The Julie Penrose fountain

Behold the Julie Penrose fountain in America the Beautiful park. This impressive, sculptural water feature was in part designed by David Barber, who happens to be the father of one of my friends. And America the Beautiful park came into being a few years ago under the stewardship of then-mayor Marylou Makepeace, who happens to be the mother of one of my friends. I think she's the best mayor we've ever had! Unfortunately, Colorado Springs residents are now so tax-shy that a wonderful park and water feature like this is probably not going to happen in our city again for a long, long time, if ever. You may have heard how city voters recently defeated a proposed (small) tax that would have gone toward our police and fire departments, as well as open spaces and other issues. A tax that would have cost the average resident only $16 per year, rejected! As a result, Colorado Springs rather shamefully made national news because our city council had to make some tough choices, including not watering our parks and open spaces this year, turning off half our street lights (not good!), closing our public pools, and asking citizens to mow the grass in our parks! The other day I noticed our downtown medians, which are usually so lovely and green and planted with beautiful flowers, are now overgrown, brown, and not planted with flowers at all. So our beautiful downtown, the jewel of our city, is looking a little dejected this year :o( The good news is that the council did find a way to at least water a little, so our parks won't all turn totally brown. But they will not be as wonderful as they usually are.

I can't wait for this dead economy to turn around. Every little glimmer of improvement gives me hope! As for the fountain, dear readers, I plan to go back when it's flowing with water and get a picture for ya.

Nap time

On Thursday Pat and I stopped by the Pita Pit for lunch. This old fellow was fast asleep on the park bench in front. He never woke once the entire time we were there, even with traffic whizzing by. I wish I could sleep so soundly.

My favorite bar

Sorry I haven't posted in the last couple of days. I've been out twice this week looking specifically for material for the blog, but nothing jumped out at me screaming, "Take a picture of me!" However, after about four beers, pretty much everything is picture-worthy ;o) Here's the bar at Murphy's Tavern, my favorite bar, about three weekends ago. Yeah it's a dive, but I'd rather go to Murphy's than just about any other place on earth for a beer and good company.

Compleat Games and Hobbies

Here's Pat peering into the window of Compleat Games and Hobbies on Tejon Street earlier tonight. The reason we didn't go inside was that once you enter their doors, it's pretty hard to leave -- there's just so much great stuff in there! It doesn't matter if you're looking for sophisticated gaming accessories, or if you're into model trains, planes or automobiles, or maybe just looking for an irreverent bumper sticker; you can spend hours and hours in this store. Good thing I managed to get Pat away from the window, we were actually downtown to meet our friend Joe for dinner at Poor Richard's!

A hot ride

Last month we celebrated Pat's birthday with dinner at the Roman Villa on North Nevada, followed by dessert at Nosh downtown. Nosh is located inside the Plaza of the Rockies, one of our few skyscrapers. Lately the local Porsche dealership has parked one of its hot rides inside. I'm glad I don't work at the Plaza of the Rockies. If I had to walk past this sportscar every day of the week I might have been tempted to buy it for Pat's birthday! (Well you can always dream!)

Graduation day

Today I was at the Fountain Valley School to photograph their commencement ceremony, as I do every year. It was a perfect day to graduate from high school! Extra bonus: Goose Gossage was the keynote speaker. He was very charming and articulate, and he didn't mind my camera at all.

As I was leaving I grabbed this photo of some of the dorms. What a beautiful campus.

Stapleton

I took this photo outside a Starbucks in Denver on Monday, in a neighborhood called Stapleton, the former site of Stapleton Airport and a shining example of the New Urbanism movement. At first I resisted the idea of New Urbanism, when these seemingly manufactured neighborhoods started popping up in Denver and Colorado Springs. Very cute, neo-Craftsmen bungalows all mingled in with neo-Victorians and Starbucks. No, not for me. But after I saw some really innovative neighborhoods evolving, utilizing old buildings such as schools and movie theaters, integrating decommissioned military bases and old shopping malls, I was sold. I'm a big fan of reusing and recycling, and if you think about it New Urbanism is just an extension of that mindset. Very cool!

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The reflection of trees and sky in a puddle at Monument Valley Park yesterday, during an evening walk with Pat.

The hummingbird

This afternoon I was at a client's home in Monument doing some portraits when a hummingbird stopped by their back porch for a snack. I was able to grab a few shots of him before he flitted away. What a beautiful little bird!

The Hayman Fire

Is this some kind of martian landscape? Perhaps it's the surface of the moon? Maybe it's some extremely remote and inhospitable part of the globe, like Siberia? Alas, no. You're looking at a very small portion of the aftermath of the Hayman Fire, a monthlong inferno that consumed almost 140,000 acres of land, destroyed 133 homes and forced well over 5,000 people to evacuate. What's scary is, the Hayman Fire happened eight years ago next month. After eight years, this is what the landscape still looks like.

I remember it well. The fire started only 35 miles from Colorado Springs and quickly mushroomed into the largest fire in Colorado history. The air was dark and full of ash, the smell of smoke was pervasive, and at night the sky glowed to the west. Many of my friends were affected and had to evacuate their homes. It seemed like it would never end. The beautiful irony of the situation was that the fire was started by a forest ranger, Terry Barton, who was apparently attempting to burn a letter from her ex-husband. [Note to self: do not burn letters in a national forest on a windy day during a drought year. Maybe use the paper shredder at the office instead.]

Driving through the Hayman burn area, you can see extensive, endless damage. There are long stretches where all you can see is miles and miles of burned trees. Just imagine the photo above multiplied about 200,000 times. It's very sad. What's even scarier is how close the fire came to so many homes. There are burnt skeletons of trees on the fringes of people's yards, and scorched stop signs at rural intersections.

I wonder how many more years it will be before this part of the world is green again. The Forest Service has been aggressively replanting every year, but I still don't see many signs of rebirth.

Snow day

Today I had some business in Woodland Park, which is 17 miles west of Colorado Springs, in the mountains. Afterward, Pat and I drove to Denver to visit our friend Jennifer. Since we were already in Woodland Park, we took Highway 67. It takes you through some very pretty territory, dropping you off in Evergreen and eventually Denver. We love the drive. Today it snowed pretty much the entire way. People at lower elevations probably think snow in May is just plain crazy, but around here it's pretty much to be expected.

An electric solution!

Last month Pat and I came across this groovy little car at the post office. I snapped a picture and forgot all about it until I came across it just now. I've never seen an automobile with only three wheels before, and I suspected it was an electric car, so I looked it up. Sure enough, it's a Xebra Electric Sedan, with a range of approximately 25 miles and a top speed of 40 mph. Seats four, sticker price $11,700, and it produces "90% fewer pollutants than most current gas-powered cars," according to their site. I don't know how practical a 25 mile range is, but being able to plug the thing into any outlet and recharge it is definitely a plus. Anyway, I think it's cute!

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Our downtown area is rich in beautiful Victorian and Crafstman homes. I love both styles of architecture, but I must say I think I'm partial to the Craftsman aesthetic above all. It's so utilitarian, symmetrical and yet homey. I love it. Here's a beautifully maintained Craftsman bungalow near my studio. I drive by and admire it every day, since it's on my way to work. Last month I decided to snap a picture of it. What a beautiful home!

Graffiti artists

Today, while out location-scouting, I drove through the arts district over by the train tracks, and what should I come across but a painting party in progress! This particular old building is about a block deep, which is a lot of real estate to paint. Several artists were putting their mark on it. But even better than stumbling across some artists at work was realizing that the DJ spinning vinyl for the event was an old friend of mine, Wes, whom I haven't seen in almost 20 years. What a fantastic coincidence! I took a few snaps of the artists at work, a couple of snaps of Wes (and a hug to go), then went on my merry way.

Cheyenne Cañon

I took this photo April 27th, while on a portrait shoot. Cheyenne Cañon is nestled in the Broadmoor, and it's rugged and beautiful. The farther into it you drive, the more beautiful it gets. This spot is about halfway to Helen Hunt Falls. One of these days I'm going to have to visit Cheyenne Cañon with the purpose of photographing it, not people posing in it. I always feel so nice after spending time there.

A sense of humor

You've gotta love this Ford owner's sense of humor. If you look closely, you'll see that the badge on this Bronco reads BRONCBRO. I had to get a picture of that!

The Cascade Park Apartments

The alleyway in the west parking lot of the Cascade Park Apartments, which were built in the early 20th century. My very first solo apartment (in previous living situations I'd always had a roommmate) was directly across the street from the Cascade Park Apartments, and years later my studio was two doors down. It's a great neighborhood full of wonderful memories for me. As for the Cascade Park Apartments themselves, I never lived there but practically everyone I know has at one time or another. Lots of fun memories there too!

This photo was taken on the night of April 8th. I use this alleyway sometimes as a location for high school senior portraits during daylight hours, but I think it looks much more inviting and mysterious by night.

King of the lamp post

I captured this pigeon posing rather majestically on top of a lamp post in Denver on April 15th.

Happy spring!

Looks like spring is in the air! I captured these crab apple blossoms at the height of their bloom last Thursday, a perfect spring day. Enjoy!

Santa Christ

I hope you enjoyed the pictures from our vacation! Now back to Colorado Springs: on April 3rd, famous artist Ron English was in town to make a film entitled Santa Christ. Basically, anyone and everyone was asked to show up at America the Beautiful park dressed as Santa, and an effigy of Santa was eventually launched into the skies attached to a bunch of helium balloons. I missed the whole thing because I was in Woodland Park doing some family portraits (darn it!). Quite a few of my friends attended and/or participated, though, including the talented Carol Dass. Carol captured this image and donated it to the blog. (Thanks Carol!) I have no idea what the artist's message was, but I suppose like any art it's open to interpretation by the viewer, good or bad.

You can view a short video of the Santa Christ event on Ron English's website here: http://www.popaganda.com/blog1.php/2010/04/03/santa-christ-ascends-easter-2010

Wave patterns

[Final image from our vacation.] I could shoot wave patterns all day. Every second, a new composition presents itself. It's at once incredibly intriguing and incredibly maddening! I must have a thousand pictures like this one. Love it.