Pic Today 6/19/11

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

If you are a father (like me),

or have a father (that covers most of us),

cheers to you this day.

May your thoughts and memories be sweet.

I'm glad to be a dad!

. . . and so proud of my two daughters,

Annabel and Margaret.

It seems like just yesterday when

my little ones ran barefoot on the beach.

Oh Daddy . . .

Pic Today 6/18/11

GOOD NEWS:

THE CICADAS HAVE GONE

BACK IN THE GROUND

Peace has returned to the land.

Our noisy visitors - the periodic cicadas -

have come to the end of their 4-week visit,

and have now molted, mated and burrowed

back into the ground . . . until 2024, that is.

While they were here, the internet was abuzz

with recipes featuring our noisy visitors, including:

cicada pie (pictured here), cicada pizza, cicada tacos,

even cicada ice cream!

Cicadas are members of anthropoda,

the same food group as lobster and shrimp.

Many other countries feature dishes with fried or cooked

insects, such as crickets, grub worms, termites and ants.

(A plentiful source of protein.)

No thank you!

Pic Today 6/17/11

SITE OF ORIGINAL FRENCH SETTLER,

LOUIS BLANCHETTE,

CONFIRMED IN ST. CHARLES, MISSOURI

A student archeological "dig" has confirmed

the original site of French fur trader, Louis Blanchette,

at the site of the oldest house in Missouri.

In "old town" St. Charles, Missouri,

a discovery of artifacts has confirmed

the original permanent settlement at St. Charles in 1765.

Blanchette paddled a 20-foot canoe from Quebec City,

1300 miles across the Great Lakes,

down the Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri rivers,

finally arriving at the settlement,

originally named Les Cotes Petites (Little Hills),

later named St. Charles, just west of St. Louis.

Blanchette, although illiterate, married an Indian girl

and was instrumental in founding this permanent settlement.

Not until the discovery of artifacts placing his arrival

in 1765 (prior to Lewis & Clark's arrival)

has his settlement date been clearly established.

Artifacts found in this 4-foot square dig include

French ceramic 18th-century fragments,

Blanchette's original house foundation,

pottery, Indian arrow heads, and glass fragments,

all pre-dating 1770.

(St. Charles was the original state capital of Missouri,

and the embarkation point for the Lewis & Clark expedition.)

Pic Today 6/16/11

LOOK WHO CAME OUT

TO SAY HI

One of my "girls" came out last week,

and I want you to meet her.

She's a paphiopedilum who's very particular

about flowering, but when she does . . .

KAPOWIE! What a fancy-pants beauty!

These orchids need just the right humidity

and balmy daytime temperatures.

But they need cool nights to bloom.

And with our crazy rainy, up and down weather lately,

it's just what the lady has been waiting for.

Leaving the windows open on those chilly nights

gave her just what she's been waiting for.

Paphiopedilums are also known as Lady Slippers.

Pic Today 6/15/11

CRAWDADS & FROGS

TELL US THE RIVER IS CLEAN

God's "lesser creatures" can tell us

so much about the health of our planet . . .

like when a river is clean and healthy,

you'll see crawdads in the shallow clear water,

and hear bullfrogs at night.

It's when we DON'T see the smallest creatures swimming

or hear the frogs serenading us at night,

we know we've got trouble,

and the river's not healthy.

But this year I'm happy to report

the crawdads are swimmin'

and the frogs are talkin'.

And the Meramec River in Missouri

is running clear, clean and true.

Safe enough for baby to play (and learn.)