CITY DAILY PHOTO JANUARY THEME - PICTURE OF THE YEAR

From a post in November, looking up at the sunset sky from within the spiral of Richard Serra's monumental steel sculpture, Joe. It is located in the courtyard shared by the Pulitzer Arts Foundation and our Contemporary Art Museum. Not to everyone's taste but it's my favorite of the year.

And so to 2024. May the people of Gaza, Israel, Ukraine--and you--find peace. May Trump go away forever and may the skies be clear for the total eclipse in April. May artificial intelligence not become overlord and may Twitter/X fold. May we have enough water and shelter from the heat. May we learn our lessons, so many lessons. 

 

THE OLD YEAR SPIRALS DOWN

The old building that contains the City Museum was originally a big shoe factory and warehouse. (St. Louis used to be the national leader in shoe manufacturing before it all went offshore.) The back of the structure is a 10 story open space containing crazy spiral slides that moved product from floor to floor. Now two of them are full length slides for people small and flexible enough. (I wouldn't dare.) This seems like a fitting image for a year going down the chutes.       

TITLE? I ALREADY GOT ONE.

As set out in the header. The name over the City Museum's ticket desk refers to title insurance, something readers outside of the U.S. and Canada may not have heard of. It covers you in the event someone has a claim on real estate you own. (http://tinyurl.com/367d6m6m, if you care). One of the nice things about the City Museum is the wealth of old St. Louis architectural details it preserves.             

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST

Does this reflect our local psyche? There is a thing going around this year about what are essentially Halloween decorations with a bit of Christmas trim. I've seen it at several houses. This is a dry terrarium at the City Museum with lizards skittering around but it's still creepy.             

NIGHT IN THE CITY #2

Looking west on Clark Street toward Union Station, with the hockey arena in the shadows on the right. Lots of big trucks because the main post office is in the background.            

NIGHT IN THE CITY

Downtown St. Louis hasn't been doing well since the pandemic. More vacant storefronts, lower office occupancy. One area that stays afloat is the corporate development known as Ballpark Village, part of which is shown here. The baseball stadium is in the shadows on the right. Part of a two block complex of bars, so-so restaurants, a hotel and a luxury apartment building (can't imaging who wants to live there) are center and right. Not much going on on a holiday weekend.                

WINTER BAUBLE

It seems like every city of any size has a big Ferris wheel. We have had one at the Union Station complex for a few years. The lighting is all computer-controlled LEDs. It pulses and changes constantly. I think it looks best at night.            

DECK THE HALLS

Lafayette Square is one of the oldest neighborhoods in STL with its original housing stock. Almost all of the 19th Century residences have been lovingly restored. Most of them have beautiful holiday decorations. Note the trees in the center windows of the upper floors. We are invited to a New Year's Eve party at one around the corner and I hope we can make it.               

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN

Any moment now, right? Seen on a building on Chouteau Avenue in The Grove district. The meaning of the sign isn't clear but I think the acronym in the lower right stands for Association of General Contractors of Missouri. Probably something to do with development in the area.              

GOOOOOOL!

CityPark, the new stadium for our soccer/football team. St. Louis City SC. We got an expansion franchise that came in first in its division in the regular season but folded in the playoffs. The team is wildly popular.                      

ONE SET OF VALUES

I went out cruising for images in the late afternoon, hitting the usual suspects. Saint Louis University, where I got my undergraduate and graduate degrees, is a Catholic, Jesuit institution. Good for me but maybe not for them, my Jesuit high school made an effort to teach critical thinking. I also drove by the resolutely secular Washington University, the more prestigious school across town that my sister attended. Not a hint of holiday decorations (so no pictures).            

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN

Any moment now, right? Seen on a building on Chouteau Avenue in The Grove district. The meaning of the sign isn't clear but I think the acronym in the lower right stands for Association of General Contractors of Missouri. Probably something to do with development in the area.              

BLUE PERIOD

Blue hour at the Saint Louis Art Museum. We all think it's funny that its acronym and domain name is SLAM.           

RETURN OF THE THURSDAY ARCH SERIES

Sure, there was a picture a couple of days ago with the Arch in it, but this one is all about architecture and geometry. The building shows a pediment on the south wing of the Old Courthouse.           

SHUCKERS, BUDS AND BLUES

Broadway Oyster Bar on the south edge of downtown. It's something of an institution, although the nearest source of oysters is a long way away (ain't none in the Mississippi). The beverage of choice, of course, is Budweiser and the music is way too loud for me.                  

WINTERFEST

This is an event that has been going on in our central downtown plaza for several years. There is a small portable ice rink that has not seemed busy when I've been by this season. In other years there was a big tent with a Christmas market, not present this time around. Note the sign for the Igloo Experience, which I mentioned in a recent post. They are plastic transparent domes with seating for four and a central heater, $200 for 90 minutes. One of six was occupied on my last visit. At least some downtown boosters are trying.               

GOAL POSTS

St. Louis has a long, graffiti-permitted section of the Mississippi River floodwall. There are some industrial facilities behind it. It faces west and can simply glow in the late afternoon of a clear winter day.               

HOME MADE

A sign on an old commercial building, visible from a major highway. The smaller lettering in the middle reads "Start Up - Stand Out - Stay." It's like, hey, be an entrepreneur, do something great, but baby please don't go. I don't think it's motivated anyone.            

HANUKKAH

Today is the last day of Hanukkah. For the first time this year, our main downtown square has a large menorah. There has been a Christmas tree, put up by the Salvation Army, in the same area for decades. Of course, this is particularly poignant in these times, but the horrors on all sides leave me feeling particularly bleak.             

RETURN OF THE THURSDAY ARCH SERIES

Sure, there was a picture a couple of days ago with the Arch in it, but this one is all about architecture and geometry. The building shows a pediment on the south wing of the Old Courthouse.           

DOWNTOWN SKYLINE

We don't have very big buildings, unless you count the Arch (630 feet / 192 meters). So what do we have here? A law firm, a bar/restaurant/music club/ a hotel, an accounting firm and a poopy baby. Just your standard urban stuff. For locals, the view is looking north from the White Castle parking lot, between Broadway and 4th Street.         

WHERE?

The intersection of Broadway and Chestnut in downtown St. Louis, looking east toward the Arch. There is a junction of several major highways, leading  to several bewildering signposts like the one on the right. Think fast!

The historic building on the center and right is known as the Old Courthouse. It is part of the national park that includes the Arch (it's America's smallest). There is a complete restoration in progress.                

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

Back in The Lou looking for images. A main downtown plaza has a smallish event called Winterfest. There is temporary ice rink and clear plastic heated igloos for four people that cost $200 for 90 minutes, $35 more if you want S'Mores. This little worn trailer is the bar. The company that runs it is called Pour Decisions.         

            

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - HOGWARTS ON THE SOUTH SIDE

A dining area called the Reynolds Club at the University of Chicago, uncrowded on a Saturday afternoon. There is a large, upscale food court off to the right, serving bright, overachieving kids the nutrition they demand. They all agree it looks a bit like the dining hall at Hogwarts, if somewhat less dank. When I caught some of these portraits of old deans and profs out of the corner of my eye, I could swear some nodded and winked at me.          

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - MONEY TALKS

Food vendor at the Christmas market in the Chicago Loop. Hungry as you may be, your plastic will get you nothing.            

STL DTB UNDERGROUND - CTA

 

 

The Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) Lake Street Station on the Blue Line. You could take it to the airport, often in the same time as driving because the traffic is so bad. Not the best metro architecture around.              

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - GOING DUTCH

The theater district of the Chicago Loop on a chilly, late autumn evening. Friends, this ain't New York but it's sure not St. Louis.

Unseasonably warm and sunny day today. Maybe I can get back out on the local streets.              

KOAN

Still in Chicago until I can gather some new local material. This was taped without explanation over a stairway in the computer sciences building at the University of Chicago. The small print at the lower right of the sheet says  "UChicago Renzai Zen, Bond Chapel." Don't read too much into this.         

SIX THOUSAND POSTS

The Blogger page where you can review your existing posts and start a new one keeps a running count of how many you have. I noticed last week that the number was passing 5,990. I couldn't believe it at first but this project began in March 2007 and I've published something almost every day I've had Internet access. So, incredibly, this is the six thousandth post of this endeavor. Hooda thunk? I suppose it's kept me on the streets and mostly out of trouble.            

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - HOLIDAY CHEER

Seen at the Chicago Christkindlmarkt in Dealy Plaza on Saturday. Bloody packed but not without interest.  

 

Come back tomorrow for an important event in the history of this blog.               

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - CHICAGO JAZZ

 

Since my son lived in Chicago for so many years, I let him set the itinerary for our weekend. For last night's dinner and entertainment, he picked Andy's Jazz Club in the busy River North area. I've never had a good understanding of jazz but it was thrilling to sit at a front row table and be overwhelmed by the sound.          

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - CHICAGO VICE

Brief weekend trip to Chicago to spend some time with my son. He went to college here and stayed for a total of twenty years. He and his family eventually moved to east-central Michigan, near where his wife grew up. We don't see each other enough.

This shop is across the street from the restaurant we went to last night. Name your poison.           

CITY DAILY PHOTO DECEMBER THEME - LOCAL HISTORY

A statue of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (and a goofy looking dog) in a small boat at the Mississippi River. Lewis and Clark, with their band known as the Corps of Discovery, set out in 1806 at the behest of President Thomas Jefferson to explore the vast lands recently acquired from France in what was called the Louisiana Purchase. (It helped finance the Napoleonic Wars.) They eventually reached what is now Oregon and the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River. And it all started here.             

LAST BEND IN THE PATH

As visitors approach the end of the walk through Garden Glow, the path takes them by the reflecting pool with a view of the Climatron, a geodesic dome comprising four climate zones, controlled without partitions by a sophisticated air flow system.

That's it for this tour. Tomorrow is City Daily Photo theme day, local history. I'll be in Chicago for the weekend, looking for images. And be sure to stop by on Monday. It's a significant day in the history of this endeavor.                         

STARS AND STRIPES

On what the botanical garden calls its central axis, a reflecting pool is covered with twinkling LEDs, pulsing through in changing, multicolored stripes. What can't you do with electronic lighting these days?              

HALLOWEEN LEFTOVER?

Toward the end of the Garden Glow walk through the botanical garden, visitors come across a large, old tree wound tightly with bright blue lights. It looks the same every year and, frankly, seems a little dull after the first time or two. Of course I took a few shots but thought I should edit it into something different. This is suitably spooky.                     

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Another light tunnel at Garden Glow. My granddaughter Ellie, in the foreground, may end up somewhere unexpected but she will be fine as long as Lambie stays on her shoulder.          

FOUR VIEWS OF HENRY'S SHAW'S HOUSE

Yesterday's post mentioned Henry Shaw, the wealthy 19th Century businessman and philanthropist who founded the botanical garden and adjacent large city park. He built a grand home on the grounds, which has been restored and is open to visitors. Amazing light displays are projected onto it during Garden Glow. They change and move to music, with new versions every year.          

OBSERVATORY

Not in the astronomical sense we usually think of. The Missouri Botanical Garden, founded in 1859, and adjacent Tower Grove Park are part of the legacy of businessman and philanthropist Henry Shaw. The story is that Shaw built this structure to survey his estate. Unfortunately, the Garden doesn't let visitors to climb to the top.                

FRAME OF REFERENCE

One of the old-time displays at Garden Glow. Illuminated squares tilt from right to left, making for a disorienting, rocking feeling as you walk through. They do sell drinks at several points along the path but the lines can be long so no one gets too wobbly.           

DANCE TO THE MUSIC

Or, more properly, dance to make the music. This is a new feature at Garden Glow this year. Stepping on a  disk produces a musical notes. Kids bounce among them to make avant garde compositions (that's Ellie second from left). It reminds me of the scene in the movie Big when Tom Hanks dances on the floor keyboard at FAO Schwarz toy store in New York. (Which is still there - great place to take the kids.)           

WORMHOLE

Garden Glow has always had a light tunnel with tiny, pulsing LED lights flickering like distant stars. There is a second one this year with bigger, more intense lamps in patterns that suck you through. It reminds me of the Starship Enterprise entering warp drive.                                

A LITTLE EARLY

Christmas decorations seem to go up earlier and earlier. Lots of houses in my neighborhood put them up a week or two ago, well before the American Thanksgiving holiday this Thursday. I understand that it's part of the show for Garden Glow but it's a bit much for us. 

This is not a sentimental household. Some of us are religious, some not, but all of us are appalled by the seasonal materialism and commercialism. We have a family discussion about what good cause to support. We recommend Nicholas Kristof's approach: https://tinyurl.com/tke8kvkc.               

CURTAIN WALL

Some light displays come back to Garden Glow year after year, like old friends. And each year there are new designs to catch the imagination of the crowd. A still photo doesn't completely describe this old favorite. The lights are constantly changing colors and moving, pulsing. Unfortunately, I don't do video.              

SHINE ON

It's that time of year in St. Louis, when our wonderful botanical garden puts on its Garden Glow event. The paths are full of holiday lights displayed with technical wizardry. This is what you see as you leave the entry building and visitor center. Much more beyond.                

NO, IT'S NOT SNOWING YET

I'm hard up for new for new material and was looking back at some infrared pictures I took in Forest Park last summer. Green foliage looks light gray or white in IR. Still, it makes me think of the Robert Frost poem: Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village, though. He will not see me stopping here to watch his woods fill up with snow.