Rocheport, Missouri

I love small little towns and historic districts: fortunately, I share this love with my daughter. We spent a Sunday afternoon in Rocheport, Missouri, a small town on the Missouri River about a two and a half hour drive from our home.

Camera's in hand we photojournaled our visit, capturing activity on the Katy Trail, the architecture, and shops. A pleasant autumn day.

Halloween 2008

Old North St. Louis

My father-in-law grew up in North St. Louis City in a Polish neighborhood which is now known as Old North St. Louis. As with many industrial cities, St. Louis and its neighborhoods have met with years of abandonment. Old North St. Louis Restoration Group and their revitalization efforts are gaining momentum. I look forward to attending the Old North House and Community Tour on Saturday, May 9.

October's Bright Blue Weather

O sun and skies and clouds of June
And flowers of June together,
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October's bright blue weather...

-Helen Hunt Jackson

Music finds

Discovering a new music talent—that I relate to—is a joy, especially artist that perform what I dub “authentic” music…the type of artist that can pull out a guitar and sing a song you get lost in. WUMB Boston Folk Music Radio has given me such treasures as Jeffrey Foucault and Jeff Black. I just love internet radio.

Today’s discovery, Anders Osborne, was born in Sweden, raised on the Island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, and now resides in New Orleans. What a treasure for New Orleans! What I thought was a new Van Morrison song was actually Osborne’s song Coming Down, I immediately researched this new find and bookmarked his site.

Go to their individual websites and a sample some “authentically,” pure, unadulterated music.

Chouteau's Pond a St. Louis Legacy

City of St. Louis website lists the Chouteau Lake and Greenway under Development Activity

Tower Grove Park, Forest Park and the downtown St. Louis riverfront could all be connected if the Chouteau Lake & Greenway concept becomes reality. St. Louis-based developer McCormack Baron is planning a $400 million mixed-use development over the course of six or seven years. The result would be a 15 acre lake and up to 3,500 units of housing and commercial buildings. A "green loop" of landscaped park areas, bike paths and trails along the Mississippi River would connect the new district to the historic Soulard and LaSalle neighborhoods to the south, the commercial districts to the north and existing parks to the west. The feasibility of this project depends upon a variety of unresolved challenges including the ability to relocate railroad lines and the availability of public and private funds.

Chouteau's Pond, which was formed by the damming of Rock Creek near Ninth and Popular Streets, was originally called Taillon's Pond but renamed after Auguste Chouteau enlarged it. The pond, which was two miles long and half-moon shaped, was the city's chief recreational spot in the early 1800s. However, cholera epidemics in the mid-1800s were blamed on the lake, which by then had become polluted with garbage and industrial waste. The city filled in the lake in 1851 and it thus became the location for the first rail lines.

Chouteau Greenway will link the Mississippi riverfront in downtown St. Louis to Forest Park. An extension of the greenway will branch off to the south to connect to the Missouri Botanical Garden and Tower Grove Park.