October Monday

We had a bit of rain last Tuesday night, six days ago, accompanied by some noisy hail, but less moisture than we need. Nathan was here yesterday, and they had even less rain north of here. People mock discussions of the weather, but this drought is worrisome for those with with gardens (Nathan’s family lives on food they raise) and grazing animals (our three horses).

Jane flew out on her 71st birthday, Thursday, for a visit to family in England. I miss her company on the other side of the north woods, but I still hear Sandy, the donkey, from time to time, and we had a visit yesterday from Tim Morris, her orange cat. With texting, it hardly feels she can be all the way across the Atlantic, but pictures prove it.

We celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary with good friends on Thursday evening, September 28. They are relative newlyweds, so they made it a real celebration. We tend to overlook these milestones, though we are certainly grateful to achieve them. We are luckier than many.

On Saturday, we attended the dedication of a new memorial to Dred Scott at Calvary Cemetery, the beautiful Catholic cemetery in North St. Louis. Harry was chosen several years ago to create a sculpture of Dred and Harriet Scott that now stands outside the Old Courthouse in St. Louis, where the infamous decision to deny freedom to the Scotts was rendered. The new memorial headstone is impressive, and the ceremony was well attended and quite inspirational.

In these fraught times, it was refreshing to hear eloquent speeches about the need to remember history, to teach people to think, to move forward, and not to cover up the past. Dred Scott was born into slavery and denied the right to buy his freedom by the Supreme Court of Missouri, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Ultimately, he was freed by the Blow family, and a Blow descendant was in attendance, and spoke. I found it quite optimistic overall. Despite the racial problems we have, there has been a great deal of progress, and Saturday was an affirmation of that.

Harry is making progress in his own way on the larger than life bear he is creating at Chesterfield Mall. The workspace is quite nice, and the bear is already looking somewhat ursine.

Today, Weedy was overjoyed to accompany Harry to work.

Yesterday, I biked on the Katy Trail with Brett and Lynda. We went from Augusta to Defiance and back. It was fun, but there were several unpleasant road crossings, so we plan to try other portions of the trail next time. Weekends are busier than weekdays, which made the traffic more scary, but overall, we had a great time. Less than three weeks until the real bike trip. I am not fit enough!

Around here, the animals are well. Harry is suffering from allergies and I have developed laryngitis. It’s an awful fate for me, since I generally talk nonstop. I literally cannot speak on the phone – hooray for texting! Kevin came today with a load of hay, and I had to hand him a note, explaining that I could not talk! Even worse, I wore a mask in case I was contagious, and it was ridiculously hot. Temperatures in the nineties are not right for October. It’s good to have plenty of hay in the shed, and bedding in the barn, but I am tired of sweating.

Be safe, be well, stay cool. Slava Ukraini! Peace.