Lighting it up in Manitou Springs. I know I have mentioned it before, but I must reiterate my delight at this tiny town. How it takes me right back to my eight-year-old self off on a jaunt with my family. A time when gift shops were filled with rock candy and honey-colored plaques and boxes of cedar construction. Names like Carlsbad and White Sands and Kansas burned onto them, sometimes with nifty pictures of their namesakes. There were also the cool Viewmaster wheels of tourist photos, often taken by some yahoo, who didn’t know squat about photography, slightly blurry or askew, but still a Viewmaster and therefore coveted. And I, with little money and no Viewmaster (sad face), would wander seriously for as long as my parents would allow, contemplating my most meaningful purchase. Usually a photo book or small piece of art in a plastic frame.

In this regard, I have changed only slightly. For this trip, I scored a delightfully small (4×12) painting of Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak, after perusing every other offering. How lovely it looks in our little niche shelf, posing handsomely next to the Colorado State flag. I’ll show it to you sometime.

For now, I hope you enjoy the light and wonder of this magical season…