Sentinels

The bare trees seem to be standing watch over the pavilion in a pond in Forest Park. Much of the snow is gone by now, with temperatures just over freezing. Today, though, we expect falling temps, a little more snow and high winds. Not the best day to go out shooting but I'm out of material.             

Semi Frozen

An artificial stream in Forest Park with a tiny waterfall and some ducks sitting on the edge. Cold enough to freeze the quiet water but not what is gently moving.           

THE Place For Sledding In The Lou

There are lots of hills around town where kids can sled but there is just one classic venue. Art Hill is the long slope between the art museum and the Grand Lagoon in Forest Park, an artificial body of water that stretches a long way from the base. You would have to know it's there to see it but there is a line of hay bales at the bottom to keep speeding sledders from plopping into the freezing water.

It was very busy last weekend. Bare spots were starting to appear.          

New House of Representatives Takes Office Tomorrow

Go get 'em. The information is out there. As Bob Dylan said, you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

This t rex has been a fixture in Forest Park for years. Time to let it loose.  

The Darkest Days

Gloomy around The Lou these days. Mostly overcast, bare trees, getting colder. This is Forest Park near sunset a few days ago.

Cycle

Forest Park, yesterday afternoon. Gray day. The annual cycle continues.

Color

We don't always get a colorful fall. Many years it is too warm and dry. Leaves turn brown, drop to the ground and that's it. This year, though, we hit the jackpot.

Still short on new material. After physical therapy this morning at Washington University Medical Center I went by my favorite spot in adjacent Forest Park. Damp day or not, it was ablaze.

There are some good sources of new images this weekend.      

Photo Experiment

For most of the last five months I've set aside my trusty - and heavy - Canon 5D Mark III and have been using new equipment. The Canon was getting to be too much weight for my old neck, shoulders and back. I wanted something lighter that would maintain image quality. An old teacher recommended the Fujifilm X-T2.

It's pretty cool. Although it uses an ASP-C sensor (not full sized), I think the image quality is better than the Canon. An interesting feature is that it can emulate many Fujifilm film looks. They have developed many over the years. This picture of the Grand Basin in Forest Park emulates their Acros black and white film, with the addition of a red filter. I like it.

Early flight to New York this morning. Something very unusual to do outside of the city itself tomorrow. Reports by Sunday.

STL DP At 11 - What A Workout

Today is Saint Louis Daily Photo's eleventh anniversary. I have not posted every single day but I've come pretty close. It should reach 4,000 posts in less than three weeks. From one point of view, it's been as much work as this nut-job exercise class doing push-ups off a platform in Forest Park. 

Why do I keep doing it? Other excellent City Daily Photo Blogs have come and gone. Maybe I need a creative outlet, or an alternative activity since I'm really tired of working. Maybe it's because I have come to enjoy photography so much and welcome the push to keep at it. Maybe it is the CDP colleagues from Paris to Perth, Berlin to Birmingham, we've become friends with and, in many cases, met. They are all good reasons.

I regret that my comments on friends' blogs have dropped off. It is a combination of things. An unrelenting work load. (I've been trying like crazy to cut down to part time and it's just not happening - I own the law practice.) Family obligations - as some of you may have inferred, Ellie lives with us half time and she is always my first priority. And maybe just getting older. But, in any case, thank you for your visits, your comments, your Facebook notes, your friendship and chance to enjoy your wonderful images.        

Where To Go Sledding

The place in STL to go sledding, tubing, or your choice of sliding device is Art Hill. The great sloped arc descends from the art museum to the Grand Lagoon in Forest Park. Almost every child in St. Louis had sped down it at one time or another. The problem, though, is that if you are going too fast you could slide off the edge into the water. It is partly frozen now but was completely open when this was taken.

Today's newspaper headline says they we have stayed below freezing for thirteen days, the longest stretch in 35 years. http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/feels-like-i-m-a-kid-again-longest-freeze-in/article_b42a8f29-8309-5599-ba5b-2a8310349bce.html#tracking-source=home-featured As a rule, we're not that cold a city.          

Merry Christmas From Saint Louis

Short Days

The length of days is creeping forward again but sunset is still early. Our city isn't very far north, about on the same parallel as Washington and Rome. Still, the calendar gives lots of opportunities for dramatic shots like this. It's called a pagoda, although it doesn't look Oriental, in a pond in Forest Park.

We had our first snow overnight. Not much but enough to cover the grass and cars. Ellie will be out making snow angels as soon as the sun is fully up.            

Giacometti At The Planetarium, Maybe

Other than Sunday night's moonrise I haven't been out shooting much.  So, I need to pick through recent inventory.  That's our planetarium (a pretty cool place). When I was driving around Forest Park looking for material, I found this sculpture, perhaps three times life size, outside the entrance. I didn't see any identifying information around it or on the web site but it sure looks like the work of Alberto Giacometti, right down to the oversized feet. Like the mission of the planetarium, the figure looks to the heavens and even seems to be stretching toward them. Appropriate, although it looks uncomfortable.

Filler

I'm finished with the Artica series and shooting an improv festival this weekend. That will take time to edit so I need something to fill the gap.

T Rex here has been on the blog somewhere in the past but I thought it would shake things up visually. It's in a back corner of Forest Park. You would never come across it unless you were on a certain running and biking trail. Best have your wits about you if you do.        

Vandeventer Place Gates

St. Louis has had many grand private streets where the homes of the rich were or are located. Some, in neighborhoods that became undesirable (mostly closer to the Mississippi) are gone. Many from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, mostly west of Kingshighway, survive. One of the most opulent was Vandeventer Place. (Some history here.) Now the area is, well, not so great. The mansions were razed and the development destroyed.

All of these private streets had elaborate entrance gates. For some odd reason, the entrance to Vandeventer Place was preserved and plopped down in an open area of Forest Park in 1950. It's near the Jewel Box and the Korean War Memorial seen a couple of days ago. Now it is an entrance to nowhere.                

Today's Bit Of Irony

There is a seldom-visited and almost hidden Korean War memorial in a corner of Forest Park. I confess I'd never seen it until yesterday. (For locals, it's just east of the Jewel Box.) Given recent days' headlines, it was a bit of a jolt. 

The monument refers to a particular battle in the far north, using a horrific pun. I think it's disrespectful. Plus more grammar errors: "lifes" and "minus 40 below zero." And recall that, at first, communism's intentions were honorable. If you know anything about the conditions of industrial workers in the first half of the 19th century, you can see why it came about, or perhaps was necessary. However, its implementation was brutal and stupid. As Winston Churchill said, democracy is the worst form of government ever invented except for all the others.

I've been on a break. It's likely that readers have had enough of my grandchildren and I had no new material. Things will get very busy soon, with the St. Louis Fringe Festival starting next Saturday and Madeleine's fourth birthday on the following Sunday. Oh, and then there is the total solar eclipse. We'll be right under the center of totality.       

Vacancy

There is an exhibit at the Missouri History Museum about old Route 66. You know the tune, sung here by our own Chuck Berry. It has been superseded by Interstates 44 and 55 in this part of the country but technically still exists. 

It is well known locally for the string of small independent motels along what is now Watson Road in the inner suburbs. A few are still there but the most famous - or infamous - the Coral Courts, is long gone. It was known for its unique art deco architecture, enclosed garages and short term rates, making it St. Louis' quintessential no-tell motel. Even the New York Times took notice.                 

Dedicated To Art

These pictures are from the same foggy day walkabout as in recent posts.This is the front of the St. Louis Art Museum, finished just in time for the 1904 World's Fair held in Forest Park. The architect was the renowned Cass Gilbert.

It is an excellent museum for a city our size. However, it has the best motto for a public building I've ever seen: dedicated to art and free to all. Really. Gratis. It, the zoo and the history museum (which I expect to visit today) are supported by a small bump on the real estate tax in St. Louis City and County.            

Louie Louie

https://youtu.be/4V1p1dM3snQ .  That's all I have to say today.             

Fool On The Hill

He was sitting on the wall under the great statue of St. Louis, gazing through the fog down Art Hill to the Grand Basin. I walked by under the wall, taking pictures. I said hi. He said hi. I asked him what he had with him. A glass chess set and a volume of Aristotle, he said. I asked if I could take his picture. He said sure. I did, said thanks, and then walked away with a tune in my head.