Missouri Botanical Garden Glow

in the snow globe

Last night we had the opportunity to attend a dinner celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Deer Creek Watershed Alliance at the Missouri Botanical Garden. SWT Design has been an active partner in the project for quite a long while, so we were invited the celebration. It was an interesting mix of people, and the organization has a reason to be proud of all the accomplishments.

The evening was specifically designed to take advantage of the Garden Glow at the facility. Consisting of over one million lights, the Garden Glow gets bigger and better each year. Following the dinner and program, we were free to walk through the garden. Of particular fun this year was the addition of the Twelve Days of Christmas displays, of which some pieces were interactive. You could be one of the 12 drummers drumming, for example. I couldn't help but laugh as I passed by the various pieces, because my dad absolutely hated that song.

While it was a little chilly out, we had dressed accordingly and so it was a fairly pleasant night to walk through the garden. There were not many people out viewing the exhibit yet, so we could just take our time and enjoy the show. The Missouri Botanical Garden continues to amaze and amuse me year round.

Garden Glow 2018

Fall Leaf Walk

Wednesday I went on the Fall Leaf Walk at Bellefontaine Cemetery with a couple of my friends. It was a freezing cold day with a light dusting of snow on the ground, so not ideal for looking at trees and leaves. At any rate, the tour guide was amazing and I learned a lot about not only the unique trees that exist at this Level II Accredited Arboretum, but also about the icons used on stones. The most interesting thing to me as a genealogist involves the use of a period. If a period follows the surname on a stone, that indicates the end of the family name, meaning there are no male descendants to carry on the name. Who knew?

period on headstone

It was a wonderful tour, despite the cold, and I would love to do it again and bring Jim with me. Just not when it is winter!

Bellefontaine Cemetery

Kim Wolterman

Today I had the privilege of being on Radio63119, the local radio station for my community. The topic was house research, so a woman from the Webster Groves Historical Society joined the conversation as well. The show host is so professional and easy going that it was like we were all just sitting around my coffee table. I had a blast! I would be happy to be on her show again any time she wants me. An added bonus is that she put in numerous plugs for my book on researching house history in St. Louis County. Once she has a taped transcript of the show ready, I will be able to share that on my social media outlets.

Fall Photo Shoot

Fall finally arrived in our area, so last Saturday Jim and I along with another photographer friend went out to shoot some fall color. We started at Forest Park, intending to drive through looking for inspiration. What we didn't know was that there was a huge run taking place that morning. Parking and traffic were quite a mess, but we finally found a spot near our intended location at the Muny. The lake and bandstand outside our outdoor theater never disappoints in any season, but it is bathed in brilliance in the fall. This year was no exception.

The Muny at Forest Park

From there we made our way over to the zoo, which is also located within Forest Park. Despite the overcast skies and cooler temperature, the zoo was actually fairly crowded. Many of the animals were out, though we were not lucky enough to get close to the new cheetah family. In November of 2017, the female cheetah gave birth to eight cubs, a first in zoo history. The normal size of a litter is four. The cubs were kept out of the public eye until May of this year, but sightings of them are still pretty rare. Here are some of the other animals we saw though.

St. Louis Zoo

While walking back to the car, we stopped to admire the trees around Art Hill. The colors were outstanding, and there were many people taking advantage of the beauty to capture family photos. I really enjoy our photo walk outings, and the opportunity to be outside taking pictures with other people who get my obsession.

Art Hill in Forest Park