TRACERS

 

Much of the attraction at Garden Glow is the swirling, brightly colored lights. There is something to be said, though, for simply pattern. I thought black and white might be the best way to express it. 

 

              

SPECTRUM

 

Another set of lights at Garden Glow. This one throbs with constantly changing colors and patterns. But there is a different way to approach this subject that I will explore tomorrow.                     

CURVED PATH

 

Just after entering Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden, visitors are led past a curved line of lights toward the Climatron. It is a geodesic dome containing a complex system of landforms and ventilation that replicates four climate zones.                  

GARDEN GLOW AGAIN

 

Every year at this time, the Missouri Botanical Garden lights up the place for the holidays. The technology gets more and more amazing. The view here is across what is a reflecting pool in the warm months, changing color and dancing to music. More to come.               

SHOES FOR INDUSTRY

 

Not in the sense of final, but rather shoe manufacturing. St. Louis once dominated shoe making in the US before it all went offshore. (And we had more big breweries than just Anheuser-Busch, as well as a second - terrible - major league baseball team. It was said that we were first in shoes, first in brews and last in the American League.) This building was the headquarters of the International Shoe Company and a shoe last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot, used by shoemakers to create and repair shoes. BTW, obscure reference in the title: https://youtu.be/Metv95k5VrY?si=dtWWai1lv9lYEP--

YOU CAN’T GET THERE FROM HERE

 

A locally notorious signpost downtown near the nexus of several highways. Imagine being a visitor trying to find your way, approaching this at 30 mph / 50 kph. Good luck.                  

FOOD ROOF

 

It  may be hard to see depending on the size of your screen, but those are the words over the door of this old, wildly painted commercial building. (14th and Delmar for the locals.) The only other signage indicates storage space. Maybe there is an urban farm on top. If so, the roots seem to go deep.                  

HALLELUJAH

 

We have a top-tier symphony orchestra but, this being St. Louis, it rarely sells out. That wasn’t so this weekend, when three performances of Messiah played to packed houses. Baroque master Nicholas Mc Geegan led with a reduced orchestra and chorus appropriate to the time of composition. The crowd went wild.                

SEE-THROUGH

 

Most of the first floor of the Old Courthouse contains historical exhibits and it’s very well done. This room is about the building itself. I mentioned that it had been constructed in phases. This model shows the small original structure surrounded by a clear plastic model of what exists now.                   

STRAIGHT UP

 

Looking straight up in the rotunda of the Old Courthouse. I need to go back with a fish eye lens. I like the gradations of color and how it reminds me of a cross section of the Large Hadron Collider.                   

INSIDE THE OLD COURTHOUSE

 

The statue of Dred and Harriet Scott I posted yesterday is outside the building we call the Old Courthouse. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Courthouse_(St._Louis). It was built in stages during the 19th Century and became the seat of state and federal legal proceedings. It is now part of the National Park system and underwent  a big restoration recently. The view is inside the rotunda from the first balcony, which is as far up as they let you go.                        

DRED AND HARRIET SCOTT

Most Americans have heard of Dred Scott, although I’m afraid that many don’t know the story. Scott and his wife Harriet were enslaved people who had lived in St. Louis when Missouri was a slave state. Their owner moved them for some years to Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory, where slavery was not recognized. Upon their return here they sued for their freedom. It became known as the Dred Scott Case. Its long, complex process resulted in one of the most horrifying decisions in the history of our Supreme Court (although there are modern competitors). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott. This statue stands before the local courthouse where the litigation began.             

 

UNION STATION

 

St. Louis Union Station is across the street from the fountain and sculptures seen yesterday. It was opened in 1894 and was at the time the largest railway station in the world. (We used to be somebody.) Passenger rail service is long gone. Much of it is now a fancy hotel. Out behind contains restaurants and amusements. We are grateful that it has been preserved.             

ANOTHER SNOWCAP

Ten blocks west of Citygarden, opposite Union Station, is Aloe Plaza, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloe_Plaza . The main feature is a fountain containing many sculptures collectively called The Meeting Of The Waters, https://www.urbanreviewstl.com/2011/06/carl-milles-meeting-of-the-waters-in-aloe-plaza/. It represents the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The main characters are accompanied by a strange assortment of river creatures.                 

HE’S GOT GLOVES BUT A SWEATER MIGHT HELP

A little further down in Citygarden, Pinocchio seems impervious to the cold. Jim Dine’s Big White Gloves stands without shivering in short sleeves and pants. Maybe he is showing off, given his desire to become a real boy.              

FROZEN HEAD

 

It’s unusual in recent years for us to get snow this early, but when it happens I think I should do something with it. Igor Mitoraj’s Eros Bendato in Citygarden.             

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

 

There is a magazine here called Out In STL, serving the LGBTQ+ community. They have an annual event called The Luminary Awards. My friend, Matthew Kerns, received major recognition and invited me and Mrs. C as his guests. Matt is president and artistic director of the St. Lou Fringe, seen in these pages every summer. (I’m the president of the board of directors and house photographer.) The event was by turns moving and a hoot. Here, some members of the local chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence help get things rolling.          

NOT JUST ANOTHER THURSDAY NIGHT

 

And not just another awards ceremony. I’ll explain…               

WHAT FALLS AND WHAT REMAINS

 

More aftermath of last week’s fire. Brick can collapse when the support behind it burns away. Concrete stands. The small building in the foreground, although close to the  collapsed structure, survived.                

FIRE AND ICE

 

While we were away last week a five alarm fire broke out in an area of old, vacant warehouses south of the Arch. The fire and smoke ball was so big it showed up on weather radar. The district was to be part of a big redevelopment project, whose future is now uncertain. I went by yesterday to see what was visible in the snow.                  

SNOW AT O'HARE

 

Airports, especially big ones, are best avoided when it snows. Unfortunately, that can’t always be avoided when traveling for family events. This is what part of the departures board looked like on Saturday. The airline put us on a flight at mid-day Sunday, although there were still many cancellations. It got us home, if 2.5 hours late. At that point we didn’t care. It’s been snowing here all day on Monday as I write this.                

CITY DAILY PHOTO DECEMBER THEME - FURRY THINGS

 

Not a lot of furry, fuzzy things around our house except granddaughter Ellie’s huge mountain of stuffies. The one living exception is Gizmo, the family cat. We all wish we could be this serene.