I’ve ended up going downtown several times recently for a variety of reasons.   And when I was there, I was struck (figuratively, of course) by the beauty of this bear.   They are gorgeous, majestic and somewhat terrifying creatures.

Supposedly there is a real bear that lives in the hills up above my house, but I have only seen traces of him, including wet footprints on the trail.  But you can find images of them around town.

Here’s the bear as patriotic yard art.

This window display shows the two sides of a bear.   The cute and cuddly teddy bear is quite lovable, harmless and friendly.   The Indian has both a bear claw necklace and wears a bearskin around his waist, showing that he is brave and has the spirit of the bear (the fierce bear, not the cuddly bear).

There is even an eating establishment in town just for bears.   I assume that they serve porridge (not too hot, and not too cold, just right).

And if you want your car to be fixed by bears it just might happen.

This local bear was both ferocious and festive.

Okay, I’m sure that you can guess why I took this picture.  Yes, of course it was for the bear.

This poor fellow presides over a bar filled with scantily clad waitresses.   But perhaps he is enjoying it after all, he does have a grin.

Once a month there is a gathering of a few photographers downtown, and we shoot to the theme of the day.   Of course the other photographers all had big fancy cameras, with giant lenses and thick neck straps to show that they are serious about this.   I had my little point and shoot on a wrist strap.   Photography was the original hobby that made you look absent-minded  as you focus on what might make a great shot (now the thing that makes people absent-minded is staring at their phone while attempting to walk down the street).

We were down by the old train station.

It has never been a passenger train station in the time that I have lived here,  although my friend said she actually took a train from here many long years ago when she was a child.   Then it was a popular restaurant for many years.  We would go there to eat Reuben sandwiches (grilled corned beef, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese) and watch the freight trains  and coal carriers as they passed by.   It’s a lovely building, built to last.  I believe at one time it was a Harvey House, back when passenger travel was possible.  Now it sits empty, and homeless people congregate in the park across the street.

These were my “artistic” shots.

They do look different shot in black and white.

There is a mural nearby that celebrates the past.   This appears to show an old guy being dragged onto the train.   What’s this about?

The lone figure in front of the train seems rather sinister,  reminiscent of Simon Legree, the stock villain of melodrama.  That beard and mustache is rather suspicious.

The weight and fate machine was not forgotten in this mural.

This bit shows tourists perusing a sign, perhaps looking a little lost.   They’re here, now what?   Some things never change.

By far the largest church in our fair city is the New Life Church, so me and Miss P decided to take a closer look at it one day.

First and foremost it is enormous, three separate buildings on a huge plot of land.   It was the vision of one man, Ted Haggard.   He started small, holding worship services in his house.   He drew lots of people to these services and the neighbors were complaining that there was no where to park.  So he started with a small strip mall church and then dreamed up this mega-church.    They would draw about 14k people at the services.  He was an important evangelical figure, until he was involved in a scandal and forced to resign.    It was a popular media story and the press swarmed all over it.  The turmoil caused a number of members to quit, but the church continued on.

Then there was the shooting at the church, some crazed young man came in and started shooting, killing two young sisters.  He was in turn shot by an off duty security guard, then committed suicide.   She was raked over the coals by the media, but she did a good thing by stopping this madman.

It’s hard to capture just how big this building is.

Then there is another huge building, dubbed “the tent”.

And then there is this building, another large structure where they coordinate prayers for the world.

Membership in this church is down from the highest levels, but they still get about 10k people on a Sunday and they also have a service downtown at the high school for people who don’t want to come all the way north to the main building.  For better or worse it is a part of the local landscape, and it is a great place to walk one’s dog.