THEY LOVE BASEBALL IN JAPAN

The Japanese Society of St. Louis had a table at Earth Day. My granddaughter, of course, was attracted by the anime trinkets. The woman representing the society was wearing a stunning kimono, covered with emblems of our mediocre baseball team. Nobody says konichiwa! when you enter its stadium.                       

MADELEINE MONDAY

Haven’t had the kid on in some time. That’s her in the back of the canoe with her bestie in the middle, sampling what was on offer at Earth Day. No life jackets needed. Big Muddy is a name sometimes used for the Mississippi River.                   

EARTH DAY

The international celebration of Earth Day was, I believe, last Tuesday. Well, except maybe certain precincts in Washington. Many cities in the U.S. have large festivals on the following weekend. Ours is in Forest Park, our largest, and it is sprawling. The event brings out all sorts of interesting people. Tame chickens, too. This one was amazingly calm.                       

STL DPL IN IRELAND - LOVE HOTEL

We were looking for someplace interesting for dinner on our last night in Dublin. A short walk from where we were staying was a small, expensive boutique hotel with a terrace restaurant on the top floor. Dublin is booming, and I counted no less than thirteen construction cranes scattered across the horizon. This is the hotel’s lobby. Shouldn’t the romance be established before you check in?                

STL DPB IN IRELAND - ANCIENT KNOWLEDGE

 

Not all of the books in the Long Hall of Trinity College’s Old Library have yet been removed for conservation. This gives an idea of how the stacks looked when the place was in operation. I look at those ladders and, as an American lawyer, I think about liability insurance coverage.                     

STL DPB IN IRELAND - THE LONG ROOM

 

Many people who go to Dublin visit Trinity College. (My favorite alumnus is Oscar Wilde.) The chief attractions are the 7th Century Book of Kells, a magnificent illustrated Bible produced by the monks of the Dark Ages, and the Long Hall of the Old Library, seen here. Most of the books have been removed for  conservation. The six meter globe in the center is called Gaia.                 

STL DPB IN IRELAND - ECCO IL PAPA

 

Seen yesterday in Grafton Street, the busy pedestrianized shopping thoroughfare in the heart of Dublin. The artist had stretched some kind of plastic sheeting between two posts and was painting a portrait of Pope Francis, who died on Monday. It would leave no permanent record and the authorities didn’t object. Imagine that in the U.S. 

Home late tonight but there are lots of Irish images still to edit on the plane.