For the second time this month our visit to Tower Grove Park has featured a Barred owl. On the first of the month we arrived at eleven and the sirens were being tested. Their wailing triggered a Barred owl that we only heard, but never saw. We went in search of it, but by then the siren test was over and without its noise, the owl must have fallen back to sleep. We never did find it. This time we were in the bird garden, which is a small wooded patch in the northwest corner of the park, where another birder pointed out this sleeping owl out to us. This was at the beginning of our walk around the park, but this photo was taken at its end and as you can see the owl is still there and still asleep.

On our orbit around the park we came upon another birder encounter. A group of people had trained their optics on a line of trees. In these trees little birds could occasionally be seen as they flitted about. Many of these birds were the same species that we had last seen on the shores of Lake Superior, a couple of months ago. Now, they must be passing through town on their southern migration. Tower Grove is a nice waystation for them in their travels, an oasis of greenery that is close to the river, amongst the urban sprawl that is Saint Louis.

Today is trash day. Or is it? Will Monday’s holiday delay the pickup? I don’t think so and neither do most of my neighbors, because the block is lined with barrels. Anne even took out the trash today and she usually gets a call if there is a delay. I suspect that Columbus day is on its way out as a holiday. Some are advocating that it be repurposed as Native American day, but I would prefer that the day off got moved to August. August doesn’t have a holiday. I’m sure that something happened sometime that could be celebrated. I mean it is only of academic interest to me now anyway. It always has been, because I never worked in government. I used to get UN day and NATO day off. Columbus never bought any F-15s. Never heard of them? I don’t blame you. They weren’t real holidays, just a couple of days off, but because so few other people had them off, it was kind of a nice time to go places, back when that was still a thing.

Who Cooks for You? Around here that would be me. We have successfully sloughed our way through the mountain of leftovers that had somehow had accumulated and now that mother’s march on leftovers has successfully concluded, it is time to make some more. Emptying the dish drainer this morning I found the washed remnants of last night’s leftovers, three sandwich sized Tupperware-like containers. The conspiracy theorist in me wonders why none of their lids fits any of the other containers. It’s a puzzle. Tonight’s menu? Scored flank steak marinated in Worcestershire sauce—easy, but all so tasty too. Leavened with an orzo, feta and spinach NYT recipe that I have also come to cherish. Sound good? There should be enough to make more leftovers.