Light and Space

When the library was restored a new main entrance was built on the north side of the building. The first photo in yesterday's post is the old one on the south. The one shown here is full of light and air, unlike the rest of the building. Visit alone or with your best friend.                                      

Dark Corners

Our city's central library underwent a loving (and expensive ) restoration a couple of years ago, bringing the latest technology to a magnificent old building. The architect was Cass Gilbert, who Americans may know as the designer of the Supreme Court building in Washington.

 

There are bright airy spaces and dark corners. The top picture looks back to the front entrance from the great hall. The second is at the top of one of the two main stairways.                     
I've been having a hard time keeping up with comments. This is my heaviest work week in a while. Madeleine has been over some evenings. We're pals but she wants my attention (which, of course, she gets). So, it's like, what do you want to do, Ellie? (That's what we call her.)

Opa! she replies enthusiastically, meaning opera videos on YouTube.

What do you want to watch?

Keen! Meaning the Queen of the Night's aria from The Magic Flute, over and over and over. Eventually I tried to distract her with the Seguidilla scene from Carmen. It worked. The kid was dancing up a storm. She is 30 months old. What do we have on our hands?  
 

Through The Lens Of St. Louis

There is a wonderful show through later this month at the Central Branch of the St. Louis Public Library. You get the idea from the sign. Its theme is our photographic heritage from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Well worth a visit if you are around here.

 

The second picture is of the library's Great Hall. The exhibit is around the walls and in display cases in front of them.                                      

Minor Disaster

We awoke yesterday morning to find a miniature geyser erupting in front of our house. Mrs. C went out first and found that a water main had broken. The repair crew said they would be shutting off our service soon so we both ran through the shower. By the time I threw on some clothes and ran downstairs the main valve had been shut off and the best of the show was over.

The water company crew knew what they were doing. After pumping out the flooded area they replaced a section of pipe, filled the hole and had our service restored by mid-afternoon.                   

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Smell

Someone said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. More or less the same with photography about smell. This theme didn't grab me, maybe too much of a metaphoric stretch. But if you are a CDP elder ya gotta post something. Hence, a pan of barbecue and some kind of weird lily I brought home from the supermarket. 

There's something entirely different that's good about today. If the plan works (if the plan works) I will stop working full time in exactly one year. Maybe I should get one of those counter widgets.               

Send In The . . .

I could make so many terrible jokes about this - think about our election for starters - but they would make everyone groan. So, gentle reader, I will leave the pleasure to you. Leave suggestions in comments.                         

National Emblem

All Americans know that the magnificent bald eagle is a national emblem. A few of us know that it just barely won the contest. The much-respected Benjamin Franklin argued that our national bird should be the turkey. It's a good thing he lost the debate. Images of turkeys would be much less impressive on warplanes and tanks.