Met Mary and Bob in Sikeston, MO
April 23, 2007
We had a slow start to the morning listening to the wind in the trees and watching the sun slowly peek out of the clouds a few times. Will woke up slowly working his mind on a few Kurko puzzles. Kathy read her book, American Gods. Here is one from the book:
“Henzelmann told them a story about his grandfather’s trumpet, and how he tried playing it during a cold snap, and the weather was so cold outside by the barn, where his grandfather had gone to practice, that no music came out. Then after he came inside he put the trumpet down by the woodstove to thaw. Well, the family’er all in bed that night and suddenly the unfrozen tunes start coming out of that trumpet. Scared my grandmother so much she nearly had kittens.”
We hiked the two-mile trail through Crowley’s Ridge, named after a participant of War of 1812 and one of the first settlers in the area. 
The uniqueness of the region, the unusual soil types and rare plant species make this a prime area for research. There are thick layers of gravel and sand that washed in from the ancient Ozarks when this region was along Gulf of Mexico Bay. The ocean receded and ice age meltwater stripped most of the sediments. Crowley’s Ridge is what was left behind.
So our hike took us down into the lush hollows with ferns and beech and tulip poplar trees and up along the ridge with oaks up to twenty some feet in diameter. The trail ends in a peach orchard. We saw a red capped mushroom looming out of the dried leaves covering the sandy soil. A salamander laid up on a tall tree above a hollow glistening in the sun.
We spent some time just hanging out till Mary called. She and Bob are driving towards home in MI and we are crossing paths hoping to meet up for a hello. We got the call and headed out roads named with letters zig-zagging our way north east to interstate 55 and the Flying J. We are back in flat lands with plowed fields. We saw a dust devil, dust bunny, swirl of dust, dirt moving across the land, a little twister. It is flat and dull. The ground is brown, a tanish brown not a rich brown. The green is pale and the color continues for as far as you can see stopped up by rows of trees reaching up with dull brown branches and dull green leaves starting to sprout. So that is why farmers paint their barns bright red and buy bright red, blue, yellow or green tractors and equipment and have bright silver grain storage units…something for the eyes to laugh at.
We pulled into the Flying J and spotted Bob getting out of the motor home at the gas pump. We decided to head over to the Waldorf where we both were going to spend the night. Bob and Mary jumped into the Roadtrek and we drove to Buffalo Wild Wings just up the street a bit. Mary and Kathy sat on the bed in the back and Will and Bob got the seats. We got playmakers and ordered food and drink. 
The playmaker that Kathy was using was connected somehow to another playmaker, what was keyed into one showed up on the other. So we returned one and were fine until a guy came in and picked up that playmaker that matched with Kathy’s. He wanted to play poker and kept trying to change to that game and Kathy kept hitting the keys on her machine trying to play Countdown. She finally gave up and walked over to the guy, gave him her playmaker and explained how they were connected. He spent the rest of his time trying to figure out the two machines. Kathy got a new playmaker and got into the game again. We played some trivia and talked. Will got on the local board here in Sikeston, MO.
Back at the Waldorf we joined Mary and Bob in their motor home and talked the evening away. We talked of roads traveled. CJ, the camel got some time; yes, Connie we heard about how he chewed on your hair! Mary showed us their tomato plants that are traveling in the car being pulled behind the motor home; they ordered them and they arrived in the mail looking like little pipe cleaners. Now about a month later they are looking like tomato plants; two of them are tomato trees and one will grow three colors of tomatoes on the same plant and the other will grow 1-pound tomatoes. It was after dark when Kathy crawled into bed and Will began his game of Fate.
We had a slow start to the morning listening to the wind in the trees and watching the sun slowly peek out of the clouds a few times. Will woke up slowly working his mind on a few Kurko puzzles. Kathy read her book, American Gods. Here is one from the book:
“Henzelmann told them a story about his grandfather’s trumpet, and how he tried playing it during a cold snap, and the weather was so cold outside by the barn, where his grandfather had gone to practice, that no music came out. Then after he came inside he put the trumpet down by the woodstove to thaw. Well, the family’er all in bed that night and suddenly the unfrozen tunes start coming out of that trumpet. Scared my grandmother so much she nearly had kittens.”
We hiked the two-mile trail through Crowley’s Ridge, named after a participant of War of 1812 and one of the first settlers in the area. 
The uniqueness of the region, the unusual soil types and rare plant species make this a prime area for research. There are thick layers of gravel and sand that washed in from the ancient Ozarks when this region was along Gulf of Mexico Bay. The ocean receded and ice age meltwater stripped most of the sediments. Crowley’s Ridge is what was left behind.
So our hike took us down into the lush hollows with ferns and beech and tulip poplar trees and up along the ridge with oaks up to twenty some feet in diameter. The trail ends in a peach orchard. We saw a red capped mushroom looming out of the dried leaves covering the sandy soil. A salamander laid up on a tall tree above a hollow glistening in the sun.
We spent some time just hanging out till Mary called. She and Bob are driving towards home in MI and we are crossing paths hoping to meet up for a hello. We got the call and headed out roads named with letters zig-zagging our way north east to interstate 55 and the Flying J. We are back in flat lands with plowed fields. We saw a dust devil, dust bunny, swirl of dust, dirt moving across the land, a little twister. It is flat and dull. The ground is brown, a tanish brown not a rich brown. The green is pale and the color continues for as far as you can see stopped up by rows of trees reaching up with dull brown branches and dull green leaves starting to sprout. So that is why farmers paint their barns bright red and buy bright red, blue, yellow or green tractors and equipment and have bright silver grain storage units…something for the eyes to laugh at.
We pulled into the Flying J and spotted Bob getting out of the motor home at the gas pump. We decided to head over to the Waldorf where we both were going to spend the night. Bob and Mary jumped into the Roadtrek and we drove to Buffalo Wild Wings just up the street a bit. Mary and Kathy sat on the bed in the back and Will and Bob got the seats. We got playmakers and ordered food and drink. 
The playmaker that Kathy was using was connected somehow to another playmaker, what was keyed into one showed up on the other. So we returned one and were fine until a guy came in and picked up that playmaker that matched with Kathy’s. He wanted to play poker and kept trying to change to that game and Kathy kept hitting the keys on her machine trying to play Countdown. She finally gave up and walked over to the guy, gave him her playmaker and explained how they were connected. He spent the rest of his time trying to figure out the two machines. Kathy got a new playmaker and got into the game again. We played some trivia and talked. Will got on the local board here in Sikeston, MO.
Back at the Waldorf we joined Mary and Bob in their motor home and talked the evening away. We talked of roads traveled. CJ, the camel got some time; yes, Connie we heard about how he chewed on your hair! Mary showed us their tomato plants that are traveling in the car being pulled behind the motor home; they ordered them and they arrived in the mail looking like little pipe cleaners. Now about a month later they are looking like tomato plants; two of them are tomato trees and one will grow three colors of tomatoes on the same plant and the other will grow 1-pound tomatoes. It was after dark when Kathy crawled into bed and Will began his game of Fate.
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