Monthly Archives: May 2016

Pushing Buttons

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Mussel Shell Used to Make Buttons

Mussel Shell Used to Make Buttons

When we were in Knoxville last, we visited the UT natural history museum. Pictured is a mussel shell that has been used to make buttons. The “pearl” button industry was established on the Tennessee River in the late 19th-century. It produced buttons from the abundant fresh-water mussels, but button production ceased after WWII when plastics replaced mother-of-pearl as a button material.

There is another kind of button at Spacely Sprockets and I think that I will press it soon, because it is high time to get this show on the road. Often referred to as ‘the button’, it harbors a certain sense of reverential finality, but without the need for any nuclear launch codes. Its purpose is self-termination. Yeah, it is actually labeled such. I’m not planning on going all Terminator here, it is simply how I will officially announce my retirement. Pressing the button will set in motion my end-of-life processes as an employee at Spacely Sprockets. I’ll get a packet that will explain things and I’ll have an opportunity to have my questions answered. Graphics Gary and I always used to kid each other about pressing the button, but now it is time to do it for real. It is time to get this show on the road.

Playing Hooky

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Garden Poppy

Garden Poppy

Today’s short course is I got up early, got to work early, left work even earlier and then Anne and I spent a delightful afternoon at the botanical gardens. I must admit that I did feel a twinge of guilt about this last item, because there are big meetings going on this week, but since I have no role in them, I decided to take a half-day off. I saw my boss on my way out. He didn’t seem pleased to see me, but then neither was I to see him.

Moving on, because that’s what I’m all about these days, it looks like warmer weather has finally arrived. I wouldn’t say that I’ve been missing it, at least not like the AC repairmen who was by yesterday to check out our unit, but it is here now, so let’s go with the flow. It was only in the low eighties, but the humidity was up. I’ve always felt that late May and early June feel the hottest here in Saint Louis, because they are normally so much more humid than August, plus you’re just not used to the heat. This has been a wet spring and we’re now looking to see another five days of storms. One good thing about this expected bad weather is that it should improve my work ethic, I’m not going to take off from work if it’s raining out.

There were about a gazillion flowers out today, maybe even a gazillion point five. There were more people at the gardens than I expected too, but as Anne pointed out most of the schools are out for the summer and most of the summer camps haven’t started up yet. One interesting party comprised four elderly women in wheel chairs. When we first saw then, they were all sitting in a row, with just one rather youthful male attendant who seemed to be waiting for someone or something. I questioned then how could one person attend to these four women, but later, I saw that he had a more experienced partner. I’m sure that between the two attendants the ladies had a good time. The women could take turns sitting in the shade, while the other two were wheeled about. We too spent plenty of time sitting in the shade. The heat, humidity and eventually the threatening weather drove us to the car and then home.

Road Trip

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Wake up Marquis I think I got something to say to you
It’s late September and I really should be back at school
— With apologies to Rod Stewart

I-24 Bridge Over the Tennessee

I-24 Bridge Over the Tennessee

We’ve been discussing our summer vacation plans: Anne will do her usual stint at the cabin. I’ll retire and then Dan and I will join her there. Hopefully, Dave will join us too, but between school and weddings (not his), I’m not so certain how much time he might have left. Jay and Carl will eventually arrive after a visitation to baseball’s Mecca and then we’ll all enjoy our annual convocation of the clan and then disperse. Anne and I will head west. It will be a camping road trip, where we hope to hit some of the National Parks. It’s too soon to discuss an itinerary, or maybe it’s already too late, depending upon reservations, but we’ll make do. Anyway, it should be fun, it should be an adventure! There is a similar bridge across the Ohio. That’s where I got the idea. Each bridge had two such spans and it took all four to get this shot.

We’ve been acquiring stuff for this adventure. In order to live comfortably as a homeless person it takes a lot of stuff. Most of which we already have, but a few more luxuries of modern life were deemed necessary. Years ago, BC (before children), we also embarked upon a great adventure. That time we were limited to whatever, we could carry on our bikes. This time, we’ll also have the Prius, which can carry a lot more stuff. We have these Therm-A-Rest mattresses that are still as good as they were thirty years ago. Unfortunately, our twice as old backs are not. No worry, for Anne’s birthday and Mother’s Day I gave her not one, but two new Therm-A-Rest cots. I’m such the romantic, because the combination of the cots and the mattresses should yield marital bliss or at least a good night’s sleep. The only downside to the cots is that each one has 50+ pieces, so some assembly is required. The other new acquisition is a gas stove, which doubles as a French press. With these new toys and maybe a few more, we’ll be living in luxury, out in the wild.

The Art of Riding

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Solo Brown Pelican

Solo Brown Pelican

Anne has fallen under the weather this weekend, a parting shot from those runny nosed gutter snipes. She’s off for the summer now and as soon as she is feeling better again, I’m sure that she will begin reveling in the three best things about teaching, June, July and August. I had to fly solo today, because Anne had a couch stuck on her back. I did a Trailnet ride, my first of the season. A modest little affair, it was one of their community rides, this one was the Art of Riding ride. We’ve done this ride before, it features local artists and is some leisurely fun. This ride was more performance art oriented than the others. The performances started before the ride began, at registration. Two banjo players, in a group called Gaslight Square, serenaded us while we waited for the stragglers to arrive. Our first stop was at COCA, where we all performed improv. There were three one-minute rounds. In the first one all you had to do was is speak in the present tense. I was paired with two women and none of us knew the others. The first round was difficult. For the second round, you had to stay in the present, but you also had to disagree with everything that the other people were saying. I found this round incredibly easy. For the final round disagreement was switched to agreement. You had to say, “Yes…, and…”, both agreeing and elaborating. This was probably the best round of the three. Our next stop was down Delmar, with its newly minted trolley tracks. One of the women that I had just improvved with went down on these tracks, when her front wheel got stuck in them, but she was OK. Our next stop was an artist’s collective, where Bryan Payne presented his Doodle Stones artwork. Although there was physical art at this stop, it was as much performance art as the others. Payne geo-caches his Doodle Stones and for him other people finding them is as much of their story as his painting. The ride went on, but I had had enough by then. I was hungry. I headed home and found Anne still alive on the couch.