THE HIGHWAY THAT SPLITS MY TOWN

The railroad tracks I showed three days ago cut across Webster Groves but aren't much of a barrier (unless you are trying to drive across them when a train comes by, but that's not often). Interstate 44 is another matter. It forms a shallow artificial canyon with far fewer places to cross than the railroad. Much of it is depressed below the surrounding ground level so it's not visually in your face but is something of a scar and a barrier between neighborhoods. 

As long as America remains so car dependent I suppose we need it. These roads are much uglier and cause worse social divisions in some other cities.           

THE MOTHER OF INVENTION

Might flow from necessity. Or from Frank Zappa. (My favorite Mothers ditty is at https://youtu.be/wMSQ1vCxZJU. My daughter and I used to sing it together when she was little.) But the phrase is an old English proverb and it is often true. I got nothing to shoot. My brain is empty. I shot this on my drive home from work. Yes, I was driving but it wasn't so bad. Before I got on the highway I set the exposure, turned on autofocus and put the shutter on burst mood. Then, when I was on a straightaway, I propped the lens on top of the steering wheel and, without looking, fired away. And so, the blandness of the American suburban commute.

The sign with the bright numbers is promoting the two main lotteries in my state. It's a con game on so many levels. The two numbers represent the current jackpots in millions of dollars, but that's not what you get if you win. It's the sum of the payments of a 20 year annuity. If you want the money in a lump sum, as all winners do, you get a far smaller amount. Someone said that lotteries are tax on the stupid.              

ALL YOU NEED IS

Someone is paying for a few billboards around the area that sell nothing. One says "I 🖤 STL" and another "😃 SMILE."  I'd like to get pictures of all of them but someone would have to drive me so I can shoot through the windshield. I took this one at the wheel on my way home from work last night. Maybe someone will be moved by it.

Running very low on material but there is an all-day event today that should get me a car load.        

We're Not Used To This

Okay, no sniggers from northerners. I've been lazy about posting lately but this is what has been going on around us. We don't get a lot of snow most winters. This weekend has been an exception.

It's unusual for me to get a shot from the passenger seat of a car. I had to have my neck magnetically resonated on Friday. It's messed up enough that they had to give me some narcs to be able to lie flat for 20 minutes and I was not allowed to drive myself home. Mrs. C did the honors. This shot is from mid-afternoon Friday. I'm writing this mid-day Sunday and there is still a little bit falling. The Lou panics when it snows. It took us an hour to get home from the Washington University Medical Center, a drive that would be fifteen minutes off rush hour.           

How To Return To Costa Rican Sunsets

We could always play the lottery. Or not, and count our pennies. No high voltage electric lines in your view in Langosta.

And the churches here don't have stone lattice-work sides to let the breeze through. 

We'll have a Madeleine Monday tomorrow. And the pre-Mardi Gras dog parade is this afternoon, always worth trolling for images. It's freakishly warm, with a forecast of 74F/23C today, in mid-February. Should be a big turnout.              

Sunset, Christmas Eve, Interstate 44

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The last shot after my Christmas Eve walkabout downtown. The highway I take home runs generally southwest with some twists and turns. At some times of year parts of it look directly into the sunset (and it can be blinding). Here we have the last glow of day. Unlike yesterday's shot, I was not at a stoplight but traveling at the helm of my trusty Honda. Well, the traffic was very light and I was going below the speed limit and I was actually looking at the road, albeit through a viewfinder, and I just couldn't resist the color. Kids, don't try this at home.