{"id":654,"date":"2011-10-24T04:22:01","date_gmt":"2011-10-24T04:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/?page_id=654"},"modified":"2011-10-24T04:22:01","modified_gmt":"2011-10-24T04:22:01","slug":"7-nixa-retrospective","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/7-nixa-retrospective\/","title":{"rendered":"7. Nixa: Retrospective"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I continue to write from my tent, on what\u2019s left of the juice in my laptop, following the same, day-by-day, backwards direction I took up at Lola\u2019s in Nixa this morning.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m sitting on a hilltop in a gorgeous spot, under a small grove of mature trees, with an expansive view of forested countryside, half a mile above the highway to my west, having walked my bike around a locked gate with a sign advertising 235 acres for sale by one Jim Stockton, whose phone number may be found adjacent to the \u201cNo Trespassing\u201d notice posted there as well.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t mean to be disrespectful, or a smart aleck, but if I never violated a no-trespassing sign, state-sponsored or private, I\u2019d have to stay at home.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It sure is nice up here \u2013 abundant soft grass, a good breeze, insects chirping, stars in the sky. Such are the rewards of breaking a few small rules \u2013 all the while respectful of the ground I briefly occupy, never leaving trash behind, for example.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I tried but was unable earlier today, while I had access to the Internet, to figure out how to compress my photos into a zip file. So I\u2019ll try to finish my writing now and leave that frustrating task for my next period of Internet access<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>#7911 \u2013 <strong>Present campsite.<\/strong> Night of Wednesday, 21 Sep.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7911-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-655\" title=\"IMG_7911 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7911-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7912 \u2013 <strong>My travel-worn lower legs.<\/strong> As they appeared a few hours ago, when it was still light out. Scratched by the underbrush, bitten by bugs, oiled perhaps as well by the odd touch of poison ivy.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7912-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-656\" title=\"IMG_7912 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7912-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7917 \u2013 <strong>All set up and cozy for the night.<\/strong> Tent-dweller\u2019s view to the south as dusk approaches.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7917-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-657\" title=\"IMG_7917 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7917-copy-e1319425166849.jpg?w=225\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7914 \u2013<strong> Sunset from my gorgeous hilltop perch in the southwest corner of Missouri.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7914-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-658\" title=\"IMG_7914 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7914-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>#7771 \u2013 <strong>Back to September 16.<\/strong> More decay \u2013 this time of the rural species. Just off the Katy Trail. Quite lovely, wouldn\u2019t you agree?\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7771-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-659\" title=\"IMG_7771 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7771-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7775 \u2013 <strong>Dotty\u2019s, where I ate not one but two lunches.<\/strong> If I remember right, this was back in Hartsburg.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7775-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-660\" title=\"IMG_7775 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7775-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7798 \u2013 <strong>I wanted to spend one night, at least, beside the Missouri River. <\/strong>At last I found a spot, stopping a bit earlier than necessary to avail myself of this opportunity, knowing that I\u2019d cross the river at Boonville and see the last of it the following day. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Here I sat and cried again for my brother. I called my mom from this spot, as I do every third day now, conserving the minutes on my cell phone. She told me Tom was \u201cin hospice,\u201d meaning they\u2019d brought in a professional caretaker, someone he and Lee had selected in advance, to ease his way through the final stages of his illness. He will die at home. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> Mom sounded OK, but when I asked her how she was holding up, she said she was \u201ca basket case.\u201d When the time comes, Amy will drop by in person to give her the inevitable news. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> Here I finished my bottle of dry red Merlot from Hermann, MO, feeling that my tears were flowing with the river. I studied the opposite shore through my 9x field glasses, amazed at how close they made everything look. I was also astonished at how many little critters came drifting by, close to the shore, only their little heads visible above the waterline. Turtles, I suppose, and snakes. Maybe the odd beaver. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Then I called Elizabeth and explained, in a breaking voice,<em> <\/em><em>siedz\u0119 tu i p\u0142akam sobie, przy tej szlachetnej rzece. <\/em>She said, \u201cOh, Bob, I\u2019m so sorry.\u201d Then she asked when I\u2019d be home. Not till the end of October. Because I want to see the country, and this is a good time to do it. Yes, I have enough warm clothes. Yes, I\u2019ll be careful. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong>\u00a0 Note here one of the most marvelous innovations in my traveling routine over the past few years. A couple years ago, I found a thermarest at Campmore in Paramus, NJ \u2013 best outdoor store I\u2019ve ever come across \u2013 that provides <em>backrest support<\/em>. For years I leaned painfully on an elbow \u2013 first one and then another \u2013 studying my maps for the next day, making notes of mileage and expenses, and reading one of my books at night in my tent. Now I enjoy remarkable comfort, even as I sit, after a couple hours of evening administrative work followed by the writing of this (and one other) missive, debating whether or not to pop that second can of Foster Ale I picked up some hours ago. Note the backrest of my handy thermarest, rising up, beckoning, from within the tent.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7798-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-661\" title=\"IMG_7798 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7798-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7799 \u2013 <strong>The ground here in places wouldn\u2019t support my weight.<\/strong> My walking stick just splooked right down into it. I didn\u2019t dare to walk out across the lower-lying patches. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong>\u00a0 The river was lovely, broader than you sense from this photo, changing subtly in color as evening approached.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7799-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-662\" title=\"IMG_7799 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7799-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7720 \u2013 <strong>Starting now on the morning of September 15<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/strong> I don\u2019t know when I\u2019ve ever parked my bike with the rear wheel so deeply sunk in mud. Partly a statement about how soggy the ground was, partly a reflection of how much stuff I\u2019m carrying.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7720-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-663\" title=\"IMG_7720 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7720-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7721 \u2013 On my first night out, after leaving Tom\u2019s and Lee\u2019s, I was caught in some very heavy rain. The fly on my MSR Hubba-Hubba tent leaked \u2013 admitting a fine mist, even some larger drops. I shipped a lot of water that night. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Fortunately, I\u2019d set up so all of it collected in \u2013 rather massive \u2013 puddles along the sides and in the corners. I mopped it up several times with one of my large bandana handkerchiefs. None of my clothes or bedding got wet, so I was perfectly comfortable. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> This gave me cause to reflect on one of the seven fundamental laws of nature \u2013 polarity. I\u2019m not absolutely certain, but I believe there are no absolutes. Thus, attributions like wet and dry, cold and warm, dirty and clean are relative and a matter of degree. All of these scales of opposition pertain to what one experiences living in the outdoors, away from the normal comforts and conveniences of home. So far, at least, I\u2019ve remained dry, warm and clean enough to feel more than satisfied with the exchange of routine comfort for the wonderfully revitalizing effects of fresh impressions, stimulating newness and heightened alertness to one\u2019s surroundings that always seem to accompany the adventure of the open road. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> Following that night\u2019s heavy rain near Lake Saint Louis \u2013 in fact, it was still raining when I broke camp and hit the road \u2013 I came across a large Target store only six-tenths of a mile up the road. I purchased a one-mil-thick painter\u2019s drop cloth to reinforce the water-resistant properties of my rain fly \u2013 just in case I encounter another downpour. It doesn\u2019t look very elegant, and it\u2019s awkward to handle, but so far it\u2019s helped to keep me dry. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> Later I contacted Cascade Designs and arranged for a new fly to be shipped to an outdoor store in Jonesboro, Arkansas, where I\u2019ll pick it up about a week from now. I\u2019m going to mail the old one back to the manufacturer. I think there\u2019s a good chance they\u2019ll refund my $100 for the replacement. The tent is only five years old, and I\u2019ve only slept out in it maybe 50 nights. Shouldn\u2019t the material hold up better than that? I\u2019ve always been careful to protect it from excessive exposure to the damaging ultraviolet in the light of day.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7721-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-664\" title=\"IMG_7721 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7721-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7729 \u2013 <strong>I stopped here for breakfast, hungry as a bear.<\/strong> Nothing fancy on hand \u2026 just \u201cbreakfast sandwiches\u201d with eggs and various kinds of pork. I remarked on how delicious they were \u2013 not because I much cared for the plain Jane white hamburger buns they came served on, but because I wanted to express appreciation for use I was given of a shower in the back of the building. I\u2019d asked if they had paper towels, so I could dry myself after washing up a bit. Otherwise, I would have fished my towel out of my bike bag. The lady generously handed me a large bath towel. The bathroom wasn\u2019t exactly spic and span, but it wasn\u2019t filthy either. It had an old-style, country smell that reminded me of the basement in my grandparents\u2019 home, where Grandpa had a major workshop and where Grandma kept a pantry almost like a root cellar. I was so grateful to take an honest-to-goodness hot shower! <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> Anyway, the lady told me, with a knowing smile, that the breakfast sandwiches were delicious because they were made with fresh eggs. Oh, I said, like from the chickens I saw in your yard as I was coming in? <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Later I got her to talk some more, exchanging impressions of our very different worlds.<strong> <\/strong>Once she spent a night in the building pictured here \u2013 but couldn\u2019t sleep because of the traffic noise. The older of her two sons, aged ten, was in 4H and wanted to learn swine. She advised against it because there was no profit in this, but he really wanted to do it, so she let him. None of the local people in these parts raises commercial hogs anymore. It just isn\u2019t worth it. If you wanted one, though, you\u2019d pay $170 for a 250-pound hog.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7729-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-665\" title=\"IMG_7729 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7729-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7730 \u2013 <strong>An open stretch of the Katy Trail, west of Peers.<\/strong> At points the trail comes right up against the left bank of the Missouri River. At other points they separate for as much as a mile or more. All of this is rich bottom land, excellent for farming.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7730-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-666\" title=\"IMG_7730 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7730-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7735 \u2013 <strong>Another relic of prosperous, bygone days.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7735-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-667\" title=\"IMG_7735 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7735-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>#7750\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7750-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-668\" title=\"IMG_7750 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7750-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>#7759 \u2013 Many of these historic markers describe the Lewis and Clark expedition, <\/strong>which made its way upstream through here in May of 1804, progressing about ten miles a day.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7759-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-669\" title=\"IMG_7759 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7759-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><strong><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>#7762 \u2013 Characteristic bluffs along the Missouri River. <\/strong>Passing through beautiful woodlands, following the old \u201cKaty\u201d \u2013 Kansas, Texas and Missouri \u2013 railroad line, which ceased operation in the 1980s.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7762-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-670\" title=\"IMG_7762 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7762-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7764 \u2013 <strong>I scored a bottle of local wine in Hermann.<\/strong> Central Missouri is still an excellent wine-producing region. In the 1870s and 80s, Missouri was producing more wine than any state in the Union, and product from this area won gold medals in Vienna.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7764-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-671\" title=\"IMG_7764 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7764-copy-e1319426708762.jpg?w=225\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7767 \u2013 <strong>Mature cornfields make a decent place to camp, <\/strong>affording visual cover and causing one to feel close to an essentially American feature of the land. Unfortunately, due to a drought this year, nearly all of the cornfields I saw were parched like this one; the ears of corn were shriveled and red.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7767-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-672\" title=\"IMG_7767 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7767-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7768 \u2013 <strong>Trusty steed \u2026 reposing for the night.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7768-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-673\" title=\"IMG_7768 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7768-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Next day \u2013 Thursday, September 22, 2011<\/p>\n<p>Written from Lakeview, MO, which people here refer to as Branson West.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s pouring rain. Hours and hours. The inside of my tent was like a lake when I woke up this morning. After a while, I just quit bailing it out. Previously, I\u2019d spread my painter\u2019s drop cloth on top of the defective rain fly. But last night, before I went to sleep, the hilltop breeze was really tearing at it. So I tucked it <em>under<\/em> the rain fly instead. Thought I was pretty clever, but not really. In all my hundreds of nights of sleeping out, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever gotten so wet \u2013 I mean my bedding, clothing and whatever else was inside the tent with me. It wasn\u2019t terribly cold, and so I didn\u2019t feel particularly uncomfortable. I just patiently started gathering things up, preserving the dryness of the most critical items as well as I could \u2013 the clothes I was wearing, my maps, book and electronics: computer, camera, iPod.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Next step was to find a Laundromat. Within a mile or so, I stopped at a UPS mailbox place in a mini shopping center and got good advice from the fellow working there. He told me to stay off 13 heading south. Very soon it loses its shoulder. It carries a lot of traffic, and people \u201cfly\u201d on it. Instead, I\u2019m going to head back east, towards Branson, then catch the 265 bypass all the way around to where it connects with Highway 65 well south of Branson itself. I haven\u2019t got any desire to see Branson. I went through there a couple years ago with a rented car, and it\u2019s just a big tourist Mecca \u2013 with a Bible belt flavor.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I also got directed to a Laundromat, where the lady\u2019s been real nice about accommodating me. I very slowly and deliberately dried out my tent, bedding and other stuff on low heat. Now I\u2019ve got the clothes washed \u2013 including most of what I\u2019d washed a couple days ago in Springfield, because it didn\u2019t stay dry in my panniers through the downpour. So when that\u2019s all dry and folded, when I\u2019ve got my bike saddled up again and have changed back into my riding clothes, I\u2019ll cruise across the road for a hot breakfast. Then, assuming the breakfast place doesn\u2019t have wifi, which it probably doesn\u2019t, I\u2019ll hang out at MacDonald\u2019s until I\u2019ve got all my Internet business taken care of. At which point I probably won\u2019t send off another letter like this for 8 or 10 days, maybe from Jonesboro.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m going to stay on main roads now, where I can rely on there being a good shoulder. 65 south, then (mostly at least \u2013 I may detour through Jasper) 62 east from Harrison across most of northern Arkansas.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Now I\u2019ll continue to write the captions to my pictures \u2013 backwards as I was doing yesterday, all the way back to Tuesday the 13<sup>th<\/sup>, when I left Kirkwood and visited Tom and Lee at Lake Saint Louis.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>#7701 \u2013 <strong>Tuesday the 14<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/strong> Map describing a very pretty and extensive network of trails in a nature preserve, which includes the part of Katy Trail that I came in on. You can see Katy Trail in orange as it skirts the Missouri River on the map at the center of this signboard. The day before, I rode north from this point, about 12 miles to Royale Court on Lake Saint Louis.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7701-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-674\" title=\"IMG_7701 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7701-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7703 \u2013 <strong>Exquisite bathing spot, pristine water, on the Busch Greenway<\/strong>. I\u2019d stopped to cool off here the day before, immersing myself completely, clothes an all, in a fairly deep pool where the stream bends here. It was my first day out on the trail, very hot, and I was overheated. By the time I reached Tom\u2019s place, maybe an hour and a half later, I had completely dried out under the baking sun. The next morning, when I took this picture, I wasn\u2019t even tempted to get in. Brrrr. It was cool and very wet outside. Which is how it\u2019s been for almost all of my trip since then. Funny \u2026 because they had a drought here all summer.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7703-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-675\" title=\"IMG_7703 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7703-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7704 \u2013 <strong>Back on the Katy Trail, along the Missouri, pelted with September rain.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7704.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-676\" title=\"IMG_7704\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7704.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>#7707 \u2013 Weldon Spring, one of the many trailheads along Katy Trail. <\/strong>I stopped here for about two hours to get out of the rain. Had a couple shots of my Armenian cognac to warm up, also some oatmeal and instant coffee.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7707-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-677\" title=\"IMG_7707 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7707-copy-e1319427165275.jpg?w=225\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>#7709 \u2013 Shelter from the storm.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7709-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-678\" title=\"IMG_7709 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7709-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>#7710 \u2013 Another characteristic rock face along the Missouri.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7710-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-679\" title=\"IMG_7710 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7710-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>#7674 \u2013 About halfway between Kirkwood and Lake Saint Louis. <\/strong><strong>\u00b6 \u201c<\/strong>\u2026 Away, I\u2019m bound go, \u2018Cross the wide Missouri \u2026\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7674-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-680\" title=\"IMG_7674 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7674-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sissel Kyrkjeb\u00f8, Paddy Moloney &amp; Kalle Moraeus - Shenandoah\" width=\"648\" height=\"486\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/W1EG_4IBzbA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>#7678 \u2013 <strong>View downstream from the bridge.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7678-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-681\" title=\"IMG_7678 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7678-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>#7680 \u2013 <strong>Now on the Katy Trail.<\/strong> Looking back up at the bridge, and reading measurements of the river\u2019s capacity to rise.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7680-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-683\" title=\"IMG_7680 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7680-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7683 <strong>\u2013 A welcome relief from busy roads.<\/strong> Hard to believe such a lovely trail runs for all of about 265 miles, almost all the way across the state.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7683-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-684\" title=\"IMG_7683 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7683-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7685 \u2013 <strong>Too much of a temptation not to plunge in here, on such a hot afternoon.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7685-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-685\" title=\"IMG_7685 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7685-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>#7686 \u2013 <strong>Same spot \u2013 looking ahead, to the north.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7686-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-686\" title=\"IMG_7686 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7686-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>#7688 \u2013 <strong>The Gazebo at the Lissner place, where Tom and Lee were married 32 years ago.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7688-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-688\" title=\"IMG_7688 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7688-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li># 7689 \u2013 <strong>The old Lissner home,<\/strong> right on the lake, which I remember visiting years and years ago. About a year ago, Tom and Lee bought a second home (their first is in Denver) just two doors down from here.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7689-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-689\" title=\"IMG_7689 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7689-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7698 \u2013 <strong>The bicycle and the Lexis.<\/strong> Lee is in the doorway, from the garage to the kitchen. Fred took this shot. \u201cI\u2019m going to miss you \u2026 I love you, Big Time \u2026 Talk to you soon \u2026 See you soon.\u201d Lake Saint Louis: 13 Sep \u201911.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7698-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-690\" title=\"IMG_7698 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7698-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#7667 \u2013 <strong>Perfect way to spend the last evening of my visit with Mom.<\/strong> Maureen invited us to hear her group, The Statesmen, do a vocal concert at an old folks home for the blind just a few blocks from where Mom lives. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>There are only about 30 residents here, and I think all of them are out of their minds, in addition to being \u201cvisually impaired.\u201d At first blush, the place looks more attractive than Bethesda, but also pricier. I wouldn\u2019t want to live with all these crazy people, though, many of them in diapers or on virtual life support. The attendants were very tender and good humored with them. Mom is seated in the center foreground, in the red blouse.<strong> \u00b6<\/strong> I attended all of primary school with Maureen, kindergarten through 6<sup>th<\/sup> grade. She lived two blocks down Warson Road from us, first house on the other side of the creek. I had a crush on her from about the time I was able to sense there was some earth-shattering difference between boys and girls. Once we transferred out of Warson Woods and into our Rock Hill junior high school, Maureen got tracked with all the smart kids, while I went into classes with the low-IQ types, hoodlums and blacks. We didn\u2019t connect again until a year and a half ago, when we stumbled across each other on a social website. This visit was the second time I\u2019ve seen her. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> Maureen has been singing with this The Statesmen since high school. She is the shorter of the two brown-haired women standing at the near end of the group. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>I would describe what they did as jazzy renditions of old-line American songs. They were high spirited and very good. The first number was one my dad always used to sing \u2013 \u201cKiss me once and kiss me twice, then kiss me once again. It\u2019s been a long, long time.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7667-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-693\" title=\"IMG_7667 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_7667-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3zt-TIgR9Qc<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The third song was one I\u2019ve liked ever since I heard it in a movie back in my college days in San Francisco, which I associate with a girl I was in love with then \u2013 \u201cHigh upon a hill \u2026 (???) \u2026\u201c I can\u2019t remember the title, however, or find a link to it on the Internet. Lovely, haunting melody though. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> Unfortunately, one of the two pianists was unable to make it, causing a mix-up with the sheet music. So one whole portion of the program \u2013 the patriotic songs, including \u201cBattle Hymn of the Republic\u201d \u2013 got left out. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> Maureen was one of the stars. Two or three times she stood separately at the front and performed with a quartet, a couple men and a couple women. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>There were brainy kids in our small primary school class, but I never thought of Maureen as one of them. Today her intelligence impresses me, not that she\u2019s flashy about being bright. It made me proud to rediscover this kind and decent person from my early childhood, proud of the sense of our shared origins, of being cut from the same, quality, old-line middle-American stock.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I continue to write from my tent, on what\u2019s left of the juice in my laptop, following the same, day-by-day, backwards direction I took up at Lola\u2019s in Nixa this morning. &nbsp; I\u2019m sitting on a hilltop in a gorgeous spot, under a small grove of mature trees, with an expansive view of forested countryside, half a mile above the highway to my west, having walked my bike around a locked gate with a sign advertising 235 acres for sale by one Jim Stockton, whose phone number may be found adjacent to the \u201cNo Trespassing\u201d notice posted there as well. &nbsp; I don\u2019t mean to be disrespectful, or a smart aleck, but if I never violated a no-trespassing sign, state-sponsored or private, I\u2019d have to stay at home. &nbsp; It sure is nice up here \u2013 abundant soft grass, a good breeze, insects chirping, stars in the sky. Such are the rewards of breaking a few small rules \u2013 all the while respectful of the ground I briefly occupy, never leaving trash behind, for example. &nbsp; I tried but was unable earlier today, while I had access to the Internet, to figure out how to compress my photos into a zip file. So I\u2019ll try to finish my writing now and leave that frustrating task for my next period of Internet access &nbsp; #7911 \u2013 Present campsite. Night of Wednesday, 21 Sep.\u00a0 #7912 \u2013 My travel-worn lower legs. As they appeared a few hours ago, when it was still light <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/7-nixa-retrospective\/\">Continue Reading &#8594;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-654","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/654\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}