TORO NAGASHI

Late post. The family went to this event at the botanical garden last night and got home late. There were long walks and my lumbar spine feels like it's rusted out these days so no editing until this morning.

The event is called Toro Nagashi. There is a mid-August Buddhist festival in Japan called Obon that honors ancestors. Toro Nagashi occurs at the end when ancestors return to the spirit world. A flame representing them is transferred to a lantern, toro, along with notes of well-wishes and memories, and set afloat.

Not the best photo but they didn't allow tripods. You can get a bit of the feel.             

DETAILS, DETAILS

Details of the ruins of the old Sears building on South Grand. There is a sign indicating that the owner wants to pass it off for redevelopment. We wish them good luck. The terra cotta decoration is less elaborate than the Dinks Parrish Laundry we saw a couple of weeks ago. It looks like some of it on this building has been stolen but local artists have added their own ornaments.

MORE OF THAT FANCY STUFF

More terra cotta decoration. A local friend gave me a tip about this. I've driven by but never paid attention. It is the old Sears building on South Grand Boulevard near Gravois. That thing in the top center is not a letter N for Napoleon. It is a scroll with the date of construction, 1925.

The details are worth a look, which we will come to next.      

When Americans visit London and take their first Underground ride, they are surprised and a bit confused by the ubiquitous recorded announcement to "mind the gap." It refers to the space between the edge of the door and the edge of the platform. If I recall correctly, some of the station platforms are curved, meaning there really may be a gap.

This isn't public transit. It is the side of another Mexican restaurant on Cherokee Street. Of course, it refers to social distancing but if you have never been to London the meaning would be lost.

      

 

 

 

 

IS THIS OKAY THESE DAYS?

 

We will ask our resident expert, V de Q, for help on this.

This figure has stood on a pedestal at Cherokee and Jefferson for many years. I always thought it marked the beginning of the Cherokee Street shopping district. It may also have been a reference to the Anglo-American tradition of a cigar store Indian, signifying that the business behind it was a tobacconist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigar_store_Indian

Yet it has survived decades of social change. I never looked at it very closely until I took this picture. I am not knowledgeable in these matters, but the tablet the figure holds looks like an example of the Cherokee language, part of a very sophisticated culture. Perhaps someone knows more about it.