More than words

These were on various old buildings in St. Louis - not necessarily nice ones in a good part of town either. Seems to me their is a photographic stitch project to be created with these. On the surface they are either graffiti or the name of a company emblazoned in stone for immortality. Taken individually they could be combined to suggest that there is Union, Power & Light in Forgiveness.....

Here's your new wallpaper: Yeah, it's a cow.

Everyone has the default rolling hills wall paper on their windows based machine (I am a Mac man myself) so I thought those of you here in the south or out in the country may appreciate Bessie here. Now if you could get rid of the "TA-DAH" at start up and replace it with a couple of chords from the "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" then your e-conversion would be complete. Just double click on Bessie to access the larger version, then right click for you windows folks and hit "set as wallpaper". This one's on me.

*****Seems you must download the photo first. So, click on the image, when the large image appears, drag and drop it on your desk top, then right click on the file and set as wallpaper.******* Sorry for the confusion.

Off the beaten path in St. Louis

A couple of scenes not in the travel brochures, but I found them to be just as fantastic as any other site.

Back from St. Louis

Each year I have to head out to St. Louis for business. This year I managed to carve out some time to actually try to see the city. What a wonderful place with a really rich history. It no longer looks like the place that Thomas Wolfe wrote about, but occasionally you can catch glimpses of what he saw in some of the old architecture. I really fell in love with the old Union Electric Light & Power Co. building at the end of the River Walk. It's haunting beauty only marred by the neon painted sign announcing the entrance to the walkway. I'll post some pictures of that later.

And yes, the shot of Busch Stadium and the elevated shot of the Arch were taken from a helicopter. Those things are more fun than a roller coaster.

Black Walnut Festival, Behtania NC 10/24/2009

Please join me on October 24th from 10 AM to 4 PM here in front of the Alpha Chapel (built 1894) for the annual Black Walnut Festival. Art, music, food and fun. If you have never ventured over to Bethania you really need to - it is no further away than the Grande Theater!

*********THE DATE ON THE POSTER IS INCORRECT - THE FESTIVAL IS ON SATURDAY THE 24TH, NOT THE 25TH (SUNDAY)**********

Previous post about Bethania CLICK HERE.

Return to Stone Mountain, NC

I have had every intention of going back to take more pictures, but just have not made the time. I was digging through some of my shots from two summers ago and found this one. I am now feeling the NEED to return and spend more time before the leaves are gone.

Previous post on Stone Mountain, NC.

Old Friends

This was taken about a year and half ago. These are the best people (minus two who could not be there) a person could ask for to claim as friends freshman year in college. I had to take early leave from these wonderful friends after only two years with them for reasons I may or may not discuss here another time. We allowed twenty years to pass before we were all able to get together again. I hate that another year+ has passed without seeing them all again. We have managed gatherings of twos and threes for which I am grateful. I count this group one of my many blessings.

If - Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream and not make dreams your master;
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools

Hello 3 AM, I hate meeting like this........

Well, it looks like the last time we went through this together was on May 1st(my post from that long night). Not sure why I am pie eyed and wound up. Must be contagious however, I can hear the dogs barking in the basement. As with previous bouts of insomnia, I try to envision a peaceful place. Tonight it is on the Farm for a long walk. I am always amazed at how what seem to be such small concerns during the day can become down right mountainous in the cool of the night. These worries act like a small splinter in my thumb that is barely even noticed until after midnight when it begins to throb as if there had been a nail driven into it. Graphic, but accurate.

Do you think my ears are too big?

Do your ears hang wide?
Do they flap from side to side?
Do they wave in the breeze
From the slightest little sneeze?
Can you soar above the nation
With a feeling of elevation?
Do your ears hang wide?

Shadows

Same door, same camera, same shadows - all with a different feel. I found myself in Bethania again today to meet with a person regarding land conservation. I arrived just early enough to take some pictures of the Alpha Chapel built in 1894. With the sun low in the sky, there were some terrific long shadows that added something to this wonderful old church.

I should add that they are each original photographs, not the same shot with different manipulations.