At the southern-most start of the Riverfront bike trail stand these majestic piles of…what? Not sand…the white pile looks like finely ground rock. But the blue pile? I just don’t yet know what they are. Anyway, the sheer height and weight of the white mountain against a gorgeous azure and fluffy white sky was a spiritual moment, and reminded me of this:
Church roof at Old Halls Ferry & Redman Road
Black Jack, MO
The church has changed names and denominations many times over the years, so forgive me for not keeping track of proper names. This roof is a North County landmark, especially at Christmas time, when spotlights alternate green and red across the spires. To those of us who grew up in North County, we took this futuristic sight for granted. It was simply a natural part of the topography, much like the big white pile on the bike trail. Biking and religion made a connection in my heart, now a convert.
In that vein, the Urban Review has a fine series of what I call “The Bike Rack Rants.” I’ve assembled the results; it’s an entertaining must-read for urban bikers.
Christ the King United Church of Christ has always been the same congregation and its denominational affiliation stems from denominational mergers, not a change.
This church was called Independent Congregational Church when it was a German parish actually related to the Evangelical Synod (later the Evangelical and Reformed Church of 1934 merged with Congregational Christians in 1957 to form the United Church of Christ). Independent Congregational relocated from the city to No. County to the intriguing building, became a predominantly African American parish and only 5 years ago renamed itself Christ the King.
Same church, new location, new racial demographics, new names.
The blue deiceing is regular rock salt with a blue dye added so that when it is spread for deicing on the streets it can be seen.
It’s salt. The blue stuff is some sort of deicing salt, and the white stuff is regular old NaCl — table salt.
Next time you’re on the trail, you’ll notice that the blue pile is labeled “Cargill” and the the white pile is labeled “Morton”.
Fascinating that civilizations still revolve around this stuff.