How Does Your Garden Glow?

lighting the way to the Climatron

Beginning in 2013, the Missouri Botanical Garden has offered patrons the opportunity to see the garden in a different light, so to speak, by illuminating the garden. As opposed to the other holiday displays around town, this one allows you to walk through the lights where you have the opportunity to look as long as you like without having cars behind you forcing you to move along. Each year the exhibit has grown, and this year over 1 million LED lights shine through the garden.

As one of the corporate sponsors of the garden, our company was invited to a special preview night on November 16th. After grabbing something to eat and drink in the Ridgeway Center, we made our way outside. The temperature was in the low 60's, which is extremely unusual for St. Louis in mid-November. I expected the place to be packed as it has been the other three years we have attended this event. However, that was not the case, surprisingly. Maybe the early date threw people off. It was great for us as we could take our time with each display, and even experience the photo op locations, which I imagine will be packed once the Garden Glow is open to the public beginning tonight.

If you haven't had the opportunity to visit the Garden Glow, I highly recommend it. It's a totally different way to experience one of my favorite places in St. Louis.

Garden Glow

The Iceman Cometh

Fete de Glace

Saturday was Fete de Glace, an ice festival complete with an ice carving competition in St. Charles, Missouri. I have never attended this event before, so when a fellow photographer friend asked me to go with her, I jumped at the chance. We arrived around noon to find the streets crowded with people and all kinds of dogs. That made for good people watching in addition to seeing the ice men in action.

The weather was unseasonably warm at 66 degrees, and while the temperature was great for the attendees, it created a few challenges for the competitors. Several of the sculptures were already completed by the time we hit the streets. The warm, sunny day was taking its toll on them, and like the Wicked Witch of the West in the "Wizard of Oz" they were melting...melting into the cobbled pavers on Main Street.

ice art

ice carving tools

The workmanship was incredible, and it was interesting to see the tools of the trade that were used. From the chain saws at the beginning of the process to the scalpels wielded like surgeons at the end, it was something to experience. When I see artistic efforts like this, I always wonder how the creators feel knowing that their design is so short-lived, not unlike sand sculptures and sidewalk chalk drawings. That would make me sad.

We had a nice lunch at Lewis & Clark's before rejoining the crowds in the streets. We were lucky enough to have timed it so that we saw a few new blocks of ice being reinvented. It was obvious that it takes patience, skill and vision to create these frozen works of art. What a fun day!

ice men

Eagle Eyes

Trumpeter Swans

Around this time of year in the St. Louis area there are a couple of birding events that take place, and Jim and I try to get out and take some photographs if our schedules permit. First of all, it is trumpeter season at the Audubon Center at Riverlands in West, Alton. Hundreds of Trumpeter Swans overwinter in the great rivers confluence area. Trumpeter Swans are the largest native waterfowl in North America, reaching lengths of up to 6 feet. Their wing span is around 10 feet! It is believed that this group of swans comes from upper Wisconsin, and they typically spend December through early February here. At this time last year, 960 swans were counted in the Riverlands. Sunday I would say there were only a couple hundred. It is quite something to hear their honking, thanks to long, coiled windpipes. Unfortunately, none of them took off while we were there. That must be something to see as they need about 100 feet of runway space to get airborne.

Trumpeter Swans Audubon Center at Riverlands

The second thing we like to do is look for eagles. When the rivers north of Missouri freeze, the eagles come south looking for food in open waters. According to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, around 2,500 eagles winter along the lock and dams of the Mississippi River. The bluffs along the River Road in Illinois also provide a native habitat for these majestic birds. We took the road along the bluffs as far north as Pere Marquette State Park. Fortunately, you don't have to peer too closely for the birds. You can simply pull your car over to the side of the road where others are parked, especially when you see someone with a long, telephoto lens or a pair of binoculars. There are always other eagle scouts out this time of year.

The eagles have landed

While the day was pretty nippy, arriving early in the morning assured us of catching sight of the birds while they were out to feed. There is just something about seeing the national symbol of the United States in person that warms the heart, if not the body.