I got back on the bike on Saturday.  The weather was cold (in the twenties) and windy (in the twenties).  I launched and got to the top of the block when I realized that I had forgotten to put on my booties.  Without my booties I knew that my feet would get cold.  I turned around and headed back home.  As I was wheeling the bike into the backyard, my cell started to ring.

It was Anne; Don had called and wanted to get together for lunch.  The Schlafly Tap Room was celebrating its eighteenth anniversary.  They were offering 1991 beer prices.  We set a meet time, Anne prepared to join us by car and I re-launched towards the Park.

I tooled around the Park, clocking my miles.  I stopped by Owl Hill and was reward with the sight of Sarah and Charles, the Great Horned Owls, sharing the same tree, another sign of true love.  The Saint Louis Track Club was finishing its Saturday morning run when I arrived.  Afterwards, I spied some swag that must have fallen off one of the runners, a Santa Claus cap, and stopped to pick it up.  After a while I headed downtown.  The wind was at my back and I quickly made it to the Tap Room.  I got fifteen miles.

I was the first to arrive and put my name in for a table.  Don, Dorothy and Dennis, friends and all Team Kaldi’s members arrived next, our table was ready, we were seated and Anne arrived.  We were seated near the brewery part of the Tap Room.  Tom Schlafly, the owner, was being filmed for a TV spot across the glass from us.  In addition to brewing beer, Tom is active in Saint Louis politics.  His politics are diametrically opposite to those of the conservative, Phyllis Schlafly, his relative.

Anne was wearing her new Farhquarson tartan blouse, thank you Jay.  This got us to discussing our heritages.  It turns out that Dennis is of Dutch heritage.  He had an interesting explanation of Dutch last names.  I found the following text on the web that neatly summarizes what he explained.

Many Dutch names are of the form:  van (“of/from”), de/het/‘t (“the”), der (“of the”), van de (“of the/from the”), and in het (“in the”) or simply de (“the”).  All but the latter denote a place of origin or residence, and the latter an occupation or attribute.  In 1811, the French under Napoleon occupied the Netherlands. They started having a census for the purpose of taxation, and forced everyone to have a family name, which was not a common practice for the Dutch.

The Dutch thought this would be a temporary measure, and took on comical or offensive sounding names as a practical joke on their French occupiers.  Some examples are: Suikerbuik (Sugarbelly), Spring in t Veld (Jump in the Field), Uiekruier (Onion-crier), Naaktgeboren (Born naked), Poepjes (Little shit), Schooier (Beggar), Scheefnek (Crooked-neck), Rotmensen (Rotten people), Zeldenthuis (Rarely at home), Zondervan (without a surname), Borst (breast) and Piest (to urinate).  Imagine the Dutch standing in line to register and having a few laughs at the expense of the French officials, only to have the name stick to them and their descendants for centuries.

Afterwards, I drove home with Anne.  We decided to detour through the Park and made a stop at Owl Hill.  Anne got to see Sarah and Charles, for the first time.