Girl day!

I can't believe it's already the end of January! I spent today with my best friend Jenn in Denver, shoe shopping at Nordstrom. Afterward we had lunch at the Nordstrom Cafe. Here's a quick snap of our San Pellegrino water, before the waiter brought us our lunches. I had a little grilled chicken pizza on the thinnest, crispiest crust. Mmmmm!

I love good food and I do love to cook but have gotten very out of practice since I'm so busy all the time. It seems like we either eat out every meal or I just heat up something in the microwave. It's terrible! Lately I've made a commitment to cook more often, and I can't wait to try out some new recipes! Tonight I watched the movie Julie & Julia, about a woman who decides one day to cook all of Julia Child's famous French recipes in the course of one year, all the while blogging about the experience. Great movie! It made me want to visit New York and Paris again, and more importantly it inspired me to start cooking again. With pearls on.

A new shopping experience!

Pat and I are so excited! We recently discovered a new supermarket in town called Sunflower Market, located on the corner of Dublin and Academy. Basically it's healthy food and other products, but at extremely reasonable prices. (They have regular stuff too, in case you're wanting junk food LOL!) I'm so excited because during this recession I've had to become quite the bargain shopper, but now I can buy healthy, organic food and products and it won't bankrupt us. Here's a shot I snapped the other night of their produce department. Oh, joy!

Lunch with Pat

Yesterday Pat braved the cold and snow to surprise me at my studio and take me to lunch at Cy's. One of the best places in town for a burger for certain, but I opted for a chicken Philly cheese sandwich. Yum!

The ominous birds

Today I heard the relentless calling of crows outside my studio for several minutes, so I took a peek outside. In the large tree across the street and the one that shades my building's parking lot, crows were massing. Having just watched Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds for the first time only a couple of weeks ago, this gave me quite a scare! But not enough to prevent me from grabbing a camera and capturing them.

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The clock on the El Paso building on the southeast corner of Pikes Peak and Tejon, downtown. It's dated 1893 and the Latin phrase says, "Dum Vivimus, Vivamus." Translation: "While we live, let us live." In other words, seize the day, people!

The not so scenic skyline

I like to think that our city has a very nice skyline, even though we don't have much in the way of skyscrapers. Usually when you see a pretty view of Colorado Springs, it's shot from the east and looking west, with Pikes Peak in the background (like THIS, for instance). Here's a less picturesque view, captured from high up on 8th street in Motor City.

The unanswerable question

Please forgive me for being so opinionated, but I will never understand the need for an automobile like this! It's just so... obnoxious.

A strange weather day

Yesterday we experienced some strange weather indeed! It started off fairly balmy (at least for January), then the temperature dropped very suddenly and it began to sleet. Late in the afternoon I dropped by the post office, and as I was leaving I could see that the clouds had just as suddenly cleared and we were treated to a pretty pink and blue sunset. Very odd! Here's a snapshot I grabbed at that moment. A few seconds later, the sunset was gone.

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Alas, I have been sick the last few days! Hence the lack of a daily photo. Today's remedy is this capture of birds in flight, taken on December 22nd in Denver. Hope to see you all tomorrow!

Tamera

Nashville, Tennessee

I spent the better part of this week in Nashville, Tennessee, attending a photography conference. I had a blast. I go every year, and every year it's in a different city. Photographers come from literally all over the world and I get to make lots of new friends.

Nashville is a happenin' town! Ironically I got very few pictures of it -- I was either too busy in seminars, or too busy inside the bars and nightclubs! Here's a downtown Nashville street on Tuesday night. Please forgive the shakiness, I had a couple of beers in me ;o)

Theme day: Best Image of 2009

January's theme day is Best Image of 2009. I had a very hard time deciding, but ended up with this image from last January of some old tires stacked against a red building. I feel like I took some far more emotional images last year, but in choosing my "best" I'm going strictly by composition, contrast, color and just plain impact. I think I chose this particular image because I'm very drawn to red and black.

Below are my other three choices. Which one do you like?

If you'd like to see more best images from cities around the globe, click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

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The mural on the west wall of Lincoln Elementary on North Cascade Avenue. It reads, "All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them."

Happy trails, Dessie and Bob

Ever since I can remember, this barn on the corner of Templeton Gap and Fillmore has been painted with a quotable quote. The barn housed a very cute donkey, which over the years became a very cute and elderly donkey, and the owners would change the message every now and then. I've lived here since 1979 and I can't remember a time when it wasn't there. I have always looked forward to driving past this home and reading the message, even if I'd seen it a thousand times before. And whenever they'd change it, what a nice discovery that would be!

A couple of months ago I saw that the message had changed again, and with a pang I noticed a hand painted sign stuck to the fence that read "R.I.P. Dessie". Very sadly, I realized that the owner of the house, barn and donkey had passed on. I never knew much about the people that lived there. I always thought it curious that they were allowed to have livestock smack in the middle of our city, but there are odd pockets here and there in Colorado Springs that are zoned for horses and livestock (after all, this is the wild, wild west). I never drove by that house without looking for the little donkey and the words on his barn. I was happy to hear that he will be spending his twilight years well loved at a petting zoo.

In all these years, although I've always meant to take a picture, I never did until the other day. The final message reads, "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make," and below that, "Happy trails Dessie and Bob." I wonder if Dessie and Bob knew how much joy they brought to the many people who drove past their property every day. They should know that we loved them, even if we never met them.

For more about Dessie and Bob, follow this link: http://www.gazette.com/articles/vogrin-130613-dessie-taylor.html

Give me a ring sometime

Another unique piece of public art on our downtown streets; this is on the corner of Colorado and Nevada. I've been meaning to photograph it for a while This is just a grab shot while I was stuck in traffic. I like the idea of a visual pun: the passerby is chatting on the phone -- he's giving someone a ring as he walks past, well, a giant ring.

ETA 19 Feb 2010: I have since learned that This piece is called "A Girls Best Friend" by Manitou Springs artisit Doyle Svenby.

Immanuel Lutheran Church

Pat and I are huge fans of mid-century modern architecture, a fine example of which can be found on the northwest corner of Pikes Peak and Institute: Immanuel Lutheran Church, built in 1961. Here's the bell tower, which looks and sounds wonderful in the winter sun.

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Bare winter tree branches leave a lacy shadow on the Immanuel Lutheran School building. This is just a few blocks west of my house and I've never noticed it before, even though I've probably driven past it countless times. I'll have to start paying more attention to the world around me!

West Side Tattoo

Another "out the car window while waiting for a green light" photo. This is part of the fantastic mural that covers the wall of West Side Tattoo on 21st and Colorado.

Stand tall!

My fortune cookie message at Coal Mine Dragon yesterday. Wise advice for a short girl! ;o)

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With apologies -- I actually took this photo in October and forgot to post it! I love the skies in Colorado, especially in the autumn. So blue.

New Year's resolution?

Behold, the tasty snack my mom and I shared at Montague's on New Year's Day. Coconut cake and hot chocolate, mmmmm! In retrospect maybe it wasn't the most healthful way to start the year, but it sure was yummy!

Starting off with a bang

Pat and I drove 175 miles on New Year's Eve just to see the fireworks over Grand Lake, Colorado, at midnight. We made it just in time for the grand finale. Very lovely, and what a way to start the year -- with a bang!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great New Year's celebration! As for Pat and me, we decided at the last minute to drive to Grand Lake (about 175 miles away) for the fireworks show at midnight. We left the house at 8:45PM and miraculously made it in time for the grand finale! This was no small feat, considering we had to drive over a mountain pass in the dark. There was snow all around but the roads were pretty clear and there was a very bright full moon to help us. It illuminated everything to a degree we had never experienced before -- I've never driven through the mountains at night and been able to see the tops of the peaks like we did on New Year's Eve, and it was breathtaking. As we made our way through miles and miles of moonlit fir, pine and spruce, all laden with snow, it felt as if we were in a magical forest with no one else around.

We took this picture with a little point and shoot camera on the shores of the frozen lake at exactly 12:47am. It was just three degrees out there, brrrrr!

Happy New Year everyone! May it be healthy, happy and prosperous!

Tamera