Look at Me Girls, Look at Me

Posted on April 23, 2013 by RegenAxe

Male Yellow-Shafted Northern Flicker

Saturday afternoon, when I was bicycling in the park, I came upon the above pictured flicker. He was perched atop a street light and was easy to find. (You can tell that he is a male, because of the black malar coming off his beak.) First, he would call out, wicka-wicka-wicka, then he would pound his beak against the aluminum street light housing, rat-a-tat-tat. Then he would pause and I could hear another male flicker, not too far off, repeating his message, wicka-wicka-wicka and then rat-a-tat-tat. After the other bird was done, this little guy would begin the call and response again. It wasn’t until after several rounds of this that I realized that the other male flicker was at the adjacent street lamp, just fifty yards down the road. I never saw nor heard any female flickers, but they had to be there, because why else would these two dudes be strutting their stuff?

A spring or two ago, Anne was in the classroom, but the window was open and it was a beautiful spring day. Just outside, a male cardinal was perched on a tree branch, singing his heart out. It sounded like who-it cheer, who-it cheer, cheer-cheer-cheer; cheer, who-it-who-it-who-it-who-it; wheat-wheat-wheat-wheat. Anne whistled back to the bird and then interpreted for the class, look-at-me-girls, look-at-me-girls, look-at-me-girls, look-look-look. One sad individual asked her, “Where did you learn to speak pigeon?” I say sad, because not only was he unable to distinguish between a cardinal and a pigeon, but he failed in his hometown, which is also the home of the Saint Louis Cardinals.

One last spring story, this one is from the plant kingdom. I got up and out of bed this morning early enough to beat today’s rain and go for another bicycle ride in the park. There were no wildlife encounters on this ride, but I did hear a number of interesting, if unidentifiable bird calls. This spring story comes down to what I saw, while climbing the last hill on the way home. There was a green sheen on the raised tread of my bicycle tire. The green was from the pollen that all of the plants and trees have been busily pumping out. Today’s rain ought to give some momentary relief to all of the allergy suffers in town. Oh by the way, they are also forecasting snow for tonight.

Happy Earth Day!

Posted on April 22, 2013 by RegenAxe

Forest Park Earth Day Festival

Our Saturday was a full day and night. By the end of it, I was sore, tired and sunburned, my bad. To make matters worse, I didn’t sleep well, when I finally did make it to bed, too much caffeine during Saturday night’s trivia contest. So, it shouldn’t have been too surprising that on Sunday morning, we both rolled over and went back to sleep and missing our planned Trailnet group bicycle ride. This old saying comes to mind, “If you want to soar with the eagles you can’t hoot with the owls”. After sheltering in place all morning, we finally launched on our bikes at the butt-crack of noon.

Our destination was the Earth Day Festival in Forest Park. We’ve been attending this festival for years now. Trailnet was there, operating not one, but two valet bicycle parking lots. That was our first stop. We quickly bumped into Susan, our across the street neighbor, and fellow Team Kaldis member. Next we met Kitty, one of Dan’s friend. Anne recognized her from the back, because of her rather distinctive hairdo. She is married now and they are soon visiting LA.

Year’s ago Anne (Citizen of the Year) and I were driving Kitty and Dan to the bus station. They were on their way to either Philly or Alabama; I can’t remember which trip this was. Kitty’s cell phone rang. It was her mother with some last minute detail. Afterwards Kitty told her mom that her python had escaped its cage, but not to worry, just leave the bedroom door closed. A minute later her mom called back with the news that Kitty’s bedroom door was open.

Anne and I had some nachos and then went in search of Pat from Saturday night. She had gotten up early and led the Earth Day parade. Joanie arrived then too. Leaving Anne in good company, I headed for home. I managed to stay up until Anne made it home too, but I was already in bed by the time she stepped out of the shower. I guess the weekend had finally caught up with me.

First Citizen

Posted on April 21, 2013 by RegenAxe

Eye

Catkins

The Way

Spring Tree Buds

Flowering Trees

It has been a busy weekend for the First Citizen and I. Trust me; you’ll get tired of this my new moniker for Anne, before I will. Friday night, Anne was named Citizen of the Year by the Maplewood-Richmond Heights School District, but I’ve already written about this. Citizens, to arms …

First thing Saturday morning, we drove to Laumeier for a walk in the park. Laumeier is a sculpture park. It was cool, but bright. After looking at a few of the new artworks together, we walked our separate ways. I continued examining the myriad of sculptures on the grounds, while Anne, I mean the First Citizen, concentrated on the abundant signs of spring that were budding out everywhere. I’ve shared a few of our photos here. We eventually rendezvoused at The Way, the park’s signature piece. Then it was time for breakfast.

Breakfast was at Spencer’s Grill in Kirkwood. This example of the iconic American diner has been in business since 1947. Its clock motif has been counting the minutes ever since. Returning home, I mowed the front lawn for the first time this year. The back lawn is still covered with spring beauties. I helped our new neighbor, Molly, mow her lawn too. She has a human-powered mower that was not up to the task. I know, because for almost thirty years I had one too and dreaded the year’s first mowing. I’ve switched to electric. Afterwards, I went for a bike in the park.

The First Citizen went to the yarn store. She is knitting a cap for me. She has a button that says, “Keep calm and carry yarn”, a play on “Keep calm and carry on”. One of her colleagues at school told her about a Boston appropriate version that said, “Keep wicked calm and carry the hell on”. This cap is a two-sided complicated patterned affair and Anne has been wrestling with it. She took it to the yarn expert for help. The expert told her that she would need a magnifying glass to see the mistake in question and if anyone ever complained about it, “Either kiss them or smack them”. So far it’s still kisses all around.

Saturday night was trivia night. Joanie, her friend Pat and a table full of other smart people were there. Pat is also my colleague. I don’t know if trivia night is just a Saint Louis thing or if other locales also partake in it too. This was a fund-raising event for Pat’s church. I’ve never been much enamored these events, partly because I’m not that good at it, but this night was different. We were winning. After ten rounds, we, being table #4 were in contention. We had been alternately tied for the lead or trailing by only a point table #10. We also had table #1 nicking at our heels. After the final round, we were tied for the lead with table #1. #10 had exploded at the finish line, sort of speak. We got our money back, but it was already way too late.

That’s enough for one post. Sunday’s telling will have to wait, stay tuned …

Old Saint Louis Pothole

Posted on April 10, 2013 by RegenAxe

Old Saint Louis Pothole

This old pothole was at the intersection of Olive and Grand. Peeking through the asphalt is the underlying cut stone, not cobble stone. Also visible is an iron rail from one of Saint Louis’ ancient trolley lines. This bit of impromptu archaeology was brought to you by a bicyclist that had stopped at a red light.

The Glass Forest

Posted on April 8, 2013 by RegenAxe

The Glass Forest, by Dale Chihuly

The photo with this post is of a Dale Chihuly artwork entitled, the Glass Forest. We saw it on display last fall at Chihuly Garden and Glass, located in the shadow of the Space Needle. The following is part of the museum’s write-up:

The Glass Forest elements were crafted by simultaneously blowing and pouring molten glass from the top of a stepladder to the floor, where the deflated bubbles solidify. The glass stalks or stems are arranged in an enclosed space and illuminated with electrically charged neon and argon lamps. With their globular collapsed bases and gracefully ascending stalks, they are both shaped by and also seem to defy gravity.

After work today, I went for another bike ride in Forest Park, for the fourth day in a row. It was just a short little out and back. The weather was warm and windy. There was a lot of debris in the streets, from last night’s downpour.