What do Oprah Winfrey, leather balls, pickled turnips, kinky window displays, fashion shows and mammoth elephants have to do with each other? Answer: We saw them all on our bike ride today.

20 miles that’s what we rode, not many miles, but loads of blog fodder. The day started off rather inauspiciously. I wasn’t certain that we would ride together. Anne was still hacking up phlegm. Trooper that she is though, she soldiered on and we launched together at eleven.

We rode through the park, on our way to Tower Grove and South Grand. The Crimson was doing warm-up exercises when we passed by on the way out. They were still playing on the way back. We lunched at The Vine, falafels, smoothies and those pink pickled turnips. Anne had heard about Upcycle Exchange and had to check it out. It is a “secondhand” store for fiber art supplies. Ladies turn your fabric stash into cash! It really doesn’t work quite like that, but is still a good go-to for cheap supplies and is also an outlet for churning your supplies. I left and waited outside, when I saw the sign that said unattended children will be given glitter and a glue gun. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be with ‘em or again ‘em. Wayward parents, this is actually a better deal than what a neighboring coffee shop has to offer, an espresso and a puppy, and then your child returned to you. On the way back, we breezed by Vintage Haberdashery and admired their window displays.

So we were heading back on Tower Grove Ave, which is always congested on a Sunday afternoon. Were waiting at the light at Manchester, Anne was in the lead. Usually I snake between the parked cars and the cars stopped at the light. Anne didn’t feel comfortable doing this. I chided her for this, and then noticed the hubbub. I called out to a woman, “What’s up?” “Oprah” she answered. We were outside Sweetie Pie, a traditionally southern/soul restaurant. We dined there once. The food was excellent, but the portions that we ordered were not conducive to cycling.

Anne offered to hold my bike and I dived into the scrum. While she was waiting, she overheard a phone call, “Guess what, honey? I held the door for Oprah. At Sweetie Pie’s. No, the south one.” As I entered the scrum around her a tall woman took me under her arms. She guided me through the crowd to get the shot that I’ve shown. About this time, a man on the periphery of the scrum announced, “You can see her better on TV.” Since I hadn’t actually seen her, just held my camera up above the crowd, I had to agree.

Afterwards, back on the bikes, Anne asked, “So, are you still upset with me for not making the light?” “Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.” That’s why I call her the muse. Afterwards, we stopped at the Missouri History Museum, hence the picture of the Spirit of Saint Louis and the mammoth. We stopped there because the Saint Louis Weavers Guild was doing a fashion show. There will be more on this later.

Today was one in a hundred. The weather today certainly was too. It was so good that we had to import Kansas City fans to fill the indoor stadiums. Even at this point in the post, I am wrestling with whether it is wise to blow all of today’s great shots on one post. After all, I got Oprah, but she was just a moment in a busy day. A high point for sure, but without the day’s supporting cast, ultimately a ho-hum.