Week 48

Managed to get this picture right on time and posted in a timely manner as well.

Week 47

Raining in this picture and overcast.  Fall is rapidly approaching.

Week 46

This day was a little more overcast than previous summer pictures. 

Week 45

Week 44

Same heat with some relief in the evenings but still strangely dry.  Here is this weeks image:

Pretty contrasty which is typical of summer.  Below is the new door which has been installed although work around it both inside and outside has continued:

Later on I will post a better image of the outside.  But, there is where I stand to take these pictures on the third step from the bottom next to the metal handrail.

Week 43

Fall faculty conference today then puttered around making copies and all that jazz.  The campus is changing in big ways with the new workout facility, the new entrance which I have mentioned before, and the work that will be starting soon on 9th street which will last well into and maybe a bit beyond this semester.  Nothing stays the same.  Every time I step foot on campus I step foot on a new campus and over time you can see that.  I wonder how long it would take before those changes would show up in these pictures?  So far all the remodeling and new construction is to the north or west and this south view remains relatively unchanged except for the rhythm of the year.

So it goes.

Week 42

Next week starts a round of campus events that are a precursor to the semester beginning.  The front entrance is still boarded up at the circle drive so I am still taking these pictures off of the steps and on the sidewalk.

Looks like there is some flair in the middle of the picture.  I couldn't tell since I was wearing my  sunglasses and they are polarized - obscuring many images including the one from the Canon pocket camera I am using for this project.

Week 41

I am learning a lot about the seasons and how the changes are not only subtle but more abrupt than you might think.  To appreciate this you have to go back and look at the earlier pictures and it is fascinating to see how the changes just sort of appear, and then how seasons seem "sticky" before suddenly dissolving into the next season.  Here is the picture for week 42.

Week 40

Summer rolls on.  Very hot weather followed by thunderstorms for a day or two cooling things down, and then the heat and humidity are right back at it.

Week 39

I have not taken any new pictures of it but construction on the entry way is still ongoing and visibly there is not that much progress.

Week 38

Summer rolls on.

Week 37

The entrance to St. Clair is undergoing renovation and I have included a picture of it here:

Normally I stand on the third step, on the left side as we face the entrance, and take the picture.  Since it was blocked off I took the picture for this week, and will have to do the same for next week, in front of the reversed bench they are using to block the entryway off.  Here is the picture for week 37:

Week 36

Picture for Week 36:

Week 35

Post for week 36:

Week 34

Photo for week 34:

Week 33

Photo for week 33:

Week 32

This week the campus has been deserted of students and the weather has been warm.  Much different than the deluge of rain we had last week.

Week 31

Finally I am caught up after being three weeks behind.  Finals and graduation are behind me and we are putting the finishing touches on moving.  Still,... lots of rain.  Unbelievable weather - just like fall rather than spring including the temperature.

Week 30

Lots of rain but it stopped awhile for this picture.  See my comments from week 29.

Week 29

School rapidly came to a close and during all that hubbub we moved.  So, I took the pictures but did not have the opportunity to post them.  We are still moving although we should be done this week.  It has been a MAJOR undertaking.

Oddly enough this is the second picture with a vehicle in it in this whole series and it is my own van.  I was in a hurry and parked right in the frame.  I always stand on the third step and try to approximate the same angle every time.  Whatever is in the frame goes into the picture.

Week 28

The last full week of classes for this semester.  Next week is finals week, then graduation, and then summer begins for real.  Where did the tulips go!

Week 27

This week, surprisingly, for the first time there was a vehicle in the front drive.  The fire marshal likes to sweep in and ticket cars parked there.  It is a popular place to park while people run in to do something.  If you do that it is best to keep someone in the car.  Then it is "standing" rather than "parked."   Also, there were some people out working in the front lawn.  One more week of classes, one week of finals then graduation.  Everyone is ready.  The great thing about college is the distinct beginnings and endings.  Love it.

Week 26

Since there are 52 weeks in a year this is the halfway point.  A pretty big milestone.  I have been doing this now for six months having started in October of 2009.

The first week with the new Camera.  I am using a Canon SX 120 which is my backup pocket camera.  It is for when I do not want to carry the Nikon DSLRs.  So far it is a a great camera.  I like the intermediate size but wish it had a range finder and not just the back display.  Camera manufacturers are getting lazy.  Or maybe just cheap?

Here is the picture of the week.

Week 25

The camera I have been using for this project is going to have to be replaced.  The lens covering is not opening regularly, and sometimes has to be "helped."  The problem is getting worse.  So, I am going to have to replace it.  Luckily, when I purchased this camera I also purchased the insurance so replacement is a pretty easy process.  Unfortunately, the camera I want is only available online so I am going to have to send this current one in and then wait for the replacement from WalMart.  So it goes.

It still takes good pictures.  Another beautiful spring day for Week 25.  What is interesting is the progression you see in the grass over the past four to five weeks from that dull winter stunted look to the lush green we have today.  Again, I am astonished at how the scenery does not change gradually but rather in dramatic short periods of three to four weeks.  What will happen as the weather warms and the rain slows down?

Week 24

Spring break at last, and it is starting to show in the pictures.  The grass is VERY green.  We have had so much rain, but despite that the days have mostly been pleasant.

Week 23

If you look carefully you can see how the grass has become progressively greener over the last month.

Last weekend was not only brutal but freakish.  Over four inches of snow with periods of sleet and very cold weather.  Oddly enough the ground had been warmed enough that everything pretty much melted when it hit although there at the end slush began to form.  That was how spring started.  Then, starting on Monday, a reprieve bringing tolerable weather with some sunshine.  

Students are just as weary and ready for spring break as I am although what they will be doing during their respective breaks shows the fractured fault lines of our socio-economic classes.

Week 22

Spring arrives this weekend as well as an anticipated blast of cold with lots of snow and sleet.  Hard to believe.  The weather this week has been pretty good.

Week 21

Not much to say.  Spring is something we are all waiting for.

Sun is shining but still chilly.

Week 20

Again I was able to take the picture on the right day at the right time.

Just down the street, less than a block south of where I stand to take these pictures,  is the old Columbia Photo building.  A building which has recently been sold and remodeled.  Columbia College purchased the building and Columbia Photo moved into a new facility on 9th street.  It was hard to get to because downtown parking is so congested but I did go there more often than I did the old store. Which is odd since I worked so close.   Anyway, last time I went I purchased a pretty nice padded back pack for my Nikon digital SLRs.  Well, it did not help as much as I would have hoped and Columbia Photo is going out of business.  Another landmark gone, and another local business disappearing taking jobs with it.  Somehow I do not think that is progress.  The bad economy, the new internet marketplace, shifting consumer interest, the global marketplace, and shifting whole industries away from our shores continues to shape the way we live.

I am not sure that cheaper tires, clothing, and shoes is worth it.  So, this picture is dedicated to Columbia Photo which had valiantly sailed through the treacherous waters of a stormy market place from film, to the first auto focus cameras, computers, video, and finally the digital revolution in photography that allows any idiot with enough money to take technically correct but aesthetically lacking photographs with utter impunity. You will be missed.  The irony that this picture was taken with the very technology that eventually caused the demise of that once proud flagship of local entrepreneurship has not gone unnoticed.

You do not appreciate what you had until it is gone.  That is a sad truism about human nature.

Week 19

Last night I started thinking about how I am going to deal with the monotony of the weather which is often an issue in Missouri.  When I started this project it was during a dramatic seasonal change but that is the exception rather than the rule with the weather here.  After awhile even I get tired of my own complaining. So, with that in mind I will focus on the positive side of things in future postings while keeping the option open for the occasional kvetching.

We live in a wonderful world full of wonderful things.  Out of all the things that we, humans, have contributed there are two things that stand out in my mind:  institutions of higher learning and libraries.  Those two innovations make up for a lot of sins and mischief that we have otherwise perpetrated on ourself as well as the earth.  So, it is a double privilege to be involved intimately with an institution of higher learning on a professional level, and to be able to experience the campus where I work in all kinds of weather.  Visiting a college campus always infuses me with a sense of hope if only I remember to notice! Sometimes I forget to pay attention to that.

This past week while attending a funeral the snow was coming down.  In that utterly sad occasion the snow provided a poetic backdrop as the falling flakes forced me to look up into heaven. In a word it was beautiful despite the sadness of the occasion.  The change and variation we have in weather here is a blessing.  Lets count it as such.

Here is the picture for this week:

Week 18

Weird weather.  Lots of snow flurries, even continuing up until today, for about a week.  I do not recall ever having that kind of continuous light snow for so many consecutive days.  This week we had some snow and briefly some VERY slick driving conditions.

Students are weary of winter and it is good that we have about two weeks left until March.

I managed to take this picture on time and on the right day. This time I used a bit of a different angle and  you can see the flags which are blowing in an easterly direction.  That seems to be the prevailing wind for most days since I started this project.  Will it shift as we move through spring, then summer, and then fall which is when I started this project?  I am looking forward to finding out.

I like this picture.  It is a bit haunting with those well defined shadows and for some reason the word that comes to mind when viewing this picture of the front campus is "stately."

Week 17

First of all this picture is a day late and an hour early - I took it on Thursday at 2 p.m.  I was not able to locate the camera on time Wednesday morning and had to go out the door without it.

The picture for this week has two unique features.  People and the flag!  Usually the Columbia College flag is at the left side of the picture, just out of sight, and the wind is blowing in a direction so that we cannot see it.  This week the wind was blowing the flag so that it is visible in the picture.  I did not notice it until after I got home and prepared to upload it.  If you look at the other pictures you can see the base of the flag pole in the lower left hand corner, but never the flag itself.  I will have to consult the prevailing wind for Columbia but no doubt it is not ordinarily one that is in a westerly direction.  Also there are people in the shot! For the first time in 17 weeks there are people outside involved in some kind of science activity.  So that is another pleasant change. Two firsts in one week and strange that it took so long for them to show up.

As I finish this it is snowing.  A determined snow that will probably bring some accumulation.  However, this week has otherwise been exactly as depicted in this picture with very little variation in temperature.  Cold and gray with some days a little warmer than others but still with that overcast sky.  Cheerless.

Week 16

At this point the days are, thankfully, getting a bit longer but winter fatigue has definitely arrived.  Each year there is a day when I get up and know that I am now tired of winter.  That day for me this year was this Monday.  Low energy with me and with the students and I now have a cold.  Not enough to sideline me but just enough to wear me down and take off the edge.  Hannah is also sick and worn out and that happens to her every winter too.

So, without further ado her is the sixteenth picture in the series.  The weather?   Dirty gray gold and bleak.

Week 15

How opposite can two weeks be?  Last week was cold and snowy and this week it warmed  up and the snow melted.  There was a lot of rain though.

At this point the semester at school is into the second week of the spring semester and indeed there is a feeling, or perhaps an anticipation, of spring coming.

I changed the aspect ratio on the camera for another situation and forgot it would give a different look for this project.

Week 14

This time I got the shot on time and on the right day.  It helps to be back in school so I can leave my last class at around 2:50 p.m., get my stuff, and stand outside on the front entry and take the picture on my way back to the van.

Last week was brutally cold after the snowfall.  This week things have warmed up and as you can see the snow has started to melt.  Unless it snows again most of the snow seen in this picture will be gone next week.

Week 13

Wednesday when I should have been taking this picture I was about an hour away from Columbia heading back from St. Louis where I had gone in to pick up Lior and Sivan.  Heading west we literally drove into the snowstorm and it started getting real bad right after Montgomery City.  We made it home but traffic was very much backed up and we passed a good many accidents.

So, I went out today to get his shot hoping that the roads would be reasonably clear.  They were.  As you can see there is much more snow on the ground this week than there was last week.  It is also much much colder.