In Remembrance and Celebration

After lunch at Ponaks' with The Kid and The Boyfriend (hers) I headed over to Liberty Memorial. Good crowd on hand to tour the Museum and see the exhibits of military vehicles and equipment.

Above, Vietnam era guide explained the gear used at the time.... same stuff that Hyper used.
Above, lots of vets on hand to give personal remembrances of what it was like.....
Below... the WWII scooter and motorcycle display was very popular....




The Walk of Fame is in place now.... divided up by conflicts and services.







Trips to the top of the Memorial were extremely popular... the line was even longer when I left.


Above, the Kauffman Performing Arts Center is coming right along.... due to open in 2011.
Above, looking south, below the fountain from above.

Looking west into KK..... while a little warm it was a beautiful day.... the clouds were gorgeous.
On the way back to the car the Scooter crowd was even bigger.

Moon Rise From Kaw Point

Friday night was the last time the moon would be full-full... from now on it will start losing its roundness. Above is the dusk view of the skyline with the relatively newly installed metal sculptures of Lewis and Clark. The Kaw River is on the right and the Missouri is on the left. Both are high and moving fast from all the spring rains.
It's a view that lends itself to black and white as well as color... above and below the skyline just after sunset.

Above...taken at 9:45pm..... the moon rose at 9:44pm and made its first appearance (below) at 10:10... preceded by a decided glow around the building. Fortunately what few clouds there were dissipated before moonrise.

The moon is very bright in relation to its "surroundings" and the only way to get detail in it is to sacrifice outlines and shapes in the buildings.... above is such a shot.
All these shots, except the last one, were taken with the 70-200 f2.8 zoom at F16... I varied only the shutter speed in capturing the images and it ranged from 2 seconds to 8 seconds at ASA 800 on the Nikon D3. A tripod and cable release were used to make sure everything was perfectly steady.


Fiddled with the color balance on the one above. Others are pretty much as seen by the naked eye.

Above shot was taken with same settings as before but using the 24-70mm zoom... it was a parting shot on the way back to the parking lot. The park is easy to find... just take the Lewis and Clark Viaduct (appropriate) west and take the Fairfax exit... then look for a sign on the right with an arrow saying "Kaw Point". You travel through a shipping yard parking lot to get to it... just follow the signs.

Full Moon From Kaw Point

Noticed while driving that it was a full moon.... so rushed to Kaw Point in Kan Kan just in time to snap a few shots. Going back again tomorrow night with better gear. (AND BUG REPELLENT) Top image is a combination of 5 exposures... bottom image is just one.

Helen and Kevin Plus Seven

Okay unless they start using tools or something this is the last post so fowl of the season. They are getting used to me hanging around now so they let me get closer to the brood. Dad and two of the seven.... they travel around the lake from place to place getting out, eating and getting back in the water... no overgrazing I guess. It is amusing to watch the goslings trying to get out of the water.

Not unlike Kindergarteners they rotate line leader.

Despite the fact that they will grow up and poop on anything in sight, the little ones are cute.

Nap time.

Annual Lake Census Complete

The goslings are afloat for 2010 at North Terrace Lake. This year's flotilla is 7 plus mom and dad... dad's generally in front. Mom nested on the island as is their custom... I'll get some closer shots as they get used to me being around... and yes the water is green.... we called it "Green Lake" when I was growing up.

Only Surviving Images of the Scarritt Home

The Reverend Nathan Scarritt owned a home in Westport (still standing) where he resided until the Civil War threatened the peace of that small burg... he then moved to property he owned in what is now the Historic Northeast part of Kansas City where he built a log cabin. His property then was outside the city limits of the young town and in the early 1870's he desired a better place to live and commissioned the building of a home at what is now the Northeast corner of Sunrise Drive and Gladstone Boulevard. Behind the home down the hill was a pond and springs dotting the area across from the home (still exist) were used by the family to keep butter and some other perishables cool. The picture above is an architects watercolor painting of what the finished house would look like... it's dated June 20th, 1872. Below is the only known photograph of the house dated somewhere in the 1870s. Only one mantelpiece was salvaged from the mansion and it is currently in the Scarritt/Royster home, built 1897, just two blocks west of this site. The name of the architect is in the lower right corner but can't be read.... need CSI to do their thing.
Looks like the carriage house is in the rear attached to the main building and there appears to be a hot house on the side. It's impossible to say for sure which way the home faced... although, IF that is present day Gladstone Boulevard in the foreground the house faced either west or north... I'd bet on west...

There are no visible remains of this home now.... it would be fun to do amateur archeology on the site but I think the present occupants of the three homes there now would probably object.

"Kiosk" of French Derivation for Scenic Byway Application

The information kiosks for the Cliff Drive Scenic Byway are up and informing. Located at the west entrance to the Drive, The Paseo Gateway, and at the entrance adjacent to the Kansas City Museum they display information about the City Beautiful Movement which created our early system of Parks and Boulevards and also a little history of the area. There are three informational sides and a fourth with a cork billboard for residents to post notices....The word "kiosk" which I always thought was Russian because all their words are weird is actually an amalgam of French (kiosque) Turkish (kosk) and Persian (kus)... all meaning "pavillion."
I think they are finely designed and match their surroundings nicely.

God Was Doing Frank Gehry Before Frank Gehry Did Frank Gehry

The architect known for the Disney Theatre loves petals in metal..... and I like his work. But, it's been done before... organically. I posted a picture yesterday of a bud. That shot was taken early yesterday morning. Today it's a full fledged rose bloom with a tenant.
Talk about quick..... built in 1 1/2 days and new tenant right upon completion.
These were taken with the 105mm Micro Nikkor with and without the TC17E extender. The extender allows me to get the same magnification from further back thus allowing minimal intrusion on the critter. Tripod used in these shots.