Mar. 2019 TOTM Pics.

[EllisonCal]

Really nice picture Paul ! Until I read your explanation I thought it was the Capital Building of Montana in Helena. Brian Metzger and I took photos there in 2009 when we were driving towards Yellowstone National Park from Glacier National Park in Montana. The one TOTM I won (September 2010) was in Glacier Nat'l with mountains, a lake and a glacier in the background.

[merlot4]

Very nice, Paul, congratulations!

[Mujiir]

Is there going to be an April 2019 photo contest? Hey, I finally have something to show off. :-)

[2K2BIRD]

Is there going to be an April 2019 photo contest? Hey, I finally have something to show off. :-)

Undoubtedly! Follow the rules that are listed here:

http://www.thunderbirdnest.com/forum...photo-for-totm

You should try to get your photo in soon as Spence usually puts the contest up around the middle of the month. Good luck and if at first you don't succeed, try until you do.

[4LOWBIRDS+7]

Thanks for the kind words about the picture. The competition was definitely stiff this time with 3 of us getting votes in double figures. This was a lesson in perseverance as last month I couldn't hardly buy a vote. As I've always said - never give up, just keep on submitting pics. By the way it's time to send Spence pictures for April!

As for the picture itself, it was taken a couple of years ago on a beautiful Saturday in June (as Ron said, the sky looked great) in front of our Oklahoma State Capitol. Terry Wood and I had just visited the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial and Museum and I swung by the capitol hoping there wouldn't be any other cars in front of it. I was really happy it worked out so well.

Our state capitol building has an interesting history. It was built between 1914 - 1917. With the onset of WWI the money to finish it as originally designed dried up (there used to be talk of possible misappropriation of funds as well, but that seems to be out of the story these days). So, while the building had been planned with a dome in mind, it was not built at that time.

Fast forward to 2001- 2002, after a campaign to raise money from private donors to finally complete the building before the statehood centennial in 2007, the dome was finally finished.

No dome (1917-2001):

20190303_104304.jpg

Dome construction (2001-2002):

20190303_104355.jpg

If I wanted to take the picture now the front of the building would look something like this as it is getting a major exterior and interior restoration that will take a few years to complete.

20190303_104014.jpg

Great history lesson, makes the picture even better.