Back to the Books, Labor Day Weekend

The fall semester is in full swing at Kenrick. And I'm already behind on the reading assignments. My courses include Patristic Church, Spiritual Life of a Priest, Pentateuch, Fundamental Theology, Graduate Writing Seminar, and others. Oh, the "others" includes Choir Practicum. That's right. Me. In choir. At least I will assist those around my by giving them an opportunity for redemptive suffering.

This semester is looking to be one of my busiest ever. I'm not sure I've ever tried to keep track of so many activities at once. Mass, personal prayer, classes, special events, etc, etc. I'm going to have to keep on top of things to get it all done.

After the first week of classes we have the long Labor Day weekend to enjoy. Today I took advantage of the extra freedom by taking the train from the seminary to the Gateway Arch, downtown, and riding bicycle along the Riverfront Trail. I've been along that trail before, and I blogged about it. But this time I went farther north, out of the city. And I crossed the Mississippi on the Chain of Rocks Bridge.

The Chain of Rocks Bridge is unique in that it has a 22 degree bend in the middle of it. The bridge is 24 feet wide. It was once the place where the famous Route 66 crossed the Mississippi. It was eventually abandoned and sat unused for years until it was converted into a pedestrian bridge. At a mile long, it is one of the longest pedestrian and bicycle bridges in the world, or so I am told. You can read more about the bridge over at Wikipedia.

Here are some snapshots from my cellphone's camera. I really should get a compact camera for biking. Sorry for the poor quality.

My bike on the train from the seminary to downtown.

Yeah, it's the arch. Again.

The Riverfront Trailhead. It has been improved since my last visit.

"God is not a liar!" Well, I didn't think so. Some interesting graffiti on the floodwall.

This is the Chain of Rocks Bridge. You can see the bend in the bridge.

These two towers in the river are water intake structures for the City of St. Louis. Constructed in the 1890s and 1912, I don't think they are used any more.

I crossed the bridge into Illinois.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend. I think I'll be spending it with my textbooks.