Here Comes The King

Oops. I'm a bit uncomfortable some days and I'm prone to overlook things. Left my briefcase with my laptop inside sitting on the garage floor behind my car this morning. I was going to upload this as soon as I got to the office. Well, try again.

These are the Budweiser Clydesdale horses, universally known in the US and frequently seen in St. Louis. They pull an old beer wagon to the music of a Bud ad jingle called "Here Comes The King," as in king of beers. Personally, I think Budweiser is more of the handyman or janitor of beers. There is so much more that is so much more interesting.                   

STL DPB On The Road - A Parade In Liberia

After our walk around in Liberia we found that there was a local festival starting. Not sure what it was about but there was a parade at noon that Friday. Worst possible light and fill flash wasn't up to the job at a distance. Still, it was a lot of fun. Some of the horses are trained to prance, almost to dance. Note the Los Angeles car wash and parking lot. This is Costa Rican cowboy country.     

Wild Horses

Horses were a common theme at the Lantern Festival. These displays were in the reflecting pool between the Climatron, a large geodesic dome, and the edge of the garden.

Long, long work day yesterday. Hope I can get some more of these edited and get around to my friends blogs soon.                           

Lonesome Pine

If you can sing any of that song you're older than me. And anyway, our Pine Street isn't all that lonely, except in spots. What you don't see along it is a stagecoach with a team of four horses. We could use a new transit route over that way and cowboys will always be welcome by some section of the American population. Something for the city to consider.

What this rig had to do with the Veterans Day parade didn't get through to me.

                  

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What can you say?

I mean, you round a bend in a trail and there, face to face with you, is a two-legged horse wearing a hoodie. And his friend.

Must mean it's the season for the St. Louis Renaissance Faire and its associated silliness. Even Madeleine was dressed up as a fairy.

                        

Man and Horse

Horse drawn carriage rides are available downtown for tourists and romantics. The drivers are charming people who love their animals. Last June 1 (before I understood theme days), I had a post about Chrissy and her horse Curley, hiding from the rain under the main highway bridge across the Mississippi. This past weekend, while taking pictures on the riverfront under the Arch, I met John and Shorty. John told me that Chrissy had been sick and we wish her a speedy recovery. He also kept addressing me as "Sir," which made me feel both old and uncomfortable.

It's fun to talk to the people I meet on the street. It is like the the old advice to men who want to meet women: get a cute dog and walk it. The camera, like the dog, is the introduction. Still, lots of us are shy about it. When I took the fabulous Bobbi Lane's portrait photography workshop, she made us go out for an afternoon to take street portraits of strangers, always with permission. There are ways to do it. Still, I only get a few minutes with John and other people I photograph in brief public meetings. It makes me wonder about their life stories. How does he live on this irregular job? How did he come to drive horses in the city? I don't learn many of these details. I've been trained to go for the image, albeit in a friendly, polite way.

Is this art, journalism or voyeurism? What do you think?

TOMORROW: Not part of the Thursday Arch Series, but the Arch is in it. Just a little.