Sunday in My City - St. Louis at Dusk

We've taken up a new pastime, cruising around town and taking pictures from the window.  They're kinda blurry, sorry.

Random building

9th Street Abby - it's now a wedding chapel and reception hall

The Gateway Arch

City Hall

Union Station

My Favorite Child

So they released some story that reinforces every child's belief - that parents do in fact have a favorite child.

How is that even possible?

And my youngest hears this bullshit and of course he asks me who is my favorite.  As I will tell each one of my kids to their face, "you are my favorite!"  And it's true.

Here's the thing, I like each one as a person on their own, each one for their own reasons in their own way.  Each one is imginative with a great sense of humor and a wide array of interests.  They're all strong, both physically and emotionally.  For the most part they're passive and easygoing.  I wouldn't suggest riling up the girl child, she's mastered the evil eye and forked tongue and I'm pretty sure she could also rip you a new one - all of those years of fighting with her brothers.

I've known people who favored one child over another.  I even know some who don't even LIKE their kids!  What the hell?  Oh yeah sure mine have annoyed the ever loving piss out of me, and for a while that was on a daily basis, but revenge will come in due time when you can annoy the piss out of them.  Because being annoyed is no reason not to like someone.

Sunday in my City - Lone Elk Park

We visited Lone Elk Park again.  They have a herd of bison and of course, elk.

The bison were lounging in a distant corner and not being very photogenic.

We nearly left the park, dejected no exciting animals to see.  Instead we looped around the lake again. 

Finally we saw an elk

These lovely signs were all over the place

Elk mating season.  I take these warnings seriously as we have been to the park during mating season and the males were bashing the crap out of each other.

So I was shocked to see several groups of people picnicking a stone's throw away from elk.  It's hard to see them but three elk are grazing on hill above the kid's head and to the left between the trees.

And we also saw a stray deer

Friday Fragments - September 21, 2012

It's been a long cruddy day.  I have a bad headache and been feeling under the weather.  My allergies have been slamming me all week.  It's easier to pop pills than to do something simple like close the windows overnight - IT'S SO FREAKING GORGEOUS!  Of course I come home and fall asleep instead of taking a walk.  It‘s always a trade-off, isn't it?

Oscar Movie update for the week - Pumpkin Eater (1964) was slow, overly dramatic, painful.  It was sort of a good story about a woman on her third marriage with a whole tribe of children.  He turns out to be a good father, but is a manipulative philanderer and makes her think she's going insane.  It was hard to like anyone and like I said, it was horribly slow and very over-the-top dramatic.

One I really liked was Hotel Rwanda (2004).  You felt their pain and were scared for them.  It also gives a glimpse into the way things work in so many of these African countries where tribal warfare is still raging.  Something I'm fond of in my movie selections is a tidy ending.  Pumpkin Eater sort of dropped off at the end, Hotel Rwanda shows them getting out (I'm not ruining anything by giving away the ending).  It bugs me when movies leave me dangling.  It's rude.  I'm still bitter over The Matrix 2.

Last weekend we went to the hot balloon races and balloon glow.  Pictures were posted Saturday.  During all of this, "Ride of the Century" converged on St. Louis.  These are the idiot street riders who do stunt tricks on the highway in the middle of traffic.  There were thousands of motorcycles driving in packs all weekend long.  As you can imagine my fifteen year old was chomping at the bit to see them up close and live.

We happened to see a couple while chasing down the hot air balloons - and yes, this moron is sitting on the handlebars.

We found out later that night where some of them were staying and cruised the parking lot.

It's Been A Year

It's been a year since I received the call at work that Grandma fell and was taken to the hospital.  They don't tell you over the phone someone died.  It's smart to do that so you're not racing down 270 with tears streaming down your face. 

Somehow, though, I knew.  I picked up my husband and he drove.  We sat in silence for nearly an hour to get to the hospital.

And it all made sense.  Not all deaths make sense, but some do.  Her timing, her passing, all seemed pre-orchestrated by a woman who scheduled and managed every last detail in her life.  She didn't sit well with disorganization.  A pattern, a path, a place for everything.  Always.

My mom had just left town the day before - Grandma would not leave with Mom sitting next to her.  And my mom wasn't on one of her regular jaunts across the country with friends.  No, this time she was visiting with her cousins, girls that were practically sisters to her, the daughters of Grandma's younger sister.  It made sense.  So that when I had to make the dreadful call, she was with the women who knew her best and she wouldn't have to keep a stoic facade.  She could break down then and there with the best safety net possible.

They escorted her home and shielded her as we went through the motions of planning a funeral.  Of course little planning was necessary.  My mom is also a master planner and had the funeral home, cemetery, plot, urn, flowers all picked out.  Just roll out the folder compiled years earlier and add a few finishing touches.

I love that I got to sift through Grandma's pictures years ago.  I've scanned them and most of my favorites are from before my mother's birth.  But today, I think I will share the pictures that reside in my memory, the way I remember Grandma - a silver haired stinker.

Sunday In My City - Balloon Races

Friday night balloon glow

 The traffic to get into Forest Park was HORRIBLE

 But it was really pretty once we got there

Fireworks afterwards

 I love how taking pictures at night ends up as squiggles

Saturday afternoon the race begins.  After the headache of trying to access the park, we opted to sit on the outside and wait for the balloons to rise above the trees.

First the Energizer Bunny takes off

Then the rest of the balloons 

They set off to chase the rabbit and I think the one who lands closest to the rabbit wins.

We counted over 40 balloons

Then we took off to follow across town

 My son took this one while we were on the highway.  I love the perspective!

Before the Flood of 1993

Does anyone remember the big ass flood that swept the midwest in 1993?  In St. Louis, we still talk about it as if it happened last year - everyone, including me, remembers it vividly.  The flood impacted us personally as we had to help evacuate my father-in-law from his trailer home.  Fortunately the only loss he suffered were a few items in his storage shed as the water only rose a few inches into his yard and never threatened his home.  The pictures and stories that kept rolling in that summer were absolutely incredible.

But in 1992, the year before, we had quite the opposite situation, a drought.  A friend and I took a walk in Sioux Passage Park that July.  Sioux Passage is located at the very tip top portion of St. Louis County on the Missouri River only a few meager miles away from the convergence with the Mississippi River.  The park has a steep cliff, maybe 10 or 15 feet, that overlooks the churning waters below.  Basically it scares the living shit out of me. 

There is a large island in the middle, a wildlife area, that is impossible to access.  Okay, not "impossible", but it would take a boat or something to get there. I sure as hell wouldn't try to swim, that's for sure!  The water is deep with strong under-currents and filled with debris, like gigantic logs.

That year, however, the water between the island and the park was a mere trickle.  We worked our way down the cliff, across the "river", and onto the island.  I know there are pictures somewhere because it is pretty damn rare to be able to do that.

Last weekend my son was able to do the same exact thing.  Makes me nervous about water levels for next summer - it will be the 20th anniversary of the once-in-a-lifetime event, the 500 year flood.

Here he is walking over the trickle.  The water is usually over the green stuff too, up to the trees.

 On the island

This is away from the island where the trickle meets up with the main channel.  All of this would be far below the surface as well.

Friday Fragments - September 14, 2012

I'm watching enough movies that I might have to start doing reviews and recommendations every week.  The two movies that stand out this week are The Goodbye Girl (1977) and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011).  Compared to the other Oscar nominees that are usually drab or slow moving dramas, The Goodbye Girl was cute and funny.  I was happy after watching it, something I prefer after sitting through two hours of anything.  I have long avoided ELIC because it was about a boy dealing with his father's death in the World Trade Center - wow, big mistake.  While it's tearjerk-worthy, it was also an uplifting story.  The kid was goofy, but people responded to him.  There were a lot of raw emotions and they were dealt with appropriately so we felt the pain and yet not brought down by it.  I definitely liked it and could easily watch it again to try to catch some of the nuances I missed the first time.

I also thought ELIC should be added to a list of extra-credit movies a coworker can watch for her anthropology class.  I'm sort of following the class assignments so I can help edit her papers.  Yes, I'm a sucker who actually enjoys giving that sort of feedback.  My daughter still sends me stuff for editing.  I'm not necessarily the best in grammar, but she did manage to land A's in her high school and college classes that required writing.

Despite some unsettling drama in our personal lives, last weekend was a pleasant diversion.  Hubby and I toodled around town, allowing me to grab some fun pictures.  It's difficult with his bad knees so he drives and makes frequent stops for me to hop out of the truck, snap some pictures, and move on.  On Sunday I posted our trip to the Wild Bird Sanctuary.  You'll have to come back this Sunday to see which of my other stops I decide to post.  In other words I haven't narrowed it down yet.

In case you were wondering, my brother and SIL have FINALLY completed the closing on their house.  Uh that would be SEVEN WEEKS of camping while their property in North Dakota was finalized before they could complete the paperwork for the new property in Missouri.  Maddening, isn't it.  They are now sleeping in their own beds with a real roof over their heads.  And yes, they were literally camping.  With big, icky thunderstorms rolling through once a week.

Please check out everyone else playing along with Friday Fragments!

A Moment of Silence

I have a post rumbling in my head, and maybe tomorrow I'll post it.  Somehow it doesn't seem right to talk about anything else besides a dreadful act over a decade ago.

I could recount where I was that morning, it's still clear as a bell.  But I won't.

I could write something thought provoking or poetic.  But I won't.

We could share how one tragic day brought us together as a country.  But I won't.

Or we could discuss how much has or hasn't changed in eleven years.  But I won't.

There aren't enough words, even eleven years later, to grasp an act of terror and the extreme loss caused by a few misled individuals.

It seems appropriate to say to you at this moment, "May peace be with you and yours."

Sunday In my City - Wild Bird Sanctuary

With an impromptu trip yesterday we ended up at the Wild Bird Sanctuary.

These birds have been brought in for treatment.  Most are released back into the wild, but some can never leave.  I liked seeing that most of the cages were built as Boy Scout projects, many by Eagle Scouts.  There were plaques stating who had built them and when.

A butterfly flitted into one of the cages.  He didn't hold still long enough for me!

This raven TALKED.  I could have spent all day saying "hi" to him.

Look carefully, the bumble of sticks is actually a recreation of an eagles nest.  It is big enough for someone to lie down in.