This past June, shortly after Popular Photography published an editorial on my Forest Park project, a man approached me by the lotus pond next to the Vandeventer Gates.

Mysterious Stranger: “Hey, are you that photographer featured in Popular Photography?”

Me: “Yep.”

M.S.: “This is quite a project you’ve undertaken!”

Me: “Yep.”

M.S.: “This is an incredible park! I’ve never seen anything like it! It must cost a fortune to maintain!”

Me: “Yep.”

M.S.: “I’m here from Atlanta dropping off my daughter at graduate school. I don’t think there’s anything like this anywhere else in the country!”

Me: “Nope.”

M.S.: “It’s been great talking to you! Good luck on your project!”

Me: “Thanks. Have a postcard.”

Today as I walked from the Visitor’s center up past the Jewell Box, by park headquarters, across Aviation Field, around the Planetarium, and along Kingshighway toward the  Steinberg Wild Area, I thought of the rich history of America’s most incredible urban park, of its remarkable institutions, diverse flora and fauna, the variety of activities possible in such a unique place and the promise it holds for the future. Here in St. Louis we are cultivating a garden; for sports, the arts, group and solitary activities and the enjoyment of nature. It was a great walk.