Music Imminent

I was at Fox Run Park on Thursday to do some couples portraits. Afterward I wandered around for a while and snapped a few pictures for the blog, starting with this shot of musicians setting up in the gazebo for a concert. More on Monday.

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A couple of weeks ago I did some family portraits in Fox Run Park, which is way up north in Black Forest. It's a pretty spot. As I was leaving I grabbed a shot of the pond, which was looking extra sparkling in the late afternoon light.

Fox Run Park (Part 2)

Here's the lower pond in Fox Run Park. As you can see, it's got a gazebo, the site of many a small wedding. I think I can speak for all wedding photographers when we say we hate gazebos. Ha! They're extremely problematic when it comes to lighting, and of course ones that jut out over a lake like this one make it hard to roam around and get other angles (especially since every wedding I've ever shot here had seating "in the round"). Picturesque, yes, easy to work with at a wedding, not so much. But definitely a lovely spot to sit with your sweetie and enjoy some quiet on a late Sunday afternoon.

Fox Run Park (Part 1)

It's not my favorite park in the city, but it's very pretty. Fox Run Park is located in Black Forest, so technically it's not within incorporated Colorado Springs. It's very wooded and has a couple of nice ponds, which are popular spots for portraits and the occasional small wedding. Here's the upper pond.

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I couldn't think of a clever title for this post, because I've been burning the proverbial candle at both ends and my brain is so very tired. If you can think of a better title than "Untitled" please comment! Anyway, here's a horse fashioned out of stones. (Or at least it resembles a horse. I suppose it could also be a dog or a cow.) It sits a little north of the barn I showed you in yesterday's post, on the same property. It's right on the county line -- walk across the road and you're in Elbert County.

Pine Park Ranch

I believe I've met the woman who owns this ranch. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, my friend Judy lived in this neighborhood at the northeast edge of Black Forest for many years, and when she moved away in 2017 she had a little goodbye party at the Broadmoor. One of the handful of friends gathered was this rancher, who was very interesting and fun to talk to. I can't remember her name, only that she lives here part time and at another family farm out of state part time. At any rate, her barn is quite picturesque!

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Yesterday Pat and I drove north through Black Forest to Elbert County on a whim. For many years my good friend Judy lived just a few hundred yards south of the county line. Since she moved to New Mexico in 2017, I haven't been up to her former neck of the woods. I had quite forgotten how pretty it is up there.

The End of the Road

Shoup Road, that is. Out of sheer boredom and cabin fever, Pat and I decided to take a "social distancing" drive out to the far reaches of Black Forest. It actually wasn't a planned decision, it was more like we rather aimlessly ended up there. We found that if you pick up Shoup Road where it begins (I believe the intersection is Shoup and Old Highway 83, but don't quote me on that -- I'm not in Black Forest often enough to memorize the roads), and then drive for several miles, eventually you'll come to this. The only option was to turn around. We then proceeded to get a little lost until we stumbled on Meridian Road. It was a good drive, but the best part was just being out of the house on a nice day.

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I came across a unique wall covered with funky handmade tiles on my little walk around La Foret last Sunday. I don't know what it's for, but I like all the positive messages!

La Foret

I'm photographing a wedding at La Foret (https://www.laforet.org/) this Saturday, and since I haven't been there in several years, I decided to go and scope it out last Sunday. It's in Black Forest, just outside the northeast city limits. I remember it being very forested and pretty. It hasn't changed. What a lovely place! I can't wait for Saturday!

William Seymour

This statue of William Seymour is situated on Tejon Street, near the Pioneers Museum. I've noticed it before, but never knew who Mr. Seymour was until yesterday, when I finally stopped to check it out and read the plaque. It turns out that he was a native of Kentucky, born a slave, and moved his family in the 1890s to what is now known as Black Forest, northeast of the city. They were successful at their dairy farming operation, and upon Mr. Seymour's retirement they moved into town, where he was an upstanding member of the community. Mr. Seymour was the first African American to serve on a jury in Colorado Springs. His likeness now stands in front of the building where the trial surely took place, as the Pioneers Museum was our city's courthouse until the 1970s. I love that he has been immortalized in this spot!

Notice his hat sitting on the bench. Clever!

Old stage stop

This crumbling old building is across the water from yesterday's photo of Monument Creek. What is it? It's an old stage stop! Fascinating! For those of you who don't know what a stage stop is, it has to do with olden days transportation, when people traveled in horse-drawn stagecoaches. Every few miles along the stage roads, stage stops were placed where you could rest and water your horses, or in the case of commercial stagecoach lines, the tired horses would be swapped out for fresh ones. As you know, the migration of people to the American west, Colorado Springs included, burgeoned during the stagecoach era. Eventually locomotives made their way across the land and replaced stagecoaches (much to the relief of many a horse, I'm sure).

Most Colorado Springs residents probably don't know that the area just north of Rockrimmon and encompassing much of the Air Force Academy was actually a pioneer settlement and village called Edgerton over 140 years ago (follow the link for tons of interesting info). At its peak, Edgerton was home to about 350 residents, many of them ranchers. The land pictured here was owned by the Lydia Teachout family, some of the earliest settlers of this area, and this stage stop was apparently owned and operated by the Teachouts. By the way, there's a Teachout Road in Black Forest, a few miles east of this spot -- no doubt named after Lydia herself.

For a very interesting account taken from the diary of another early Edgerton settler, Mary Eliza Bangs, read this short article published in 1974 by her granddaughter:  http://mdmcc.tripod.com/history.htm

Here's a closer shot of the old Teachout stage stop. The next chance I get, I'm going to cross the creek and explore it.

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I came home from a portrait shoot in Black Forest last Saturday to find that the greenhouse window in our kitchen was casting the most interesting shadows on the opposite wall, thanks to the dramatic sunlight that was pouring through it. The slate-colored wall turned a very odd color in the strong light. I must say, I've never noticed these shadows before, although I'm sure they must happen every day at the same time! I should be more observant of what's happening in my own kitchen.  And obviously I need to clean my windows! ;^J

Birthday sunset

Just like last year, I got a beautiful sunset for my birthday yesterday. I had a wonderful, memorable day, including the fulfillment of a long-held desire to photograph a certain elderly friend of a friend in Black Forest. (When I say elderly, I mean she's 100 years old!) On the way home from the portrait session I was rewarded with this spectacular view, so I pulled the car over for a few quick snaps. Beautiful!

Black Forest

This photo is courtesy of last week's wedding, which took place in Black Forest, northeast of Colorado Springs. A lot of nice homes in that neck of the woods. Before all the custom homes and mansions were built around that area, it was pretty much farmland and ranchland. The occasional ranch still survives, like this one. I came across it while driving to the wedding and stopped to grab a quick snap.