Pic Today 3/31/12

DEEP IN THE WOODS

. . . where the sun's light falls least,

and Spring brings green the last,

I found dark paths and

moss covered stumps,

and dark tangled branches.

I found a strange rock,

and wondered if elves live here.

Pic Today 3/30/12

AIM FOR THE DROP ZONE

Chute packed.

Buckled up.

Helmet on.

Double checked.

Time to climb on,

and reach jump altitude.

5,500-feet.

This is why we do it.

To free fall,

and soar like a bird.

Guide the chute,

and aim for the drop zone.

This is fantastic!

(Let's go again.)

Pic Today 3/29/12

PACK YOUR OWN

Any skydiver will tell you . . .

it's best to pack your own chute.

After all, your life is in your own hands . . .

the folding, untangling and packing.

You want to know it's been packed right,

and tight.

Ready to take off now.

Ready to jump, to free-fall,

to fly like a bird.

And land to jump again!

(To be continued.)

Pic Today 3/28/12

THE 844 CAME ROLLING

THROUGH TOWN

The crowds started gathering late this afternoon.

Families, photographers, train enthusiasts of all ages,

got in position, to catch a glimpse of

Union Pacific's Steam Locomotive No. 844,

scheduled to come through Kirkwood today.

The train is en route from Cheyenne, Wyoming

to Marion, Arkansas pulling a special

150th Anniversary Commemorative Civil War Troop Train

with 300 civil war historians on their journey

to the Battle of Shiloh Reenactment.

No. 844 is the last steam locomotive

delivered to the Union Pacific Railroad (in 1944),

and is unique, as the only locomotive never retired!

"The loudest sound I've ever heard" is how I describe

the steam whistle as it blasted by me,

standing by the tracks . . .

standing way too close to the tracks!

Pic Today 3/27/12

S U C C E S S

Finally.

Morel mushrooms.

Found on an afternoon hike.

(My little sponge-like fungi friends!)

The rain. The warm days.

The spores couldn't take it anymore.

Voila!

Morels standing at attention.

Just five.

Enough for some sauteéd pasta,

with olive oil, lemon juice, capers.

A spring time gourmet delight.

I noticed a small snail had already

begun its morel snack.

(See him?)

I also discovered a yellow wild flower

about to open . . . .

Pic Today 3/26/12

MAKING LIME MORTAR

Ruins of a lime kiln, in Rockwoods Reservtion, Missouri,

show how lime mortar was made in the 1850's.

The lime was used to make cement and mortar

for area homes and buildings.

This kiln was producing lime in 1856,

and required two ingredients plentiful in the state:

limestone (from nearby bluffs) and

fuel (firewood from surrounding woods.)

It was common for early settlers to establish

rock quarries and lime kilns, as they settled

and built towns along Missouri's rivers.

Kilns were operated 24-hours a day,

reaching temperatures of 800˚,

which transformed limestone rock

into powdered quick lime,

the essential ingredient for cement.

Powdered lime was also used to "sweeten"

farm fields to increase crop productivity.

Pic Today 3/25/12

MOTHER AND SON AUTHORS

ATTRACT RECORD CROWD

Best selling author, Ann Lamott,

introduced her co-author and son, Sam Lamott,

with readings from Some Assembly Required:

A Journal of My Son's First Son,

at a 600+ crowd of loyal Lamott book followers

Saturday night, at the St. Louis County Library.

This book -- her 13th -- is already receiving

critical acclaim and rave reviews.

In Some Assembly Required,

Ann Lamott enters a new and unexpected chapter

of her own life: grandmotherhood!

I count Ann Lamott as one of my favorite authors,

with rare wit, humor and grace.

Her earlier work, Grace Eventually,

helped change my perspective on spirituality,

while making me laugh along the way.

A thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Pic Today 3/24/12

WILD ABOUT SPRING

Between rain storms,

I'm out in the spring woods,

hunting for morel mushrooms.

(Haven't found any. Not yet.)

But I'm learning all about the edible greens,

the bounty of the early Spring forest . . .

in fact, a conservation agent taught me

80% of wild spring greens are edible.

Delicious watercress . . . garlic scapes . . .

dandelion greens . . . sorrel . . . milkweed . . .

wild lettuce . . . black walnuts.

Did you know beautiful 3-leaf trillium

is both edible and medicinal . . . and

that reindeer lichen can be substituted for flour?

I'm just wild about Spring!

(P.S. Good idea to carry along a plant ID book.)