Love is in the air!

Last night I went out to dinner with Pat and his brother Gene, to José Muldoon's downtown. Just a couple of doors down from the restaurant is CJ Kard. I think it's the best card shop in town -- the card department at the supermarket or big box stores doesn't even come close to the selection at CJ Kard. They also sell gifts and paper goods, as well as beautiful custom wedding invitations. Which leads us to this picture of their clever, pretty window display last night. Romantic! There's no telling how many couples get engaged on Valentines Day each year, but it must be a lot! CJ Kard is ready and waiting for all you Colorado Springs brides-to-be out there!

A very, very big day

Here are the west-facing stained glass windows in the historic Community Congregational Church of Manitou Springs, captured yesterday around 3:00PM. This afternoon, I will be shooting a wedding there. A guy and a gal, in love and making a lifelong commitment. Maybe someday soon I'll be shooting a same sex wedding there: a gal and a gal, or a guy and a guy, in love and making a lifelong commitment. Yesterday was certainly a big day for the United States. Just going by the many, many overjoyed Facebook posts and tweets inundating my feeds yesterday, I think it's safe to say that a large majority of people are not only in alignment with the Supreme Court, they are fairly bursting with joy and pride over the historic decision handed down yesterday. However, I certainly understand that many people are still not comfortable with the idea, and in fact stand in strong opposition. All I can say to that is this: it must have been equally weird or even repugnant (terrible but true) for many Americans in 1967 when the Supreme Court ruled that the few remaining anti-miscegenation laws in our country, all of them in the South, were unconstitutional. But now, just a generation or so down the line, no one thinks a thing of interracial marriage. Yes, of course there are still racists out there who have vile things to say, but most Americans embraced it long ago. Similarly, no doubt there will be continue to be people with anti-gay sentiments. But over time, the majority of us will simply move forward with the new status quo, and years from now will look upon the struggle to legalize gay marriage as the "old days".

As for me, I think it's been a long time coming. To my many gay friends, some of whom I've known for as long as 30 years: CONGRATULATIONS! I am so happy that you finally, finally have the right to marry the one you love!

And readers, if you need an extra dose of happiness, please take a moment to visit my friend Shauna's blog HERE. Shauna lives in Dallas, Texas, and the minute she heard that gay marriage had been legalized she rushed to City Hall to document the many overjoyed couples formalizing their unions. Her photos are incredibly happy and emotional. I too had the same instinct to grab my camera bag and run to City Hall, but because our annual Hill Climb Fanfest (huge street party) was going on downtown, I figured it was a lost cause. GREAT pictures, Shauna!!! Love is love!

Untitled

Pat and I went for a walk around Prospect Lake the other day, where we spied this elderly couple walking hand in hand together. They were adorable. I realize this tableau is more than a little cliché, but I couldn't resist taking a picture of them (even though all I had with me was a little pocket camera). They seemed so content and comfortable together, walking slowly along. I wonder how long they've been married.

Merry Christmas!

I have no picture today, but wanted to wish all my readers a happy Christmas! By now most of you who celebrate Christmas have opened your presents and enjoyed a big meal.  I am about to serve dinner, and the whole house smells wonderful.  I hope all of you have had a magical day filled with love, happy surprises, comfort and joy. I know I have.

See you tomorrow!

Red roses

I hope you had a wonderful Valentines Day! Today's picture is a close up of some of the lovely roses that Pat surprised me with. Everyone should get a nice surprise on V-Day!

An indecent proposal

Yesterday I went in to my studio to get some work done (Sundays are so quiet, it helps me to get caught up). Sometime during the late afternoon I took a peek out the window to see what the weather was doing, and I spied this note on my car, pinned under the windshield wiper. Huh? "Debra? Will you marry me sweetie? XOXO" -- what on earth?!? I must admit that it was an alarming thing to find on my car! My first thought was, of course, oh no, somebody got the wrong car!, quickly followed by what the heck do I do with this piece of paper? After all, if it's legitimate, it's important that it get to the right person.

Sigh. Why does this weird stuff always happen to me? What an awkward position for me to be in! If I throw it away, does that make me a bad person? I feel compelled to find this Debra person and deliver the note to her! On the other hand... this is a little fishy for several reasons:

1) If a person is in love enough to want to spend the rest of his life with someone, presumably he'd be able to identify her car.
2) Who the heck proposes on a note stuck to a windshield? Seriously?!?
3) The writing looks suspiciously female -- not that it's so unusual that a female would want to marry another female, but women are usually more sensitive and romantic than to just leave a note on their beloved's car!

So what do you think? Should I throw it away with no guilt? Should I try and find this Debra? Do you suppose the whole thing was a lark?

This fisherman's on fire!

Pat went fishing on Pikes Peak yesterday with our friend Joe, and in three hours he caught eight trout! (He released them all.) Heck, he even caught two of them at the same time! He's quite the angler :^)

All you need is...

Happy Memorial Day everyone! It's a little soggy here. I feel bad for all the people who were looking forward to a barbecue. Here's a photo from a sunnier day, to cheer you up.

Many thanks to all our service people, past and present!

Tamera

The Famous

Last night Pat took me out for dinner at the Famous to celebrate our anniversary. (Okay, our anniversary was in March, but we just now got the chance to celebrate it.) The Famous is a swanky steakhouse downtown, one of those places where ordinary mortals only go on special occasions because it's heart-stoppingly expensive. The food is delicious and the service is wonderful.

We only dine extravagantly like this about once or twice a year, so when we do it's a big deal. We get dressed up: a little black dress, red lipstick, Chanel No. 5; Pat shines his shoes. Yet I am always shocked when we look around us in a place like the Famous and see people dressed in shorts and flip-flops! Listen, if you're going to drop $100+ on a couple of steaks and diet Pepsi (and that's not including tip!), you might as well dress up for it! I guess there is only one bastion left in town where you literally have to get dressed up or they won't let you in the door: Charles Court at the Broadmoor. I'd probably faint at the prices though, so we'll have to wait for our 50th anniversary to eat there. By then maybe I'll have saved up enough money to afford it ;o)

On our way back to the car, Pat pointed out this extremely cool view looking southward down the alley behind the Famous. Another cool shot suggested by Pat!

Happy anniversary honey, I love you.

In memory of Tim

This pretty much sums it up.

Flowers and candy

Yesterday was Valentines Day and my boyfriend Pat came through with a dozen red roses as he does every year, and a big box of chocolates! I think Valentines Day is the source of a lot of agony for many people. Not just the singletons among us (many of my friends included -- I hear a lot from them every year about how much they hate V-Day, depending on their relationship status at the time), but also those of us that are married or in relationships. There's a lot of pressure as to what to get your sweetheart for V-Day, and if you should go out for dinner, and if so then where. All of that. I think you should just enjoy the love and attention, and reciprocate! No need to get all in a twist about it.

I have heard many women say they despise getting flowers and chocolate for Valentines Day because it's what everybody gets. They feel it lacks originality. I imagine it's that kind of attitude that gets guys all in a twist per above. If your wife or girlfriend is bound to reject your offering of flowers and chocolate, then what are you going to do? Every year you've got to come up with something different, and every year it must be better than what you did the year before! This would get stressful after a while, I would think.

I say that any show of love and affection, no matter how big or small, is welcome. If your significant other offers you flowers and chocolate with love, the proper response is thank you, hopefully followed by I love you too!

Pat's Christmas present

Pat's very specific about the things he wants for Christmas -- he always gives me an itemized list. So I took a real chance buying him this Nikon camera before the official list was presented to me! I had a feeling he'd appreciate it though, and he really did. It's his favorite new toy! Take a look at the previous two blog posts and tell me I didn't get him just the right gift!

I took this photo on December 28th while we were out to dinner. He never leaves home without that little camera now. I love it!