I'm Steeping Myself

Colorado Springs is ideal for steeping yourself like a tea bag in what is disdainfully called CULTURE.  First, it's inexpensive, second, it's accessible with ease, and third, it's first rate.  OK, is this New York City or Washington D.C.?  No, but it's very worthwhile to pursue.  Americans have been sold a shoddy bill of goods which says enjoying art or serious music or performance dance is not worth the expenditure of time.  What a load of crap.

If creativity wasn't important to us as a species, why do ordinary people so avidly pursue it?  Oh, true, we are steered away from being creative sometime in our elementary school years.  Can you still remember the thrill when you finished your first 'real' painting or fired your carefully constructed clay pot in art class? Then, subtly, the products were ranked, and if your flower painting wasn't one of the best, you quickly got the message you should turn your activity and attention somewhere else.

Creativity is marketed to the masses as hobby, and it is big business.  The creative urge is still there in each of us.  We knit, sew, woodwork, quilt, decorate, journal, cook, and garden with passion trying for the thrill being creative flames in each of us. Drake and I have never apologized, and we even proselytize the real benefits of going to museums, ballets, symphonies, the theater, and yes, even operas.

I have great admiration for one of my friends who buys season tickets to a different cultural venue each year and insists her grandsons accompany her to the performances.  At least they are getting the opportunity to be carried away by creativity.  Some folks are so shortsighted, they don't give their children even exposure.  Yet, they will spend the same dollars an annual membership to a museum costs to take them to one professional sports venue.

In Colorado Springs we became members of the Fine Arts Museum in part

"Study for a David & Goliath" by Paul Cadmus

because we were blown away by the quality of the art.  Is the art "highbrow"?  No, not particularly.  The place is chock full of really wonderful stuff which is interesting to look at and think about.

Additionally, we've been attending performances of the Colorado College School Music Festival.  We've seen the very creme de la creme of American musicians - prestigious contest winners (a Van Cliburn gold medalist!), the lead clarinetist of the American Ballet Theater,  as well as lead musicians of the other instruments from various symphonies from around the country.

Next month there's a month long dance festival.  Ansel Adams, a universally acknowledged master photographer, has an exhibit just down the road.  There's a thriving music scene here, and I haven't even scratched the surface of the museum opportunities.  There are garden concerts, jazz concerts, and the Philharmonic comes out of summer hiatus over the 4th of July.  I'm gleefully rubbing my hands together anticipating all the enjoyment the dreaded CULTURE is going to provide during this stay.


  

Was it a Rip-Off?

Have you ever gone to a movie, and as it's playing, you know, you just know your spouse hates it.  Well.....  First of all, I pick 90% of our movies.  One of Drake's expectations is I will keep up with all the movie releases, sift through the reviews, and then suggest what I think we should see.  Of course, I know the odds of getting him to an animated movie or a highly rated children's movie are about 20%.  We both agree there's never been a horror flick we EVER want to see.

We love independent films, and here in CS, we were thrilled to discover there's an independent films theater right in the middle of downtown - it's in the old 'downtown' theater, there was one in every decent sized town - and the downtown theater of my Tulsa youth ran 'Sound of Music', 'The 10 Commandments', and every Disney movie of the 1950's and 60's both live action (think Hayley Mills) and animated (think Sleeping Beauty).  Colorado Springs is valiantly trying for a downtown revival similar to Fort Worth's, so surrounding this revamped downtown theater, "The Peak", - yes, you can see Pike's Peak from the entrance,  there are clubs, happy hours with cute cheap snacks, as well as several decent restaurants.

This has been our 'go to' movie theater since we arrived in town.  First, we went to see "A Hologram for the King", then we went to see "Love and Friendship" which I loved, and Drake liked.  (This movie is based on an early Jane Austen novella, and it helps if your ear can hear and decipher upper class English accents.)   Then, it was the new Susan Sarandon movie, "The Meddler", so today I suggested we go see "The Lobster".

This is a highly rated movie with big time actors.  Every critic's review I read suggested this is one bizarre movie, but worthwhile.  In essence, the screenwriter creates a society in which it is a moral and legal imperative to be part of a couple; no exceptions.  I won't go any farther than that about the plot line.

Drake's position when we walked out was he got ripped off for $14, but then we proceeded to discuss themes and aspects of the movie for a solid 40 minutes. That doesn't seem like a rip-off to me.  Can you imagine having a 40 minute serious discussion about any of the comic book movies so prevalent these days at the multi-plexes?  Drake finally, finally grudgingly agreed the resulting discussion was the only redeeming value in his eyes of "The Lobster".

I think movies are a part of the American cultural fabric, and the last thing I am is a movie snob.  I'm a pretty all-inclusive viewer.  I like westerns, comedies, rom-coms, thrillers, murder mysteries, musicals, vintage films, silent films, bio-pics, fantasy films, comic book movies, animated flicks, clay-mation, documentaries, and cartoons (old time or new fangled).  Horror is really the only thing I can't get into.

We have a running 'list' of our worst ever films.  The rules are:  You paid to see it, and you stayed for the whole thing.  As discussed above, I pretty much filter out the crappy movies from the get go, and we won't go to the movies just to go to the movies. My point is, to make our list is a perverted honor.  Here are the ones which come to mind instantly:  #1 'Clockwork Orange' - this movie's extreme violence, especially for the time period, turned both of us off.  #2 'Barry Lyndon' - what a waste of film; but it was beautiful and completely utterly boring.  #3 'Chariots of Fire' - what I remember most is legs running.  Anyway, you get my drift:  highly rated movies, the darlings of the critics, that we just completely disliked.

According to Drake 'The Lobster' belongs on this list.  I disagree.      

Mining Paint and Pottery

Today we went to a most unusual place.  It was called 'Paint Mine Park', owned by El Paso County which is the Colorado Springs county, but it is also on the National Register of History Places.  The Paint Mine is outside of Calhan, Colorado which is the poster child for cattle country and about 30 miles east of Colorado Springs.  It was quite warm today, and there was exactly one tree and very little shade on this hike.  The brilliant sunshine made for nice pictures this morning.  

This landscape is just west of the Rocky Mountains

The Paint Mine is similar in geology to the South Dakota Badlands, and to the Palo Duro Canyon in Texas.  There are hoodoos and petrified sands.  It is almost completely hidden by the surrounding landscape.  It differs in that it contains brilliantly colored clay and petrified sand deposits and has been visited and 'mined' by Native Americans for thousands of years.  It where colored clay was dug for pottery and for the raw materials to make brightly colored ceremonial paint.  The formations in the following pictures are almost invisible from this viewpoint even though they are less than a quarter of a mile away.

As always, and particularly in this case, the pictures tell the story:

https://goo.gl/photos/oYoLkjMuVJ8Amneq5

Hiking Before Breakfast, Really

We came to Colorado Springs because there were so many things to do; each day there's a possibility of something new.  Unfortunately, there are also trips to the grocery store, the post office (I go through stamps like a mad woman.), the gas station, and getting hair cuts.  Then, there's the vacuuming, car washing, bathroom cleaning, and general maintenance.  So, today, we decided to just jump into our hiking clothes and check out the Bear Creek Regional Park which is spitting distance from our front door.  I didn't even drink a CUP OF COFFEE. Afterwards, it was chore day.

Looking up toward the 'rim'

There's a regional hiking trail which circles the park.  Then, there are a series of interconnecting hikes in the center of the park.  This park includes a deep ravine as well as the rim around it.  One of its most popular features is the 'dog park'. This is dog country.  Bear Creek runs through the park, and this park is very popular, but not overcrowded because there are better hiking parks within five miles.  Today we did a 2.5 mile hike on the interconnected trails.  Then we went to eat the free breakfast at the dining room at the 'home'.  Boy, did we get the hairy eyeball striding into eat in our hiking boots.  

Apparently, the coyotes own Bear Creek Park because there are all kinds of signs up warning people about how to handle an encounter.  I'm covered there since there are packs which live in Sun City.  Coyotes really don't want to deal with people, just live around them.  Did you know coyotes and rock doves (city pigeons) are the two wild animals which have adapted best to co-existing with humans in an urban environment?  Some cities (like NYC) have actually imported coyotes to control the rat population.  In New York each one has a radio collar, so the parks department can actually track them. Coyotes also keep the Canadian Goose in check in some urban parks making them much nicer for people to use.  Coyotes have taught themselves how to cross busy urban streets.  They know how to look both ways and wait to cross.  Today, while hiking I spotted coyote tracks a couple of times on the trail, but we didn't see hide nor hair.

Spring has really just started arriving here in the past 10 days.  Today, I spent a lot of time photographing wildflowers.  I'd really, really like to know some of the names.  So, if you know the monikers of any of the flowers in the pictures, let me know.  If the picture label just says 'wildflower', then I don't know the name.
https://goo.gl/photos/zYDFCtZ6BBy1tpT57


      

Hog Heaven

It seems like we are going and doing something every day.  I'm in hog heaven. Even though the weather was really nice today, we try to stay off the hiking trails on the weekends, especially on Saturdays.   This Saturday we were sorting through possible things to do, and we decided to take in the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Museum.  Good choice.  We were practically the only people there.  Not surprising since the winter is long, and now is the time the native 'Springers' want to be outdoors.

Now, we all know I love museums, and I can generally find SOMETHING interesting to see in each one even if I have to look really hard.  My expectation of 'fine art' in this relatively small town (500,000) was pretty low.  As we entered, I immediately was transfixed by the introductory piece in the lobby, and I began to get the sense this museum was going to be quite special.

One of three Dale Chihuly glass chandeliers owned by the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Museum

Doesn't this lovely glass chandelier make a great impression?  Ought to; it's from the premier world glass artist, Dale Chihuly.  The art museum is between 'downtown' and the southern edge of the Colorado College, founded in 1874.  The college is full of lovely Victorian buildings and is a lovely campus.  The art museum, while more modern, seems fresh and attractive.

One of the things I'd admired while looking at the museum's website was one building but three functions:  Fine Art, School of Art, and Performing Arts Theater.  In 2005, the museum brought in a major Chihuly glass exhibition which revitalized interest in the museum, sparking the 2007 expansion and remodel. The theater was especially upgraded, but the non-profit museum purchased some major glass pieces to enhance the new portions of the building.  Here's the second chandelier purchased from Chihuly.  It took two days to install.

There is actually a Chihuly 'room' in the museum

One of the concepts which impressed me about this museum is their commitment to buying excellent art.  There are no second rate 'old masters' here.  Instead, there is a wonderful assembly of Hispanic and Western art as well as some excellent modern abstract art and a couple of magical realism paintings which took my breath away.  Here's one.

This is called "David and Goliath"

As we went from gallery to gallery, we were just marveling at what was being exhibited, and we started talking about our next visit to see the new exhibitions opening in a week.  It dawned on us perhaps we should become members of the museum.  So, before we left today, we bought a membership, and we will be attending the member's cocktail reception and preview next Friday night for the new major exhibitions of the summer.  

I had such a good time today.  I hope you enjoy my pictures of this great museum.

https://goo.gl/photos/5tXa21QKkoeKGybi9

Spring Time at Altitude in Colorado

When we live someplace for a long time, we tend to equate the seasons with that locale.  After twenty years on the Gulf Coast, it took me a couple of years to realize springtime didn't start in February in North Texas; instead, it waited until March.  When we traveled last year in Maine and Canada, we got the treat of multiple springs as we headed west in May and June.

Now, this year when we arrived in early May in Colorado Springs (6300 feet in elevation), the trees were just budding out, and there weren't really even any spring flowers in evidence.  This week, the first week of June, we've noticed more flowers, and the weather taking a definite warming trend.

Searching for some interesting hiking, we discovered Mueller State Park, just west of Colorado Springs, and straight up into the mountains.  Mueller advertises itself as 'What you think of when you think of Colorado'.  We drove up about 3000 feet up and tried our hand at, well, actually our feet at, hiking at 9200' feet.  Mainly, it was walk, stop, gasp, - repeat.  You only get about 2/3rd the amount of air we were used to in Sun City, but it certainly was much cleaner.  It takes awhile to acclimate to high altitude since you must make more red blood cells to compensate for the lowered oxygen levels.

Since we were taking it easy to avoid contracting altitude sickness, there was plenty of time to take pictures.  I thought you might enjoy Colorado in the spring.

https://goo.gl/photos/LLe76JTEynTrUC8r5

Garden of the Gods

One of the many things I really like about the city of Colorado Springs is the commitment to park spaces.  One of the most popular national attractions is Garden of the Gods.  What most people don't know when they arrive here to see it, is they are going to a Colorado Springs city park.  Furthermore, it's free to see these rocks, and it always will be because that was one of terms of the deed in 1909.

Garden of the Gods entered human consciousness as a landmark.  It's an easily recognizable group of rocks which are bright red!  You can see them for quite a ways from the east since they are in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.  They were like a beacon first to Plains Indians, then to the Spanish, the Mountain Men, and the wagon trains full of pioneers.

The core 409 acres was deeded to the city by the children of one of the founders of Colorado Springs.  While his will did not specifically  direct his children to give the land to the city, they honored his wishes and deeded the land to the city with only a few stipulations.  Over the years the city has bought more acreage, and one wealthy and influential Colorado Springs woman gave the money to build the visitor's center, and make access to the park more like a good national park.  It's needed because there are about two million people who visit each year.

One of the things we learned is the park was almost 'loved to death' - just too many people.  The CCC re-seeded the park with native plants which had almost been trampled to death and completely eliminated in some cases.  Gradually, access to the 'named' rocks got a controlled path through the rocks.

The park is also the trail head for more than a few trails up toward the higher mountains as well as easier hikes in the foothills.  The townspeople have named the 'rocks'.  See is you can find the 'kissing camel' or the three graces in the pictures.  This won't be our last visit.  There are parts of the park as well as the 'fundraiser' movie (you have to pay to see it) which we want to do.  

We can see the Garden of the Gods from our back deck.  I'm already starting to notice the differences in the rocks at different times of day.  Supposedly there's a few minutes at dawn (why, oh why does it always have to be at 'dawn'?) in which Pike's Peak catches the rising sun's light and within a few minutes the Garden of the Gods rock blaze with color.  The park opens at 5am, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to be seeing this phenomena.

Enjoy the pictures.

https://goo.gl/photos/CJ6vAWHDNtmGbdedA