Once Every 200 Years

August 10th marks the two hundredth anniversary of Missouri’s entry into the United States as the 24th state.  For the next week or so there are all kinds of celebrations going on. Today Hubby Tony and I visited one of them, which took place on and around the grounds of the first State Capitol in St. Charles.

We got there a little before the official start time, and walked a couple of blocks out of the way to visit a farmer's market. There we got some produce and talked with a coffee roaster (who made us a darn good cup of drip coffee) and picked up some tips for coffee shops in St. Charles.

The anniversary event was organized by the Missouri State Parks. There were historical reenactors, lots of activities for kids, and booths manned by both state employees and community organizations. There was a section behind the building seemed to be focused on pointing out some of the state symbols....

• A native bird organization showcasing houses for bluebirds (the official state bird)

• A booth manned by two young women, one of whom played the state song ("The Missouri Waltz") on the state instrument (the fiddle)

• A tent manned by a beekeeping (the state insect) organization, which was giving out information about hives and how you could make your area bee friendly
  

• The Department of Natural Resources, which manned a table with samples of rocks and minerals you could find in the state. I learned about the state rock (Mozarkite), and picked up a small sample of Galena (the state mineral)
  

• A woman sitting at a table holding a sign proclaiming the state dance (square dance), who told me all of the other people in her group were across the street actually dancing. She looked sad to be left behind, but gave me a lot of information about groups in the area

• Two women sitting at a table under a large black walnut tree (the state tree nut) demonstrating ink made from the inner skin of black walnuts with quill pens

• The department of conservation, which had a sample of the state grass (big bluestem) and mounted displays of the state game bird (bobwhite quail). We had a discussion with him and learned there was a small native prairie that still remains in the St. Louis metropolitan area, which I added to my list of things to visit

• A volunteer organization that grows and promotes native trees
  

• A group from one of the large state parks in west St. Louis county, which brought specimens of the state fish (channel catfish), amphibian (American bullfrog), invertebrate (crawfish), and reptile (three-toed box turtle). They also had a poster which displayed the state animal (Missouri mule), horse (Missouri Fox Trotter), dinosaur  (Hypsibema missouriensis), fossil (Crinoid). And for some reason they included symbols that had nothing to do with fauna. It was interesting to learn that jumping jacks were the state exercise and ice cream cones were the state dessert

We were there for about two hours before it got hot. The sun was high enough that there wasn't a lot of shade to be had and we decided to leave. It's a shame that the anniversary couldn't take place a month from now when the weather would be much nicer.

Some of our swag

Frozen Soda Treat

Earlier in the week I learned that today was National Root Beer Float Day, and right away I knew that Hubby Tony and I would be celebrating. I'm always down to observe an event that revolves around yummy food or drink, but this celebration would kill two birds with one stone. It would get rid of the two aluminum bottles of Fitz's root beer taking up space in the refrigerator.

Tony bought the bottles about a month ago to include in a gift basket, but in the end decided not to include them. That gift basket's loss was our gain.

Five years ago today: Dividing Iris

It All Comes Full Circle

At age 4 success is not peeing in your pants

 

At age 12 success is having friends

 

At age 16 success is having a drivers license 

 At age 20 success is having sex

 

At age 35 success is having money

 At age 50 success is having money

 

At age 60 success is having sex

 

  

At age 70 success is having a drivers license

 

 

 At age 75 success is having friends

 

 

At age 80 success is not peeing in your pants

 

 

Five years ago: Incommodious

Directory Of Businesses

The last time you needed to look up a business's information what source did you use? If you said the internet we're of like mind. A couple of weeks ago a pile of what looked like magazines showed up on the condo building foyer table. However, when I took a closer look I saw that they were Yellow Pages.

I didn't even know they still existed.

There are eight units in the building, and eight slim directories were piled in a neat stack. I did the polite thing and took one upstairs, walked back to my office, and deposited it straight into the recycling container. Someone else in the building took another one. The rest of the books remained on the table gathering dust. 

Yesterday I noticed that the person who takes it upon herself to decorate the table had changed the decor. The books were gone. Probably not a coincidence.

Recreation Opportunities Now And In The Future

Yesterday you (probably) read that Hubby Tony have a wedding anniversary coming up. After almost 41 years we don't feel the need to surprise each other anymore, so we went on a city road trip together to purchase presents.

It was hard for me to come up with something that Tony would like. The internet is full of ideas for a milestone 40th anniversary. The subsequent one, not so much. A couple of websites suggested that according to a Modern list a gift of land is appropriate. I found some imaginative interpretations of the theme (such as a vacation or day trip, something for the patio or garden, or a framed map) but nothing that worked for our wants or needs. Stretching my creativity to the limit, I decided to give Tony an America the Beautiful lifetime pass, which will allow him (and me,  as his traveling companion) free entry into facilities managed by the National Park Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, US Forest Service, and US Army Corps of Engineers.

There are two places in St. Louis to get the pass. One is the Gateway Arch National Park. The other one is the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site. The Arch is located downtown. It can be a challenge to find parking, and then you might have to walk quite a distance from that parking space to the visitor's center. The Grant site is small and tucked back in a suburban area. I've ridden my bicycle past it many times, and I knew it would be easy to navigate.

After lunch and coffee we headed towards Grant's place. In the visitor's center Tony showed his identification to the ranger at the front desk, who added his name to the official log. I paid for it and Tony got his pass. The whole thing took five minutes

The ranger told us we were welcome to walk around the grounds by ourselves, but that if we were interested in going inside the White Haven house (the childhood home of Julia Dent Grant, and where she and Ulysses lived from 1854 to 1859) we needed to be with a tour group, and the next one was starting in 15 minutes. We decided to wait.

Our tour was led by a knowledgeable park ranger, and I learned a lot. The only problem was that there was a man on the tour who peppered her with questions. The questions were on point and interesting, and probably added information I wouldn't have gotten otherwise, but the temperature was close to 100 degrees and I was ready to end the day. Before the tour had officially wrapped up Tony and I made our way to the exit.

Five years ago today: When Does "Done" Mean Done?

And Then There Were Two

Hubby Tony and I celebrate our 41st anniversary next Monday. Neither one of us need 'things', but we both wanted to do something to commemorate the occasion.

A couple of days ago Tony said he wanted to get me a plant. I thanked him, and said that it would look nice on the deck right now, but when it had to come inside for the cold weather the condo doesn't get enough sunshine to support greenery. Instead, I mentioned that the large metal flowers we got last summer required no attention and looked nice on the deck. Maybe we could go on a trip to find some more?

Undemanding blossoms

I called the store where we made the purchase last year and learned that they were sold out. Tony did research and found a few places that might have what we were looking for. This morning about 10 am we were leaving the house on our flower-finding adventure.

The most promising place was a garden store, but on the way there we stopped at a couple of big box hardware stores that claimed to have metal flowers. I was unimpressed. When we reached our destination I found a nice selection of flowers close to the front of the store. Together Tony and I decided that a second planter holding another five flowers would give us two pops of color on the deck.

Twice the metal vegetation

Tony carried the large ceramic planter to the car and I brought the flowers. We went and got pizza for lunch, then started on the second part of our escapade....

Constructive Wait Time

I had an appointment to get the car's oil changed at 10 this morning. After that I was supposed to have another appointment across town but last night it got cancelled. I asked Hubby Tony if he wanted to tag along with me. He agreed.

We talked about what we could do while we waited for the car. Maybe we could take a walk in a nearby park? Or bring the bikes on the carrier and ride around the area by the garage?  On a nice day both would be great options, but my weather app said the temperature would be in the mid-80s, with humidity that made it feel even hotter than that. Add an additional 'being in the sun' factor and nothing sounded appealing. I was ready to throw in the towel on the whole adventure.

But while I was brushing my teeth this morning I had an inspiration. Ten minutes to the south of the garage is a greenway that runs along the Meramec River. It's flat and has lots of shade. Organizing things so that we could ride there would be a pain, but maybe worth it. I asked Tony, who said it was definitely worth it. We began putting out plan into action.

I made lunches to take with us, then changed into comfortable bicycling clothes. Tony changed his clothes then went downstairs to put the bikes on the car carrier. I said goodbye to Jackson the cat and followed Tony down. 

Once the bikes were strapped on the carrier I made sure everything I needed for the adventure was in Tony's car. We both got in our respective cars and drove to the trailhead, where we locked the bikes to a rack. Tony followed me to the garage. I dropped the car off, then I got in his car and we backtracked to the trailhead.

We had a wonderful ride on the flat, shady trail. There were very few other people on it, but we had a couple of nice conversations with fellow cyclists and actually saw a couple we knew from church who were walking.  The car took a little over an hour to be done. After I received a call from the garage Tony and I rode back to the trailhead. We repeated the whole convoluted process in reverse, then headed home.

Five years ago today: Skirting

My Bad

I was composing an email asking for financial renumeration for some expenses. My computer spell checker told me the word was wrong. I disagreed, and turned to Google to arbitrate. Imagine my surprise when I found out I have been using the wrong word for years! The Merriam-Webster dictionary said:

• Renumeration means "to enumerate to count or list again" and is a very rare word.

• Remuneration is a noun that means "something that remunerates" or "an act or fact of remunerating"

Image by S K from Pixabay

 Five years ago: Hall Bathroom Redo (Part Deux)

Somebody's Got To Win. Right?

People in Missouri haven't been particularly inclined to receive a COVID vaccine shot. We're one of the 15 lowest states in the country for people who have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, and we've made the national news for our soaring number of cases, so earlier in the week the state announced they would be sponsoring a 'vaccine incentive program' (AKA a COVID sweepstakes).

In total, the state will reward 900 individuals for receiving their shots. They're awarding prizes in three categories-adults who received the vaccine before July 21, those who received their shot after July 21, and young people between the ages of 12 and 17. The prizes are quite generous. Adults can win $10,000 cash. Teenagers $10,000 prizes will be in the form of an education savings account. Between mid-August and mid-October there are several rounds of drawings.

You have to opt into the program, so the day after the big announcement I filled out the form to enter on the website. Entries will be rolled over from one round to the next, so I will have multiple chances to add a little extra money to the household budget for the year.

Five years ago today: Yet Another Thing I've Just Learned

Peachy

Just in time for prime eating season I took a quiz about peaches. I thought I knew a lot about the fruit, but it turns out I was far from an expert on them. 

The things I learned:

• Mealy peaches were refrigerated before they were fully ripe.

• A deep blush is NOT a sign of a ripe peach. It's a fruit that has a creamy yellow background color. 

• If a peach is still slightly green, it will ripen if you leave it at room temperature for a couple of days.

• Most peaches in the USA come from California (not Georgia, which is called the Peach State)
  

• Research has found that compounds in peaches inhibit the growth of breast cancer.

• Peach pits helped save the lives of soldiers during World War I. They used them to make activated charcoal for gas masks.