Arch Madness

 (Do any of you remember when the U.S. Olympic Festival came to St. Louis back in 1994?  That was just one year after our 100-year flood annihilated the Chesterfield Valley and everywhere else in the Greater St. Louis and St. Charles County region.  Well, here is the preview I wrote for the sporting event and the St. Louis area, published in The Cincinnati Enquirer Travel Section.)

     The march to the Arch began when the Torch Relay left Kansas City last Wednesday.  Some five weeks later, it will be more like a stampede to St. Louis as U.S. Olympic Festival-’94 rocks “The Gateway City,” July 1-10.

     An estimated 500,000 spectators will watch in wonderment as more than 3,000 of our nation’s premier amateur athletes compete in 37 sporting events.  The purpose of the festival is to prime the athletes for international competition, like the Olympics.

     In the 1992 Summer Olympic Games, held in Barcelona, Spain, 106 of the 187 U.S. medalists had previously competed in at least one festival.

     Many former festival participants became Olympic stars and household names, including basketball’s Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing; diver Greg Louganis; speed skater Bonnie Blair; boxers Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield; gymnast Mary Lou Retton; figure skaters Scott Hamilton and Nancy Kerrigan; and track & field stars Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Carl Lewis and Edwin Moses.

Cincinnatian Pace Competed

     Another top Olympian, Cincinnati’s own Darrell Pace, competed in St. Louis in 1986 (I did a feature on him in Forest Park) in what was then known as The National Sports Festival. 

  A couple years later, the competition’s name was changed to the Olympic Festival.  That was fitting for Pace, who won the Olympic gold in archery in 1976 and 1984, sandwiched around the 1980 U.S.-led boycott of the Moscow games.   

     Joyner-Kersee, a native of East St. Louis, IL, is considered by many as the world’s greatest female athlete.  She has competed in three Summer Olympics, winning three gold medals among five medals in all.  In addition to serving as one of the chairpersons, Joyner-Kersee is actually expected to compete in Festival-’94. 

     A host of other Olympians and hundreds of future ones will participate in some 250 sessions of competition.  A few of the events are free.  The majority of the action, held at 25 sites throughout Metropolitan St. Louis and neighboring communities of eastern Missouri and southwestern Illinois, costs $4-$15 per session.

     Perhaps the most memorable of all the Festival-’94 events is open to the public and free of charge.  It’s the Opening Ceremony, held July 1 under The Gateway Arch.  Emceed by nationally-renown broadcaster Bob Costas, the gala affair will feature the parade of athletes and the official lighting of the 60-goot-high festival cauldron holding the Olympic flame.  Big-name entertainment and a spectacular fireworks display also highlight the event.

     The ceremonies pack a double-barreled punch.  They mark the opening of Festival-’94 and also kickoff the 1994 V.P. Fair, held July 2-4 on the Arch grounds.

Gateway to the Best

     What began in 1981 as a mere community-wide celebration devised to benefit area charities grew by leaps and bounds into today’s V.P. Fair.  The annual fair, now billed by many as “America’s Biggest and Best Birthday Party,” is a spectacle that has to be seen to be believed.

     The Veiled Prophet Parade starts off the festivities, which include sensational air shows, six free “big-name” concerts, a terrific Children’s Village of rides, games and entertainment; an International Village featuring the tastes of several popular St. Louis restaurants among 100 food booths, amusement rides and spectacular nightly fireworks.

 Whew!  No wonder the V.P. Fair draws more than a million people on each of the event’s three days.  There’s never a dull moment!

     The V.P. Fair is a one-of-a-kind event attracting massive crowds, but the St. Charles Riverfest is another colossal Fourth of July weekend celebration.  Located about 25 miles west of the Arch along the Missouri River, the Riverfest, near Missouri’s first Capitol and the Frenchtown Antique District, also features top entertainment, food booths and great fireworks.

     But few sights can match the towering majesty of St. Louis’ most popular attraction, The Gateway Arch.  The 630-foot-high, stainless steel catenary curve, completed in 1965, is the symbol of the city’s nickname, “The Gateway to the West.”

     St. Louis was the starting point for America’s westward expansion of the early 1800s, after the Louisiana Purchase agreement was signed.  The story of that era is dramatically and colorfully depicted in the Museum of Westward Expansion, beneath the Arch.

     Other top remnants of the past lie in the shadows of the Arch.  Life-like replicas of 19^th century steamboats beckon visitors with narrated cruises.  The Illinois side of the Mississippi features riverboat gambling.  Authentic cobblestone streets on both sides of the river showcase lively night spots which fill old cast iron and brick buildings.

Gateway to Bargains

     St. Louis is one of the least expensive cities in which to live.  That value for the money is also reflected in its tourist bargains.

     Anyone who abides by the adage “You get what you paid for,” has never been to Forest Park!  The 1.293-acre park, far larger than New York’s Central Park, requires a full day plus just to visit its three free offerings.

     The St. Louis Zoo is considered one of the biggest and best in the world.  In addition to housing some 2,800 birds, reptiles and mammals, it features the ferocious felines of “Big Cat Country” and the spectacular “Living World” education and discovery center, complete with hands-on interactive exhibits and animatronics of Charles Darwin.

     The new St. Louis Science Center, opened in late 1991, features four main galleries with fun, educational displays of ecology, the environment, medicine, dinosaurs and the development of flight.  You can also stand on an enclosed bridge over Interstate 64 and clock traffic with one of several real radar guns.

     Meanwhile, one of the nation’s finest collections of ancient and modern art can be found in the St. Louis Art Museum; also with great views overlooking Art Hill! 

     St. Louis’ other spectacular free sights include Grant’s Farm (reservations required), Jefferson Barracks National Military Park, Laumeier Sculpture Park, the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, and the Old Courthouse where the famed Dred Scott slavery trial was held.

     Also free of charge is St. Louis Union Station, a long-time, great railway station celebrating its 100^th birthday!  This National Historic Landmark now houses more than 100 specialty stores and restaurants.  But it still maintains its vintage flair.

Plenty of Sights

     The St. Louis area also boasts Cahokia Mounds World Heritage Site, the oldest prehistoric site north of Mexico; Six Flags over Mid-America; the Missouri Botanical Gardens, featuring the world’s first geodesic dome and the largest traditional Japanese garden in North America; the Magic House Children’s Museum; National Museum of Transportation; St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame; Municipal Opera (MUNY)--the nation's largest outdoor theater; plus caves and wineries galore!

     That’s just a tip of the iceberg for St. Louis, where the first kindergarten in the United States was built in 1873, where peanut butter was invented in 1890, and McDonnell-Douglas built the Mercury space capsule that carried the first Americans into orbit.

     In between, the ice cream cone, hot dog, hamburger and iced tea were popularized at the 1904 World’s Fair, held in Forest Park.  One of the events showcased there was the first modern Summer Olympic Games held in the United States.

     Now, 90 years later, future Olympians come to St. Louis to compete near where the Cardinals will be packing in huge crowds at Busch Stadium for the first six days this July, and where millions of people will flock to the V.P. Fair, St. Charles Riverfest and countless other attractions.

     If that’s not Arch Madness, what is???

One Thing Leads to Another

     It’s strange how The Ripple Effect sometimes works in life. 

     This morning, I was flipping from one radio station to another in my car.  After being reminded of how dreadful the Blues’ home performance was last night against Minnesota, an ensuing story told of the great successes of long-time Incarnate Word Academy basketball coach Dan Rolfes.  It’s tough to argue with eight Missouri state championships and an incredible 43 student-athletes earning college basketball scholarships over a 19-year coaching stint.

     I spent countless hours this weekend highlighting a few hundred of my 1,000 or so best published pieces over a 20-year span for future article queries.  From that, it was easy to ponder and recall that some of the fall high school sports should have been wrapped up by now.  So, I decided to check the Missouri State High School Activities Association website to see where things stood.

     Lo and behold, I came across yesterday’s state cross-country results.  Having a third cousin who is an absolute running phenom, I quickly looked to the girls Class 4 results.  Right there I saw that Amie Martin of Fox High School placed 31^st at state, narrowly missing Top 10 status (including Washington High School) for the entire Greater St. Louis Area!

     Nearly always upbeat, positive and cheerful herself, plus an extremely hard worker, Martin’s feat made me think of someone else I knew looooong ago.  Her name was Shelly Hill, and she was a strong cross-country runner and track star for Lafayette High School. 

     What’s also very strange is that, after not seeing Lafayette High School for well over a decade, I had just passed by it on October 16, heading home from a wine and cheese party just a few minutes away.

     So, here is former Lancers’ sensation, Shelly Hill!

THINK POSITIVE!

     Shelly Hill is used to spreading sunshine wherever she goes.  So, Saturday morning’s inclement weather hardly put a damper on her spirits.

     The Lafayette sophomore let a smile be her umbrella as she raced to a sixth-place finish through a cold, steady rain at The St. Louis District Metro Association cross-country meet at Jefferson Barracks Park.

     “It was a hard race today because it made everything really wet and muddy,” Hill said.  “There was a big hill and it seems like it took five minutes to climb it.  I started laughing and people couldn’t believe it because we were slipping and sliding all over the place.  At the end of the race, my legs were totally numb.”

     “Shelly doesn’t let things like that bother her because she’s a real positive kid and she gets a lot of strength from her workouts,” Lafayette coach Mike Moss said.  “She’s improved a lot, and her workouts with Melisa (Rice) have really helped.  They match up real well in their abilities and really encourage one another.”

     Despite being in just her second year of long-distance competition after a good summer track sprinting background in her native Utah, Hill is hardly a newcomer to cross-country success.  As a freshman, she finished eighth in the Utah state meet running for Alta High School.

     Even then, Hill had to get used to running behind one of her teammates.  But their relationship was drastically different from Hill’s association with fellow underclassman Rice.

     “It’s great running with Melisa because she pushes me and I push her,” Hill said.  “In Utah, the girl helped me a lot, but she was a senior and I tried hard to beat her before she graduated.  I broke her freshman record and it was more competition than friendship.”

     Although Hill and Rice get along well together, that doesn’t mean that they’re not both competitive.  After running a 19-minute, 20-second race at The Northwest Invitational at Logan Chiropractic College, Hill’s goal in the final month is to break the 19-minute mark.

     Hill is quick to credit Moss for much of her improvement since she moved to the St. Louis area on July 28.  Thanks to Moss, Hill is also proud to announce a longer-term goal—to be a running coach herself.

     “I’d tell my kids the things that really helped me,” Hill said.  “I’d tell them to work hard, and if hurts, push harder because the hurt doesn’t last long after the race is over.”

     Moss said Hill has just the right disposition with people and the attitude toward life to be successful in that arena.

     “She’s a Mormon, a really religious girl, and I think her faith and attitude helps out a lot,” he said.  “She’s a very positive girl, is always grinning, and never seems to be down.  Somebody like that helps everybody smile readily.  It permeates the whole team.  Shelly is a real blessing!”

     *****Some 19 months later, one of my greatest of journalism thrills was covering the Lafayette Lancers girls first ever Missouri State High School Track and Field Class 4A Championship, held at Jefferson City’s Lincoln University.  Both Hill and Rice played major roles in that title!

The Writing Rider: California or Bust...By BUS???

     In just a five-year span, we drove to southern California three times and flew there once more.  Each time, we utilized a variety of different routes to get there, return home or both.  There was always such a variety of things to see and do, and this was well before a huge population explosion transformed nearly every separate suburb into a free-standing city.

     Since it had been nearly a decade since those trips, we decided to make a return trip.

     “Let’s do something different this time!  Let’s go by bus!”

     “OK.  We’re tired of spending so many nights in Amarillo, Albuquerque and Flagstaff, anyway!”

     Well, it sounded good at the time:  a)quick arrival, b)relatively low cost, c)a relaxing, air-conditioned motor coach excursion, and d)in the pleasant company of new-found friends!

     Boy, were WE mistaken!

     On the morning of our departure, we had relatives drop us off at the downtown Continental Trailways station.  It didn’t take long for us to start wondering if we had made a major mistake in traveling cross-country in this manner.

     Although we are hardly the snobbish, hoity-toity types, we couldn’t help but notice the variety of seemy-looking characters who were waiting to board the vehicles.  Not wanting to “judge a book by its cover,” we tried to discount appearance as merely the proper attire for seasoned bus travelers.

     We should have trusted our intuition.  We were immediately convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt that this would not resemble a romantic Olson’s, Caravan or Maupintour holiday.

     One passenger incessantly spat into a paper cup while another kept trying to borrow money for booze.  The driver had to stop the bus, walk to the back and tell two young men to turn down the volume of their blaring stereo.

     The guy right behind us was filling us in on one of his favorite pastimes.  “Can you believe that I served five years in jail?”  he inquired.  “All I did was commit armed robbery.”

     If the vast majority of people were a little too tacky for our tastes, the restaurants—and I use that term loosely—were even more tasteless.  It seemed as though Trailways’ drivers went out of their way to stop at every decrepit, greasy spoon of an eating establishment in the cruddiest sections of town.

     Sleeping on the bus—yes, that’s what I said—was no picnic, either.  One woman (among others) made it very difficult for everyone.  She had two crying infants named Chucky and Tony. Practically all evening, they would make loud noises in unison, sounding like “Aay-eee-dah!  Aay-eee-dah!”  I don’t think it was the opera they were singing, but whatever it was, it kept everyone awake.

    Their mother kept saying, “Shut up or I’m going to hit you!  Shut up or I’m going to hit you!  Shut up or I’m going to hit you!”  Needless to say, she never raised a hand to either one.  So, they persisted.

     The ‘highlight’ of the trip, or piece de resistance, occurred in the state of Arizona.

     As I recall, it was a pre-teenage girl who boarded the bus around Flagstaff, Arizona, and kept running back to the restroom to vomit.  Shortly after, about halfway to Phoenix, a middle-aged man went up to the bus driver and started threatening him.

     “You better stop this bus right now!” he demanded.  “You can’t take that girl any farther.  Don’t you know that it’s illegal to transport a sick person (maybe he was referring to himself) across state lines?” 

     Maybe the guy wasn’t aware of the fact that Flagstaff and Phoenix are in the same state.  In any case, I was sitting in the second row and started getting the idea of grabbing the man to help restrain him when we finally stopped to refuel.

     However, the man was promptly removed from that station by authorities who took him to find another means of transportation.

     That’s precisely what we have done for all ensuing trips.  We never again even took a bus ride across town, let alone across the country!

    

Ballooning For Onlookers and Sports Aficionados

    Very few visual objects are more captivating than hot-air balloons that drift through the sky at various altitude levels, seemingly suspended in time.  The non-sporting segment of hot-air balloon events often features a decent mix of balloons created in the shape of a variety of objects, and the vast majority of orbs display patterns resplendent in a kaleidoscope of colors.

     A balloon event is like an enchanting dream for passionate photographers like myself.  In past decades, I made nearly annual visits to the Friday night Great Forest Park Balloon Glow followed by Saturday’s race and the Jefferson Barracks event.  Thanks to my ex’s craft show entries, I also experienced several Centralia (IL) Balloon Fests.    
With the granddaddy of balloon events—the Albuquerque (NM) International Balloon Fiesta, held this October 6-14, here’s a hot-air balloon article and sidebar on the racing aspect that I had published long ago!   

PHOBIA BEATEN, REEVES NOW PLAYS IN THE CLOUDS

     Acrophobia and hot-air ballooning make strange bed fellows.

     It takes a lot of coaxing for someone with a relentless fear of heights to soar some 4,000 to 5,000 feet off the ground.  But that’s precisely what Tina Reeves has been doing since overcoming her phobia.

     The St. Ann resident was first exposed to ballooning more than a decade ago.  That was no accident because Reeves was residing in Albuquerque, regarded as the balloon capital of the world.

     "I started going to the big race, but I didn’t know how to get involved,” Reeves recalled.  “My boss flew the Manpower Temporary balloon.  He asked if I’d be on the crew.  I started crewing every weekend for different types of balloons, and took my daughter Kim along.  Since then, we’ve made it a family sport.  I eventually got my husband (Keith) involved.”

     While Reeves’ first involvement on her own was back in 1986, her phobia kept her from taking her first flight until May 29, 1989.  She’s been ascending on a regular basis ever since.

     “It’s very peaceful without a worry in the world,” Reeves said.  After that first ride, they made a family decision to shop around for their own balloon.  After checking out several types, they purchased a 70-foot-tall Aerostar RX8 made in Sioux Falls, SD.  That balloon was first used in the Albuquerque International Fiesta Race of May 6, 1990, a month before the move to St. Louis.

     Turquoise was the color chosen for the balloon because it means good luck to the Indians.  The balloon’s top and skirt are black, and hot pink pennants surround the balloon.  It was dubbed “The Lady” because Keith Reeves referred to Tina as his lady while separated as both were serving in the Marines.  The balloon cost $15,000 in 1990 and had a $22,000 replacement value just a few years later.

     Perhaps it was more than just “Lady Luck” that “The Lady” placed second among 625 competitors at the 1992 Albuquerque event.  In that five-day race, overall points were scored by consistent close landings to any of four huge ‘X’ marks placed around the city.

     Meanwhile, the Reeves’ involvement in the sport has ballooned.  Tina is the editor of The Gateway Aerostatic Association newsletter, The Log.  She is also the secretary of GAA and the land-owner relations chairperson, the position that handles disputes when a balloon lands on a person’s property.  Keith Reeves, an air traffic controller at Lambert Tower, is a certified pilot in charge of the GAA’s Wings Program.

     But like any sport, ballooning has its ups and downs.

     “The big part for us is the people we meet,” Tina said.  “It’s also a thrill to fly over small towns and see kids jump up and wave to us.

     “The only unsettling element is the weather.  It can be scary when storms come up.  It’s better to be on land wishing you were in the air than being in the air wishing you were back on the ground!”

*****BALLOON BIT:  John Wise flew his balloon 1,200 air miles from St. Louis to Henderson, NY back in 1859.  That was the longest distance flown at that time despite the fact that ballooning was primarily a European recreation since the 1780’s.

SPORT BALLOONING:  IT’S NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS!

     Sport ballooning looks pretty simple.  You merely pump air into the balloon to get it off the ground, let the wind push you about for awhile, then drop anchor when you’re ready to land.

     OK, but that’s not even close. It takes several people with various specialized skills to make a successful sport ballooning team.

     The team is actually a well-trained group of four to six persons that assists in the launches and landings.  One operates the fan which fills the balloon with air, two hold open the mouth of the balloon, and one or two maintain a control line to the top of the balloon to control the balloon’s rise.

     To inflate, the balloon is spread on the ground and cold air is blown in by a large fan.  As it inflates, members of the crew hold the mouth open while the pilot directs hot air inside from the propane burner.  Since hot air rises faster than cold, the balloon inflates to an upright position.  The gondola or basket is tethered to the ground until the pilot signals the launch to begin.

     The balloon is an aircraft, and pilots are required to attend ground school, take oral and written exams, amass several hours of flight time attending solo runs, and make a check balloon rise with a certified instructor.  The pilot is the man or woman certified to fly the balloon safely while also directing that balloon team.

     One cannot actually steer a balloon because it merely drifts with the wind.  But the propane burner can be used to control the altitude of the balloon.  To ascend, air is heated inside the balloon up to a maximum of about 225 degrees.  To descend, the pilot simply lets the air cool down or pulls a parachute valve at the top.

     There are several types of balloon competitions.  One of the most popular is the hare-and-hound race, a timed event in which a balloon (the hare), takes off, flies to an area and has a passenger get out to place a large plastic ‘X’ closest to the center of the target (the hound), marked by a 50-foot-square ‘X’ in the middle of the field.

     Most flights cover three to 12 miles in one to two hours.

TIME is of the Essence!

     ***This piece is dedicated to Maria Adler, a dear friend to SOOOOO many of us in Meetup circles; especially in Chris Florian’s Fun Peeps.   This goes out to those of us who knew Maria anywhere from a few weeks to a decade or more prior to cancer taking her earthly form on September 21, just two days after turning 54 years young.

     Maria constantly touched us all with her genuine kindness and sweetness.  But we were just as amazed by her incredible positive attitude and fighting spirit which never seemed to wane throughout her gallant 5 ½-year battle with that dreaded ‘C’ word.

     According to Mark Twain, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight.  It’s the size of the fight in the dog.”  Well, Maria probably barely weighed 100 pounds at any point in the decade or so that I knew her.  In regard to her own personal battle, she was probably the most ferocious Chihuahua I have ever known!

     Many of us, upon getting the sad news from Chris, immediately took to Facebook to begin a very lengthy period of shared sadness and mourning.  The kind words continually flowed from morning to nightfall, the entire next day and beyond.  Oftentimes, those words were accompanied by a wide array of photos depicting Maria individually, as part of a duo, a handful of friends or part of a group of several dozen friends.

     One thing stood out from nearly every photo—Maria’s wide, infectious smile.  That was a fact well before, during and after our 2013 benefit for her at Candicci’s Restaurant.  It was also at that juncture of facing an undetermined number of remaining days that Maria’s indomitable spirit was exposed to all.

     This week’s influx of heavy-hearted messages and photos could suffice in and of themselves to carry us through the coming days.  But I also personally witnessed more than a handful of posts of a somewhat different nature that, in the spirit of Maria, that could inspire us through the remainder of our earthly days.

     Maria’s sweet existence and premature passing can be utilized as an alarming wakeup call regarding our own mortality and how we utilize the remainder of our own earthly existence.

Even without the death of a loved one, as we grow into our 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and beyond, the thirst for increased enjoyment coupled with a greater sense of purpose seem to grow exponentially.

     It increasingly becomes an endless battle of how we spend that four-letter word: TIME!

    

     Back in May of 1998, I conducted lengthy interviews with my parents for the creative 50^th anniversary scrapbook I was preparing for them.  I was racing with time to get the massive undertaking completed at least a few days before that celebrated June 27^th date.

     Even without that Golden Anniversary album in front of me, I’ll always remember one of my mother’s quotes:  “You go to bed one night when you’re young; You wake up the next morning and you’re old!”

     My dad passed away on April 21/22, 2009 at the age of 86, less than 10 weeks shy of my parents’ 61^st anniversary.  My mom died unexpectedly on November 6, 2014, just two days after turning 84.  The more that time slips away in my own life, the greater understanding I have of my mom’s saying.

     Sooooo much has been said about time!  Motivational guru Jim Rohn has two terrific quotes about time:  “Time is more valuable than money.  You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.”  “Life is not just the passing of time.  It’s the collection of experiences and their intensity.”

     One of my favorite quotes has been written in many variations and has been attributed to several different people, including one of my favorite authors, Leo Buscaglia: “Yesterday is but a canceled check and tomorrow a promissory note.  Only today is cash on hand.  Spend it like crazy!”

     Yet another is “Most men (and women, too) lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to the grave with the song still in them.”~~Henry David Thoreau

     I can certainly relate to ALL those quotes!  While others have lived to work, I’ve always lived well within my means with few expensive material possessions.  Like many of you, I live for experiences like dancing, travel and socializing.  For the latter two, I take hug therapy to an art form when going out on weekends and week nights, have fun one-on-one, in small groups and in large ones.

     Considering family and friends, it’s great to realize that “the best things in life aren’t things!”  Is your glass half full or half empty?  I keep gulping down the contents (normally the non-alcoholic variety) and constantly have my glass refilled.  PLUS, I’d much rather wear out than rust out!

     How about you?  What’s your attitude toward time?  Are you collecting too many ‘what ifs?’ Do you talk yourself out of living by focusing on negatives or worrying about what might go wrong? You can’t change the past, but you can certainly ruin the present by worrying about the future.  

     Time is of the essence!  The clock keeps ticking.   Unless you can build “The Time Machine,” as in the 1960 H.G. Wells-inspired movie, or go “Back to the Future,” your time is also finite.  As the sands keep sifting downward from the top bulb of the hour glass to the bottom one, how do you choose to spend the balance of your days?

     The great Galesburg, IL poet Carl Sandburg once wrote, “Time is the coin of your life.  Only you can determine how it will be spent.  Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.”

     Finally, Jim Croce wrote “Time in a Bottle” after his wife told him she was pregnant.  The song wasn’t intended to be released as a single.  However, plans changed after Croce was killed in a plane crash in September 1973 at the age of 30.  It became his second and final No. 1 hit after “Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown.”  No one had any inclination that Croce’s own time would be so brief.

“If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day
Till Eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you.

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them…”

     That song also reminds me of Maria and all the posts I read this week regarding people being more motivated to follow their passions and dreams with an undisclosed amount of time.  After all, she was taken from us with roughly one-third of her years remaining.

     Do you want to take that extra dream trip or two?  Start that side hustle or not-for-profit organization?  Go for it because no one knows when The Grim Reaper may come calling.

     Personally, after some 3,000 published articles in sports, people features, events, travel, food in a 20-year period before The Internet Age, I have done a very miniscule amount of writing over the past couple decades. 

     Ironically, my last efforts were in 2013…until now.  I wrote most of this by hand this afternoon in an hour and 20 minutes with just a few notes, while sitting just a yard from Creve Coeur Lake.  It’s the most productive, lengthy piece I have written since the time of Maria’s benefit.  But now, I will be writing more and more before and during my retirement from full-time work!  Hope your short-term, medium-term and long-term goals consist of time well-spent! 

     Finally, in memory of Maria, who we will all miss dearly, may the Lord bless and keep each and every one of you safe, happy and productive!   Let’s try to emulate her incredible smile as I always utilize one of her favorite dance moves!