Month: January 2013

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Twentieth Century – Early Decades

ellenparkerwrites

We continue our look at the bridges of downtown St. Louis and slip into the twentieth century today. Railroads increase in size and number. Horses and wagons give way to motorized automobiles and trucks. Too much traffic for the Eads Bridge to handle without assistance.

Stone piers and steel trusses on a larger than life scale came to dominate the river a short distance downstream of the Eads. First impression is a bridge designed for heavy work. It’s beauty is found in symmetry and projection of power instead of decoration.

Construction began in 1909 of this two deck structure. The St. Louis Municipal Bridge, a.k.a. Free Bridge opened the upper deck to highway traffic in 1917. The lower, railroad deck opened in 1928.

Today the bridge bears the name of The MacArthur Bridge. The rail deck is in daily use. Freight trains cross the river here on a regular basis and Amtrak uses it when the Mississippi is at flood stage. The highway deck has not been used since 1981 and a portion of the deck has been removed. With curved and narrow approaches it’s doubtful that regular highway traffic will resume but occasionally you read of proposals to restore the upper deck for hiking and biking.

Bridge without frills.
Bridge without frills.
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Lunch is Served

ellenparkerwrites

Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Snack.

From dawn to dusk these creatures eat like birds.

Wait a minute! They are birds.

This homeowner has chosen to supplement the natural diet of several feathered species through the winter months. The feeders hang like ornaments in the bare tree, giving a flash of color to the dreary landscape.

Flying requires lots of calories. Staying warm in cold air requires even more.

So don’t copy their eating habits. Do enjoy watching their flights from one snack to the next. With luck, the correct feeder, and careful placement, you’ll have a circus outside and frustrated squirrels gazing at — rather than stealing from — your feeder.

Feathered Diners Only
Feathered Diners Only
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Nineteenth Century Pioneer

ellenparkerwrites

A visit to downtown St. Louis is not complete without a look at the Mississippi River and the bridges that span it. If you pick the right spot on the grand stairs below the Gateway Arch you can see four complete and one under construction.

Let’s begin near the beginning. When ferry service connected Illinois and Missouri. The riverboats reigned supreme and considered the very idea of a bridge a hazard to navigation.

But here come the railroads. A transportation boom after the Civil War. The writing was in the water. To maintain status as an important American city St. Louis needed a bridge connection with Illinois and the East.

James Buchanan Eads designed this pioneering structure. It was the first bridge to use large amounts of that new building material — steel. Innovations in caissons for pier construction and the cantilever method of erecting the three steel arches were each a major fete in and of themselves.

With great celebration the bridge opened July 1874. Rail traffic used the lower deck and a roadway occupied the upper.

Today the oldest in use bridge across the Mississippi is again carrying traffic on both decks. Since 1993 the light rail system carries commuters and visitors on the lower deck. After renovations completed in 2003 the upper deck again hosts four lanes of traffic and sidewalks for pedestrians.

West approach during spring 2011 flood
West approach during spring 2011 flood

Take a few minutes on your riverfront visit to walk out and enjoy the view.

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No Memo?

ellenparkerwrites

January is typically a dormant period for plants in the American upper Midwest.

A climate of cool, often cold, days and freezing temperatures at night stimulate plants to take a rest, go inactive, and resist the spring and summer urge to grow. One expects plants to store nutrients in preparation for the spring surge. I can imagine the roots sipping moisture and nutrients from the soil rather than slurping them up like a teenager with a straw and their favorite soft drink.

Communications broke down. The message became scrambled. If winter temperatures now drop to their long term average instead of the warm spell last week these eager bulbs will have their buds frozen off. Whoa!

Ignoring the Calendar
Ignoring the Calendar
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Unknown origin

ellenparkerwrites

Dictionary editors know words. It’s their profession.

So I read the phrase “unknown origin” twice when I looked up the word to go with today’s entry. After all, I’ve heard and used the word all of my life.

They come in all sizes: from skinny metal tubes measuring mere inches in diameter through larger and larger cylinders – commonly ribbed for strength.  Materials vary also – metal and concrete are the most common but I’ve no doubt that one of these days PVC or one of the other sturdy plastics will be used.

Their purpose is simple. They allow water to pass under a road, railroad, hiking trail or other object.

As children we were cautioned to be careful around them. I think the parents were concerned we’d get stuck. These are the same parents that discussed using the largest ones as tornado (storm) shelters. We called the large ones, usually cement, cattle passes. They were of the size and purpose to allow cattle to cross under the road from one pasture to another. Much to the safety of both cattle and motorist.

Culvert. It has a good sound. But according to people who study that sort of thing — the origins of the word are lost in the echoes of history.

Culvert, large size
Culvert, large size

This is “cattle pass” size that carries a creek. Visit during low water.

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Winter Rest

ellenparkerwrites

REST.

Intermission. Stillness. Calm.

The list in the thesaurus continues with a dozen synonyms.

A few days ago I visited a local park. Up to now we’ve had a mild, dry winter. The leaves still crunched under my sneakers when I left the paved trail. The sound of traffic was muted, other humans out of sight and sound. The woods followed an internal cycle, dropped their leaves and pretensions to gather strength for the spring sure to follow.

Popular magazines and news reports proclaim America as a sleep-deprived nation. And then the next advertisement urges us to buy more, travel more, do more.

We would do well – as individuals and a nation – to take a lesson from the woods. A little time each day, each season, to rest. Pause. Listen to God. Gather and organize our energy for the next necessary task.

January Rest
January Rest
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Cold Work

ellenparkerwrites

Two weeks ago when I first noticed them I could hardly believe it.

Stacks of shingles and rolls of paper appeared on the roofs in the apartment complex next door. I checked the calendar. Yep!  Winter.

Perhaps it goes back to when and where I grew up.

Roofing. Construction in general. Stayed a seasonal occupation.

From the first mild days when snowbanks melted and turned ditches into streams until crisp nights dusted trees in frost. That’s when cement was poured – with an extra eye toward rain or not – posts were set, walls went up, and roofs protected from the weather. Yes, after the roof was on and the windows and doors installed the inside work continued longer.

But this! I expect the construction season to be longer here – 400 miles due south of my childhood home – but it’s still a season. Isn’t it?

No longer do the workers contend with heat and sun in the long days of summer.

Now they wear parkas and gloves, and use extra caution due to ice.

Extended Seasonal Work
Extended Seasonal Work
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Are you Ready?

ellenparkerwrites

Ready or not 2013 has arrived!

This year (similar to previous) I’ve written down some goals. It’s discouraging to see that the same ones appear time after time. (How many years before I’ll actually clean that closet?)

A few new ones pop up. A new place to visit. A new activity to try. A new way to reward good behavior.

And some are old ones with a modification — a different book to read  (or write), a different amount of exercise or diet.

Last month — in the mild weather we experienced in the first weeks — a neighborhood safety feature was prepared.

Ready
Ready
Primed
Primed
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The Party’s Over

ellenparkerwrites

Dawn arrives in silence.

Good thing. Please pass the aspirin, pour the juice, and brew the coffee.

By definition a New Year’s party lasts past midnight. Need to acknowledge the change from one year to the next on the digital clock. Sing the traditional songs. Lift the traditional drink. Kiss the nearest girl (hope it’s your wife).

Perhaps another bite to eat. A final joke to tell or wishes to express. Then a trip home for the guests and a little light clean-up for the host.

My but time speeds past in the dark.  It was a good party. This is how I feel.

Quiet Please!
Quiet Please!