John Deere "Blue"???

Apparently the interior decorators of the previous century did not get the memo, nor hear the song, about "John Deere Green" as evidenced by the BLUE, leaded glass artwork in one of their windows. This was photographed at one of the tour homes that belonged to the ancestors of the famous farmer, in Moline, Illinois.

The Geographical Prefix

I found this postcard book from the 1940's (at least I think that is the time period, but since the date was written in those "sophisticated" Roman numerals MCMXLIX, I could be off a century or two) in some of the momentos my parents had saved. When I saw it included Rock Island, I paid more attention, since I had learned about Rock Island from a previous find (see The Cutting Edge post). I noted the names of the three cities, so I was a little confused when I learned of a meeting that was going to be held in The Quad Cities. I was told that Quad Cities referred to Rock Island, Davenport, and some others the person could not remember. Since I have a rather unconventional way of determining where I want to travel to (for example, I purchased a black and white checkered sweater that made me want to travel to the Indy 500 annual race. The sweater was about thirty dollars---riding to the Indy 500 on the Harley---priceless!) Anyway, I made it to the conference in the "Quad Cities" and found out, the term refers to the three shown in the postcard above, but now Bettendorf, Iowa brings up the rear to make it a foursome. But there were rumblings that the city of East Moline ACTUALLY is a fifth member of the group, even though there has not been a change in the prefix. If such changes occur about every fifty years as the postcard would suggest, then around 2050, the tourism marketing for the area will be billed as the "Quin Cities". Then, with progress and another fifty years, the sixth city will be added, and the terms will be none other than the "Sex Cities" (as in sextuplets, of course, not the typical meaning for the word sex). So this will present a real dilemma for the powers to be in the area of tourism promotion. Will they just skip "sex" and revert to each city marketing itself? The problem with this, is all the "cookies" they would miss out on with those internet search engines. If an adventurous computer user typed in "Sex Cities" (with no intent of finding out about museums along the Mississippi River), imagine the "hits" the website would get! Their marketing statistics would go through the roof! I will be long gone by the time all this happens, but it is interesting to consider!

The Cutting Edge (in 1917, that is)

About six years ago, while cleaning out my mother's garage, I came across an unusual-looking paring knife. It caught my eye because it had a date engraved on it---1917--- as well as the initials "US" and the additional abbreviation---R.I.A. Through the miracle of the internet search engine, when I typed in "R.I.A.", I found out that it stood for Rock Island Arsenal, which was a place in Illinois along the Mississippi River, and it had been making munitions for the US Army since the time of the Civil War. I taped a note to the knife, and forgot about it. Then about two years ago, while doing some additional clearing out at my mom's house, I came across a vintage postcard that had a photograph of the Rock Island Armory. Wonder of wonders----I was able to locate the knife, and put the two relics together on my shelf at home. I am sorry to say that stories like this is how I have learned geography for the last several years. You see, when I was in the seventh grade, taking geography, a terrible flood hit my town, and the school closed prematurely, without my finishing out the course in geography I was supposed to have completed. Ever since that time, I have blamed all my deficits in knowing where various places are located on the globe, to this incident. Are you feeling sorry for me yet? Well, if you are not, it is okay because in the wisdom that comes with my advancing years, I have discovered that it is just as well I never memorized the names and locations of every place in the world, because for the last several decades, it seems that thousands of countries/towns/streets have changed their names! I will give you just a glimpse of this in a future post. Miles of Smiles! Tricia

Blue suede shoes

It had to be for this very photograph showing a historic moment in family history, that my beloved grandmother, Effie Rudd Parrish, had carefully put away these blue suede shoes into her cedar chest before she died in the 1980's. They had laid there quietly until the next century, when my sister and I came across them when we were going through the belongings of Effie's daugher, following her death in 2007. Not wanting to part with them, but having absolutely no use for them, I sat them aside so they would not be included in the box of apparel destined for the charity thrift store. Then the opportunity came to visit Cleveland, Ohio, home of the Rock and Roll Museum/Hall of Fame. It occurred to me that since the song "Blue Suede Shoes" had to be a part of that museum's history, I should wear these shoes when I visited the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. I did this and the photo with this post shows the evidence of this event. Following an imaginary "drum roll" in my head and the sound of Elvis belting out his warning to not step on his blue suede shoes, I wore my granny's lace-up slippers into this rock and roll version of the Chrystal Cathedral. I can just see my granny "kicking up her heels" in heaven to see that her bright-colored shoes, which were a bit out-of-character for her usually subdued attire, had made it to The Museum of their destiny. Following a time of silence in her honor, I gave the shoes to a local travel industry official for Cleveland, knowing that I had completed my task.

Art in Memphis

I mentioned in an earlier post that although I missed the Campbell's Soup Pop Art exhibit by Andy Warhol at the Brooks Museum in Memphis, I was able to still view an exhibit of Campbell's Soup Art (of a sort). These were part of the Piggly Wiggly exhibit at the Pink Palace Museum in Memphis.

Memphis

They say more songs have been written with the city name "Memphis" than any other city. And little wonder why---it is the epicenter (literally!) for the movers and shakers of the world---including the famous earthquake-prone area in the center of the USA. I had done all the mapquest things to make it smooth sailing for me to get to the Brooks Museum to see their Andy Warhol exhibit of Campbell's Soup Can art. But woe is me---mapquest cannot overcome inattention to details such as the museum is closed on Mondays. (Note to self: If a museum parking lot is empty, do not just assume you got lucky in finding a parking place. It is probably closed.) So I had to settle for a different kind of Campbell Soup Art---that which was on display at the "PigglyWiggly" exhibit at the Pink Palace Museum. But maybe it was more interesting, as I observed two soups from their line of the past century that I do not recall ever seeing on display at my local megamarket. One was Campbell's Oxtail Soup, and the other was Campbell's Mulligatawny Soup. I dutifully recorded those varieties in my digital camera, and eagerly looked them up on the internet at my first opportunity. Turns out, oxtail soup is more often called beeftail soup, and besides the mandatory ingredient from its name, also has large chunks of potatoes and other vegetables. The other big word I found more fascinating. It is from India and literally means "pepper water". Some call it the national soup of India. It is even mentioned in a Seinfold episode with the "Soup Nazi". WIkipedia says it is a thick, spicy, meat soup. I can hardly wait to ask my friend from India for more information regarding recipes for it. So maybe I did not get the culture I would have absorbed if the Brooks Museum had been open, but I did learn some new ethnic cuisine terms! More about Memphis later. Right now, there is thunder and lightning, courtesy of Hurrican Gustav, and I have to shut this sucker down. Adios~!

The Compass Wish

When I wrote about the expedition to Portland, Oregon, last June for their Rose Festival Week, I commented that if you ever plan to visit this city, it would be helpful to have a compass. That is because for someone like me who is used to using the position of the sun in the sky to know if I am going north, south, east, or west-----there is no help to be found in the frequently overcast skies of that area. Someone in "Make a Wish" foundation must have read my request, because would you believe the next out-of-town travel meeting I went to (which was in the "Quad Cities"), each attendee was given a notebook with a COMPASS attached to it! What a deal!! As an explanation to the photo my son took of me giving the Victory salute on the Oregon coast, it shows what progress can be made with both a compass and a spirit of adventure to "Go west", just as Lewis and Clark had done when President Jefferson told them to find a route to the Pacific from what was, at the time, the edge of the frontier---St. Louis, Missouri. I determined to retrace the path of Lewis and Clark in recognition of the bicentennial of their "Corps of Discovery". I too, started in St. Louis, and though it took me more years than it did them, I finally completed the journey in August of 2007 by making it to Astoria, Oregon, near where they sighted the long-anticipated view of the Pacific Ocean. The photo of me on the Oregon Coast at the end of each blog is an attempt to capture the same emotion in my reaching the Pacific Coast, as that which Lewis and Clark wrote of in their journal when they reached it. They recorded this: "Great joy in camp---we are in view of the ocean." Now THAT'S what I call an EXPEDITION!