The End Of The Year

We are now in strange time that is the week between Christmas and New Years, where some people are off work but others are working and the kids are all home from school. It's even odder here in Arkansas, with unseasonably warm temperatures (it was 76 degrees outside yesterday). It doesn't seem right to be looking at Christmas lights and seeing people walking around in shorts, but that's global warming for you.

But speaking of weather, it was really foggy out the other night. So, of course, I grabbed the camera and ran out to get a few pictures. And as always, the really cool fog then immediately started to dissipate. But I headed to downtown Little Rock, and ended up at the top of a parking deck by Main Street. This is the view of the Simmons Bank building, next to another building with a bit of brick that looks like it was ripped off like a piece of paper from a book.



And the view from another parking deck, which overlooks the intersection of Main and Third Streets.



And then on Christmas Eve, we took the kids over to the State Capitol to see the decorations inside. It was actually an ideal time to visit - there really weren't that many people inside. I guess the government offices were closed, since there weren't any politicians or staffers around (and I'd much rather bump into the Wet Bandits/Sticky Bandits, Mr. Potter, The Abominable Snowmonster, or the Grinch than bump into most of our elected officials).



It was good that thing the Capitol was empty because Elliott decided to grab onto a flag pole and pull on it, causing it to crash onto the marble floor with a loud crash that seemed to echo across the entire building. Luckily the security guards didn't throw us out after that.



And one last shot from the Capitol - hope everyone reading this had a great holiday and a good end to 2025!

Capitol Fireworks

The state government of Arkansas has made some truly baffling decisions this year (like making AETN disaffiliate from PBS or the whole Charleston prison debacle). But the one good thing that our state government is able to pull off is a pretty decent fireworks show. We set up on a hillside behind the Capitol, which is away from the crowds. The only issue this year was the wind blew all the smoke from the show towards us, so by the end of the show you could hardly even see the fireworks.

Capitol Fireworks

The Arkansas state government spends money on lots of things - like highway construction, the state police, lecterns. But one of the best things the state does every year is the annual fireworks show in December, when the thousands of holiday lights on the capitol building are switched on. So last weekend, Jonah and I headed to the capitol to see the show.

We parked and walked around the building just as the sky was lit up with some subtle sunset colors.



And then after it got dark, and after the customary speeches from some random state politicians, the fireworks show started. It wasn't the easiest of fireworks shows to photograph this year. There was no wind at all, so the smoke from each firework didn't blow away and just lingered. By the time the show reached its grand finale, the smoke was so thick it was like a thick fog had settled in over the city. This was taken at the beginning of the show, before the smoke had gotten too thick:

Into The Fog

We've had a lot of foggy days and nights recently, which makes for some really neat conditions for photography. So one night after getting the kids to bed, I grabbed the camera and tripod and headed out again to try to get a few pictures. The first stop was the Big Dam Bridge, which had red and green lights for Christmas that seemed to fade out into the thick fog.



I wasn't the only one out there. There was some strange creature lurking in the water that would swim around and then crash into the water, creating a huge splash. I'm not going to lie, it scared the crap out of me the first time it happened. I'm not sure what kind of creature it was - an otter, a beaver, or something like the Loch Ness Monster?? I managed to get a little video of it with my cell phone:



After that I decided it wasn't best to continue lurking by the river so I headed downtown. The first stop was at MacArthur Park and the old Little Rock Arsenal. The arsenal was built in 1841 and is one of the oldest buildings in the city.



From there I headed over to the intersection of Capitol and Main Streets, which is the location of the city's Christmas tree. The tree was overshadowed by the Union Plaza Building, whose lights shined bright in the fog.



And a wider view of the tree with the sculpture "Helios."



For some reason there weren't very many people out and about on a gloomy and foggy night, so I managed to get a shot from the middle of Capitol Avenue without having to worry about being run over.



And one more shot of the Union Plaza Building, which was loosely inspired by this photograph by Edward Steichen of the Flatiron Building.



It was starting to get late so I hurried over to the Junction Bridge. This is the view from the top of the bridge (taken by the elevator, I did not climb to the top!).



And the view from along the bridge.



And a shot of the bridge from the riverbank. Was a little surprised at how still the water in the river was, which did make for a nice reflection.



I made one more stop, at the Arkansas State Capitol.



I walked around the grounds, and then ended up crawling along the wet pavement to get this shot of the Capitol reflected in a large puddle.



It must have been a slow night for the Capitol security guards, since a state capitol police car parked nearby and watched me while I innocently walked around taking pictures.



And a shot of the front, which you can see the blue "PEACE" letters that hang in the small circular windows. The lights were first added during World War II, and have been a part of the capitol's holiday light displays ever since.



The state capitol police must have gotten bored since they drove away. So I took advantage of the lack of nearby cars and got one last shot from the middle of Capitol Avenue before finally heading home.

Capitol Fireworks

Arkansas' state government isn't always that great (and next year's legislative session is sure to be a doozy), but one thing that it does right is the annual fireworks show at the State Capitol in December. The fireworks fill the sky just before the 200,000 or so Christmas lights on the building are switched on for the first time. It's a fun tradition, especially if you have kids. So Jonah and I headed out there and we found a good spot in the lawn in front of the capitol.

The show starts with a few speeches from various politicians (much to the dismay of all the kids in the crowd), and then there is a big countdown to the start of the fireworks. Except this year there was a little hiccup in the plans. The computer that runs the lights and fireworks apparently decided to freeze up just when the show was supposed to start. So after the countdown everything went dark and then......nothing happened. For about 15 minutes everyone stood waiting in the dark as the kids got more restless and the adults made jokes about the state forgetting to pay its electric bill. But eventually they got everything working and the rest of the show went off without a hitch....

Capitol Fireworks

Every year, the state of Arkansas is kind enough to drape about 100,000 lights all over the state capitol building, and then do a nice little fireworks show after they are switched on for the first time. It's a popular tradition, and I've never once heard anyone complaining about their tax dollars literally going up in smoke. It's also a great opportunity for photographers, and there were several people with tripods (and drones) out there trying to get a few pictures. Here's my contribution for the night:

Capitol Fog

It was another foggy night, so after getting the kids to bed I grabbed the camera and rushed out to get a few pictures. The first stop was the State Capitol, which looked a little eerie in the thick fog...



Construction on the capitol began in 1899, on top of a hill that was previously the site of the state prison. After years of delays and political wrangling, it was completed in 1915.



The beam of light hitting the capitol dome here is from a spotlight, and not (as I had hoped) the light from an alien ship transporting some of our craziest legislators back to their home planet.

Capitol Fireworks

One of the best holiday traditions in the state is the annual fireworks show at the State Capitol. Surprisingly they actually went ahead and had the show this year, despite the pandemic having cancelled most major events this year. The state just kindly asked that everyone social distance and wear masks. I took Jonah to the show, but we set up off to the side away from where most people were gathering at the front of the building. Fortunately, it seemed like most people were distancing and we only saw one family there without masks.

This year they didn't do the usual ceremony, with just a short recorded message from the Secretary of State. Which was nice, actually. Sometimes in years past the ceremony and speeches would drag on a bit. Soon enough, the fireworks started up....









Right after the show was finished, all of the 100,000 or so Christmas lights on the Capitol are switched on. The lights are on all sides of the building, which was done so that the kids at the nearby Children's Hospital could enjoy them. The state has been putting lights on the building since the 1930s. It's a great tradition, although there are many people who miss the old "disco dome" lights from the 90s.

At The Capitol

The other night looked like there might be a good sunset, so I hurried off to try to get a few pictures. I ended up driving by the State Capitol, but the sunset there didn't really pan out. So I walked around the grounds and went by the memorial to the Little Rock Nine. The memorial features life-size statues of the Nine, who helped end segregation in Arkansas by bravely walking into Little Rock Central High in 1957. The statue at the front of the group is of Elizabeth Eckford, and it looks very similar to the iconic photograph of her stoically walking to the school while being pursued by a crazed-looking mob.



The memorial is titled Testament and was placed on the Capitol grounds in 2005, nearly 50 years after the students made history. The sculptures were created by John Deering, who is also the editorial cartoonist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.



The statues are placed off to the side of the Capitol, but are defiantly facing the windows of the Governor's office - "very seat of power that fueled the conflict and forged their remarkable futures."



I headed back over to the front of the Capitol, which was fairly quiet. Besides a family taking pictures on the steps, there wasn't anyone else around (besides security, which drove by about every 15 minutes). This is a big change from a few months ago, when there were nightly protests in front of the Capitol. Now you can't see much evidence of that - there are still some boarded-up windows on some of the buildings along Capitol Avenue that haven't been fixed yet for some reason. And it looks like there are some big and bright spotlights now shining down onto the two confederate monuments that stand on the Capitol grounds (to help protect them from vandalism, maybe?). These two monuments are now the only monuments to the confederacy still standing in Little Rock, and our Governor has stated that he is open to having them moved. Which I fully support, I think there are much better things about our state that we can showcase and memorialize.

Anyways, here's one last shot from the Capitol as it was starting to get dark...

There's No Place Like Dome For The Holidays

Streaks of light from cars passing beneath the Arkansas State Capitol, which was decked out in thousands of lights for the holiday season.

The Capitol

A shot of the curved sidewalk at the formal entryway to the Arkansas State Capitol in downtown Little Rock. Why is the sidewalk here curved, you may be asking? Well it's because way back in the early 1900s, someone made a mistake. One of the architects of the capitol (George Donaghey, who was also governor at one point) laid the capitol foundation out so that it followed a north-south axis. He also designed it so the dome sat squarely in line with the middle of Capitol Avenue. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that the Little Rock street grid didn't line up east-west. They were at an angle because the streets were aligned with the Arkansas River. When the error was discovered, they couldn't tear down the building or re-do the city streets, so we have a crooked entryway that connects the building to the street.

Capitolized

I admit to being too lazy to get any pictures last weekend. It was about 100 degrees outside on Saturday, so I slept in. On Sunday I made sure I was around a tv so I could watch FC Dallas play the LA Galaxy (which was time well spent, since Dallas won the game 4-0, yay Hoops!). But since I didn't get to take any pictures, I thought I needed to go somewhere to find something to take a few pictures of.

I ended up going to the Arkansas State Capitol last night, trying to get another shot of the old building lit up at night.

I got out there at sunset, with enough time to get the camera ready before it got too dark. As I was standing on the lawn in front the capitol building, a couple parked on the road and walked along the sidewalk by where I was standing.

"Are you filming right now?" they asked.

No, actually I'm just standing out there waiting for it to get a bit darker to get pictures, I said.

"Why are you filming out here?" they asked, again.

"Uh..." I said. "Well, I'm just waiting for it to get a bit darker to take some pictures of the building at night," I said, wondering why they would confuse my Olympus camera for a movie camera.

"Oh ok," they said, and then didn't move any step closer to the capitol. I assume because they didn't want to get in my way of the "filming" of the capitol. Whoops. They posed for a few pictures of themselves in front of the building, and then got back to their car and drove off. I hope I didn't ruin their visit to the capitol. Who knows, they could have been there to step in the same footsteps of their favorite movie, Stone Cold, which had a few scenes filmed here in all of its 1991 glory.

But here is a shot of the Capitol Building at dusk: