THURSDAY ARCH SERIES

Haven't been to the big wicket in a while. It's hard to find something new after photographing it for so many years. This shot was taken on last weekend's photo blitz. The technique, though, is an old trick I discovered when I got my first DSLR in 2005. If you get just the right angle of the setting sun on the stainless steel skin, the result is a lightening-like arc of light. Expose for that and everything else goes dark. I actually lightened the original PSD file with masks to bring some color back.             

FIGHT LONELINESS

Before our not-very-strict stay at home order went into effect, I went cruising around town hoarding photographs like some people amass toilet paper. As I drove by the front of the closed art museum I did a double take. 

Across the lane, under the statue of St. Louis, I met David. He had quit his job as an emergency medical technician (!) a few weeks ago, spent some time out on Missouri's Ozark trails, came home and decided not to be a hermit. He had set up a folding table full of granola bars and other snacks along with an ice bucket of flavored sparkling water. He was asking a dollar for them, implying he had gotten them for less at Sam's, but was giving them away on Monday. Then there was this display.

I still had lots of questions but other people walked by and engaged him. Why did he quit his important job? What motivated him to set up this display? What is he going to do with himself now? I hope he stays well.        

AS IF THE VIRUS WASN'T ENOUGH

The Mississippi is approaching flood stage. It's not supposed to get too high on this round but there is plenty of time for more and higher crests.  

MADELEINE MONDAY

Need to perk things up a little. We got a bit of snow yesterday. Ellie thinks that few things are more amusing than catching snowflakes on her tongue. And, FWIW, that's not a halo around her head. It's a Toyota hubcap.          

A SOMBER 13TH ANNIVERSARY

Today is the thirteenth anniversary of St. Louis Daily Photo. It's not a time for celebration although I have posted pictures almost every day. The missed days were due to being in remote locations without Wifi or severe work overload. This is the 4,648th post. 

We represent the occasion with an elevator button in my office building, which I touch only with my cuff or a paper towel, and a street sign in lonely downtown. STL begins a stay at home order tomorrow, although we can go out to food stores, pharmacies, medical appointments and getting curb delivery meals from restaurants. We can even go out for a walk. How this affects my blog depends on how long isolation lasts.          

EMPTY

Kiener Plaza downtown late yesterday afternoon, without a soul in sight. We are not on mandatory isolation but there is no place to go, nothing to do. It struck me as I was driving around that a high proportion of the people I did see were evidently homeless. The cruelest form of social distancing.         

EMERGENCY

A fuzzy, through-the-windshield shot of the entrance to the emergency department at St. Louis University Hospital. I didn't want to get out of the car with my big lens because these days it might attract unwanted attention. Don't go here unless a doctor has already told you to.