Growing up black in West St Louis

An article worth reading...
Everybody has a killer in their family

Fantastic Negrito

March 09, 2015 by BOB BOILEN • It says a lot that, with almost 7,000 entries to choose from, we selected Fantastic Negrito as the winner of our Tiny Desk Concert Contest. For his winning submission, he performed "Lost In A Crowd" in a freight elevator in Oakland. It was his passion, his voice and his backing band that landed him an invitation to perform behind my desk. We're proud of our choice.

As we learned after choosing him as our winner, Fantastic Negrito — a.k.a. Xavier Dphrepaulezz, pronounced dee-FREP-ah-lez — has a remarkable backstory. One of 15 children, he grew up in a strict home, and later signed a contract with Interscope Records in the '90s. That deal fell apart, though, and soured him on music-making. Then, a near-fatal car crash put him in a coma, and eventually left him without the proper use of his hands; he struggled with physical therapy for years to get some movement from what he now calls "The Claw."

These days, bolstered by a new outlook on life and music, he's reawakened and reemerged under the name Fantastic Negrito. You'll see that newly rediscovered purpose in his eyes and hear it in his voice, as he performs this Tiny Desk Concert with his fantastic band.

Chicago and Midwest Convention

Tullaia leading 300, taken by Martha Beverly

Here is Tullaia leading 300.

She is a quiet powerhouse when she leads and i always wish i had recorded it to show papa.  

But i get caught in the singing.  Imagine.

I am thankful Clarissa recorded part of it for me.  

Thanks!

Leading 564, taken by Martha Beverly

I love to see singing pictures.  They aren't necessarily flattering, but do demonstrate the intensity of what we do.  

I am the first leader in this section.  Thank-you to Bob Borcherding for all his hard work video-recording.  John Seaton follows me.  He was our gracious host for the weekend.  We were quite comfortable in his cozy bungalow despite the bone-chilling rain.  

RubbleBucket

Jose Gonzalez.

We discovered him when Tullaia was little, so hearing him reminds me of bedtime attempts.  I tried all sorts of crazy attempts to get her to sleep.  Including Jose Gonzalez

Life lost

Several months ago, we saw some eggs in a puddle.  They were in a gelatinous line instead of a clump, so we knew they were toads.  And we wanted a toad!
We took some.
We raised them up from small and legless to small and 4 legged.
Have you ever seen this up close?  It is one of the best things.
Metamorphosis!
They ate boiled lettuce, flakes of egg yolk and chicken feed.  We used water from the gutter for their pond.  We split pieces of rotten wood filled with ants to feed them for days.  They hunted the ants down with joy.

And on Thursday, I noticed they were out of ants.  So i took them outside to locate some more.

I set them on the log and peeled bark.  What an abundance of ants!  I watched them hunting in the stonecrop.  And then a friend called.

That night it stormed so hard that our basketball hoop fell over.  So did the corn that was waist high. A blue bucket previously out by the chicken coop ended up on our porch.

I got up in the early morning to shut windows and things were ruined with water.  Ruined!
It rained so hard.

I didn't think of the toads.

I went to an outpatient surgery early that morning.  All went well and i came home and slept for 20 hours straight.
When i got up, i felt pretty good.  The kids made breakfast which we all enjoyed.

At some point i noticed the toads weren't there and it all came back to me.  I had left them outside.  

Perhaps it was the narcotics, maybe hormones or pain.  But i sobbed and couldn't stop.  I just needed a private moment to mourn.
I felt bad for the toads and the kids, but i also felt the pain of loss in general.

How MUCH more so for my friend who recently gave birth to her daughter, Annalisia.  She died 10 minutes later and my friend will continue to grieve her loss.
For everything, seen and unseen.
For putting all her best into Annalisia and never getting to see that to fruition.

I am not equating the loss of our 3 toads' lives to a human baby.  Not at all...

But all life is precious.  And the loss of it should smart.

Tiny Desk Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear

Love!  And then find out they are a mother/son duo.  Love more!!

Fiery Searcher Beetle

We found this beautiful beetle outside today.  It eats caterpillars, mostly tent caterpillars, which I dislike.  

Midland Brown

Eckens  

Lined snakes and Midland Browns are secretive snakes that live underground.  We know all of their favorite places though and can find them easily.  

75% of the midland brown's diet is slugs and 25% is earthworms.  Almost 100% of the lined snakes diet is earthworms.  

Jasper has adopted a midland brown that he named Eckens.  Last night, Jasper fed him 8 slugs by hand.  He got quite plump.  When he eats worms, it is like watching Avery suck up a spaghetti noodle.

Polyphemus Moth

Our cocoon hatched!  Here is a Polyphemus Memory from way back.  Lovely to think about.  It was so incredible.  

This is his/her chrysalis.  We found it last fall and kept it under the porch all winter.

Strawberry harvest and hugelkultur update

We are harvesting strawberries now and the hugelkultur beds seem fine for them.

But not for the asparagus.  So sad...this is my second year planting.  I planted some asparagus in regular dirt for a control and it came up fine.  So there's my disappointing experiment.

I think the hugelkultur beds are best used for annuals until the wood starts to break down, which is already happening.
The peas, beans, cucumbers, and melons did great in the beds last year.  And planting something that puts nitrogen back into the soil helps, since during decomposition the wood needs nitrogen to break down.

Myron and Sonya Glasberg Conservation Area

We have been to the Myron and Sonya Glassberg Conservation Area several times this month.  It is only about an hour away and near LaBarque, another place we enjoy hiking.  

Sunny Glassberg is also the woman responsible for Turtle Park, which is across from our old house.

I think that's an interesting tidbit.  I am thankful for rich and generous people.  

It has a 3 mile loop, a fishing lake and several springs and creeks to explore.  There is a stunning overlook of the Meremec river valley about 1/2 way through the hike.

Broadhead Skink

?

Mama look!

Take a picture of him!

Isn't he cute?

I love him!

Bluebells

Northern Water Snake

Field of Sweet William

Wild Geranium

Western Painted turtle baby

...but he was dead.

Jacob's Ladder

Log balance training class

Miami Mist

Elsah in Fall and Farley's Music Hall

I just downloaded the pictures from my camera.  It has been a while!

Sometime in the fall, which was 2014, we had the opportunity to sing at Farley's Music Hall in Elsah, which is a small village up and across the river in Illinois.

Farley's Music Hall was built in 1885 and was recently restored.  It was a fantastic place to sing.

On our way home, we stopped by Confluence State Park.  This is where the Mighty Missouri river joins the Mightier Mississippi.  It is also where Lewis and Clark began their journey west.
It was eerie making our way down the trail in the dusky light.  But worth it.

Marilyn Mosby puts Bob McCulloch to Shame

Instead of making a decision in the Michael Brown case Bob McCulloch deflected responsibility. The entire St Louis region is still suffering because of this.
Yesterday, 2 men stood on the corner near our home with signs announcing St Louis riots were coming soon and we are on the brink of a civil war.  Nooses hung from the signs.  The men were wearing masks.

Thank goodness for Marilyn Mosby.  We all need this right now.

Art Show

The kids did a great job in the art show this year.  The boys both won 1st place in their grades and Tullaia got 2nd.

Missouri Shape Note Singing

Taken by Aldo Ceresa

Hi to the boys that ate Imo's pizza without us

Church and the purple bus

Cemetery Shadows

Taken by MaryE Yeomans

Taken by Aldo Ceresa

Taken by Aldo Ceresa

Hi to the boys at home

We had a great time at the Missouri singing.
Lots of good people came from near and far.  The weather was warmish with a nice cool breeze.  The daffodils were beginning to bloom.  The singing was lovely...

Jon Stewart and his thoughts on recent events in Baltimore

We're in a National Geographic Book!

Jonathan Smith takes great photos of sacred harp singings and Avery and i happen to be in the one chosen for this book.
Here is a link to Abroad at Home:600 Best Travel Experiences in North America

Taste of Fiction

Taste of Fiction is a culinary event at downtown Central Library .  Pastry Chefs choose a book to interpret with sweets and we chose The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd.
NPR:The Invention of Wings

I was fortunate to help Anne and Angela and they taught me how to make inedible cakes.

We also provided small tastings of sweet cream gelato with madeira apples, cornmeal shortbread, and candied pecans.
It was so good and one guy was heard confessing that he had eaten 10 already.

What do you do with a giant inedible cake?  I don't know, but i wasn't willing to put it in the dumpster.  I thought it would be fun to have it as a centerpiece on the kitchen table.  Sort of like the doily and decorative bowl my mom has.

Maramec Spring

After Erin and Daniel's wedding(of which i don't have any photos? i will obtain some ...), we made a stop to Maramec Spring.  I don't know why this place is spelled differently than the river's name.  

Stream running into the Meramec River

Boys on a rickety bridge

Maramec Iron works

Maramec Spring

In 1825, a group of Shawnee Indians traveled to Washington to meet the "Great White Father".  On their way there, they camped on Ohio land owned by Thomas James.  They interested him with their stories of large trees, brightly hued earth to paint the markings on their faces, swift waters.
On their journey home, they invited him to journey West.  This led him to construct the Maramec Iron works in 1826, which operated until 1876.

Penny mosaic

I got this coffee table for free, but it was in need of refinishing.  I painted it with chalk paint (leftover paint, water and plaster of paris) and decided to try out the penny mosaic.  We had a lot of pennies in the family jar.
It took a few more than anticipated, $18.00 in all.
I aged some of the pennies in a vinegar/salt mixture to obtain a beautiful turquoise patina.
Once the pennies were set, Justin helped me pour a resin finish, which required a bit of blowing to get the air bubbles out.  There is a reddish beard whisker embedded in the top as well as a few dog hairs. Memories...
I learned a few things.  One was that after 1982, the penny was made of copper-plated zinc.  Which must explain the funky outcome of many pennies.  They eroded from the vinegar instead of changing colors.  I think that is also why some of my lines are uneven.  The pennies are not the same size, due to the wearing away.