This gallery contains 13 photos.
Yesterday, I decided to spend my day capturing the wonders of spring busting out all over the Wicket City. Click on any picture for a close up view of the entire gallery of spring.
Blog Archives
TREKKING THE C.W.E.
In Saint Louis, CWE stands for CENTRAL WEST END which is a historic part of the city where the elite (people and pets) meet to eat, shop and just people watch on sunny weekend days. Here is photographic mosaic I shot on Saturday when I was out with a couple of friends. You can click on the little images to view a larger version and read my commentary.
The Central West End
LEFT BANK BOOKS
The book store cat.
Who personally welcomes each and every customer.
St. Louis Literary Hall Of Fame — T. S. Eliot
Tennessee Williams
Kate Chopin
Side entrance of the Euclid Building
Classic late 1800s buildings.
Building details …
Classic ornamentation …
Turn of the century gated private streets.
Elegance from another era …
Tree shaded streets
Alfresco dining …
Deli delights …
Pi Pizza … even Obama ate here.
Where the elite meet to eat …
My friends and I ate here …
Best pub fare in town!
And places for the weary to stop and read.
Cineplex at the classic Chase Hotel …
Our Saturday matinée movie was STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS. 
Tourists always welcome in Saint Louis. And it’s a great place for a budget vacation.
EARTH WEEK PLUS
Taking care of the earth should be a 24/365 commitment!
This mural created by school children is installed in the Washington University MetroLink Station.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Up
In a new post specifically created for this challenge, share a picture which means UP to you!
UP! FROM UNDER THE ARCH
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial – Saint Louis, MO
It is the nation’s tallest national monument at 630 feet.
WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE: A Day In My Life
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A CONFIRMED CURMUDGEON AND HIS CANINE COMPANION! A multi-photo challenge with captions.
The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is jump out of bed … turn the heat on … and jump back in bed until the house warms up. My faithful canine companion jumps back in bed behind me and we both get in a few more winks.
Once the house is warm, I start a cup of coffee.
Then I let Mlle. Renee out to tend to her morning duties.
Breakfast is next with a calendar puzzle to solve while I eat.
I always pour the left over 2% milk in Renee’s bowl next to her IAMS.
I also put a little something out for our feathered friends.
Friday is grocery day, so I headed to the corner MetroBus stop.
And watched a couple of pigeons watch me.
Riding the Metro is a great way to get in some reading.
That is, when I’m not checking out St. Louis classic architecture.
I also considered potential lunch spots on my trip.
Behold my stupidmarket!
Because I had a lot of chores at home, I decided to pass on lunch and picked up a sandwich at the store’s deli counter. The overstuffed, N.Y. style, hot pastrami sandwich from Carl’s was pretty tempting until I realized that it was Passover and they would be using grocery rye instead of rye from the Jewish Bakery.
While waiting for my return bus, I noticed that the trees along the street were starting to bud.
To give you an idea of the size of the city of Saint Louis, I shot this photo from the bus when we crossed the street that marks the border line. This view shows the entire city from west to east … meaning the Mississippi River. Of course, the city runs along the Mississippi for a much longer distance going from north to south.
Once I got home and unloaded the groceries, I took Renee for our daily constitutional.
I swear she actually watches the walk/don’t walk so she knows when to cross.
Heading home to take care of housekeeping chores.
LAUNDRY! How does an old curmudgeon know when it’s time to do laundry?
When he discovers only two pairs of socks and underwear left in the drawer.
While the laundry was washing …
I went out into the yard to do some yard chores. Renee looks bored.
It was Recycling Collection Day and I had to bring in the dumpster. Renee always has to go along with when I take out or bring in the containers. She runs alongside of me carrying her ball or an old milk bottle. Guess she thinks she’s doing her part.
I also noticed that despite Sunday’s foot and a half of snow the spring bulbs were sprouting.
And this was the last bit of snow left in the yard.
What would you expect when the temp hits 70?
Then I went back in the house to pick up all the toys Renee always drags out, before I started vacuuming, dusting, washing dishes, and baking fish for dinner.
THAT’S MY LIFE …
AND WELCOME TO IT!
Oh, one other thing…
I found this little guy hopping down the bunny trail that goes through the yard!
NOTE: All photos can be enlarged to full size by clicking on them.
LOST YESTERYEARS – Introduction
Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when from out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver! The Lone Ranger rides again!
Yes, I grew up with the Lone Ranger. But not on television!
I was one of those kids who used to spend his late afternoons sitting in front of the big old radio in the living room listening to each daily episode.
The Lone Ranger existed almost entirely in my imagination.
Little did I know that under his mask he really was an actor named Brace Beemer. I also didn’t know that the hoofbeats of the great horse Silver were really a couple of half coconuts clumping on various different surfaces to mark his passages over sand, ground, rock and water.
The last new episode of the Lone Ranger was broadcast on September 3, 1954 … two days before my 15th birthday. I wasn’t even listening to the Long Ranger anymore. The big old radio in the living room had been replaced with a Magnavox TV and I was developing new interests. The Lone Ranger was fading into my memories of YESTERYEAR.
Shortly after my birthday my parents bought their own house, and we moved from the northside of Saint Louis to the house in West Walnut Manor where I live today with a lifetime of memories.
I’ve decided to revisit some of these memories and share them with you. So I’ve created a new blog category titled LOST YESTERYEARS, and periodically, I’ll be using this space to take you on a trek back to some of my fond yesteryears.
NOTE … it’s not easy recapturing the past. Our old living room radio was photographed in the background of about three old family photos. Film was expensive back then, and my mother would never waste a shot on a radio. (Thank God for digital.)
I enlarged one of the photos as best I could and began an online search of vintage radios. 
I actually found an almost matching radio … the 1940 Philco shown at the top of this post. I actually think our radio was a bit older since it might have been a 1938 wedding present my parents received.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WICKET CITY!
Yes, Saint Louis is celebrating a birthday today … 249th at that. On February 15, 1764, a couple of French fur traders, Pierre Laclede and his stepson Auguste Chouteau established a small fur trading settlement on the west bank of the Mississippi River … just a little south of where the Missouri River joined the Mississippi. They called it Saint Louis after the Sainted King of France, Louis IX. They weren’t the first people to build a settlement there. Back in the tenth century the native Mississippian people had settled there and built giant mounds, temples and burial grounds, but we have no idea what they called it.
So for a long time it was part of the French colony of Louisiana.
And then after a war Spain won it …
But they thought it was in Illinois.
And then France got it back …
But Napoleon needed some fast cash so he sold it to Tom Jefferson as part of the Louisiana Territory.
And suddenly the US of A was twice as large as it had been.
And thanks to the river, it became the starting point for all the settlers who were heading west. Actually, it got the nickname Gateway To The West sometime around about that time … and it just seemed to stick.
When my great-grandfather Franz arrived in 1865 from Alsenborn, Germany, it was the fourth largest city in the United States. Thanks to a bunch of politicians who didn’t want to pay for maintaining roads outside of core of the early city and drew a boundary line at the then limits of the city, the city soon lost its fourth largest status.
But it’s still my city, and I’m kind of partial to it.
THE TREASURES OF SAINT LOUIS
Today the City and the People of Saint Louis bid farewell to one of their favorite and most loved sons, Stan The Man Musial. The sendoff was sort of our version of a Viking Funeral … part solemn with the traditions of the Catholic Church, but mostly sentimental about a hero and idol who actually personified those two words. That’s something you can’t say about most of today’s pretenders to those titles. I was actually lucky to meet him three times … once when I was planning a company event at his restaurant, and twice (like most of Saint Louis) while having dinner with him. Truthfully, I wasn’t eating with him. I was eating at the table next to him and his party. But when he was around, he made everyone feel like they were part of his party. Even the grumpiest curmudgeon would melt from his aura alone. And yes, I witnessed and enjoyed his harmonica serenade both times. He was an uncommon man who made every he met feel like a friend. Saint Louis lost one of its greatest assets and treasures this week.
I happened across the telecast of his funeral at the Cathedral Basilica Of Saint Louis earlier this afternoon. It was an impressive ceremony, but viewers really didn’t see much of the majesty of the Cathedral itself. 
This treasure of Saint Louis contains the largest collection of mosaics in the world. Though construction of the building began in 1908, it took 80 years to complete all of the mosaic work. I’d like to share some the many photos I’ve taken of the mosaics in this structure. The photos were taken during a period when 7.1 megapixels were the hallmark of all digital cameras. So bear with the lack of definition in a couple of them.
First, a brief introduction to the world of mosaics … 
The art of creating images in the mosaic style dates back to the first century BC. The mosaic is made up of thousands of tiny pieces of colored glass or stone that are arranged to create the desired image. Each tiny piece is painstakingly affixed to a special prepared surface. 
NOTE: I really don’t know anything about mosaics. I got all of my information from the special exhibit in the basement of the Cathedral that documents the construction of the building and the creation of the mosaics. I took the above photos from this exhibit. If you ever visit Saint Louis and the Cathedral, be sure to check this out before you tour the church interior. Much of the early mosaic work was done by the Tiffany Studios. Other artisans created the later work.
Now without further comment, enjoy my photos of the interior of the Cathedral Basilica.
The Cathedral Basilica Of Saint Louis
Like Stan The Man One Of The
Treasures of Saint Louis
STAN MUSIAL
1920 – 2013
DISCOVERIES MADE CLEANING OUT OLD DRAWERS
Recently I’ve been searching for an envelope of photos taken of me on stage and in costume for number of plays in which I have performed. The photos were last seen in the early 90s and I have no idea where I put them for safe keeping. I must have tucked them away in a very safe place, because I haven’t been able to find them since. Well, I thought I was getting close today, because I found the 12 album pages that preceded the theatrical era photo pages. They contained photos of my military history and photos of the summer I lived in Chicago. I also discovered one that I had forgotten I’d even taken.
It doesn’t look very impressive, but I took the photo on February 14, 1965, which just happened to be the 2o1st anniversary of the founding of the city of Saint Louis. The photo shows the approximate site where the founding took place.
Today the same site looks like this … 
In case you’re wondering how they built the Arch, look closely at the top photo. Those tracks on the outside of each leg of the arch were used by specially built “creeping” cranes to slowly climb to the top. On the left leg you can see a segment that had been assembled on the ground being moved into place. I also was able to get a photo of the center and last segment being put into place six months later. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to locate that photo. Yet!
... a somewhat unknown or perhaps imaginary actor, writer, director, producer, photographer, friend, brother, uncle and all round good fellow that you really should get to know because he lives with that most glamorous fourpaw Mademoiselle Renee. (Mlle. Renee for short)
