NOW QUIETER

What do you do after a half century, when the joints are getting creaky? We went to brunch at our favorite French restaurant. The staff got wind of the occasion and gave us the most exquisite chocolate mousse at the end of our meal.

So now, briefly, back in the routine. I might as well mention it at this point: our daughter, Ellie's mother, died just before the end of the year after, as they say, a long illness. We waited to have the memorial service until winter weather and Easter had passed. It took place on Saturday and was quite beautiful. Family and friends came from coast to coast. Now, life continues for the rest of us. But Carolyn and i wanted to do something to mark our occasion. We arrive in Madrid on Sunday.                      

GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY

A long time ago - everything is a long time ago now -  I was in my middle year of law school. It was St. Patrick's Day and I had only change in my pocket. My roommate and I decided we could not sit at home despite our lack of funds. There was a bar near the university that had cheap beer and pinball machines. It was crushingly crowded and I was literally pushed into the other person in this picture. I grew up in an apartment in New York. She grew up on a farm in Kansas. We were married 50 years ago today. It worked. It really did.

And the adventures we have had. Some people want to sit on a beach in Cancun or buy trophies in luxury shops. Not us. We went to Tibet, here at Everest base camp at 5,200 meters / 17,000 feet. And Tierra del Fuego and Fairbanks and Bangkok and Alice Springs and Cairo. And Paris, over and over again. Wow, did I luck out. She's the best.                

THE LUCK OF THE IRISH

St. Patrick's Day is a big deal in a lot of the US. It certainly is here. We have two parades, a big municipal one on the Saturday before the event and a smaller, somehow more genuine one in one of our neighborhoods (called Dogtown - really) on the date itself. I hope to shoot some of it.

But today has more significance in our household. On March 17, 1973, a broke law student from New York and a young nurse from Kansas found themselves holding glasses of green beer, pushed into a corner of a bar near St. Louis University and awkwardly gazing at each other. He asked if she would like to play pinball. She had no idea what it was about. They agreed to meet for a beer after she got off work the next day. After a little while she said she had to go, having made plans to clean her fish tanks. He said he would help! OMG, she had a car, a job, an apartment, two fish tanks and two spice racks! After that she couldn't get rid of him. And that's how Mrs. C and I met 50 years ago today. Pretty lucky.                 

50th Anniversary

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the completion of the Gateway Arch. It is an engineering marvel, formed in the shape of a catenary arch, the curve you get when you dangle a chain by its ends. Only flipped upside down. Stainless steel, 630 feet / 192 meters high, symbol of our city and source of endless fascination for me. Long may it shine. You can see an interesting illustration of the construction here.

There is a detailed special report in today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Mrs. C and I are flying to Denver this morning, where I have a professional conference. We've driven from the airport into the mountains a few times but we don't know the city at all. It will be very busy and I will probably be light on visits to my friends' blogs but I promise some pix. Rocky Mountain high and all that.