Frozen in Motion

Tell yourself these are ice sculptures.  It looks like it could be.

Storyboards

For anyone that is interested in seeing the storyboards on the 3.5 mile Nature Trail in Powell Gardens, without actually walking it, here they are (except for one that was listed on the highest point on the trail, that I could not find).

The Only Storm in the Summer

The weather this summer was pretty bleak, if you enjoy an occasional thunderstorm, and some rain from time to time.

 I managed to catch some lightning up in the upper right corner.

 We went to a playground out at Legacy and were able to watch the storm roll in for about 20 minutes before it hit.

Water Sports Around Home

We didn't have to go out to Powell Gardens or Unity to see a little water splashing around this summer.  Besides the fun of spraying water around when we watered the garden, we also put together Zach's wading pool, and spent some time cooling off in that, too.

 It's pretty loud blowing up the pool with the air compressor.

 That's one snazzy dude.

Ready to dive in.

Elk Babies

I'd been in the habit for some time of taking Zach out to feed carrots to the Elk out at Fleming Park.

For some years before that, I had gone out there occasionally, usually during rut.  A captive Elk herd is an impressive thing.

Yet in all the years I've lived here and visited the herd, I never seemed to go when there were little ones.

The bull seems pretty proud of his herd.

Photogenic Unity

Unity Village sits there, right next to Lee's Summit, completely unobtrusive.  I went over there at least once when I was very little, and I remember going up in the tower with my mother.  Then years passed and I never gave it a thought or visited it.  Only recently have I cared to go over there, and only when I discovered that young people use the grounds for a backdrop for Prom, Courtwarming, and Homecoming pictures.

The fountains fell into disrepair, but were renovated about 4 or 5 years ago.  Now, I find that this really is a good place to take a good photo, if you're lucky.

Zach at Unity

Zach loved the fountains at Unity and asked to go often.

 He likes to go around the edge of the big fountain on the west end of the plaza.  They recently rebuilt the nozzles and piping there and it has a nice flow.  It's the only fountain you can go right up to and stick your hands in.

 Somehow, it didn't seem to be a big deal to let him sit on the edge of the fence around this fountain.

 There was a little room (probably a pumphouse) at the end with a little door on it.  I told Zach it was a Troll's house and that we should knock on the door and see if he was home.  He wasn't the least bit freaked out by that, and fortunately an actual Troll didn't jump out and scare the hell out of us.

Unity Tower Damage Repair

The site of the actual repairs of the tower, once they got going,

 They boarded up the windows with plywood.

 They marked the areas needing repair and stripped off the weakened stucco (or concrete, or whatever they coated the tower with).

 Some parts had pieces that look like stone, but they look to have tile behind those "stones".  Those stones might be something more like cinder blocks.  They put the tower together rather quickly back in 1928, so who knows what they used for materials of construction.

Unity Tower's Face Lift Commences

I love the funky scaffolding they're using for the renovation of the old tower.  It's a great excuse to go out and look at the fountains on a bright cloudless day.

Construction Equipment

We used the new parking lot construction at Unity Village as a learning experience.  Looking at all the equipment on the site was like a Bob the Builder episode.