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.                     

SPRING, REALLY?

 

Fake ruins in Tower Grove Park, a 19th Century Romantic fantasy. No flowers around here yet, maybe because St. Louis can't figure out what season it is. When I shot this yesterday afternoon, the temperature was 94 F / 34.4 C. This morning as I write this, it is 40 F / 4.4 C. Not normal.                          

SPLISH SPLASH

There were lots of other children playing in Citygarden's splash fountains while Ellie was there. The water jets go some distance back from the focal distance of this photo. They dance, they are choreographed, their rise and fall follow unpredictable patterns. Mrs. C and I wondered how someone gets the job of water choreographer or fluid engineer. If you have ever been to Las Vegas and seen the fountains in front of The Bellagio, you know what I mean.                 

RUNNING THROUGH FIRE

That's how it feels to many of us in St. Louis when we are out in the street, and certainly in much of the rest of the country. The picture is a bit of a tease, though. This locally famous statue in a downtown plaza is in the middle of a fountain whose water is colored for various occasions. Looks like a hot foot, though.             

FOUNTAIN

One of the recurring motifs in the circus performance was these three men, dressed in tuxedo jackets and shirts, but one of them wore matching bicycle shorts and one was a dwarf. They served as the connection between acts but threw in some comedy of their own. Here they each held a bottle of water. They would suck down a mouthful and spray it back out in various funny poses. Use your imagination.              

THE LAST OF THE ICE, FOR NOW

 

 

These images are getting a little old but I have to get out on the street and find something new to see. This is one of the several fountains in the Grand Basin in Forest Park, the formal body of water below the art museum. I don't think they stay on all year long but it was pretty cold when this was taken. At what point do the outlets freeze over?             

1904 LEFTOVER INFRARED

Before I say anything about today's picture, I'll note that our region got between 10 and 12 inches / 25.4 - 30.5 cm of rain yesterday. That blew away the old record set in 1915 and, in fact, was much more than the average rainfall for July and August combined. Some areas had severe damage while others were unharmed. My home and neighborhood had soggy lawns but nothing more.

Anyway, this is another IR in Forest Park on a recent very hot day. We call the building at the upper left the World's Fair Pavilion, a leftover from the 1904 international exposition. (And we had the Olympics that year, too. We used to be somebody.) The slope ends at a multi-terraced fountain, waterfall and pool that kids love.                    

THE HEAT

Citygarden, downtown St. Louis. The forecast for today, Saturday, is for a high of 104 F / 40 C. It's the kind of day when I want to take climate science deniers or the-economy-is-more-important types by the shoulders and just throttle them. Unlike many of our European friends, most of us have air conditioning and can hide indoors. But then there are the people who work outdoors and our neighbors who can't afford the electricity to run AC.        

PANDEMIC IN SPRINGTIME 1

The buildings and the streets and the healthcare workers are still there. (Courageous, dedicated people. Part of the mighty Washington University Medical Center is in the background.) But the only sound is the gentle hiss of the fountain and the wind engaging the blossoms of the red bud trees. By design, no one there for me to talk to.       

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.          

Cold Snap

The family had dinner Sunday night at one of our favorite restaurants, Nathalie's in the Central West End. The temperature had dropped to the low teens F (around -10 C). We entered the courtyard and found this fountain. It has a beautiful Belle Époque look (as does the restaurant's interior design) but someone forgot the water valve. Hope the pipes didn't burst.                          

And The Living Is Easy

It's a long way from summer in Citygarden to Catfish Row but everyone seemed relaxed and pleased at one of the fountains in Citygarden the other day. It's wonderful that they let children play in all of the garden's water features rather than shoo them away. In fact, I think this one is designed for kids.
                       

Beat The Heat

Holy bleepers, it got hot around here. One of the nice things about downtown is that the city lets anybody splash around in the fountains and pools of Kiener Plaza and Citygarden. Can you imagine that in the fountains of Trafalgar Square of the Trevi in Rome?