the weekend

Friday night after watching a movie, I was ready to go to bed, but I thought I'd tune into CNN to see what was going on in the world and there were riots in Minneapolis and Georgia so I stepped out onto the balcony to see what was going on here and holy shit.

The cops were being driven back south on State Street from Kinzie by the demonstrators.  They weren't doing much damage at this point but they were all in the cops' faces.  Very ugly.

Then some more came from the south crossing the State Street bridge.  The cops eventually shoved them back on both fronts.  I watched for about an hour and then I went to bed.


Saturday morning there was a little debris, but things were peaceful.  I went out to get a sandwich and tuned into CNN where they were launching that stoopid rocket, and settled into my lazy boy for a nap, drifting off just after it had broken the surly bonds of Earth.

When I woke up they were talking about what was going on in Chicago, and I stepped out onto my balcony and holy shit again.  What a mob.  There was a group of them on Kinzie, in that plaza in front of the IBM building, and coming down Wacker and turning north on State Street.  It was a huge confrontation on several shifting fronts.  The rioters were uglier, more in the cops' face and throwing what mostly looked like water bottles.
 

Eventually they were driven back and I went back in and watched a movie.  An hour and a half later I stepped back out and there were a couple cars on fire just south of State and Lake.  The confrontation was even uglier.  Eventually they were driven back and they raised the bridges to keep them away from their target which was Trump Tower and after that there wasn't much going on that I could see from the balcony, but I watched it on CNN, WGN and the local Fox affiliate until ten at which time it appeared to be mostly opportunistic looting. The bridges are still up Sunday afternoon and likely they won't go back down again until Monday morning.

From what I could see the protesters are about 80 percent between 20 and 30 and roughly half white and half black.  I tried to look for antifa guys, people dressed in black (actually most all of them are dressed in black, being between 20 and 30 years old) and kind of organized but I didn't see many like that.  Some of them seemed to be like peacemakers, sometimes forming a line between the more rabid demonstrators and the cops, and some of them were, well, rabid.

I didn't like these guys, but I felt uneasy about that, it seemed a little right wing.  Didn't we demonstrate, or at any rate support the demonstrators, back in the days of the unpopular war and didn't that end it?  I used to think that, but anymore I am not so sure .  It helped elect Nixon and that guaranteed at leas four more years of the war.

Then my sister send me an email of her cat tearing up her rug and made a little joke about how the cat was doing it in sympathy with the demonstrators, and that struck me.  Of course her cat was not doing anything to stop police brutality, but how did these demonstrators think that setting cop cars on fire and looting was doing anything to stop it?

A Glimmer of Hope

The latest in baseball news is that the player's union has set forth a proposal that the lowest paid players take the lowest cut in pay this season and the highest paid take the larger cut. If the owners agree, there is talk of Spring training resuming around June 10th with no fans, no spitting, no sunflower seeds and no showering in the locker rooms, and other restrictions. (If they included no grabbing your underwear from the front, I wouldn't be unhappy about that).

The players, of course, like to hear the cheers from the crowd. Would the announcers and photography crew be enough? Perhaps someone should start looking into developing interactive TV. The fans in their living rooms could choose cheer or boo and it would sound at the stadium.

I know that some (like Nancy) aren't fans of spring training, but hey, baseball is baseball!! I frankly love spring training. I get to see up and coming players. I was a great fan of Bote during his first spring training game.

Please, please you owner jerks, agree to this!

Memorial Day

On this day of the year, at this time of day, every day for the last some thirty years except the last one, we would all have risen, and have been wandering around the way of the recently risen, alighting at last at the round table of last night's merriment.  The white coffee pot with the thingamajig on top which I never mastered completely would be making its first round around the round table.

It would be too early for the newspaper but somebody, usually me would have already made the walk to the end of the driveway to look up and down Salem Avenue just in case some miracle had occurred, which it never did.  The conversation was always a little halted at first, how did you sleep, fine, how did you sleep, but eventually like a needle on a phonograph it found its groove.  Muffins and blueberries would be issued by Nena and be eaten, then quiche and sometimes black-eyed peas.  The newspaper would have arrived by then and be passed in pieces among the congregation, the Cubs/Cards box score from the day before, comics, the local news and the news of the nation, and what the hell, some arts and entertainment.

And maybe sometime after the quiche I would take a pee and coming back notice my stuff scattered around the sofa bed, and just you know, put it all together, do my best to make the bed back into a sofa, come back and join the conversation, but soon afterwards there would be a drift towards the car.

 Dropping my bag into the trunk, that soft thud, it was just sad.  Memorial Day was the beginning of summer, and the whole summer lay ahead.  Well not quite the whole summer.  It's like when the waitress, after a wait that always seems too long, sets down the pizza and you eagerly wolf down a slice or two and then you look down and there are still plenty of slices, but not as many as there had been before, and now you no longer have a whole pizza to eat.  Just sad.

And then some food is pressed upon the guests and maybe a plant or two, and then the hugs, funny how they start randomly but as soon as it is clear what is going on everybody lines up so that everybody hugs everybody else and nobody is left unhugged by any other people.  And then we are backing down the driveway, the driver is asking is it clear and the navigator is saying right after this red car, and then we are out in the street.  The waving is a bit too much and, knowing that, people wave even more, making joke of it.  And the last thing, just as we drive out of view, is Fred and Nena, just beginning to turn to walk back up the driveway.


Summertime has been a long time coming to the lake  shore.  For weeks the wind has been coming from the east and it has been colder by the lake.  Not all that cold, but after maybe ten minutes you are heading back in from the balcony.  Fucking wind.

But yesterday it went up to the mid 80s, and they are expected to last at least the week.  Yesterday afternoon I was puttering around with my pots, chatting with my neighbors, filling the seed sock.  It was so pleasant our there and then a quiver of excitement ran through me when I remembered that part of my summer morning routine is reading the newspaper and sipping coffee as the sun rises, and in the coming morning I could do just that.

And so I did, warm cat fur on my left hand, the finches flying in and stopping short seeing the balcony was occupied by one of those big apes with the gargantuan brains and his companion, a savage beast, and retreating to the railing on the next balcony over, eyeing that full sack of seed and tapping their birdie feet impatient for the intruders to leave so that they can gorge themselves on seed.

Much like Fred standing on the curb of Salem Avenue, tapping his toe, waiting for the paper, so he can gorge himself on the box score of the Cub victory of the day before. 

Adventures in St. Louis

On Wednesday we ventured into the city for "stuff." Our first stop was Whole Foods, which, while not crowded, showed that most shoppers were being very careful. Nena saw only one woman without a mask, while I saw one man. There was also a station where masks and gloves were available for customers who wanted them. About a third of the customers were also wearing gloves (as were we). One thing that really struck me was seeing several people wearing masks and gloves while looking at cell phones and picking items off shelves; I soon figured out that they were employees selecting items for pickup/delivery. Also, every one of the help was wearing both gloves and mask. We got our stuff and left.

Our next stop was supposed to be Trader Joe's (off Eager Road, for Sadie's reference) and they had a line that stretched out the door all the way to the PetSmart next door. We decided that was too long to wait, so we went on to our next stop, Total Wine, as we were running low on such items. It wasn't crowded at all, but again, all the help were gloved and masked and the shopping carts were sanitized. We filled our cart and left, heading for another Trader Joe's off Manchester just outside of the beltway (Des Peres?). On the way we decided to have a Cafe Mocha from Panera's. Since all St. Louis restaurants are still closed for dine-in, we had to either a) order from our phones or b) get in the drive-up line. Ordering from the phone proved too complicated, so we got in the drive-up, ordered our drinks, and slowly snaked our way to the window. Again, all the help were gloved and masked. Took about 12-15 minutes.

On to Trader Joe's. (Traffic seemed about normal to me, by the way, which was navigable but busy.) There was a line there, too, but after I parked the car, Nena had been allowed towards the front of the line so we didn't have to wait long; the rule was one cart out, one cart in. Again, the carts were sanitized and all the help wore gloves and masks. Got our stuff and left.

Final stop was a small liquor store called Randall's, which is the only place I know to get Nena's favorite brand of red vermouth. It was not crowded at all, but once again, sanitized carts and glove/masked employees. I had been there before, and the man we dealt with was very knowledgeable about the stock, so he recommended a substitute for the brand we wanted, while I also picked up some beers I can't get out here in Bucolic Rolla.

On back to the homestead. Had to take Manchester/US 100, but it only adds about an extra 10 minutes to the trip from that point. Noticed both ways that there were a LOT of trucks on the highway. Ran into a jam-up on the Interstate due to an overturned semi, but shit happens, right?

All in all, a mostly productive but unnerving experience. We're staying put for a long while now.

Baseball and all

  Rather than attempt to respond to Turns and Nancy about the latest in baseball news, I just thought I would start a new post.
  What I have read is this. Last month the owners agreed to pay each of its players on a game by game basis. Their salaries would coincide with what they are normally paid, just not by the year but by the game. I am unclear whether that agreement was based on how many actual games were played or how many would have been played. I think that 82 games was the agreed number. (Not sure if that was based on the previous Memorial Day weekend opening or the July fourth opening). The MLB already knew that there would not be fans in the stands.
  Now the owners are reneging saying that because of the lack of fans and possibly fewer advertisers, the players should get half of that. MLBPL and player's agents are saying no way! They say the owners knew about the lack of fans when they agreed to the original pay plan and the owners are just being greedy.
  If anyone thinks that these players are going to be in unemployment or food lines, think again. How much money do they have now? Enough to last a year? Probably. Do I think they should hold out? Yes! The owners have always been greedy bastards ever since owners began owning teams. Would I like to see baseball return? Yes, but not on just any terms. Am I, like KJ, irritated by the proposals to tweak the rules here and there for this season (should it begin)? No.
  This is the very first time in the history of baseball that there has been absolutely no baseball! It is a damned shame, because it would certainly help everyone's mood if we could watch our teams play while we are mostly prevented from any socializing. I am not even tempted to watch Korean baseball on television with their cardboard fans. It's not the Cubs!
Turns, in order to answer your question about our county and that county to our west that has the Fort, I would have to get back into librarian mode and research the army's regulations during this time. Perhaps they are not allowed off base. I'll let you know later.

corona corona

I got birds that whistle.  I got birds that sing.
If the National League takes the DH it won't mean a thing.

the designated hitter rule

Illinois had six straight days of dropping corona deaths.  I guess it's like the stock market where they warn you to not watch it every day because it will drive you mad, but I have to have something to feel like I have an indication of where the bus is going,  And the route just became bumpier when we hit a record high today.  Mid June at the earliest.

It's getting to me.  So much of my life seems pointless without other people.  Why do this?  Why do that?  Why bother?  I still keep up with the painting and when it is going well that gives me a couple hours of pleasure, other than that I am pretty much killing time until supper and after when I do my crossword and watch five or six episodes of Veep, so cynical, so filthy, good entertainment for our time under the corona.

There is no end in sight and there is the possibility that we may not even get through this alive, and afterwards who knows what is to come.

So it's kind of surprising that I got so upset by reading about the proposal to have kind of a silly season of baseball beginning around the Fourth of July,  I think it will be something like each team plays only members of its own division to avoid travel, what the hell, I can live with that, just for the chance of seeing Javy do one of those tricky tags, or hallelujah stealing home.  But the thing that sticks in my craw is that the plan is for the National League, the senior circuit, the rock of ages, to adopt the designated hitter rule.  Just for this silly season they say, but you know how those things go.

They don't explain why the DH is part of the plan, maybe Umpire Jim or one of wagoneers could explain it to me.  My guess is that the ballplayers like it because it provides employment for more players and they want to sweeten it for the players who will likely be sequestered which will cut into their catting around.

I hate browsers and there continual "security" upgrades that only ensure that the use will stop using them. I can't post now - some kind of block from whatever - sounds official as hell.

Check in Periodically

Haven't heard a peep out of most of you. It would be nice to know that you are all well despite confinement.

We had an unusual cold snap last night. Predictions of a frost. So I brought in every vegetable that has been waiting patiently for the weather to clear up enough for Fred to till and plant. Also, brought in a few other plants that I did not think would enjoy temperatures in the thirties, frost or not. Now my kitchen counters look like a plant farm. I don't think that it actually got that cold last night, but I wasn't up this morning until 8AM.

Flower beds are really beginning to look great. I have two students from Ghana who come for six hours a week and are going at the weeds and volunteer trees and bushes with vigor! Fred is delighted not to hear me say that I tried but can't dig up that clump of junk daylillies or a wild honeysuckle bush. I just ask Daniel to do it and whoosh, it's gone! Next week is finals week and those two would like to get more hours if possible after that.

We have our Rolla friends on e-mail now. We take turns writing little poetry vignettes about each other and what we are or imagine others are doing these days. As always, Fred does not contribute. He brewed a batch of IPA on Wednesday and Ron came by to watch and talk (at a safe distance, of course).

So, how are you guys doing? Nancy, Turns, Sadie, Uncle Ken?? Our pub has re-opened with restrictions. We are not risking it yet. Even Fred says he doesn't want to try yet. We have Cubs masks! Everyone is supposed to wear a mask in public, although Fred is going on Tuesday to have his beard trimmed and that would mean no mask, of course.

Hey! Keep in touch!

Seems like Almost a Year

We got back from Texas on March 13. Friday the 13th. Black and Gloomy Friday the Thirteenth! Most of our friends were already sequestered at home and the pub closed the following Friday. After we got home, Fred risked a solo trip to shop in St. Louis, despite severe chastising from me.
Since then, we stay pretty close to home.

OK, so it is only May 5th! Considering making burritos tonight. Cinco de Mayo, you know. It hasn't been two months, but wow! I thought time was supposed to fly as we age. Time has slowed down to a snail's pace. Feels like almost a year since we were in Texas. My spring trip with my brother, who lives in Oregon, has been indefinitely postponed. He wants us to make a gruesome cemetery trip to visit Grandmother and Grandfather, Mother and biological Father's graves. Kansas City, Savannah Georgia, and Arlington. Quite a road trip. I had agreed. Lots of stuff to do and see in Kansas City, Savannah is beautiful in the spring, think of all those museums on the mall in D.C.!
Our Memorial Day extravaganza had been cancelled (have to wait and see for Labor Day one). Trip early summer on the bourbon trail....gone!
Plus, such essentials like my dentist appointment end of March postponed until end of June. Second hip replacement on hold. Mammogram postponed. Maybe I might be a bit glad about those three (may regret it).

Nevertheless, we are healthy, as sane as we ever were, and alive.