The Monte Christo

These magnificent bricks slay me with their rough finish and subtle range of hue. The original mortar was finger tooled into the crevices.



I showed this photo to Tim over lunch and he announced it was the best cornice in the neighborhood.

These photos are of the Monte Christo apartment building near Wyoming and s Grand in TGE.

Storm Damage

Damage to the stone wall in McDonald Park:

Just spoke with the Parks Commissioner who is rounding up engineers as I type!

The storm also deposited about 4,000 maple tree seeds on my front yard and steps and an equal amount in Marti's garden. I swear I pulled 300 maple tree saplings out of the garden last year.
After the first storm ended on Saturday I was driving east of 44 and drove under a huge rainbow.

Digging a Foundation

Located in TGS, this hole was created last week. Click on the title to see the plans.

Some of the soil slipped during yesterday's rain storm:

There's goes the Neighborhood

Ouch!
On my block so I now walk west.

Stone steps - River Des Peres

Homage to Felix Hoenikker

Outrageous Brickwork

I spotted this dreamy little house in the Southampton neighborhood. Click to enlarge the photos. The bricks were laid on an angle creating a 'perforated' look.
January and Goethe.

Gas Tank remediation on Morgan Ford

A few days ago I noticed the gas tanks at Morgan Ford and Oleatha were being removed. I stopped to talk with some of the worker's who told me the removal was 'financed by Obama's stimulus package.'

An environmental scientist was on site and said his job was to test the soil
for contamination. The huge hole was about 15 feet deep. Every few feet of digging the work would stop and he'd take a sample from the bucket. He'd put it in a zip lock bag and let it sit to let any gas evaporate. Then he inserted a probe for a reading. When the soil stops testing clean they stop digging and removed the soil to be taken off site to be 'cleaned'.
The probe:

The hole is filling filled with the white gravel on the right side.

Joe goes to Haiti

One of our Tower Grove South neighbors is currently in Haiti volunteering with the Relief Effort. You can read his blog by clicking on the title of this post.

Leaves

These photos are from last fall.
I arrived at the garage door where I found my neighbor's kids on leaf disposal duty.

Jumping on the leaves packs the dumpster.

Aleisha with leaves in her hair.

Southwest Garden - Mosaic

One of my favorite buildings in Southwest Garden and not just because of the sun beam.

This side door and porch is so elaborate that the building may be a duplex:

Art Nouveau glass tile mosaic:



No asphalt! Paver street:

The original arch door is framed by triple arches:

Stone Walls

Along Lackland

Ice Storm

These photos are from 12/1/2006


Morgan Ford and Juniata

Sky Dome on Morgan Ford

I found this photo on FaceBook.
It was located on the north east corner of Hartford and MGF, right across the street from my grandfather's bicycle shop.
Th Skydome

3171 S Grand

Photo of my Mother in front of 3171 S Grand with a reflection of the building that now houses Jay Asia. I date this photo to 1948.

She was employed as an illustrator, had a boat load of talent, and defied fashion dictates by wearing sandals with fur.
She was seriously original and one of the smartest people I've known.
I was graced by her presence.

Train overpass Columbia Ave

Beau goes for a ride

Beau is my canine companion who rides in the back seat and stares out the widow.
Here's proof:

Every single time I drive past a field, any park, or even a parking lot I am treated to a scolding from the back seat. I'm on business and he wants to ROMP. After a series of errands he'll gently place his head on my right shoulder to remind me to head for the tracks where he gets to run.

The head drop on the shoulder cracks me up.

Urban Farming

I've visited a few coops in TGS during the last two years and this one wins the prize for deluxe accommodations. It's right across the alley with a standing offer of eggs but of course I am allergic.

My neighbor didn't want to be in the photo so the rake is for scale:

How to Eliminate Lawn Mover Emissions

Because I preparing for the inevitable infirmary last summer I eliminated the front lawn:

This was achieved by putting down layers of wet newspaper and covering them with mulch. The tree lawn has been planted with drought tolerant laripoe. No more mowing.

Here's an extreme example of eliminating mowing, pave the damn yard!
Cute, that the asphalt was painted green.

This house is located in Southwest Gardens but it's still The Hill to me.

The Clean Energy Jobs & American Power Act

A few days ago I was dining at Bread Co. with a friend.
We finished our meal and I looked at all the 'trash' we had left on the table: plastic utensils, cups, and containers with no recycling bin on site.

This is bullshit, I told Friend, I recycle at home and generate one blue tub per week but very few businesses in the city recycle. It should be mandatory.

City Hall has started recycling again, he told me, apparently some grant was reinstated. This was surprising to me. I thought City Hall would have been the recycling leader in St. Louis City.

There's a couple of businesses in my neighborhood that recycle. Remains on Morgan Ford Rd is in the business of post consumer products. Along a recent walk through the alleys behind MGF I discovered the only business using a blue recycling dumpster is Local Harvest.

Of course Local Harvest pays for this service. With the current government chatter on GREEN (this post title is linked to a video) why aren't we implementing programs for business? There has to be a plan in place that rewards recycling.

Next time you're at Home Depot on Kingshighway, drive around to the back. There's a huge cardboard baler they use and it's probably sold for profit. But what about their paper, plastic, and discarded wood cuts? Profit has to be the incentive.

Asking small business to incur yet another cost in a down economy isn't feasible. As a former brick and mortar business owner and I know about the costs.

My small business generated a lot that could be recycled buy it didn't always make it into my car for a ride to the off site bins.

Please join me in emailing our alderpeople, state reps, and the mayor to ask for tax credits for all businesses that use recycling services. Let's establish and implement a plan and make it reality within a one year deadline and stop paying lip service and continue spending our dollars where blue dumpsters are housed.

I'll be posting the response I get from my alderman. I'll post yours also.