STL DPB ON THE ROAD - ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Six days on the road and I'm gonna make it home tonight.

We're beat.  My SI joints are howling like King Looie's hunting hounds. My balance on stairs needs a gyroscope. My leg and back muscles are as wobbly as quelqu'un qui a bu trop de vin. If you look closely, you may be able to see the double-pupiled eyeballs. I can relate to that. We admit it. We're too damn old for this on-your feet-all-day travel.  

We went to Versailles yesterday, which often felt like a human cattle car but with thousands of mobile phones taking bad pictures of things you could see better in the souvenir book. We fly through Philadelphia today and I'm concerned about the connecting time so we may or may not make it home tonight.

WORN OUT BY THE HOLIDAYS?

Whether you need refreshment or relief, the City Museum can  provide a solution. Some of us may need one, the other or both this week.                

Puerto Rico Necesita Nuestra Ayuda

We don't have much Latino population compared to most American cities but what's around is active. There is a modest annual Hispanic festival that took place last weekend.

These men were raising money for relief of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Texas and Florida need our help, too, but Puerto Rico is as American as either of them and in far worse shape. There's nowhere to go inland. The whole island lost electric power and, except for the few places with generators, it may be months before it is completely restored. One end to another is running out of food and water. All of the Isla del Encanto, the enchanted island, is devastated.

I chatted with these men briefly about our one trip there. Mrs. C and I went for our anniversary some years ago. We remember the charms of Old San Juan, the point on the spine of the island where you can see both the Atlantic and Caribbean and the fascinating Arecibo radio telescope. (I'm a long-time participant in SETI At Home, in which people donate their unused computer capacity to analyze Arecibo data for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence.) It took heavy damage. Lots of people in the U.S., Caribbean and Mexico have suffered greatly in this season of disasters.