Yard Critters

The summer has been extremely busy (and hot!), and my area of the country is in a severe drought. We are thankfully getting some rain right now, but they said we would need over 19 inches of rain in a month to get caught up with where we should be. We are under Stage 2 Mandatory Water Restrictions, and are to conserve at home and only water outside on Thursdays and Sundays. We don't have an irrigation system, so that isn't a problem for us, but I do miss being able to wash the car.

A couple of guys in the neighborhood are offering free guitar lessons, so I had my Yamaha classical guitar restrung and have been attending the classes, which are held every other Monday. I practice every day and have built up calluses on my fingertips, but I just can't seem to get the stretch in my fingers to make certain chords. I used to play a bit 40 some years ago, and I don't remember that being a problem in the past. I am getting a little frustrated with it. A friend has a smaller guitar, so I'm going to try it to see if that makes a difference. Another friend has a ukulele, and I messed around with that a bit. I am kind of interested in trying a uke if the smaller guitar doesn't pan out.

We have had a lot of creature activity in both the front and back yards recently. It is so fun to see all the birds, butterflies and lizards around. But recently we were visited by a toad, which was cool. We also had six deer grazing out back, which is highly unusual. Fortunately they were not picking on my plants, but were instead eating the scrub stuff that grows on the hillside. All this action is one of the reasons we wanted to live here, particularly with the lot we were able to get.

yard critters

Oh Deer!

The other day I was looking out my back window and caught a movement on the opposite shore. We keep a pair of binoculars on the windowsill for this very reason, and I saw that there was a young buck who was going to try to cross the lake. The water is very low due to residual storm repair from Hurricane Helene, so I could see why he thought it was safe to cross.

He was pretty confident at first. The many sandbars gave him a good footing. But I don't think he anticipated the strong current once he got to the main channel. He was struggling to come straight to the shore down at the bottom of our property, but he wasn't going to make it. Thankfully, he ended up turning and going with the current instead.

Rooting for him from the yard, I watched as he swam downstream but still towards our shore. He ended up making it to the slope of my neighbor's yard two doors down. It's hunting season in our area. Did he sense he would be safer on our side as no hunting is allowed in the neighborhood?

young buck

Full Super Moon Weekend

Last weekend was super busy. Friday night Jim and I grabbed dinner and then headed to the mall to return an item I had purchased online. Not only was the t-shirt a bit snug, you could see right through it. Not quite the look I was going for, trust me. Jim had a $20 off coupon at the same store, so between my return and his coupon he was able to snag a new pair of jeans for around twenty bucks. Nice!

on stage at the Muny

Saturday morning my friend picked me up at 10:00 and we went to the Garage Sale being held at the Muny in Forest Park. Props, sets, clothes, shoes - you name it were for sale. They were cleaning house for only the second time in their 97 year history. The sale was from 9-2, and I heard that people were standing in line at 5:30 a.m. We were not intending to purchase anything, but thought it would be a fun photo op. And it certainly was that and more. While standing on the stage looking out at all the seats, everything seemed a lot smaller than it does when you are sitting in the audience watching a performance. I always wanted to appear onstage at the Muny, and now I have. Cross that off the bucket list - haha. An older man started talking to us about how he had worked at the Muny for 40 years designing sets. Wow! I even ran into Katie's high school journalism teacher, and we had a nice chat. He had so many wonderful things to say about her even after all these years. I wish I had recorded it so that if she is ever feeling down she could listen to it. Proud momma moment, for sure.

Muny garage sale

From there we went to the Art Museum to have lunch at the Panorama Restaurant. Neither of us had eaten there before, and the food was good with an even better view of Forest Park. While the fall colors in the St. Louis area have been pretty lackluster, things were looking pretty in Forest Park that day.

Forest Park

After lunch we went to the Gretchen Brigham Gallery inside Union Ave. Christian Church for the opening reception of our latest Women in Focus photography show. The gallery space is beautiful, and although the reception was not that well attended, it is always fun to get together with these lovely ladies.

Women in Focus Inspiration show opening

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

Early Sunday morning I drug Jim out of the house to go to Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery to take pictures. I was thinking the graves would be decorated with flags, and it wasn't until we got there and saw none that I realized that would be Memorial Day as opposed to Veteran's Day. No matter, it is always a lovely, peaceful place for a drive and the deer are always accommodating. It was touching to see an older man sitting on a low chair next to a gravestone with a woman's name on it, despite the 31 degree weather. Was that his wife buried there? His daughter? We wanted to talk to him, but were hesitant to disturb his solitude.

deer in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

That afternoon I went to the Holiday Walk in Webster Groves with a friend. It was a beautiful day, and lots of people were out. I was able to pick up a couple of Christmas gifts, so that felt pretty good. In the evening Jim and I saw Mothers & Sons in the Studio of the Repertory Theatre. It is a small venue, and the plays down there are always thought provoking. This was no exception. Came home to enjoy a Super Moon finish to a pretty super weekend.

Super Moon

Deer in the Headlights

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

A few of my friends on Facebook have been posting photos of deer taken in Jefferson Barracks Park. Saturday was so beautiful that Jim and I drove down there in late afternoon since deer are more likely to feed at that time of the day. We were not prepared for the number of deer that we saw, particularly when we traveled through Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. There were numerous cars doing the same thing as us, and the deer were not afraid. They are apparently used to the gawkers coming through.

deer in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

It was a beautiful and peaceful drive through the cemetery but as the sun set, casting shadows over the graves, it was also a sobering reminder of all the men and women who have laid down their lives so that we remain free to travel along the paths of our choosing.

Nice Day for a White Wedding

Jim and I spent last weekend in Colorado Springs. We went out for the wedding of the son of one of our college friends. The mom and dad both graduated from Iowa State with us, and Jim was in their wedding and the dad was in our wedding. They wanted us to stay in the five bedroom, three bath house they had rented for the week. At one point there were 14 of us sleeping there, but it worked out just fine. We flew out on Thursday, so Jim was able to go to the bachelor party activities with the guys. I stayed at the house with the older ladies.

Friday Jim and I went to the Garden of the Gods. We had not been there since before we had kids, and it has changed a bit with the addition of parking lots and paved trails. It was cold and windy, but at least we had a beautiful sky that day.

Garden of the Gods

King of the Mountain

Garden of the Gods entrance

rock formation

We also went to Manitou Springs to do some sight-seeing and to have lunch. It is a really cool old Victorian town.

street musician

Manitou Springs

chapel window

It began to snow that night, which was the rehearsal dinner. All of the out of town guests were invited, so we took part in that. We had a very fun table at the dinner, and the evening passed quickly. The snow continued through the night and was near blizzard conditions by the next day. Although the accumulation was nothing near the 12.4" that St. Louis got, it still made for some treacherous driving conditions. We all went to the base early to make sure we arrived on time for the wedding. Since the groom graduated from the Air Force Academy, the wedding took place in the Ir Force Chapel, which is a beautiful structure.

Air Force Academy Chapel

inside the chapel

Despite the weather, the wedding went off without a hitch, and the reception was on the base as well, so we didn't have to travel far to get to it. Everyone at the reception was so friendly, and the DJ was wonderful. We had a lot of fun dancing with everyone.

deer out the house window

Sunday brought more snow, so we were a little house bound. Finally in the afternoon six of us drove to the Broadmoor Hotel and went to their bar for a martini. It was nice to get out of the house. Monday we helped pack up all the cars and strip all the beds before heading off. Jim and I went to Castle Rock for lunch and sight-seeing before driving to the airport.

1875 train depot

lunch at Castle Cafe

frozen fountain

Castle Rock