BIG BOY

 

Got it. Big Boy, discussed yesterday, left downtown St. Louis and passed through the suburb where I live, Webster Groves, on its way out of town. Lots of room. It is hard to get a sense of scale of this thing unless you look at it broadside.                   

TRAIN TIME

 

During World War II, the Union Pacific Railroad built a group of enormous locomotives to move material, known as Big Boys. Only one of them, Number 4014, is still operational. https://www.up.com/about-us/history/steam/big-boy-4014 Every few years the company trots it out for a coast to coast tour, stopping in St. Louis yesterday. The viewing area was so poorly laid out that no one could get beyond the front of the unit and the crush of people was intolerable. This other engine, with its semiquincentennial theme, had plenty of room.   

Big Boy will pass close to our home this morning on its way to Kansas City so I will see if I can get a better shot.         

NEW STREET ART

 

Seen while stopped at a traffic light. I assume this is a utility or telecom box. I'll stop by to see the finished product.           

REHAB OPPORTUNITY

 

South of the Arch and hard by the Mississippi sits and old industrial area, mostly vacant now. There were well-advanced plans for a multi-use redevelopment using some of the buildings in the background. Something over a year ago intense fire swept through the structures with the now-blank windows. The future is unknown.                

BLACK DIAMONDS

 

Noted on my way out of Soulard Market after the Bastille Day stuff. It was getting late on Saturday afternoon and things were beginning to wind down. Black Diamond is an odd name for watermelon (sounds like it would hurt to bite into it) but they are dark.                  

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT

 

The mock Bastille Day festivities began and ended outside our historic Soulard Farmers Market, https://tinyurl.com/2s4xmfu8, established in 1779. The current building opened in 1929. Vendors sell all kinds of foods down the four long arms, with unusual shops in the center. I assume the sign is to draw attention, but does Spider Man shop here?                  

LE JOUR DE BOIRE EST ARRIVÉ

 

As has been noted in these pages, St. Louis loves an excuse to drink in public. As the mob followed the king and queen on Soulard Bastille Day, many had bottles or cans in hand. Some of those too unsteady to walk the route rode golf carts, voiturettes de golf, flying le tricolore.                      

ALLONS ENFANTS!

 

Happy Bastille Day to all our French friends. This town was founded by a pair of French explorer-traders. Our originally French Soulard neighborhood holds an annual tongue-in-cheek celebration of the revolution, wherein the royal couple are chased very slowly from one to another of the several local bars, ending at a mock execution at le rasoir national.               

NO CAMO

 

Still in the Dogtown neighborhood. The owner of this building does not believe in subtlety. Visitors, welcome or not, will have no trouble finding it. I notice that it is a two family. Seems a bit small for that. The sign on the utility pole says no zoo parking. The zoo is kinda sorta in the area but way farther than I'd want to walk. 

And happy birthday to Mrs. C.                  

CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE

 

There are times when I just need some pictures and I'll go out cruising in neighborhoods I don't generally visit. That happened recently when I was driving  around the picturesquely named Dogtown (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogtown,_St._Louis). Never heard of this thoroughfare before. It would be generous to call it an alley, just enough for my car to fit through. Now, where is Three-Quarters Lane?                

EAT ENOUGH HERE, END UP THERE

Imo's is the classic St. Louis pizza chain. Their product is quirky: cracker thin crust, coated with a cheese blend unique to here (if you are a local you know, if not it's incomprehensible) and cut into squares, not wedges. Pack down enough of it and you may end up at the massive Washington University Medical Center in the background. It goes way back from what you can see here. They keep me repaired from time to time.                   

PEACE ON WHEELS

 

A skateboarder in Kiener Plaza downtown. Boards came on the scene when I was in high school in the 1960s. My friends and I used to grab ours and head for the NY subway early Saturday mornings, hoping to find an empty first or last car. If we were in luck, we would try to slalom through the vertical poles while the train was moving. Lots of bruises but fortunately no lost teeth.                  

MAMA DOVE IS BACK

 

Some time ago I posted a picture of a mourning dove sitting on a nest, located in a crook of a downspout from our front porch. A bit later, I had a photo of two chicks on a nearby chair, both parents keeping watch. The nest has been there for awhile, having been used by robins a couple of years ago. Doves can have more than one clutch of eggs in a season so I'm watching  to see who may pop up.                     

I SOLD A PHOTO FOR THE FIRST TIME!

 

I'm a photographer for pleasure and and personal fulfillment, not for money. In the nearly twenty years I've been posting pictures online and entering the occasional show, I've never made a penny for my work. Out of the blue, I was contacted by the multi-talented Carrie Mae Weems, who had a commission to do an installation for the new Obama Center in Chicago. She wanted to use my photo of one of the sculptures of her close late friend, Terry Adkins. I am so honored to be part of an institution I hold in the highest regard. A check is kinda nice, too.         

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - LA GUARDIA AIRPORT AND A RARE VIDEO

I've been flying through New York's La Guardia airport since I started college in St. Louis in 1967. It used to be a dump (https://tinyurl.com/mvbs69fh). Over the last several years it has been transformed with new, flashy terminals. It is much more spacious and the amenities are better, but one glowing store after restaurant after bar packed next to one another make them almost indistinguishable. Terminal B with our usual airline, American, has this waterfall-cum-light show. The display seemed to form letters going by too fast to read, but I think it has something to do with the World Cup.                     

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - PARTY WITH THE CROWES

 

When my extended family gets together there is enough wine on hand to serve an emperor's banquet (and only the good stuff, please). My brother brought this from his town in Massachusetts. Although it lacks an E, it was refreshing but failed to get me on my feet.                      

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - FAMILY TRADITION

Every Fourth of July my sister and brother-in-law in New Jersey throw a massive backyard barbecue party - cheeseburgers, hot dogs, steak, chicken, cold macaroni salad, green salad, fresh Jersey corn, watermelon...it seems  endless. An indispensable element is her Fourth of July flag cake. Yum yum yum.

 Home later today.                   

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - JERSEY WILDLIFE

 

We are in Ridgewood, New Jersey, with a crowd of family, from baby to octogenarian, hiding inside from the heat. My sister-in-law noticed two fawns outside the window. Mom was off wandering somewhere, but these two were remarkably calm.                                                

ANOTHER SPIRAL

Couldn't resist. Another spiral, maybe better than the last one. Interesting views all over the new Powell Hall.

We're in New Jersey now, visiting my three sibs, their spouses, kids and grandkids. We flew into La Guardia, which is a pretty nice airport these days. When we got in the rental car it was 106 F / 41 C, worse than back home. No outdoor activities here, but we all have AC.                   

SYMPHONY SPIRAL

 

When Powell Symphony Hall reopened almost a year ago, we found an ultra-modern new building surrounding two sides of the old one. It adds a lot of space for the public, but also adequate dressing rooms for the musicians, especially the women, who now make up half of the players. They have a comfortable lounge. There are proper executive offices, a music library, instrument storage and a large public education room. Lots of the inside views are pretty good, too.               

CITY DAILY PHOTO JULY THEME - WATER

 

Too little is trouble. Too much is trouble. Too hot or cold can be a problem. Yet we can't live without it. We are water based organisms on the water planet. The illustration is snow melt on the street beneath the Arch. See how wet other City Daily Photo members are at https://citydailyphoto.org/2026/06/23/july-theme-water/