Why the long face?

It seems I have a knack lately for finding cute dogs in cars! This fella was at the post office near my studio. He looks a little mopey. I'm sure a doggie snack would cheer him right up.

Untitled

Just another photo of Balanced Rock in the Garden of the Gods. Forgive me for repeating a subject that I've already featured fairly recently. If you saw yesterday's post you know I'm on the Injured Reserve list! Hopefully I'll be feeling normal tomorrow, so I can take some new pictures for you. :^)

Take a closer look

I had to laugh when I saw the ad on the side of this work truck. Sometimes I feel the same way about my own little business!

Today's post comes late in the day because last night I pulled a muscle in my shoulder and it is painful. Ouch. I can't move my arm upward or forward without a sharp pain. I've spent most of the day on the couch. Typing and using a mouse are very difficult at the moment, and forget about taking any pictures! Hopefully things will be back to normal by Friday. I have work to do!

Everybody get in line

It's cute how ducks do this. And this queue is even more adorable because it's girl-boy-girl-boy. We saw them at Monument Valley Park a couple of weekends ago, in the creek. Always lots of waterfowl to be found there!

And now for a song by my favorite band (just listen to the first line):

The Hogan

The Navajo Hogan looks cool by day, but you should see this landmark sign by night. It's awesome!

Sorry for the late post today -- less than two hours to midnight, but better late than never! I spent all day doing gardening and yard work things, then grown up things like grocery shopping. It never ends! See you tomorrow!

Sunday Style!

Here's my friend Sarah with her cute dog Beowulf. (Does the word "cute" still apply when the dog is over 100 pounds? I think so!) I've always liked Sarah's funky, boho style so I asked her to pose for me. We did these pictures a few days ago in Old Colorado City. This outfit is a perfect representation of Sarah's look: yoga/chic/comfy/edgy/artsy. I love her mop of curly hair -- she never tries to force it into submission and it always looks great (work with your assets, not against them!). And of course Beowulf looks fantastic too, just like his mom :) Thanks for the pictures, Sarah!

Big bird

Last Sunday, Pat and I went for a walk in Monument Valley Park. The sun had already dipped below the mountains, so it was nearly twilight but still very warm. As we were walking we came across this enormous hawk sitting on the chain link fence above the creek. He watched us while we watched him. I wasn't exactly toting a wildlife-worthy lens, but he let us get close enough to grab a few decent pictures. He was huge! Eventually he took wing and drifted down toward the water. As we walked on, Pat spotted him again, this time on the bank of the creek. I couldn't figure out what he was doing down there -- to me it looked like he was wrestling with a big stick -- but Pat correctly guessed that he was eating a snake. A SNAKE. Yikes! Well I certainly wasn't expecting to see a huge bird murdering a huge snake when I told Pat I wanted to go for a walk. I have to say, anything that willingly eats a live snake has got my respect!

If you look closely, you can see that he's got a big snake pinned under his foot.

Yup, definitely a snake! (P.S. It seems awfully early in the year for snakes. I guess the warm weather lured this one out prematurely.)

Wind, rain, snow

Fitful spring weather today includes gloomy, grey skies and extremely high winds that have been plaguing us since last night. It's hard to sleep when it feels like your house is going to blow down! Thankfully it'll be nice and sunny again tomorrow.

A good day to drive the convertible

They're predicting 70°F (21°C) and lots of sunshine this afternoon. You'd better take your garage queen for a spin today, because tomorrow is supposed to be cold, rainy and even snowy. Finicky Colorado weather, as usual!

A sign of the times

Colorado Senator Cory Gardner has a local office on the corner of Colorado Avenue and Tejon, which is why you'll find protesters almost daily on that corner since the presidential inauguration. I captured this lady on March 16th. From this picture it looks like she was the only protester, but in fact there were many, and they are quite indefatigable in their pursuit. Healthcare is just one of the myriad topics they demonstrate about, and practically every time I pass this through this intersection during the week, I see more protesters. A sign of the times, indeed.

Burning down the house

This is one of my favorite little buildings in Colorado Springs. I could have sworn that I blogged a picture of it in better days, but if I did, I can't find the post. You can find this tiny old building on the far west side on Colorado Avenue, just before you go through the arch to enter Manitou Springs. Unfortunately it mysteriously caught fire a couple of weeks ago, and as you can see, it's pretty much destroyed. I'm sad! I'm sure it's been there since at least the 1930s. I don't know if it's been in use lately (it seems to have had a number of different commercial tenants over the last few years, none of them staying for long). I wonder what caused the fire. I'm sure this little building is too mall and insignificant for its owner to think about restoring. It'll probably just be razed. Sad face :^(

The candy season

We stopped in to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory a few days ago to pick up a little treat. They were in full swing in there, getting ready for Easter. These colorful candied apples caught my eye in the window. Other than chocolate I've never been much of a candy eater, and that includes caramel, so I've probably only eaten two or three candied apples in my entire life. But these look delicious! I was tempted!

P.S. This post comes very late in the day. Today has been extremely hectic to say the least. Thanks for your patience, dear readers!

Sunday Style!

On Friday I shot an event for the local nonprofit organization where my friend Amber works. Amber is one of those people that you wish the world had more of. She's kind, generous, funny and has boundless energy in her passion for nonprofit work. She is, in a word, lovely. Everyone that knows her adores her. All of this and she's stylish too! (Just like her mom Crystal, whom I featured HERE on the blog a few weeks ago.) I would describe Amber's sartorial leanings as delightfully quirky yet utterly professional. I managed to get a couple of snapshots of her in between duties on Friday. She looked great, of course, even though she was right in the middle of pulling off the biggest event of the year for her organization, and any other person in her position would have been completely frazzled by that point in the day. Fabulous, Amber! Thanks for letting me take your picture, you're a star! And the conference was a huge success -- kudos to you and your team!

Untitled

I had a different photo planned for today's post, but Pat is listening to music in the other room and Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love" came on, and I could hear David Bowie warbling in the background. It gave me a pang. I actually took this picture on May 11th of last year at Wax Trax, our favorite record store in Denver. It seems like so much has changed in this world since Mr. Bowie passed away. Too much, too fast. I wonder what he would have had to say about it all.

Skywatch Friday

A shot of the William I. Spencer Center on Tejon and Cache la Poudre, with lots of pretty blue sky to set off the honey colored bricks

To see more Skywatch Friday photos from bloggers everywhere, click HERE. Have a great weekend!

1973 called and they want their van back...

We saw this groooooovy van the other day on Union Boulevard. I love it! Straight out of 1973! The Partridge Family would surely be jealous.

And now, for your listening entertainment...

Last night's moon

The moon last night looked pretty spiffy, so Pat convinced me to grab my camera and take a picture from our front porch. I moaned and groaned a little, but he was right. It was very picture worthy!

Another DeLorean sighting

I saw another DeLorean the other day. This one was on Uintah and Nevada. A little dirty but it sounded good! I remember back in the day when these cars were considered to be "dogs" -- that is, not very fast and prone to mechanical problems -- but the slick design has held up well over time, and of course it's impossible to see one without thinking of "Back to the Future".

The Old Town Guesthouse

This looks like an old building, but the Old Town Guesthouse (26th and Cucharras) was actually constructed in 1997 and fits in well with its surroundings in Old Colorado City. Their website notes that it occupies the site of the old city hall, fire station and jail, but I'm not so sure about the city hall part of that statement. As far as I know (and I could be wrong), Old Colorado City only ever had one city hall, and it's still standing -- in fact, it houses the Agia Sophia coffeehouse and the Daisy in a Bottle Boutique. At any rate, I never knew that this building was new construction, I thought it was an old building that had been completely gutted and remodeled. I've lived here since long before it was built, but I guess I never noticed what was there before it! I've always liked the copper and purple color scheme. Very eye catching!

EDIT:  I stand corrected! The original city hall (built in 1888) was only used for that purpose for a brief amount of time and is still standing; another city hall/jail/firehouse was built shortly thereafter, where the Old Town Guesthouse now resides. You learn something new every day!

Sunday Style!

Admittedly, this is a terrible picture! It has been sitting on my hard drive since January because I wasn't sure if I wanted to use it. This is one of those "through the windshield at a traffic signal" photos, so I apologize for the poor quality. I just really like how this woman strode through downtown Denver like she owned the place. She was wearing a great looking coat, handbag and boots, but really it was her total confidence that caught my eye. Good for her!

The saddest duck pond in the world

Monument Valley Park used to have two duck ponds. This was the one to the south, near the baseball field. Several years ago it started to get manky, murky and disgusting. Then the water level sank lower and lower, until eventually we were left with this depressing sight. Years have gone by now and no efforts have been made to fix it, because there has been no money in the city's coffers for it. Many people here are very resistant to paying more than the bare minimum of taxes. The result of that can be eyesores like this. Personally, although low taxes are nice, I'm okay with paying a little bit more so we can have quality of life things like duck ponds. Sadly, some of our most iconic parks are looking a little down at the heels these days. Maybe someone with deep pockets will step up and donate to fix the problem of this sad, empty pond in Monument Valley Park, but until that happens, it's just going to look depressing I guess!

The watcher

Pat and I went for a walk at Monument Valley Park last weekend, and as we approached the new-ish condos on the east side of the creek, I noticed a creepy figure standing rigidly at attention in one of the upper floor windows. Perplexing! As we got closer I realized that it was just a statue of an Indian woman. I think this must be a stairwell landing in one of the common areas of the building, because there's an even uglier, "Don Quixote"-looking statue a floor or two below her. Why you'd want to put these in the window of your million dollar condo building is a mystery to me, but whatever floats your boat I guess!

Old man dog

I spotted this hilarious dog the other day in traffic while stopped at a red light. He was just sitting there with his chin resting on the car's windowsill, an expression of pure ennui on his face. I had to get a picture. He looks exactly like a tired old man. What a funny face!

Another motorcycle show

On Sunday, Pat and I dropped by the motorcycle show/swap meet at the expo center on North Nevada. We were only there for a few minutes but I saw some beautiful bikes in that short time. Pat's a big fan of Harley Davidsons but I prefer Indians. They're just gorgeous.

County Line Road

Ah, the golden hour! This butte is on County Line Road at I-25, captured just before that beautiful, warm glow disappeared for the night. It only lasts for a few minutes but it's my favorite time of day.

Weekend hike

On Saturday, I went for a noontime hike at Biedleman Environmental Center with my friend Laura, and she brought her dog Bixby. As you can see from these pictures, Bix was happy to be there. So were we. It was a great day for a hike!

Sunday Style!

This is Sophie, a barista at a Starbucks near our house. I like her asymmetrical red bob, watchman's cap, and infinity scarf, but I especially dig that cat's eye swoop of black eyeliner. Chic!

A Tale of Two Buildings

You're looking at the back side of the downtown Carnegie Library, designed by Calvin Kiessling and built in 1905. It was added onto in 1967. The newer structure butts up to the old one, and is called the Penrose Library. I recently learned that it took the place of the Marksheffel Garage (see bottom photo). The 1967 building, though it has some cool Midcentury Modern vibes, bears no stylistic relationship to the original 1905 structure. The second photo of this post shows the latest improvement to the Penrose Library, about a decade old. As you can see, the curved lines mimic the original building's rotunda. I can appreciate the architect's attempt to finally marry the 1967 structure to the 1905 one. It's an improvement, I suppose, though I wish the city had the vision in 1967 not to tear down the Marksheffel Garage but instead to rehab and repurpose it.

Wind

Most people don't realize how windy Colorado is until they come here. It's almost always windy, especially on the plains. I took this picture downtown in front of Everest Tibet Imports. Rain, sunshine or wind, they always hang their goods outdoors to lure you inside. It makes for a great subject, especially on a gusty day.

The cleaning crew.

A bird's eye view from January 20th in a downtown Denver hotel. The place was nearly deserted, except for the cleaning crew. Can you spot the lone vaccumer?

March 2017 Theme Day: Black and White in Color

February is already over, can you believe it? March is upon us. At beginning of every month, City Daily Photo bloggers like me post photos of a common theme, and this month's theme is black and white in color. That is, a color photograph that is so monochromatic, at first glance it looks like a black and white. I took this picture last week at a metal fabrication shop called Metal Products, on Willamette and Circle. We were there to see about getting a custom cabinet made. As Pat discussed things with an employee, I wandered around and found these gas tanks. At first I was simply taken by their repeating forms and the strong backlighting, but quickly realized that they were a perfect subject for Theme Day.

For more monochromatic color images captured by bloggers all over, click HERE. Enjoy!