The first overnight stop on our Midwestern Adventure Trip (MAT) was Kirksville, where Ted and I spent the evening with Kathy and Annette. The girls treated us to dinner and we had several hours to catch up on what’s new with each of us. After all, we hadn’t been together since the eclipse two days ago. Before settling in for our talk time, the girls took us to see a Kirksville home with many unusual yard ornaments. The objects definitely qualify as kitsch–a developing theme of this vacation.
Can you see the spider in the lower right center? There is also a praying mantis hidden in the bushes, and don’t miss the smiling face on the center tree trunk. You can see smaller sculptures ahead of the bushes on the left.
Yes, those are jello molds and yes, they spin in the wind.
A carved wooden figure welcomes visitors at the front door. Note that there are elves under the bench on the left.
The entire width of the back yard fence is lined with sculptures–also constructed of jello molds and also capable of spinning in the wind.
After this kitschy stop, we found more kitsch at the girls’ house.
Annette made this for an art sculpture project while attending Moberly Area Community College. It now serves as a storage shed for the girls.
We are definitely viewing a different kind of scenery on this vacation.