More SLU photos

This is the view from the Pius Library at St. Louis University, the day before Thanksgiving.

I've been fascinated by a coed sculpture at the entrance to the library for awhile. I think that she reminds me of myself. I finally took a photo of her:

And then there's the life size Jesus holding the child on the bench. "Beggars" (local pan handlers)are usually sitting beside him.

Laumeier Sculpture Park

Laumeier Sculpture Park - just a lovely, lovely place. Open areas with huge, bold, magnanimous, sculputes. Paths that go off into the woods with surprises around every corner. We had never before experienced sculpture quite like this. Special. If I lived in St. Louis, I would come here often.

(Again, my cameras are still not working right and don't even come close to doing justice to the site. Check out the website.)

The St. Louis Carousel

There used to be a section of St. Louis called “Dog Town”, which included an amusement park area, Forest Park Highlands. This is where the original St. Louis Carousel was. When the Highlands burned in 1963 the carousel was the only thing left standing. In 1987 it was restored its original beauty and is now housed in a county park just west of St. Louis.

We stumbled upon the Carousel this morning. Just $1 a ride, with a wonderful pipe organ accompaniment, all the kids yelled “giddy up” to get it started. Wish we had had a little kid with us!

The Zoo in Forest Park - St. Louis

On the coldest day so far, we went to the Forest Park Zoo in St. Louis. There was no sun, the little zoo train wasn’t running, and all of the vending sites were closed. The few people walking around were bundled up. But it still was a most unusual and special place, reminding me somewhat of a city park in Prague with old buildings that housed the primates and birds, snakes and insects.

We saw Asian Elephants and Siberian tiger cubs, a sad polar bear, a leopard that paced nervously, mountain lions and cheetahs. The animal pens blended will with the park environs. Though I am intrigued with the striking beauty of these animals and like looking at them, I am bothered by their confinement.

Both of my cameras are malfunctioning now – one gives me a lens cover error, while the other renders unreadable files – and I was only able to salvage photos of the Asian elephant.

Forest Park and the Art Museum

There are many St. Louis museums that we want to explore, but we had been putting it off until the weather got colder. Today definitely qualified, so we went to the lovely Forest Park of St. Louis and started with the Art Museum.

Art has always been a mystery to me. I am a left-brainer. Math and science make sense to me; art doesn’t make sense to me, but somehow still seduces me. I am amazed with what I see, and absolutely awed with the genius and creativity of human beings who are able to produce such things.

There was a painting of men playing cards on a river barge. It was a simple painting, but the way the river disappeared behind, the way the lighting gave magic to the scene, it became complex with every detail (the grass in one man’s mouth) fraught with some unfathomable meaning. I felt forced to “look”. And wonder.

There were portrait paintings from the 1500s, living faces of people long dead. They looked like we do now. There was a jade knife from China that was more than 5000 years old. There was a modern abstract painting by a German artist that felt like the way the earth would be after a nuclear charring. There was medieval armor and fussy furniture that made me anxious. There was a huge, beautiful tapestry made from parts of liquor bottles. And on and on.

Saint Louis

Top of the Arch

This is the area under the Gateway Arch where 100,000 people rallied yesterday for Barack Obama - all before the Old Capitol in St. Louis where the Dred Scott cases were argued in the mid 1850s.

We made our way to the Gateway Arch today – my 3rd trip – and this time we took the trip to the top. I can now say that I did it, and I don’t have to do it again. Only 5 people could fit into the little cars. It was tight. And I wasn’t overly impressed with the view from the top. The windows were small, the area was small, and it was way too crowded for such a small area. I was glad to get back down.

We paid extra to see the National Geographic film on the Lewis and Clark adventure. Since coming to Missouri we have been immersed in this story, and now feel like we are fairly literate about most all aspects of the journey.

Another beautiful day, we finished if off with an Italian dinner on “The Hill”.

100,000 rally for Obama in St. Louis

Meanwhile, more than 100,000 people gathered for an Obama rally in St. Louis today.

Holy smokes!

The little amphitheatre down the street where McCain will be on Monday will be an interesting photo-op, but so trivial compared to what happened in St. Louis today.

Elephant Rocks, Art, and the Missouri River (again)

[Elephant Rocks State Park, Missouri. That's John and Jubilee out there.]

I’m getting a little behind here, so I figure I’ll start with today and work backwards.

John seems to think that we should start scouting around the Ozarks. All we know about the Ozarks is that they are somewhere south. On the map the beginning of the Ozarks didn’t look so far, so we headed down to a place called the Arcadia Valley and Elephant Rocks State Park. Supposedly the tallest spot in Missouri – Taun Sauk Mountain – 1700 ft high, is around here somewhere.

They call these mountains? The area is very pretty, but more like rolling hills. Maybe you have to get down into Arkansas before you see the real Ozark Mountains.

We went to Graniteville and hiked around Elephant Rocks State Park – a good park, a paved trail through the rocks with some side trails leading deeper into the forest. Jubilee enjoyed climbing the rocks.

I have been looking for a granite bowl for some months now, and thought that perhaps this might be where I would find it, but the one place we saw offering granite products only sold tombstones!

We had lunch in nearby Ironton, where there were only 3 restaurants – all fast food. Ugh.

St. Louis University Art Museum

My son, Eric, is a good art museum date. He helps me to see things that I ordinarily don’t see on my own. Nevertheless, I ventured into the St. Louis Art Museum last week without him. I found the SLU Art museum to be a very quiet and wonderful place to just wander around, looking. It was an interesting collection – some Andy Warhol, Dale Chihuly, Paul Klee, Miro … There was a side exhibit, "Persuasive Politics", a collection of presidential campaign memorabilia that included even the Palm Beach County voting booth of 2000 (I voted on that!). The life-size cutouts of Obama and McCain caused some elderly men (the only other people in the museum besides me) to comment that it was obvious who the people setting up the exhibit were voting for - look at those droopy pants!

I didn’t have time for the collection of the Western Jesuits on the 3rd floor, and hope to see that next week.

At the entrance to the museum there is a sculpture of an “Urban Francis”. This photo does not do it justice – I liked it a lot.

I also got of photo of the Jesus on the bench with the child this week. It is named “Heart to Heart”. People sit on this bench with Jesus and the child, waiting for the bus. And a sculpture of a coed on campus. (More photos on Flickr)


Finally, I want to post this photo of the Missouri River which crested on Thursday and flooded its banks. This is the place where Jubilee and I walk most every day. The water level is usually 30 or 40 feet down an embankment.

The Hill

John is always saying that we need to go back to Italy. Today, we went the The Hill District of St. Louis. Italian immigrants began settling the area in the 1890s, drawn by the promise of work in the coal mines and clay factories. The housing conditions were very poor until the turn of the century, when one story, 4 room brick houses began making their appearance. There is an interesting variety of houses there now.

It is a quaint Italian neighborhood, with lots of fine Italian restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores – the likes of which I haven’t seen anywhere outside of New York. We found a nice restaurant, Zia’s, that was packed even at 2pm on a Saturday afternoon. Tables filled with big extended families passing babies around. John had ravioli and I had some kind of mosticolli dish. We bought lots of stuff at Viviano's grocery store to bring home - more ravioli, gravy, cheese, wine ...) John says that having food like this in the refrigerator is like having a gold mine!

[John with the Italian Immigrants statue at St. Ambrose Church. More photos on Flickr site.]

St. Louis University

Doesn’t this look just like an old American Jesuit college (sculpture and all)? That's St. Ignatius, "the Pilgrim" down the sidewalk. And I believe that's Eve and her offspring dancing out of Adam's rib.

The day started out cloudy, and I headed down to the St. Louis University campus in St. Louis. All of my cousins and my sister attended St. Louis University, and but for a quirk in my own personality, I would have been here too. I ended up at Spring Hill College – but that’s all another story.

I started out in search of a photo exhibit by Mev Puleo (another friend, now deceased, who attended SLU). I didn’t find the exhibit, but I did find an oasis of old buildings, young (and old) people who looked to be from everywhere, and an ambience that kept me just wandering around, wanting to go back to college again, or at least work somewhere on the campus! I attended the simple noon Mass in the Church chapel, and wish that I were close enough to go every day. I love the Jesuits.

Friends, St. Louis, and beer

Remember that guy who was behind me in the Mississippi River a couple of weeks ago, and I said that he wasn’t going to make it? Well, the water level has fallen, and I now find out that it is Lewis and Clark and their dog, Seaman, on returning to St. Louis from their westward adventure!

That’s what 2 weeks without rain will do around here!

We were graced with our first visit from friends last week. Jane and Ron came! Jane is our friend from Florida, and Ron is Jane’s friend from Wisconsin.



We had a wonderful time, and I got to explore some more the museum under the St. Louis Arch. I feel like I am learning the history of my country for the first time, and considering it all as I muse over the land. (I'll have more to say about this as I go along ...)

Ron took the tram to the top of the Arch while Jane and I browsed around the museum. I’m saving my trip to the top of the arch for autumn, when Eric comes to visit. (We're both claustrophobic, once leaving a climb to the top of the Statue of Liberty in a panic.)

The museum is very well done, in concentric circles, the outer one a complete recounting of Lewis and Clark’s Journey to the Pacific Ocean. As you walk through the more central circles, you see memorabilia and artifacts from the different phases and aspects of the westward expansion of the United States.

I had been wondering what kinds of “gifts” were sent to appease the Indians. There was a whole wall of the different “peace medals”, engraved with the head of the President (or “Great Father”), that were given to the Indian chiefs. They were fairly large and hollow inside. Essentially, trinkets. Gee.

[This is a photo of a wall in the museum, an artist's conception of what the crowd looked like that greeted Lewis and Clark as they returned to St. Louis in 1806.]

There is an old Cathedral near the Arch. It reminds me of the old Churches of my childhood, with candles, communion rails, and confessionals. [Aside: my letter to the St. Louis newspaper about Archbishop Burke was published today. Can be seen online here.]

Last but not least, John wants me to post this beer list for Eric to see. There was a beer tasting festival at our neighborhood bar last weekend. You got to taste 20 beers for 10 dollars.


This blog is becoming a real scrapbook!

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Faye, seems to have spared our friends and home in Florida from damage or harm! We are forever grateful for the friends and neighbors who look after and take care of us.

Misi-ziibi - "Great River"

(The Mississippi is still over its banks. The guy behind me isn't going to make it!)

The word MISSISSIPPI comes from the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe or Algonquin) name for the river, Misi-ziibi ("Great River"). It is the 2nd longest river in America – 2,340 miles long – running from Lake Itasca in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.

Yesterday we explored the riverfront area of St. Louis. I was itching to get a closer look and feel of the Mississippi River. Like the Missouri River, it is a big river. I don’t know that I could swim across it. The water was still over its banks, and looks to have risen quite a few feet on the lowest river road last month during the floods.

The Sunday mood around the Gateway Arch was very festive and touristy. The arch, itself, is quite impressive and beautiful – so simple. It was built in the 1960’s as part of an effort to commemorate the “Westward Expansion” of the United States, of which the city of St. Louis played a significant part. All of this history is told, mostly in glowing terms, from the perspective of the white man.

Standing below the Eads Bridge (built in 1872) there is an interpretive marker describing the return of Lewis and Clark in September, 1806. The citizens of St. Louis (population about 1800) had long given them up for dead. However word had drifted in from St. Charles that they were coming back. Lewis and Clark, dressed in furs and animal skins, rounded the river to the North to the cheers of the crowd gathered at the St. Louis riverfront. They went on to become highly honored and celebrated, and their adventure would be etched into the history of America. The soldiers who accompanied them were rewarded with good pay and land. Only Captain William Clark's personal slave, York, who had enjoyed relative freedom on the journey, would be returned to slavery with no compensation for his contribution.

More photos on Flickr.