Madeleine Monday - Architect

Such concentration! Ellie is not ready to build an eighty brick tall tower but she was making quite an edifice (with a little initial help from her grandmother). She took over the design and construction quickly. There were a few collapses but she always went right back to work, making the next version stronger and taller.   

Giant Tower

Mrs. C and I took Ellie to the Magic House yesterday, STL's excellent children's museum. There is a special exhibit called Towers of Tomorrow, with stunning models of some of the world's tallest buildings and towers made entirely of Legos. The structures were on a number of tables, each with a surrounding platform and a well full of thousands of bricks for visitors to use.

Ellie dove right in but the man next to us created an amazing structure. The slab rose higher and higher, steadied only be a small cross brace at the bottom. Several of us watched as it grew and wobbled, wondering when it would collapse. It didn't. Kenny, the builder, took it to a display table (top), staying together the whole time. It was quite amazing.     

No Picnic Today

Tower Grove Park is full of ornate, 19th Century gazebos. They are all different in size and design. You can rent them for a day. During warmer months, they are always busy with groups holding picnics, barbecues and outdoor games. Empty, though, during frigid weather.

Should be able to shoot some new material today.       

Two Kinds Of Cathedrals

Edifices dedicated to commerce and religion.  Behind, the former regional headquarters of the Shell Oil Company in a style that borders on art deco. It is still an operating office building if a bit down at the heels. Right foreground, the gothic tower of Christ Church Cathedral, the seat of Episcopal practice in STL. Another first experiment with the Fuji X-T2.    

Soldiers with ponytails

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As our town's touring group was leaving the Jordan River baptism site, these two soldiers asked if they could ask our guide (on the right) a question.
I think it was something about the big Christian significance of the Kasr al Yahud site.
Sorry I couldn't hang around and listen but I had to hurry and get some photos before 4 pm closing time.

These soldiers on guard there at the Jordanian border (the river is the border there) belong to the IDF's Nahal Brigade.
You can tell by the color of their beret, "glow stick green."

Such nice girls!

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