St. Louis and James Baker.

We have had a pretty exciting week. St. Louis and James Baker within 4 days. It's all go in Missouri!

We had another huge storm on saturday night. Thunder and lightening and torrential rain. I thought we would wake up to a lovely clear day, but it was still going strong in the morning. Roland was not very keen on driving in those conditions, but we were meeting my friend Leslye to celebrate her birthday in St. Louis.
We left in torrential rain and it was still bucketing down two hours later.
Lunch was in Leslye's son's home, his so called 'starter' home, which I think to most people would be a pretty good permanent home. It was interesting to go into a fairly typical home of the younger generation. He is a lawyer and has just got married. His main interest is sport and to keep him up to date with what is going on in the sporting world, he has 8 televisions. Not piddly, little televisions, but great, half room monster, flat screen ones. All on, with different games and sports. The large basement, so typical of american houses was also dedicated to sport. Memorabilia, TV's. a bar to keep you lubricated while you watch and lots of big sofas!
We spent rather too long over lunch and then had the lightening tour of St. Louis, starting with the arch.

It is far more impressive in real life and actually rather beautiful.

As you can see, the rain had actually stopped. The arch is right by the Missouri river, which is a very wide, muddy affair. Impressive rather than beautiful. They got rid of a lot of old industrial buildings to create this park and put up the arch and they seem to have almost erased the past, which is a pity.

They still have the Eads bridge, which was the first cantilever bridge in the world. It's the one in front.

Not a good photo, but taken from the top through some rather thick glass.

We were lucky with our timing. There was no queue to go up the arch. Apparently you can wait for 4 hours. Roland didn't want to come. He is not too good with heights. But curiosity got the better of him and he didn't want to miss out, so he came.
The whole thing is very old fashioned. You go up in tiny capsules, that hold 5 small people.

The viewing chamber up the top is also small, and the windows even smaller. You do, however get a pretty good view over St. Louis.

The building in the centre is the old court house and it is rather lost amongst the skyscrapers.

This is the Cardinals stadium. The St. Louis baseball team.

Roland was very pleased to come down and his colour improved considerably. He's glad he did it and won't be doing it again.

Our last port of call was a famous ice cream parlour- or frozen custard as they call it. I had a small tub and could hardly finish it. Rather too much hot fudge sauce! The parlour just happened to be on the old route 66, so that called for a photo.

We weren't dressed appropriately for the photo, but never mind.

We were given a quick drive round the city just to give an impression of the place. It is huge, spread out and very green. It has one of the biggest metropolitan public parks in the world, Forest Park, which covers 1,370 acres right in the centre of town, left over from the 1904 world fair. The art gallery also dates from that time. What we see looks pretty prosperous.There is a lot to see and we intend to come back and do it over several days.
By the time we are driving home, the sky is clear and we get another fantastic sunset. Sorry, I get a bit carried away with them.

As you see, America is big on telegraph poles and cables. None of it is hidden.











This week, the college is hosting it's annual symposium, which this year is on global conflict. The star guest is James Baker, who was secretary of state, secretary of the treasury and other important positions under a number of presidents. He is eighty, but still very on the ball, articulate, informed and runs up stairs!
He speaks to a packed auditorium and there are a lot of media people present. He very pointedly in his examples, only talks about the first gulf war and it is pretty obvious he was against the second but is being tactful. He takes questions from the floor and impresses with his intelligence, knowledge and good sense. This is not someone who would rush into something without looking at all the alternatives and someone who would be aware of the consequences of his actions! unlike some!!!

We meet him again at the president's house for a reception.

 Roland has quite a long talk with him and confirms our impressions. I just get to shake his hand! It was very interesting to be able to hear and meet a man who held considerable power in this country. It's a pity there aren't a few more of his calibre around.

Back to reality today. It has been in the 90's for the last week, but this is supposed to be the last day of summer! Tomorrow it is going to drop to 70 and you would think the big freeze had started. I can't imagine the cold, but we know it's coming. The next month however is supposed to be beautiful, so will try to enjoy it while it lasts.

Couldn't resist taking this photo. It was parked just up the street.

My favourite street, trees and butterflies

My favourite street is Court street. It is where I would choose to live if I lived here permanently.
 As it's name suggests, it used to be the main street in town, leading to the courthouse. It still does, although the courthouse has undergone several rebuilds. It is now, quite an impressive 1930's deco style building, but it no longer matches the grand avenue of houses.
They use the term avenue rather freely round here and some short, treeless, 4 house roads are called avenue. Court street really is an avenue and at this time of year you can hardly see the houses for the trees. All the houses sit well back from the road and it feels cool, green and rather grand!

What we like is that none of the houses are the same. Even the very small houses are all different, you never see the same pattern twice.
A lot of the houses in this street and indeed just about every building of any age or grandeur in the town were designed by a local architect by the name of Bell. His name is unknown outside the area, but he was prolific and important here.
What this street also shows is the use of huge expanses of grass. Beautifully cut and manicured grass, with trees. Even on small country roads, tiny houses sit in large grounds of well maintained lawns. They stretch right to the road edge and along, go round any trees and up and down hills. It's as if they want to have an area of tamed countryside round their houses. There are usually no fences. Nothing to distinguish where your property ends and the next begins. Very un british.
As you can imagine, lawnmowers are big business. The lawnmowers round here are all sit on and are more like tractors. People spend a lot of time mowing. A friend said it was a good way to have time out and relax and I had to explain that it would be hard to do that while cutting our three by six foot bit of grass back in London.

Another thing we have noticed is they do not seem to mind having huge, mature trees very close to the houses. In England they seem to think a tree will destroy your house from 50 feet away.
The trees are quite a variety. Oaks of various types- Pin oaks, black oaks, northern red oaks, Blackjack oaks none of which I'd heard of, although I gather pin oaks are very successful in Australia. Chestnuts, Walnuts, Elms, Maples, Dogwoods, Redbuds and a lot more. The latter has long, black seed pods,  like runner beans that hang off the tree and like the sycamore in Britain, the seeds all seem to germinate. We have them in our garden and the seedlings are everywhere.
 Forest cover one third of Missouri. That surprised me. Oaks seem to be the most important tree for commercial use, but walnut wood is the most highly prized. We have just been struck by the diverse nature of the forests.

I have been trying to learn more about the local flora and fauna and have got books out of the library to identify things.
There are huge butterflies. Some four and a half inches across!. Roland thought they were bats, because one of the large ones is mostly black. The Black Swallowtail, or Parsnip! There is also a very spectacular black and orange striped Monarch, also huge. Of course try as I might, I cannot get one to stay still long enough to photograph it. I did get this one though- the Red-Spotted Purple

Not as big, but very beautiful.
The squirrels round here are red rusty grey and prolific. I suppose there are a lot of nut trees. The farmers in the farmer's market were complaining about them scoffing all the mulberries before they could pick them.

Lastly and the only one that posed for it's photo!

I saw this while walking along the main road. It is very typical.

We are off to St Louis tomorrow for a day in town.

Settling in to our new surroundings.

It has been a quiet week. A taste of times to come I fear. The weather is more changeable, cooler nights, but very hot days and evenings. The humidity is largely gone except when we are building up to a storm. These seem to happen fairly regularly and when it rains it's as if someone has emptied a bucket over you. This rain will soak you in a few minutes.
I like to sit out on the swing seat on the front porch and just watch it until I am forced to retreat inside with the seat cushion as the storm intensifies. We get very loud thunder and dramatic lightening and it sounds and feels as if it is right on top of the house.

Our street turns into a river and it is obvious why they need storm gutters round here. The so called creeks that surround the town, become rivers almost instantly.

I like storms, so have rather enjoyed this. Also our house appears so far to be waterproof!

We had an evening meal out with friends on sunday at a nearby winery- Holt's Summit, just outside Jefferson city. It was a beautiful setting, sitting outside overlooking the Missouri valley, warm evening, with dramatic sunset.

We had to have the house wine, which was not bad, but the food was crap! Such a shame. Beautiful setting, but haute cuisine, or cuisine of any description does not appear to have reached these parts. Still, we enjoyed the occasion and are grateful for the one restaurant in town, which is our nearest, which can actually cook meat properly.
The norm round here is to order twice as much as you need, i.e. one helping and take what's left, home in a doggy bag. All the restaurants, fast food places, have huge piles of polystyrene boxes especially for this. The helpings, of course, are far too big, but personally, I do not want to take home food, which wasn't much good in the first place and is not going to be improved by reheating or keeping. To be polite, I have been taking it home and binning it.

I have had my first taste of private health care, or rather dental care. I do have insurance, I hasten to add and made sure dental was included as my teeth are getting to that sort of age!
Something gave way and I couldn't chew on one side. So on the way to my weekly yoga, we visit the dentist, where they are all bright eyed and bushy tailed at 8 in the morning. Before you could turn round I was in the chair, x-rayed, prodded and diagnosed with 600 dollars worth of treatment. I can handle this rather bad news at this early hour, because I know I only have to pay 20%. He probably took one look at my mouth and thought he could retire on the proceeds.

The hours here are very different. Roland nearly died, when he found that two of his classes started at 8am. He is amazed that when he arrives- on the dot, they are all sitting up, ready and waiting.
Lunch in the cafeteria ends at 1 and dinner ends at 6. Dinner and party invitations are for 5 or 5.30. You are often home by 9. It doesn't seem too bad at this time of year, but the early starts will be hard mid winter.

I will leave you with two images of the master at work. Firstly in his large and rather empty office.

And secondly, on the front porch, where you can pretend to be engrossed in a book, but actually having a good nose around. We do after all live on a corner.

We are heading for another storm, so I'm going outside to watch it come!

A few things that amused and interested me.

I have these random photos that amused me and thought you might like to see them

We came across this when out for our evening walk. Something lacking in the presentation I feel.
Some of the advertising is very old fashioned. This is just across the street from us.

Personally, I think she looks rather scary. It would put me off going in. Mind you they do like very white and perfect teeth here which ours certainly aren't.

This also is interesting on the front door of the public library.

I hope you can read the writing on the lower panes. We have seen this on several public buildings. The reason they put it on is because in Missouri it is still legal to carry a concealed weapon. You can have as many guns as you like and you don't need to lock them away!

Since this is a big gun carrying state I thought it might be my first and only chance to go hunting! I'm working on it. It is a matter of knowing the right people. I'm also hoping to go fishing, which is also a major thing here. The supermarkets are full of fishing gear. I have asked if I can do these things with just the one hand, and they all seemed to think I could. The game is grouse, geese, and I think wild turkey and lastly, but least likely for me, because the license is very expensive, deer. We will see, but I'm hopeful.

I can't remember whether I've shown this one or not, but I like these church message boards.
Lastly some of the large and as you can see prosperous churches right in the centre of Fulton. They are not just single buildings, they have huge annexes, with all sorts of activities on offer. Like everything else it is a business out to get new customers. Judging by the size and state of the buildings, these are very successful businesses.

Roland liked this. We came across it in Columbia.

Another party at the presidents house on tuesday. This time it is the faculty meeting local business people. This is quite interesting, they don't just mean top business people, it's every tiny little shop and business. A weird and wonderful mix. Roland gets invitations to talk to the local Rotary club and the rival college, William Woods. He doesn't really want to do either, I can tell this a mile off, but hope they don't notice his marked lack of enthusiasm! Anyway, he feels obliged to do the Rotary club one as it is important for the college. It's all about connections and getting money. Half the faculty who turn up at these do's are not the teaching staff, but the people in development. They have a lot of fancy and impressive titles, but they are all basically fundraisers.
It was interesting that the party before this one was sponsored by an old westminster student. The menu for this was very amusing. The title was:-
Westminster Welcome Back & On-Board Celebration.
Mentoring Future Leaders of a Global Community & Appreciating Cultural Diversity.
The food was described as cosmopolitan sophistication, and included such things as peach cobbler a la mode!!!
I will leave you with the latest public safety notice given out at our local library, it's called ready in 3. The title is:-
Tornadoes, Floods, Earthquakes, Terrorism. In Missouri you can be ready in 3.
We obviously have an exciting year ahead!

A trip to the Rhine!

It just so happens, that one of my american friends lives just down the road in Missouri. We decide to take the back route, following the Missouri river along towards St Louis to see her.
This area is full of german names, as the main group of immigrants in the 19th century were german. There is Rhineland, Starkenberg, Holstein, Hermann, and along this route, also thanks to the germans and italians, are numerous wineries and vineyards.
Missouri was a big wine producer in the nineteenth century. By the turn of the century, Stone Hill Winery in Hermann was the second largest wine producer in the country and the third largest in the world, shipping a million barrels of wine a year. It's wines won international awards both in europe and at home.
When phylloxera almost wiped out the european vines it was a Missourian entomologist Charles Riley, that arranged for american bug resistant rootstock to be sent to France, thereby helping to rescue the industry. Apparently there is a statue to Riley in Montpellier because of this.
Sadly, prohibition put an end to this industry for some time and it wasn't till the sixties that they started opening again. Sadly, also, I don't think todays product would win any awards, but I suppose it is early days. We have had several drinkable, dry reds, but completely unremarkable. I don't think there is much of a market for sweet reds outside the immediate area!
There are grape varieties I have never heard of because they are native to America. Norton, Concord, Chambourcin, vignoles and Catawba are just a few.
Having sounded rather negative about it, the area is beautiful and it is obviously a new and expanding industry. The towns are very pretty and stress their german heritage. There is a very nineteenth century feel to the whole area. The road we take is part on the escarpment above the river and part on the river valley floor- the flood plain. It reminds us of rural France.

We arrive at my friend's house in New Melle, which is typical of the area. It is very Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn. Much more old fashioned than we thought it would be, this is after all St Louis commuter belt.
Quite by chance, this really has been a Roland weekend, just down the road from here is Chuck Berry's Estate and house- Berry Park. We have to drive by and take a peek, apparently he does actually live there and does cut his own lawn. Roland is newly enthused by reading an article in Rolling Stone magazine, which he actually bought.

We of course don't see the man himself, but Roland still very pleased with the visit.

We were amused by this in New Melle-

City Hall!  

We drove back on the highway and I was very struck by the sky just as the sun was setting. The sky just 

seems much bigger.

It doesn't quite do it justice, but it looked amazing.

Labour day today and the american flag is out. It is very acceptable to be patriotic here! Walmart always has a selection of american flags on sale- in all sizes. A lot of houses have them permanently on display in the front garden or on the porch.

The white wooden fence is very typical round here.

                                                                                                                                        

We visit the capital- Jefferson City

We have to go to Jefferson City to get Roland's social security number, so decide to make a day of it. This is a long weekend, it is Labour Day on monday, so we decide to go on friday.
The weather has turned cooler. It is perfect. Cool air and hot sun, just right for walking round.

The Capitol

Jefferson City is about 30 miles south of Fulton and is on the Missouri river. Just as you approach you get limestone escarpments before going down to the river valley.
 The first building you see as you cross the river is the state capitol. This is an enormous and impressive building and as usual classical in it's architecture. This one was built about 1910 and no money was spared. There is a lot of marble, both inside and out. Columns, to impress, murals and stained glass inside. I'm very impressed that we can scale the never ending steps outside and walk right in. No security.

Inside, looking up.

I would have taken more photos inside, but I thought they wouldn't come out.
The town, or city I should say is quiet, but there seem to be some interesting looking eating places and old brick buildings in the 'historic downtown area'. Lots of churches and then to Roland's delight we hear train noises. Those of you who may not be familiar with Roland and trains might like to know that it they produce a state of near ecstasy. It happens to british men of a certain age!!! He rushes down the hill towards the noises and we come to the rail track, which you can walk straight on to. An enormous western pacific train is just beginning to move and all it's nearly 200 carriages slowly roll by, building up speed as Roland gazes in admiration.

This made Roland's day! You have to understand these things.
Sadly the rail track was laid between the town and the Missouri river rather cutting of the view. The few 'historic' river buildings left from the days when river traffic was what kept the city going look rather silly bang up against the track instead of the river.
Roland decided he liked Jefferson city. I think it had a lot to do with the train and the fact he eat a rather large pizza for lunch.

A few of the things I do like

I thought I'd better not be too cynical about this place. There are a lot of good things that I like.
I think the first thing that strikes you here is the natural curtesy and good manners of everyone. Even in the aisles of Walmart peoples' manners are impeccable. When they say have a nice day here, it actually sounds as if they mean it and some thought has gone into it.
People seem interested in who you are and where you are from and all respond to London with delight. They've either been and loved it or it's the one place they've always wanted to go.
Americans remember your name it seems always, even if you've only said it once. I'm hopeless at remembering names, so this always impresses me.
Although this is not strictly speaking the south, the whole feel of the place is. They consider themselves southern and the accent, which I love, is southern.
Americans know how to give good service. This was particularly noticeable in the bank, when we opened our account. They behaved as if our account mattered. The service was personal, it is a bit of a business these days opening an account, but they made the whole process as painless as possible. They greet us in the street, they know who we are. The whole attitude is in marked contrast to the service we get at our own bank in London.
It is not just in banks that you get service. The video rental store, the drugstore. Even the local council offices. The result is you don't feel hassled and bad tempered. It is partly the small town thing, but I think it is also a different attitude.  It is a bit like going back to the 50's. Or maybe, what I imagine the 50's were like.
I like american breakfasts! I wouldn't want them every day, but they are very nice as a treat. Round here, they have another breakfast speciality- biscuits and gravy. What they call a biscuit is more a scone, and the gravy is made from bacon and other meat scraps in a white sauce. Pretty rich first thing in the morning.
Another local speciality is pepper jelly. It is made either with fruit or what they call bell peppers with a few jalapenos thrown in to give it bite. It is very good with meat. They have it with bagels and cream cheese and the like. Since the cream cheese here is tasteless, the pepper jelly is needed.
The corn is delicious. You buy it in bags of 20 from the farmers market and it is straight out of the fields. Not heavy and starchy, but crisp and juicy- yum. Also tomatoes- the big misshapen ones that have big cores and are a bit green on top- delicious.

yummy tomatoes!