Freedom Tower

I haven't yet begun to start posting all the photographs from Minnesota yet, but I saw this amazing scene on approach to LaGuardia this afternoon, and wanted to show it to everyone.  I haven't flown into or out of LaGuardia for a number of years - Jet Blue is based at JFK and that's my usual airport these days.  So it was fun to fly the approach that runs alongside the east side of Manhattan, and then to let down below the cloud deck and see Freedom Tower rising above everything else in lower Manhattan.  All I could think of was "The Greatest City in the World!"

The Stone Arch Bridge

These are two views of the famous Stone Arch Bridge, spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, and one view of St. Anthony Falls.  It is hard to represent both objects well in just one photograph.  The bridge built in 1883 is a former railroad bridge and it is the only arched bridge made of stone on the entire length of Mississippi River.  The structure is now used as a pedestrian and bicycle bridge, and it is an Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.   St. Anthony Falls was the only natural major waterfall on the Upper Mississippi River. The natural falls were replaced by a concrete overflow spillway after it partially collapsed in 1869. Later, in the 1950s and 1960s, a series of locks and dams was constructed to extend navigation to points upstream.  This whole scene is just spectacular as you can see.  How many cities have such an amazing view!  Please click on the top photo and it should expand to fill your screen, where you can see so much more detail.

The Gathering

Our convention started Friday night at the Observatory here at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.  We did some observing through the Alvan Clark refractor in the dome, and then went outside where some students had set up some 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes for us to observe with. On Saturday morning we all came back to the observatory and I decided to look around in the daylight.  I saw these robotic-looking devices, lined up as if they were waiting for some kind of meeting to begin.  These concrete columns have metal telescope mounting plates on top, which are protected by the gray canvas.  They are not robots.  Whew!

The Washburn Mill Fire

You are looking at the ruins of what was once the largest flour mill in the world.  It is the Washburn "A" mill, located on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.  It once was eight stories high and was built in 1880.  General Mills shut the mill down in 1965 and it was abandoned.  Homeless people moved in, and in 1991, a huge fire burned the mill nearly to the ground.  Fortunately some forward-looking people in the city saved what was left, stabilized the ruins with steel beams, and turned the remains into a museum about the founding and growth of Minneapolis, especially flour milling and the other industries that used water power from Saint Anthony Falls. It is an amazing place to visit.  After spending a couple of hours in the museum, you can go outside to the banks of the Mississippi and view the falls, and the Stone Arch Bridge, and see some more ruins where other water-powered mills were located on the river bank.

My Lucky Day!

So yesterday was my lucky day!  I landed in Minneapolis, and immediately drove to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts for a quick visit.  Got there at 2:45, thinking that it would close at 5.  But it was Thursday, and it was open until 9 PM!  Then there was a photo show that was being installed during the day, that I couldn't see.  But a staff member who I was talking with said that there would be a talk by the photography curator at 7 PM.  So not only did I get to see the photography show but got to meet and talk with the curator as well! In terms of visiting the museum, I kind of just wandered around.  I stumbled across this piece, above in the Egyptian section.   It is a detail from a false door that was once installed in a tomb.  What's amazing is that it was done in 2400 BC!  It is carved into the surface of a flat piece of stone.  It is a little funny when you look at it - you're not sure if the relief goes in, or comes out.  It goes in.  Please click on it to see it in detail.  It is a stunning carving and I studied it for a while.  When it was approaching 9 PM I was exhausted, so left the museum just before closing.  Look what I found on the way out!  The columns were illuminated by color lights.  Not the kind of thing you would expect with this kind of architecture, but I thought it was a wonderful and unexpected surprise.  Be sure and click on the first photo so you can see the carving in more detail.

"The Conga Line"

I'm on the road again!  This time to Minneapolis, for the Antique Telescope Society Convention.  Flew out of LaGuardia this morning in a light rain.  There was a bit of a wait for takeoff today, but it wasn't too bad.  A few years back, we sat in a "conga line" for an entire hour, waiting for takeoff.  Now they do "gate holds" and aircraft don't get to start their engines and push back until they have a takeoff slot available.  In the old days, they would have 30 aircraft in a conga line, burning up fuel, waiting for takeoff.  So this is just a short line of Delta Canadair CRJ 200 jets waiting for the runway.

Just for fun, the shot below is the first shot of the day I was playing with - water drops on the window.  My attempt to be creative.  You may not be impressed...

What's Missing From This Picture?

So this is a leftover from Los Angeles.  It is a picture from the plaza at the Getty Center.  What's missing from this picture? And I am not talking about the people.  Any guesses?  Ok, so you are looking at a wonderful fountain in the plaza.  What is missing is water.  There is a terrible drought in California, and they are doing everything possible to conserve water.  So there is a notice at the edge of the fountain explaining why the fountain is not running.  You might wonder why not fill it and just run it.  The answer is that in this climate, evaporation causes a huge loss of water.  This is a great reminder to everyone to conserve water.