Caffeine Café

Last week I was leafing through the flyer at one of the local grocery stores last week and found out that National Coffee Day was September 29th. I quickly texted the information to Hubby Tony, and we agreed we would have to do something to commemorate the  day.

Boynton

This weekend Tony and I attended a fellowship convention at a resort halfway across the state. It was a lovely event. This morning we checked out of the hotel before today's events started, so as soon as things wrapped up we said our goodbyes and hit the road.

Halfway home I was ready for my afternoon cup of coffee. Tony researched the options at the next exit...two gas stations and a local bakery/deli. Guess which one we chose?

The bakery was getting ready to close for the day, so the associate let us fill our large travel mugs for the price of a small. We also purchased a large homemade chocolate cookie to share. Between the caffeine, chocolate, and sugar I had enough energy for the rest of the drive.

Five years ago today: WHY Is It So Hot?

Masking Up And Moving On

My recent retreat ended on Sunday. On Monday the director sent an email to the team members reminding us about a wrap-up meeting on Thursday night.

The first two responses came quickly--an enthusiastic "I'll be there!" and "Sorry, but I'll be out of town visiting family." The third response was two hours later, and said "Sorry, but I tested positive for COVID". After that, between Monday and Wednesday three other women reported they were also positive.

(For some reason, the past two years the women's fall retreat has turned into a super-spreader event. The men's spring version of the same retreat has had no problems. It's not fair.)

I have had no symptoms. If I had contracted COVID from the retreat, the last day it could have happened was Sunday, so according to CDC guidelines that is my Day 0. Today is Day 5. Following the same guidelines, as long as I am symptom-free I can go about my business as long as I wear a mask in large groups.

Hubby Tony and I are scheduled to attend a fellowship convention this weekend. 

 I waffled over the Thursday wrap-up meeting. Should go and be around others who might be asymptomatic for the virus (and maybe start my clock over again) or stay home in respect for the weekend people?

Thursday morning a team member sent a message that she was not attending the wrap-up, because she going out of town soon and avoiding large crowds. That gave me permission to do the same. I responded to the group with my regrets.

This morning my suitcase includes masks and COVID tests. Just in case. It's a new world.

Love, Wealth, and Success

Rawpixel

 

 

 A woman saw three old men sitting outside her house for a long time. The woman went outside and said, "I don't know you, but I saw you sitting here. You must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat."

One of them asked, "Is the man of the house at home?"

She replied, "No."

"Then we cannot come in." said the men.

The woman went inside. When her husband came home she told him all that had happened. He told his wife to go and ask those men to come in and have some food.

She went out and told them, "My husband is home. He is inviting you to come inside and have some food with us."

They replied, "We do not go inside a house together."

When she asked why, one of the old men pointed to one of his friends and said, "His name is Wealth. If he goes with you, your home will be filled with wealth always." Then pointing to the second old man he said, "He is Success. If he goes with you, you will always be successful in any endeavor you start." He then introduced himself as Love, and said "If I go with you, then your home will always be filled with love."

Then Love told the woman to go in and discuss with her husband which one of them they wanted in their home.

Her husband was overjoyed hearing about the men and said, "Let’s invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth."

His wife disagreed and said, "Why don’t we invite Success?"

Their daughter was listening to them and suggested, "Wouldn’t it be better if we invite Love in our home? Then our home will be filled with love forever." Her parents agreed.

The woman again went out and said, "Love, please come in and be our guest."

Love got up and started walking toward the house. Just then the other two also got up and started following him.

The woman asked, "You said you cannot all can come together. I invited only Love. Why are you all coming in?"

The old men replied, "If you had invited Wealth or Success then the other two would have stayed outside, but since you invite Love, wherever he goes, we go with him."

Wherever there is Love, Wealth and Success will follow."

~~Author unknown~~  

Five years ago: Childhood Clutter Clearing

"Combat Con Artists Of World War II"

Hubby Tony and I belong to the Missouri Historical Society. One of their locations is the Soldier's Memorial in downtown St. Louis. Today we went there for the opening of their latest exhibit, entitled "Ghost Army-The Combat Con Artists of World War II".

The Memorial's website described the exhibit, which came from the National World War II Museum, as:

Ghost Army: The Combat Con Artists of World War II explores the story of the US Army’s 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, a top-secret unit who waged war with inflatable tanks and vehicles, fake radio traffic, sound effects, and even phony generals. This carefully selected group of artists, engineers, professional soldiers, and draftees—armed with nothing heavier than .50 caliber machine guns—saved thousands of lives and played an important part in Allied victory in World War II.

There is no free parking around the museum, but several blocks of on-street spots were reserved for attendees. Tony and I got there early and walked around downtown until it was time to go in. The event started with opening remarks in the auditorium, including from the daughter of one of the Ghost Army members who had St. Louis connections

After the remarks there were three options to choose from. We could go immediately to the exhibit on the basement level, stay in the auditorium and watch a PBS documentary from 2013 called The Ghost Army, or go down to the hall and partake of the complimentary breakfast. We chose the last option, which was a nice buffet that included an egg casserole, pancakes, fried potatoes, bacon, sausage patties, and fresh fruit. 

We took seats at one of the large round tables, and were soon joined by others. After we finished eating we walked back to the auditorium, and joined the video in progress. It moved back and forth between interviews with Ghost Army members and historical perspectives. I learned that the unit operated all over Europe, and used four tactics to confuse the Nazis:

• Visual deception (inflatable tanks, jeeps, airplanes, trucks, and cannons to create the illusion of camps, airfields, and formations)
• Sonic deception (sound projection to produce noises intended to mislead the enemy)
• Radio deception (impersonating Morse Code radio operators from real units)
• Atmosphere (using insignia of actual units to make the enemy think the unit was there)
  

Information about the Ghost Army was classified until 1996. In 2022 members were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

After the video Tony and I went down to the actual exhibit, which had written, audio, and three-dimension components. There were quite a few docents to answer questions and provide additional information. 

The exhibit will be there until the middle of January. If you're in the local area you should really think about going.

Unit insignia sticker

Five years ago: Adventures In Flexibility

Great To Go Away, But Great To Get Home

The retreat I helped plan this past weekend was a great success. It started on Thursday evening and ended on Sunday morning back at the church. Each morning both the team and the retreatants got up before sunrise and didn't go to bed until after dark. Unfortunately the weather was hot and humid and we had to move some of the activities inside, but other than that everything went according to plan.

The retreat center used to be a school for men studying to be religious brothers. When it was first built the area was completely rural, and the center is still surrounded by green space. The dormitory building is more than a hundred years old. The bedrooms are small (with a twin bed, small desk and chair, tiny closet, and sink), and reflect their original purpose as simple sleeping quarters for communal living, but I didn't spend much time there. The rooms have been updated for this century with ceiling fans and window unit air conditioning. The bathrooms and showers are down the hall. The area has been updated with new tile and fixtures, but are still pretty spartan.

It was great to be away, but also great to get home. I chose to turn off my phone for the weekend and came home to a slew of emails in my inboxes and dozens of posts in my reader. In addition to electronic clutter there is also a pile of retreat paperwork to wade through because as the weekend went on I just tossed things in a pile to bring home instead of organizing it onsite. 

I know I will eventually wade through everything.....starting tomorrow 😫.

Five years ago today: Life Lessons For Aging

Be Back On Sunday

By the time you read this I will have left for a weekend retreat organized by a group of women from my church. The event officially starts tonight, but the organizing team gets there early to set up. (Last year, you may remember I tried to do the same thing, but ended up being exposed to COVID and backing out at the last minute.) 

We've been planning the retreat since July, but this past week has been a flurry of last-minute activities for me. One of those activities was packing. By the time I was ready to load the car one corner of my bedroom was filled with multiple piles of things to take-clothes appropriate for this weekend's warm weather and cover up options in case the conference room or bedroom is chilly, snacks for the snack room and paperwork for some of the activities, and just-in-case items like a flashlight.

It will be a real accomplishment if I didn't forget anything!

A Capricious Cat

Pimento the foster cat came to live with us in April, but it took until June for him to start getting comfortable with me and Hubby Tony. Since that time he's made great progress. He's a cat, so of course he likes his alone time, but unless a stranger comes into the condo Pimento no longer feels the need to hide.

Life with him hasn't been without challenges, though. Eventually we noticed that Pimento's nails were getting long. With our previous cats we had a procedure for nail cutting. Tony got to be the cat holder and I wielded the clipper. We tried the same procedure with Pimento. It didn't go well. By the time I finished the first paw Tony had a couple of large scratches on his arm and let the cat go free. 

Later the same day Pimento made his peace with Tony and cuddled up with him daily on the couch. He avoided me like the plague.  If I tried to pet him he'd just run away. After several days of being snubbed I started daily laser pointer play sessions with treats at the end. Slowly Pimento's attitude changed. Instead of running from me immediately he'd let me give him a pet or two before he would slink away. 

Last night Tony was out for the evening. I was sitting on the couch when Pimento walked by and looked like he wanted to socialize. I had no expectations but encouraged him to come up. Before I knew it he was curled up on my lap.

Unfortunately, just about the time he got situated I realized it would have been better if I had gone to the bathroom first. We stayed on the couch for a half hour until I really had to pee. When I moved the cat jumped off my lap onto the floor, where he gave me the stink eye before sauntering off.

Not Just For Students

Did you know that today is National Online Learning Day? The term online learning is most associated with students, but now that so much information can be found on the internet it's easy to learn things online.

I headed to the AARP Staying Sharp site, logged in, and chose the learning activity called Building Resilience. 

The introduction said:

"Resilience means having the ability to rebound from hardship and approach each day with determination that you’ll do more than survive, you’ll thrive. Some resilience comes from within, but you can learn ways to build resilience through practice. This challenge will allow you to explore tools you learn about boosting your resilience."

The activity started with a pretest. After the pretest there were ten sections, each organized the same way. There was a video, then written information to back the video up. The third step had some practical suggestions for applying the information. After all the modules there was an opportunity to take the quiz again. 

I actually learned a lot about how to become more resilient, and I'm glad I did it.

Sudsy Swag

Several months ago Hubby Tony and I ate dinner at a pizza restaurant across town. I really liked the food, so I filled out a card to get on their customer list. At this place my marketing list birthday was in September.

The other day I received an email from the restaurant. Every other restaurant birthday offer I've received in my inbox has been for a menu item. This one was for a pitcher of beer.

I'm not inclined to drive across town to take advantage of a coupon for a pitcher of beer, but the more I thought about the promotion the more clever it seemed.

The people that don't drink, or would prefer another alcoholic beverage, won't show up to redeem it but the restaurant can still claim they offered something. The beer drinkers will show up, claim their pitcher, and probably order food to go with it. The restaurant will recoup more than the cost of the beer. Either way the restaurant wins.

Five years ago: Flies Be Gone!

For The Better

Even though it's months away, Hubby Tony and I have already started planning for our next trip to see the California kids and grand kids.

When we started making regular trips out that way in 2016 we were almost always able to find a non-stop flight. However, in the past few years Southwest (our preferred airline) has fewer of them, meaning that we have to change planes somewhere. This latest flight is no exception. On the way home, in order to get a departure time that got us to St. Louis at a reasonable hour we chose to go through Dallas.

This morning Tony got a message that the airline had made a change in the trip due to flight schedule shifts. That's usually bad news, but this time we struck gold! The departure time is an hour later and we actually arrive earlier. Why? THEY CHANGED US TO A NON-STOP FLIGHT!

Flaticon

The change email messages always end with a boilerplate statement that if the change works for us we don't need to do anything. However, I am going to do something....which is cross my fingers and pray that the change doesn't get re-modified between now and then.

Five years ago: An Assortment Of Apples (Redux)

Playing Garden Hooky

Sometimes, it turns out that making the best use of my time means running away.

Right now I have so many commitments I don't know if I'm coming or going. Logically, the last thing I needed was to add another thing to the busy schedule, but today a morning trip the Botanical Garden with Hubby Tony ended up being just what I needed. After walking through the grounds I came away relaxed and ready to jump into everything that was waiting for me.

Twenty minutes after the Garden's doors opened I was parking the car in a almost-full lot. There was a large group milling around the entrance area, and when I got closer I noticed it was related to some type of event, but Tony and I walked past the mess and went straight to the ticket-scanning booth in the lobby.

Once we were in the garden, I was surprised to see that as full as the parking lot was there were very few people walking along the paths. The temperature was still cool, and perfect for a morning stroll.

We stopped to see this statue of a young girl. The sign next to it said it was entitled Cora. It indicated that the model was three years old, and the sculptor got her to hold the pose by mounting a television to the studio ceiling. The huge Japanese garden area was practically empty, with only two groups of people visible. One was three women who told us that they walked in the garden every Tuesday. The other was a mother and her children feeding the ducks and koi fish from the bridge. The rest of the large area was calm and serene.

Calming

The other morning I stopped by Walmart to pick up some mailing tape. As I walked through the store something seemed different, but it wasn't until I made my way to the back and saw the sign on all of the television screens in the electronics department that I figured out what it was. The piped in music was missing!

I looked at my watch and noticed there were only ten minutes until the time frame was over, so I decided to be there when the changeover happened. It took an extra two minutes; at 10:02 the music came on, and when I passed the electrical department every television was turned on.

I didn't see anyone who looked like they might be benefiting from the extra calm, but when I left I saw a sign that said the hours were intended to be calmer for those with sensory sensitivities, autism, and PTSD. I know many of those conditions are hidden, and I could have been the only non-affected one in the store.

Five years ago: There's A Guy For That

Purple Pepper Picking

The last time I was at the farmer's market they had large bins of green and colored bell peppers. In addition to the everyday red, orange, and yellow varieties I saw some unusual ones. Some of them came home with me.

In my experience, the flavor and texture of most colored peppers is interchangeable, and depends on if they were allowed to completely ripen on the plant or picked early. I have no experience with white or purple varieties. However, I found that the purple ones had thick, crisp flesh and a sweet taste. The white one was crisp, but there wasn't much sweetness to it.

If I ever see another white one I would buy it again and see if it's any different.

Five years ago: Many Hands Make It Fun

In Honor Of Labor Day

Labor Day is a United States federal holiday that recognizes the American labor movement. It is celebrated each year on the first Monday of September.

In the early 2000s, Son Tony went to college at a university three hours northeast of St. Louis. There were two routes that would get us there. One went north and then east; the second took us east and then north.

Whenever I took the north/east route (or came home via that way) I would see a brown tourist sign advertising the presence of the Mother Jones monument at the Mt. Olive exit. I knew that was a left-leaning magazine. The internet was much less robust back then, but I was able to learn that Mother Jones the person had some type of connection to union activity. I always thought about detouring to see the monument, but it was never convenient, and after Son Tony graduated there was little reason to go that direction. 

However, when Hubby Tony made our recent trip to Chicago one of the Route 66 attractions we stopped at was only a couple of miles from that Mother Jones monument. I was able to cross it off of my list of things to visit.

Mary Harris Jones (AKA Mother Jones) was a labor organizer and activist who co-founded the Labor unionist trade union the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, collqually named the Wobblies). She is buried in the Union Miners Cemetery alongside eight miners who died in the 1898 Battle of Virden mining riot.

We followed the signs that led to the Union Miners Cemetery, parked the car, and walked towards the monument at the back of the cemetery. The monument had an oval bas-relief portrait of Mother Jones flanked by two miners dressed in their work clothes. (One of the miners had a cloth bandana tied around his neck, which was a nice added touch by someone.)

In front of the monument was the grave and tombstone of Mother Jones.

There was no one else in the cemetery, and it was very peaceful. Tony and I read the placards, but we didn't linger. The day was hot and the sun intense.