Former President Jimmy Carter (October 1, 1924-December 29, 2024) was generally unappreciated during his term as President of the United States–including by me. As time went on and Carter demonstrated his beliefs in countless humanitarian ways, I began to respect him more and more.

Until he died, when the news outlets reported the things he accomplished during his presidency, I didn’t realize what an impact Carter had quietly made on our country and on the world. In 1977, the first act of his presidency was to pardon Vietnam draft resisters; the Camp David Accords (1978) are the longest-standing peace agreements in the Middle East and are still in place today; the Salt II talks with President Brezhnev of the Soviet Union resulted in the nuclear arms reduction treaty. As President and throughout his life, he worked constantly for global human rights.

Carter was determined to put principles over politics, regardless of the political consequences of his actions. Political analysts believe this is most likely what cost him a second term as President. He wasn’t a great politician, because his goal was not to be politically correct, but to lead a life of purpose. The accolades made in his honor after his death reflect a person who achieved his goal and can only be described as an exceptionally fine human being.

The Francis Howell School District grew rapidly in the 1970s and needed many new buildings. Jeff and Kathy attended Fairmount Elementary School the first year it opened. The school filled so rapidly that, when Jeff was in sixth grade, he attended another new school–Henderson Junior High. I remember that the library had a minimal number of books, including a single set of encyclopedias for reference. As an increasing number of students attended that school, a new junior high school was constructed on the property, and the building Jeff attended was renamed Francis Howell North High School.

Jeff attended school in that same building from sixth through twelfth grade. The building was oddly constructed and had a confusing system of room numbers. Parents were given school maps to find the classrooms for parent-teacher conferences. During the time Jeff and our other children attended that school, additions to the building kept coming and the layout became even more challenging to navigate. Jeff and a good friend of his gave a speech together on graduation day. Like all graduation speeches, it was forgettable, except for one remark that I still remember. In essence, the boys mentioned that every year, they were in the same building, but every year, the front door was in a different place.

That school was not built to last. Fairmount Elementary School is still doing well, as is the second Henderson Junior High, but Francis Howell North built an entirely new high school on the property and demolished the original building this past year.

Note: Cost overruns on the new building were extraordinary–$86 million became $164 million. Due this cost overrun, 71 other projects expected to be funded by $240 million provided for district building improvements by the voter-approved Proposition S in 2020 are currently on hold. The state auditor is investigating the building costs and the fact that a former district employee hired a low-rated management firm owned by his brother to oversee the project. Our tax dollars at work, right?

The new high school is finished, and the original building is now a pile of rubble. In contrast, the high school my Grandma S. attended (graduated in 1911) is still standing and so is the high school my father attended (graduated 1937).

It takes 2-3 weeks to receive the official copy of the title for a new car in Missouri these days, so Ted and I went back to the dealer a few days ago to pick up the title for my new car. While we were at the dealer, I walked over to the “trophy wall” (as I call it) to see if our picture was included. It was.

That’s our salesman, Scott, standing on the right side of the “I ♥ Spirit Lexus” sign.

When we go back for the 5,000 mile free maintenance visit, I’ll check to see how long they keep these photos on display. After all, that countertop has a finite length.

I had surgery to correct three hammer toes on my right foot in March 2016.  Although the swelling went down, shoes are often a little too tight on my right foot, so I decided to have Aaron, the shoe repair man, stretch the toe boxes of several right shoes a little wider.  I was surprised to see that Aaron has a new lamp in his shop window.  It’s wearing a right shoe.

For the first time in quite awhile, I spent some time browsing in a bookstore.  While I was looking for some bargain-priced summer reads, Ted meandered elsewhere and came back with a suggestion for me.

The King lives, but maybe not so much through his favorite recipes.  I didn’t buy it.

Last week, Ted and I went out to lunch.  While we were eating, one of the waitresses went around the room and gave each woman a small box of candy.  Was the candy left over from Mother’s Day?  Of course it was, but every woman who received the little gift was smiling.

Today, as Ted drove us through an underpass on I-70, I spotted a couple of State Patrol cars on the merging ramp to​ our right.  Since traffic slowed markedly at that point, I assumed there was an accident ahead and the officers were heading to the scene.

As Ted drove forward, I noticed those squad cars were part of a string:  there were actually ten squad cars and a State Patrol motorcycle lined up on the shoulder of the ramp!!  In addition, another official motorcycle was parked on the shoulder just ahead of the ramp after pulling a driver over, presumably for speeding.  Obviously, a sting operation was in progress as people started leaving town for the holiday weekend.

I think we can conclude that enforcement​ is up.

 

Last night, Ted and I were at Wal-Mart and we saw happiness that lit up the entire store.

Mom, Dad, and their four daughters were heading for the checkout lane and each of the girls had a brand new bicycle!  The bikes were in assorted sizes–one small, two medium, and one large–to fit the owners.  The girls’ smiles couldn’t have been any bigger, and their eyes were shining with excitement as they each rolled a bike past the checker and then out to their van.  Lots of heads were turning to watch (it was like a bicycle parade) and people were commenting on how happy and excited the girls were.

It was already dark outside (about 8:30 pm), but I’m pretty sure there was going to be some bike riding in the driveway before bedtime.

Why, yes, it is.

We saw this Mini Cooper in a parking lot.  Check the outside mirror. . .

. . . and the roof.

There were lots of festivals in the St. Louis metro area this weekend.  Among them:

–The Great Forest Park Balloon Race was held in the soggy Central Field in Forest Park this afternoon.  Balloon Glow was cancelled last night, due to heavy rain (2-5 inches across the area), but the race was on today.  Update:  The ground was too soggy for the balloons to take off. 

–Schlafly Beer sponsored the “Hop in the City” festival.  For $30 advance tickets or $35 on-site tickets, attendees could taste 51 different beers and enjoy outdoor music and entertainment.

–St. Peters sponsored “Celebrate St. Peters” at the 370 Lakeside Park.  That’s the same festival where “Elvis” called me to the stage and put a scarf around my neck.

And the list goes on, but perhaps the most unusual outdoor event today was the wife-carrying contest in Eureka, a suburb of St. Louis.  Here’s all the information.  According to the report on the evening news, the winner of the contest gets the woman’s weight in beer.  Yahoo!

According to the evening news, the winning team is awarded the woman's weight in beer. Yahoo!