Monday Mystery..

Where in St. Louis am I?

This should be obvious to any native St. Louisan this week.  But, I'm more asking "what street am I on, and what event is happening?"  The sun poked out and lit the Arch perfectly for a brief moment....just long enough for me to switch lenses and snatch it.  Please forgive the lousy crop and lack of post-editing.  Future photos, for awhile, look better.  Happy Halloween, by the way!!

Oh, and the last Monday Mystery photo was taken out in Chesterfield, by the airport, at Rombach Farms...a neat local pumpkin patch.

Mums, Mums, Everywhere...

These huge mums were for sale outside the Kirkwood Farmer's Market.

Today, we will be going down to the parade celebrating the Cardinals championship.  We cancelled our leaf-peeping tour...again...because some things are just more important.  Our rationale:  Leaves turn colors every year.  The home team isn't in the World Series every year.  Once again.....Go Cards!!

Well Well Well..

I live in baseball heaven, so if you'll indulge me this once, I am posting something that has nothing to do with St. Louis......except the tv backdrop of our Cardinals winning the World Series tonight. 

We dragged the kids upstairs to watch the 9th inning so they could remember seeing a World Series winner and where they were.  I don't know about you, but I wish my dad had taken a picture of me in 1982 when I was about this age.  Of course, he had no idea I'd grow up to be a Cardinal fan.

Future Jack-o-Lanterns?

Pile of pumpkins ready for carving at the Kirkwood Farmer's Market.

Farmer's Market..

Kirkwood Farmer's Market has lots of goodies for sale most days during the growing season.  Here we have apples bagged...perfect for autumn themes.  Halloween is this week.  Expect to see a lot images fitting into this genre coming up....

Near Peak in the STL..

The leaves are turning now.  To me, this is really, really close to what I call "peak" color change.  I like vibrant colors, but there are two sides.  One is when most of the unchanged leaves are still green.  The other is when the unchanged leaves are on the ground.  I don't like bare trees at all.  So, I try and time the peak color change more towards what you see here....the leaves that haven't changed are still on the trees.

This view, surprisingly, is looking north along Hwy 141.  The overpass in the distance is Hwy 30 (Gravois).  I had just passed Gravois Bluffs shopping center and this ridge of trees caught my eye at a red light.  I shot this through the windshield.  Sometimes it's good to be the first one in line.

Temperate Courtyard

I definitely need to get out and shoot again soon.  Been swamped with work as leaves begin to fall.

The Temperate House is located just behind The Climatron.  I had never been inside before, but it's definitely worth a look.  This newer house replaced the old 1913 built Mediterranean House, which gives away the purpose of the indoor facility.  Pictured is the central courtyard.  Another dominating feature inside is the old portico of St. Leo's churh/school in St. Louis.  The portico was designed by George I. Barnett, a local 19th century architect.  Barnett also designed several other buildings for Henry Shaw's gardens. 

This area of Missouri Botanical Gardens is climate controlled to mimic the environments of the Mediterranean, Southern California, Central Chile, etc, around the world.  Cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers are the main weather features of these areas of the world.  Temperatures rarely drop below 40 degrees, and rarely rise above 90 degrees.  Heck, I ought to move in and set up camp.  Can't go wrong with that kind of weather, huh?