Anticipation

There are lots more pictures from Pridefest I could edit but I just don't feel like it tonight. It's been a rotten week. New dimensions in overwork. Someone ran a stop sign and bashed the back to my car yesterday. (No one hurt.)  And more, but I'll spare you the details.

But Saturday afternoon I'll be home, the place I still consider my real home. Some photos from the archives are appropriate. As Bob Dylan wrote:

I started out on burgundy
But soon hit the harder stuff
Everybody said they’d stand behind me
When the game got rough
But the joke was on me
There was nobody even there to call my bluff
I’m going back to New York City
I do believe I’ve had enough 

Gay Faces And Friends

People passing by in the parade, from the ordinary to the very out there. IMHO, tolerant societies have been the culturally richest and most successful.     

Politics

There is a notable element of politics at events like the Pridefest Parade. It all swings leftward. Everyone in my family would like one of those tee shirts. Unlike many other public events, the Republican Party was not represented.     

River Of Color

IF YOU ARE READING THIS ON FACEBOOK, CLICK OVER TO MY BLOG TO SEE THE VIDEO.   

There were Pride parades throughout the US and much of the world yesterday. Near perfect weather and a big turnout here yesterday, although it was awfully bright. The Balloon Brigade is a fixture and always a big hit. The clip below will give you an idea of the atmosphere and my video skills.        

What To Do On Friday Night

Landoll Lanes, Marysville, Kansas, on a Friday night. There is a lot of purple, maybe because it's the color of Kansas State University, which is not far down the road. No one is actually bowling, just eating and drinking. That's okay with me. Love the carpet.

The Pridefest Day Parade is today so there should be some fresh material. And NYC on Saturday.      

Games

Very late post today. There is entirely too much on my plate.

The economy of Marysville, Kansas, has been stabilized by the presence of Landoll Corporation, a manufacturer of farm machinery.  It provides a lot of jobs. It also created a social center, Landoll Lanes, with bowling, billiards, tabletop shuffleboard and a pretty good restaurant. It was quiet, though, on the night we ate there. 

Old Time Religion

Top: something else found in the Salty Dog Saloon. I'm sure Jesus loves everyone, even senators from Kentucky.

Bottom: a church in Marysville. What's with the quotation marks? The device is frequently misused in American English and, as loyal members of the language police, Mrs. C and I could not let this pass. What was the pastor trying to communicate?         

Moo

Brother-in-law Mel's cattle in the far pasture. They might be curious because they had never seen a lens as big as my telephoto. At least it kept me at a safe distance.         

Did They Know She Was Coming?

More from the Salty Dog Saloon. When my wife was younger people called her Kitty. Some of her family still does. I never liked it and have always called her by her given name, Carolyn. But she is from Kansas, of course. Readers of this blog know that I usually refer to her here as Mrs. C. Quite a bit of coincidence.       

The Salty Dog Saloon

Out in the rural prairie you find your entertainment where you can. It's nothing to drive 25 miles in a huge, fuel-sucker pickup to a convivial place like The Salty Dog, located in a tiny hamlet just north of the Kansas - Nebraska line. If you click the link you will learn that the place is "biker friendly", although we didn't see any Friday night.

The food is actually pretty good. And cheap, by urban standards, but you better be carrying cash. No plastic. That's Margo, the owner, taking an order in the second shot. She didn't care if I took pictures but the family told me that you better not cause trouble because she's pretty tough.          

Nebraska Sunsets

Seen after dinner at the Salty Dog Saloon in Steele City, Nebraska (population 86). The state line is near Mrs. C's family farm in Kansas. She was born in Nebraska because the nearest rural hospital was in the town of Odell, NE.

The sunsets aren't all good in the Cornhusker State but there were more storms in the area, creating drama. The wind farms, of which there are many these days, add to the strangeness.

I had my picture taken in front of the saloon.       

Prairie Storm

Looking north from the parking lot of our motel in Marysville, Kansas.  This can be a land of violent thunderstorms. The town lost power for about three hours Friday night and Saturday morning.      

Sights of Kansas City

Kansas City is Missouri's other major metropolitan area. The region is smaller than STL but the city proper has more population since KC lacks our extreme suburban balkanization. We enjoy our visits and did a little tourism on our way out of town yesterday.

The picture on top shows Union Station in the foreground with downtown behind. The striking Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts (better seen here) is on the left horizon and the iconic rooftop Western Auto sign on the right. 

There is a stunning World War I museum in the center of the city, on and under a hill topped with this memorial column, visible from many parts of KC. We were aware of it but knew little until we heard an NPR feature about it and the hundredth anniversary of the U.S.' entry into the conflict. We were there almost two hours and didn't see half of it. The best part was talking with the military veterans who serve as volunteer docents. We may be back here in a month and will return.

The top picture was taken from the north slope of the hill. There are a pair of strange sphinx-like creatures whose wings (perhaps) shield there eyes. One of the volunteers explained that the one facing east cannot bear to see the horrors of the war, while the figure facing west looks into the future (how American) which no one can foresee.          

Goodbye, Julian. See You Later, Celina.

We usually spend the night in Kansas City, a very nice town, on our way to see Mrs. C's family farther out in Kansas. KC has a good restaurant scene and Julian has become our favorite in recent years. When I was about to make a reservation I saw online that it was closing after the Fourth of July! I quickly made a reservation on Open Table.

I got a call Wednesday night from chef and owner Celina Tio. Did I know that they had a special menu planned, a five course tasting menu that she prepared when she won on Iron Chef? With wine pairings? No, clueless, but don't cancel our reservation.

OMG, it was heaven. Food and wine that was simple on the surface but oh so subtle as you paid more attention to each course. The highlight was almost inconceivable, lobster shepherd's pie, seen below. We were so glad we stumbled into the occasion.

The last photo is the rare image of Mrs. C and me, along with Celina and the wine guy (never did get his name).  She has another place, The Belfry, that we hope to visit soon. We may be back here in a month.

I'm So Glad I'm Outta Here

Two days off the blog. How rare.

Work has been a bite. I really want to retire but when you own a small business, particularly a professional practice, it's not that easy. But we are headed for Kansas City today and then on to the rolling Kansas prairie where Mrs. C grew up. Real time off.

The whole point is summarized by this photo from the archives: Tom Otterness' Crying Giant, which sits on the lawn of the Kansas City Museum of Contemporary Art (which, IMHO, is way better than ours). May the headaches be cured by the smell of soybeans in the earth.    

Yes, I'd Like A Gin And Tonic

Archives diving, and that's what this image makes me think of.  Hold the carrot, though. 

Looking forward to some time off in a few days.

High Five

Running a bit low on material - just too much time at work, none left to go out and shoot. So, a motorcycle cop at some parade working the crowd. The policeman, as they say, is your friend. 

Maybe a little break would be in order until a road trip we have planned later this week. Kansas City on Thursday. Wheat, sunshine and rolling prairie beyond.  

Silicon Garden

Glass is made of - what? Mostly silicon, the stuff that is the basis of all those semiconductors we use, including my camera and the laptop I edit pictures on. This is another pic inside the Climatron at the Garden of Glass installation. Can you see a logic gate in here somewhere?

I've been awful about visiting my friends' blogs lately. Don't mean to be unfriendly. It's just way too much work at the moment. I thought this would be getting easier at my semi-advanced age but things are not quite working according to plan. At least there's a road trip to Kansas later this week. It has the promise of wheat fields and a prarie time scale.   

Strawberry Moon

I have it on the authority of The Weather Channel that the full moon of June is called the strawberry moon, not because of the color but because it is a good time to pick the fruit. I guess that depends on where you are.

So the family went downtown for dinner last night, then to the east steps of the Old Court House to watch the moon rise through the legs of the Arch. Worth the effort.

Urban Sunset

The Civil Courts building late in the afternoon. A photography teacher once told me that the light is good enough to shoot if shadows are at least 45 degrees from the source.  

Thursday Arch Series

I don't think I've ever been to the top of the Arch when it made a more perfect shadow over the Missiisippi. The dock at the left is the departure point for helicopter sightseeing rides. The one on the right is the mooring point for a couple of excursion boats that give rides along the river.         

Fashion Show

Part water and part glass. One of the Garden of Glass artworks outside of the Climatron. The ephemeral figures appear to be walking down a fashion show runway into a riot of wet color.          

Glass After Glass

A bit more from the Garden of Glass show at the botanical garden. The technical skill is amazing. There may be a metaphor here: these look so soft and tender and yet they are so brittle.  

Philip Glass

Last night at the American premier of Philip Glass' opera The Trial, based on Franz Kafka's discomfiting novel. At a reception after the performance, the composer was flanked by Opera Theatre of St. Louis' General Director, Timothy O'Leary, and librettist Cristopher Hampton. Not the greatest picture but I was using my little Olympus under a tent with ordinary light bulbs. 

Glass is something of a hero to me. I wrote recently about encountering the early Stravinsky ballets. A few years later, I read about Glass and heard Music In Fifths, Music In Changing Parts, North Star and the Dances. It smashed my concept of what music could be as throughly as did The Rite of Spring. Then Mrs. C and I attended the performances of Einstein On The Beach and The Photographer at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. And then the trilogy of movies with Godfrey Reggio, the searing Koyanaasqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi. And others operas, including Akhenaten, about the ancient Egyptian monothesist, and Satyagraha,  set in the time the young Gandhi lived in South Africa. It's a minority opinion, but I think the latter is the greatest opera of the 20th Century.

So it was a pleasure to hear his newer work and to see him again. He recently turned 80 and looked a little frail. I hope he keeps writing and writing.