Floating Away

We have just returned from a road trip to St. Louis. Because it takes more than 12 hours to get there, we decided to spend the night in Frankfurt, Kentucky on July 8th. There are a number of whisky distilleries in the area, and we wanted to check out a couple of them. I don't like whisky or bourbon myself, but several of the distilleries have historic buildings and/or beautiful grounds and I'm always up for a photo adventure. This would be our third attempt at doing this as each previous try resulted in a rainout. As (bad) luck would have it, we were rained out this trip as well. 

Trying to make the best of the situation, there was enough of a break that we were able to check out the Josephine Sculpture Park on the night of arrival. The tagline for the park is "where art meets the earth", and you can view nearly 70 sculptures on their 30 acres of land. The park is free and open to the public, and we enjoyed the wildflowers as much as the pieces of art.

Josephine Sculpture Park

On Saturday we finished our drive to St. Louis. We spent the first two nights in a hotel so that we could have the flexibility to come and go as we pleased. We had dinner that night with our good friend Diane, and it was great to catch up with her. Sunday morning we went to the Missouri Botanical Garden, which is one of my favorite spots in all of the United States. They are in the middle of a large construction project, adding a new entrance, events space and enlarged gift shop. That was followed by a stop at the ever-beautiful Forest Park, and lunch at Imo's Pizza. We were blessed with a beautiful morning, with lower temperatures and humidity. Later in the day we visited with my late sister's family, whom we had not seen since her funeral. It was nice to see them under happier circumstances.

Missouri Botanical Garden

Forest Park and the City Foundry

Monday we picked up a friend of ours and went to check out some new developments (at least new to us) in St. Louis. One of the areas was the City Foundry, Once housing the Century Electric Company, the 15-acre site is now home to businesses, a large food court, and an entertainment hall. From there we went to Union Station to see the St. Louis Wheel (a large ferris wheel) and take a peak at the St. Louis Aquarium. It's always fun for me to go to Union Station as my dad took the train in and out of St. Louis when he was stationed at Jefferson Barracks during WWII. It was nice to see the station bustling even though it was a Monday afternoon.

City Foundry & Union Station

The rest of the week was filled with playing pickleball with some of my lady friends, visiting my long-time hair stylist for a cut and lunch, and a Cardinals baseball game followed by a stop at Ted Drews for some frozen custard Friday we drove 3 hours south to a campground to join the SWT team for their annual float trip. This year it took place on the Gasconade River, which I had not floated on before. Despite the high temperatures (98 degrees on Saturday), we had a fun time and it was great to see everyone again.

rain delay

On Monday we left St. Louis at 6:45 a.m. to drive home. We decided to drive straight through, and it was a challenge. The day began with fog in Illinois, then we had heavy rains in Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina. A stalled car on eastbound I-40 and a bad accident on westbound I-40 led to numerous delays. It took us over 13 1/2 hours to get home. I'm ready to stay put for awhile.

Snow Day

Muny bandstand

Between Friday, January 11th and Saturday, January 12th, St. Louis got dumped on - literally! We had over 11 inches of snow at our house. Fortunately I had prepared, so we had plenty of groceries and no place we need to be. Many other people were not so lucky. There were reports of hundreds of motorists stranded in their cars overnight due to impassable interstates and/or accidents. I cannot ever remember hearing of such a thing in the past, even when we had more significant snowfall.

By Sunday the additional predicted snow had skirted past us, and the roads were in fairly good shape. We decided to head out to Forest Park and the famed Art Hill, where sledding is a contact sport whenever it snows. We wanted to take some pictures for Week 2 of the photography challenge we are participating in, and moving targets on the hill would fit the bill.

It was fun to watch all the people, and listen to the screams of glee as children flew down the hill. The slight warming of temperature and the volume of folks going sledding made the slope very fast. Once we were done taking pictures, we couldn't resist a few runs down the hill ourselves. We had drug the old plastic sleds out of our storage shed and brought them along in case we were compelled to go down. I'm so glad we did. What fun we had! Though we may have been the oldest people taking part that afternoon, it goes to show you that age is just a number. Who said we have to act our age?

Art Hill, Forest Park

Photographing This and That

Webster Groves Sculpture Garden

One of the projects designed by SWT Design is the Sculpture Garden in Webster Groves. Located at the intersection of W. Kirkham and Gore Avenues, the once derelict area was transformed several years ago into a green oasis complete with multiple sculptures. A volunteer committee worked very hard with the City to develop a plan to light the garden, which culminated in a lighting ceremony Wednesday. Residents gathered to listened to a wonderful jazz group, chat and enjoy the treats offered by The Sweet Divine, winner of the Food Network's Cupcake Wars in 2012. Around 8:40 Mayor Gerry Welch threw the switch, and the area lit up to the applause of a delighted audience. It is such a lovely space!

lighting ceremony

Kirkwood Train Station

Saturday was the opening reception for the Women in Focus show entitled "Transportation". We were selected by the Kirkwood Arts Commission to have our exhibit hanging at the Kirkwood Train Station for the month of June. Built in 1893, the City of Kirkwood purchased the station from Amtrak in 2003 when the company decided it was no longer profitable to have a stop in that location. In a unique move, the City offered to staff the station with volunteers if Amtrak would continue to drop off and pick up passengers in Kirkwood. It has successfully operated as an Amtrak stop ever since. Because wall space is limited in the station, I only submitted one photo for the exhibit. Despite torrential downpours and some hail, we had a pretty nice turnout for the opening.

Rollin' on the River

Forest Park

Saturday evening we picked up some friends and went to Forest Park for the 40th annual Shakespeare in the Park Festival. This year's presentation was "Romeo & Juliet". The event is free, and you bring your own blankets and/or chairs and food and drinks. Or you can choose one of their reserved seats for a charge, and can also purchase food and drinks from their vendors. Due to the rain earlier in the day, the temperature had cooled down to the mid-70s and it was a pleasant evening to sit outside.

While Shakespeare is not my thing, "Romeo & Juliet" is one of his plays that I do enjoy. But of course they had to change it up. The costumes looked like clothing for the 60s - as in 1960, not 1660. And the dialogue just didn't have the same cadence as expected. All of the Shakespeare productions I have seen over the past several years have had the same dramatical editing done to them. I understand artistic license, but I will just say that I am not a fan. While the show was quite good, I found myself wondering, "Shakespeare's Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?"

Easy Come, Easy Go

We had relatives in town for the past couple of days. While the guys headed downtown to a Cardinals game Monday night, the ladies were able to dine al fresco at a local Mexican restaurant. Tuesday's weather was perfect, and I tried to take them to the Missouri Botanical Garden. Everyone had the same idea, and we couldn't even get into the parking lot. Thinking I would show them the Old Cathedral, and the new Arch grounds next to it, I drove downtown. But I was forgetting that there was an 12:25 ballgame. Cathedral parking was $15, and there were no spots in the lot at any rate. I was finally able to maneuver our way out of the downtown gridlock, and I took them to Forest Park instead.

Boathouse at Forest Park

Though it was a long shot, I thought we might try to eat lunch at the Boathouse. It has just reopened for the season, and is under new management. I dropped them off to see how long it would be to get a table outside, and then miraculously a parking spot opened up. Taking that as a good sign, I quickly pulled into the spot. After a 30 minute wait, we had a delightful lunch by the lake.

Following lunch we spent some time at the James S. McDonnell Planetarium, which is where Jim finally caught up with us as he had a meeting he could not reschedule. From there we grabbed some steaks at a local butcher, and the evening was spent sitting outside on the deck enjoying the nice weather. Our company headed out to their next destination early Wednesday.

Today I ran to the Missouri Botanical Garden for a couple of hours, arriving just as they opened. The temperature was still moderate this morning, but the next few days are supposed to hit around 90 degrees. I figured this would be the last opportunity to see the tulips, azaleas and other spring flowers before the heat takes care of them. So much for spring...

Missouri Botanical Garden

Ice Age

Like most areas of the United States, St. Louis has been in a long, drawn out cold spell. We were sick of being stuck inside, so last Saturday my husband, one of our friends and I set out to take some photographs. Though the temperature was under 20 degrees, the sun was out and there was little wind. So we bundled up in long underwear, hats and scarves and headed first to nearby Clayton. Jim's company had designed a new plaza in the downtown area, and while I had seen it under construction I had not been back once it was completed. The ice on the waterfalls and pond made the spot very picturesque.

Clayton

Once we left Clayton, we drove to Forest Park. We were quite surprised to see ice skaters on the Emerson Grand Basin. There is a designated ice rink in Forest Park, but perhaps the open waters called to these folks. We were able to snap a few pictures of them before the park rangers came along and told them to move to a safer area. With the fountains still functioning, ice around them can be thin to non-existent. Having said that, after testing the ice near the edge of the basin and finding it to be several inches thick, I couldn't resist getting a quick picture of myself on the ice as well.

We then continued driving through the park, and found a couple other areas to shoot as well. The Muny bandstand is pretty in all seasons, but this was the first time I have photographed it with the lake completely frozen over.

Forest Park

By then we were quite chilled, so we headed to nearby Seamus McDaniels for lunch and to warm up. It was great to get out of the house for a bit.

Fall is All Around

Though we had a lot of rain this spring, the summer was fairly dry in my area so I wasn't sure what the fall colors would be like. Holy cow, over a couple of days last weekend things exploded! It's like an artist sat down with a paintbrush and cut loose. Our maple tree out front changed dramatically from Friday to Sunday.

On Wednesday I took off to try to capture some of the glorious colors around me. I'm so thankful that I follow other photographers on social media as I learn where all the cool stuff is taking place. My first stop was to the Missouri Botanical Garden. I had just been there a couple weeks before, and not much color was showing. This visit was totally different, and fall color was abundant.

Missouri Botanical Garden

After the garden I drove to nearby Forest Park. The colors in the park were outstanding as well. Since it was not too crowded, I drove to some areas of the park that I had never been to before. It was just lovely, and as an added bonus I hit my 10,000 steps before even leaving the park. Now that's my kind of exercise!

Forest Park

We had family visiting from out of town last week as they made their way south to visit a daughter. On Friday we took them on a drive through Forest Park on the way to visit the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. I always forget how gorgeous the cathedral is until I walk back inside it again. As it happened, our timing was perfect to catch the noon Mass, so our relatives were thrilled at the experience. From there we had lunch in the Central West End, and on such a beautiful day we were able to eat outside which is a rare treat in St. Louis in the summer.

Cathedral Basilica St. Louis

Busch Stadium

Friday night we took them to see the baseball game. It was a great game on a cool night until about the 7th inning when the Cards blew their lead. After that I was just happy the game didn't remain tied as I didn't want to sit through extra innings. I believe that baseball, and babies, should have 7 as the magic number - innings or months of pregnancy.

The relatives took off around noon on Saturday, and we got some work done around the house. Sunday Jim went for a motorcycle ride, and I went to my happy place - the Missouri Botanical Garden. With low humidity and temperatures in the 70's, it could not have been a nicer morning at the garden. As I've said before, we are incredibly blessed to have such a phenomenal institution in our city.

Missouri Botanical Garden

Full Super Moon Weekend

Last weekend was super busy. Friday night Jim and I grabbed dinner and then headed to the mall to return an item I had purchased online. Not only was the t-shirt a bit snug, you could see right through it. Not quite the look I was going for, trust me. Jim had a $20 off coupon at the same store, so between my return and his coupon he was able to snag a new pair of jeans for around twenty bucks. Nice!

on stage at the Muny

Saturday morning my friend picked me up at 10:00 and we went to the Garage Sale being held at the Muny in Forest Park. Props, sets, clothes, shoes - you name it were for sale. They were cleaning house for only the second time in their 97 year history. The sale was from 9-2, and I heard that people were standing in line at 5:30 a.m. We were not intending to purchase anything, but thought it would be a fun photo op. And it certainly was that and more. While standing on the stage looking out at all the seats, everything seemed a lot smaller than it does when you are sitting in the audience watching a performance. I always wanted to appear onstage at the Muny, and now I have. Cross that off the bucket list - haha. An older man started talking to us about how he had worked at the Muny for 40 years designing sets. Wow! I even ran into Katie's high school journalism teacher, and we had a nice chat. He had so many wonderful things to say about her even after all these years. I wish I had recorded it so that if she is ever feeling down she could listen to it. Proud momma moment, for sure.

Muny garage sale

From there we went to the Art Museum to have lunch at the Panorama Restaurant. Neither of us had eaten there before, and the food was good with an even better view of Forest Park. While the fall colors in the St. Louis area have been pretty lackluster, things were looking pretty in Forest Park that day.

Forest Park

After lunch we went to the Gretchen Brigham Gallery inside Union Ave. Christian Church for the opening reception of our latest Women in Focus photography show. The gallery space is beautiful, and although the reception was not that well attended, it is always fun to get together with these lovely ladies.

Women in Focus Inspiration show opening

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

Early Sunday morning I drug Jim out of the house to go to Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery to take pictures. I was thinking the graves would be decorated with flags, and it wasn't until we got there and saw none that I realized that would be Memorial Day as opposed to Veteran's Day. No matter, it is always a lovely, peaceful place for a drive and the deer are always accommodating. It was touching to see an older man sitting on a low chair next to a gravestone with a woman's name on it, despite the 31 degree weather. Was that his wife buried there? His daughter? We wanted to talk to him, but were hesitant to disturb his solitude.

deer in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

That afternoon I went to the Holiday Walk in Webster Groves with a friend. It was a beautiful day, and lots of people were out. I was able to pick up a couple of Christmas gifts, so that felt pretty good. In the evening Jim and I saw Mothers & Sons in the Studio of the Repertory Theatre. It is a small venue, and the plays down there are always thought provoking. This was no exception. Came home to enjoy a Super Moon finish to a pretty super weekend.

Super Moon

Flags of Valor

September 11, 2016 marked the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America. Like many people, I can remember exactly what I was doing when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. I was eating breakfast and watching The Today Show, which was unusual for me. When they showed the footage of the plane, I thought that the pilot had made a grave error. As I watched live while the second plane hit the other tower, I knew we were under attack. Each year on 9/11 communities around the country honor the memories of those who died that day, and St. Louis is no exception.

veteran playing taps

At Art Hill in Forest Park a group called America's Heartland Remembers organized a display of over 7,000 flags, paying tribute to the military men and women who have died fighting the War on Terror since the 9/11/2001 attacks on America. The flags were placed in chronological order by date of death. Attached to each pole were a photo and dog tags of the soldier who died. The sight of all these flags, the eerie sound of the dog tags chiming in the breeze, and the veteran playing taps all brought into perspective how devastating this war has been.

Flags of Valor

flowers with flags

As I was photographing this flag with the yellow flowers at its base, a woman moved beside me and began to cry. That flag stood for her nephew, one of three flags that held photos of young men she knew personally. As they were grouped together, I imagine that they died in the same conflict. My tears joined hers as I grieved for all these young men and women who would never have the opportunity to live long, full lives. I gave her a hug, expressed my condolences, and prayed for the families of these fallen soldiers as well as those still fighting to keep America free. We are blessed in so many ways in this country, and it is because of people like these soldiers that we can continue to count our blessings each day. What a fitting way to honor them.

Switching subjects, I'll give a quick Kirby update. He had his second followup visit with Dr. M. last Thursday. The vet felt like the incisions were healing well, and he did not feel any new lumps in Kirby's abdomen, which is great news. Kirby also gained back an additional pound, so that was positive as well. Dr. M. asked if we had decided what to do about seeing an oncologist, and I told him that Kirby is scheduled to see Dr. S. on the 22nd of this month. I said we want to know what to expect with mast cell cancer, and also see if any additional treatment makes sense at this point.

Kirby & Jim

Other than that, Kirby is eating and sleeping well, and we are back to our three walks a day. We are hoping he is one of the good statistics!

Wet March for Babies

St. Louis March for Babies

taken by my photographer
friend, Caren Libby

For the third consecutive year I was a volunteer photographer at the March for Babies in Forest Park. This year, much to my dismay, it rained. Pretty much the whole time I was there. It is bad enough to be in the cool, wet weather for four hours, but add in my expensive camera and I was pretty anxious. I wore my raincoat and threw a lightweight poncho over the top of it. The event organizer lent me a hat, which really helped keep the rain out of my eyes and the wind from blowing my hair every which way to Sunday.

Andy and Megan gave me a clear plastic sleeve to go over my camera as a Christmas gift, and I used it for the second time. In theory it is a great idea, but from a practical standpoint it is difficult to use with a zoom lens on the camera. And I have to use my zoom because I can get much more candid shots when people don't know their picture is being taken. (Which sounds kind of stalker-ish when I write it that way.)

To me it seemed as if the crowd was much smaller, though they have had their best ever attendance during a year when it was a constant downpour. The mood of the staff, volunteers and attendees was still upbeat though. The disc jockey kept the music lively, Margie Ellisor of Fox 2 did another fine job as MC, and the a cappella rendition of the National Anthem was delivered flawlessly. This year's poster family gave a presentation - a family blessed with two sets of twins. Both pregnancies resulted in premature births, but all four of the children are doing well.

I have to say that the hit of the event this year was the bubble truck. Located at the end of the walk, both kids and adults had a blast running and dancing through the bubbles. They were already wet, so what the heck! It was great fun to photograph, though I kept getting rain drops on my lens.

I went through all the pictures and did some selective cropping and had to lighten quite a few because the day was so dreary. Then I burned them onto a DVD (at the March of Dimes request) and dropped it in the mail yesterday. Another March for Babies in the books - I hope it was successful for them.

this is why we March for Babies

Remembering September 11th

Each year on September 11th you can hear people discussing where they were when they first heard about the terrorist attacks on America. Just like when President Kennedy was shot, I will never forget what I was doing. As usual on a nice weather day, I had walked with my daughter to her elementary school and returned home. Sitting down at the table to eat breakfast, I turned on our 9" television set to catch the morning news. The Today Show interrupted their newscast to show a plane crashing into the first tower in New York. Like most people, I assumed there was a problem with the plane or that pilot error was involved. When the live footage of the second plane hitting the other tower appeared, I knew that no errors had been made. I immediately called my husband, and followed that with a call to my sister. She was staying in Cincinnati caring for my dad at the time. After they viewed the initial coverage of the planes, my dad ordered her to turn off the television. She was not allowed to watch any more of the events if he was present. Did that bring back memories of WWII for him? I never asked him about it.

On the tenth anniversary (which seems an odd choice of words for a tragedy like this), volunteers in St. Louis placed 2,977 flags on Art Hill in Forest Park - one flag for every person who died in the attacks. On each flagpole was the name and photo of the deceased. It was a sobering and moving sight, a visual representation of how many lives were taken that day.

September 11, 2011

This year at Kirkwood Park local boy scouts installed flags around Walker Lake, one for each first responder who died on 9/11. There were 388 flags. My friend and I headed to the park to take some pictures. Like in Forest Park, each flagpole had the name and photo of the person who died, along with the unit he or she served in and the location of death. Standing in the parking lot as we first arrived, both of us were overcome with emotion at the sense of loss and total injustice of lives cut short. As we walked through the forest of flags, we talked with others along the way about the symbolism of the flags and the display of America's strength and unity. I hope that it brings their families some comfort to know that we haven't forgotten their loved ones, and what they sacrificed for others. Never forget.

September 11, 2015

Busy Weekend!

me, Tom Cooper, Deborah Ladd &
Emma DeLooze-Klein

This past weekend went by in a blur. Friday night the Webster Groves Public Library had an author signing of the new book, "Images of America: Webster Groves." I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the book for two reasons. First, because I love learning the history of the place I have called home for over 30 years. And second, because our house appears on page 60 of the book. How exciting is that? They had a nice little reception as well, but I needed to dash out and make my way down the street to Grafica Fine Art Gallery for the closing of our Women in Focus photography show. There was a small turnout, unlike our opening reception, which was packed. That gave us an opportunity to really study the photographs, and to get to know each other a little better as a group since we are relatively new.

Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. I was at Forest Park for the March of Dimes "March for Babies." This is the second year that I have volunteered to be one of the photographers at the event. I had so much fun last year that I jumped at the chance to help out again. I was quite concerned about the weather as storms were predicted, but outside of a slight mist first thing in the morning the weather held. My assignments were to cover the VIP tent, photograph the ceremony before the walk began, and then just take crowd shots. It is no hardship to take photos of the darling babies and children around the area. I like using my telephoto zoom lens because much of the time the people don't know that I am taking their picture. I heard on the news that $500,000 was raised in St. Louis. Wow!

Sunday morning I should have been cleaning the house to get ready for some company that will arrive late this week, but the morning was so beautiful that the Missouri Botanical Garden was calling my name. I arrived early, not realizing that the Tulip Trot had taken place that morning. I wondered why so many cars were already there at 9:00. Once I got inside the garden, though, it was not crowded at all. I enjoy these solitary walks where I can take pictures to my heart's content and  appreciate all the beauty displayed before me.

Then it was back to reality at home, where toilet brushes awaited me. But I had pretty pictures in my mind to make the job more palatable.

Fifteen Year Old Flashback

empty nest

We have been empty nesters for two years now, and I have to say we may have become a little set in our ways. Especially me, since the only thing I have to worry about besides myself all day is the dog. However, the past two weeks my fifteen year old niece from out of town came to stay with us. It took some adjustment on my part to adapt to having to think of someone else again. What does she like to eat? What would she like to do?

Fortunately she is not a picky eater at all, so she was happy with

Butterfly House

whatever I cooked or where ever we wanted to go to eat out. We had a good time shopping, visiting the science center, planetarium, art museum, the Arch, Forest Park, Butterfly House, the Loop and other St. Louis attractions. She even indulged me in my current obsession with photographing the Cakeway to the West displays. She made an interesting comment about the St. Louis Premium Outlets center, stating that it was geared towards children and older people and not so much for teenagers. Hmmmm...interesting observation. I hadn't given that too much thought, but considering that teenagers spend 40% of their money updating their wardrobes perhaps the outlet mall needs to think about opening some retailers appealing to teens.

She flew back home on Friday. While we very much enjoyed having her visit with us, it certainly made us appreciate the fact that our day to day parenting is over. It was wonderful to go through each of the stages with our two kids, but it is also fun to have come full circle to the family we became in 1978. The dog and I have settled back into our routine quite nicely.

Kirby & me

September 11

Like most Americans I recall very distinctly what I was doing when the planes crashed into the towers in New York City. I had taken the kids to school, and had just sat down in our breakfast nook with a bowl of cereal. I had turned on "The Today Show" to catch up on the news before beginning my day. Katie Couric was reporting on the plane hitting the first tower, and they were speculating as to whether or not it had been pilot error. But as we watched live footage of the second plane hit the remaining tower, we all knew that the unthinkable had occurred - America was being attacked on its own soil. Like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, it was a day etched forever in my memory.

It is hard to believe that ten years have elapsed since that fateful day in American history. This significant anniversary brought with it renewed fears that our enemies would capitalize on the media coverage of the day and launch another attack. I watched a bit of the news coverage this morning, but then had to turn it off as the media once again began to sensationalize everything all in the name of ratings.

My niece chose today to celebrate her daughter's upcoming 16th birthday. She thought about the date, and decided that we all needed something positive and happy for this day, instead of letting the terrorists win by hiding from our own shadows. In the midst of all the fear and negativity we live with right now, it was refreshing to enjoy the laughter of the teens and the innocence of all of the Hello Kitty gifts that Molly received.

But on our way home, Jim and I stopped at Forest Park to view the 9-11 memorial that had been created there. Nearly 3,000 flags, each bearing the name of a victim from September 11, 2001, dot the hillside in front of the St. Louis Art Museum. It is an amazing and moving site, and having a visual such as all the flags helps you to comprehend just how many people lost their lives that day. God Bless America!