Spring Walks

It has been very difficult to get myself to sit down and write this posting.  I do believe that the virus and sheltering in place is messing with my mind!  However, my mantra is “one foot in front of the other”.  Just do it!   One activity which John and I have been enjoy is hiking in the woods.  The St.Louis area offers quite a few parks and conservation areas that are still open for that purpose, and we have found some of them.   We also sometimes take our grandchildren, who always add fresh perspectives to our walks.  A favorite topic of discussion with them is in regard to the various different holes which we find in logs and trees.  Clarissa, our imaginative three- year- old, likes to think that there are pink mice in those cavities (she also believes that there are unicorns roaming the woods- have not found one yet).  Nathan, the oldest who is finishing kindergarten) likes to believe the holes in trees belongs to owl families.  He is also into finding wildflowers, different kinds of moss and ferns also fascinate him, as well as lichen.

This past week, when we were at Babler State Park, we discovered that the may apples have bloomed.  Nathan insisted that we had to take a picture of them.  There were large patches of them along the trail.

We have seen trillium both at Rockwood Reservation as well as at Babler StatePark. 

 And also have spotted Virginia bluebells and many phlox in bloom.  Spring beauty is pictured below.

This is also a great time of the year for seeing blooming red bud trees and dogwood.  Babler park has a many of the latter, that is the prime place to see them this time of the year. 

Last week John and I also visited St.Stanislaus reservation in Hazelwood.  The Charbonniere Bluff there is the highest point on the lower Missouri river.  John and I hiked up it, I must confess that it was a bit steep in some spots, requiring me to sit and slide on the return trip down.

Just before leaving the park we came upon an informational sign enlightening us on the fact that the French word “charboniere” means “coal seam”.    Apparently in 1804 Lewis and Clark noticed the seam on their way through the area after leaving Wood River, Illinois.  And to think that after all the years living in the St.Louis area, I always was under the impression that the word charboniere was in reference to one of the early French inhabitants of Missouri!  

My final word here is just to get out and walk in the woods. If that is too boring, look for flowers, moss and ferns.  Taking pictures of them helps to identify them once you are home-  but an app for that purpose would get the answer for you quicker!

Coping with the Coronavirus

Missouri now has shelter in place orders to go in effect Monday.  Yesterday I had a bit of a down day, had tasks to do around the apartment, but not in the mood to do them.  Slept a lot when I did have a good night’s sleep the night before.  Then our son Mike called and my mood improved enough to go for a walk and do some dusting.  Today I told myself to put one foot in front of another.  Do what you want to do and when you want to do it, certainly no rush on anything.  The virus will not be peaking until the middle of May here in Missouri.  Oh my, just keep putting one foot in front of the other.  Keep moving and doing as much as your mood will allow.  It helps me too to always count my blessings.  Spring is here, and for that we can be grateful.

I still have some pictures of Ireland still to share.  Above is a flower bed in St.Stephen's park.  In a prior posting I mentioned the town of Dun Laoghaire.  It was the city we visited last on our Dart trip to the outer parts of Dublin; a city a bit more modern and bigger than Howth.

I snapped a few pictures as we walked through the town.  Our goal was to see a bit of the town and then find an eatery.  Above is a picture of the bell tower of Saint Michael, Church of Christ.   Another structure which caught my eye was Burger King. It is located in an older building, and seemed so out of place!  And so strangely unexpected.   That was certainly not the restaurant we were looking for!

Now something to lighten your day.   Last Thursday I stopped at a convenience mart to purchase a paper.  When I arrived home, John pointed out that it was three days old.  I returned to the store and informed the clerk that it was not the day’s paper, and asked for my money back.  “How do I know that you did not just read the paper and then come back?” he asked.  He caught me aback and I could only sputter: “well, well I would not have had enough time to do that, and you just saw me here a few minutes ago”.  “Yes”, smiled a man behind me, she read the paper- on Monday.   I left the store with the money in my pocket and a smile on my face- why did I not think of that answer?  Anyway, these are tough times.  Remember to sing, exercise, play your instrument, write, pray and or meditate.  Whatever helps you to put one foot in front of another.  Someday this will all be but a bad dream.

Howth, Ireland

This week has passed quickly, the second week of our self-quarantine.  We have done some walking in a couple of parks, staying clear of people.  For most of last year Creve Coeur Lake Park was closed due to flooding.   We decided that now was a good time to check it out.  John wanted to explore the upper level of the park,  and we discovered that there is a nice wooded trail in this area, called the Moonshine Trail.   Following the signs( with a whiskey jug on them) kept us from straying from that path.  Many trees and plants are blooming now and warmer weather did a lot toward lifting our spirits and forgetting the nasty Covid virus!

Back to Ireland and our last day in that country.  As we had expressed a desire to get out of Dublin and see the countryside, Finola suggested that we take the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) to the outer suburbs east of Dublin and visit the fishing village of Howth.  Interestingly, we also encountered a cab driver who urged us to go there because of its wonderful seafood restaurants.

Once we got off the train we started to walk toward the area of the village located on the north side of the rocky peninsula.  It was lunchtime and we wanted to find a restaurant before exploring Howth.  Luck was with us, after checking out several dining places, we came upon Crabby Jo’s – menu and prices looked good to us.  Inside there was a delightful décor with shells covering the walls and a blazing fireplace at the end of the one room.  We had a wonderful lunch of sea food chowder (filled with large pieces of salmon, cod. and mussels) and crab cakes.  After our meal we walked toward the harbor.

The monument above is a memorial to those who have lost their lives at sea.  It was an overcast day, windy and cool at the water’s edge.  That is a sea gull on top of the memorial.

This is the Howth Harbor Lighthouse, built in 1814 and automated in 1996.   There is a cliff walk around Howth, which was impossible for us to do because of the weather and time.  The picture below may give you an idea of how the town sits below those cliffs.  Looking up at one point we noticed the ruins of an old church

It was tempting to at least climb up a hill but then, looking at these stairs and the interesting rock overhang, we decided to pass on that adventure.

.We still enjoyed what we were able to see walking through the town, especially a series of statues located alongside a hillside, one of which is pictured below.

 That was all we saw of Howth.  We boarded the DART again to have supper in the town of Dun Laoghaire before riding back to Dublin and our hotel.  On Sunday we joined long lines at the airport to return home.  What little we saw of Ireland was wonderful and spending time with our son Mike certainly made it worthwhile.