CITY DAILY PHOTO DECEMBER THEME - FURRY THINGS

 

Not a lot of furry, fuzzy things around our house except granddaughter Ellie’s huge mountain of stuffies. The one living exception is Gizmo, the family cat. We all wish we could be this serene.                    

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - UNSCHEDULED LAYOVER

 

Adventures in winter travel. As each flight from Chicago to St. Louis yesterday was canceled we were put on another, which was then canceled. Eventually all of them. Our flight from Flint, Michigan, to Chicago amazingly got through - seven hours late. It was still snowing at O’Hare when we got this far. Found a hotel and now booked on a noon flight Sunday. Success to be determined.               

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - MICHIGAN KIDS

 

The grandchildren we don’t get to see often enough, Josie, above, and Audrey, below. We were out Christmas tree shopping.

We may or may not get home today. Chicago, where we change planes, is having a snowstorm. The airline canceled one of our flights already but booked us on another. Report to follow, possibly with photos of O’Hare chaos.                  

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - COPS & DOUGHNUTS

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner in Clare, Michigan, with our daughter-in-law’s family. Clare is right in the middle of Michigan’s lower peninsula, a town of about 3,300 named for County Clare, Ireland, where my father’s family is from. Its best-known business is Cops & Doughnuts. All of the small town police department took over the failing town bakery some years ago and created a business famous in the region. It is a meme in American culture that the police love doughnuts and coffee, especially if not at their own expense.              

NOT PART OF THE PLAN

 

Tough winter travel day yesterday. Ice in the morning and mid-day in Chicago messed up everything at O’Hare. Skipping the details, we missed our connection but there was space on a late flight that got us into Flint, Michigan, about 11:30 PM. Too late to drive to our son’s city. Fortunately, the car rental desk stayed open for us and I found a hotel room near the airport. Flint was once a big auto manufacturing city. General Motors was founded here, but all that is gone. Tough times since.             

LOVE IT AND LEAVE IT

Perhaps due to a lack of good sense, Mrs. C and I are flying today for the Thanksgiving holiday. We get to change planes in the chaos of Chicago O’Hare International Airport on one of the busiest days of the year, ending up in Midland, Michigan, where our son and his family live. We get to see our two other grandchildren, who are too far away. The sign is in front of the Missouri History Museum. The heart shows the center of the city’s flag.            

SIX MONTHS LATER

 

It’s been right at six months since a tornado swept through parts of St. Louis. It cut across the northwest corner of Forest Park and moved into residential neighborhoods to the north, much of which contained old homes in lower income areas. Here in the park many damaged trees were cut to stumps at ground level. However, one huge tree was toppled and pulled up much of its root ball. Lots of it has not been cleared.