All kinds of straight and curvy lines at the colorful Chinese Lantern Festival in the Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, for Becky’s Lines and Squares Challenge.
Missouri
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From mighty projects to children’s playthings, construction is in full swing for Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge this week. You don’t have to go too far to come across construction of one kind or another in downtown Chicago. Onward and upward!
It was an extremely gloomy day when we visited Heartland of America Park in Omaha and I was finding it difficult to get enthusiastic about taking pictures. I was desperate for some color but it wasn’t until we were about to leave when the familiar bright yellow of a construction crane, down by the railroad tracks, caught my eye (which is rather ironic considering I’m using this picture in a black & white photo challenge.)
Why is it that so often when we visit places of interest they’re undergoing renovation or repair! Imagine traveling hundreds if not thousands of miles to take a picture of something only to find that it’s swathed in scaffolding! Of course, these days with modern technology at our fingertips, we can visit websites ahead of time to make sure everything is as it should be, but years ago photographers didn’t have the benefit of Google.
One can imagine Felix Bonfils arriving at the Sphinx at Giza after a long and exhausting journey only to be told that they’d ‘got the builders in.’
“Sorry about this, mate, but someone knocked a bit more off his conk last week and we’ve had to bring the scaffolders over from one of the pyramids, although frankly I don’t know what they expect us to do about it.” Bonfils would throw his tripod down in the sand in a fit of Gallic fury and mutter, “Sacre bleu!”
Fortunately, the Old Courthouse wasn’t our only reason for visiting St. Louis, although we did get a good view of the work in progress from the top of the Arch.
Sometimes construction can involve a bit of destruction too. Is it the child in us that enjoys watching things being knocked down? I made sure to take some pictures when they demolished the old village hall in Arlington Heights to make room for the new, much larger one.
Maybe some of the operators of these giant cranes, bulldozers and mechanical claws got their start at the Kohl Children’s Museum in Glenview. I imagine many a tot’s hand that eagerly grasped the controls in this construction exhibit has gone on to bigger things, perhaps even the next giant skyscraper in downtown Chicago.
For more on Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge go to Anything Construction Related.
My final submission for Becky’s Pink Squares is taken from the Chinese Lantern Festival at the Missouri Botanic Garden in St. Louis. Although many of the lanterns showed pink during the day, at night the color changed dramatically to red, so I’m glad I took a few pictures when we were there earlier.
For more on Becky’s Square in September Photo Challenge go to Hello September!
This week, Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge calls for fountains. There are plenty of these in the photo files but here are just three, captured at the Biltmore Estate, in Asheville, the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis and a park in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
For more on Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge go to Fountains
This week, Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge requires a word with two m’s and here I have two for the price of one; monuments and memorials. Go to just about any place and you will see a memorial of some kind, whether it’s in a big city or small town. You only have to go to the local cemetery to see some remarkable examples of ornate memorials such as this one in Bluff City Cemetery in Elgin, Illinois.
And you don’t necessarily have to visit a cemetery to see an impressive memorial or monument. There are some that demand a place with much more prominence such as the 284ft-tall Indiana State Soldiers and Sailors Monument built on Monument Circle in the heart of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana.
Some memorials are smaller but no less poignant, such as this one in Port Huron, Michigan. The anchor was recovered from the “John S Martin,” a 225ft schooner loaded with iron ore, that sank on August 4, 1900 while trying to avoid the wreckage of the “Fontana” that had sunk several weeks before. The “Martin” collided with another ship, the “Yuma” and four crewmen from the “Martin” died as a result.
Many memorials are dedicated to those who have given their lives in the service of others, such as this one in Lexington, Kentucky.
And some are dedicated to those who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time but are no less worthy of recognition, such as the tornado memorial in downtown Marion, Illinois.
The 630ft Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, is the tallest man-made arch in the USA. It was built as a monument to westward expansion, cost $13 million to construct and was completed in 1965. Let me tell you, the view from the top is astounding!
Easily recognizable is Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. These iconic sculptures of four US Presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln are as much a testament to all those who were involved in its creation as it is to the people that it depicts.
Also in South Dakota, The Crazy Horse Memorial is a giant sculpture of the Oglala Lakota warrior Crazy Horse. Begun in 1948 this monument is under construction on private land and is still far from completion. If it is ever finished, it could possibly be the world’s largest sculpture.
From man-made memorials to a natural phenomenon, Devil’s Tower in Wyoming became the first declared United States National Monument, on September 24, 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt.
For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Letter M – Needs to have 2 M’s anywhere in the word
This week, Cee is looking for four-letter words starting with D for her Fun Foto Challenge. While I have plenty of duck, deer and door images, I decided, after sifting through the photo files, to go with dome. These may not, in the grand scheme of things, be quite as elaborate as some of the world-famous domes I could mention, except for the first one and I’m not even sure if that could technically be considered a dome, but I work with what I’ve got.
The Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois.
The dome of the State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois.
The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, Missouri.
The dome of the Old Courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri.
The State Capitol building in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The State Capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin.
The dome of the State Capitol building in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Letter D – 4 letters words that start with D
This week, Cee has us looking for two of anything for her Black & White Photo Challenge. Going through the photo files it wasn’t too difficult to find pairs both in nature and everyday items.
Pairs of shoes at the Stephenson County Historical Museum in Freeport, Illinois.
Two horses waiting to pull a hay wagon at Willow Springs Garden in Wausau, Wisconsin.
Two ducks enjoying a sunny day at Historical Wheeler Farm in Salt Lake City, Utah.
A pair of warriors at the Chinese Lantern Festival in the Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis.
Two of the elk in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.
For more on Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge go to Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Couples, Twins, Two of Anything
I had planned on using a different set of pictures for Thursday Doors this week, but after reading Norm’s thoughtful and moving post this morning they seemed much too frivolous. Instead I found a few images that I hope will convey my feelings. Wherever and however you choose to worship, may you find peace.
The BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Bartlett, Illinois.
The Assembly Hall on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah.
St. Peters Church at Old World Wisconsin.
St. Joseph Cathedral in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, Missouri.
St Matthias Church in New Fane, Wisconsin.
The Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois.
For more on Norm’s Thursday Doors go to https://miscellaneousmusingsofamiddleagedmind.wordpress.com/2017/02/02/thursday-doors-february-2-2017/comment-page-1/#comment-13736
Today’s subject for Jennifer Nichole Wells’ Halloween Challenge is gate, and I must admit that I had to dig deep into the photo files to come up with something for this one. Plenty of doors but not many gates.
A gate leading into the little flower garden at Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg, Illinois.
Two gates leading into the English Walled Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois.
I’m guessing these may have originally been gates although there is now a bench positioned right in front of them. Possibly decorated with Chihuly glass pieces, they were at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St Louis.
A beautiful wrought-iron gate at the Cuneo Mansion in Vernon Hills, Illinois. For more on Jennifer’s Halloween Challenge go to https://jennifernicholewells.com/2016/10/24/jnws-halloween-challenge-gate/
Getting the Picture 