Sun, Clouds, Vantage Point... All Came Together Part 1

A beautiful day must not be wasted. Took a couple of hours to venture out in Northeast (big surprise ). With the help of Christopher Leitch, Historic House Director, Kansas City Museum, I ascended to vantage points to capitalize on the beautiful day, flowering trees and wonderful clouds. Above is a 180 degree panorama taken from the balcony just above the front entrance to the Museum. East is left and west is right, south straight ahead. Six images stitched together in Photoshop.

Below, same vantage point ... vertical looking down on the entrance walk and main gate.
The shot below, taken from the roof, shows the downtown skyline... the view from up top is the best in the city in my never to be humble opinion. Foreground of the image includes Kessler Park and part of Reservoir Hill... the light green...
Below, from the roof top... looking south.... Gladstone Boulevard curves around in front of the mansion.
Tomorrow more of the same... only different..... Many thanks to Christopher for his time and wealth of information that he provides about this grand old building.

Sprink has Spruck in Old Northeast

Museum's tulip tree is glorious.... below, daffodils on the grounds of the Steven's Home.

Life is tenacious.... blooms on the bluffs.

Above, forsythia at the base of craggy point. Below folks enjoying North Terrace Lake... which is stocked by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Redbuds are poppin, turtles are sunnin'.

Textures... West Bottoms

Easter, Pigskin and Cheerleaders

Easter is the annual family feast with ceremonial tossing of the pigskin. We all gather at Chez Brother's house for roast beast and frolic. This year the girl cousins decided to cheer for the footballers and the boy cousin decided to observe..... our cast of characters follows: Taylor, 6, hates all food. Except sometimes hotdogs and stuff on the outdoor grill. Head cheerleader and frequent instigator.
Above, Justin, age 4, too young to catch so far.... but hopes to join in next year... favorite food is chicken noodle soup... less frequent instigator.
Above, Maddie, age 3, loves carbs and aspires to be head cheerleader. Usually instigated upon.
Above, as Maddie watches Taylor demonstrates some of the finer points of cheer athleticism as Uncle Bubba gets the football from the shed of glory.
Leaving your feet as often as possible (above and below) is essential. Holding a small purple shovel is optional.

Above, Taylor rounds out her display with a cartwheel and (below) Maddie shows what she's learned.
Facial expressions noting intensity are vital in conveying the pleasure of rooting on the home team... or ball tossers.
One must be versatile enough to show happy sideways.

Above, pink shovel and ring pop may be used in place of pom poms. Below, Taylor, with blue lips, gives final pep briefing to her new apprentice as Uncle Bubba heads back from the shed with the official football.
Below.... first catch is SUCCESS.... and everyone is thrilled.... excellent form is shown by the cheer squad and Justin was loudly happy too.
You know you've done well when the player applauds your effort!
After the big toss cheer person Maddie re-hydrates and gets ready for CARBS.
Below.... note to Justin. If you're going to bean your sister with a yellow plastic egg... don't do it in front of your crazy blogging Uncle.

HAPPY EASTER

Gallery Time

Kelly, The Kid, had some photographic assignments for her class to do... so while home on Easter break we headed to the Nelson Gallery of Art.... specifically the Photographic exhibits in the Bloch Building. Below is the ceiling in the garage... showing skylights.
Old and new above.... all new below..... the Bloch Buildings demands to be seen in black and white.


Despite the lack of crowds in the pictures the Gallery was full of people.... lots of little ones too.
Where 30's meets 00's....

Above the ceiling.... below, this one needed to be in color.
The Kid taking notes.... she has to write a review of the space for her Introduction to Photography Class.
Below, pondering in progress ;)

Man and photos in a photo.
Kirkwood Hall, above, Rozelle Court below.

Southern vista... we managed to dodge the rain for a few outdoor photos. Below, Butt and Bird.

The Gallery stands where the home of William Rockhill Nelson stood.... the founder of the Kansas City Star donated most of the money for the old structure... Mary Atkins provided the rest. Below... entryway lights.
$5 charge for parking in the underground garage... Museum itself is free.
Above..... leaving this post with these posts. Tomorrow we head for the West Bottoms. Just as a side note.... all these were taken with my newly repaired Nikon D200. Thank heavens it seems to be working fine. I guess we're all better after a trip to the West Coast :)