There is a jellyfish tank at the St. Louis Aquarium. Nothing else in it besides the creatures and dark walls. They often shine colored lights on them for an oh wow effect--the original of this picture was in blues--but to me nothing captures their fine structure and other-worldliness better than simple black and white.
Not the usual pose for a beginning of the week pic of the kid. The aquarium has a pool at child height containing what are sometimes called doctor fish, or, more properly, garra rufa, found in parts of the Middle East and Southeast Asia. They have no teeth and will nibble dead skin from humans, leading to their use for pedicures in some places. This may not be such a good idea and the practice is illegal in some countries and several U.S. states (but not this one). https://www.healthline.com/health/beauty-skin-care/fish-pedicure#safety-issues
It feels like tickling to most people. Ellie thought it was a hoot and could hardly pull herself away.
Our aquarium is not up there in the rankings for size and scope. There is one main tank with lots of species, along with several smaller containers. Ellie and I spotted these divers who had what looked like a vacuum and scrub brushes. She wanted to know what they were doing. A staff member told us they were cleaning food debris and fish poop. It's a tough job but someone has to do it.
BFF is an acronym that my granddaughter and children her age use for Best Friends Forever. It may be aspirational but it's a sweet sentiment. Now that school is out for the summer, when her mom has to work and she is at our house it sometimes falls to me to keep her occupied. On Thursday, she and I went to St. Louis Union Station, once one of the great railway junctions of America. That went kaput, of course, but it has been redeveloped into a fancy hotel and a large, overpriced, entertainment center catering to families.
The first thing she wanted to do was the aquarium. Not huge but fun for kids of her age. She was fascinated by these very friendly turtles who perhaps intended to be BFFs.
The Chinese cultural festival show, like all shows, must come to an end. Are we all, as Ed Sullivan used to say, a really big show? I'll leave that question to another day. It's time to move on to something new.
OOPS - a commenter thought I was ending the blog. No, I'm just changing to another topic.
I don't know if you would describe this woman as a juggler, acrobat or something else, but she was a big hit at the Chinese Cultural Festival. This is her thing, keeping umbrellas spinning using all four extremities. The announcer said she holds the world record for keeping ten of them going at the same time. Being a bit on the clumsy side, I just can't imagine it.
It's quo vadis day at City Daily Photo. This is the interchange in downtown St. Louis between a couple of major highways and a bridge from Missouri to Illinois. It was taken from a nearby office building overlooking the scene.
