Summer Hummer

hummingbird

In the spring I put out the hummingbird feeder that I purchased last year, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the tiny birds. Weeks went by without a sighting. Friends of mine had been commenting on Facebook that they had yet to see anything at their feeders either, despite following the instructions on how often to change the sugar water solution. I wondered what was going on weather-wise that the birds were not making their way to St. Louis. Finally on July 17th I saw my first one. Now there are several who come to feed, including a much smaller juvenile.

Last Sunday I went to the Missouri Botanical Garden with someone from my Women in Focus group. It was a beautiful morning in St. Louis with a cooler temperature and low humidity. There was a nice breeze as well, which isn't necessarily a photographer's friend. We had a good time while she worked with me on going 100% manual with my camera settings to try and capture a water droplet. I can't say I was totally successful, but I learned some things about my camera so that was worthwhile. All the water lilies were in bloom, and I am a huge fan of those. We wanted to play around with our lens balls a bit, and that certainly resulted in a lot of strangers coming up to us to see what we were doing!

Missouri Botanical Garden

After grabbing lunch we drove over to Horseshoe Lake in Madison County, Illinois. I had never been there before, though I had seen a lot of photos on Facebook that were taken there. It is a nice lake, and many people were there fishing, having picnics or just taking walks along the lake. We even saw a woman walking her dog with a bow and arrow on her back! When we stopped to talk to her, she explains that she fishes with a bow and arrow. The arrow is attached to fishing line, and she reels it back in after each use. I never knew such a thing existed.

Horseshoe Lake

Friday there will be a camera crew at my house filming a show. Morbid Curiosity is a "made for TV series of short Horror/Drama stories" which air locally through Charter Communications. For this particular story they were looking for a Victorian home, and ours fit the bill. The first part of the show  is set in the 1920s, and that is the portion that will be filmed Friday. The second part is present day, and will be filmed in our back yard at a later date. There will be murders, ghosts and mass casualties! It will be very interesting to see the making of a show. And to watch my neighbors' expressions when a "For Sale" sign goes up in my front yard, albeit on a temporary basis. Hopefully all the ghosts will leave when the filming crew does. Stay tuned...

Wrapping up 2017

our Christmas tree

Well, it's the last day of 2017. We had a wonderful Christmas, with St. Louis even managing to add a smattering of the fluffy stuff to give us a white Christmas. We picked Katie up at the airport around midnight on the 22nd, and Andy and Megan drove in just before lunch on the 23rd. We were able to do most of the Christmas traditions while they were all here, drinking our signature Santa Clausmos while opening gifts on Christmas Eve, making sure they got their Imos fix, playing games and putting together a puzzle, and checking out Candy Cane Lane in south city followed by a visit to Ted Drewes. We even fit in a trip to the library so the kids could check out my first solo photography show.

A first for us was heading to a 9:00 a.m. movie on Christmas Day, catching the new Star Wars movie. None of us had been to Ronnie's theater since their remodeling, so it was a treat to sit in the heated, reclining chairs. Attendance was light, making for an enjoyable viewing experience. We all thought they did a good job with the latest movie.

Andy and Megan headed back to her parent's house in Indiana Wednesday afternoon. They are driving back to D.C. today. Katie is here with us until an early flight takes her home to L.A. Tuesday morning. We know that we are blessed that all of them can make the trip to St. Louis to visit us each Christmas season.

As 2017 comes to a close, I can honestly say it was one of the best years ever for me personally. Next year will have to do a lot to top the fun and excitement of this year. Let's see what happens.

Happy New Year

Busy Times!

Last weekend was quite busy, beginning on Thursday night with the Garden of Glass exhibit at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The weather was perfect that evening, with temperatures in the low 70's and a comfortable humidity level. Artist Craig Mitchell Smith created the 24+ glass pieces, nearly all of which are located inside the Climatron. That is a somewhat small space, so I was curious to see how crowded it would be. As it turned out, it really wasn't too bad as they are somewhat controlling the numbers by issuing timed tickets. Ours were for 7:00, which is the earliest you can get in. I think the time slot kept some of the crowds away as there were people waiting in line outside the Climatron when we next walked by around 8:30.

Garden of Glass

The benefit of going early, besides fewer people, is that you still get some sunlight coming into the Climatron. It makes it easier to take photos for sure, since they don't allow tripods inside. The downside is that you don't get to see how the glass looks with full interior lighting on it. I'll take the smaller crowds any day. After we were done inside we had time to walk around the garden a bit, which was nice because it normally isn't open in the evenings. While we enjoyed the exhibit, we both felt that it falls way short of the magnificence of the Chihuly Glass in the Garden back in 2006.

Friday night I attended the world premiere of the movie "I Love You Both" with a girlfriend. It was held at the Tivoli Theatre, which I don't think I have been in since Jim and I saw "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" back when audience members were still allowed to not only dress up, but also go on stage, throw rice and toilet paper, use squirt guns in the theater, and flick their Bics. This new movie was written, directed and starred in by a brother and sister who graduated from a local high school. They recruited their mom to be in the movie as well because "we couldn't find anyone as funny as her." I love that! They stuck around after the show to answer questions, and it was interesting to get an inside look at the process of securing money, filming, and producing a movie on a shoestring.

As far as the movie itself goes, I thought the characters needed a little more development, and that the film drug a little bit. The premise is that one man falls for two people (in this case twins, played by the brother-sister duo) who both are interested in him as well. The problem is that he wasn't around them long enough to fall in love with one, much less both, of them.

Saturday I played in a pickleball round robin that lasted from 12-6. It was outside in a local park, and the temperature reached into the 90's that day. Luckily, there was low humidity and a breeze, so in the shade it wasn't too bad. After that I hurried home to shower and head off to a high school graduation party. Jim was in Kansas City so he wasn't able to attend.

Kirkwood Round Robin

Sunday morning I met a photographer friend in University City to see the Mannequins on the Loop. Different artists compete to win a prize for best dressed mannequin. The materials have to be a recycled product. Such creativity!

Mannequins on the Loop

Then finally I had lunch with a friend who had also been away on a vacation, though hers was to Ireland, a favorite place of mine. We wanted to catch up on our trips. She also wanted to bring me up to date on her new book, which is currently at the publishing company. All of the photos in the book are mine. I can't wait to see it - and read it. Busy weekend, but very rewarding in so many areas.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Each year since the St. Louis Cardinals opened their new stadium they have had a Founders Day at the ballpark. Jim and I have been lucky enough to go to three of the events. Since we share our group of four season tickets it is not always easy to score admission to this. Hot dogs, brats, nachos, pretzels, popcorn, ice cream and soda are all free. You can take a tour of the team locker room and dugouts, have your picture taken with the World Series trophy, get autographs from retired players, and other fun things.

David Evans & Patrick Renna

This year in honor of the 20th anniversary of the movie The Sandlot (and how can that possibly be?), the director of the movie and one of the stars were at the stadium. They answered questions from the fans and later signed movies and posters that were available for sale that night. But best of all they played the movie on the giant screen in the stadium! You could sit in the seats or take a spot on the grass in the outfield. What a great evening! We have many fond memories of watching that movie with our son, who was playing ball himself at the time. How wonderful that a whole new group of children is being introduced to this family film. The weather was perfect, the company was exceptional, and we all cheered at the happy ending. Play ball!

Blinded by the Margarita

Jim and I went to see "Blindside" last night with another couple. We were trying to remember the last time that we went to a movie together, and we think it was a "Star Wars" movie out in Chesterfield Valley with Katie about 5 or 6 years ago. Obviously we see a lot more plays than movies, though I have gone to see a few chick-flicks with female friends. And most recently Katie and I went to see the new Disney princess movie, which was fun.

Because we wanted to go to a showing in late afternoon and then go out to eat afterwords, we decided to go to Dead Mall, errrr....I mean Crestwood Mall. As we arrived early, we purchased our tickets and then strolled through the once-upon-a-time popular shopping center. I haven't been in it since they closed Pac Sun, where Katie used to work. I was amazed to see all the different storefronts in there. Hand-made jewelry, a consignment shop, an upscale garage sale, an antique store, a couple of dance studios, two theater companies and a few museums make up the new "art center" complex. It was quite interesting and I would like to go back when I have more time to look around.

Back to the movie..."Blindside" is based on a true story about a homeless black teenager in Memphis and the white family who first offered him housing and then a place in their hearts. I thought it was excellent. What an amazing story! It was a nice feel-good movie for Valentine's Day. I know, the obvious movie choice for this weekend was "Valentine's Day", but there was no way the guys wanted to see that. "Blindside" was a film we could all agree on. I'll have to grab one of the girls for the chick-flick.

After we saw the movie we decided to try the new Mexican restaurant in Crestwood near the Shop 'n Save. I'm embarrassed that I did not catch the name. I'm blaming it on the margarita. In honor of Valentine's Day, they had the medium size margarita for $4.75. Let me just say that it was a good thing I didn't order the large! It was yummy and went down easy with my chicken quesadilla. And the requisite chips and salsa, of course. Everyone enjoyed the food and agreed we definitely would go back again. At least I know the location, if not the name!