It looks the part

A photo taken in Denver a week or two ago, on Stout and 14th. This old building currently houses a "gentlemen's cabaret", but doesn't it look as if it started out as a place of ill repute to begin with? A little research tells me that it was built in 1909. To me it looks exactly like a fictional whorehouse out of a 1950s western. The lurid paint colors add to the effect. I read somewhere once that Victorian buildings were usually painted a shocking palette of bright colors, so I suppose the current paint job is fitting.

Out for a hike

I was in Ute Valley Park for some engagement portraits on Saturday. While I waited for my clients, I grabbed this photo of a woman embarking on a hike. We're fortunate to have great open spaces like this one within our city limits. They most certainly get used!

Sunday Style!

Here's a snapshot I grabbed while on a coffee run downtown a couple of weeks ago. The rest of this woman's outfit was cute too, but I especially liked her leggings and boots. Way to stay warm while looking cool!

T-Rex with a mission

I'm a little short on laughs lately. When I saw this sign-wielding Tyrannosaurus Rex yesterday, the absurdity of it caught me off guard and I laughed out loud. It was all I could do to take a picture. Thanks for the giggle, dinosaur! I really needed that!

Skywatch Friday

It's been a while since I did a Skywatch Friday post. Here's a test shot I took at a wedding at the Garden of the Gods last July (the 11th, to be exact), and I didn't delete it because I liked the birds flying around the top of the rock. Can you see them? I finally remembered to blog it. It only took me six and-a-half months ;^)

For more great Skywatch Friday pictures from bloggers all over, click HERE. Have a great weekend!

President Roosevelt

Here's the rest of the horse that you glimpsed in yesterday's picture. I'm not sure why Teddy Roosevelt is featured in a mural right next to native Coloradoan Jack Dempsey, but I guess it must be because Roosevelt was a frequent visitor to Colorado and loved hunting game here. Also, he was known for his conservationism and establishing National Parks during his tenure. Colorado has four National Parks; among them, Mesa Verde (1906) was declared during Roosevelt's presidency, and Rocky Mountain (1915) not long after.

The Manassa Mauler

Did you know that Jack Dempsey was a native Coloradoan? I didn't! I knew that he was called the Manassa Mauler, but I never made the connection to tiny Manassa, Colorado, which is in the southern part of the state. He is of course widely known as a pugilist, but he was also a lifelong philanthropist and stand up guy, which I think deserves to be said. I found this mural in Denver (see yesterday's post), near the Convention Center. That horse's head you see to the left of Dempsey belongs to Teddy Roosevelt. You'll have to tune in tomorrow for that.

The dog walker

I was in Denver late last week to hang out with a good friend who was in town on business. Here's a shot I grabbed from a downtown Starbucks as I was about to head home. I like to sit near a window whenever I'm in coffee shop. It's excellent for people watching.

The March on Colorado Springs

On Saturday afternoon, thousands of people congregated in Acacia Park to take part in the March on Colorado Springs, joining countless similar events around the world. I joined them, along with many of my friends. It was, in a word, uplifting. I tend to keep this blog as apolitical as possible as a rule, but I wanted to share some of the pictures I took at the rally. The energy was phenomenal. Far, far more people showed up than had been anticipated, so the police ended up having to block off traffic lanes on Tejon, Colorado and Nevada. This was obviously a huge inconvenience to anyone who got stuck in the ensuing traffic slowdown, but the drivers were actually smiling, honking and waving their support instead of cursing us. (In fact, I saw only one counter-protester, and everyone was polite and respectful.)

I took way too many pictures to fit into a single blog post, so I made a slideshow instead. Watch it below or click HERE to view it at a higher resolution on YouTube. (Warning: strong opinions are expressed in many of these pictures -- it's the American way!)

Sunday Style!

Yesterday I participated, along with millions of other humans on the planet, in the March on Washington. I had a Sunday Style post all planned out in advance for today but when I saw these two marching in front of me yesterday, I said to heck with it and decided to feature them instead! They both looked adorable, but I failed to get them both properly in the frame (things were moving quickly), so the photo is unintentionally more about the woman on the right than the one on the left. I love both of their outfits and hair! Who says you have to look like a schlub when you protest? Might as well be fabulous!

More on the March on Colorado Springs in tomorrow's post. As for today... go Packers!

COSILoveYou

I randomly came across this food truck when I was out and about earlier this week, and was immediately taken by the URL printed on its side, COSILoveYou.com. Of course I was intrigued! I love Colorado Springs too! (Duh!) So I went straight to their site and found that it's a collaboration among many local churches, in conjunction with the City and the Springs Rescue Mission, to feed the hungry and the homeless in and around Colorado Springs. I think that's wonderful! If you'd like to learn more or to volunteer, go to their website and follow the bouncing ball.

The cause of all the commotion

Pat and I were running errands on Wednesday when we found ourselves stuck in a traffic jam on Academy Boulevard. Things were moving at a snail's pace, and to make things worse, it was rush hour. When we finally came upon the cause of all the drama, I snapped a photo from the passenger seat. What a mess! (There was another smashed up car too, blocking the left lane entirely.) Academy Boulevard is one of our busiest streets, if not the busiest. I avoid it as much as possible, but if you have to drive on it, it's a good idea to pay close attention or you might end up like this guy.

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Looking in the opposite direction from yesterday's photo, Pikes Peak is visible in the distance from Tejon Street between its namesake, Pikes Peak Avenue, and Colorado Avenue. Flanking it are the Wells Fargo Building on the left and the Antlers Hotel on the right.

Quinn's

Probably the most popular Irish pub in town, Jack Quinn's is a great place to pop into for a pint and some fish and chips. Now I'm making myself hungry. I guess I'll have to go to Quinn's soon and partake!

Orange on orange

An unexpected composition of shades of orange presented itself yesterday afternoon as this pedestrian rounded the corner of Vermijo Street and Cascade Avenue.

A bad day for scootering

We saw this fellow as we were driving on Bijou Street yesterday morning. It wasn't just snowing, it was damp. There's something about dampness that makes the cold even more miserable. The poor guy looked pretty chilly! I hope he made it to his destination quickly. It was no day to be out there on a scooter.

Sunday Style!

This is my friend Crystal, who's not only a mother, she's a grandmother. Every time I see her she looks cute. She's got a quirky, artsy style, which is no accident -- she is an artist, after all! Lately she's been sporting peacock blue hair. It looks great on her. I love how there is no age barrier anymore when it comes to fun hair color. Women of any generation can experiment with bright blue hair and no one bats an eye. And do you like her fun tunic? Surprise! She got it at the thrift store for a couple of bucks! That cool necklace? She created it herself! Looking stylish from head to toe, Crystal! I'm lucky to have such fun, interesting and original friends in my life. :^)

That moment when...

...you look up from trolling for a parking space at King Soopers and see this right in front of you. It doesn't matter how long you've lived here, it takes your breath away every time.

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I spent all of yesterday chained to my desk with no chance to go out and about to take a picture for today's post, so please enjoy this photo from my archives. This is one of the beautiful gothic doors at Grace Episcopal Church, captured in late afternoon light on February 11, 2016.

The Waycott Opera House

One of our lovely, frontier era buildings in Old Colorado City, on our city's west side. I've always known this one as the "Meadow Muffins Building" (because of a popular bar by the same name that has been there for as long as I can remember -- now it's called Mother Muffs), but I learned tonight that its official name is the Waycott Opera House or Mack's Opera House. Although downtown lost quite a few gems in the 1970s thanks to an ill-conceived and regrettable "revitalization," Old Colorado City has retained a high percentage of its historic commercial buildings. I appreciate that. I've never noticed the "Mack's Ice Cream and Candy" sign painted on the side of this one. How could I have missed it all these years? Googling those words brought me to THIS site. Scroll down to the section on Colorado City, what Old Colorado City was called before it was annexed by Colorado Springs in 1917. (FYI: that's not the original name, though; founded by Anthony Bott in 1859,  Colorado City was actually called El Dorado at first.) The site explains that the Waycott Opera House was built in 1901, and other than the opera on the second floor, its spaces served a number of different purposes over its first few years. At some point, Mack's Ice Cream and Candy was in the basement and a vaudeville theater was on the first floor. The third floor was a dance hall early on, and later held meeting spaces for various fraternal organizations. Fascinating! I've actually gone to private parties and shows on the second floor, when my friend Eric lived in a loft there over a decade ago. I never knew its original purpose. You learn something new every day!

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The view around twilight yesterday afternoon from the Mesa overlook. So beautiful.

Hurricane force winds in Colorado Springs

If you live here, I don't have to tell you that yesterday was obnoxiously windy. And when I say obnoxious, I mean Category 2 hurricane, record breaking kind of wind. There was a 101 MPH gust recorded at Cheyenne Mountain. Tens of thousands of people in our city, including my brother Chuck, have gone without power for most of the day, with utilities crews unable to repair the damage because the high winds were too dangerous to work in. On Facebook, my friends are reporting damage to their cars and homes. I've seen photo after photo of tree-flattened vehicles, torn roofs, broken windows, even itinerant trampolines! At some point during the day, the Colorado Department of Transportation declared a ban on all high profile vehicles, so all the school buses in town were grounded and parents scrambled to pick up their kids. There were multiple traffic snarls because of overturned 18-wheelers. (I'm hearing that up to 36 semi trucks flipped over in the wind. I can't confirm that number but holy mackerel!) Roads were blocked off around town as emergency crews dealt with downed trees and/or power lines. The county courthouse was evacuated because part of the roof was torn off. KRDO posted a video HERE of some of the madness. You should watch it, it'll "blow" your mind. (Pun intended!) And HERE's another crazy video of shingles flying off a building on the south side of town. In short, this windstorm can only be described as catastrophic.

As for me, I had a doctor appointment in the morning, and I decided to drive around afterward to try and document the windstorm in progress. This was a terrible idea. It felt like I was either going to be blown off the road or that at any moment a tree would topple over and flatten me inside my car. Heck, I drove for over a mile before I even got to a working traffic signal (and the drivers here are baaaaad -- trusting their judgement at a major intersection with a non-functioning traffic light is nerve wracking). I took most of these pictures from my car, because I didn't want to get out of it for fear of getting brained by a flying branch or road sign or poodle. Downtown was nearly deserted (this made it very easy to take pictures from my car, I must admit -- I could simply stop in the middle of the road with total impunity). I've never seen so many empty parking spots! Even the ever present panhandlers were absent. I did get out of my car for a few minutes, to pick up a sandwich at Wooglin's, and while I was there I dashed across the street and took a picture of the giant trees whipping in the wind on the CC campus, and I made a little video too. I'm happy to report that I made it home in one piece after that. So far no tree has landed on my car, our roof is still attached to our house, and our fence is leaning dramatically but it didn't fall over (at least not yet), so that's good. It's supposed to be very windy for the next few days. Hang on to your hats, Colorado Springsians! It's gonna be a long week!

Pikes Peak and Wahsatch.

A downed fence and some random debris at the outdoor ice skating rink in Acacia Park.

In the Near North End, Tejon at about Dale Street.

On the Colorado College campus, looking north from Cache la Poudre Street.

At Wooglin's Deli. Glad she didn't blow over -- I nearly did, just trying to get back to my car!

Cache la Poudre and Wahsatch. Notice the TV news truck in the background.

This guy braved the wind to deal with a giant tree that had fallen (shown at the top of this post), also at Cache la Poudre and Wahsatch.

An enormous tree blew over at Help of Christians Roman Catholic Church on Cache la Poudre just east of Institute. It was huge. Poor tree! And as you can see, this man was not wearing a coat. Even though the winds were gusting continuously at 70 to 80 MPH, it was weirdly warm outside, around 55°.

You can get a better idea of it from this shot. I'm sad to see such a beautiful old tree lost!

The sisters at Help of Christians kindly brought water to the men who were working to clear away the downed tree. I thought this nun was going to take flight! (Remember that TV show? It was silly but I loved it when I was a kid. )

A few blocks west of my house, this minivan on Bijou Street had a close call. Look at that huge tree! It actually blocked the eastbound lane. Somehow it missed both the minivan and those power lines. Whew!

Close call indeed! The owner of this vehicle must be so relieved.

Last but not least, here's a little video I made at CC. It's shaky because I was getting blown about. Turn up the volume to get a better sense of what it was like. Look at all the flying debris. I had to wear eye protection. Crazy!

For more pictures of storm madness taken by citizens all over town, click HERE and scroll down to the bottom.

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Pat and I were in the Garden of the Gods on January 2nd, and the light was gorgeous. I showed you a few pictures of some rock climbers on Saturday. Here's another photo I took that day. Love those red rocks against a blue blue sky. So beautiful.

Sunday Style!

My first Sunday Style of 2017! This is Michele, whom you've seen on the blog before. I met her in a dark alley. True story! (You can read about it HERE.) She was so seriously stylish, I asked her if I could feature her again. We did these pictures the last week of December. She's gorgeous! I love what she chose to wear. The dress is adorable and accentuates her tiny waist, and the boots are a great contrast, not to mention very practical. And let's talk about those crimson lips and awesome hair! Red lipstick is timeless and chic, no matter what you're wearing. And a great haircut like this elevates any look. You could look like a dishrag from the neck down, but an edgy haircut is your savior! Extra bonus points for daring and artfully done color like Michele's. She wears it well!

More than meets the eye

Pat and I took a drive through the Garden of the Gods on Monday, sort of a detour while running errands. There were tons of people enjoying the park that day. It was a really nice afternoon! We parked the car and walked up one of the trails for a couple hundred yards -- Pat wanted me to capture all those gorgeous shadows on the rocks. As I took the above shot, I noticed that there was someone sitting atop one of them. I think the name of the big formation on the left is Gateway Rock (or maybe it's Cathedral Rock), and if you look really closely you'll see a man at its highest point. I zoomed in my lens so I could get a much closer view of him. A few minutes later, as we continued our drive through the park, I noticed that a friend had joined him, so we parked the car again and I took a picture of both of them. I don't know much about rock climbing, but I do know that safety gear is highly recommended to climb in the Garden of the Gods. The rocks there are almost 100% vertical. Inexperienced climbers (uh, tourists) get stranded all the time and we regularly hear about high angle rescues on the local news. Both of these guys were using safety gear, although the first guy seemed to be wearing jeans. It looked like they were really enjoying the view from up there. Great way to start the year!

Old Saint Francis Hospital

Saint Francis Hospital was closed in 2010 or so. It died a slow death, as its services were gradually taken over by a new hospital on the northeast side. One by one all the offices were relocated until the building stood empty. Other than the small clinic attached to a railway station that preceded it, Saint Francis was our city's first real hospital, originally built in 1887, then (apparently) torn down and rebuilt a couple of decades or so later. I don't have an actual date on that, and I'm not sure why the original structure was replaced, but I'll assume it was because it was too small for a growing city. In 1965 and 1973 a couple of major renovations replaced and "improved" two thirds of the hospital with a large modern wing, but a third of the old structure was left intact. That's what you see in the photos above and below. You can also see the modern wing butted right up to it. Visually it makes no sense. Whoever the architect was for the new structure, he was more concerned with function than form. It's terribly incongruous and, sorry to say, ugly. Why do architects do that? It's a pet peeve of mine. Surely there was a way to modernize the hospital while at the same time designing a new wing that harmonized with the old structure, rather then clashing with it.

At any rate, the old wing and the new one have been empty and abandoned for almost seven years now. It's a little depressing and a lot creepy (especially given that the old part of the hospital is reportedly haunted -- do you believe in ghosts?). Maybe it's because I live nearby, but it really bums me out that it's been empty for so long. I wish some developer or other would pick this property up and turn it around again. Look at that gorgeous Jacobean architecture! As far as I'm concerned, the 1960s/1970s wing can go, but the old structure surely deserves better than to just sit there, empty and unloved.

Here it is from the other side.

St. Francis Hospital in 1925, from the same angle (source: PPLD). It was huge! The middle section and left wing of the structure were torn down for the 1960s/1970s modernization, but the wing on the right was spared and is still standing today.

St. Francis in 1889 (source: PPLD). I don't know why it was replaced, but if you compare it to the photo directly above this one, you can see that they are definitely not the same building. Unfortunately I can't find any history on it. I'm sure the Pioneers Museum can tell me. I'll try and get some info and update this post when that happens.

They want you as a new recruit!

Remember that song? "In the Navy" by the Village People. "They want you! They want you! They want you as a new recruit!" That's what went through my mind when I saw this sweatshirted group pass by me as I was leaving the Pioneers Museum a few days ago. My guess is that they were law enforcement hopefuls, probably the county sheriff's department. Do they look cold? I was definitely cold!

And now, for your listening pleasure...

New Year's resolutions

What's your resolution? I have to admit, I didn't even think about making one this year! I know that I have many "areas for improvement", as they say in the corporate world, so I'm sure I can come up with something to work on. ;^) Meanwhile, Pat has already completed one of his resolutions: to clean up his home office. It had gotten terribly cluttered over the last few years, but it only took him one day to clean it all up and get rid of the things he doesn't need (of course his desk is still a mess, but one thing at a time, people!). We made a stop at the ARC Thrift Store at 19th and Uintah on Monday to donate his unwanted items. I love the ARC. It serves a very worthy purpose. I donate there all the time, and I also shop there all the time. It's a win/win!

Also, as for those electronics that the ARC cannot accept (such as broken household devices, or televisions and computer monitors/components), or laptops/desktops/hard drives that you need to get rid of but aren't suitable for donation because of privacy concerns, Blue Star Recyclers will accept, properly destroy (as needed) and ethically recycle them. The lovely thing about Blue Star Recyclers is that, like the ARC, they employ people with disabilities. If your New Year's resolution is to get more organized, what a great way to do it while helping others too.