We have six inches of snow in our forecast for tonight and tomorrow.  Ted and I went out to dinner tonight and our waitress told us her mother would call this “french toast weather.”  Why?  Because everyone goes to the store to buy milk, bread, and eggs–the ingredients for french toast.

Snow accumulations in the St. Louis metro area today ranged from 1-3 inches.  We had about two inches of snow at our house.  This was the earliest one-inch snowfall in St. Louis in 27 years–since 1991.

Check the upper right center of the photo to see Ted getting the mail.

Our new trees look pretty with snow on their branches.

 

One of my friends recently told me that persimmon seeds can forecast winter conditions.  The Farmer’s Almanac agrees, and includes the forecast guidelines.

In Jefferson County, about 30 miles south of us in the metro area, the Jefferson County Extension office has been collecting persimmon seeds from the county and found the persimmon forecast to be accurate for 15 of the last 19 years.  Last year, they collected seeds from three areas of Jefferson County.  The seeds varied by area and so did the winter.  Amazing!

Persimmon seeds in our area have a spoon-shaped kernel this year, indicating a snowy winter.  Since we’ve already had two back-to-back snowfalls and a unusually heavy snowfall early in this season, maybe Ted and I will have a chance to use our three-year-old snowblower this winter.  So far, we’ve only used it for two very light snowfalls–just to make sure it worked before the warranty expired–so it’s still shiny and clean.

Ted and I were shopping at Von Maur and saw these holiday fashions for men.  I’m trying to picture Ted in the green suit and tie, but it’s not working for me.

We had our first snow of the season last night, . . .

 

. . . and our second snow of the season tonight.

The burning bush and the sweet gum trees in our neighbors’ yards are gorgeous right now.

Yesterday, Ted took the leaf blower in hand and cleared the front yard while I raked the leaves in the back yard.  Ted hauled all the leaf piles to our brush pile area to be chipped and bagged.

Here’s my favorite guy cleaning up the front yard.

Look at all the leaves!  And our trees aren’t even half bare yet!  (Check out the trees in these pictures.)

 

Last year, Ted and I jumped into our leaf pile; this year, we weren’t even tempted.  We’ve had so much rain in the last few days, there were more wet than dry leaves in the pile.  We can both attest that wet leaves are heavier to move around than dry ones.  While I was raking, I found a giant leaf.

My hand, giant leaf, and regular leaf.  I have no idea which tree in the area produces the giant-sized leaf.

 

Today, Ted put all those leaves through his chipper, which grinds them into pieces that range from dust to one inch.  Then he bagged them up for the lawn waste pickup tomorrow.

Ted and eight bags full.  I hate to think how many bags it would have taken if the leaves weren’t chipped.

 

A job well done. . . . And a job to be repeated at least once, maybe twice more before our trees are finished dropping leaves.

 

Ted’s and my polling place had longer lines than we’ve ever seen, even for Presidential elections.  We usually vote between 2:00-4:00 pm, because it’s pretty dead then–no before work, lunch break, or after work voters.  We walk in, sometimes wait for one person ahead of us, vote, and leave.  Today, however, it took us 45 minutes to get through the line and, when we finished, the line was longer than when we went in.

Other people in line were commenting on the large turnout as well.  One of the judges mentioned that the reason our polling place no longer accommodates two precincts is that the people in our precinct vote!  Another woman in line suggested that we put marijuana on the ballot more often.

The line ahead of us snaked across the room three times in an “S” shape before it reached the election judges’ table.  I counted over 75 people ahead of us–during the slow time.

When we arrived, we were at the door.  When we left, the line extended outside the door and alongside the building, and there was a line of cars arriving and hoping to find a parking spot.

 

It was great to see such a huge voter turnout.  Go, U.S.A.!

I found an anniversary card I’ve saved for years.  It makes me smile every time I see it.

Front of card

Message inside card

I suspect we had our last near-80º day of the season earlier this week (78º).  When November 1 arrived, the weather turned gray and cool, and it looks like it’s going to stay that way.  We had the furnace checked, the irrigation system turned off, and the pool winterized and covered a few days ago, so Ted and I decided it was time to put the lawn furniture away as well.  Ted had already cleaned out the storage shed and washed it down, inside and out, so it was ready for a seasonal change of contents.  Everything looks so bare now.  I guess I’ll start counting down the days until spring returns.

We always leave a few lawn chairs out all winter for firebowl seating and for the few days of 50- and 60-degree weather we get each month when it’s nice enough to sit outside in the afternoon.  Everything else is in storage.

We were planning to rake/blow leaves as well, but we had nearly two inches of rain in the past two days, so the leaves and ground were too wet for that job.  Now we have something to do when things dry out after the next two days of forecast rain.

Ted and I went to a movie at the mall today.  On our way in, I saw this dress.

Yes, that’s real Christmas garland around the hemline.

Even better!

Wings at the shoulder in the back, complete with twinkling lights.  Oooh!

 

Question:  Is it my style for Christmas?

Answer:  Definitely not.

While Ted and I were Christmas shopping today, a brief shower passed over and treated us to a double rainbow.

I love the centerpiece Kathy created for me, using my favorite flower pot, and the table runner Kari made is a perfect backdrop for it.  At this time of year, however, both look out of place (or out of time) on the table–too much like spring.  Ted and I went shopping and found some pretty fall things for our November table.

Tomorrow the pool crew is coming to winterize and cover our pool.  Tonight, the temperature was 60 degrees.  It was a perfect evening for our first firebowl night of the year.  We have a brand new firebowl (the old one wore out/burned out) and new plastic wine glasses (thanks, Thom and Katie), and we enjoyed it all–the pool lights, the fire, the wine, and–most of all–sharing the time together.

Ted has the pool lights on, the fire lit, and the wine poured.

Together–our favorite thing.

Today is National Chocolate Day!  According to the National Confectioners Association, there are actually 16 different made-up holidays for chocolate and more than one has been designated as National Chocolate Day, but October 28 is the most commonly cited day.  Have some chocolate and carpe diem!

This year, PBS partnered with libraries and bookstores to identify America’s favorite novel.  The 100 finalist novels were chosen in a national survey of 7,200 adult readers.  The list was very eclectic and included some surprising contenders and some surprising absentees.  For example, Margaret Mitchell made the top 100, but William Faulkner did not.  There were high-brow and low-brow favorites; contemporary novels to classics; an international selection of authors; gender and ethnic diversity; and a variety of genres.

Book lovers (including me) will tell you that it is very difficult to select a single favorite novel, but Bill Gardner, vice president of programming and development at PBS said, “We’re not trying to tell people what the greatest novel is, and does it really matter who wins?  We’re not doing a vote-you-off-the-island type of thing.”  The mission of the Great American Read, said Gardner, was to promote a positive conversation about books.

The 100 finalist novels were highlighted and discussed in an eight-part series of programs on PBS beginning on May 22.  The reveal of the top ten selections was made on October 23.  I’ve read nine of them (not The Lord of the Rings) and my personal favorite (if I may choose only one) would be Gone with the Wind, followed closely by Little Women and To Kill a Mockingbird.

Apparently, living in a valley (we have steep hills in front and in back of our house) protects us from the wind.  Our weather forecast for today included a wind advisory, warning us of wind gusts up to 40 mph.

 

This is what our anemometer recorded for the day.  Our peak wind gust was only 1 mph over the minimum advisory level of the sustained winds.

 

We had leaves blown down and Ted cleaned a lot of them out of the pool, but that happens in fall whether or not we have a wind advisory.  I hope we’re as well protected when a tornado comes our way!

There was a pretty sunset today and it was reflected in our pool.  In real life, the sky was pink like the reflection, not yellow, but my camera was apparently thinking more “sun” than “set” when it focused on the sky.

It’s the Hallowe’en season, so there’s a lot of seasonal candy on the store shelves, and a lot of costumes and haunted houses designed to make people say “Eek!”

My favorite “eek” this year comes from Mars, Inc. manufacturer of my year-round candy weakness, m&m’s®.  They made an apparently limited edition of “Ghoul’s Mix” m&m’s® for the 2018 Hallowe’en season.  I assume it’s a limited edition, because Kathy and Annette bought these m&m’s® at the Kirksville Wal-Mart, but I couldn’t find them anywhere in the St. Peters area.  Sensing m&m’s® distress in St. Peters, the girls sent Ted and me a trick or treat package of Ghoul’s Mix m&m’s®.

Eat them if you dare!  Na-ha-ha-ha!  (Evil laugh)

I scanned a few more photos tonight and, as usual, enjoyed the memories.  The kids were so little!  Ted and I were so young!  And, of course, our parents were still with us.

1978 was Kari’s first Christmas.

My mom and dad spent Christmas 1978 with us.

It’s March 1979.  Jeff and Kathy are climbing the tree in the front yard at our first house.  Tommy is standing safely on the ground.

April 1979.  We took the kids to the St. Louis Zoo at least once each year when they were little.  Only big brother Jeff’s feet can (barely) touch the ground.

Tommy, the birthday boy, is 3.  That means Jeff is 7, Kathy is 6, and Kari is almost 1.

In May 1979, we celebrated Kari’s first birthday in WI with our parents.  Ted’s mom and my dad both had May birthdays as well, and we celebrated my dad’s retirement from the U.S. Air Force on this visit.  Party on!

Do I need an appointment or may I just walk in?

 Author’s note:  As an adjective describing the kind of person who seeks a professional service without an appointment, walk-in should be a single hyphenated word and it definitely does not need that apostrophe!  Doesn’t anyone proofread signage before posting it????

Ted regularly waxes his car and mine, and helps Kari wax her car.  They found a mutually agreeable day for the job this week and spent some quality father-daughter time together.

Ted is probably one of a small minority of people (99% of whom are probably meteorologists) who notice and photograph clouds.  I’ve learned a lot about clouds from him over the years, and that knowledge has become deeply imbedded in my brain.  As a result, I’m surprised when I make a casual comment about incoming weather by looking at a cloud and my friends (not meteorologists) ask, “How can you tell?”  Isn’t it obvious?  I guess not, unless you spend time with a meteorologist.

Ted saw this interesting and unusual fair weather cloud on his way home earlier this week.  Naturally, he had to stop to take a picture.

When I was scanning old photos, I found one of Thom, showing how he always chewed his food with his fingers in his mouth.  This week, Katie sent me a photo of Sefton, side-by-side with that picture of Thom.  She captioned it “The apple doesn’t fall far . . . .”

Yes, Missouri will vote on legalizing marijuana in November.  Of course, the propositions are for medical use only, but Missouri is such a red state, it’s hard to believe the issue even made it to the ballot!  We might have to try baking a new kind of Christmas cookies.

Today’s weather was gorgeous, so Ted decided to spend some time in the pool this afternoon.

 

Here’s what a man of leisure looks like.

 

This might be the last good day of the swim season.  The next ten days look more like firebowl weather than pool weather.

 

I’m always sad at the end of the swimming season.  I love the warm (even hot) summer weather, but sitting around the firebowl sipping a glass of wine has its appeal too.

Today, Ted and I drove to Kirksville to visit with Kathy and Annette.  We started the day with a dense fog advisory.  This is how I-70 westbound and the surrounding countryside looked as we drove.

 

We had a great time with Kathy and Annette.  Kirksville was cool and rainy and, as we were approaching Kathy’s house for lunch, I found myself hoping she and Annette had decided to make baked potato soup for lunch.  What a happy surprise when we arrived and saw baked potato soup on the stove.  An apple crisp was heading for the oven to round out a perfect comfort meal for a day of dismal weather.  We all enjoyed the soup and apple crisp so much, we decided to have the same for dinner instead of going out to a restaurant.  It was a meal so nice, we had it twice.

Kathy and Annette have been working on remodeling their bathroom.  The house is vintage (sounds better than old), and some of the floor joists beneath the bathroom were rotted.  The girls ripped up the floor and replaced the rotten joists.  They previously replaced their shower stall with tile walls and put in a tank water heater.  Instead of storing 40 or more gallons of hot water, the tank heater heats water as it is used.  The house has no basement–only a crawl space–so the water heater is in the bathroom.  The tank heater takes up much less space than their old 40-gallon tank.  Below, Annette is standing on two of the new floor joists.

 

Here’s Annette in front of the tank water heater.  The girls are almost ready to begin replacing the bathroom floor.

 

We had a great day together and were sorry it had to end.  We took a group picture that looked fine on the camera, but it was actually blurred.  Oh well, we all know who we are and how much fun we had together.

 

Ted and I went to our motel with another dense fog advisory in effect.  It was a fall day filled with fun and book-ended with fog.

When you really need auto-correct.

 

This reminded me of a tractor-trailer truck I once saw.  The company name (which I forgot) filled the entire side of the trailer and included the word “Ohoi.”  Close, but not quite one of the 50 states.

Our first family computer was an Apple IIe–a 1982 family Christmas gift.  It’s 36 years later, and for the first time ever, I wrote code in the root directory to change my PC’s operating system.  I’ve always been told to stay out of the root directory.  This hasn’t been a problem because I have extremely limited knowledge of code.

Jeff set up my new PC (July 2018) with two operating systems, and I wanted to change the default start-up OS.  Jeff sent directions for me to get into the root directory and to make the necessary changes, and I did everything correctly until the end.  I couldn’t make it save the changes.  I gave Jeff a call, he told me what to do, I shut down the computer and re-booted it to make sure the changes took effect, and . . . everything works.

Obviously, the computer industry has little to fear from me, since I ultimately needed help to make the changes effective, but I feel powerful for even daring to get into the root directory and for making changes (very minor) at the operating system level.  Yea for my sense of accomplishment!

Purchase:  1 bushel of apples

Personnel needed:  1 person to operate the apple peeler/corer (Ted); 1 person to cook the apples to perfect chunky-style applesauce (me)

Equipment:  4 kettles of apples cooking on 4 burners; cookie sheets to cool applesauce while cooking more apples; freezer containers to store applesauce

Result:  Applesauce!

Ted and I went about 35 miles west to Warrenton’s Fall Festival today.  The weather was perfect–sunny and dry, with temperatures in the upper 70s.  Neither Ted nor I was overly interested in the festival as a whole, but there were two good bands we wanted to hear–one in the afternoon and one in the evening–and we thought it was a good day to sit outside, listen to music, and hang out with some country folks.

Butch Wax and the Hollywoods played 50s, 60s, and 70s pop music from 1:00-4:00 p.m. on the east end of Main Street.  They’ve been together a long time–well over 30 years, I think–and they play a lot of St. Louis venues.  Ted and I had never heard them before, but the word on the street said they’re good.  They were named one of the three top “Best of Rural Missouri” bands in the rural electric co-ops’ 10th annual survey.  Yep!  They’re playin’ up country in Warrenton.

A clue to the Warrenton culture might be the oversized bail bondsman’s ad on the left side of the stage.

If the bail bondsman’s bandstand sign struck a chord with you, Dan the Man had a booth on Main Street where I presume you could hire him, or at least get his business card.

This guy literally stood head and hips above the crowd.  He danced on stilts while Butch Wax et al played.  Yes, Warrenton’s got talent!

This little guy isn’t into rock ‘n’ roll, but he was happy for a long time making a pile of stones in the gutter.

 

When Butch Wax left the stage, Ted and I walked down Main Street to check out the booths, the food, and the car show.  There were a lot of vehicles on display, but two were my favorites.

Read the rear window.  Humorous Warrenton attitude present here.  See Dan the Man for your bail bond if neccessary.

Aaahhh, memories.  I went steady with David for two years in high school and he had a car just like this (even the same color)–except for the engine.  David had a factory-installed engine and a normal hood on his car.  

The bars along Main Street were open, and many had live music on the sidewalk for those not wanting to hear the headliners.

 

The evening show featured the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.  Some of the members have been replaced over their 50+ years, but the new guy was Bob Carpenter’s son, and the next newest had been with the band for 30 years.  The music was good and the people-watching was even better.  There were so many people smoking, I wondered if the few clouds overhead were atmospherically generated or a result of all the cigarettes around us.  A lady next to us kept her matches in her bra where they were handy for her chain-smoking habit.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band performed on the west end of Main Street–right at the corner of City Hall and the jail.  Handy for Dan the Man, right?  I assume the people on the roof work at City Hall or at the jail or know someone who does.  They had a bird’s eye view of the concert.  Some of the prisoners peeked out of the windows before the music began, but that’s the last we saw of them.  I suspect they didn’t want their friends and neighbors to recognize them.

When you literally perform on the street, you get speed limit signs beside the stage.

 

I repeat, the weather was beautiful, both bands did a great job, and Ted and I had a wonderful time.  We can tell that summer is officially over tomorrow–it was dark before the concert started at 7:30, and we needed jackets for the cool evening.

Whew!  I found out today that I’m not the Lone Ranger of the Grammar Police Squad.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo differs from his boss, President Trump, when it comes to writing.   According to CNN, while President Trump tends to forego standard guidelines for punctuation and capitalization in his tweets, Pompeo has apparently “had it up to here” with improper comma usage among State Department staff.  As a result, two emails have been circulated among State Department staff in recent months with detailed instructions pertaining to the proper use commas.

According to the emails, Pompeo prefers the Chicago Manual of Style writing guidelines.  Personally, I prefer the American Psychological Association (APA) style because I think it’s far more straightforward than Chicago style, but I guess Mike likes a challenge.  Here are two excerpts from one of the staff memos–one for including commas and one for removing them.

 

Attention to writing detail might come with the Secretary of State job.  CNN alliteratively noted that Colin Powell “famously focused on font and font size,” and Condoleezza Rice was picky about margins and “cramming too much into the regulated length for memos.”  Maybe I should consider becoming Secretary of State.  I already have the grammar skills.

We had brunch this morning with Tom, Jo, and Andrea.  Andrea works seven twelve-hour days, then has seven days off.  We were fortunate this was her week off so that we could see her while we were visiting Tom and Jo.  We had a window booth at the restaurant, which provided some good people-watching while we ate and talked for two hours.  The window made a group photo impossible, however, unless all of us became shadows.

On one side of the table (without the window backlighting), we have Tom, Andrea, and Jo.

Ted and I sat on the other side of the table.

Was the food good?  I think Jo’s waffle says it all.

 

We had an uneventful trip home from Tom and Jo’s house.  There was some heavy rain as we approached the St. Louis area but, except for a little sprinkle, it was south and east of us.

We saw a cumulus cloud developing into a thundershower as we drove.  During a period of light rain, we could see both ends of a strong rainbow, but couldn’t photograph it from the car.

 

We stopped at a rest area that had a small park attached, complete with a bridge over a little creek.  It was so pretty, we went for a selfie.

These two people just spent an enjoyable week visiting with friends and family in WI and IL.  The selfies still need practice.  I included my extended arm as a reflection in my sunglasses.