Chautauqua in an historic landmark. It is one of the few remaining chautauquas remaining in the United States and the only one west of the Mississippi that has been in continuous operation since its founding. Chautauquas represent a cultural movement that was popular in the late 19th century which valued lifelong learning, voluntary simplicity, love of nature and the arts. These activities were centered around campuses that included an auditorium, cottage and dorm living, community dining and open spaces for hiking and communing with nature.
This chautauqua started as a tent city and gradually grew to 99 cottages of which 58 are available for nightly rental. Our conference is perfect for this sort of setting although we usually get together at even more remote places where we can be together as a large community of about 80 people. Tom and I are staying in a cottage that feels like a mansion after a week in hotel rooms! We calculated that it is about 600 square feet including the front screened in porch. Full kitchen with a gas stove, microwave, all the basic amenities, comfortable bed, full bathroom . . . We could easily live in this amount of space!!
This campus is just filled with gorgeous flowers and statues.
There are 48 miles of hiking trails and thousands of acres of open space within walking distance of our cottage! Tom took off yesterday morning to catch some golden sunrise light. Here are some of his views of the Flatirons.
It has rained all night with some bright sharp lightning and very loud thunder. We were headed out to hike this morning and turned around and came right back into our cottage! We love rain and clouds but they can sure do a number on golden hour photography.
Another day of conference for us. We may still get in some shooting later on.
Stay dry. Shoot often.