Day 1:

 Today my Wonder Spouse and I ventured forth on the first day of our two week south west adventure. We have made it as far west as Chesterfield, MO where we are spending the night. We spent much of the afternoon in St. Louis touring the Gateway Arch. It is really an amazing structure. We did ride one of the tiny  elevators sideways and up (like stairsteps) to the very top where we had time to appreciate the view from all sides. There were some steps to climb and lines to wait in but it was well worth it. Just seeing the arch from a distance is great but I highly recommend that you take the tour the next time you're in St. Louis.  For some reason I can't send pictures this evening, will try again tomorrow. 

brain games..

 Just for a change, I told my west coast brother what special day today, October 13, is.  He and his family were busy celebrating the birthdays of two of their sons so I understand and am happy to take my turn.

Today is "National Train Your Brain Day."  I don't know if this counts as brain training, but every day my spouse and I do at least three of the New York Times puzzles.  We can access these on our phones.  How did we ever play games before cell phones?

I work through 'Wordle' quite successfully.  I can usually get the answer in three or four guesses.  Then I work on 'Connections', which is definitely more difficult.  Occasionally I must take a hint.  And then there is 'Strands.'  This is my favorite because I can almost always solve it with no hints at all.  

My wonder spouse and I are friendly competitors, and sometimes even collaborators.  In addition I like paper games, especially 'Sudoku.'  I can also spend a lot of time playing Free Cell, a lovely old computer 'card' game, which can always be solved, although sometimes it takes several trys.

All of this is to say that I do think it's good to execise my brain, but sometimes I need a break. Today was just such a day.  After spending most of the day finishing packing for our south west trip (we're leaving tomorrow at 9:00am) and making time to train our brains with our puzzles, this evening my wonder spouse and I spent a delightful two hours watching the old James Bond movie "Goldfinger." It was very relaxing, but not at all mentally taxing.  And that's ok for a change.

A timely reminder...

 My west coast brother informed me that today is his youngest son's 31st birthday, and also, quite coincidentally, "International Moment of Frustration Scream Day." I am very happy for my nephew and all the family but I did have a frustration today (nothing to do with my nephew) that made me want to scream, or at least cry. 

I went to a local. very nice, very reputable nursing home today to visit my 90 year old cousin.  I was surprised when I walked in the door to be told that I must wear a mask.  They had them available but this had never been a requirement during previous visits.  I put on a mask and signed in. After that, when I told a nurse who I was here to visit, I was told that I could visit my cousin but would need to put on a gown and gloves, as well as the mask.  While I was still absorbing that, another nurse came up, asked who I wanted to see, and when I responded, told me quite firmly that my cousin has COVID and wouldn't be able to have visitors until Friday.  When I mentioned that I'm leaving on vacation on Wednesday, she took me firmly by the arm and practically pushed me out the door with instructions to go home and use hand sanitizer or, better yet, wash my hands thoroughly with soap and water, which I did as soon as I got home. 

I have written a letter to my cousin (typed - very large print) which I will mail tomorrow. I hope she receives it and will understand why I couldn't visit.  I am feeling frustrated because I naively thought we were done with COVID.  Take care, everyone.  

Going...

 My West Coast brother has told me that today is "You Go Girl Day." That seems like a fine day to me. To celebrate I did GO to church and convinced my spouse and our house guest to GO with me. After church we decided to GO to Wu's for an excellent Chinese lunch. After we came home I convinced the other two that we should probably all GO to our favorite relaxing spots and try to GO to sleep for a brief afternoon nap (an excellent Sunday afternoon tradition). That seems to have worked. It has been very quiet around here for the last couple of hours. I have decided to GO ahead and write this blog on my phone for practice because I will be writing my blogs this way while we are on the GO later this week. Now I must stop this foolishness and GO do some packing. 

Woops.....

 In all my preliminary preparations for our upcoming driving trip, I totally forgot to blog last night.  In my defense, in addition to thinking about necessary chores, like doing laundry, we have been entertaining a house guest who will be with us until the day before we leave on our vacation.

On the positive side, our guest really enjoys old movies, so last evening, after supper, we watched the movie "Nine to Five" starring Jane Fonda, Lily Thomlin, and Dolly Parton.  I had forgotten how hilarious that movie really is.  I went to bed, still laughing, and realized at about 2:00am that I had forgotten to blog.  Too late then. 

Today, following up on our goal of being really ready for this trip (since this is not a Viking Cruise the bulk of the planning has fallen on my wonder spouse) he is doing an excellent job of making sure all our 'ducks' are in a row.  After careful consideration of the discriptions of rough terain on some of our walking tours, we decided that it might be good to have something sturdier than gym shoes to wear.  So today we went shopping at my favorite shoe store, Robert's, which is, sadly, going out of business at the end of October. Where will I get my size 11's then?  Happily, almost everything in the store is marked down. I was able to buy a pair of SAS walking shoes at a really good price. Regular price $209.00, sale price $125.40.  This was only a 40 percent discount but I'm not complaining.

This is what they look like, not particularly cute or stylish, but definitely up to hiking around Mesa Verde.  The color is called 'black moon dust.' I do like that.  So far they are also very comfortable.  Alas, my spouse was not able to find anything similar in the men's department, but never fear, he has ordered hiking boots from Amazon.  They will be here tomorrow.  Which is good since we're leaving on Wednesday.  "Southwest" here we come!!

PS If this blog sounds like an advertisement for Robert's, that was not my intent, but if you like shoes (notice I didn't say 'need' shoes) you should not miss this sale.  It ends October 31. 

Fabulous Flashback

My spouse, our house guest, and I just spent a very entertaining evening watching the 1978 movie "Death on the Nile" based on the 1937 novel by Agatha Christie, and courtesy of Amazon Prime.  The movie starred Peter Ustinov, David Niven, Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Mia Farrow and Lois Chiles.  If those names are familiar to you, welcome to my generation.

Not only was the story twisted and fun to follow, but my spouse and I found ourselves playing the "I remember that" game as we saw scenes and sites that we had explored while we were in Egypt last year.  The giant sphinx, the avenue of sphinxes, the rows of giant columns, ancient temples and of course, the pyramids.  Happily, there were no giant blocks of stone dislodged and falling at our feet while we were there. Our gracious guide Wasfat would never have permitted that. We were not allowed to climb the great pyramid either, although, to be honest, neither of us was tempted to do that.  

We did travel by riverboat up the Nile and we passed the riverboat, the Steam Ship Sudan, on which Agatha Christie traveled, and that inspired her novel.  It was used to film a 2004 adaptation.  Alas the 1978 film we just watched used a mock-up ship named the Memnon at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England. So disappointing.

The two scenes above were in the movie.

Here are three of my favorite Egyptian temples.  This evening's movie really did bring back some memories. 

more good eating...

 According to my west coast brother, today, October 7, is "National Chocolate Covered Pretzels Day," "National Frappe Day." "National Pumpkin Seed Day," "Canadian Beer Day," "National Kale Day" and "Random Acts of Poetry Day." How can I resist the challenge?

Chocolate, Frappe, Pumpkin, Beer,

These I like to keep quite near.

You must admit, they sound delicious,

And, possibly, a bit nutritious. 

On the other hand take kale.

Nutrition oozes from each leaf.

Green, curly and available, yet, 

as I stroll the grocery aisles,

sipping a frappe for energy, 

pretzels, pumpkin seeds and beer

might wind up in my grocery cart, 

but kale will never there appear.

Good Eating

 According to my West Coast brother today is National German Heritage Day and also National Noodle Day. I am not at all surprised that these two events should be celebrated together.

My father's grandparents immigrated from Germany to the United States sometime in the early 1800s. While they became citizens and gave up speaking German, they did not, happily, give up their German food traditions.

Every Christmas, Thanksgiving, or other festive celebration feast at my Aunt Dora's house included noodles, always, always served on top of mashed potatoes. I loved watching my aunt make mashed potatoes. After she boiled and drained the potatoes, she would dump them into a large mixing bowl, add lots of butter and a little milk, and whip those potatoes to a froth with her trusty electric hand mixer. I have used her recipe for years. Then she served them with plenty of butter melting on top. 

Everyone would take a heaping helping of mashed potatoes as they were passed around the table. Then came the noodles, boiled in beef or chicken broth with plenty of tasty bits of meat. The noodles went on top of the potatoes, of course. Even though there was plenty of other food being served, meat, vegetables, salad, etc, I was always happy to fill up on noodles and mashed potatoes.  If you've never tried noodles on mashed potatoes you really must. If you have had such a feast, I bet your mouth is watering right now. I know mine is. 

Looking back...

 My spouse's brother-in-law is visiting with us for a week, and, as seems inevitable when three 80+ age family members get together, the conversation today focused mainly on things past.  

We have compared cars we have driven, places around the world where we have been, either to live or visit, friends and family still with us or long since gone to their reward.  Talking about what our children and grandchildren are doing has been a happy topic of discussion.  Our personal ailments, fading eyesight, creaky knees, etc. took up some time as we compared notes.

Because his brother-in-law also grew up in Fort Wayne, my wonder spouse took us on a long drive around the city this evening, past old homes, old schools and other remembered haunts, like favorite restaurants, the dentist's office, and the best slopes for racing bikes.

We went to Clara's Pizza King for supper and the pizza was just as delicious as we all remembered.  The sweet tea was so good.  It was fun using the table telephone to place our order.

After supper my wonder spouse drove us past the huge new soccer stadium so our guest, who now lives in Florida, could see that some things do change in good old Fort Wayne. All in all it has been a delightful visit so far, but now I'm wondering what we will talk about for the next eight days. 

the perfect spice

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "Cinnamon Roll Day."  Since I wrote about cider yesterday, and since cider and cinnamon so often go together in our household, I thought it would behoove me to write about cinnamon today. (Don't you love that word 'behoove'? I don't get to use it very often.)

Cinnamon is the inner bark of evergreen trees found in Ceylon and other similar places with a hot climate, plently of rain and good drainage.  If you want to grow your own cinnamon you can Google it and get the complete instructions. 

Personally, I am happy to buy it in little tin boxes at the grocery store. It comes in 'ground' and 'stick' form. We always have a supply of each on hand.  I am pretty sure it's one of the basic food groups, right up there with chocolate. for me, and honey for my wonder spouse. 

I will now share with you my two favorite cinnamon based recipes.

1. My favorite breakfast is a thick slice of toasted cinammon swirl bread slathered with butter and coated with cinnamon sugar.  I have a cinnamon sugar mixture handy at all times.

2. One of my favorite drinks is hot cider (the real stuff, as described yesterday) with a cinnamon stick floating in it to add an extra special taste. 

Well, I'm ready to go drink some cider, with a cinnamon stick.  I hope you are too.

Real cider...

 Real apple cider has a taste all its own.  Apple juice, which we get with kid's meals from Culver's (we're not proud, they're very good little suppers) is tasty but it doesn't compare to cider.  

Last fall my spouse and I were astonished to learn that the Amish market where we bought fresh pressed cider, usually on Wednesday afternoons because they pressed it on Wednesday mornings, would no longer be able to sell cider because what they were selling wasn't "pasturized." 

It was bad enough the one Wednesday we drove over only to learn that they were sold out.  A gentleman had come in just before us and bought their last 20 gallons.  They suspected that he was going to sell it by the glass in his restaurant, but maybe he was just going to have a really big party? That really wasn't the seller's concern. 

But not being able to sell it because it's not pasturized surprised us.  You pasturize milk and other dairy products.  It's a mild heat treatment process that kills harmful pathogens and spoilage microbes in foods and beverages to make them safe and extend their shelf life.  

In our household extended shelf life has never been a problem when it comes to cider.  We like it heated with a cinnamon stick added or cold, it's all so good.  I don't know if the owners of our favorite Amish market are now pasturizing their cider, or if that requirement was changed, but my spouse was delighted to find it for sale when he went to the market today, and I'm happy to report that it tastes just as delicious as ever.  Pasturized or not, we will definitely keep buying it until the season is over. Cheers!

In case you're wondering, yes it does taste different and better than the cider that you can buy at Krogers.  Nothing against Krogers, we buy most of our groceries there, but I'm sure their cider is pasturized. 

special days

 Well, here we are in October and the days will pass quickly as we get closer to October's grand finale - Halloween!!  One of our neighbors, obviously ready to skip right to Halloween, has lavishly decorated their yard with skeletons and pumpkins and lots and lots of cobwebs strewn from tree to bush to tree and all across the front of the house.  Not really my decorating style but certainly in keeping with the theme. 

And this is all fine, but I think it's unfortunate to skip over so many other October holidays on the way to Halloween.  

Take today for instance.  October 2 is, among other things, "National Body Language Day," "National Name Your Car Day." and "World Smile Day."  Each of these days is important to me personally.  

I have been accused of using too much body language.  It's true that I tend to wave my arms around when I talk, and everyone knows that I love a good hug.  I can't think of any body language better than that, especially if it includes a kiss. 

As for naming my car, I had some help with that.  My faithful Fiat is blue, so when one of my granddaughters asked me (12 years ago when I bought it) what I was going to name my car, I said that I would just call it Blue.  The same granddaughter then gifted me with a decorative plate for the front of my car.  There was a space since Indiana only requires a license plate on the back of a car. The plate says "Nana's Blue." It's a little faded now but still quite legible.

As far as smiles are concerned, what a great way to brighten someone's day.  I love it when people smile at me, sometimes they smile first, sometime they are responding to my smile, but it always cheers me, and hopefully them too.  There's a reason why 'Smile Day' is a world wide celebration.  Smiling is truly a universal language. And easy to learn.  My seven month old great grandson has a wonderful smile. 

How old is old?

 My ever loving west coast brother, who is ten years younger than me, so obviously not old, has informed me that today is "International Day of Older Persons." 

He also said that their slogan is "The older I get, the older 'old' gets." But, while I certainly agree with this sentiment, I think he might have made that up. 

On December 14, 1990, the United Nations General Assembly voted to establish October 1 as the "International Day of the Elderly." Personally, I prefer the term 'older persons' over 'elderly.'  Evidently so do others of my age, since the name of the day was changed.  

An older person, or an old person if you prefer to be blunt, can be getting along just fine, thank you very much, but the term 'elderly' sounds rickety and in need of lots of assistance.  On a recent newscast, I heard a man involved in something news worthy referred to as 'elderly.'  Later in the same show it was revealed that he was 65.  I'm sorry, 65 does not sound elderly to me.  

The theme for this year's "Day of Older Persons" is "The Age of Longevity - Rethinking Systems for Longer Lives."

I can suggest one thing that will make a life feel longer. Decide, with your spouse, or another relative or friend, to put together a 1000 piece jig saw puzzle.  If and when we finish the one we are working on right now, my wonder spouse and I will gladly pass it on to the next puzzle addicts. We guarantee that all the pieces will be there.  Send me you address and I will mail it to you. Anywhere at all!

about those jails...

 There has been some news over the last few years about the building of our new Allen County Jail.  They were talking about it when I still lived in my downtown apartment a few years ago, and I paid attention because I could see the 'old' jail, built in 1981, from my 10th floor balcony.  I never felt any concerns for my safety, but it was interesting to see police cars pulling in and out at all times of the day and night. 

   I found out, by doing a little research today, that the construction of the new jail at 2911 Meyer Road is actually underway and the targeted completion date is late 2027.  It is a 400,000 square foot project being built on 44 acres of land and will, hopefully, correct the overcrowded conditions in the current facility.  The new jail is being built because a judge ordered it to be built, to alleviated the severe overcrowding in our current facility.  By the way, Fort Wayne is not a 'hot bed' of crime, but prisoners are brought to our jail from all over the northern part of the state. 

In case you're wondering why I'm thinking about jails at all, it's because, while flipping through "Moments In Fort Wayne History" I came upon a page titled "Debtor's Prison."  This was interesting enough that I have forgiven the author for his lack of information about libraries.  Here is Mr. Bashore's entry written about 1960:

Regional correction centers are the modern form of correction and while they stir much discussion there's one thing of which you can be certain - they include no "debtor's prison," as did the first Allen County jail built in 1825.  Although the Grand Jury contended only a year later that it was "unsatisfactory as a place of safety for persons committed thereto," it was still operating 23 years later in 1847.  The newspaper persistently editorialized for a "more respectable" jail and with good reason.  Escapes were frequent.  One "Houdini" in particular mystified his jailors.  Whenever he was incarcerated, which was frequent, he was back on the streets within minutes.  His secret was finally discovered, though.  It was a loose log he could lift out and replace undetected. A new jail was built and it performed more adequately until 1872 when the present jail was built, and like its predecssors, it, too, is a target for criticism and concern.  

That jail, built in 1872, was evidently replaced by the current one built in 1981 which will be replaced in 2027 if all goes as planned. 

Regarding prisoners, at one time in his working career, my wonder spouse ran a factory in a small town near Fort Wayne.  Many of their employees were in a "work release" program.  They came from jail to work, then back to work again.  While they were in the system they were very good reliable workers.  Sadly, once they were released from jail, many of them lost their jobs for frequent lateness and absences.  

I have a good friend, now retired, who worked for years teaching prison inmates in a different part of Indiana to read and write and other basics of education.  I have always admired her for that work.   I thank her, my wonder spouse, and many others like them, for their committment to trying to make things better and give people a second chance. 

A day to celebrate...

 My west coast brother informed me that today is "National Coffee Day."  My wonder spouse and I celebrated by having several refills of coffee while we ate brunch at the Breakfast Clubb, a cheerful little restaurant on St. Joe Center Road.  I had biscuits and gravy, he had French toast.  We both ordered off the seniors' menu, and the meals, including coffee were $8.00 each, quite reasonable we thought. We were just a little disappointed that we were not 'carded.'  Evidently they could tell by looking that we are both over 65.  

As it turned out, that was our last economizing of the day.  While we were savoring our coffee refills, I told my spouse about a Viking cruise that friends of ours are planning to take in May of 2027, starting in Barcelona and ending in Iceland, with several stops along the way.  We both agreed that this sounded like a really good cruise.  So good in fact, that we came home and (with our friends' very positive respose to the idea) signed up for the same cruise and made a deposit.  

Now you may remember, if you are a faithful reader of this blog, that after our cruise from Tokyo to Alaska last spring, I wrote that that would be our last big cruise.  In fact we are planning a driving trip around the US in October, originally intended to replace a cruise.  Which means that, in addition to a bountiful breakfast, I am now eating my words.  A very tasty treat indeed. 

books, books, books...

 I readily admit that a visit to the library is, for me, like being a kid in a candy shop (except without the calories).  We do have a very fine branch library just across the street from our subdivision, and I visit it frequently, but today I treated myself to some time at our wonderful large downtown library.  Our library is know for, among other things, a nationally renowned geanealogy center (one of the top three in the country) which I really must take advantage of one of these days. 

Because I had such a good time at the library today, I decided to check in the little book "Moments In Fort Wayne History" to see what the author had to say about the history of our local library.  Would you believe that in the 50 pages of this little book there is not a single mention of libraries?  What kind of professional author doesn't mention libraries in a little book subtitled "A Unique Look at the Places and People Contributing to Fort Wayne's Growth."  What about libraries and librarians?  

I have decided that I must make up for this grievous omission, so here's the history that Mr. Bashore didn't include in his little book.   The ACPL (Allen County Public Library) was founded in 1895 as the Fort Wayne Public Library.  It started with 3,606 books housed in a single room at City Hall. 

One year later, in 1896, it was designated as a Federal Depository Library.  That is a library that provides free, open access to official government publications, documents and electronic resources.  Now you know why tax forms are available at the library. 

Today we have a vibrant main library and 13 outlying branches containing millions of physical and digital items. (Not to mention free lunches for kids during the summer.) When I was strolling through the library today I was interested to see that the seats in front of the rows and rows of computers were all occupied. 

From time to time I have special requests.  Any librarian I have ever spoken with by phone or in person is unfailingly polite and helpful.  So cheers for our local library.  May it grow and flourish for years to come.  

an ancestor worth mentioning...

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "Ancestor Appreciation Day."  Of course we all appreciate our ancestors, after all, where would we be without them?

But today I will write about one particular ancestor, because this is a story I have always enjoyed.  My aunt, my mother's older sister, wanted to join the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).  Sixty years ago, when she was doing the research, it wasn't as easy as it is now, but she persisted and came up with a link to Phillip Von Steinmetz, also listed as Johann Philips Steinmetz.  The family story, as my aunt recorded it, said that Phillip came to America before the Revolutionary War, fought in the war on the American side, survived, married, fathered 9 children and lived to a ripe old age. 

The reason why he came to America wasn't exactly honorable, although there may have been extenuating circumstances.  Maybe he was hungry?  He was caught poaching (he killed the king's deer) and was going to be hung, but managed to escape and get on a ship to the new world.  Since sailors were always in demand, he may have worked his way across the Atlantic.  I'm just guessing at that, but it makes sense to me. 

Gathering information now is easier than sixty years ago and I have been able to add some facts to the family legend.  

Phillip Steinmetz was born in 1730, baptized in 1733, and was living in America before 1776.  At age 37 (1767) he married Maria Magdalena (Schlauch) and they had one son.

He married Catherine Ann (Geiss) in 1780 at age 49, and they had seven children. 

He then married Margeretha (Gertraund) and they had one child.

Life was not easy or necessarily long for wives in those days.  Phillip died at 76 and is buried in Pennsylvania, where my mother's family comes from. 

So there you have it.  The life and legend of an ancestor whom I appreciate. 

Be alert

According to my west coast brother, and confirmed by the calendar, today is "National Situational Awareness Day."  Basically, this is a day to remind all of us to be aware of what's going on around us when we're out in public.  I must admit that I have often walked around a mall or downtown without paying much attention to who was around me or what might be going on.  I'm too busy admiring fountains and flowers. 

In case you're wondering, like I was, just what does it mean to be situationally aware, here are some answers. 

Situational awareness is 

Being Present: Paying close attention to your immediate surroundings rather than being distracted (such as by cell phones).

Early Recognition: Identifying potential hazards, escapes routes, or threats a split second sooner to avoid harm.

Informed Decisions: Knowing how to respond safely if something unexpected occurs.

As I read through this list, I found myself thinking that this really doesn't apply to my wonder spouse and myself much anymore.  Most of our ventures out 'into the world' are fairly close to home and in areas we consider to be very safe.  On the other hand, in October we will be on a long driving trip through the southwest with stops in cities like St. Louis, Dallas and Nashville.  I do not think of these cities as being dangerous but it won't hurt to stay alert and aware of our surroundings, if for no other reason than to keep us from tripping and falling.

I do remember one incident when knowing to call 911 (an informed decision) helped me.  This was about 12 years ago, so I was in my late 60s.  I was driving on a quiet cross street in downtown Fort Wayne, leaving an evening church meeting that had run late, when I saw a man lying half on the street and half on the sidewalk.  I drove on until I was in the next block, then called the police to inform them of the man I had seen and the location.  They asked me if I was waiting at the scene?  I told them no, I had driven on because I didn't know if it was a trap.  The policeman I was talking to agreed that that was a wise decision, and assured me that they would go to the scene.  I gave him my name and address and drove on home.  I never heard any more about the incident.  But I will always be glad that I did have some sense of how to respond.  

Situational Awareness Day isn't exactly a day to celebrate but you might take a few minutes to consider being present, practicing early recognition, and being ready to make informed decisions.  

Testing

 This is a quick blog to be sure I can blog from my phone  before we leave on our trip. After an exhausting evening of eating treats from Zestos, perhaps the last of the season, and starting a new jigsaw puzzle, I'm just too tired to write more. Yawn...

Novelties?

My west coast brother has informed me that today is the "Festival of Latest Novelties." By definition novelties are "useless, frivolous gifts" like yoyos, Rubik's cubes and Mood Rings.  I have a shelf full of such usless novelties, including a snow globe, a string of Marde Gras beads, a pet rock, an Oragami dragon, several small clay pots, and more.  All treasures, all too precious to throw away. 

However, if you expand the definition of novelties to include new fun things that are also useful the list gets much more interesting.  Items that only recently evolved from novelties to 'necessities' include smart watches, smart phones, tablets and laptops. 

I did find a current list of the top ten favorite gadgets (useful novelties?): 

Apple Air Tag, OuraRing 4, Sony Headphones, Fitbit Charger 6, Kindle Scribe, Anker Portable Power Bank, Wolfbox Jump Starter and Air Compressor, GoPro Hero 12 Black, Universal Travel Adapter, and Ember Smart Mug 2.  

What a great list.  It just makes you want to rush out and go shopping, doesnt it? Or you can click on Amazon.com.  Now there's a novelty that became a necessity.