Household Hazards

Most of our home improvements the past few years have been to make our home safer. First, we added hand-rails (above). Then, we remodeled several bathrooms to make them more handicapped accessible. Actually, this bathroom was a half bath. We didn't have a full bath on the first floor, so this room had to be gutted to add the shower and tub.
Last summer, we had this brick walk re-laid---roots had made it wavy, so the roots were cut out and the bricks were set again.
When we had a tile floor put in, we had to lay it on top of the existing floor which means the carpeted area is about an inch below. It became a bit hazardous in to the family room, so we had a "ramp" put in (most people can't even feel it) that eases a person down into the family room.
Soon, we will have our driveway replaced.
This year's hazards that I've lost sleep over were some old ammunition we had for shotguns that have long been sold. I knew I couldn't throw them into the trash, but when I called the Hazardous Waste people, Missouri Natural Resource and our trash hauler, no one knew what I should do with them short of putting them in a shotgun and using them. Finally, I called our local police and they said, "Sure bring them in."

I had a busy day yesterday. We came home from vacation and found a large amount of rain had eaten away our yard by the curb. It may be hard to tell but it's deeper than the pavement---around 10-12". My brother has put 3 large bags of rock in this hole, but they've washed away. So, I called the city, described the situation and said, "I'm afraid someone is going to break a leg getting out of a car. At least bring an orange cone to set there." While I was at the police department dispensing with the shotgun shells, I came home to this. . .
I have hitching posts out front, so if you want to ride by on your horse, we have a place for you to tie up Trigger.
My final hazard is this war souvenir. While talking to the Hazardous Waste and Missouri Natural Resouce people, I asked about radio-active items. I found out that if I call "Skip" at the Route 66 State Park (AKA Times Beach Superfund Site), he should have a geiger counter to test it because as my Mom's note on the back says. . .my dad picked it up just a few weeks after the atomic bomb hit Nagasaki. Meanwhile, I worry if my basement is a glowing from this weapon or if it is indeed the dustbuster on charge.

Summers in St. Louis 1950's

While cleaning out some files, I found something I'd written in the early 1980's about living in St. Louis before air conditioning:

When I first think of St. Louis summers, I think of sleeping on "pallets" on the back screened porch of 4616 Arsenal. (I think they even called these "sleeping porches") My parents would be listening to the Cardinals baseball game on the radio while we children would try to sleep. I'd fall asleep listening to Harry Carey: "It must be. . .it could be. . .it is---it's a Home Run." When the nights were part of a heat wave, we sometimes slept with a wet sheet on top of us to cool us down.

Top: Me, Doris, Wayne; Bottom: Wanda and Jane

Working backwards through the day, our evenings were spent in the front----Mom and Dad on the porch and we kids would play"one potato, two potato" or "school" on the front steps. In "school", the "teacher" had a stone in his/her hand and the "students" would have to guess which hand it was in. If the "student" guessed correctly, then he/she could move up the steps (each step represented a grade in school). The first person to get to the top won the game and could be the teacher.

Often, we'd pack a picnic basket and go to Tower Grove Park where it was cooler. We'd eat supper and play until bed time. Sometimes we went just across the street, but sometimes we'd go to the fish pond or the playground/swimming pool area. St. Louis houses were made of brick and the heat stayed in the bricks all night. We were lucky that we lived across from the park, but some who lived with brick houses all around would even take quilts and sleep in the parks at night.

Sometimes after supper, Grandpa Wes Wicker would take us to the "delicatessen" (a convenience store) for ice cream bars---I liked Dreamsicles (click here for a recipe), Rocketpops (icecream in a cardboard sleeve that you pushed out and ate) and Fudgesicles but a lot of the kids liked "drumsticks"---ice cream cones with nuts on top. Sometimes, we even walked to Velvet Freeze on the corner of Morganford and Arsenal.

L-R: ???, Me, Jane, Marilyn

Early afternoons were always spent taking a nap during the hottest part of the day. Mother always told us it was for our health, "If you don't rest, you'll get polio." Electric fans cooled us. Sometimes we had sheets in the back yard to make tents and we'd just play quietly in the back yard.

Weekends were often spent at the movie theaters which were air conditioned or "taking a drive". Riding in the car created a cooling breeze so we often didn't go anywhere, but just drove around. Sometimes, we'd go to the "country" where it was cooler than the city.

Going Home

We decided to split the boys up on the way home. Leah and Eli rode with Dave while I rode with Rebecca and Roman. The only TV Roman enjoyed was Barney! Last Spring I'd marked all of the McDonald's with play yards , Chuck-E-Cheeses and Chick Fil-As along the route and any public playgrounds we might pass.

Unfortunately, it was so hot (100 degrees) going through Mississippi that we didn't play in this play yard very long. But the boys enjoyed climbing on Ronald McDonald.Rebecca had hoped to stop here to have the boys' photo, but Eli was asleep, so Rebecca will have to photo-shop them in.
Poor Roman was recently potty-trained and did very well. Unfortunately he had to go to the bathroom in a few places where there were no exits. So, we had to stop by the side of the road. . .in northern Arkansas/southern Missouri, the poor guy almost fell head first in the ditch.

After that, he pleaded "I don't want to go in the woods." He was in luck that we had just reached civilization---Scott City, Mo.

We left Phoenix X before 10 AM on Friday and arrived in St. Louis around 1:15 on Saturday with an overnight in Southaven, Mississippi. Roman and Rebecca had another 4.5 hours before getting home to Kansas City, however.

Fry Reunion: Thursday

Leah made pancakes for us Thursday morning. Unfortunately, we didn't have a griddle.
But, had to make them one at a time.
The boys got along very well. They're feeding grandpa like a baby (note the burp cloth)
There was the occasional disagreement. . .

But, they managed to work things out by taking turns.
Rebecca modeled the latest in swim rings and sand pails---does she realize that the orange pail on her head was once used as a potty?
We said good-bye to Tom, Donna and Marilyn. Tom enjoyed the Thomas the Train books with sound effects.

From our balcony we watched several surf boarders sail and flip on by.

That evening we ate at Crab Trap because it seemed child-friendly last spring when we ate there.
Parents could sit on the covered patio with this nice sandy area for the kids to play.
It was encircled by a board walk ramp (Eli and Roman coming and going) which also lead to the parking lot in 3 places. :-(
The children also got sand pails and shovels to play with.
And crayons for those who didn't want to play in the sand.

Fry Reunion 2009: Tuesday and Wednesday

Dave, me, Rebecca, Roman, Leah and Eli all drove to Phoenix X for a family reunion of Dave's cousins and families. Although Roman loved the beach, Eli never quite adjusted to the sand, but they both had loads of fun!
They loved this little "cave" Leah made for them to play in. Sometimes Eli would go there to "get away from us all"---I nicknamed it "Eli's World."
Between 8 and 10 AM, Grandma went out to play with the boys in the pool---probably my favorite part of the day. I don't think the pool was supposed to open until 9, but these munchkins were up before 6 AM, so we had the pool to ourselves at 8 AM.
This was just a funny photo---Leah is computing while talking on a Fisher-Price phone, with Roman watching on a ball. If you know Roman, you know these quiet moments are pretty rare.
Here are the boys as we head out for the Outlet Mall. This is not some fancy photo shop---Becky's camera was fogged up, but I love this photo.
Across from the Outlet Mall was a Cracker Barrel with an empty parking lot---we made a bee-line for it. Eli loved the spiced apples---he'd already finished off Leah's and Grandpa shared his.
But, all good things come to an end---Grandpa ran out of spiced apples.
Joel had to leave early Wednesday morning. He had been a big help with Roman especially. (note the lack of swimmers at 8:15 AM)
Eli enjoyed the sand---in the shade, on a towel, but Roman was off making "friends" and exploring.
Roman is the second from the right with his new "friends" watching someone fish.
But, he also made friends with cousins---Savannah (Arlene's granddaugher) is above.
Here he is with Jensen (Arlene's granddaughter) in the pool.
Wednesday evening was Fry Family Meeting. We came with appetizers to the Caver's condo. They'd had a pretty exciting day with Brice C. (their 2.5 year old grandson) breaking his collar bone.
Suzy shared some historical documents with us from the Fry Family Archives (at her home)
But, then we had to get down to business: Arlene shared the trust finances, we discussed the memorial stone for the 9 siblings, we discussed how to make the reunions more inclusive and where our next reunion would be. Several are looking into other options, but we'll probably be back to Phoenix X in 2011 which is a great value and family friendly. As Joel and I have noted, "It is equally inconvenient for everyone." Other than Tom and Donna, it's between 500-700 miles for all of us in Missouri, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, West Virginia.