WORDS TO LIVE BY

 

Down and out philosophy in my favorite post-industrial ruins near the Arch and the Mississippi. Doesn't leave any room for reassessment, growth, the unforeseen or bad choices. For your Philosophy 101 exam, discuss and critique.                       

STL DPB IN IRELAND - CLONMACNOISE

 

Clonmancoise is the site of a monastery founded in the 6th Century, containing the ruins of the church and an ancient graveyard with several high crosses. It sits in a beautiful location on a gentle hill overlooking the River Shannon. We stopped there on our way back to Dublin from Galway.               

TRANQUILITY

 

The same fake ruins and fountain in Tower Grove Park, seen from across the pond. One of the things I like about this place is the feeling of calm and quiet, unless a festival is being held there. Much in contrast to its bigger and better-known competitor, Forest Park, which can be just packed.                 

FAKE

 

An odd feature in Tower Grove Park: there is an area of fake ruins beside a pond, sort of a Romantic fantasy dropped down in the Midwest. It’s not like the park is set on a foggy moor. This was built in the 19th Century and seems pretty strange today. Still, people like it. You often see wedding parties being photographed here.               

IMPERMANENCE

All things must pass, but how long they last depends, to some extent, on how they are cared for. Consider human bodies. The old warehouse on the riverfront that burned over the weekend had become useless and was abandoned. The surrounding area was old and industrial, lacking a reason to rehab it. The right background is our newest bridge across the Mississippi. How long will it stand? Our oldest bridge is 150 years old and still very much in use.            

FAKE

I was totally out of material. Yesterday was mild and there was lovely winter light. I headed for Tower Grove Park, my favorite in our area. Not flashy, just quietly beautiful. There is a pond bordered with self-consciously fake ruins, a 19th Century romantic fantasy. You do see lots of wedding photography here in the warmer months.           

ROMANTIC FAKE RUINS

It's a sentimental, recurrent theme in 19th Century European art and literature, the ruins of an ancient castle, barren and evocative. Think Sir Walter Scott. It was nostalgia for a dream of older times. Tower Grove Park, St. Louis' most beautiful, IMHO, has a reference. Kids love to climb on it.         

Bring Back American Railroad Jobs

Ruins of the Cotton Belt depot, north riverfront.  

There is a big anti-Trump rally on Sunday starting at 2:00 in Citygarden. I'll be covering it. https://www.facebook.com/events/1843569069255135/