Sunday Dinner

I went over to my brother and sister-in-law's for dinner today.  If  you were in the west, you would have called it lunch but in the Midwest and South a big dinner on Sunday is "dinner". When you go to their house for Sunday Dinner, you never know how many people will be there. It could  be 3-4 or it could be 10+.  Today was relatively small since there was only 5 adult guests and one great-grandchild. Later a grand-daughter and 3 more great-grandchildren stopped by for a mid-afternoon meal. One meal of hers and it is easy to see why coming to their house is so popular.  It is good old home cooking! Here is what we had to eat:

Cucumbers and onions, home-grown tomatoes, home-made bread and peach cobbler.

 

Pot roast, mashed potatoes, carrots cooked with the pot roast, corn and fresh green beans (not shown).

 

 

My plate... 8-)  No seconds but I did bring a plate of leftovers home with me for tomorrow.  Of course I also had a dish of the cobbler...

 

After dinner is done, leftover plates are made to take home and dishes washed, then everyone goes out to the sun room and visits for awhile.  Like we took the time to do years ago........   B & V, thank you for a great afternoon!

 

 

 

 

 

Observations along the trail

Wake up at 6 a.m.; check weather - 66 degrees & sunny; wake up Morris; get up: feed Morris; get iPhone & earplugs; head out the door for a 1.5 mile walk. Beautiful morning for a walk and other people felt the same way since I have never seen so many people on the trail as I did today. Walking by themselves, walking their dogs, running and riding bikes - we were all out there enjoying the cool morning. I never get bored on the walks between the iPhone and everything to look at. I've downloaded an app on the phone that lets me listen to a local talk radio station and today was a show on gardening so I leaned how to get rid of Bermuda grass in  your lard, cure Impatiens from some a disease that I never heard of and that the base product in Round Up is off patent so it can be bought under another name at abut 1/2 the price. Sometimes I listen to music and sometimes the talk radio is quite entertaining.  Here are some of this morning's observations.....

Someone took a golf club and made some yard art out of it.  Look closely and you can see the driver coming up out of the ground(towards the left side)  and towards the right is the club handle. Clever!

 

Giving the grass a drink before the golfers arrive.

A wooden girl swinging from a tree along the trail.

Home stretch along the apartments.

Random Musings.....

Decisions: Back when I was planning the summer in KC, I debated over getting an apt down in the Plaza area or out in the suburbs.  This week while I was down in the Plaza area, I drove by the 2 apartment buildings I was considering. Yes, they would have been close to the Plaza and all the activity. However, when I saw them I realized that one was actually too close to the activity and there were no trees close by (all concrete) and the other one was in an area that I would not have felt comfortable walking outside by myself. My roommate would not have been happy there without his birds... As for the burbs?  I'm 1 mile from everything in the way of shopping, stores and restaurants plus lots of trees, grass and a wonderful walking trail.  It is always a good feeling to look back and know you made the right decision!

Humidity: Yes there is more humidity back here in the Midwest.  However, I find it tolerable if I'm in the shade because there is usually at least a slight breeze and the breeze is not hot. I realize "it's a dry heat" in the desert but 100 is hot - humid or dry. I always check the weather before I get up in the morning to decide if I'm going to walk or not. Bothe Tucson and here had the same temperature last Wednesday morning at 5:45 - 78 degrees.  However, Tucson had 14% humidity and here it was 80%.  I went ahead and walked since I was mostly in the shade and there was a light breeze so it didn't bother me.  I would never have gone outside in Tucson with a temp of 80 degrees to walk since there is no shade or breeze.  I saw on my Tucson Internet link today that they have had 28 straight days of at least 100 and tomorrow 112 is scheduled. Plus, looking out at grass and trees is mentally "cooler" than looking out at rocks which just reflect the heat.

Rain:  I had forgotten about frequent rains in the Midwest.  I realize it wasn't the case last year but at least it's possible and certainly something to look forward to when it is like this year.  In the desert, you just know you won't have any rain for several months straight.

Admission to places: I was shocked to find that the admission to the Art Museum if free. They had a free day at the zoo last week if you lived in the counties where 1/8 of a cent taxes goes to support the zoo. Residents get 50% off on admission anytime but these free days are held several times a year.

A Clean City:  Kansas City is not a "rich city"  so I am amazed at how clean it is.  Besides all the clean places around town that I have been in, I even pay attention to news reports from areas where I would not feel safe and those areas are even pretty clean. Yesterday I saw some guys mowing the grass in the median and though how hard we have to fight in Tucson just to get the 6-18"weeds cut out of the median. I have seen 2-3 areas where there was any graffiti at all. Larry and I saw the same things in Little Rock. I think people just have more pride in a city/town that is clean and well kept. Maybe the taxpayers should overthrow the city government in Tucson...... 

"I wonder if that new little bird will be back tomorrow?"

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

I woke up this morning and though "I cannot go for a walk this morning with the temp at 79 degrees and 80% humidity."  So I decided to go back to the Art Museum and get my walking in there.  What an amazing place and Kansas City should be so proud of the Museum. It is not only a beautiful museum with some awesome pieces of art but it is FREE to the public.

The museum was built on the grounds of Oak Hall, the home of Kansas City Star published William Rockhill Nelson.  When he died in 1915, his will provided that upon the deaths of his wife and daughter, the proceeds of his entire estate would go to purchasing artwork for public enjoyment. In 1911, a former schoolteacher Mary Atkins (widow of a real estate speculator) bequeathed $300,000 to establish an art museum.  The estate had grown to $700,000 by 1927 and the decision was made to combine the two trusts into one museum. The current museum opened Dec 11, 1933 and at that time cost $2.75 million to build the six-story building. At the height of the Great Depression, the worldwide art market was flooded with pieces for sale but there were very few buyers so the museum's buyers found a vast open market to them.  Today the museum has one of the largest art collections in the country. In 1999 a 55 % increase in space occurred when a contemporary new building opened adjacent to the original building.

This is a red marble statue by Fauno Rosso and was created for the Roman Emperor Hadrian (117-138 C.E.) to go in his palace. With the collapse of the Roman Empire, the estate was abandoned and its great sculptures neglected or lost.  The red marble statue was discovered in 1746 although it was in many fragments.  It was restored and has been in the Capitoline Museum, Rome since them. The sculpture is famous because it is made entirely of red marble from a town called Mylasa in Italy. The sculpture is on exclusive loan from the Capitoline Museum, Rome and this is the first time it has been outside of the Capitoline since it was placed there over 250 years ago. Personally, it is beautiful and I can appreciate it's history but I prefer the sculpture of The Thinker that I wrote about on Tuesday.

This handsome guy is Armada, the Buddha of the Western Paradise. He has been around since the Muromachi Period which was 1392-1568. Composition is lacquered and gilded wood.

This is a small portion of a very large painting that I really liked. The name of the painting is Two-Tiered Still Life with Fruit and Sunset Landscape by Severin Roesen and dates back to ca. 1867. Roesen fled Germany during the revolution in 1848 and settled in Williamsport, PA. The colors are really vivid and the detail is amazing. Sure would look good in my dining room....

His Majesty Update

His Majesty, otherwise known as Morris, is certainly enjoying his vacation. He eats, sleeps, watches what is happening outside his windows - not necessarily in that order.  His typical day starts with getting up when I do, waiting on me to get ready for the day, eat, check the goings on in the yard and on the street, and then nap.  I go out for lunch or errands and he wakes up when I come home.  Then it is time to repeat the eat, check yard and nap routine again. Dinner time wakes him up so we start the cycle all over again. He goes to bed, on the bed, when I do and sometimes gets up in the night to eat again. What a life!

I got some sliced chicken from the deli a few days after we got back here. Morris wanted a bite and I gave him a bite. Well, then he wanted my whole sandwich... He loved the chicken which quickly replaced tuna as his favorite food. I was thrilled since I HATE the smell of tuna and rarely eat it myself. I ran out of his chicken, got some from another store and he refused to eat it. So back to the store I got the original at, got some more and all was well again. We're not talking about eating one slice a day... Last Friday I got .58 lb and he ate the last slice this past Monday morning for breakfast so it lasted 3 days...Yesterday he had 4 slices!  The chicken is in addition to his dry food he eats. In the above picture, the left bowl is his favorite dry food, the center bowl is a dry foot the vet would like for him to only eat and the chicken is on the plate. It's not like he only eats the chicken or tuna, he also eats a lot of dry food. However, when he is done, he walks away even if there is chicken left on the plate.  Guess that is why he doesn't get fat although I do think he has gained a few ounces since we have been here - maybe because he isn't eating lizards.
I have noticed a change in his fur since we have been here. It is more fluffy and I don't know if the humidity has anything to do with that or not.

Morris came with some habits when we adopted him and one of the habits was thinking that the toilet bowl was his water dish. Larry finally gave up putting water down for him since he never touched it. He very carefully balances on the seat, sticks his head down can reach the water. We learned to leave the lid up and flush several times after cleaning the bathroom.  He does the same thing when in a motel room... Another habit he came with was sleeping on the bed at night.

All in all, he is a really good cat - even if he is spoiled beyond imagination.

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

This mornings plan was to go to the Plaza and take some pictures before the stores opened and then go to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art which is nearby. I have never been to the Museum before, even during the years I lived here. About the time I leave the apartment this morning it starts sprinkling rain even though the 7 a.m. weather said the rain would go north of KC. By the time I get downtown, it is still lightly raining so I scraped the Plaza.  I get to the Museum, walk in the door and find out that they are closed on Monday and Tuesday for Art Classes (small print on their web page). So by now the rain is down to occasional sprinkles and since I'm there, decide to take a look at the Museum's Sculpture Park since no one else is in the park. I finally find a place about 2 block away to park - couldn't access it directly from the Museum since it was closed.... The Sculpture Park is a 22-acre Park surrounding the Museum with grass, trees, walkways and 31 sculptures.  There are no "keep off the grass" signs - only "don't touch the sculptures" signs.

 

As sculptures go, The Thinker has always been one of my favorites.  I have seen small scale models of it but have never seen the full size made by the original artist. Auguste Rodin made the first small plaster version around 1880. In 1902 he made a bronze sculpture set on a marble pedestal for the City of Paris. After that he made 28 original monumental-sized bronze casts of the sculpture and they are scattered though the world.

There are four Shuttlecock sculptures scattered around on the Sculpture Park grounds. They are aluminum and fiber-reinforced plastic painted with polyurethane enamel. The sculptures are each 17 ft. 11in. high and 15 ft. 1 in. crown diameter and a 4 ft. nose core diameter.  The four are in different positions on the grounds. The Nelson-Atkins Museum commissioned Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen to create the sculptures in May 1992 and they were installed in July 1994.

While walking the grounds and at the longest distance from the car, it started a steady rain - not exactly a downpour but it was coming down pretty good. And no, I did not have an umbrella with me. Needless to say, I was soaked by the time I got  back to the car.

Oh yeah...the main reason I went down to the Museum was to see the red–marble Fauno rosso, a life size statue created in the early 1700's and on view for the first time ever in America.  It was carefully packed up and ship to the Museum. last month. I plan to go back soon to see it and the other exhibits inside the museum.

 

On A Personal Note...



Today I'm going to go back to talking about the giant sink hole that I fell into when Larry died and my attempt since them to climb out of it. I've been in it for 18 months and 1 week.  I'm not out of the hole yet but sure am a lot closer to the top that I was. As someone said, "You don't get over it, you just learn to live with the hole in your heart." I don't count weeks or months anymore - I just happened to make a note of 18 months for last Monday.

On my last visit with my grief counselor before I left Tucson last month, she gave me an assignment for the summer. She knows by now how organized I am and that I cannot tolerate the feeling of "just drifting like a leaf in a stream". Based on that, my assignment was (1) Do my own Bucket List - not the one that Larry and I had done. What do I want to do? Go? See? (2) What do I want my life to look like in 2 years? She wanted 5 years but that is too far for me so I will work with 2 years. I'm to set goals and get specific. So I have been doing a lot of thinking while driving, walking a trail, visiting a garden, etc. I'm sure the 20 hour drive back to Tucson will give me more thinking time.
Back in 2011, before Larry got sick, we were discussing moving from Tucson. I never thought he would get tired of the desert being the "lizard" he was who loved the heat and sun but he was tired of the rock and cactus.  I never liked the heat of the desert but could tolerate it as long as there was good air-conditioning. I had grown to dislike rock and cactus even more than he did - maybe it was growing up in the Midwest with greenery and trees. Our trip to Little Rock that summer was to decide if that is where we wanted to move to. We liked it but were still looking when he got sick. We had planned to move in the fall of 2012. So....I feel my wanting to move has his blessing since that is a plan we made together. Leaving my dear friends in Tucson is the only hard part of leaving. 
A couple of months ago a friend passed along a quote by another widow in which she said "I am overwhelmed by the presence of his absence".  That perfectly summed up my feelings. I had not realized how much his presence was with me in Tucson and not always in a positive way.  He is still with me here in KC but it is different - not overwhelming , just a good memory of our wonderful life together.  Here in the apartment, I don't see him in his  recliner. I don't see him sitting at this desk next to mine in the office. I don't see him sitting across from me at the table in the kitchen. Here, it is just a wonderful memory.  I have the above picture framed and by my chair here in the apt and glance at it many times through the day. It not only brings back memories of the many times he talked about his trips up to the lake with his buddies over many years but it is also his final resting place. I look at the picture and remember how happy he was on this trip which was about 6 months before he died. It's the same lake where we scattered his ashes at his request. Here, I have "his presence". In Tucson, I have the "presence of his absence."  There is a big, big difference. Whether I like it or not, I have to rebuild my life without him and I need some fresh scenery to do it. 

Genearlogist's Psalm

 

 

Genealogy is my pastime, I shall not stray.

It maketh me to lie down and examine half-buried tombstones.

It leadeth me into still courthouses.

It restoreth my ancestral knowledge.

It leadeth me in paths of census records, ship's passenger lists for my surname's sake.

Yea, though I walk though the shadows of research libraries, and microfilm readers,

I shall fear no discouragement.

For a strong urge is within me; the curiosity and motivation they comfort me.

It demandeth preparation of storage space for the acquisition of countless documents.

It annointeth my head with burning midnight oil;

my family group sheets runneth over.

Surely birth, marriage and death dates shall follow me all the days of my life;

And I shall dwell in the house of a family-history seeker forever.

 

By Wildamae Brestal 

A Genealogy Sunday

I spent about 5 hours today on the computer researching my maternal grandfather's family. Sometimes a family history just comes together very easily based on what is on the Internet. That is the case with Larry's ancestors and my maternal ancestors. On my mother's side, I can go back to 1659 in Germany where my 6th Grandfather was born. However, on my  mother's dad's side, I'm still searching for his mother and father. I've always said that genealogy is just a huge jigsaw puzzle that you try to put together.  I have found a person who I think is my grandfather's mother along with 3 of his siblings on the 1880 Census. The pieces for her fit.  However, there is never a husband mentioned for her. She is a single mother with 4 young children on the census but no husband. I can find her before she married while living with her parents but only the one occasion when she is married and with children. Assuming she is the one, I found quite a bit on her parents including the fact that her father was killed in the Civil War when a bullet hit him in the head. I'm trying to get as much research done as possible before I visit the Mid-Continent Genealogy Library here in KC. The Library has all kinds of information but I gotta know what to specifically look for before I go for a visit.
Another bit of family history I found today was a juicy gossip item..... I discovered that my Uncle left his wife of 26 years and 5 children to marry my mother's sister.  Certainly never knew that before!

I didn't spend all day on the computer but took a noon break and went over to the Oak Park Mall which is a great place. This picture is at one of the mall entrance driveways. I love it! The shoe is at least 10-12' tall.  The flowers in the shoe are begonias and the shoe is made of wicker.

 

I plan to spend at least 2 days a week during the next few weeks I'm here being a tourist. On Tuesday, I'm going to the Plaza to take pictures and also visit the Nelson Atkins Art Museum.



Another lazy day...kind of

I'm getting a taste of summer here in KC the last few days.  Today it was around 95 with a heat index of 100. One of the big differences I notice from Tucson heat is that here there is usually a breeze and the breeze doesn't feel like it is coming off a blast furnace. Yes, it is humid and I don't go for walks in the afternoon. It was 75 when I got up this morning at 6. I wake up around 5:30 - 6 a.m. without any alarms. Sometimes Morris wakes me up first with a single full volume "meow" and sometimes he is not happy when I get up and he want's to stay in bed a little longer. This morning I went ahead and got up since I wanted to get back into walking. I went for my walk, went to the farmer's market, stopped at Wal Mart on the way home and was home by 9 a.m. I'll admit to both of us taking a nap this afternoon. Here is His Majesty curled up in the easy chair. After the nap, I spent several hours on genealogy research for my maternal grandfather chasing down possible leads.

 



I got down to the Farmer's Market this morning before it got packed although it was still really busy. As I said before, I really like the fact that the vendors are required to have a sign on every display that says "farm grown" or "warehouse product" so I know if it is the same thing I would get in a grocery store or not. It's noted on the price sign. I saw a sign this morning that I didn't really notice before and it said "farm auction".  I asked and  found out that it is grown in an Amish community where they pool all their product from the community and people buy produce, fruit, etc from the pooled product. The below tomatoes are "farm auction" so were grown by the Amish.  Some of the tomatoes they had were really big. I also get a little loaf of home-made Orange Cranberry Sweet Bread when I go to the Overland Park market.  It is more of a desert bread but really good.

 

Since I wasn't really clear about when I leave here to head home, I will be leaving here July 22nd and should be home in the afternoon of July 24th. I make my hotel reservations yesterday.  I thought about doing the drive in 2 days but decided that 10 hour days of driving by myself wasn't the smartest thing to do so will take 2 1/2 days again. On the home trip, I will be staying overnight in Shamrock, TX and Las Cruces, NM.

Odds and Ends

It's so nice to have a working computer and it has really gotten a workout today catching up on the last couple of days. 

I think I have narrowed it down to 3 apartment communities here in Overland Park that I would prefer if I move back here next year and have ranked them 1, 2, & 3 with 1 being my first choice.  I have looked at around 15 different places since I have been here. So today I started a spreadsheet on my 3 favorites in which I compared room size, which floor plan I prefer,  square footage, price, etc. I know that is over the top organized but that's me... 8-) I like the 2 bedroom I'm in but it is just to small to live in permanently since it's only 1,019 sq ft and I'm coming from a 1,950 sq.ft. house.  I asked Morris and he said he didn't care - just as long as he had activity outside his windows.  As previously stated, he spends hours looking out the window at the birds and in the evening his bonus is people walking their dogs past the window. Last night a little kid spotted Morris in the window, stopped and finally got his mom to see Morris. No reaction from His Majesty but it was cute to watch the little kid. There are some units in the complex I am currently in that have screened in patios and that would be ideal for His Majesty.

I needed to get my hair cut so got that done today. It's always traumatic to go to someone new for a hair cut - especially when the same person has been cutting it for around 10 years.  She did a really good job today and I would go back again.  If I move here, I will definitely change my hair style and go to one that takes advantage of the natural curl that the humidity here really brings out. I spend time blow drying it out all smooth, go outside and have curls a couple of hours later if there is a lot of humidity. I love the sign below that was in the salon I went to today for the cut.

Computer Healed!

I have an iPad and iPhone but was totally lost for the 2 days the PC was in the hospital. Those little devices are fine for checking stuff but not for long emails, photo editing, etc. The doctors couldn't really find anything wrong with it but cleaned up a lot of stuff and I had them install a new anti-virus program since I hated the old one.  I picked it up late yesterday afternoon but decided to not turn it on until this morning. When I turned it on today I could not get Internet access. I did all the usual things such as rebooting the modem, router, etc and nothing worked.  A very nice young man from the Internet provided walked me through more advanced things with no success. Yet my iPad had Internet access.  When the PC wouldn't even work with an Ethernet cable I knew it was time for a trip to the emergency room.  It was re-admitted to the hospital and 3 hours later I picked it up and it is working fine.  Apparently, and no one can figure out how or why, the IP address got wiped out on the PC...  This time I made sure I could get on the Internet before I left the computer hospital...

I think Morris and I are about rested from having company.  My feet have almost recovered from so much walking and Morris has rested up for after a week of  training his new support staff person.  Of course, he just gets her trained and she disappears on him.... I have never seen him sleep as much as he did Tuesday - it was all day and all evening.  He only woke up to eat, drink, use the litter box or change positions.

I have not made a secret of the fact that I am sick and tired of the rocks and cactus in Arizona.  So what do I see yesterday morning when I go outside?  This blankety blank cactus on the porch of the people who live next door.  I resisted a VERY STRONG urge to over and demolish it!  They also have added a little date palm in another pot but I can tolerate that although I don't like it.

I can't believe that I have been here 5 weeks and leave 4 weeks from next Monday. When I got here,  leaving seems so far away and I wondered what I would do with all the time...  I need to spend a little time this weekend on my "To Do" list and prioritize some things...

Sick computer

I took Nancy to the airport this morning and it sure is quiet here in the apartment since she left.  I think Morris even misses her!  It was great to have her for a visit.

The blog may be down for a day or so since my laptop computer is sick and I'm getting ready to take it to the doctor.  Hopefully it is not terminal! I'm trying to get a backup done of the pictures I have taken in KC before I take it to the hospital. Technology is wonderful when it works but when it doesn't - it's one of the most frustrating things there is.... 8-)

Truman Library

Today's outing was to visit the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, MO. I always wanted to do that during the 4-5 years I lived in the KC area and never did and didn't on any trips back here. So.....today that was where Nancy and I went.

Harry Truman was born in 1884 while his parents were living in Lamar, MO which is south of Kansas City. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1934. In 1944, he was chosen by the Democratic Party to be Roosevelt's Vice Presidential running mate over the current VP that Roosevelt had at the time because the Democratic Party did not think Roosevelt would be able to physically serve out his 4 year term. Truman became President on April 12, 1945 when Franklin Roosevelt died.  At that time, Truman had been Vice President and had only met with Roosevelt 2 times since they were sworn in together.  In those days, the VP's job was simply to deal with the Senate. Truman was reelected in Nov 1948 for his own 4 year term. After leaving Washington D.C he returned to Independence, MO where he lived until he died on Dec 26, 1972. And there is your history lesson for the day.....

Truman's desk in the actual replica of the Oval Office when he was President. I also saw Clinton's Oval Office in his Library and I'm am surprised at how small it is.  It seems much larger on TV and in photographs.

Photograph of Truman being sworn in after Roosevelt's death with wife Bess and daughter Margaret by his side.

Powell Gardens

In 1948, George E. Powell, Sr., a prominent Kansas City businessman, acquired the 915 acre tract of land in Kingsville, MO (about 30 miles east of Kansas City) that is now Powell Gardens.  Mr. Powell was the owner of Yellow Transit Freight Lines. The site has been a dairy farm, a Boy Scout camp, an agricultureal and natural resource center and since 1988, a botanical garden. The garden features 6,000 varities of plants with 225,000 plants in seasonal displays.  

We went out to the gardens early to beat the crowds and it was worth it. The day was overcast which didn't make for good senic pictures but was great for flowers since there wasn't the glare from the sun.  Besides the special exhibit, I was especially intrigued by the water gardens and all the different variety of water lilies in bloom. We walked and walked and walked! 

I read in the newspaper about a special exhibit that recently opened in the gardens.  It is sculptures made out of Lego bricks - like what kids play with. The exhibit utilized around 500,000 Lego pieces to make 27 sculptures in 14 displays. The artist is Steve Kenny who is based in New York City. Sean was the first of now only 13 Lego Certified Professionals worldwide. The sculptures range from 6" high to nearly 8 feet high.

This rose is 7 foot high and is made of 41,242 pieces.

The full size lawnmower is made of 13,704 Lego pieces. 

575 Lego pieces was used to make this goldfinch.

Vegetables, Culture and Graffiti

First stop was the City Market which is in downtown Kansas City between the financial area and the river. Since its began in 1857, the  City Market continues to be one of the largest and most enduring public farmers' markets in the Midwest. In addition, there are more than 40 full-time tenants that are open year round and offering an eclectic mix of independently owned shops and dining. There are 3 long "barns" where farmers sell their product plus the plaza is surrounded with more booths, restaurants, etc. As with the Overland Park market, vendors must display a sign indication where the product if "farm grown or warehouse". Any craft or flower booths must all be hand made.  We stopped at a booth selling purses and got into a conversation with the lady who runs the booth.  She said the "Market Master" visits her house once a year to assure that she is actually making the products she is selling.  She said that last year 6 vendors lost their license because they were representing "home made or home grown" and they were actually buying the product. Yes, we contributed to the economy at her booth by purchasing a purse each that is EXACTLY like a Vera Bradley purse we live but about 1/3 the cost. It took about 30 minutes to get down there so I wouldn't do it every weekend but it would be fun to go to once in awhile.
We drove down to the Riverfront Park what was close by the City Market and is along the banks of the Missouri River. Riverfront Park was opened to the public in March 1999. The 17-acre park is located on the south bank of the Missouri River between the Kit Bond Bridge and Heart of America Bridge. The park area was once a landfill for construction debris and the former site of a sand and gravel company. The park area now consists of more than 300 trees, a small natural amphitheater and a nearly one-mile long concrete walkway with period lighting. While there, I saw the first graffiti I have seen since I have been in Kansas City and it was only on one short wall in the park.
We headed back  home by driving through the downtown area and saw a sign for the Kauffman Performing

Arts Center so stopped there. In 1999, the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation purchased an 18.5-acre plot of land just south of the downtown business district. The Foundation announced that this site would be the home of the proposed performing arts center. Ground was broken on  October 6, 2006 and opened Sept 16, 2011. The 285,000-square foot houses two sophisticated performance halls.  One is for plays, ballet, etc and one is for the symphony. There was a tour being held for a couples 50th Wedding Anniversary so we kinda sneaked into the performing halls after they moved on but before they locked the doors.  Both halls are beautiful beyond belief and the architecture is really amazing.
We got home 30 minutes before a severe thunderstorm hit with up to 60 MPH winds and some of the hardest rain I have seen in a long time.  Morris hid out under the table.......

Oh My Aching Feet.....

Nancy and I left home at 9 a.m. this morning and got back home around 4 p.m.  During that time we took the tour though Hallmark Cards, visited a few of the shops in Crown Center, had lunch, visited Union Station, walked down to Brush Creek, took a drive through Loose Park, walked around in the Rose Garden, picked up a salad at the grocery store and came home.

Hallmark Cards began in 1910 and today is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. The self guided tour was really interesting. Starting with 1910 they have a display of products for each decade including popular cards for that period. Wrapping paper as we know it, was "invented" by them in 1917. We saw cards being printed on a special small printing press, watch a machine making little bows, saw an Emmy that they received one year for a movie, an oil painting done by Winston Churchill for a card and many other things. In 1957 they supplied a Presidential Christmas card for President and Mrs. Eisenhower shown above.  They have supplied the official Presidential Christmas Card every year since then. After the tour we went into the "Official Hallmark Store, in the Crown Center and it is beyond huge. Many, many things I have never seen before in a Hallmark Store.
After Crown Center, we went over to the Union Station and found a parking place right in front... The foot gods were looking out for me. 8-) 

The Union Station is just amazing! The Station was opened in 1914,  and was a replacement for the original Union Depot which opened in 1878. When it opened in 1914, it was the second largest train station in the country. Union Station's passenger traffic peaked in 1945 at the end of World War II when thousands of military personnel passed through the Station. The Station then spent the next four decades in gradual decline until its closure in 1985. In 1996, a public/private partnership began funding Union Station's $250 million restoration. By 1999, the station reopened as a series of museums and other public attractions. In 2002, Union Station saw its return as a train station when Amtrak began providing service again. Now the refurbished station, in addition to being a working Amtrak Station,  boasts theaters, ongoing museum exhibits, and attractions. As a guide told us, the Station was "refurbished" so all the flooring, doors, light fixtures, ceilings, etc in the Station are the original items - they were just cleaned up and repaired to the original condition. The interior is just stunningly beautiful.

The clock in this picture is the original clock from 1910 and is the only big clock in the Station. The floors are all marble. Think of the stories these walls could tell....
Tomorrow, even though it is supposed to rain, we are heading to downtown Kansas City to the City Market, Missouri River, etc.

School Visit

I definitely want to continue my classes and finish my 2 year degree in Accounting if I move back here. So I scheduled a class at the local community college for today so Nancy could go with me. What an experience!  They called me yesterday to confirm the tour and to let me know that they had set up an appointment so I could meet with the Accounting Dept Chairperson who could answer questions, talk about transfers, etc. I thought they were kidding when they said to allow for 1.5 - 2 hours and I though they were kidding.

Well they were not kidding - we were there for the whole 2 hours. We went to the room they told us to go to and they had a folder with my name on it, a full agenda for the tour inside the folder plus other information. A young person walks us down to the Accounting person's office and we spent about 1/2 hour with her.  Then it's back to the central desk and another person takes us on a walking tour of the main buildings and explains lots of things to us. The place is HUGE. Then she turns us over to a recruitment specialist who answers more questions and gives us more information. Besides a stack of papers and folders, I left with a brain full of information. In this picture I am standing behind the school's mascot which a "Cavalier".  He his holding a scroll that has my name on it along with the names of the other 3 people who had tours today. My name was also on the electronic announcement boards throughout the campus saying "Welcome Future Student Darlene from Tucson, AZ". The enrollment at the school is 20,000+ and it feels much more like a 4-year school than the community college I am used to in Tucson. Everyone here was very professional.

Company has arrived

My friend Nancy arrived today from Tucson to spend a week with me. I went out to the airport to pick her up and felt like I was driving to Iowa...  I'm in Overland Park which is on the southwest side of Kansas City.  The airport is about 45 miles way, way north of town out in corn fields. I was on 5 freeways to get there!  The good thing was that I got a parking spot 2 spaces from the garage walkway to the terminal. Supposedly the garage was full but I tried anyway and it worked. We will have a full schedule the next week playing "tourist".

Nancy wanted to try Kansas City BBQ so tonight we went to Jack Stacks for dinner. She loved it and I have never seen her eat so much at one meal.  I had my usual burnt ends and she had baby back ribs. At left is the stack of meat they were taking out of the ovens.  There are ribs, brisket, sausage, chicken, etc on the trays. Absolutely the best BBQ I have ever had anyplace! They were recently named Zagat’s “Highest-Rated BBQ in the Country”.

Not much happening today....

Not much happening today.... The morning was spend cleaning house and going to WalMart to get my prescriptions refilled.  Pretty exciting! 
As for the house cleaning....I have a friend from Tucson who arrives tomorrow to spend a week with Morris and I. It's hard to believe that it will be 3 weeks tomorrow since we got here - in some ways it seems like we just got here and in other ways Tucson seems very far away. Anyway, I thought it was time to vacuum, sweep, dust, etc so got that all done. One thing I have notices is how little dust there is in the house which makes sense with all the grass instead of rocks and dirt. However, the wood furniture in the living & dinning room is black which is a current style. I kinda like it but it shows every butterscotch hair that Morris sheds. He supervised my work today....
I had to get a refill on my meds since it was too early for refills when I left Tucson. I was really surprised at how efficiently WalMart did the prescription transfer today.  When we did the same thing in Little Rock, it took a couple of days for them to get the transfer done. Today, within 30 minutes I walked out with my refills.
There was no rain forecast last night but when I got up this morning everything was wet so sometime during the night it rained. Nice surprise.

Kansas City Zoo

I finally made it to the zoo today!  I got there around 9 a.m. and 3 hours later I had a slight sunburn, very tired feet and 158 pictures to edit. I gotta say that the zoo here is amazing and I'm looking forward to going back again.
 The zoo was founded in 1909 with one building on 60 acres.  Today the zoo is a 202 acre site and still growing. The trail through Africa is 2 miles long. I walked some, took the Sky Safari and tram to get through only abut 2/3 of it.  In 2008, "America's Best Zoo's  ranked the KC Zoo as the number one zoo in the nation to see both chimpanzees and kangaroos. In 2002 a partnership was formed between the Zoo and the Friends of the Zoo. Under this agreement, Friends of the Zoo, a non-profit membership based organization, manages all zoo operations.  Between 2007 and 2011 the Zoo invested $65 million in capital projects at the zoo. In may opinion, the zoo is so good because it is not "city" managed. Some county tax money has been used for the zoo so residents of that county get tickets for over a 50% discount with proof of residency. They also have an "Adopt a Wild Child" program where you can adopt an individual  animal or a family group for less than a dollar a day. Neat idea! 

This is Nikita, a polar bear.  He is in a 140,000 gallon pool that is kept at a cool 65 degrees. The head above water goes with the body under water - the waves distort the pic a bit. There are 2 polar bears in the Polar Bear Passage - Nikita and Berlin. The bears are near the front entrance so I saw them when I got there and just before I left. Both times, Berlin was pacing and Nikita was in the water doing the same swimming routine of diving and them coming up out of the water. Their dens and bedrooms are also kept at 65 degrees to keep them cool.  Besides the pool, there is also a 105 ton sand box and a grassy area for the bears. Not a bad life if you are a polar bear.....

At right is a New Guinea Singing dog. These dogs are native to the mountain forest of New Guinea and are the result of domestic dogs that reverted back to the wild. They do not make good pets because they will not form an emotional dependence with humans. "Singing dogs" are able to change the pitch of their howl which is unlike any other domestic or wild dog. They can live for over 14 years in captivity but are endangered in the wild due to hunting. I have never heard of them before.

I'm walking along the trail, come around the corner and there are several red kangaroos on the trail and beside the trail.  Some other people and I assumed that they had gotten out until a zoo person came by and said " They didn't jump the fence - they are allowed to roam their 7 acre area." There was a gate at each end of the trail but still..... He said the zoo had 30 of the Red Kangaroos and they are very docile. I loved seeing them since I don't think I have ever seen a kangaroo live before.  They definitely were not afraid of people.

I usually don't stop for chimps at a zoo - watching them swinging around in a cage doesn't do anything for me.   But wow!  These guys have a 3 acre forest and grass area with no bars or fence.  There is a wide dry moat but that is all.  They can play on a log, climb in the trees or "arrange the hair on a buddy". I don't know how many chimps they have but I saw 5 while I was there.

Lazy Sunday

Since it doesn't get dark until well after 9 p.m., I stay up later here.  The sun doesn't come up until a little before 6 so the sun doesn't wake me up as early in the morning. Combine the two and I'm not getting up as early. In Tucson I was awake well before 6 but usually didn't get up until around 6:30. Here, I don't even wake up until 6:30 or after unless Morris decides to get up early. We both slept in this morning and didn't get up until about 7:45 which is almost noon for me...  Then I had to drag him out of bed - he just didn't want to get up. I know it rained about 1/2" during the night but I didn't hear it.  The blowing wind did almost wake me but went right back to sleep. After finally getting up and done with the shower, one side of my brain said "go for a walk" and the other side said "take the day off"  But, it was nice and cool out plus everything was so fresh after that rain that I went for a 1.5 mile walk.  Then it was breakfast and dishes which took until around 9:30.  By now, I am feeling REALLY lazy so decided to just continue the lazy day and read the paper for an hour.  I can't remember the last time I was that lazy....

I did manage to get the sheets washed today but remaking the bed was another matter as you can see in this picture of my helper. When he doesn't want to move, you just have to pick up the 12 lb wet noodle and put him off the bed or whereever he is that you don't want him.  He loves the bed here which is interesting. When we were in Little Rock, he hated the comforter and never slept on it. Morris and I had a little communication problem yesterday on what he wanted to eat.  He made it clear that he wanted something. I tried tuna - Nope that wasn't it.  Then I tried turkey, which he loved the day before and that wasn't it.  Ham didn't work. I cut me 4 pieces of cheese for lunch and guess what furry creature ate 2 of them. Then he ate 2 more pieces last night and 3 pieces this morning but left the last piece. So I don't know if that meant he was tired of it or full. Oh well....
I'm going to try the zoo again tomorrow and hopefully will make it this time.

Loose Park

I stopped by Loose Park yesterday on my way home from the Liberty Memorial. I spent a lot of time in the park with my camera when we lived here back in the early 70's. I've only been back a couple of times since we left Kansas City in 1972.  Yesterday, much to my surprise, the park was the same except the trees have grown.  I expected the park and the magnificant old home that surround it to be run down but they were all just the same and lovingly cared for.

Loose Park is the third largest park in Kansas City and is a little south of the Country Club Plaza. The park is home to a lake, shelter house, Civil War markers, tennis courts, water park, picnic areas and a Rose Garden. The park was once a pasture. During the Civil War's Battle of Westport, Confederate General Price is said to have commanded his forces from gun emplacements on the south end of the park. In 1897 the land was leased to the Kansas City Country Club for its first golf course. In 1925 the golf club moved to Mission Hills, KA and the land became a city park.

Kansas City's municipal rose garden is located in Loose Park. The garden began in 1931 and the first garden contained 120 rose plants. Today, there are about 3,000 rose plants of nearly 150 varieties in the 1.5 acre garden. I took around 45 pictures at the garden and below are a few of them.

Out and about today

Since I couldn't go to the zoo today, I decided to go down to Penn Valley Park which is a little south of downtown Kansas City. Within the park, I visited The Scout statue, The Firefighters Fountain and the Liberty Memorial.

THE FIREFIGHTERS MEMORIAL was built in 1991 and commemorates the City's firefighters and those who have lost their life in duty.

I drove around sometime trying to find THE SCOUT statue which is probably why I never saw it when I lived in KC back in the late 60's-early 70's. I drove down the street that the map said it was on but all I could find was a skate park and a dog park. Then I saw it from another road but couldn't find  a street to get up to it so hiked up a hill to it. The street I was originally on..if I had parked and walked down to the end I would have seen it but there were no signs.

If you look at postcards from Kansas City you will see a card with a picture similar to the one at right with the Scout looking at downtown. The Scout was sculpted by Cyrus e. Dallin of Boston and Paris for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco where it won a Gold Medal.  On it's way back to Dallin's Boston studio by train, The Scout was placed on temporary exhibit in Penn Valley Park.  The statue was so popular that Kansas City residents raised $15,000 to buy it and keep it at it's location.

The LIBERTY MEMORIAL houses the official World War I museum of the United States. The Museum tells the story of the Great Way and related global events from their origins before 1914 through 1918 Armistice and the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The Memorial included a 217 foot "Memorial Tower" that has a base of 36 feet. The Memorial site  was dedicated in 1921 when more than 100,000 people gathered to see the supreme Allied Commanders dedicate the site of the Liberty Memorial.  This was the first time in history that these five leaders were together in one place. It was then dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge on Armistice Day, 1926.

Visitors enter the 32,000 Museum across a glass bridge above a field of 1,000 red poppies (below), each one representing 9,000 World War I combatant deaths.