The Orchid Journal

The HILLS are alive with the sound of music.... After being in flat Tucson for five years and now driving around St. Louis again, I am shocked about the various hills I come across on the highways or around town. I don't remember noticing them before! The fact that Tucson is flat (minus the massive, beautiful mountains) wasn't a bad thing, it was just different and something I unknowingly got used to. Now the hills of St. Louis are a sudden point of fascination for me because they seem so enormous in comparison haha. When I was just outside the city, on a portion of the highway that I remember driving on years ago, I came to quite hilly portions, some that my car was pointing up and a 40 degree angle or so, I briefly wondered if they had moved the highway to a different location or something! You don't notice some things until you have something to compare it to, I guess. RAY a drop of Golden Sun.... I am happy about the sun in St. Louis. I dreamed of it the entire 5 y...

This is the Current River in Southeast, MO (photo NOT by me!) So, this is not just about St. Louis, even though St. Louis is bordered by both the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. This is an ode to the beautiful and plentiful rivers of Missouri. Ohh!!! How I love them! WATER, WAAATTTEERRRR!!!!! I miss it so much! I grew up along rivers or the ocean, but especially spent a good portion of my life submerged in rivers or canoeing on them. When I was little, my parents took me to otter releases along the MO rivers or on canoe trips. In high school, just for fun, my friends or youth groups and I would go on MILES long canoe trips. In college in St. Louis, I took a camping and canoeing class (counted as a gym credit- score!) where, after learning all of the proper techniques, the class went on a two day camping and canoeing trip. By the time I took that class, though, without sounding too prideful, I was already the best in the class (ahem)because I learned how to steer a can...

(all photos by Laelia Watt) I was surprised to find out, and maybe you will be too, that St. Louis' city park is 450 ACRES LARGER than NYC's Central Park! www.forestparkforever.org Forest Park, besides being a lovely green location in the middle of the city, is home to the St. Louis zoo, art museum, history museum, science museum, a boat house, The Muny....and so much more!!! haha... I sound like an ad. But really, it is a pretty awesome park. There are beautiful pavilions and a glass greenhouse called the Jewelbox, the Shakespeare Festival is held in this park....There are hay rides and ice skating...

When I was growing up, Shaw Nature Reserve was called "The Arboretum" and so my family still refers to it by that name. I use both names, depending on whether I am reminiscing about it to a family member or recommending to a new St. Louis resident that they visit this place. The Shaw Nature Reserve is beautiful any time of year. It has everything from prairies to forests, streams, cliff views, a river and fields of daffodils in the spring. http://www.shawnature.org/ This is my favorite place in the world. Yes, I know I haven't visited every place in the whole world and I am sure there are more exotic places, but the Shaw Nature Reserve holds more wonder for me than most places I have been or seen. The first memories of my life are vistas from "the arboretum". After I was born and before we moved from MO the first time, my dad had a job at the arboretum as a maintenance mechanic. As part of the job, we lived on the land in a little house inside the se...

http://www.muny.org/ "Meet me at the MUNY! The Muny in For-est PARK!" Oh, I can still hear the happy TV jingle.... :) I LOVE musicals and this is the place to see them! The Muny is an outdoor musical theatre in the large city park of St. Louis. Every summer, various acting troops come to perform musicals of every kind for a week or two at a time. I have seen "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," "Singing in the Rain," "Brigadoon," my cousin Pete's favorite, "The Music Man" and more! Usually my friends and I would go and sit in the free seats. Yes, this also has a free option! They actually built into the theatre a whole section in the back that is free to the public! The tickets are pretty reasonable still. The next closest section is like $8 then $15 etc etc. Once, my dear friend/cousin Sarah had gotten I think $45 tickets for free from her dad or something to a show called, "42nd Street". It was AMAZING! Es...

http://www.grantsfarm.com/ Description from their website: "There are many exciting animal encounters possible at Grant's Farm, the 281-acre ancestral home of the Busch family, located just south of the city of St. Louis. The Farm is home to more than 900 animals representing more than 100 different species. Grant's Farm, operated by Anheuser-Busch, Inc., has been a St. Louis tradition for over five decades. More than 24 million guests have visited this popular family attraction during its history. The Farm takes its name from our 18th President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant. In the 1850s, Grant founded and farmed a portion of the 281 acres. Today, this land is home to Grant's Farm and is preserved as a living symbol of the Busch family's love for animals and Anheuser-Busch's (aka owner company of Budweiser) commitment to wildlife conservation and preservation. Admission to Grant's Farm is free to all ages. Reservations are not required."...

In preparation for my upcoming move to St. Louis, Missouri, which I am super excited about and pray that the move falls into place, I am going to post my favorite things in St. Louis. http://www.mobot.org/ Photos by Laelia Watt: Things I love/remember about the MBG: 1. My parents used to perform puppet shows here. 2. The Japanese festival is awesome. 3. When we lived nearby, I used to sit in the Chinese garden and do homework 4. The orchid show 5. the flower arrangement show 6. The local art they display in the upstairs lobby 7. new fond memory- friend Layne and I enjoying the gardens together and dripping in sweat bc of the humidity 8. the many times my family and I walked the grounds, playing and taking pictures sitting on sheep statues or shaking hands with the people statues