• architecture,  Church

    St. Catherine of Siena Chapel

    October 11, 2022

    This past Sunday Joan and I were able to drive the Peak to Peak highway. We had planned on making the drive this past Friday but poor weather changed those plans. We chose Sunday even though it would be more crowded. Most of the fall colors were gone, missing them by about 2 weeks. Just outside of Estes Park is this lovely chapel along the Highway 7. It is known as the Chapel on the Rock or Saint Catherine of Siena Chapel. The chapel is located on the grounds of the Saint Malo Retreat, Conference, and Spiritual Center of the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver. We stopped to stretch and take a few photos.

    There were areas of trees with color but most of them were barren. We drove as far as Nederland and returned through Lyons rather than Boulder. We spent time at a coffee shop called New Moon Bakery and Cafe to enjoy a latte and a pastry on their patio.

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  • architecture,  Church,  doors,  quotes

    Doors of Change

    September 22, 2019

    The handmade door to the Chapel at the Mercy Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado

    “Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”  Barack Obama

    With fall comes visible changes which we see and feel. Leaves are changing colors, Canada Geese are arriving and temperatures are turner cooler. It is one of my favorite seasons of the year. Our world is also going through changes, environmentally, socially, economically, spiritually, etc. We hear those who shout for this reform, promoting legislation they feel will bring change but almost all of it is one persons attempt to control or change another. We are pointing fingers and hearing a lot of “if you” or “if they” being said. Seems to me the change starts within each of us, we need to be the change that we seek. Young Greta Thunberg has shown us how to open doors of change.

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  • architecture,  Church,  quotes

    A Feeling of Spring

    February 20, 2016
    Sunrise at the Oval
    Sunrise at the Oval

    A few patches of snow remain on any shaded area where the sun cannot reach. Students are walking on campus and riding the bus with t-shirts and shorts. The blue sky seems bluer.  There is only a small patch of ice remaining on the pond.  The days are getting longer. This warmer weather this past week is causing a bit of excitement within me. There is a feeling of Spring.

    “When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.” ― Ernest Hemingway

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  • architecture,  Art,  Church

    Use of Solitude

    February 19, 2016
    St. Josephs Steeple
    St. Joseph’s Steeple
    Baptismal Font at St. Josephs Catholic Church
    Baptismal Font at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church

    “In order to be open to creativity, one must have the capacity for constructive use of solitude.
    One must overcome the fear of being alone.”

    Rollo May

    While on a walk last week I ventured into St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. It was the time of day I like to visit when there are few people. There was one man praying the Stations of the Cross, otherwise I had it to myself. Churches are still a place in our city where I can find a place of quiet. Very little external noise finds its way in. I then use these places to sit and journal or meditate or read or all of them. 

    Solitude has become an important part of my life. I enjoy it and need it. My condo is a place of solitude, a sanctuary, a way to distance myself from the busyness of the world. Please don’t think I’m a hermit because I need community, to have people actively in my life. I find community with family, friends, coffeehouses, bookstores and libraries and in nature.

    I think many people attend church for weekend services and avoid weekdays. I am the opposite. I do not attend a church but spend time in church when most people are working. I go to churches for the quiet and solitude. And, I admit I am also seeking photo opportunities during these times, stirring my creativity and being open to a scene that can appear before me.

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