THURSDAY ARCH SERIES

 

It's hard to come up with new images of the Arch after all these years but I had an opportunity yesterday evening. We have a nephew from Kansas in town on a job assignment. We took him to a restaurant and bar known as Three Sixty on the top of a downtown hotel. It's indoor/outdoor and there are views in every direction. It was an exceptional August evening here, not hot, not humid, and perfect for outdoor dining. A day-short-of-full moon rose in the east as the sun was setting. We will probably come bactk to that.    

WHEN YOU GOT NOTHING, YOU'VE GOT NOTHING TO LOSE

So said Bob Dylan in the primordial times when I was young. I got no new material and have to wing it with what's on hand. Some days it's surprising how little spare time a retired person can have. This tiny, tiny bug spent the day on our front door. It couldn't be more than 2 or 3 mm long. The sharpness and depth of field was terribly difficult to catch shooting handheld, even with a macro lens. So, not the best image but a striking little creature. I have no idea what it is.           

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - SIGN OFF FROM KANSAS

Marysville, Kansas, is a town of about 3,300 located where the pink heart is in the outline of the state. Mrs. C went to high school there, riding a bus from her family farm about 16 miles / 26 km away. It seems to be doing pretty well. I saw new businesses on this visit and fewer signs of decay than several years ago. The sunflower, of course, is the Kansas state flower. This mural is at the place where the weekly farmers market takes is held.        

MADELEINE MONDAY

It's been quite a weekend. Mrs. C grew up on a farm in rural northeast Kansas. Her family, the Kruses (very German) had a periodic reunion Saturday afternoon in the town of Hanover, population 690. They are lovely people. I get to be the photographer and take all the group pictures.

So it's getting to be time to leave and Ellie notices that the right front tire on our rental car is flat. I call the auto club and their nearest service person is 75 miles away. A couple of my brothers in law, whose hands work a lot better than mine, got the temporary use spare tire on. Then it's 16 miles careful drive to the bigger town where we we're staying. It's now Saturday night and not a prayer of getting it fixed there.

There was a Walmart with an auto service center 60 miles away that was open on Sunday. We drove there gingerly, fortunately on arrow-straight rural highway, anxious about the temporary tire. Walmart got it done, cheap, too. (Walmart - always the low low price.) So then another hour and a half to Kansas City and Mrs. C's sister and brother in law's home. There is a pond with koi and Ellie just loves to feed them.

By the way, the reunion had a German quiz. This Irishman tied for first. Home this afternoon.

         

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - POLITICAL OPINION IN MARSHALL COUNTY

Placed directly opposite the exit from the Walmart where you can't possibly miss it. Keep in mind, however, that Kansas just resoundingly defeated a ballot initiative to remove a provision in the state constitution protecting a woman's right to make choices about her own body. But I wouldn't blame the sign-maker for anything. We could have done  so much worse.