It was late afternoon when I arrived in Forest Park today. I ensconced my Powerful Luxury Automobile (a 1986 Cadillac) on the west side of the park as I wanted to walk with the sun to my back, in order not to squint as I scanned the trees and forest floor. But I didn’t find much in the way of creatures there in Kennedy Forest (other than a shy woodpecker outside his nest), so when I got a call from Mark Glenshaw, Forest Park’s resident owl expert, I decided to meet up with him at Pagoda Circle in front of the Muny.

Then I saw the parachute on Art Hill. With a number of possibilities in my mind (enemy invaders, Saint-Exupéry or D.B. Cooper finally coming to earth) I diverted course to see what was happening. As I approached the King on his Horse, I saw the red awning with INFORMATION printed on the sides in big white letters. I am one of those people who appreciates information (I even like books full of facts and figures and pictures of fat foreign children exercising), so I went there first.

It turns out that what I was about to be missing was the Art D Tour of St. Louis art galleries, starting at the Art Museum and ending with a bacchanalian bash at the Boathouse. It sounded good, but I had miles to go before I slept.

Glancing over King Louie’s parapet, I saw the parachute kite flyers and went to greet them. they turned out to be engineering students working on solving America’s transportation woes in a environmentally friendly way. Cool. But in this case, you do have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows (and when). Photos now!