enough to want to spend the rest of his life with someone, presumably he'd be able to identify her car.
2) Who the heck proposes on a note stuck to a windshield? Seriously?!?
3) The writing looks suspiciously female -- not that it's so unusual that a female would want to marry another female, but women are usually more sensitive and romantic than to just leave a note on their beloved's car!

So what do you think? Should I throw it away with no guilt? Should I try and find this Debra? Do you suppose the whole thing was a lark?

A benefit for Janet

My friend Janet was involved in a single car accident on April 23rd. Janet and her husband Dave live here, and Dave is a competetive cyclist so they travel all around for races. On this particular day Dave was participating in a super endurance road race in New Mexico and Janet was providing race support in an automobile. She rolled the vehicle after missing a blind turn and overcorrecting. Dave was the first to come upon Janet only minutes after the accident, and luckily there were some medical professionals also participating in the race, so she got immediate medical attention. But since they were in the middle of nowhere it was some time before an ambulance was able to come and rush her to the hospital. To make a long story short, among other injuries Janet suffered, she fractured her C6 and C7 vertebrae, and I don't have to tell you that this is very serious. She has basically been in a coma and/or under heavy sedation since the accident.

I have been fretting about Janet and Dave ever since I heard the news a few weeks ago, and there has been precious little word. I only knew the sketchiest of details. Dave has been far too consumed with worry over his wife to fill any of us in (spending every spare minute at her bedside), and since he doesn't participate in social media forms of communication such as Facebook it's been doubly frustrating for those of us out of the loop. Last night there was a benefit held for Dave and Janet, and I was so grateful to see Dave's face that I couldn't stop hugging him! The Lo-Fi Cowboys played (my friend Chuck's band), and a troupe of belly dancers also gave us a great show. A lot of people showed up and made donations for Dave and Janet. Here's a picture of the belly dancers in mid-sway. They really did a great job! I've never seen belly dancers in action before. It made me want to learn how!

The good news is that Janet is slowly stabilizing. The doctors are keeping her sedated pretty much continuously, but she has had a couple of semi-alert moments. She is also in the best hospital for spinal cord injuries, Craig Rehabilitation Hospital in Denver. So please wish her well, she could use all the prayers and well-wishes you have to spare!

Dave and Janet in happier times, June 2008

The little red caboose

There's a little park in nearby Fountain that features a fountain (go figure) and a caboose. I'm still trying to figure out why the caboose is there, but I've always wanted to use it for a photoshoot and I finally got the chance last month. I had a client in Fountain who wanted family portraits and could only do them at high noon on a Sunday -- very challenging lighting conditions, as the sun was directly overhead and beating down on us like a supernova! I managed to pull off some decent portraits despite the bad lighting (for the curious, click HERE). The shot above was just a test so I could see what I was up against ;o)

The arts building

I love the color of this building on the Colorado College campus and use it all the time for shoots -- I hope they never paint over it! As far as I know, this is still the Arts building. I didn't go to CC but I had several friends who did, and if I recall correctly, all the art and music majors get their own private studio here for their senior year. What a luxury!

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I took this photo a couple of days ago while shooting engagement portraits in Monument Valley Park. This is Monument Creek, and the spring runoff must still be going strong, if you can judge by the velocity and volume of the water pouring over these rocks. In a few weeks' time it'll be a lot less dramatic.

Winfield Scott Stratton

This statue on the corner of Nevada and Pikes Peak depicts one of our city's most important early residents, Winfield Scott Stratton (apologies for the odd angle -- I shot this out my car window while waiting for the light to change!). No doubt countless people have rolled past Mr. Stratton's stern countenance without realizing who he was and what great contributions he made to Colorado Springs.

Originally from Indiana, Mr. Stratton moved here to pursue a career in carpentry but was soon swept up in the gold rush. After many years of prospecting for gold during summertime and working winters in the carpentry trade, he finally struck it rich on the south slope of Pikes Peak, near Victor and Cripple Creek. His discovery was christened the Independence Lode and it soon made Winfield Stratton a very wealthy man.

By all accounts Mr. Stratton was a generous and philanthropic soul. He donated important tracts of land to our city, including the block where City Hall sits. Our stately downtown post office, which is named after him, sits on a parcel acquired from Mr. Stratton at a fraction of its actual value; he also donated a large sum of money to the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, one of his alma maters. He bailed many a friend out of financial difficulty, and when Cripple Creek burned to the ground he provided assistance to the thousands left homeless. Mr. Stratton was especially generous to the poor elderly and children in our region, and for this he forever wins my heart. Upon his death in 1902, his millions went toward establishing the Myron Stratton Home, named after his father, which to this day fulfills his original mission of assisting "poor persons who are without means of support and who are physically unable by reason of old age, youth, sickness or other infirmity to earn a livelihood." More than a century after his death, Winfield Scott Stratton continues to give generously to our community. Bravo!

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I had to laugh at this bumper sticker even though it's a little vulgar. I totally get the sentiment behind it.

The trees have... sweaters!

This afternoon I made a quick run to the Pita Pit, and on the way home I noticed that the trees on the north side of Acacia Park were wearing sweaters! I had to stop and get a picture of course. I was a little baffled by the sight, until I read "International Yarn Bomb Day 6/11" on one of the sweaters. Ah. Well I wish I'd known about it, I'd have knit a tree sweater too! (Oh well -- there's always next year.)

This fisherman's on fire!

Pat went fishing on Pikes Peak yesterday with our friend Joe, and in three hours he caught eight trout! (He released them all.) Heck, he even caught two of them at the same time! He's quite the angler :^)

Blunt Mortuary

The west facade of the Blunt Mortuary building in Old Colorado City. When I was in college we used to joke about they must be very blunt about death there, a la Captain Kirk ("He's dead, dammit!"). Please don't listen to the bad comedy of drunken college students! I'm sure the opposite is true of Blunt Mortuary; after all, they've kindly guided many generations of Colorado Springs families through grief. I like to think I'm a little more mature now than I was in college, but I admit that I still giggle a little when I drive past Blunt Mortuary and see the name on the building.

Mountain Shadows

Today Pat took me to lunch (or maybe I should say brunch, since it was luxuriously late) at Mountain Shadows restaurant, one of our favorite places to chow down. Behind the unassuming facade of this century old house lie gustatory delights enough to satisfy the appetite of the hungriest bears! It's the kind of place where the waitress calls you "hon". We've been regulars for years. Of course Mountain Shadows has great lunch fare such as sandwiches, burgers and fries, and lately they're open for dinner on the weekends (buffalo steaks, anyone?), but breakfast food is where they really shine. No sissy crepes here my friends -- this is real stick-to-your-ribs kind of grub. Yum! Today I had what I almost always order, a corned beef hash omelet. So delicious! They also make the most amazing pancakes the size of a steering wheel. If you live anywhere near Colorado Springs, you should definitely visit this little restaurant on the west side, it's the best.

Arapahoe Acres

My brother Chuck and I went to Denver the other day to check out the HGTV Green Home (see yesterday's post), and while we were there I thought he'd like to see Arapahoe Acres, a small neighborhood crammed with amazing examples of midcentury modern architecture. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know that Pat and I are HUGE fans of modernism, and so is Chuck! Arapahoe Acres really is the coolest neighborhood ever, and it's literally two blocks from my best friend Jenn's house. Because of the architectural significance of the homes, the entire neighborhood has been designated as a historic district (and I would be willing to bet that a high percentage of architects live there!). I snapped photos of a couple of homes as we drove through -- it was hard to restrain myself from photographing every last one of them, but I didn't want to look like a creepy stalker! Here's one of them. Sigh. Wouldn't it be awesome to live in such a groovy house?!?

The HGTV Green Home

On Saturday my brother and I drove to Denver to tour the HGTV Green Home. If you don't have cable TV or don't live in the US, let me explain what the green home is: HGTV is a cable channel devoted to home and garden. Every year they do a big giveaway of a "dream home"; the last couple of years they've started giving away a "green home" as well (green meaning environmentally friendly, of course). This year's green home is handily located in Denver, and yes I entered to win it. In fact I entered the drawing every single day for a month! So did my brother Chuck. When we heard they were giving tours of the home, we jumped at the chance to see it in person. It's so cool! Very cleverly designed and beautifully decorated. I was so excited to see all the gorgeous details up close!

The drawing is on June 25th -- wish me luck!

Rocky Top Resources

This is the bed of Pat's truck receiving a quarter ton of topsoil! We've been doing massive amounts of yardwork and gardening lately, trying to make up for a couple of years of neglect. Pat took it upon himself to till up almost all of the grass in our backyard (and our backyard is HUGE), then dress it with new topsoil and plant new grass seeds. This explains the trip to Rocky Top Resources for the above-pictured load. Actually it was way more than one trip! Pat discovered Rocky Top a couple of years ago and they're great. If you have yard waste you need to get rid of, like tree branches, piles of leaves, garden debris, etc, Rocky Top will take it off your hands for a very reasonable fee. If you do it on a Saturday they'll accept a can of food for payment, and it goes to Care and Share. I love that. They also sell topsoil, mulch, rock, stone... all the stuff that you need for your yard.

I for one can't wait for all this yardwork to be finished. Pat did the lion's share of the heavy work, and I did a lot of planting these last few days, including a vegetable garden that is going to be bursting with produce in a couple of months! Only one more garden to clean up and replant, and we can sit back and watch the grass grow.

A faithful companion

I noticed this handsome fellow yesterday in the parking lot of Cy's, waiting for his master to finish lunch. He sat just like that, alertly watching the door, the entire time. I wonder if he was rewarded with a cheeseburger for his faithfulness. I think he deserved one -- what a good boy!

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Another nice photo from my stop at Hillside Gardens a couple of days ago (see yesterday's post for more).

Hillside Gardens

I stopped by Hillside Gardens yesterday to buy some plants for my garden. Not only is Hillside Gardens a nursery, it's an incredible venue for live concerts and weddings, and what's even cooler is that it used to be a junkyard! (I remember going there in search of parts for my '69 Karmann Ghia.) Several years ago a guy named Larry bought the property with all its contents and painstakingly turned it into his own personal work of art. There are several beautifully planted acres dotted with interesting artifacts from the old junkyard, like antique gas pumps, farm implements, ancient sewing machines, and other odds and ends, all cleverly juxtaposed with ponds, pergolas, drifts of flowers, and splashing fountains. Such a nice place for a wedding (and I've shot many weddings at Hillside Gardens!). What's even nicer is that it's only five minutes from my house :o)