A Flight from Destiny, Bill Schenck, 1994

I continue to bicycle, most days, in the park. I get out and ride even on days when the mercury has risen. On those hotter days, I just slide my riding time earlier in the day. Forest Park Forever, the charity dedicated to the maintenance of the park has been planting more signs. First, it scattered “you are here” maps everywhere. Then it erected a marble edifice, at the southwest entrance that announces that this is Forest Park. They have been working on this structure all year. Now, they’ve started planting more new signage along the bicycle trail that circles the park. They are fundraising oriented and are targeted at people who use the trails, with the slogan, “Happy Trails”. In other park news, the Dwight Davis Tennis Center is hosting the US Open Wheelchair Championship now.

Closer to home, we did not escape lawn damage is the current round of utility work. Workers are laying new street light electrical wire via boring, but every time they cross another underground utility, like my gas line, they “pothole” the junction. So now there is a hope in the lawn that is currently covered up with plywood and further decorated with stakes and orange tape. Interestingly, when they potholed us, they found a few bricks underground. I have no idea why they were there. Our house was built in 1937, but it originally didn’t use gas. We have a coal chute door that had a hole cut in it to allow the filling of an oil tank. We also still have the old oil tank in the basement. I don’t know when the house was converted to gas or why bricks were around the gas line. It’s a mystery.

Finally in this potpourri post, it was announced that my former colleagues here in Saint Louis finally won a contract. For $802M Boeing will build four drones for the Navy. Called the MQ-25A Stingray, this unmanned aircraft is slated to be used as an aerial refueling tanker. If successful, this win could be parlayed into another eighty planes worth $13B. Congratulations team! Looks stealthy.

Boeing MQ-25A Stingray