O SOLO MIO

 

Seen along the public radio station's downtown photo walk. A young man sits alone on a tree stump by the reflecting pool (and yes, it has algae), playing his guitar and singing. Sadly, he was out of earshot. Our group left him to his reverie.

IT'S TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN

 

One of the stops in the downtown photo walk was the Old Courthouse, whose history is too long and rich to discuss here (although it's part of the Arch national park and well worth a visit). The ironwork on the outer fence is covered with turtles and there is a cute story. A 19th Century building caretaker named James Quigley had a pet turtle. It lived in the outdoor fountain in the warm months and inside the rest of the year. It was beloved by locals and its springtime return to the fountain was noted in the newspapers. It died in the 1870s and received an obituary in the papers. Quigley himself never did.                    

A DOWNTOWN PHOTO WALK

 

We have a marvelous public radio station. In something new for them, they organized a downtown photo walk yesterday, starting in a central plaza and ending in a peaceful garden in the park north of the Arch. It was cosponsored by a local arts organization called Loutopia. Thirty or forty people came. We split into groups, talking about and recording our urban core and its history, emphasizing what unites and devides us. More ot come.                

LAST STOP ON THE STREETCAR

Curtain call at the last production of Opera Theatre of St. Louis' season, Andre Previn's interpretation of A Streetcar Named Desire. It was stunning, a story by itself tight to the breaking point intensified by perfectly matched music. Stella!                             

BILLION BUBBLE BEVERAGE

 

A big sinkhole developed on the north edge of downtown about a week ago. A  break in a large water main caused extensive subsidence. It's right under a major elevated highway that has been closed since. I wanted some pictures but so many streets were closed I couldn't get close. Looking around, I saw the iconic giant bottle of a local soft drink company. It used to rotate. That's a casino in the left background.