Anne and Dan on the High Line
STL->NYC: Yellow cab ride to the airport. Early morning flight to LaGuardia. First time Uber to Dan’s. Lunch in Bushwick. L-train to Manhattan. We walked the length and breath of the High Line. Enough said.
Divan Japonais, Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1892-1893
The Millinery Shop, Edgar Degas, 1879-1886
The other art show that I attended last week at the Saint Louis Art Museum was entitled, Degas, Impressionism & the Paris Millinery Trade. Open through May, this is the big show at the Slammer for the first part of this year. Edgar Degas had a fascination with Paris, high-fashion hats and the young women who made them. This show features an array of period hats and some sixty artworks that portray Paris fashion and the industry and people who created these fashions. In addition to Degas, other artists that are featured include Manet and Lautrec.
While we were watching the Oscars last night, we got a surprise. No, not that best picture envelope mishap, but rather notice that Bob, our longtime friend from Rochester, NY was about to drop in on us. As it turns out, he had notified us about his arrival a couple of weeks ago. Bob had sent us an email, but our email account is a bit of a mess, what with countless spam-like emails appearing everyday, his message as they say got lost in the mail. We missed it and were left unprepared, without any Ted Drewes to offer him and what was even worse no beer either. The beauty of long friendships though is that a little faux pas like this can sometimes be overlooked. We promised him to make good on our error the next time, assuming that we are given a second chance.
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
Bob came back tonight. We went out to dinner with him, to Salt & Smoke, a BBQ place in the Loop. It was all good. It was good to be able to spend some more time with him. It sounded like his business here in town went well. I hope that it leads to more repeat business, because we would like to see him again.
Poppies at the Huntington in Pasadena
Before it was settled, much of Missouri was a savanna, like in Africa, with woodlands found only in the vicinity of rivers and creeks. At the Shaw Nature Preserve, part of the Missouri Botanical Gardens, work is underway to restore this natural habitat. Hiking around there today, we could see signs that fire had been used, a natural cleansing agent that will restore the grounds to the way that they were supposed to be. Acres of prairie grasses already abound. Grasses so tall that you cannot see over them. Grasses so thick as to be impenetrable. It would be easy to lose yourself in them. And with so few people there today, who would find you? Fortunately for us wide paths have been mowed through this sea of grass. These pathways must also serve as nighttime superhighways for the local rodent population, because parts of them were literally paved with furry owl pellets. The woodlands are also being culled of brush, using both chainsaws and fire. It is an interesting experiment. I look forward to watching its further development. The gallery of photos gives just a sampling of the flora and fauna that we saw today. Spring looks like it is straining to pop.
African Daisy