Theme Day: Reflections

The Gateway Arch, bedrock of my photographic life in St Louis for 16 months!

On the first of every month, City Daily Photo hosts Theme Day. This month the theme is reflections. 

I took this at sunrise from the Illinois side of Eads Bridge last fall, as our time in St. Louis was swiftly coming to a close.

It was my great privilege to have the joy of exploring the city of St. Louis and fractions of the states of Missouri and Illinois for sixteen months. I may never be a mid-westerner again, but I now readily understand from experience that there is a great deal to love about the region and its people.

I very well remember the election when John Kerry was running against George Bush. I drove through the midwest on my way to Colorado and Utah that fall. Where I came from, in upstate NY, there was some conviction that Kerry could win. Being a Democrat, I must admit that I was hopeful, though not particularly thrilled with Kerry.

But as I hit Kentucky, and then Illinois, and then Missouri, and then Kansas, and without even talking politics with anyone, not a soul, I began to understand that Kerry didn't have a prayer. The lives of many midwesterners just didn't seem to match the message we were getting from the Democrats and Kerry that year. I still cannot find a clear way to explain this feeling that I had. I just knew it to be true. Call it intuition, which we all know is based upon a lifetime of experience! 

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