Saint Louis Art Fair 2023

Saint Louis Art Fair, Tanya Kirouac, 2023

Art for art’s sake? No! Show me the money. Earlier this summer, I went to the Ann Arbor art fair, which was huge by comparison. This one was much smaller, only a few hundred artists. Really, it is so small that it does not deserve the moniker Saint Louis Art Fair. There are plenty of other art fairs around town and across the summer of similar size. It is sometimes called the Clayton art fair, but since Clayton is the county seat, I guess that gives it the right to represent the whole city. My quibbling aside, it was a beautiful day for a fair. We walked from home, around the whole fair and then back home again. I got my steps in and on the heels of yesterday’s Gyro class. Amber alert! I am going to be feeling it tomorrow. This year marks the thirtieth anniversary for this fair. Every year, they pick one artist’s work to be featured on the fair’s poster. In this juried fair, that artist gets an automatic invite for the following year. This year, because of the special anniversary, it seemed that all the past honorees were invited back. 

Rob & Edie

Jefferson Barracks Cemetery

“On behalf of the President of the United States, the United States Air Force and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one’s honorable and faithful service.”

Two airmen, one young, male and tall and the other much older, not the congregation’s old, but well on the way there, female and shorter folded an American flag with exaggerated precision. When the flag was folded into a crisp triangle, she took it from him with two open palms, one on top of the flag, the other below. She turned and knelt in front of the widow and then recited the above words with practiced perfection. But also, with real sincerity in her old before their time eyes that have seen so much grief. Like she had done a thousand times.

Jefferson Barracks is a national cemetery that was created by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. When the boys were in Scouts, we would plant flags on the graves for Memorial Day. These days, it performs about forty services a day. So, our service was by necessity brief.

Rob passed while we were out-of-town this summer, but we made it back to Saint Louis for his service. Both he and Edie were Kaldi bicycle buddies. We have not ridden with them for years, but we have gotten together again for monthly luncheons. There was a larger than expected turnout for Rob’s service and Edie hosted us all at their home afterwards.

Toil and Trouble

Daisy

Poor Harry Macbeth, a circle of three witches, all his daughters, have convened a coven in his man cave. They sit around their cauldron all day to kvetch, convo and laugh. Double, double toil and trouble. A bon vivant man about town, Harry is now a man for All Seasons. However, this is not just any season. It is the season of the witch, where you have got to pick up every stitch. In Shakespeare’s play, his witches are brewing up a noxious sounding potion, what with the likes of eye of newt. In truth these seemingly disgusting ingredients are rather innocuous. Eye of newt is another name for mustard seed, toe of frog is buttercup, wool of bat are holly leaves and so on. On occasion I have attempted to stick my nose into these witch’s proceedings, only to have it bit off. At least I have not been turned into a newt. I might not get better.