SPROINGGGGG!!

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!!







AND THE BUDS ARE POPPIN'!!

FARMING THE WIND

There's a windmill farm near Conception, Missouri. Jenni, the camera and I went to check them out today.






And we saw a hawk floating on the wind around the tops of the windmills.

CHRONICLES FROM THE OVERLY-STRETCHED UMBILICAL CORD

I have Meghan's permission to post the following; but first must say that Ben was out of town and... there was another proviso which I've forgotten..... oh well. Now that I have that legal stuff out of the way, sort of, here goes.


Meghan called me Thursday morning at 6:00 AM to tell me she's sick and to get my advice on cold medications.

Meghan called me at 5:30 on Friday morning to tell me she's running a fever and is achy and to ask me if I think she should go to work (no) because she has to take a day off work next month for wedding here in St. Louis (but you are sick NOW and will make other people sick and you could get sicker).

Meghan called me at 6:00 to tell me her fever had climbed from 99.7 to 100.7.

Meghan called me while she was driving to work to tell me that her temp was 99.5. Yes. She took her temp while driving to work. Some people apply make-up, some drink coffee and eat breakfast, there are even a few who read while driving to work. Meghan was driving with a thermometer sticking out of her mouth. And I'm just going to assume it was an oral thermometer.

Meghan e-mailed me at 10:05 am to tell me her temp is now 98.1.

She's cured.

You know, other than being obsessive compulsive about taking her temperature every 5 freaking minutes.

I, on the other hand, need a drink. And it's only 10:10.

I love you, Meghan, and it's still nice to know that even though you are 24 and live 14 hours away by car, I'm still needed.

A WALK IN THE PARK

I finally did it.  This weekend, I caved in.  I finally bought a "real" camera, a digital SLR.  I've been threatening to do this for more than 25 years; which is tricky since affordable DSLR's have only been in existence for ten years, if that long.   And by "affordable", I mean, I decided not to go on vacation this year and use that money for a camera, that I bought on sale, charmed a few extras into the price and am buying some used lenses from a friend.  That's what I meant by an affordable DSLR.  And after all of that, mine is only considered a "good entry-level camera for beginners."  Boy did I hear that a lot this weekend.

After buying the camera and getting acquainted with it, I took it out for a spin at Laumeier Sculpture Park.

The day convinced me to sign up for a photography class.  

OK, this.... any idea what it is?




 I thought it was some kind of abstract having to do with French poodles.

But no. It's a sculpture based on the molecular compound of sucrose.

Seriously. I did not make that up. It's called "Sugabus", combining, "Sucrose" with Cerebus", the mythical three-headed dog that guards the gates of Hades.

I knew it looked like a dog.


Either this didn't have a name or the plaque disappeared.   I simply call it Roots.  

 I hope it doesn't end up being some artist's depiction of the digestive tract.  Mainly because I crawled through it to get this picture.

I found the sculpture seen in the shapes of the trees to be more interesting than most of the sculptures in the park.



By this time, the sun was behind a thick cloud mass, and gray and brown were the dominant colors in the park.

So last night, I played with Photoshop Elements to try and boost what little color that is in the pictures.

I have a lot to learn, don't I?

And speaking of trees, I couldn't go to Laumeier without visiting this tree.

Ah that Homer. He was a gentleman and a gentle man.

Moving on to another part of the Park, does anyone have any idea what this is?

Does this help?

How about this?

Can you see my reflection in the pupil?  On CSI and/or NCIS, they'd refine the image so you could see the mole on my left -- well, nevermind.

That eyeball was everywhere. I could see it lurking in the background when checking out this Trova sculpture.

....and this black thing called "Ada's Will"



Does anyone remember the big white ball in The Prisoner that kept Number 6 in the Village?



No, Jenni and Meghan, Mommy isn't talking crazy talk. That was a TV show on PBS in the late si--- -- uh-- a long time ago. Before you were born.   That eyeball reminded me of the Big White Ball.


But back to Ada's Will




This is a sculpture for the blind.





It's pretty much the same from all sides.



See?




Hello...what's this?




No, not double exposure. It's a larger version of Ada's Will, for those who are not blind.





And looks who's back.

Isn't it amazing how the eye seems to follow you?

I hope it doesn't give me bad dreams.

IT'S A COFFEE THING

One of life's small pleasures that I enjoy is fixing myself a huge mug of almond roca mocha cappuccino. I lightly sprinkle cinnamon on top of the foam, take a sip and think heaven must be like this. And then I start getting ready for the day.


I'll admit it, I got a little heavy handed with the lightly sprinkled cinnamon on this one.

As I dash about, getting ready for work, I take hits off the mug and finish it off just before I head out of the door. The mug is never far from me and faithfully follows me from kitchen, to bedroom, to bathroom sink back to bedroom, into guest bedroom for ironing, back to bedroom, back to bathroom sink, and into kitchen for the final big gulp before leaving to catch the bus.

The pace on weekends is a bit slower. When the weather is nice, I lug my laptop out to the front porch or backyard patio and drink my coffee as I catch up on the news, various blogs and/or update my own blog while sipping my cappuccino and enjoy watching the squirrels, neighbors and the few squirrelly neighbors. (Of course, I don't mean any of the ones who happen to be reading this. I mean the OTHER ones.)

When the weather is cold, I plop down on the living room couch for the same activities. Except the squirrel and neighbor watching. Those activities are curtailed in the winter months. Because I'm not in such a hurry, I generally get in a few sips of my cappuccino before I notice that it's cold. No problem, I nuke it in the microwave. Then I start getting busy with laundry, cleaning, etc., and have to nuke it again after an hour or so when I realize I haven't finished it.

That same routine happened yesterday morning; fixing a huge mug of cappuccino, drinking and nuking and drinking and nuking. And when I went to nuke it the first time yesterday morning, I found this.



Not uncommon. Quite often, the drinking and nuking turns into nuke and forget. On weekends, the mug tends not to faithfully follow me about the house. At some point in time, I'll realize I've left my mug somewhere and often find it cooling in the microwave. It gets nuked again.

I ask myself, why use such a big mug that cools too soon? Why not use a smaller cup?

The answer?

Because.