Pic Today 2/28/15

YOU THINK YOU'VE GOT

 TOO MUCH SNOW?

Check out Route 9

on the way to Cape Cod,

Massachusetts.

(Photo: Boston Assoc. Press)

Pic Today 2/27/15

THE WINTER

OF MY DISCONTENT

A late winter snow

makes a walk through the woods

sooo beautiful.

   But, I've decided . . .

this is "the winter of my discontent"

(with all liberties taken from

William Shakespeare's Richard III.)

The snow is indeed beautiful,

but the cold sucks!

Pic Today 2/26/15

MEET THE ORCHID LADY

Babs Wagner is the "orchid lady"

at Missouri Botanical Garden.

As curator of their famous orchid collection,

dating back to 1876 when Henry Shaw

received his first orchid and started

Shaw's Garden in St. Louis,

Babs collects and manages some

7,000 orchid plants,

culminating in the annual Orchid Show

(ongoing this month and next)

which attracts visitors worldwide.

I was allowed a private tour in the garden's

3 controlled orchid greenhouses

(each a different temperature and humidity

depending on the cultivars.)

One of Henry Shaw's original orchids

(Oncidium Sphacelatum)

originally collected in 1898

is still thriving at this year's show.

Babs pointed to several of their resident

insect-eating geckos

which are placed throughout the greenhouses

to control the roach population.

(See final photo.)

Interesting Factoid:

"One of every 8 plants in the world

is an orchid."

Pic Today 2/25/15

MEAN DOGS?

(NOT HARDLY!)

Take Izzy, the pit bull,

and

Cesar, the police guard dog.

Do they look mean?   dangerous?

Unless you're afraid of being

licked to death,

I don't think so.

(You can see it in their eyes.)

Pic Today 2/24/15

STEEL SCULPTURES

IN SNOW

Amazing giant steel balls

are assembled in the woods

at Laumeier Sculpture Park

in St. Louis County.

Snow completes their winter beauty.

Pic Today 2/23/15

METTA IS 5 !!!

What a great birthday party.

You're a beautiful princess.

Pic Today 2/22/15

SUNNY THAW

Nothing like a sunny day

to melt our ice and snow.

Sunshine beats a snow plow

any day.

Pic Today 2/21/15

WHAT'S IN HERE?

When it's cold outside,

with snow and ice on the streets,

and you're tired of waiting

   for Spring . . .

escape the world

with BOOKS!

There's no better place

to spend the weekend

than a used book store.

Discoveries await.

Peace and quiet.

   And if you're lucky . . .

a comfortable chair

and a cat!

Pic Today 2/20/15

ORCHID SHOW

TO THE RESCUE

We're lucky to have the

Missouri Botanical Garden

in St. Louis.

And especially fortunate

that the annual Orchid Show

has just begun!

Beautiful refuge from the

freezing cold temperatures.

Pic Today 2/19/15

THE BITTER PART

OF WINTER

Until now,

our Midwest winter has been mild.

But no longer.

This past week has brought 

blustery winds, snow storms

and now sub-zero temperatures.

The winds have made this

the "bitter part of winter."

It burns the skin,

and hurts to the core.

Enough already.

Come Spring, come.

Pic Today 2/18/15

AND THEN

THE SNOW MELTS

All that snow

melted the following warm day.

And then 

the mercury dropped.

Dropped fast,

to bitter cold.

And we all know

   what that means . . .

(Whoops, watch out!)

Pic Today 2/17/15

WHERE SNOW IS BEAUTIFUL

The world was peaceful and white

   when we woke up . . .

and beautiful everywhere.

(Just not in the streets!)

It was a good day not to drive.

Pic Today 2/16/15

SNOW STORM COMING

Can you tell?

You can see it

in the sky.

(Now it's our turn.)

Pic Today 2/15/15

LION AND TIGER AND BEAR

OH MY!

These 3 unlikely wild animal companions

are as friendly to one another

as they look.

As the result of a drug bust in Atlanta

some 13 years ago,

these three cubs were rescued in a cage,

barely 2-months old.

The drug dealer had kept them as "pets",

but had kept them together.

He was subsequently arrested, and

the animals carted off to Noah's Ark Rescue Center.

The zoo keepers decided to keep them together,

with no plans to separate their quarters.

They've been unseparable ever since,

oblivious to the fact they aren't

natural companions.

The world's nations could well learn

something about living together

from these 3 wild animals.

(Photos: Noah's Ark Rescue Center)

Pic Today 2/14/15

GREAT SPACE

FOR FASHION ORIGINALS

This is SKIF2, a fashion design center

(tucked in a little known corner of St. Louis)

creating one-of-a-kind, hand made

knitted clothing, made famous in The Matrix.

Attracting clothing designers and unique boutiques,

SKIF2 oozes creativity, textures and materials.

Their designers have been featured 

on Project Runway, with customers

from coast to coast.

The secret is out.

SKIF2 rocks!