STL DPB ON THE ROAD - COPS & DOUGHNUTS

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner in Clare, Michigan, with our daughter-in-law’s family. Clare is right in the middle of Michigan’s lower peninsula, a town of about 3,300 named for County Clare, Ireland, where my father’s family is from. Its best-known business is Cops & Doughnuts. All of the small town police department took over the failing town bakery some years ago and created a business famous in the region. It is a meme in American culture that the police love doughnuts and coffee, especially if not at their own expense.              

NOT PART OF THE PLAN

 

Tough winter travel day yesterday. Ice in the morning and mid-day in Chicago messed up everything at O’Hare. Skipping the details, we missed our connection but there was space on a late flight that got us into Flint, Michigan, about 11:30 PM. Too late to drive to our son’s city. Fortunately, the car rental desk stayed open for us and I found a hotel room near the airport. Flint was once a big auto manufacturing city. General Motors was founded here, but all that is gone. Tough times since.             

LOVE IT AND LEAVE IT

Perhaps due to a lack of good sense, Mrs. C and I are flying today for the Thanksgiving holiday. We get to change planes in the chaos of Chicago O’Hare International Airport on one of the busiest days of the year, ending up in Midland, Michigan, where our son and his family live. We get to see our two other grandchildren, who are too far away. The sign is in front of the Missouri History Museum. The heart shows the center of the city’s flag.            

SIX MONTHS LATER

 

It’s been right at six months since a tornado swept through parts of St. Louis. It cut across the northwest corner of Forest Park and moved into residential neighborhoods to the north, much of which contained old homes in lower income areas. Here in the park many damaged trees were cut to stumps at ground level. However, one huge tree was toppled and pulled up much of its root ball. Lots of it has not been cleared.        

AGLOW

 

The view from one of the galleries toward the central hall of the St. Louis Art Museum’s central hall, as seen in Saturday’s post. This is one of five massive paintings that are part of the Anselm Kiefer show. The glittering highlights around the figure in the upper center and the words across the top are in gold leaf.           

BIRCHES AT THE MUSEUM

 

A carefully arranged grove of birch trees outside the entrance to the new wing of the St. Louis Art Museum.             

KIEFER IN THE HALL

 

Anselm Kiefer is a giant of contemporary German art. His first major U.S. museum show in 20 years is now at the St. Louis Art Museum. Five huge paintings flank the central hall, with many others in the galleries. He visited St. Louis a number of years ago and some of the work refers to the Mississippi or the Rhein. We’ve going to a walk-through with a docent today.