Learning the ABCs of our environment in school

I would love for Missouri to follow in Maryland's footsteps!

Learning the ABCs of our environment in school | delmarvanow.com | The Daily Times : "the Maryland State Board of Education is on the verge of adopting a statewide environmental literacy plan."

Missouri River Fog

It's not uncommon to find the Missouri River shrouded in its own fog bank in the mornings. Not every day, of course, but when dewpoints and temps meet, it's practically guaranteed. The effect can be very dramatic in the winter, in fact. But this was just an ordinary summer morning. We've been lucky to have a few nights of the temps falling into the fifties this week; it's been welcome relief. Feels much more normal than the roller coaster of blistering heat and violent thunderstorms that have dominated the weather this summer.

I grabbed a couple of quick snaps while crossing the Missouri River bridge and in the river bottom that 63 straddles for a while before zig-zagging into the foothills, eventually heading north to Columbia.

Haze on the banks

Peering through the uprights

River behind the trees. 

No Worries...

I wouldn't even try.

I am now a coffee snob

According to Abbey, with the purchase of this hand-cranked burr mill, I have become a coffee snob. "Not so," I huffed. "The espresso machine is the coffee snob. It's very finicky about the grind consistency." and I realized those were surely the words of a coffee snob. So, I'm embracing it. I also prefer coffee that was ground the day, or day before, I buy it. In Jefferson City, that can mean only one place: Dunn Brothers.

Although I caved and bought a bag of Kaldi's French Roast beans at the supermarket today because I was already there. I'm glad I did.  Although I am very fond of Dunn Bros.' Tanzanian Peaberry, this Kaldi's French Roast has surprisingly complex flavor for a dark roast. Not a hint of burned taste, just sweet and buttery, with hints of blackberry. It's one of the few coffees I've tried that really live up to the "chocolate" description that gets heaped onto so many beans. It blows anything I've gotten from Dunn Bros. out of the water.

I'm not sure if it's smugness I'm feeling, but the use of this mill does provide satisfaction. It takes about five minutes of serious cranking to get enough finely ground coffee for a double espresso, but the effort is very much worth it. Not only is the flavor startlingly fresh, but I appreciate it all the more having applied a little elbow grease to make it. And there is something meditative about the milling of each bean exactly as long as needed for a good cup. I'm not sure if I will feel so at one with the universe on a morning when I'm more desperate for instant gratification, but  I think the inconvenience will be good for me. Help me build some character.

Godawful Summer

Summer in Missouri is punishing enough. A visitor once told me the thing that struck them about Missouri is it had no discrimination regarding bad weather; it's got it all. A typical Missouri summer is case in point, and the Summer of 2010 seems bound and determined to remain in our memories as one of the most uncomfortable. It's been unusually hot, the temps reaching in the 100s twice, both times earlier than normal; with them has come high humidity to make it feel even hotter. Midwestern summer afternoons can be characterized by pop-up thunderstorms due to the heat, but this summer the storms have been nonstop, more extreme than usual, releasing so much rain the tributaries are perpetually overflowing, the mighty Missouri running uncomfortably close to flood stage for a couple of months now. Storms have made for some interest sky watching as well. These were taken with a bad camera, but I think you can still tell the sky has looked pretty ominous, and downright bizarre, this July and August.

Dome Cloud

weirdly shaped layers

lit from within

heading into it

run away!

Spank me, Jesus

A long week- May 7-14, 2010

This week seems to be composed of a never-ending series of hoops helpfully provided through which the family has to jump. Nothing too serious- but it just seemed to keep on coming.

Last Friday: Olivia's school had a sort of street carnival in the parking lot, called West Fest. It was a tad underwhelming, but it's also having to compete with Ridgeway's wild and wooly Fun day, to which it pales in comparison. But it was fun to hang out with Olivia's teacher for a bit, watch her play with some of her school chums, enjoy some face painting and overly salty popcorn while swirls of kids ran around us like crazed dingoes. Kids never need much to entertain them, really.

Sunday was Mothers' Day. Abbey's mom has been heavily involved in a never-ending estate sale, and some of the bounty ended up as a gift to my mom; a lovely necklace and a very flattering lapis ring. Abbey was the proud recipient of a yoga mat, which you can see she's put into action already, showing Olivia some of the moves from her quite enjoyable yoga class.

The weather. God, the weather. This has been one of the squirelliest Springs ever. Granted, there are more storms during this time period (especially in the Midwest like we are), but this season seems to be taking cake. For once, the arctic air seems to be the equal of the moist Pacific and Gulf air; they hav a shootout that starts in Oklahoma and blasts its way nearly to Canada. Judging from weather maps, Iowa is having as much fun this season as we are. More often than not, days are rainy, rumbly, dark and unusually cold. This week was no exception, in fact I think it's been the most active week all season. We've made sure our emergency gear is working, in case we need to dash off to the basement in the middle of the night!

On Monday we fought the rain to get Louis to Gentry at 7:25 in order to catch an awards ceremony; Louis won an award for participation in the "technology" area. A chip off the old block, he is. Later, on Monday, I was convinced my pancreas was imploding. Only a few days later, Abbey manifest the same weird symptoms. I guess it's just a bug left over from cold and flu season. Either way I spent Monday morning donating my pee and blood to science, unaware this was a virus as it felt like no virus I've ever had. Fun times. Abbey and I have spent half the week complaining about things probably aching more than they would have ten or twenty years ago. Getting older is such a blast!

next time: garden update.