Visitor #1600, Mysteries and A Tree Frog

Today was a glorious fall day with a high of around 74 degrees and unlimited sunshine. Because I spent a large part of the day at our old church in Florissant, helping friends there serve a funeral dinner, I didn't spend as much time outside as I would have liked. The weather is supposed to hold, so I will try to get some fall pictures tomorrow.

Tonight as Norm and I came home from water exercise, I could hear a TREE FROG in our neighbor's yard. Still calling although summer is long gone. It felt like a spring night, though, and tomorrow we should have literally hundreds (our highest past number was 249) of trick or treaters. We hope we have enough candy.

This morning visitor # 1600 checked in and the prize (if there were one) goes to one of the Linvilles in Colby. I'm never sure, but I suspect it was you, Jan. I got to looking at my sitemeter report and found some interesting things. First, we seem to have a new, in-depth reader on Verizon with an ISP that is located in Flower Mound, Texas. Since that is in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex there are any number of folks it could be, family or not. Anyway, glad to have you. And for some reason today we have had a lot of visitors from overseas: England, Turkey, India and Mauritius, even. They were searching for things that retired people do, or gardening. Sorry if you were disappointed. And finally, I have come to regret ever using the word "orgy" in a headline for a blog post. I think it was about orchids, and the huge show at our local botanical garden last year. Anyway, a couple of times a week, people searching for "orgy stories" turn up this post. I guess most of them are surprised and disappointed. What amazes me is the kinds of phrases people will put into a search engine and look for on the Internet!

I should have some photos soon. Meanwhile, happy Halloween, everyone, whether you are retired or not, whether you have a garden, whether you are looking for a gypsy caravan (a popular search on my Compton church blog) or whether you are planning an orgy. Or not.

Congratulations to a Happy Couple

Sometimes life brings good surprises. Last night, we went to the home of our friends the Dixons expecting dessert and a visit with their daughter Heather and her fiance, Corey. They are moving to Chicago this coming weekend and we knew they were planning to have a simple, quiet wedding sometime next month. I was hoping to pick up some details about their apartment so I could start the search for a present for them. Before we arrived, at dinner, Heather asked her father (who is a minister) if he would be willing to marry them that evening. They had gotten their license and had it with them. After we arrived, they asked us if we would be their witnesses. So in another of life's Firsts, Norm and I got to be the witnesses as Mike led his daughter and her new husband in their vows. Heather said it was most meaningful to be married in the home where she had grown up. We have known Heather for almost her entire life, and we are delighted that she and Corey have made this commitment to spend the rest of their lives together. We pray God's blessings on them, on their move, and on their job search. After we all caught our breath, we really enjoyed the iced pumpkin bars Sandy had made for dessert. Pretty good wedding cake, actually.

Plants, Plants and More Plants

Our garden flag out front announces it's fall, although we have yet to see many colored leaves on either the oak or the maple. This weekend was supposed to be peak color in eastern Missouri, but our trees are playing hard to get. A low close to freezing this coming Sunday night may change all that. These lovely golden mums are volunteers, or survivors, that came back up from some we planted in the front bed last year.




These geraniums are also survivors, and unfortu- nately they don't realize that frost is coming one of these nights. Or fortunately, since we get to continue to enjoy their flowers. These plants are two or three years old and over-wintered upstairs last year. There isn't room for them to come inside, since they have become so leggy. I took cuttings of each color and I hope they will root. The last few days have been busy: where once we had 4 pots of amaryllis, now we have 11 or 12 after I divided them. One mother-in-law tongue became three. As for the spider plants, I despair. I have one of them inside now, on a stand. The others I'll take cuttings from since they root easily. But unless you would like to adopt one... this sounds like those desperate pleas from the humane society to adopt a pet before its time is up.

By today, all of the plants (well, most of them... there are a couple more I have to do tomorrow) are inside. The photo below shows the menagerie in the dining room, gathered round the radiator. I wish the window didn't have the radiator, since the dry heat is hard on the plants, but they need the light, and it's the best we have on the first floor, even if it is a northern exposure. And yes, the three well-lighted windows upstairs, (two south, one north) are full of cuttings and transplants as well.

Finally, today we turned on the heat. It had gotten down to a steady 63 in the house and the rest of the week is forecast for rain, showers, nighttime lows flirting with the 30s. And with Ava gone back home, we lost our extra blanket. Radiators are wonderful. Thank God we have the means to turn the heat on. It's a toasty 68 -70, depending on the room, in here now.

Feeling More Like Fall

There's nothing like a campfire on a brisk October night, complete with marshmallows to roast and s'mores to make, as well as three guys with guitars and a host of old time protest songs, to make us feel like fall is really here. On Saturday, Norm and I went to book club (the book was Daughter, a novel by Asha Bandele) and then after lunch we showed up at our church for a yard cleanup day. (Photos and accounts of that are on Compton Cares Update). The yard cleanup was followed by a campfire on a condo patio, with the aforementioned sing a long.

We are enjoying a visit from Ava yesterday through Wednesday while Barb goes to market in New York. Several of the plants moved inside yesterday, with more to come today. This afternoon it is supposed to get to 70, then much cooler and rainy mid week. We keep saying "tomorrow" for turning on the boiler for our radiators. We want to avoid that high natural gas bill as long as we can.

St. Louis has been in the political spotlight lately as both presidential candidates are paying visits. Obama had a huge rally at the Gateway Arch grounds on Saturday. Some accounts said 100,000, which I can believe after looking at pictures. One of my neighbors went and she was so excited about it. McCain has a rally today at New Town, a planned community (a lot like Celebration in Florida, if you've ever been there) in nearby St. Charles. They expect about 5,000 (it's a smaller space, and tickets are required). Dick Cheney is also in the metro area, for a private fundraiser for Missouri's Republican governor candidate. And Bill Clinton will speak at Webster University tonight on behalf of the Democrats. They are certainly keeping the airport and the Secret Service busy. But that's life in a swing state, where the urban areas are solidly blue and the outstate areas are mostly red, with a purple spot or two. The last poll showed the presidential race too close to call (49-48) so the robo calls, the incessant ads, and maybe more personal appearances will be in our backyard for the next two weeks.

One of my former journalism students, Clint Zweifel, is running for Missouri State Treasurer after three terms in the Missouri House of Representatives. Clint was Managing Editor of the paper the first year I was an adviser, 1994. He's a hard worker and honest. He's got my vote!

The Color Purple and Shades of Fall

On a recent walk, we saw a huge patch of pokeweed, its ripe purple berries weighing down the branches. These berries attract many birds, but they also ferment and cause erratic behavior. Years ago, we had a whole flock of Very Drunk Blue Jays in our back yard and we finally decided they had been into the pokeweed. But apparently it causes no long term effects in birds.

Seeing pokeweed and other purple flowers like ironweed and asters always tells me fall is coming. But tonight you couldn't tell it. The temperature was perfect, 75 degrees at 8 p.m. while we sat on our front porch and ate popcorn. The night was full of the chirps of crickets, and one lone tree frog still croaking in the distance. A light wind, a slight jingle of the wind chime. No clue that the first snow is blanketing the northern Rockies or that storms are in the plains and tropical storms still prowling the coasts of Mexico. Our weather is supposed to change mid week but tonight was perfect.


A few houses down the street, a bunch of autumn crocus always blooms this time of year. One day nothing and the next day, lovely purple flowers with bright yellow stamens. The autumn crocus is cultivated for saffron, a rare spice. We just admire the neighbor's plant from a distance. Maybe we should start growing some of our own as a hedge against falling stock markets!

Norm is feeling better and his chest congestion cleared up with antibiotics. The coming week is busy with meetings and activities. Gasoline is back down to $2.98 a gallon and still dropping. Hopefully we will get out for some autumn drives once the leaves start turning in earnest. Right now, most of the trees in town are still green, with an occasional bronze on the mountain ash or touch of red on a sugar maple. We are still mowing grass and feeding the compost pile. This endless summer will end but for a few days more, we will relish this incomparable weather.

New Posts on Thursday's Child

Another September event I have neglected to blog about was the Southeast Gateway Women's Retreat, held the 19th-20th at Orchard Crest Camp. I've finally edited the photos and put together some reflections on this spiritual and social experience. If you are interested, visit Thursday's Child and check them out.

Visitor # 1400: No Mystery

This morning, Home Stories welcomed Visitor # 1400 and it's our faithful reader from North Platte! Good morning, Carla! Thanks for the CD of the reunion pictures that we received last week. Before Ava went back home last week, Norm decided to give her a good brushing. She seems to enjoy it.


Ava also likes tummy tickles. She spent an extra day with us on Monday when Barb had a quick trip to Kansas City. Norm was coming down with a chest cold and Ava brought out her nursing skills, staying on Norm's lap, recliner footrest or at his feet all day while I ran errands. Norm says he is feeling better now.

Walking Sights

Saturday afternoon, Norm and I took a walk on part of the new St. Vincent Greenway trail that runs through parts of the university campus, on both the north and south side. It is a bike trail but also handy for pedestrians like us. One of our sightings was the new baseball field, under construction behind the old Normandy Hospital, which is being slowly dismantled with care, since it was full of asbestos when the university bought the property.

Another changing sign of the times is this corner at 7940 Natural Bridge, the former location of the student newspaper. The newspaper is now in the student center, and this high profile corner is now a rest stop on the bike/hiking trail. An interpretive display, benches and a trash receptacle reside here now.

Our walks should be more frequent, now that the weather is cooler. We go to water aerobics on Tuesdays and Thursdays, low-impact dry land aerobics on Monday (Norm) and Wednesday (both), and I also go to Tai Chi Quigong on Mondays and Fridays. Even with all that, we are often shocked at how easy it is to get "out of shape" if we miss even a week.

Tower Grove Wedding

Sometimes the pace of life exceeds my ability to check my photos and collect my thoughts. In all of the excitement of TS Ike's visit, as well as keeping a lively puppy for a week, I somehow missed the Event of the Month for September, the September 12 wedding of Shannon and Matt, two talented and exceedingly compassionate young people from our church. Shannon followed a family tradition, as well as her own heart, in choosing an outdoor setting in St. Louis's loveliest park, Tower Grove.

The wedding ceremony itself was held outside, on a patio overlooking the lily ponds. Guests nervously perused the clouds in the sky, precursors of Ike's arrival in some 30 hours, but not a drop fell. Meanwhile, inside the historic Piper Palm house, preparations were underway for a reception that included a buffet and dancing. The Palm House was built by Tower Grove's founder, Henry Shaw, and is the oldest greenhouse structure west of the Mississippi River. It was restored about 10 years ago.

Shannon and Matt exchanged their vows in this tranquil setting, with family and long-time friends as their attendants. Their honeymoon was a Disney cruise, far from the wind and rain of Ike. The couple are now at home in St. Louis. Congratulations, and thanks for inviting us to the party!

Visitors # 1300 and #1299

Some time back, I noted a mystery reader I couldn't identify based on my knowledge of the usual suspects among family and friends, and the reader fessed up and sent an e-mail. Well, I'm going to ask again, about another, persistent, faithful mystery reader in Broomfield, Colo. (at least that is your ISP's address) who checks in daily and often follows outlinks in my posts. SiteMeter is wonderful for giving frequency and geographic distribution, which is great. But all I know about Broomfield Reader is that you have Sprint for an ISP, are running Windows XP and browsing with IE 6. Tonight, you were visitor #1299. If you recognize yourself, please drop me a line at judi.stories@yahoo.com so I can quit trying to match you up with know friends and family in the region.

Visitor #1300 was no mystery; a familiar and loved frequent reader whose ISP is in Cape Coral, Fla., although I know the reader's domicile is in a nearby city. Of course, you also were visitor #1298! Glad you finally had some time this week to check in. Come back soon; I've added a new post since you looked earlier this evening.

A Man, A Dog, and a Big Blue Ball

For a whole week (7 nights and 8 days; sounds like a cruise) we have as our house guest Ava, the golden doodle who is our neighbor's dog. Ava is still a puppy; at 11 months she likes her toys and brings them into the kitchen next to her food bowl. We aren't sure what to make of the stuffed furry toy; it looks a lot like a dead squirrel.

The big blue open soccer ball got a real workout tonight. Ava likes to toss it and bat it around by herself but then she decided some human interaction should come into the game.

Norm threatened to bite the ball from his end, but he didn't really do it. He did spill some of his coffee, though. Ava doesn't bark or scratch or whine when she needs to go outdoors. Instead, she sits in front of you and gives you what Barb calls a "meaningful look." We are getting better at decoding this signal. Between now and Wednesday, when Barb returns from Omaha, we hope to teach Ava at least one trick. So far we have tried "shake" and "count your feet" with mixed results. Stay tuned.

How Many Roofers Does it Take to Do the Garage?

Our home improve- ment saga continues. On the 17th, a crew from Ferguson Roofing arrived to re-shingle the garage that we share with our neighbor, Barb. We had this firm re-shingle our house in 2002 from storm damage, and were pleased with their work. They were the low bidder, too!

There were 8 men in the crew all together. They worked from 9 until 4 and cleaned up, mostly, although we are still finding nails. We can see the results of tightened immigration between the two cews. This crew was all anglo. The home roofing crew in 2002 was Hispanic, and only one spoke English. It took only 5 of them working from 8 to 5 to do our entire two-story house with weird roof lines. They worked hard all day without even a lunch break. The guys who did the garage brought a battery powered radio tuned to a hip hop station, supersize sodas, and a lot of verbal patter. They took an hour lunch break, too. But they did a quality job and we and are neighbor are pleased with the result. No more drips on the cars during rains, we now hope. We are supposed to get new gutters and downspouts from the same company, soon.

Retirement Starts For Real

This is just a short note, since I've been busy going through files, going to the skin doctor, and scratching the chiggers I picked up at the women's retreat over the weekend. I need to write more and I have photos of Orchard Crest camp, as well as last week's garage roofing party, but they will have to wait another day. And starting Wednesday, Ava the Wonder Dog will be staying with us for a whole week while Barb travels! We are planning to spoil her with forbidden treats and teach her annoying tricks!

But yesterday (Monday) the student newspaper published an editorial about my retirement as their adviser, an event which took place without any fanfare or notice last week. I include the link here if anyone wants to read it. (Click on the word here in that last sentence.) It has taken two years, but it's finally done. I still feel a little sad about leaving this position, but I'm sure new projects will be calling my name soon; heck, they are calling already. More soon.

Clematis: Signs of the Season

Our neighbor thought the vine was a weed growing on one of her bushes, and started to pull it down. "Stop!" I cried. "Look at those flowers!" Late in August, running into September and the first days of fall, the sweet autumn clematis, a wild flower that is the ancestor of all of the lovely hybrid garden varieties, spreads a pure white frost over fences, dead trees, hedges, and banks, such as this one in front of our house. Every year the vines appear in the midst of the hostas. We try to direct them and refrain from pulling them unless they get really feisty. Our reward is a sight like this, and sweet perfume in the air all day and night. Driving through neighborhoods we see it running amok on all kinds of structures. It grows on our back fence, too, but Norm accidentally took a lot of it out this year when he was attacking the honeysuckle.

These flowers would make a wonderful bridal bouquet, except that being wild, they wilt pretty quickly when picked. We are enjoying other fruits of our garden: raspberries and tomatoes are both at their peak. The zinnias we planted after the 4th of July are blooming now, too.

Tomorrow the roofing crew comes to re-shingle our garage. We woke up this morning to the drone of the conveyor delivering the new shingles. About an hour later, the company called to tell us they would be here!

After reading so many accounts of "Ike" destruction, including a whole neighborhood in our former town of Ferguson that was flooded by an uprising of Maline Creek, we feel undeservedly fortunate at our little trickle of water so easily taken care of. Not to mention having power. And Internet.

We've decided not to panic at the financial markets, either, although both of us have IRAs full of mutual funds and bonds. What goes up must come down and vice versa. Yesterday our financial advisor called to tell us the bad news that the Lehmann bonds in my portfolio are now basically worthless, but after the bankruptcy is settled, since it's "senior debt" (I assume that's for how long I've had them, not a reference to my age!) I will eventually get some of my investment back. It's a small amount of the whole IRA so I'll continue to look for income opportunities as other bonds or CDs come due. Actually, I'd like to find out how to invest in one of those companies that make windmills for the wind farms that are going up everywhere, including Norm's home of Thomas County. Talk about a growth industry. But I'm just looking. I don't have any hot stock buying tips for today...or any time in the near future.

Ike and River Update

6:15 p.m.--Well, the rain gauge in the back yard has 4.85 inches in it. There are reports around the area of 5-7 inches. The strongest wind gust I saw on the weather channel's web site was 50 mph but not far from here there were gusts in the low 60s. I see Louisville, KY, had a gust of 75 mph. Doug, hope you were out of Loo'vill before that one! We have almost all of the water out of our west rooms in the basement (thank goodness for a shop vac, and power that stayed on.) We also mopped our neighbor's basement and re-set her dehumidifier this afternoon. We did make it to church, out to eat, and to a reception for a young missionary couple who will leave next month for Haiti. Now there's a challenging place to live--those poor people have had 4 hurricanes in the last month alone.

The area's rivers are all forecast to reach flood stage either tomorrow afternoon or early Tuesday, and all are forecast to have "major flooding." Not a lot of time to sandbag. We learned at church that Americorps is already on alert for flood duty--one of our younger women is a member. I misspoke about the Meramec in the earlier post. The 41 feet is for the Mississippi at St. Louis, where flood stage is 30 feet. The Meramec's flood stage at Valley Park is 18 feet and it is forecast to get to 27.5 feet by Tuesday. That will flood Highway 141 at I-44. The Missouri River will be out of its banks everywhere between Jefferson City and St. Louis. Flood stage at St. Charles is 27 feet and the river is forecast to go to 36 feet there. That will flood a lot of Highway 94 North of St. Charles. It won't be a repeat of 1993, but it will be significant--and this will be at least the third spell of high water and overtopped levees along the rivers in 2008.

As near as we could tell on our trek from North County to South City to Webster Groves and back today, gasoline is about $3.79 for regular and most stations seemed to be open and have all their pumps open. I just looked at the weather maps and "Ike" or his remnants are now over Michigan and Ohio. Thank goodness the storm was a fast mover, or no telling how high the water, mama, would be! I hope this is the last storm update I feel compelled to give for a while!

Ike: Water, Water Everywhere

Sunday, 8:25 a.m.--Ike's remnants have arrived and will be with us until about noon, according to the weather service. Norm said he heard the first drops of rain hitting the awnings about 6 a.m. What followed was a deluge of rain in sheets. According to the weather on the radio, the "eye" of the circulating low was over St. Louis about 7 a.m.


Some water did creep under the back door in the basement, but thanks to the good work of Matt and Doug a few years back to build some barrier structures in our yard that help direct the water, it was much less than it could have been.

I took the photos about 7:45, after the rain started back up and the wind had switched to the north. The rain is much lighter now and the radar shows one more fairly heavy band to come, and then we should be done. The water in the driveway and the street was higher before I took the picture.

Now we mainly have the wind to contend with. About 8:20 the weather page on the Internet said we have 33 mph NNW winds with gusts to 44 mph. I can believe it. The news station crackles with new road closings around the area. The weather service has issued flood warnings for both the Missouri and Meramec Rivers. The Missouri will be at least 10 feet out of its banks, overtopping rural levees, by late Monday and the Meramec is forecast to be 41 feet--almost 18 feet out--at Valley Park by Wednesday. That's about the height of the new levee. No word on effect for the Mississippi yet.

One effect of Ike we are seeing here is at gas stations. Many say they have only premium to sell. Others have jumped the price. Apparently a major pipeline from the gulf that runs through Tulsa has shut down and the supply is dwindling. So we may be having to drive the lawn mower before the week is out...

Wow, if this is what a remnant of a tropical storm is like, glad we don't get to experience the full hurricane. We continue to pray for Lola's son and family, Scott and Sharis and their family, Ashley and her family, Eva, and others who have been in this storm's path and who will be in the next day. Hope it fades soon.

Fall Flowers and Waiting for Ike

It's beginning to look a lot like fall around here, as crisp brown leaves fall off the neighbor's cottonwood onto our driveway, and fall flowers and foliage brighten overcast days. Norm presented us with 5 healthy chrysanthemum plants from Thies Garden Nursery for our anniversary. This red one greets any guests who come in the driveway.

Four more mums (one for each decade, Norm says) can be found lining the back porch steps. Since our back door is really our front door, they greet guests with cheery presence, too.




The coleus we planted in pots under the maple tree last spring have just been magnificent. Although today, they have been toppling in the wind. We are getting strong gusts of almost 30 mph from the south, a precursor of the "remains" of Hurricane Ike that are supposed to visit our area tonight and tomorrow all day with drenching rain. We have several acquaintances and friends in the hurricane area: college and high school friends of mine, a former student, brother of a friend, etc. We pray all of them are safe. Dealing with the aftermath of such a huge storm is going to be a major task. Meanwhile, here, it feels like it sometimes does in the spring when stiff winds are blowing up a pre-tornadic outbreak. They say we'll get 1-3 inches of rain, possibly more. We are thinking that someone else could use it better. As the remains of Gustav come over us a couple of weeks ago, we got 4 inches in one day. Last Thursday night we got 2 inches from a thunderstorm moving along the same front that Ike will follow. The Missouri River is supposed to flood out of its banks all along its course through the state during the coming week. Enough already!

Ava Sleeps Over

Finally we got to keep Ava, our neighbor's golden lab/ poodle designer mix, for an over night while Barb went on a short trip. Ava is a wonderful guest. She eats daintily, lets you throw her toys without hoarding, and doesn't snore!


Her favorite piece of furniture is the love seat in the east room. We think she spent the night there after coming upstairs to see that we were in bed. Today the workers were installing the glass block, banging and thumping in the basement all morning and she didn't even bark at them. Nothing wrong with her hearing, though. She's fun to have around and we look forward to more "Ava Sitting" in the future.

Let There Be Light in the Basement

Today we had the first of three home improve- ment projects done that we hope to take care of this fall. One of the least attractive features of our house was the "coal bin cover" that was a plywood board fastened over the opening for the former coal chute. It was warped and it leaked; it was insecure and that part of the basement was, well as dark as a coal bin. Workers removed the metal frame (my did those sparks fly) leaving us a good look at how our 16-inch thick stone basement wall meets the brick walls of the house.

The finished product from the outside. The mortar will lighten to almost white when it is completely dry. The workers smoothed everything off on the inside as well. The window was prefabricated at the shop and then installed by the same people who made it. We wanted a vent because this is a natural room for storage (it has shelves in it already) and also it's a natural tornado shelter as well.

From the inside view of our former coal bin, it's obvious that the blocks diffuse the light enough so that no one can see in to any great detail, yet the light is a bonus. We are really pleased.







We had all four windows on the north side of the basement converted to glass blocks, as well. The vented one is in the basement "bathroom" making that space more pleasant. In addition to looking better, these are more secure than the old casement windows with wood-framed storm windows. At least one of those storm windows was broken, by persons unknown, this spring.


Looking inside out from the basement, a warm glow from our neighbor's brick house will lighten the space especially during the winter. We got the estimate two weeks ago. The workers arrived at 8 this morning and were through by 2 p.m. They cleaned up and hauled everything away. They were pleasant and knew their job very well. We would recommend the company, Glass Blocks of St. Louis, to anyone interested in a quality glass block job. Theirs wasn't the lowest bid we got, but our gut instincts told us the man who did the measuring and estimating knew the business better than the other company's rep, and today's experience proved our judgment right, we think.

Quilts on Main in St. Charles

Today was the 7th annual Quilts on Main event in St. Charles, an historic town, Missouri's first state capital, on the west bank of the Missouri River across from St. Louis. The old buildings on South Main are well preserved and house a variety of small shops and restaurants. Some also are homes.




This is an outdoor quilt show, not unlike the much larger and more famous Sisters show in Oregon that takes place each July. This year there were fewer exhibits than usual, perhaps because of organization problems.

It was a cool, slightly overcast day and perfect for walking the old brick and cobblestone streets and just enjoying the many fine quilts on display. A lot of people were in town, not all of them for quilts. We saw at least two different wedding parties being photographed.

Quilt guilds had many lovely raffle quilts on display, but this one, made by a group from Rolla, MO, was the prize as far as concept and workmanship went. It was pieced, appliqued and hand quilted throughout. We both fell in love with it and yes, I bought a few raffle tickets.




Here is a closeup of the fine work on the quilt. I really hope the show continues and that next year there will be more entries. I hope our guild will be there too, with our lovely raffle quilt just before our show in September, 2009.