skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Well, here's the weekend report from beautiful downtown Bel Nor. We didn't get ice beyond 1/4 inch last weekend, and we didn't lose power. But this weekend (Saturday the 15th and Saturday night) we had almost 7 inches of snow that fell in two waves.
But first, The Amaryllis is Blooming! This is the first plant to bloom but another has a stalk almost a foot high and it should bloom by Christmas. After I posted the photo of this one in bud, brother Don in Garden City sent photos of their amarylli in bloom at the same time.
So while Mom Linville's legacy bloomed on inside the house, The Juncos, who had arrived a couple of weeks ago, were testing the thistle feeder. Our wintering gold finches seem to have taken a short vacation, and haven't been around, so these guys had to hop up and perch to get their dinner. This photo was about noon, when only 2 inches of snow was on the ground. I'll put up some shots of the aftermath of the storm in another post.
Although the weather outside was frightful, a small group of determined students from the school newspaper showed up at our house for their holiday party, anyway. And they all made it home safely, although one didn't call me about his arrival until 1 a.m. Here are Matt, Elizabeth, Carrie, Paul, Justi and Thomas (kneeling) after dinner and just after we opened white elephant gifts. They love to play a game called Apples and Oranges. It helps to know an adjective from a noun to play this game.
My relatives in Tulsa had a bad time in the ice storm down there; six days without power for Debi and Mike, and their daughter and other family were still waiting yesterday to get reconnected. Debi has posted pictures of their storm damage on her blog, Debide's View (link in the box of Blogs at right.) Norm's brother Don said Garden City escaped the ice. We hope all the other sibs did, too. Norm's niece Debbie Berndsen in Hutchinson, Kansas, has ice storm news on her blog, Creative Reflections, as well. (Link also at right.)
Oh my, here we go again. Deja Vu and all that. No, this photo isn't from December 2006. I took it this afternoon, looking south toward my neighbor's trees. It's about a 1/4-inch coating right now, but two more days of freezing rain are forecast. We know a lot of friends and family might already be in the dark, and we are concerned about our neighbor (who stores the generator in her garage) because she went to Kansas City this weekend. An icy drive back for her. The odd thing is, when we went to church this morning, there was no ice at all on the trees a mere two miles south of here. That's how fine the line is in this storm.
But inside, the annual miracle of the Amaryllis is taking shape. This is one of our older bulbs that has been stretching up since we discovered it right after Thanksgiving. Today it is showing color and by tomorrow it will surely be in bloom. Another bulb in the south window upstairs has a bud shoot about two inches high; it is actually Doug's plant and it should be ready to greet him in bloom when he arrives in town for the Holidays. Ah, if the Amaryllis is blooming, surely all will be well.
Thanksgiving is my cousin Mike's grand holiday. I think he would go out in the street and compel people to come in and share the feast if not enough family showed up. He and Debi continue the tradition of Mike's parents, who always invited us to their house for this feast. This year the dinner itself was held on Friday, because of work schedules. But there were plenty of appetites there. Their daughter and son in law and two grandsons; Deb's sister and her husband, their grandson; assorted friends and that couple from Missouri. Yes, there were a few left overs, but not many. Norm and I contributed pecans for one of the pies, and we tried to help put things away.
I titled this post A Centennial Thanksgiving because Nov. 16 was the 100th anniversary of Oklahoma becoming a state. There had been a big state-wide celebration all year long, with the finale on the Saturday that we were driving through the state on the way to Texas.
If you live in Sperry, you are a pirate. That's the mascot of the school where Deb teaches. Our visit included playing with two babies and one 4-year old, meeting a relative of Deb's we hadn't met before, and watching Arkansas prevail against LSU on national television. It was a very satisfying day. Our stay in Oklahoma ended on the 24th and Gracie brought us back to St. Louis. We covered 1609 miles over the 8 days, and Gracie got close to 26 MPG on the highway. Not bad considering the higher speed limits in Texas and on the Oklahoma turnpikes!
On Nov. 17, we set out in Gracie to visit Norm's sister Maxine and her husband Roy in Texas. We overnighted in Muskogee, Okla. and arrived at their place in Mineral Wells, Texas, before dark the next day. The 19th was Roy and Maxine's 52nd Wedding Anniversary. Congratulations, y'all.
Our last visit to Mineral Wells was exactly two years ago for their Golden Anniversary party. This time we wanted to see how Maxine is coming along following a fall that injured her arm and knee. She wasn't showing either in these pictures, but we can attest to the fact that she is doing her therapy and getting along really well, all things considered. We all attended the Methodist Church on Sunday and people were really glad to see Maxine out and about.
One additional voice that drew us toward Texas at this time of year was the lure of Roy's home grown pecans. We had heard that there was a good crop this year. Many were still on the trees, so Roy and Norm went out to shake some down. We picked up about 3 or 4 gallons from just an hour's prodding. Thanks for the pecans! They will be shelled and frozen and appear in all kinds of delicacies for the next couple of years. (Some went to my cousin's for Thanksgiving--see next story.)
A cold front was due in on Wednesday, so Roy was working hard to bring in the rest of his garden. He was digging sweet potatoes, some as big as small watermelons. We were lucky enough to bring a few of those north, too. They are keeping well in our former coal room in the basement, which is cool.
Since our tomato vines gave up a couple of months ago, it was amazing to see vines still full of delicious fruit. We picked these for Roy while he dug potatoes, and we got to bring part of them North with us to share with family. Bacon and tomato sandwiches have been on our menu several times since we returned home.
Apparently, the long growing season extends to Okra, which had many large pods... they were a little too tough to eat. But the plants were still in bloom, waiting for the blast from the north to finish them off. Sometimes the 10 acres at their place is a little much to keep up with, but Roy and Maxine have a wonderful variety of produce and they were very generous in what they shared with us. This was a great visit, full of stories, reminiscences, and laughter. We left on Tuesday for Oklahoma and a Thanksgiving visit with my cousin Mike and his family.
At last, it's looking seasonal in St. Louis. The late freeze at Easter caused most trees to have to leaf out a second time, delaying our spring greening by anywhere from 2-4 weeks. So fall color has been delayed about that long as well.
We are enjoying the ruddy leaves on our little (well, it's now about 9-10 feet tall) ash tree that we planted on the city parking easement 4 autumns ago. This tree must not know it's supposed to have clear yellow leaves in fall. Or maybe it's not a white ash at all, but another mystery species.
Family and friends who live elsewhere or who have moved away have been asking about The Maple. Here it is, as of this afternoon. Not as fiery as some years, but a landmark nonetheless. We are trying to keep the ground beneath all of our trees watered enough so that they will go into the winter with sufficient moisture to survive the cold. Not to mention the survival of the grass that grows beneath them!
Even our oak in front of the house has developed a deep red, appropriate for its red oak family status. I have seen various references to the transpiration rate of oak trees. One Internet source says that a mature oak tree can draw up to 50 or more gallons of water per day. Trees take up water through their root system. Some of the water evaporates from the leaves in a process called transpiration. A large oak tree such as ours can transpire 40,000 gallons per year. Acorn production was supposed to be lighter this year. After all, that Easter weekend freeze eliminated all of the blossoms and the clouds of yellow pollen that drift over the drive, walks and porch every spring. So we were as surprised as anyone (except maybe the squirrels) when acorns began falling all over the yard in September. That same Internet source said that oaks can take 20 to 50 years before they begin to produce acorns, and that in their prime, 70-80 years old, they may have thousands of acorns each year. Ours must be in its prime! It may not be a bumper crop, but it's a sufficient one, I think, to keep our furry-tailed friends from too much mischief with the bird feeders this coming winter. The continuing mystery is the immaculate conception of this crop, since as far as we could tell the flowers all died in the freeze and the tree didn't bloom a second time. Hmmmm.
Today was clear and mild, so Norm and I avoided housework and took a drive to one of our favorite places, Riverlands Bird Sanctuary near Alton. We also went on to the Confluence, as I described in the post before this one. The Riverlands is on the Missouri side of the Clark bridge across the Mississippi at Alton. It is a Corp of Engineers project that was established when the Alton Lock and Dam on the Mississippi was relocated a few years ago.
This calm bay is on the west side of Ellis Island, separated from the main river channel. We had heard this past week that the White Pelicans had arrived, so we went to see them for ourselves. These guys breed in the northern plains up into Canada, and they winter on the Gulf coast, including Florida. This flock of about two dozen was one of three or four that we saw as we drove around the refuge. The American White Pelican is a huge bird, larger even than the Brown Pelican that is a year-round Gulf resident. They can be over 5 feet long and have a wing spread of 9 feet. We saw groups of three or four drop out of the sky, circle, and then come in to land like miniature fighter planes. Unlike the Brown Pelicans, they don't dive; they dip their bills and dine on fish while swimming. Sometimes we have seen them here as late as January if the winter is mild, in flocks of several hundred.
Along the shore we found these flowers blooming. As near as I can tell, they are some variety of daisy or aster, commonly called Sneezeweed. Except for the occasional dandelion, I haven't seen any other wildflowers in bloom in November in the Midwest before!
Today was so beautiful, we headed out in late morning to visit the Confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, located about 20 miles from here. The confluence is in a state park that opened about 4 years ago. The spot we visited is shown in this aerial photo from a brochure about the park. We were at "the point." It's about a five mile drive down a gravel road and definitely worth it.
The road to the confluence traverses fields in a flood plain between the levees, but right at the point, the wooded area frames striking views of the water. Today the light streaming through these tall trees, still refusing to lose their green, was almost ethereal. As usual, Norm kept walking when I stopped, which was great; I got him in a picture finally.
On this side of the point, the Missouri flows swiftly and is often muddier than the Mississippi. Some river experts say that the main river is really the Missouri; the Mississippi is the secondary one. The Missouri is longer and drains more area, they say. At the confluence, the Missouri retains its agricultural look, with its banks unmarked by any kind of industry.
The Mississippi, on the other hand, is full of barges and tows on this day, and the far bank is lined with light industry and ports. It's the busy highway of commerce from Minnesota to New Orleans. By the time it reaches New Orleans, the brochure says, it will be 3 miles wide and 100 feet deep, and moving an unimaginable amount of water every minute into the Gulf. Today it looks a little less muddy than the Missouri, but not much. Having stood at the headwaters at Lake Itaska, Minn., some 7 years ago, I always marvel at what that tiny stream has become when it reaches this point north of St. Louis.
Below is the view we came to see, the meeting of the waters of two mighty rivers that between them, drain 40 percent of the land area of the nation. Sunlight dances on the ripples formed as the two currents slam into each other and begin to mingle on the way downstream, past St. Louis, past Memphis, all the way to New Orleans. Lewis and Clark camped across the water from this point the first winter of their expedition.
October 24-27: We spent three days last week in Washing- ton, DC with 13 of my students on the college newspaper. The occasion was the national college media convention, and there were over 400 interesting sessions to choose from in the 2-1/2 days we were there.
But a convention has to include some play! On Friday afternoon, Norm and I set off in the rain on a sightseeing junket. Our hotel was on Connecticut Ave., a few blocks from Dupont Circle. We headed for the Dupont Circle Metro station on the Red Line and our adventure in the Nation's Capital. This was my 4th or 5th visit to DC and Norm's first.
The inscription over this wide mouth of a metro station entrance was simply the name of the station, although something from Dante came to mind as we got on an escalator taking us two stories down into the earth.
When we came up for air, we were at the Smithsonian station on the Blue/Orange Line. The exposure- lightening features of iPhoto make this view of the Washington Monument look much brighter than the actual gloom and fog of the day. It's as I wish it had looked! The rain fell steadily as we walked toward the Lincoln Memorial and other memorials on the Mall.
We had recently watched the full series of Ken Burns' The War on PBS, so the World War II memorial held a special interest. The fountains filled the space with roaring white noise that in some ways simulated the experience of battle.
My father was drafted in 1943 but didn't see combat in North Africa, as the rest of his outfit did. A medical discharge ended his war career early. One of his brothers, Uncle George, joined the Navy shortly after Pearl Harbor and survived having two ships sink underneath him in the Atlantic theater. Another uncle served in the Sea Bees in the Azores. This sculpture of eagles lifting a wreath is very moving. I would have taken more angles, but the rain kept getting in my eyes.
As historians will remind us, more than 400,000 American service personnel died in World War II and civilian casualties and the wounded were many hundreds of thousands more. These 400 Gold Stars on this wall represent their sacrifice: "Here we mark the price of freedom" says the inscription.
We found ourselves too soaked and tired to walk all the way to Lincoln's memorial; that will have to wait until another trip. As we came back around the Washington Monument, we came upon this huge, sprawling, many-trunked tree. Its leaves resembled mulberry. I would love to know its story. It was the only tree on the grounds. Somehow it made me think of the Survivor Tree in Oklahoma City after the Murrah Building bombing in 1995.
We got back on the Metro for the trip back to our hotel. This is the upper level of the Metro Center station, where the red line and the orange/blue lines cross, one floor above another. The ceiling with its striking architectural finish makes the place feel beautiful as well as utilitarian.
The escalator ride up out of the Dupont Circle station is every bit as dramatic as the ride down. Although the day was still gray and foggy, there truly was light at the end of the tunnel...and a quote from Walt Whitman that I neglected to write down. But such public art and literary connections can be found all over DC.
And yes, I really was out in the rain for three hours, and Norm was with me (he took this picture as we were about to start back from the WWII memorial.) These are not postcards! One regret I have is not getting to the Vietnam memorial. That's because my cousin Jerry, who was stationed at the Pentagon for the Air Force during that conflict, died unexpectedly of a heart attack in DC at the age of 34, in November of 1970. The last time I saw Jerry, he and his wife Pat took me around DC when I stopped there in 1967 on my way to a study trip to England. So although we grew up in Oklahoma, I somehow feel closer to Jerry in Washington than at home.
All of my students seemed to thrive on the Convention and they had adventures of their own. By Saturday night we were back in St. Louis and on Sunday they put out the 11th issue of the semester. All routines back to normal, now. It hardly seems real that we were in Washington at all.
After 13-1/2 years and 127,700 miles, our 1994 Plymouth minivan, aka Vanna, has moved on to a new life as a servant of Isaiah 58 ministries, the anti-poverty and hunger program sponsored by a group of South St. Louis churches, including our own. Here she is at the curb outside the building this afternoon, after we turned over the title and keys to Isaiah 58's staff.
We were delighted that we could find a useful life for Vanna after we purchased our newer van, Gracie, this past summer. We have quite a history with this car, starting in that chaotic time in spring of 1994 when my mother started having health problems. Over the years, Vanna took loads of women to the Christian Women's Fellowship Quadrennial Assemblies in Purdue, ventured on vacations to Colorado, Minnesota and Canada, made innumerable trips between St. Louis and Tulsa or St. Louis and Colby quickly and safely, transported children and youth to summer camp, and on and on. Vanna was dependable and we will always remember our days of driving her fondly. Do a good job for Isaiah 58, Vanna.
For the last week it has been hot and a little humid; today's high, before a "cold" front came through, was 90 degrees. Not unheard of in October, but most of the garden looks tired and ready for fall's cooler respite. Not so these glorious marigolds, which put out lush foliage all summer (we probably gave them too much fertilizer) but started to bloom only after the autumnal equinox. (A click should enlarge the image.) They are special flowers, a present to Norm from Doug. They arrived in a seed packet that was enclosed with a CD by Janet Paschal that Doug gave Norm earlier in the year. Norm planted the seeds in several planters and pots and now we have glorious gold and yellow marigolds to imitate the non-existent fall leaf colors. Thanks, D!
After 6 years here, it was time to do a little touching up of paint on the porch and the doors. Most of the house is brick, with weatherproof cladding around soffits, windows and the like. But a little trim remains, and it is starting to show checks and cracks. For the last couple of weeks, Norm has been scraping and cleaning and now painting.
Even though there was a 30 percent chance of rain this afternoon, he worked on the front porch. Sure enough, just enough drops fell to make the pavement damp. Less than a trace, officially. And no rain, but cooler days and nights, for the next week, so he can get a lot of painting done!
Back in February, I attended a weekend retreat of my quilt guild and made a table runner under the direction of our guest teacher, who also picked out the harmonious fabrics for it. Over the spring and summer, I hand-quilted it and finished it with a scalloped edge as the instructions called for, although the curved edge was a little tricky to do. It was my only finished entry for the biennial Flower Valley Quilt Show, which was held this weekend. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at the show this afternoon and my friends in quilting greeted me with smiles and said, "go look at your quilt!" 
As a result of the Viewer's Choice voting on Saturday, my little table runner (at lower right in this photo, with some of the competition) received the third place yellow ribbon. I was (and am) so pleased and a little humbled because the winners in all of the categories are some of the experts in our guild, whose work I have admired since I joined in 1990. To receive any prize at all is something I have never even imagined I would do.
On Saturday many friends outside of quilting visited the show, including my aerobics instructor and friends from the water exercise class. And I got another surprise when our friends Karen and Gary from Edwardsville called on a cell phone to get directions to the show. (I think they might have voted for my entry. Thanks, guys!) The quilt in the background here also got Karen's vote for full size quilts, although it didn't win a ribbon. There were over 100 quilts in that category and more than 300 quilts in the entire show. It was a full and fun weekend.
Our snowfall on Saturday the 15th measured just about 6 inches, although some of it may have settled by the time Norm took a yardstick to various parts of the yard on Sunday morning. He also shoveled the double driveway but we still didn't get to church on time! We did get out later in the day for our pastor's open house.
The garage is something we really appreciate in a snow storm, after spending more than 30
At the front steps, the festive bows on the garland that Norm put out to welcome our visitors was covered in white. By afternoon, streets were quite passable although Saturday night was tricky for drivers. We stayed in until Sunday evening.
