WINTERFEST

This is an event that has been going on in our central downtown plaza for several years. There is a small portable ice rink that has not seemed busy when I've been by this season. In other years there was a big tent with a Christmas market, not present this time around. Note the sign for the Igloo Experience, which I mentioned in a recent post. They are plastic transparent domes with seating for four and a central heater, $200 for 90 minutes. One of six was occupied on my last visit. At least some downtown boosters are trying.               

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

Back in The Lou looking for images. A main downtown plaza has a smallish event called Winterfest. There is a temporary ice rink and clear plastic heated igloos for four people that cost $200 for 90 minutes, $35 more if you want S'Mores. This little worn trailer is the bar. The company that runs it is called Pour Decisions.         

            

HEY MISTER, TAKE OUR PICTURE!

It happens to all of us who walk around with a big camera. It gets people's attention and starts a conversation, leading to a request for a photo. I met this group when I took Ellie back to the ice rink at Winterfest yesterday. Three of them were wearing variations of the jersey of the local hockey team, the St. Louis Blues (hence the "blue note" logo).

However, the man in the back was wearing a jacket with the emblems of the English Premier League football team, Arsenal. The woman in yellow is from Manchester, England. She told me she is a strong supporter of the Manchester City team and that Manchester United "stinks."             

HONK

Nutcracker-style decoration at Winterfest in Kiener Plaza. The reddish structure on the right, the Wainwright Building, doesn't look like much here but is quite architecturally significant.       

WINTERFEST

In Kiener Plaza, what passes for our central downtown square. Winterfest is mostly a small skating rink, open from Thanksgiving to New Year's, with a few other doo dads. Nice that it's there. Our granddaughter loves the skating. Just the right size.            

THAT KID AGAIN, WITH ATTITUDE

I've not previously run photos of my granddaughter, Ellie, two days in a row, but this one speaks to me. The hard sidelong look. Fingers of the right hand loosely on the rail, left hand in a fist. The long, unkempt hair, the dirty jacket that causes her no concern, the rosebud lips and the little girl's Lambie thrust defiantly into her throat.

She is nine but this gives me a vision of how she might appear at twice this age. Her mother and I started college at 17, as will she if that's what she chooses. How will her image compare? I hope this photograph is preserved.                

MADELEINE MONDAY

I have more pix from Garden Glow that are worth posting but I thought we needed a change. The Lou has had a dinky Winterfest in a plaza downtown for some years. There is a small ice rink set up through New Year's Day, a one-day Christmas market, a run somewhere in there, and three heated and insulated "igloos" for the you've-got-to-be kidding price of $250 for 90 minutes / 7 people, drinks and snacks extra. (Empty the whole time we were there.)

Still, the little rink was perfect for a nine year old with growing ice skills. Mrs. C and I were delighted by the look of joy on her face when she realized that she could get around on single-bladed skates and without the little training sled for the first time. Such confidence! Neither of us can skate and she did it all on her own.

One of our dear friends in Alabama might notice what is poking out of her coat.