Biggs Road ~ October 2011

We travel this road to get to one of the fields we farm...and over the last several days I kept telling myself that I needed to take it's portrait.  Today I did!

Home Sweet Home

Not particularly well-composed, but I wanted to fit in both trees and the house.  If you get out your magnifiying glass, you can just spot Mollie, our beagle, on the front porch.

Splash of Fall Color

More tree-color...this time heading back east into the sun.

October Sky Through the Trees

The sunlight filtering through the leaves make them almost glow this morning.

Howard Turner Barn in Autumn

This barn is all that is left of the Howard Turner Farm, at the end of Myers Lane.  I can remember when there was a two-story house situated to the right of this barn (out of the picture frame), but it was torn down years ago.  I'm pretty much a sucker for barns, they are one of my favorite photo subjects...so there will be more to come, I'm certain.

The Show-Off

Even amongst the other trees, this one seems to be showing off.  There's one in every crowd, isn't there?  :-)

Fall on Myers Lane

I took a "leaf-peeping" trip down Myers Lane this morning, and wasn't disappointed!

Heading west, with the morning sun at my back.   :-)

Golden Harvest

Every year the harvest presents wonderful photographic opportunities.  Yesterday, Bruce was picking corn in the Bonne Femme Creek bottoms, and I was waiting for him to get close enough for me to take a good shot of the combine coming toward me, picking corn.  But alas, the combine's bin got full before he got close enough for a good shot, so he pulled out of the row, and headed for the truck to unload.  So I had a change of plans, and took a shot of the corn going into the grain truck instead.  It didn't turn out to be such a bad trade-off.  :-)

Show-Me State Capitol Dome

The "dome" on the top of the capitol building is probably the most recognizable part of our local landmark. Inside the rotunda is a "whispering gallery," which was mathematically designed by an acoustics expert. If two peope are up in the rotunda, on opposite sides (65 feet apart), one of them can whisper, and the other can hear it clearly...as the sound follows the curve of the wall around to the other side.

The exterior of the capitol is made exclusively of Missouri limestone marble, and the building took just over two years to build (from 1915 to 1917). By comparison, most other capitol buildings of similar architectural style took from nine to as many as 33 years to build.

It's hard to see the statue on the top of the dome clearly, but it is a statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, or more specifically of grain. In fact, we get the word "cereal" from her name. Agriculture has always been one of Missouri's largest sources of income, with corn and soybeans being the two largest crops.  

Capitol View

The north side of the Missouri State Capitol, the side that overlooks the Missouri River. I guess technically this could be considered the back of the capitol building, but each of the four sides is beautiful....one side doesn't outshine the others!

The Governor's Mansion

Built in 1871, the Governor's Mansion is a combination museum and home to Missouri's "first family." Inside it has a gorgeous curving "unsupported" staircase, which is truly an architectural wonder. Original oil paintings of all of Missouri's first ladies adorn many of the walls of the first floor.

For anyone interested in learning more (and seeing more) about the Missouri Governor's Mansion, you can visit this website: http://missourimansion.org/

By the way -- this is the beginning of a series of photos that I took in Jefferson City, Missouri. Most of them will be of the state capitol building and it's surroundings. This is a change from my usual type of photography, but it's fun to change things up sometimes! :-)