Trick or Treat

Another Halloween has come and gone and this year we set another record--as far as we can tell (it's hard to count accurately when they are coming in groups of 19!) we had 259 Trick or Treaters between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. That far outstrips last year's record of 150. Last year it rained until about 7 p.m. and was in the 40s. This year it was dry and in the 40s. Family groups often drive up in three vans or more. The little kids, some of them carried on a parent's or sibling's shoulders, are pretty wide-eyed. The 3-8 year olds are cute and polite, usually wanting to tell a joke before receiving their treats. The pre-teens are funny and awkward. Now and then an older teen carries a pillowcase and doesn't bother with a costume. One of the cutest this year was a two-year old boy in a plush green dragon costume.

The girls were often princesses, butterflies or angels. Boys were super heroes or dinosaurs. There were some vampires, and lots of pro football players. We were ready for them and on the porch, with the jack-o-lantern lit and Norm in his cold-weather gear. A couple of years ago we decided it was easier to sit out than have to jump up every time someone knocked on the door or rang the doorbell. It got colder as the evening wore on, so we took advantage of a lull in the crowd to turn out the porchlights, snuff out the jack-o-lantern, and steal inside. Three big bags of candy were reduced to a small pile of sweet-tarts and jawbreakers. Not all that tempting, which is good for our diets.

Autumn Glory

Early this morning, our sister in law, Carol, wrote to tell us that there had been some lovely pictures of St. Louis and fall foliage on TV. I took this photo Sunday afternoon of the hard maple in our back yard. It should get a few more red highlights, but that depends on the weather. All day today, it has been dropping leaves and the yard is covered with this annual golden carpet.

Last year, I took the "maple picture" on Nov. 11. So color is peaking a little early this year. After our long, dry spring and summer, we really didn't expect much in the way of fall color, but Saturday and Sunday were just spectacular all over town. We drove to church yesterday down back streets instead of interstate highways, and just enjoyed the view. Today Norm was out digging in the flower beds, moving a stray daylily or two and planting bulbs--we ordered some Red Carpet lilies, some daffodils, tulips, grape hyacinths and English bluebells. Our very moldy thistle feeder was visited by some sparrows and finches who were practically knocking on the window as if to say, "when are you going to clean this out and fill it? We're hungry." So I took it down and it's soaking in the basement tonight. Soon the juncos will arrive from Southern Canada, fall will transition into winter and we will start feeding the birds and heating their birdbath. But today was warm, sunny, breezy--a perfect day to rejoice in the rites of fall and start dreaming of another spring.

Hooray for The Current

Yesterday I wrote about the national student journalism conference in St. Louis, and mentioned that the paper that I advise, The Current, had entered the Best of Show competition. This morning while I was in Sunday School, the editors called my cell phone with the news that the paper took 2nd place in its division, 4-year school weekly broadsheet publications. About 9 years ago, they won 4th in this category. About 2600 student journalists attended this conference, with some 600 publications represented. This award has all of the editors quite excited, and their Old Adviser is really proud of them! If you would like to know more about what today's college journalists are up to, The Current publishes weekly on Mondays, and the web edition can be found at http://www.thecurrentonline.com

World Series and Journalism Convention

THAT's A WINNER! It's impossible to live in St. Louis very long and not be a Cardinal baseball team fan...or as they say around here, to catch Cardinal Fever. Well, my fan temperature has certainly been elevated this past week. After the disappointing 4-game sweep by the Red Sox in 2004, most of us were cautiously optimistic this year. The excitement of having a new stadium (although I still miss the old one) and of having another chance this year had the town buzzing. And although we didn't have tickets to the games, we watched intensely on TV and celebrated the victory last night at home. What a difference a day makes! The photo at left is from this morning, taken from the 4th floor of the Adams Mark hotel downtown of the north leg of the Gateway Arch. The bleary one below is the view yesterday...rain, mist, drizzle, fog...all of it cleared out last night just about the time Wainwright got the last strikeout. We plan to get new T-Shirts in honor of this year's season.

This downtown hotel was the location for the annual fall convention of the College Media Advisers and the Associated Collegiate Press, the largest national organization for student journalists. The paper I advise, The Current, sent some 8 delegates and although they would have preferred to party in another city (in past years we have been in Dallas, Atlanta, Nashville, New Orleans, Kansas City, Washington and Orlando) in the end, once the World Series came to town, they were just as happy to be on home turf.

Unfortunately, our paths diverged through most of the convention, and I never got all of my students together for a photo. One of the jobs I did was to staff a book exhibit that the advisers hold each year as a benefit for the non-profit Student Press Law Center. People get really serious about these books! About a half hour before the silent auction was to end, students and advisers kept circling the tables, guarding their spots as the high bidder. Since I am a bit averse to bloodshed, I left before the auction ended. Since SPLC has helped our staff with legal issues several times, this is one of my favorite parts of the convention. Another favorite part is giving critiques to newspaper staffs from around the country. During this convention I had a chance to meet with eager young journalists from Farmers Branch, Texas; Boston, Mass.; and Whitewater, Wis.

One of my students entered an on-site photo contest, and we also entered our paper in a Best of Show competition. We won't know the results of either until tomorrow, when the convention closes. Next year it will be in Washington, DC. I'm not sure if I'll still be advising, but if I am, I look forward to my third trip to the nation's capital with this group, and my first trip there post 9/11.

What's with the red fountains? Part of the celebration in Kiener Plaza, near the stadium and also home to a sizeable community of folks without permanent addresses. One of them greeted me happily this morning as I paused to take the photo on my way from the MetroLink stop to the hotel, a four-block walk that was much more pleasant today than it was in yesterday's drizzle.

Our Metro system is handy for going downtown or to the airport from where we live. I can park at the campus and hop on the train and not have to worry about traffic or parking fees. The system is clean and safe. Some of the tracks downtown go through ancient underground railroad tunnels such as this one, with century-old stone and brickwork on display. Both the convention and the World Series are over, so maybe this coming week I can get caught up on my e-mail, some writing, and other projects--like quilting--as well.

A Week of Contrasts

This weekend we are graced by a visit from Sam, who is staying with us while the Myers family celebrates a milestone birthday in Florida. Sam has always loved our yard, possibly because he has spent most of his first three years living four stories up in downtown St. Louis as a "city" dog. Actually, Sam is a lot like St. Paul; he manages to adapt and be happy and fit in wherever he is. By the middle of next month, he'll be relocated to Florida, where he will need to learn NOT to play with alligators. (See page 80 of the Oct. 23 New Yorker for a cartoon that illustrates what I mean.) We know that Doug and Matt are both looking forward to the three of them being in the same time zone again. So for now, we are spoiling Sam and letting him enjoy what was a perfect October day in Missouri today.
It's been a while since I've written for this page, but I've written plenty this week. First there was a critique for the student newspaper, which I do each week by Wednesday. They are doing such a good job this year. Then Norm and I have both been working on some material for our church, which is getting ready to start a remodeling project that will make our building more accessible. When I was working, it was my job to write most of the time. In retirement, I get to choose most of my projects, but I'm still a procrastinator and they can pile up!

A week ago tonight, Norm and I and some other members of our church were about to freeze to death at an outdoor worship service on the Missouri River bank in St. Charles, Mo. I'm sure it was a good idea when the planners of the Regional Assembly for our denomination thought of it, but a cold snap had us shivering, even though I had five layers on. The entire weekend was very good, however, with lots of positive energy, renewing old acquaintances and friendships, and sharing stories of the Spirit's working in our respective churches. In the picture, Norm and I have just finished setting up a display in the exhibit room. It explained Open and Affirming ministries and provided lots of resources. We had some interesting conversations and a few inquiries. Our church is one of only two stated Open and Affirming congregations in Missouri, although many churches may feel they don't need to make the declaration.
Other excitement this week included the National League championship series. When we moved to St. Louis in 1973, neither of us had a particular allegiance to any major league baseball team. But this is A Baseball Town. It's impossible not to catch Cardinal fever and we were as thrilled as anyone when the team won last night and headed to Detroit for the World Series. Norm is not an addict, but I have become one. A team in the playoffs and in the Series in October cuts the severity of baseball withdrawal when the season ends and we addicts start counting the weeks, days and hours until the pitchers and catchers report to Florida in February for spring training. My dad taught me to love baseball when I was a kid, and he passed away right after an earthquake derailed the first game of the Series in 1989. He would know what I'm talking about. GO CARDS!

Freeze Warning

Tonight we are supposed to get our first hard freeze of the fall season. One station says 32F, another says it might not get quite that low. Last night we had a cold wind and about 38--that was enough to finish off our moonflower vine, and the cardinal flowers look a bit peaked as well. On Monday I wrote about seeing the yellow butterflies on the cardinal flowers. That apparently was their farewell before taking off for wherever they spend the winter--they haven't been back.

This was how the front of the house looked about a week ago. Yesterday I took the picture of our backyard neighbor's sassafras tree (left) which is starting to turn its usual brilliant orange. The freeze may cause all of these to just fall off, unfortunately.


Almost every fall we buy mums at Thies Farm, our local produce market and garden center. After frost we plant them in the back yard perennial border and wait to see what survives. This collection spans some recent years, but one variety--the white daisy mums Doug gave us a few years back--are still in bud and haven't join the bloom yet. We'll see how hardy these late bloomers prove to be! I cut some of these mums this afternoon and brought them in for bouquets, along with the last of the pinks and zinnias.

Some plants just go all out to bloom right before their growing season ends. We planted two geraniums in a pot back in August to perk up an area where something else had succumbed to the July heat. They looked so winsome that I have brought them in for the winter, along with two smaller rose geraniums and a huge hanging ivy leaf. These will probably go into a decline, but I hope I can get cuttings from them rooted and be ready for some spring color before it's time to go to the garden center again.

Today I spent far too much money on plant stands so that I'd have spots to place some of the larger plants and hanging plants. Would anyone like a magnificent spider plant? We have two eligible for adoption. I also took cuttings of the coleus (right) and a good thing I did it yesterday. They didn't look this well this morning after the nip in the air last night. So, we are surrounded, in fact overrun, by reminders of summer, while the furnace boiler roars away to keep our radiators warm. All snug and thankful, we wait for the next stage of fall's progression.

Signs of Seasons Changing

Signs of the big change are starting to appear on the block, and one of the first trees in the yard to turn is this redbud, which has been full of seed pods all summer after its first really showy spring blooming season. The tree was given to the former owners of our house, the Chambless' by their daughter. I hope they access my blog from their new home in Kansas City and see what Nature hath wrought!

A couple of weeks ago I posted a picture of the cardinal vine blooming on our back fence. It has since gotten more glorious, and it has

also attracted a species of yellow butterfly that I can't quite identify. These guys are quick movers...they drink nectar with their wings folded, and then really jump faster than the camera can catch them when they flutter to the next flower. However, at one point today, two of these winged wonders fluttered away at each other and rose in a spiral, higher and higher over the driveway, until one gave up the chase and dived back to the cardinal vines for another round of feasting.

On our rounds of the neighborhood a few years ago we discovered that a gardener down the street has this bunch of autumn crocus tucked into a bed of creeping phlox beside her driveway. These bulbs are like surprise lilies...they have foliage in the spring that dies down. Then at some point in October, flower buds emerge and produce these lovely purple flowers with bright yellow stamens. The prized spice saffron is harvested from a certain species of autumn crocus, although probably not this one. We haven't gone sneaking down the street after dark with a popsicle stick and plastic bag to try sampling the golden stuff, not yet.

Around the Campus

Saturday morning was bright and crisp, a great day for a walk. Norm and I decided to walk around part of the university campus, since we hadn't 'seen' it on foot for a while. The annual and perennial beds are still magnificent, and only a few of the trees are beginning to show any color at all.

As we passed the science complex, we came upon one of two pairs of Canada geese that we would see feeding lazily on the grass. UMSL is home to several nesting pairs, but the university uses various "humane" control measures to minimize the number of goslings that hatch every year. Before they started to do this, pedestrians were often confronted by territorial ganders challenging their right to enter buildings, not to mention the problem of having to watch carefully where one stepped! No such issues today.

The legendary wind storm we had on July 19 took a heavy toll on many of the oldest trees near the entrance to campus. Some were completely sheared off about 20 feet above ground level. This venerable oak in Founders' Circle lost about half its crown in the storm.

As we walked, I kept hoping we would find a wooly bear caterpillar, but we didn't see any. Folklorists swear by the coloration of woolly bears as a predictor of how severe the coming winter will be. Light coat equals a warm winter; dark coat a cold one. Dark stripes at either end and light in the middle means early and late cold snaps but a mild December and January. But we are still clueless. The meteorologist on a local TV channel is saying that our '70s weather will last through Tuesday, then a cold front will arrive and we should have the first hard freeze of the season on Friday morning. Time to get the rest of the plants into the house from their summer home on the porch.

The Little Church That Could

Almost two years ago (actually, the last Sunday of October) Norm and I became members of Compton Heights Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the South City area of St. Louis. After he retired from ministry in November 2003, we spent an entire year visiting other congregations of various denominations to get a sense of the various styles of worship out there, and how the Spirit is moving in various places. And we needed to take our own spiritual pulse as well, after 18 years in one place. We appreciated being invited to share communion with the Lutheran and Methodist worshippers in our own neighborhood--literally within walking distance. We renewed long-ago friendships with people in several Disciples congregations in the St. Louis area, and we visited the UCC congregations in Illinois where our friend Mike Dixon was serving as an interim pastor. But we kept coming back to Compton, although it's a 12-mile, 30-minute drive from where we live. This is a small but incredibly alive spiritual community with a strong sense of local mission and outreach and a welcome to everyone, regardless of station in life. I took this picture this morning, before worship, on a warm and sunny World Communion Sunday.

Compton is an Open and Affirming congregation, one of only two in Missouri. Recently we did a church-wide study of the topic of hospitality, how to extend God's gracious welcome to all who come to our doors, and we realized that our building presents many barriers for anyone with limited mobility. [Certainly my brief experience this summer with the aftermath of arthroscopic knee surgery illustrated the difficulty that faces a lot of people who don't use wheelchairs or crutches, but still have problems getting around.] So, a couple of weeks ago the congregation voted unanimously to start an accessibility project. The brickwork and the steps at the front of the church are cracked and crumbling enough to be hazardous, and they will be replaced with an attractive ramp that will get people from street level into the front doors with much less effort than is required now. Sometime in the future we hope to be able to provide full access to the lower and upper levels as well. Inside the church, we will have two new accessible restrooms to replace two cramped water closets now in use. We'll also get an updated kitchenette, important because almost every Compton gathering in our library/parlor on the sanctuary level seems to call for coffee and munchies to go with it!

All of this has a price, and we are all taking a big leap of faith and going on a wing and a prayer, as the old saying goes. Next month, we'll formally start a campaign to underwrite the approximate $124,000 cost for this project. Given the enthusiasm everyone has shown, there's every reason to believe we will succeed, but for this tiny congregation, about 50 worshipping on any given Sunday out of some 80 active members, it is a challenge nevertheless. Norm was a co-chair of the committee that selected the architect and recommended the plans, and he is also co-chair of the campaign committee. So we will welcome your thoughts and your prayers. And I'll post updates on the project as it goes along.