This morning I’ll drive back to St. Louis after a weekend visiting with my sister in Kentucky. She is a thrifty sort and doesn’t much care about the internet so I was unable to post any pictures while there, most from a hike in the Red River Gorge. It has been refreshing to get out of town, visit with her, hike, watch movies. Today in St. Louis, as I drive back, there will be a funeral for Michael Brown, bringing people from all over the nation, even from the White House. He has become a figurehead for systemic racism, it seems, and Ferguson a cautionary tale for its natural endpoint if we ignore it. Who knows- maybe something will change, one can always hope anyway. This is the Bible Belt, and I can listen to the preachers on the radio on the way home, until I’ve had enough.

8/22/14
I’m in Frankfort visiting with my sister and her cats Minnie Pinnie, Grady, and Gumby.  Friday night we ate dinner in Midway in a torrential rain. More rain and storms Saturday night, too.

8/23/14
This morning we went back to Midway for some wonderful baked goods for breakfast,  and from there to the Red River Gorge where we hiked for abot 4 hours, we figure about 12 miles up and down the mountains and gorges. Liz wore me out- she hiked the Grand Canyon  a couple years back. It is beautiful, and so humid from the rain that mushrooms were popping up everywhere. Fall is in the air .

After the gorge we went to Miguel’ Pizza, a hangout for rock climbers from all over the world who come to the gorge to climb. Miguel’s has a dormitory and campground for rock climbers only. While we ate we watched some sort of basketball competition shaping up, and lots of young well-muscled people walking about.

On Sunday we saw a deer skeleton in a park, with buzzards nearby to clean it up. Liz’s friend theorizes a coyote took down a weak deer, and the buzzards are just cleaning up the remains.