I have always had a

I have always had a crush on the Kennedys. I admired Jackie especially, but I have a crush on the whole Camelot era, and Kit, Bobby and Ethel too. Truly, they were larger than life. But I never really cared for Teddy. I knew about the Chappaquiddick incident and I knew he was suspended from Harvard his freshman year for cheating. So I never paid attention to him.
And truthfully, before the last four years I was never really socially or politically minded. My crush was more because of life styles rather than issues. (And for this I feel shame.)
But last night I watched all the biographies and news shows documenting his life. I listened to his speeches and the issues he campaigned for. And throughout his career he believed in the same things I believe in. I wish I would have taken the time to get to know his issues better when he was alive. I learned about the personal tragedies he suffered, beyond losing his siblings. And yet a friend described him as wickedly funny. I admire that.
We’ve lost someone who used his voice to fight against the gluttonous view, “I’m only doing well if I’m doing better than you”, rather than we do better as a whole if we all are doing better. I can only hope and pray another person will have the bravery to take up the fight in his place.

This was my first two

This was my first two day weekend since May. Man I hate it when I have to work Fridays again. We made the most of my two days!

Paul and I rode the trail west on Friday night, about seven miles. This bridge crosses the river that direction too but it has no rails.

On Saturday we had a girls' day in the city, Farmers' market, movie and shopping. I pulled up next to the girls at the stop light and it was good to see that Hali is always safe and wearing her helmet, whether she's riding a bike or riding in a car.

When we came out of the movies, (Julie and Julia), we went to Anthropologies where this group of men were lined up outside, apparently waiting on their wives/girlfriends. Anthro just isn't for guys I guess.

And below is the flat tire that I got Sunday morning, 5 miles into the trail and no access roads near by. Paul and Ryane had to ride all the way back to get the van and I started walking my bike out. Luckily I didn't have to walk the whole 5 miles back.

And finally: peaches again. This time we grilled them and baked them into a pie on the grill. We over did the bottom crust so in the end it still turned out to be a cobbler.

And now....five more days of work.....

Natural phenomenon

After 4.5 inches of rain, a rainbow yesterday on my way to work. This spurred the discussion, is it possible to actually see the end of a rainbow? And then mushrooms sprouting in the afternoon. But the most peculiar item....crop circles. Two perfect intersecting circles of darker grass growing in our back yard. Hmmm......

Muddy Marais des Cygnes and cobbler

Paul and I rode our bikes to Rantoul yesterday. This time I wore my GPS and it's officially a 7.2 mile ride. We stopped on the bridge for a water break. They've only built one side of the rails on the bridge. Paul pointed out the catfish coming to surface. You could see their white, round mouths. We don't know if they were eating bugs or getting air. The water was so muddy. And then a picture of the fresh peach and blueberry cobbler I made with the peaches from the farmers' market. These Missouri peaches are not quite as sweet as the ones we brought home from Maryland.