Views from our windows this morning

Front view:

Back view:
More snow coming this afternoon and tomorrow ...

Emmy

This is Emmy, Jubilee's best friend in Missouri. Also the first photo of my new camera (Canon Powershot G10).

This is Jubilee downtown New Town, another test photo from the new camera.

John McCain rally in St. Charles, MO

It is interesting, but also sometimes disturbing to listen to what the other side is saying.

The McCain rally in my neighborhood in St. Charles this morning looked like a county fair. A small county fair. I’m not good at estimating crowd size, but maybe 1500 is in the ballpark. Children, old people, everyone was well behaved and excited, but the crowd response was weak. Lackluster. The lines that generated energy were those that referred to Sarah Palin.

Several Missouri politicians spoke before Senator McCain, and I was confused by their message. The evil of slavery was equated with socialism. A lot of talk about the idea of “spreading the wealth around”, especially in terms of giving “your hard earned money to people who don’t work”. Do rich people who don’t work deserve it more? I heard a lot about the danger of raising taxes, but not a word about raising the minimum wage.

I stood at the very back of the crowd, but still had a good view of Senator McCain. He looked good. The first words out of his mouth were a commendation of his running mate, Sarah Palin, that drew loud applause. Then it was mostly a re-hash of the confusing money issues that the other Missouri politicians had been drumming on. He ended with a chant about “stand up and fight for America”, and one old woman who had been sitting in a wheelchair stood and thrust her fist in the air. I was behind her and wish that I could have photographed it, but the memory was gone on my camera.

I’ve already mailed my Florida absentee ballot.

Here is NY Times reporting on the rally in St. Charles.

Some photos from the rally ... The crane was used to hoist a giant flag:

A Sarah sighting in the crowd ...

Sharpshooters...

And lots of buttons ... mostly Palin!

Preparing the Prop

We got a notice on our door today that, indeed, John McCain would be holding a rally at the amphitheatre at 9 o’clock in the morning. We were assured that this event was not an endorsement by the neighborhood, that Barack Obama would have been hosted if he had asked. We were told to be on our best behavior.

Let me explain a bit about “New Town”. This is a planned community, but not a town in itself. Rather it is a developing neighborhood in the middle of cornfields, about 5 miles from what could be considered a “town” or populated area. I still haven’t decided what I think about New Town. I like the people I have met here. My next door neighbors are African American. The homes are all new and everything is well kept. The sidewalks are great, and everyone walks to the market, the gym, the mail room. Sometimes something feels contrived about it all, but I have to admit that it is comfortable and convenient for us. This is the closest place to where John works where we could find a furnished apartment to rent.

The idea that John McCain was holding a rally here sounded so very funny to me when I first heard it. Contrived. If the appearance is right, then the underlying reality will just have to fit that appearance. A photo op.

People have been busy all day today getting the amphitheater ready. It looks like there will be a stage, with tall bleachers behind it, and places for the cameras in front. Fences started going up this afternoon, but it is a small area, so it is not difficult to enclose.

I hear that they are going to begin bussing people in at 7am. We were told that we would need tickets to get in, but they were all out by tonight. They told us to come anyway.

Eric and I plan to check it out. Here are some photos of what things look like today. Lights ...

Cranes (for cameras?) ...
Cameras ....


Fences ...

All fenced in!

John McCain is coming to New Town!

What a time to be in Missouri.

Tomorrow Obama will be speaking under the St. Louis Arch – just where we were planning to go with Eric. Much as we would like to see Senator Obama, we really didn’t want to deal with the crowd and traffic so we changed our plans and will go into St. Louis on Sunday.

But – and this is the real hoot – John McCain is coming to New Town on Monday morning. This little neighborhood in the middle of a cornfield! We saw police and important looking 30-somethings with blackberries prowling around yesterday. Today police dogs were here and the word about McCain coming spread fast. Everyone is talking about it. American flags are appearing.

My gosh.

The amphitheatre is only a block and a half away. The whole entourage will most likely pass right in front of my house. The only thing that I can figure is that it’s a very picturesque place, lots of Republicans are here, and the amphitheatre looks pretty “full” with just a couple hundred people.

I most certainly will have to walk down the street to see what’s going on. I guess I’m going to a McCain Rally! Stay tuned.

New Town Amphitheater

Pumpkins

New Town Organic Farm, St. Charles Missouri

Friends, St. Louis, and beer

Remember that guy who was behind me in the Mississippi River a couple of weeks ago, and I said that he wasn’t going to make it? Well, the water level has fallen, and I now find out that it is Lewis and Clark and their dog, Seaman, on returning to St. Louis from their westward adventure!

That’s what 2 weeks without rain will do around here!

We were graced with our first visit from friends last week. Jane and Ron came! Jane is our friend from Florida, and Ron is Jane’s friend from Wisconsin.



We had a wonderful time, and I got to explore some more the museum under the St. Louis Arch. I feel like I am learning the history of my country for the first time, and considering it all as I muse over the land. (I'll have more to say about this as I go along ...)

Ron took the tram to the top of the Arch while Jane and I browsed around the museum. I’m saving my trip to the top of the arch for autumn, when Eric comes to visit. (We're both claustrophobic, once leaving a climb to the top of the Statue of Liberty in a panic.)

The museum is very well done, in concentric circles, the outer one a complete recounting of Lewis and Clark’s Journey to the Pacific Ocean. As you walk through the more central circles, you see memorabilia and artifacts from the different phases and aspects of the westward expansion of the United States.

I had been wondering what kinds of “gifts” were sent to appease the Indians. There was a whole wall of the different “peace medals”, engraved with the head of the President (or “Great Father”), that were given to the Indian chiefs. They were fairly large and hollow inside. Essentially, trinkets. Gee.

[This is a photo of a wall in the museum, an artist's conception of what the crowd looked like that greeted Lewis and Clark as they returned to St. Louis in 1806.]

There is an old Cathedral near the Arch. It reminds me of the old Churches of my childhood, with candles, communion rails, and confessionals. [Aside: my letter to the St. Louis newspaper about Archbishop Burke was published today. Can be seen online here.]

Last but not least, John wants me to post this beer list for Eric to see. There was a beer tasting festival at our neighborhood bar last weekend. You got to taste 20 beers for 10 dollars.


This blog is becoming a real scrapbook!

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Faye, seems to have spared our friends and home in Florida from damage or harm! We are forever grateful for the friends and neighbors who look after and take care of us.

Saturday Night in New Town

Jubilee and John on the front porch, listening to Saturday Night Music

This whole phenomena of New Town has me slightly mystified. Ordinarily I would be suspicious of a “planned” community, built in the middle of cornfields. I would wonder where “real” life was.
But there is something about this place that feels refreshing to me, and it’s not just the newness. The friendliness of the people, the ability to walk everywhere.

Ada, my new friend next door, moved from a place near here. She says they were stuck in a rut, and one day she told her daughter, “we have to move!” She rented her house out and moved into a rented apartment here. Now, as she feeds the birds from her balcony, she calls down from her balcony to me: “good morning, I’m so happy to be here!”

Saturday night they had live music downtown. We walked the 2 blocks down there, but ended up listening to it as we sat on our front porch.

Here are some more New Town photos:

New Town Cops!

The Diner.

The Canal. Saturday Night Music.

I admit this Church has me mystified! I 'm sitting under it's spires right now, connecting to everyone and the Almighty too. It's 7PM and still 95 degrees!

Here are some photos of the Missouri Ground:
And, just for my friend Sandra, here are some Missouri Weeds!!!

Funky New Town

Here are some photos of New Town, a funky little place in the middle of Missouri Corn Fields. They tell me that the community is modeled after “Seaside” in Florida and that the architecture is a blend of New Orleans and Old West. New Town actually reminds me a bit of the 500-year-old village of Parsdorf, Germany, where all the homes are near to each other, and surrounded by farmland.

We live on the main road coming into New Town. There is a canal going down the center, and on each side are the row houses and a variety of “mansions”. The mansions are actually apartments, 4 or 5 to each “mansion”.

This is the Canal down the center of New Town Avenue. (John has caught some catfish and bass from this canal.)
These are the row houses and the street that we live on.

This is the “mansion” next door to us. My new friend, Ada, lives upstairs here.

This is our corner of our mansion. I think that ours looks kind of “Greek”.

Here is another "mansion".

Here are some photos of the community pool. You can see the surrounding farmland (mostly corn). It is 98 degrees here today (much hotter than I've ever known Florida to be), so the pool is very cool:

This is one of the side streets. I call these the "prairie houses". They look very much like the houses that are in St. Charles "Old Town". Again, you can see the farmland that is just beyond the street.

Corn is higher than John, already. Wonder where it'll be in August???

This is where we go to get our mail. Kind of a funky place. I know the postwoman by name, because, so far, none of our mail has been forwarded.

I've been going here most every day. Hopefully I'll get stronger.

And this is a little herb garden that I discovered behind the diner. We haven't eaten at the diner yet. I wonder if they use the herbs.

Some more funky things around this place.

What about this Church with Radio Towers for Steeples!? I'd say they just might be able to connect with the Almighty!