dual personalities

We had a beautiful, sunshine-y weekend and we took good advantage of it. Daughter #1 came home on Friday to attend the funeral of our old friend Bob. He and his wife, who we met at our old church, switched to the Anglican Church many years ago and were pillars of that small congregation. The church was overflowing with friends and family and we were happy to get seats. One son and a granddaughter gave heartfelt eulogies; he was a much-loved patriarch of a large and loving family.

Bob and and his wife Sue always had time for our family; indeed, they were often stand-in grandparents for our kids who had none, taking them to the movies, and attending school plays, graduations, holidays, weddings, even the V.P. Ball, with us. And every New Years Day for years we attended their spades party where a potpourri of guests played a round-robin spades tournament with randomly selected partners. Frequently daughter #2 was paired with Bob, who good-naturedly played with a six or seven-year old. They invited us to their camp at the Lake of the Ozarks. They were swell.

Bob was indeed a saint, a child of God, and now he is among that “cloud of witnesses” that surrounds us. (Hebrews 12:1) Into paradise may the angels lead thee, Bob. At your coming may the martyrs greet thee, and bring you into the holy city Jerusalem.

Daughter #1 also came home in order to attend a birthday party on Saturday, but it was canceled at the last minute. So because it was such a beautiful day, we drove to Faust Park in west St. Louis County. The park is 200 acres on a tract of land that once belonged to the second governor of Missouri, Frederick Bates.

The estate includes a house, barn and three log buildings that were built around 1817-1819. Faust also is the home to the Butterfly House and a carousel. We walked around the “historic village” and toured the Butterfly House, which is like a mini Climatron with lots of exotic butterflies.

After lunch we went home and sat on the patio for three hours sipping margaritas and watching the birds and squirrels enjoy Happy Hour in the mulberry tree. They are rather comical to watch as they gorge on the over-ripe berries and get tipsy. (The squirrels hang like monkeys reaching for berries and the Robins fall off the branches.) We even saw a Pilated Woodpecker–very exciting!

On Sunday after church the wee twins came over to eat bagels and frolic outside while the grown-ups indulged in driveway sittin’.

Watering the flowers (the bud’s idea) ended in filling the baby pool and drenching themselves.

Can you imagine anything more fun?

Today is Memorial Day–lest we forget–so I will be watching They Were Expendable (1945) and giving heartfelt thanks for our veterans, past and present.

Sidenote: We also watched Dog (2022) this weekend. It is a great movie about veterans.

A toast to Channing who co-wrote and co-produced the film.