Category: Places

And now, Missouri news

Post author By Shelley Powers
Post date April 7, 2007

The Department of Natural Resources did come out with an update on the Johnson’s Shut-Ins restoration.

You don’t know how much damage was done to the park until you see these photos, especially of the river restoration. I thought it seemed extensive, and from comments at Black River News the plan didn’t have universal blessing. I do know that a concept of Johnson’s as “good as new” seems distant. Having to artificially create a natural river–perhaps after viewing these photos, folks might question the rebuild of the Taum Sauk reservoir a little more closely.

I know it will be beautiful again someday. That part of the Ozarks is still beautiful now. But it’s not the same.

Other news that broke my heart was hearing that the building owners are going to have to take down the Switzer Building. This is one of my all time favorite buildings. Did you eat red and black licorice while growing up in the States? Then you’ve had licorice made here in St. Lou. According to the St. Louis Today article, the building still smelled faintly like licorice–wouldn’t that have been something?

It’s lovely to walk across the road deck of the Eades Bridge (the world’s first steel bridge) next to the Switzer building, just before passing over the Mississippi. It’s a walk through time in this once pivotal transportation hub of the country.

Now I imagine the building will be replaced by something made of steel and glass, and progress marches on.

Some photos of both places in better days.

Easter photos

Post author By Shelley Powers
Post date April 7, 2007

I spent several hours this afternoon at the Botanical Gardens, which is becoming my typical Easter activity. It was a really terrific day, still cold, but pleasant when wearing a jacket over a flannel shirt. It was sunny, but with clouds, which can make the best pictures. I went later, when most people have gone home.

I managed to catch my second bee picture of the year. What was cause for concern is he was the only bee I saw my entire trip.

I also decided to get a couple of landscape photos, show some of the architecture of the place. The first is one of the administration buildings–a lovely brick with classic lines. The second is Tower House, where the Garden’s founder, Shaw, used to live.

The maze in the foreground of the second picture is tall enough for most people not to be able to see over the top.

The Garden was at the end of its spring blooming season, with crabapple and Kanzan cherry trees at peak.

I was surprised to see bluebells. That was the oddest thing about this season–very early spring flowers are still in bloom, though the late flowers, like tulips, are almost gone.

Unfortunately, due to the record breaking highs, followed immediately by several days of hard freeze, most of the garden’s fruit trees were loosing their buds. The latest report on the impact of this weather is that Missouri and Illinois have lost anywhere from 50% to close to 100% of this year’s crops for some varieties of fruit trees, winter wheat, early corn, and much of the wine grapes.

It’s been a devastating spring for this area.

I chatted with another photographer at the park, a gentleman from Michigan. He mentioned how the colds we were suffering don’t impact on their fruit trees and plants, primarily because the weather doesn’t fluctuate so much. The Great Lakes help maintain a consistent temperature in the surrounding areas: cold in winter, mild much of the rest of the year.

I’ve decided to make the “Lake trip” later this summer, because I’m not sure I can handle a Missouri August this year.

No matter what the circumstances, the Gardens are, and remain, beautiful–thanks in part to the critters, including this handsome grackle. Still no picture of my fox, though. Someday.

The dogwoods in the rhodie garden were disappointing, another tree impacted by the weather. However, this lovely Dicentra spectablis was still in excellent form. This is a flower that needs a closer look, as it’s much more complex than would seem from a distance.

I actually managed to capture a picture of a raptor overhead. It’s not perfect, but you can see the details of its head and feathers. Lovely bird, death to the poor finches, though.

My favorite shot from today (other than the building photos) is of this lovely tulip, still in excellent shape.

Photography Places Plants

Shaw Nature Center: daffodils

Post author By Shelley Powers
Post date March 25, 2007

For the first time, I managed to make it to Shaw’s Nature Center when the daffodils are at their peak. The Center’s daffodils have grown wild, and as such they blanket the grounds.

In the past, I’ve typically taken photos of daffodils up close, brightly lit by the sun and shining with vivid color–a harlot among the more delicately hued spring flowers, all tarted up in their brassy yellows and bright greens.

I noticed yesterday, though, that the daffodil is really a very shy flower whose color is much more muted and subtle when you view the flower as part of the landscape. By itself and very close, it is a lovely flower and can cheer even the most determined grump. However, when the daffodils form part of a scene, just barely there at the edge of one’s consciousness, they draw the eye across the fields to to a distant edge you can’t quite see. A reminder of Spring, yes; but also a reminder that the seeming infinity of Spring is merely an illusion.

Daffodils

Environment Places

Communicate

Post author By Shelley Powers
Post date February 16, 2007

Lee at Black River News attended the Ameren dispersal of government mandated 5 million dollar fine yesterday, and I’m going to link to a couple of his posts:

From the post And the Winners are he writes:

Wildlife habitat received no funding. I’ll admit there were very few proposals, but you have to remember that if you were born and raised locally (like the majority of the panel) that wildlife falls into two categories, food and pests. And while some will try to stretch the concept, I feel that there were no funds for economic development. This is an area with high poverty and underemployment. I know a woman that drives to Farmington and back each day (100 miles) to work as a waitress. But still no real funds for economic development!

I’ve never seen a state where the people are so damn proud of being poor, as Missouri. I think, sometimes, the folks here equate being poor with moral purity, or perhaps as a form of religious aestheticism.

As for the critters, some day the complacent sons and daughters of Missouri are going to look past their green and white “Jesus” signs and see that the rivers are no longer pure, the critters are gone, and the trees and lands are dying. I suppose they can pray, Jesus, we’re sorry we pissed all you gave us away, or some such thing.

Lee’s proposal was to bring in Broadband for the area. The only option in that community is modem. There is no cellphone coverage, no cable, and no satellite enabled broadband. Modem is all that most of Missouri, outside of the city areas, have access to. From No Broadband Lee writes:

I’ll make a prediction, barring some new technology, I’ll bet that ten years from now that most of rural Missouri is still on dial-up. The vision I have of the future is rural Missourians hoarding old modems, because no one makes modems anymore. When you buy a new computer right now, they don’t come with floppy drives unless you pay extra for one. I’m sure it is only a matter of time until a modem won’t be included with a new computer, the numbers just won’t justify it.

Missouri is a low tax / low service state and proud of it. Other states have seen the value of encouraging the state wide roll out of Broadband, but I don’t think you will see that kind of leadership in this state.

What’s ironic about this is when all the proposals were first released at the Attorney General’s office, they were all packaged up in large files that were taking Lee hours to download. I downloaded them, unzipped the files and hosted the proposal PDFs, just so they could get access to the important documents.

Much of our information and other services are being pushed online because the assumption is that internet access is ubiquitous, and that most folks have access to broadband internet access. Schools communicate with parents, employers communicate with employees, small shops communicate with their customers, vacationers communicate with all their friends and family, the government communicates with all the people, and the people communicate back, and so on: the operative word here is communicate.

It seemed to me that it’s not in Ameren’s best interest to have a people who have access to good communication. After all, as it stands now, the community is almost completely dependent on the company, and I think it likes this just fine. Unfortunately, everything I’ve been reading about the government for this state, it isn’t in the best interest for it to give people access to good communication, either.

Photography Places

Brer Fox

Post author By Shelley Powers
Post date October 21, 2006

I’ve only had the time for two fall photo shoots, though I hope to get out a little more in the next few weeks. I’ve included some photos from the Botanical Gardens in this post.

When at Botanical this week I noticed out of the corner of my eye a small, orange animal running across the sidewalk. I thought it was a cat at first but when I looked over, it was a red fox, not five feet away. I later found out that she is the resident fox and that she recently had five new babies. I hope to return in a few weeks and gets some photos of fox kits.

Considering that Missouri Botanical Gardens is in the middle of the city, one wouldn’t necessarily expect to see fox. However, she’s encouraged because she makes a terrific, natural rabbit control officer.

Botanical Gardens Japanese Lake with colorful fall foliage

Seeing her reminded me of Brer Fox, which reminded me, again, of the Disney movie, Song of the South. Rumor has it that Disney may release the movie on DVD this November in honor of the 60th anniversary of the original release of the movie. Disney is still concerned about the reprecussions about black stereotypes in the movie, as well as the sugar-coating of the post-slavery south. However, I think the movie would provide a terrific point of discussion about the history of the south and the interaction and attitudes about and between blacks and whites, as compared to fictional representations of same. It is these latter day fictional representations that influenced the majority of us who did not live in the south.

Missouri Botanical Garden: Burning Bush

Seeing this movie when I was young, probably more than any other event, is what sparked my early interest in the south: the culture, the people, and the history. It may have presented a view that wasn’t real, but it was intriguing to young eyes, nonetheless. I would list it in my top five movies that have had the most impact on me (right up there with To Kill a Mockingbird, which just added to my interest in all things southern).

Spider Mum in Fall hues

Returning to the Botanical trip, when the fox appeared, I had already put away my camera. I kicked myself for having done so and missed a photo opportunity; however, I spent the entire time frozen with mouth open in surprised, so doubt I would have gotten much of a photo. Doesn’t lessen the moment not having ‘proof’ of the event.