The Decision is Made, and Goat Culture Advances

It is hard to think of anything with a higher cute quotient than baby goats unless it is more of them which there will be in the next couple of days.





Neighbor Joe has been coming over with his great granddaughter to see them.

Aidan and Neighbor Joe's great granddaughter.

There have been a couple of Snickerdoodle escapes from his pasture. That kept Wendy and John busy trying to solve the crime. At last a gate was discovered to have been secured by the former owner with a bungee-like tie-up which the happy daddy goat must have stretched a bit to get out and go see the ladies. He hasn't gotten out today, and must miss his happy dances running up and down the porch deck steps, up and over the picnic table in blissful flips and contortions before capture.

If Keoni ever relaxes he is probably doing so right now in Boston while getting ready to attend his friend's prom there. The considerations and weighings of his future completed a few days ago when he decided to take the offers of Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Townsend Music School of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, from the several offers he had on the table. I'm deeply happy for him and look forward to see how this next chapter unfolds.

Hades has grudgingly held onto Persephone this spring, but she escaped anyway, and at last the harsh, cold nights have given way to blossoms, leaves, grass and long days. I even could sit out on the back porch one morning for coffee; a happy, purring cat crawled onto my lap. Ah me. So good.

Toby taking his ease out in the backyard yesterday. He has taken up chasing the chickens, and is liable to incite some wrath if he doesn't watch out.

Morning Coffee Still Indoors

I thought I'd be having morning coffee on the back screen porch when I returned from my wanderings. No way. It was 33 degrees this morning. Unpacking became a challenge getting some of the warm duds back into play. The sun broke through in the afternoon and warmed me up.

Yesterday, was busy with multiple errands; mostly Keoni's, as he gets ready to go to a prom in Boston. Yes, those gigs are paying off. The brothers were in competitions today besides everything else that is usual; such as, eat, lessons, practice, rehearse, school, text, chores, games and sleep.

Last night was Keoni's final Souderton High School orchestra's concert.

Concert Master Keoni taking his bow.

Concert Master helping with piano moving (and other furniture adjustments).

The front row is all the orchestra graduating Seniors taking a bow.

Souderton HS will soon be a memory for our young man. I'm happy for him making his way, and like so many happy things that make you smile, it is sadly flashing by so very quickly.

Next weekend, after the prom, he'll play in the PYO quartet at the Union League in Philly. This time, the family is going, too. I've ordered a new pair of dress pants so I show up looking good.

He designed the flyer for the occasion...

This morning, I saw Toby strolling along the top of the fence. This is new since I've returned. Maybe he can see the mice better from up there.

Maybe Aidan can teach him to lob the soccer balls back over the fence, too.

4:33 p.m. I Am Home

When I opened the door to the motel this morning I was astounded to find it raining. For five weeks I had escaped wet weather almost entirely and had had a tailwind from St. Louis to Columbus, Ohio. I saddled my pony anyway and off we went. Within minutes the rain became snow that lasted for the next five hours; Eastern Ohio, West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania.

In some areas it was dense enough to slow traffic.

How good to pull into the drive again. This time with no snow or ice to negotiate. What a treat to have Keoni arrive home and schlepp the bags upstairs for me, soon followed by Wendy and Aidan. So good to see them all and, this evening, John.

My buddy was all happy and shining my ankles.

Aidan and I got in a few hands of Texas Hold 'em before he walloped some soccer balls.

And, of course, the little goats were adorable.

Their sweet mama let me hold one.

I'm going to have another spring here. The trees are barely leafed out, but forsythia are in full bloom everywhere in our area.

We have one in our front yard.

It's good to be home again.

Nearly Pennsylvania

If all goes well tomorrow this will be the last night in a motel for awhile. It's a Motel 6 and quite a nice one not too far from Columbus, Ohio, and willing to cut a deal for a few gray hairs. My mental references are now almost all pointed toward Pennsylvania. One short moment while still in St. Louis my mind tried to think of home in a westerly direction; then, it smiled and said the opposite.

My sister Susie...

...and I crammed in a whole lot of looks at St. Louis, the county, and beyond; all in a very short while. Our drive through Ferguson, Missouri, in St. Louis County revealed one riot-burned building along Old Florissant Road, but I learned that the awful events that occurred there last year happened in a section of town that Ferguson annexed a few years ago. The town I knew and the homes I lived in during 1940s look very similar to those times with quiet streets, modest and well-kept homes and businesses. The people I saw as we drove through to see family homes were diverse, and that wasn't true when I was a child. I hope that the events there will be the tipping point for better things to come for all.

Ferguson...

My first school.

There are family photos somewhere of my mother's class on the steps in the background, and some of me there, too. There were no fences in the '40s.

The school sits up above a steep bank where I helped roll giant (3-4 ft. diameter) snowballs down the bank trying to hit passing cars.

My home on Tiffin Avenue apx. 1942-45.

My cousins' Jackie and Jim lived here.

Susie lives in a different part of the county...

This is the amazing dogwood island in the condo-land where Susie lives.

The colors of spring along Missouri I-70 were splashes of chartreuse, white, grass green, red bud pink, and dark cedars among large grey and white limestone outcroppings. Road cuts never looked so good.

One of the things on my list was the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers that occurs north of St. Louis, near Alton Illinois where there is one lock in a series of locks on the river...

...and a new bridge across the Mississippi.

And, yes, that is a pelican. There were hundreds in the area.

The carp grabbed the hook before this Saturday fisherman even had bait on it. 

Looking south. Mississippi River on the left, Missouri River on the right.

No visit to St. Louis is complete without a trip to Missouri Botanical Garden...

It rained the entire time at the garden, but that didn't matter a bit. While walking through I was reminded of the beautiful gardens I've seen over the last year; St. Louis, Philladelphia, Dallas, Des Moines (Dezz Moinzz - in joke), Ames, and somewhere out there--the tall grass prairie in Iowa. I loved every one of them.

On our way to the Old Courthouse in St. Louis we drove by some of the houses in St. Louis that I love so well...

The Dred Scott Decision is in our nation's history and happened here...

Dred and Harriet Scott bronzes silhouetted in front of the Old Courthouse in St. Louis.

From the east steps of the courthouse.

South of St. Louis lies Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, where our Grandfather Morice came from. 

The Bolduc House built around 1735 has withstood floods and a change in the course of the Mississippi River.  Bolduc was an Acadian from Canada.

It grows late and I want to get home tomorrow...

Wendy sent this morning. Two more adorable goat babies to see when I get back. 

...so I'll say goodnight to all and extend thanks for following this journey. It always brings a smile when I think of you out there in your part of the world. Vaya con Dios.

Kansas and Beyond

A long day awaited me the morning I woke up in Greensburg, Kansas. Fog that wasn't too intense at sun-up thickened and slowed everything down for a couple of hours.

Wind towers are in evidence throughout Kansas. This one belonged to the motel.

Greensburg, Kansas sunrise.

John Deere owes a lot to Kansas agriculture.

It was a happy text I sent to my sister Jeanenne announcing my pony and I are not in Kansas any more.

The Highway 54 route that I'd chosen was not too much the same as about a decade ago. It's been "improved" to often pass by the silo towns where you get to slow down a little with enough frequency to fill the drive with small recoveries from the monotony of a long, long drive.

What a fine welcome at Jeanenne and Larry's. Missouri had slipped by without much note for me because at this point I found I'd grown fairly weary. Three days and two nights were, indeed, a little too taxing. My pony and I rested and visited with Jeanenns' now expanded family...

Jeanenne and Larry's home in O'Fallon, Missouri.

Jeanenne at the wheel of her cart that wheels her around their five acres and over to brother-in-law's adjoining four acres.

Larry on the mowing vehicle.

Nephew Jonathan after work came to visit...

...and his wife Krista and newest addition Eleanor.

Larry with Emory, Jonathan & Krista's middle daughter...

Niece Jackie prepping for moving her household.

Oh-oh! Is there a boo-boo? Harper, Jackie and Chad's daughter...

Granddad Larry providing comfort.

And a ride down to the mail box.

Chad checking business messages.

Numero uno-- grandson Oliver.

Emory

Adding to the scene is 'Kinsey, daughter of David and Sarah.

Sarah and my nephew David.

How nice to get to be with them all and see how their lives have expanded.

Before leaving for Susie's was a day to help a bit with niece Jackie and her husband Chad's move to a cabin by a lake...

Lunchtime for laborers.

And Clarence the family cat scratching his back and reminding me I miss Toby and the Telford gang.