Flower for the Day Dahlias 10-24-14

The dahlias in all their glory are ready for Halloween. In the living room window Spot approves.

Our Halloween flag shows its faded maturity.

 Happy Fall to everyone.

Flower for the Day Confused Azalea 10-23-14

Behind the gnome garden are several white azalea bushes. One has been confused by the current weather and has been blooming for a week. Its a nice surprise for this time of year.

Strangers at the Barn - a horse's eye view 10-18-14

Well we had just come into our barn after a beautiful day of grazing when a group of folks that were all dressed up came by and started taking pictures of themselves and the barn and us. I have to admit they did pay a lot of attention to us even in the midst of taking their pictures. The two in the middle had eyes only for each other.

After a while  my partner got bored and went to his stall but I was interested in watching the shenanigans of the young couple messing around with something they called a "garter". Frankly I  was in love with the two solid ladies in their brown dresses who were watching. They were having a fun time. It is special for us to live in this red barn and be able to oversee all the goings on.

Show and Tell 10-14-14

I'm taking a class at Washington University's Life Long Learning Institute on Saul Bellow's book, Humboldt's Gift. Bellow was a Chicago writer who won the Nobel Prize for literature. Ironically the book concerns Chicago and Princeton and one of the most significant events in the story is when Ike defeats Adlai Stephenson in the 1952 Presidential race. In 1952 I was a sophomore at Lyons Township High School of La Grange and my brother David was a sophomore at Princeton. In August of 1952 a friend of Davids from Princeton and Moberly, Missouri stayed with us in La Grange while he "covered" the Republican National Convention for his Moberly newspaper. Dwight Eisenhauer had been wooed by both parties but finally chose the Republican Party and was nominated by the liberal wing of that party. "Mobe" got us tickets to the final night where Ike was nominated to the thunderous roar of a packed Chicago Stadium. He had beaten out Ohio Senator Robert Taft in an old fashioned convention where all the states voted in alphabetical order and the outcome was not previously decided. I'll never forget when Ike was presented and all the lights went off except for spotlights on this seemingly small balding man in a drab blue suit with his arms raised high. It was beyond exciting.

At the end of the evening I collected some of the campaign signs from that evening and for some unknown reason I have them still having either stored them or moved them with me where ever I have gone. For this current class at Washington U I proudly 'showed' my signs and 'told' my story.

Ike ran against Illinois Democratic Senator Adlai Stephenson who was from Chicago and was also a Princeton grad. In Bellow's novel,

Stephenson's landslide loss to Ike helped throw poet Von Humboldt Fleisher into a lethal downhill slide.

A major promise of Ike's campaign was to end the Korean war and "bring our boys home". He was able to end the war in about 6 months. 

 

I can still remember the drama and energy and the sense being a part of history. I'm sure that is why I have been unable to let go of these signs.

 

The class enjoyed my presentation and one of my classmates offered that she had been there at the Chicago Stadium that night too for Ike's acceptance speech.

  

 

It is hard for me to realize that it was over 62 years ago.

 

FFTD Bonus The biggest cock at Innsbrook 10-21-14

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Last weekend we noticed that there were chickens at the farmhouse near our Lake House.There were also several roosters who were enjoying their ear piercing "cock-a-doodle-do" calls. This is the biggest of the bunch. Great fun since they're not next door.

Mystery Spider Possibilities

This is not a satisfactory image of this dead and dried out spider but it was so large I wanted to find out what it was. Several thought it was a tarantula which it is not. There were two (including an entymologist) who thought it was a wolf spider (lycosidae) and it well may be. Another person thought it was a fishing spider (pisauridae) - 

http://www.spiderzrule.com/fishing11.htm

Apparently fishing spiders have two rows of eyes while wolf spiders have three rows of eyes. If fishing spiders live in Missouri then that is possibly what this is but it is difficult to tell because of the poor quality of the image close-up. Perhaps the aquatic insects and small fish in Lake Aspen are resting more easily.

The Return of Amaryllis

Amaryllis made a comeback this weekend at the Lake house. You may

remember she lost her body in a storm  at Wildwood several years ago.

She is sitting in Jan's special chair surrounded by pyracantha and acorns -

a most auspicious return.

 

FFTD Bonus Mystery Spider 10-20-14

I found this large spider at the lake house. Can anyone identify it?

Flower for the Day Gaillardia 10-20-14

I put down almost a pound of wildflower seeds in my new garden at the lake house. Gaillardia (blanket flower) and bachelor buttons were about the only flowers to bloom. Although I pulled the weeds out and layered over composted cow manure what I got was weeds.We'll see what happens next year. Only the gaillardia is still blooming.

FFTD Bonus: Who Doesn't Love A Swimming Hole? 10-15-14

  WHO DOESN'T LOVE A SWIMMING HOLE?                             

There is romance in the idea of going to a swimming hole on a hot summer day. I think of Tom and Huck and a leaning old tree with a rope swing for jumping into the warm muddy water and a carefree afternoon. Just south of St Louis Missouri in Reynolds County is a magical swimming hole well known to locals and non-locals alike. It is Johnson Shut-Ins in the shallows of the East Fork of the Black River and its magnetic pull attracts children of all ages. 

About 1.5 billion years ago magma (a mixture of molten rock, gases and solids) was extruded from below the earth's surface near Ironton Misouri. Cooled and solidified magma became, by definition, igneous rock. The base of Johnson Shut-ins is an igneous rock called rhyolite which is silica rich and is made up of the quartz and two forms of feldspar, which are major constituent minerals that make up the earth's crust. Shallow seas later covered the rhyolite depositing sedimentary rock and sand. Uplift and erosion exposed this volcanic rock. The water in the East Fork of the Black River became confined or shut-in to a narrow channel.

Through the years water, sand, gravel and weather have caused channels, and chutes and potholes in the erosion resistant rhyolite forming the multiple natural swimming holes that make up Johnson Shut-Ins.

Midsummer this year we took off from Kirkwood Missouri for the hour and a half drive south to Reynolds County. We did stop at a Wallmart and grampa purchased creek shoes for everyone - Gordon, Blake, Adam, and Will Sessions who were visiting from Denver on vacation. Luckily they only cost about $5 a pair these days.

The area around Johnson Shut-Ins has been restored after the 2005 flood damage and the swimming area itself appears largely unchanged. The camp grounds (Johnson Shut-Ins State Park) have been rebuilt and the parking lot expanded. One bonus is a new building with a section to change into your swimming suits.

 

IAt the upper reaches of the shut-ins there is a comfortable chest high pond for relaxing. As you descend the shut-ins it gets slippery with some sharp edges -hence the need for the creek shoes. The rhyolite has been sandpapered smooth through the thousands of years. Add to that water and occasional green algae and footing can be a challenge. There are multiple small waterfalls and pools as well as the channels of the river itself. 

The day was hot and sunny and the water clear and cool but not cold - just right. The slippery footing made it perfect for monkeys of all ages. 

It is great fun to slide down small waterfalls.

Most of the pools are shallow -  

which makes it easy to check out the large potholes.

There are several deep pools which allow for a ten foot jump off the cliff in classic swimming hole fashion. Here is Will in the air.

And as expected Adam is hamming it up.

At the lower end of the shut-ins are many waterfalls and pools.

At the bottom is a deeper swimming lake. I wonder whose finger that is. We spent the whole afternoon and nobody wanted to drive home. Another nice bonus for this swimming hole - its free - with no entrance or parking fee.

For those who want to stay longer, they can camp at  Johnson Shut-Ins State Park 

  mostateparks.com/park/johnsons-shut-ins- state-park 

or they can drive to the Dragon-Fly-In B&B which is just south of Ironton, Missouri. 

  www.dragonflyinbb.com 

Innkeeper and friend, Linda McHenry does a superb job of making guests feel at home.