The road to nowhere

Today my friend Jennifer came down from Denver to help me organize the back room at my studio, which sorely needed it (thanks Jenn!). I decided to go on a beer run, and as I drove away I noticed this sign on the corner just up the block. Isn't it odd? I've never noticed it before. My studio is in a 1950s building, part of a three block long row of businesses all housed in similar mid-century buildings. So I assume this sign must have been planted there at about the same time -- it sure looks like it. I wonder what it used to say. If I were feeling philosophical I could come up with some esoteric meaning behind it, but I think I'll just stick with "it's a really old sign pointing in the general direction of my studio."

Taco Star

My name is Tamera and I am a burrito-holic. I have no control over my cravings for Taco Star burrito goodness.

Just kidding! (Or not.) Taco Star is an awesome 24-hour taco stand near my house. Actually they have two locations near my house -- one to the east, one to the west, which is a very bad thing because I have absolutely no willpower whatsoever when the burrito craving strikes. My favorite is the Colorado burrito: steak, potato, onions, cheese. Oh man it's good! I don't know what all they put into it (crack cocaine? or maybe it's just pure lard) but it is insanely delicious and habit forming. I don't even want to know how many calories are in that thing. Anything that tastes as good as a Taco Star Colorado burrito must be good for you, right?

Yes, Pat and I are hopeless addicts (Pat's addiction is the chorizo burrito). They like us there. They've gotten to know us pretty well! This is the guy who served me a burrito with a smile today. All the guys at Taco Star are awesome!

Sno-White Cleaners

The Sno-White Cleaning company in Old Colorado City has got the coolest signage! It's so mid-century, we love it! For a while now I've been meaning to capture the sign with snow on it*, so the day after last week's blizzard Pat and I drove down there to see if I could finally get the shot I wanted. Alas, the snow was already long gone (drat the sun!). As I stood in the street taking a few snaps of it anyway, a man trundled by pushing a dolly loaded with furniture. He very politely pretended not to notice the crazy lady with the camera standing in the street, taking pictures of the Sno-White sign. Maybe he thought I was just another tourist.

Next time it snows I promise to get down there right away to capture it!

*I did take a snowy picture of it on black and white film a couple of years ago, but have failed to get a decent print out of it.

White picket fence

I took this photo yesterday afternoon on West Colorado Avenue, a major east/west artery that is lined with Victorian houses from one end to the other. Over the past few decades, Colorado has become more and more of a commercial street and less of a residential street. The result is that many of the old homes on Colorado (the ones that don't house insurance agents, dentists or antique stores) have become somewhat run down because they have been turned one by one into rentals; many of them have been chopped up into apartments instead of single family dwellings, which accelerates the decay -- the tenants just don't care, and neither do the landlords it seems. It's kind of sad, because these are beautiful houses. If you go even one block south or north of Colorado you can see how well-loved the Victorians on our city's west side are. It's just this one major street that's kind of shabby. Too bad!

Snowman greetings!

Today's post is courtesy of yesterday's blizzard! Pat and I went looking for snowy scenes late today, but a lot of it had already melted away. Colorado Springs really didn't get too much of the white stuff (although the mountains got dumped on). Since it's so sunny here, often the snow will quickly disappear the day after a big storm, as was the case today.

We spotted this dapper chap in front of a Victorian on the west side. As I jumped out of the car to snap a picture, I noticed a cute little girl watching me from a window. Presumably she was the snowman's creator. Do you remember making a snowman when you were little?

P.S. I would like to dedicate today's post to my friend Jennifer. Happy Birthday Jenn!

Blizzard today

I'm not going outside to take any pictures today! Forget about it! We're having quite a blizzard -- all the news media in town have been talking about it coming for days now, and it's finally here. I am not disappointed. We currently have about 16F outside (that's -9C), high winds and relentless, horizontal snow. They are saying we may get up to a foot of it in places, but I don't know if that's going to be the case here in my neighborhood.

This photo was taken about an hour or so ago, out my kitchen window (click on the image for a larger view). Things are just starting to get interesting. I imagine by this time tomorrow we'll be under a heavy blanket of snow. I'll take a picture of it for you!

Downtown Denver

This is a footbridge over the Platte River where it runs through downtown Denver. My friends Brian and Allison recently moved into a loft just a stone's throw from where this photo was taken.

I like this part of Denver, it's really abuzz with activity and things to do. It's affectionately known as the LoDo, short for "lower downtown". The LoDo is dear to my heart, not only because it's a former personal stomping ground (in my crazy, go-go nightclubbing days), but because it is also the former stomping ground of Beat poet Jack Kerouac and his mates (Ginsberg, Cassady, Burroughs, et al). It's chock full of character and history. If you are a fan of Kerouac, you really should visit the LoDo sometime and see where he got a lot of his inspiration.

Conway's Red Top

Where to go in Colorado Springs for the largest burger you've ever eaten? Conway's Red Top! A Springs institution for generations, Red Top has been owned and operated by the Conway family for nearly half a century (Norb Conway started out as a busboy there and eventually bought the company in 1961). When my family first moved here in 1979, one of the first restaurants we ate at was Red Top. Thirty years later I'm still a regular -- there's one just a few blocks from my house and we drop in there frequently. I can never eat an entire burger though. I have to order the half size. This photo is Pat's dinner a couple of nights ago. That's a big burger!

Red Top has five locations in Colorado Springs. The one near my house played host to presidential candidate John McCain last year, as well as retired Bronco quarterback John Elway. Plenty of people here like Senator McCain I'm sure, but John Elway! My gosh! He's a veritable superhero in these parts! And he dropped in for a burger at Red Top -- how cool is that!

Attack of the giant beetle!

No, this isn't an ad for a cheesy horror movie, it's another image from our little jaunt down Highway 115 yesterday. This enormous Hercules beetle is a Colorado Springs landmark. It's there to tempt you into visiting the May Museum, which I'll admit I've never done! I have, however, taken a few pictures of the giant beetle over the years. It's hard to resist! And I'm proud to report that he's even listed on www.roadsideamerica.com, a true distinction indeed.

Mystic Meadows

If you drive southward on Nevada Avenue far enough, its name changes to Highway 115. Once you've gone past Fort Carson you're pretty much in the boonies, an area called Turkey Creek. It's a really pretty drive. I think there are probably quite a few Colorado Springs residents who don't even realize what's there: a lot of open space and a park/nature reserve, and just gorgeous terrain in general. If you continue on Highway 115 you'll eventually end up in a little town called Penrose, but that's a subject for another post.

There's a place on Highway 115 called Mystic Meadows. Basically it's a venue for events such as weddings or other large gatherings. It's situated on a pretty parcel of land that includes a pond; there's also a lodge-y sort of building and a gazebo. I've shot a couple of weddings there over the last few years. If I reach back far enough in my memory, I recall that it used to be a steakhouse some time ago, then I think it sat empty for a while before the current owners bought it and turned it into an events center. My favorite part of Mystic Meadows is the marquee with the bucking bronco atop it. I'm sure that the marquee at one time beckoned you to come on in and enjoy a nice juicy steak, but now it generally reads "Congratulations Justin and Jennifer!" (or whoever's getting married there this weekend).

I love the horse and I'm glad the latest owners decided to keep it despite the slightly kitsch-y quality it lends the place. It's become a bit of a landmark in these parts, and it's unique!

The Crypt

Last night I went to Denver to hang out with my friend Jenn, who lives there. We went to see her friend Duncan's band, d.biddle, play at the Hi-Dive. The Hi-Dive is on South Broadway, a colorful part of town. It's not residential; in addition to a multitude of nightclubs and bars there are some cool art galleries and some very interesting shopping possibilities, including this place, the Crypt. The Crypt has been there forever -- I mean years! It's the place to go to find, uh, bedroom toys, fetish accessories, leather, and edgy clothing. It's definitely not for your modest side! (Click on the picture for a larger view -- you'll see.)

I had to take a picture of their window last night because the girl mannequin is sporting the same hairdo as me. Gotta love those fishnet stockings, very cool! Hey, they're having a 10%-50% off sale, maybe I should stop in ;o)

The Drive-In

Just when you think you can't take it anymore, winter begins to wane and spring makes its tentative debut. Part of that debut in Colorado Springs is the seasonal opening of the Drive-In, a little ice cream/burger joint just up the block from my studio. They close down entirely in the winter and re-open their doors in early spring.

The Drive-In is a popular place for locals and tourists alike. It's been there since the 1950's and hasn't changed much since it opened. I think it's one of the best places in town to get a milkshake or a soft serve cone.

Today I had lunch with my mom and my Aunt Ellen, who will soon be leaving to move back permanently to the Philippines. We had Thai for lunch, then we stopped at the Drive-In for some soft serve. I know, Thai food and soft serve ice cream sounds like a bad mix, but it was delicious! And so nice to spend a little time with my mom and auntie.

Tragedy on the west side

All of Colorado Springs is heartbroken over the horrific accident that killed 18 year-old Whitney Hendrickson on Tuesday. The accident happened at a 7-11 convenience store on 15th and Colorado. When I was in college, I lived about four blocks from that 7-11 for a summer. It always seemed such a benign place.

The circumstances of the accident seem completely random, almost theatrical, and a real case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A woman named Kelli McKay lost control of her SUV, which plowed into a truck parked at a gas pump at the 7-11. The truck then ricocheted into the gas pump, which dislodged, pinning Whitney between it and her vehicle and causing large quantities of gasoline to spill onto the pavement. In a matter of seconds everything went up in flames. There was no chance of saving her, though bystanders and first responders tried heroically.

The whole thing is so sad. By all accounts Whitney was a truly special person, and just on the cusp of great things. A makeshift memorial sprung up at the 7-11 almost immediately after the news hit. Clearly she had many loved ones. Tonight we went there with the intent of photographing the memorial for this blog. When I parked the car and turned around, I saw a group of people walking toward it. They gathered silently around the flowers, signs and teddy bears. I didn't have the heart to interrupt them so I went inside the 7-11 for a while, intending to wait until they left. The clerk inside told me that the group of people out there must be members of Whitney's family, that they have come back repeatedly over the last couple of days just to stand there and grieve. I decided to leave and try again another time, but just as I was about to get into my car I saw them all come together in a hug or in prayer. So I took this photo and went home.

I'm certain this is the saddest photograph I've ever taken. It was impossible to witness this scene and not cry. The grief was almost palpable. My heart goes out to Whitney's family and loved ones. I'm so sorry.

St. Paddy's Day at Murphy's Tavern

One of my favorite places on Planet Earth is Murphy's Tavern on North Nevada, just around the corner from my studio. Family owned for generations, it's an honest to God dive-bar in the best sense of the word, and a real Colorado Springs institution. The first time I ever got stinkin' drunk was at Murph's (and I was way underage, don't tell anyone!). I've been going there since I was a freshman in college. It's really kind of old and crappy, and it has the geniune appeal of a blue collar bar but without the scary factor. The place still reeks of decades of cigarette smoke, even though they banned smoking in bars here a couple of years ago. The walls are painted institutional green. You definitely want to be drunk to use the restrooms (unless you're not picky about these things). There's a horseshoe bar covered in formica that's about a thousand years old. They've had the same bartenders forever. It's still only about $1.50 for a draw at Murph's. I rarely have to pay for more than the first round though, especially when Ron's behind the bar. In the 25+ years I've been going there, the place has barely changed. I love that.

Murphy's has been a favorite gathering place for me and most of my friends since college, and I think that statement applies to so many other groups of friends who are fortunate enough to live in Colorado Springs. It's sort of a home away from home. When my friend Dave died unexpectedly two summers ago, his wake was held at Murphy's. He would have liked that!

On Saint Patricks Day, Murph's a popular spot. I shot this from across the street a couple of hours ago. I don't think anyone noticed me, they were too busy enjoying their beer. I think I can see my friends Kathy McQ and Jerry M through the windows.

Reincarnation

Pat and I were driving around one night recently, running errands -- recycling our plastics, to be exact. I know it's weird to be out and about, taking care of recycling at odd hours of the night, but there you have it. We take our recycling to Waste Management, over by the dog track. It's more of an industrial part of town. Slightly seedy. Lots of different warehouses and small businesses are crammed into those few square blocks, including a handful of auto restoration places. This one caught our eye for obvious reasons! I like old cars like this. (I happen to be the proud owner of a vintage BMW myself, I've had it for years.) I also like the name of this place, ReinCARnation. Very clever!

A photo of the mission style Catholic church in Fort Garland. Here's an interesting rundown on the history of Costilla County, where Fort Garland is located: http://cogenweb.com/costilla/history.htm The San Luis Valley has an interesting history!

I wonder how old this church is. Is it truly old, or is it "faux old"?

Cafe

Another image of the abandoned Ute Cafe in Fort Garland. My favorite part of this photo is the shadow of the lamp on the building.

The Ute Cafe

I took a few pictures of the Ute Cafe in Fort Garland as we headed back home from the Great Sand Dunes. Some of my photos were wider and took in the entire building, but I prefer the tighter shots that show the age and character of the place. This must have been a busy stop at one time, located on Highway 160 en route to Alamosa and parts beyond. Since the owner retired, apparently it's just been empty and teetering toward dilapidation. I don't know how long that's been but I do like how they have left their thoughts behind.

Fort Garland

On our drive home from the Great Sand Dunes, Pat and I stopped in Fort Garland to get a few pictures of the abandoned Ute Cafe, which we had spied earlier in the day. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot I noticed this abandoned building across the street and had to get a shot of it too. It looks like it must have once been a cafe, and at another point it was a thrift store, judging by the peeling layers of the facade.

According to this website, Fort Garland was established in 1858 as a military post. This building looks like it dates to the late 1800's or early 1900's. It looks so empty and sad! I hope someone fixes it up.

Blanca

On our way to the Sand Dunes, Pat and I spotted this giant, organic sculpture as we passed through the tiny town of Blanca. I wanted to photograph it in late afternoon light, so we made a point of stopping on our way back home.

I've never heard of Blanca. It's so small that it's only about two blocks long (I'm not kidding). According to their website, they have 402 residents. The San Luis Valley is largely agricultural, so I'm sure that farming and ranching are what life in Blanca revolves around. From what we could tell it's a peaceful, pretty place.

Alamosa

Our trip to the San Luis Valley took us to the town of Alamosa, more or less the urban hub of the entire area. I've only been there once and that was years ago, so I envisioned a sleepy little town. What we found was that Alamosa is a bustling little college burg! Okay, it's only four square miles and 4,000 residents, but it's hip. Where there's college, there's hipness, and Alamosa is no exception. The college in question is Adams State. This image is of the theater on campus. Very cool!

The Alligator Farm

After our hilariously brief visit to the Great Sand Dunes, Pat really wanted to check out the nearby Alligator Farm. This place is well known to Coloradoans, and it's gained a little bit of fame in general just for being an oddity. It's one of only a handful of places in the U.S. where you can receive training on how to properly handle alligators. According to their literature, the place started out many years ago as a fish farm (tilapia, to be exact). The thermal springs in the area provide a naturally warm water temperature year round. Gators were first brought in to consume dead fish. Now why they thought of gators for this task, I cannot tell you. I assume that most fish farms lose a certain amount of fish in their daily operations. How many of them employ alligators to rid themselves of the offal? It would seem that the alligators themselves would produce their own special kind of offal. Awful!

But I digress. Anyway, the place is just a few miles down the road from the national park, so it was easy to find. For some reason it was closed, but that didn't stop us from hanging out for a few minutes to look around and take a few pictures. As we were investigating, a pair of emus (yes, emus -- extremely large Australian flightless birds) came over to investigate us. Thank goodness they were behind a fence! They seemed friendly enough, but they were taller than me! They let me take their picture, which was very sweet of them.

What a strange place this alligator farm is. We didn't see any alligators, but we sure saw a lot of junk. As we were leaving I caught sight of this sign bidding us to drive five and-a-half miles north to check out the "UFO tower". Maybe next time!

Abandoned farmhouse

This abandoned farmhouse is on County Road 6 N between the Great Sand Dunes and the Alligator Farm. I thought it looked so perfect and symmetrical, like a little Monopoly house out on the prairie. That cloudy haze you see in the background is a dust storm.

Highway 150

Another image from our road trip to the Great Sand Dunes. This is Highway 150, inside the park. See the previous two posts for more images and details on the trip.

More sand dunes...

Another shot of the beautiful Great Sand Dunes. See yesterday's post for the hilarious details on how I got this image -- shooting directly into the wind, getting scoured by a crazy sand storm!

Pat and I both thought that this scene reminded us of the famous Salvador Dali painting, The Persistence of Memory.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Yesterday Pat and I went on a road trip to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. We have been meaning to go there for ages. Pat had visited there once when he was a little kid, and I went there with my brother about 15 years ago, so it had been a really long time for both of us.

It takes about two hours to drive there from Colorado Springs. As we drove south on I-25 we noticed how extremely windy it was. The Sand Dunes are pretty far away though, so we figured that the weather patterns would be different in the San Luis Valley. Wrong! If anything, it was far worse! Nevertheless, we were very excited as we neared the park, even though there was a rather ominous cloud of dust visible over it from miles and miles away. As we pulled into the parking lot I made the decision to leave my expensive pro camera in the car because of the high winds and sand (sand will KILL your camera). Instead, I brought my trusty little point and shoot and, rather absurdly, my purse -- thinking if things got to be too extreme for the camera I could put it in the purse.

And so we strode out onto the dunes and were hit with gale force winds and stinging sand in our faces. It was insane! We could barely see where we were going, it was just like standing in a blizzard. I caught a glimpse of some dead wood in the sand to my left, with dunes drifting over it, and it looked like it would make a decent photo. Pat and I trudged over the dunes, sand pounding our faces, and I tried to get a shot of it. I was literally shooting blind, right into the wind and the flying sand. After a minute of this I simply turned my back to the wind and Pat followed suit. I thought maybe it would let up for a few seconds and I could quickly turn around and get my shot, so I stood there waiting. But the wind didn't stop, so I rather foolishly turned around and made a few more attempts to get some pretty pictures (the things I do for my blog!). Pat and I were getting sandblasted, it was crazy! After a few more seconds of this I turned tail and ran back to the car.

The whole thing was extremely hilarious. For one thing, I was standing in the middle of a violent sandstorm with my purse, as if I was planning on going shopping or something. Pat had the hood up on his jacket, so he looked like Obi Wan Kenobi standing in the wastelands of Tatooine (or the Unabomber, you decide). When we got back to the car I found that I had sand in my ears, stuck to my lipstick, in my hair (where it stayed all day), in my pockets, the cuffs of my jeans, and inside my shoes. Later in the day I went to Starbucks and pulled out my wallet to pay, and there was sand inside my wallet -- I checked my purse and it was full of sand too. Crazy!

We had a blast (no pun intended). We finally got to visit the Sand Dunes even though we could barely see anything! We got to explore Alamosa, a small college town nearby, as well as some of the tiny rural towns in the San Luis Valley. We visited an alligator farm (more on that later), and I got some cool photos of this and that.

The photo above was strongly manipulated in Photoshop to bring out the contrast -- the conditions made it impossible to get a decent exposure. The white area of the sky directly above the dunes is not clouds. That's flying sand. When we got home we immediately checked the weather report. It turns out the winds in the San Luis Valley were 35-40mph all day. No wonder we were getting sandblasted! (Looking on the bright side, we had the entire place to ourselves!)

More photos to come over the next few days.

The Mining Museum

Pat and I are going on a little road trip to the Great Sand Dunes National Park today, so just in case we don't make it home in time I'm "pre"-blogging my March 5th post. This is a photo of the Mining Museum taken on April 7th of last year (click on the image to see it larger). The museum is way up on the very north end of town, a place I rarely go. I was on assignment that day shooting some real estate photos, but I couldn't resist getting a shot of the museum across the street from where I was working. We very rarely get fog in Colorado Springs. It just looks so cool!

Facial recognition

I captured this image in an antique shop window on the west side a couple of weeks ago. As a professional photographer I have lots of snazzy cameras, but you'd be suprised to hear that almost all of the photos I post here on this blog are taken with a pocket Canon point and shoot. This particular little camera was purchased about two years ago on the cheap. I remember I got a really good deal because the new generation of cameras had come in, and they were trying to get rid of all the "old" ones.

I find it to be a very useful little camera. It fits in my purse and it's got a pretty sharp lens. It also has this technology called "facial recognition" -- the camera can sense when it's pointed at a face, and will pinpoint the face(s) in the image for priority in focusing. When you look at the screen on the back of the camera, you can see where the it has put boxes around all the faces. I thought it was funny when it "recognized" Chewbacca and Darth Sidious as I took this picture.

Shadow play

Today was a nearly perfect day. Just a little wind, but the temperature hovered around 70 degrees all day (21 C). Very nice. While driving to my studio in the late afternoon I happened to notice this tree and its shadow on the corner of Wahsatch and Colorado.

The Salon des Refusés

This photo was my backup plan for the March theme day (see yesterday's post), just in case my little homage to Andre Kertesz didn't pan out. It's a sculpture that lives in the parking lot of the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors. This sculpture has been there for years, and I've always wanted to use it in a photo shoot somehow since it's so groovy and modern (maybe with a model or something). Unfortunately, looking through its two supporting curved arms, the view you get is of cars from one perspective, and of the street from the other side. Really, it's not terribly attractive. It looks fantastic, however, when viewed looking upward during the late afternoon. I love the blue-green glass pieces inset in the oculus at the top of the sculpture. You can't really tell from this picture but the metal is also very shiny. I don't necessarily think this sculpture is exactly high art, but it is interesting and a nice addition to Tejon Street.

As I was photographing it, a local TV news team showed up and set up for a shot in front of the building. I imagine they were doing some kind of report on the state of the real estate market in the current challenging economy. I hope it was good news!

March theme day: glass

It's theme day again! March's theme day is glass, and there are already lots of cool photos on the CDP blogs worldwide! (See link at the end of this post.)

As for me, I decided to do an homage to my favorite photographer and one of my biggest inspirations, Andre Kertesz. He did a photo of the artist Mondrian's glasses and tobacco pipe in 1926 that is quite famous and quite magnificent in my opinion. You can view Kertesz's beautiful photo here: http://www.pbase.com/omoses/image/61191419

My humble attempt is a pale imitation, using some old eyeglasses of Pat's that haven't seen the light of day for years, a wonderful hand-thrown bowl by my artist friend Mark Wong, and a cheap pipe that was a gag gift from Pat's brother. It was actually pretty difficult to set this shot up, but even though I was cursing myself for taking on such a challenging task, I was actually having fun. I just hope Mr. Kertesz isn't spinning in his grave right now!

If you would like to see more theme day posts, click here to view thumbnails for all participants