STLTODAY.COM/LIFE • STLTODAY.COM/GO • SUNDAY • 10.10.2021 • S
ARTS + HOME + TRAVEL
Halloween haunts home all year long PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN GOODEN, POST-DISPATCH
AISHA SULTAN
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
W
hen Mary Ann Owens turned 50, she hosted her own funeral. She was very much alive. But she wanted to mourn the end of her first five decades. She hired a band to play a funeral dirge. Pallbearers carried an empty casket. She wore her daughter’s old prom dress, a long silvery gown that gave her a ghost-like appearance. More than 80 of her friends and family paraded around Sublette Park in south St. Louis in their funeral attire. A friend gave a eulogy. Owens’ mother, a very religious woman, refused to attend the “celebration.” “That’s sacrilegious,” she told her daughter. “You’re going to miss a really good time,” Owens said. Her mom ended up attending to watch the spectacle. “We had a blast,” she recalls, of her unusual birthday party 13 years ago. Her idea of a good time has always trended a little dark — although she doesn’t see it that way. As a kid, she was fascinated by the supernatural and collected articles about the Loch Ness creature and Dracula. She was a “monster kid” who loved scary movies, sci-fi and classic and folklore monsters.
Halloween-themed décor is up year-round in Mary Ann Owens’ home. A first-floor window sign marks the entrance to Owens’ Haunted Rathskeller basement, which houses her collection of spooky paraphernalia.
Please see HALLOWEEN, Page S4
10 highlights of SLAM’s ‘Art Along the Rivers’ BY JANE HENDERSON
Mató-Tópe’s robe
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
A dynamic mix of artwork — from beautiful ceramics and glass to crazy quilts and weathervanes — joins more traditional oil paintings of this area’s great rivers in a bicentennial celebration at the St. Louis Art Museum. But the exhibition, “Art Along the Rivers,” goes far beyond fusty portraits of founders and leaders to show the flow of movement to and from this region and the creative richness of the area: • Western artists and photographers work with Native Americans, who also travel from the Plains to Washington, D.C., and back to protest contracts with the government. • Artist colonies spring up in Potosi, Cape Girardeau, University City and north St. Louis, among other places. • Iron ore, clay and other local materials are used for terracotta work, sculptures and corn cob pipes. European immigrants adapt Missouri resources to their own traditions, and more modern artists revise frontier metalwork.
Mató-Tópe, a Mandan leader, painted his own memoir on a buffalo hide robe about 1835. One scene shows his hand-to-hand combat against another tribe leader, whom he slayed. Mató-Tópe was painted wearing the robe by Swiss artist Karl Bodmer, who traveled up the Missouri River from St. Louis to Fort Clark (in present day North Dakota). Bodmer, who may have been given the robe, brought it back to St. Louis. Now, its home is in Switzerland, where it is a prized holding in Bern. COURTESY BERNISCHES HISTORISCHES MUSEUM, BERN
Please see SLAM, Page S6
Ivy League insider offers admission tips AISHA SULTAN
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
If you applied to college 20 or more years ago, you may not have any idea of the intense anxiety and pressure that peak this month for students aiming for the country’s most selective universities. The application timetable has shifted much earlier than in the past. October is the crunch month for students who want to make the Nov. 1 or Nov. 15 early application deadlines, which a growing number of students are opting to do. Last year’s record-high applications led to the lowest acceptance Please see SULTAN, Page S2
AT HOME
MADE IN ST. LOUIS
TRAVEL
DES PERES HOME IS HOMAGE TO COUPLE’S FAMILY, TRAVELS
COUPLE CRAFTS CLEVER CHIMES AND BIRDHOUSES TOGETHER
PACIFIC NORTHWEST COMBINES BEST OF CITY AND NATURE
Page S3
Page S5
Pages S11-S12 STLLIFE
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ON OUR RADAR
S2 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
AMY BERTRAND lifestyle and features editor abertrand@post-dispatch.com • 314-340-8284
GABE HARTWIG deputy features editor ghartwig@post-dispatch.com • 314-340-8353
MORE AT STLTODAY.COM
PETS OF THE WEEK
PREP SCHOOL Summer may be leaving us, but there is always time for a great summertime cocktail. In a new Prep School video, Daniel Neman shows how to make a Basil and Lime Gimlet, a drink fit for any season.
This tough-looking guy is Mickey Rourke, a 10-month-old Plott hound and black mouth cur mix who came to the Humane Society of Missouri in early September. Like his namesake, Mickey has a big personality, and he likes to share it with everyone. He makes friends very easily, loves to walk and play fetch, and will love you forever if you scratch him behind his ears.
stltoday.com/food
To adopt • Call the Macklind Avenue Headquarters at 314-951-1562 or visit hsmo.org/adopt.
JANE HENDERSON books editor jhenderson@post-dispatch.com • 314-340-8107
Meet Phoenix, a 4-year-old off-the-track thoroughbred female and survivor of the Franklin County tractor-trailer accident on Interstate 44 in October 2020. Like her namesake, Phoenix managed to rise from the ashes with a few scars to show for the terrifying experience she endured. Being one of the most injured horses to survive the accident, it took a while for her to fully recover. Phoenix was recently evaluated by a trainer who determined that she will require a professional trainer or a thoroughbred-savvy advanced handler.
M 1 • SUNDAY • 10.10.2021
KEVIN HART advertising khart@stlpostmedia.com • 314-340-8508
Cody is a 2-year-old Australian cattle dog mix who came to the Humane Society of Missouri in mid-September. Cody is the sweetest boy in the whole world and all he wants is to be loved and held. He is a little shy, so he’ll need some patience from his adopting family, but he will make a great addition to the family after becoming acclimated. To adopt • Call Best Buddy Pet Center in Maryland Heights at 314-951-1588 or visit hsmo.org/adopt.
To adopt • Call Longmeadow Rescue Ranch in Union at 636-583-8759 to schedule an interview. Last week’s pets • A horse named Abner and a dog named Fannie are still available. A cat named Nugget has been adopted.
GENIUS DOG PRODUCTS From a GPS-tracking collar to a camera that shoots out treats, we found 9 products for dogs we wish we had thought of.
More info • You can support these pets and others by making a donation at hsmo.org/donate.
stltoday.com/lifestyles
PARENT TO PARENT
NEW ON DVD
Tips for cleaning areas where babies crawl and carpets. See mom-remedy.com to learn more. Another option is CleanWell’s Botanical Disinfectants, which kill over 99.9% of household germs using a plant-derived, Thymol-based formula and appear on EPA’s “List N: Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2,” meaning that toys and just about anything can safely get wiped down. These are but two of the products that you might want to consider to help keep the areas around your twins cleaner and safer without using harsh chemicals.
MOVIES Coming Tuesday • “Free Guy”; “The Green Knight”; “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain”; “Crime Story”; “Survive the Game”; “The Colony” Coming Oct. 19 • “Old”; “Snake Eyes”; “The Protege”; “Joe Bell”; “Broken Diamonds”; “Honey Girls”; “Injustice”; “Last Man Down”; “Needle in a TimeStack”; “No Man of God”; “The Survivalist”
TV Coming Tuesday • “Black Lightning,” Season 4; “The Flash,” Season 7; “The Haunting of Bly Manor,” limited series; “Wild Bill,” Season 1 Coming Oct. 19 • “Superman & Lois,” Season 1; “Tiger,” miniseries
GARDENING Q&A
When is the right time to bring houseplants inside? BY AARON LYNN-VOGEL
Missouri Botanical Garden
Q • I always bring my houseplants outside every year to give them more light, and I’m never sure when the right time to bring them inside is. How do I know when it is the right time to bring them back indoors?
A • Keep an eye on the weather. When nighttime lows consistently dip down to the low 50s and upper 40s, it’s a good indicator that fair weather is behind us, and it’s time to bring your plants in. Most houseplants are tropical and experience cold damage below 40 degrees. Give your plants a good check for pests before bringing them back inside; you can give them a treatment of a horticultural soap or oil to make sure there are no critters hiding where you can’t see them. Be sure to spray under the leaves, and into the different nooks and crannies as insects like to hide and lay their eggs in these areas. Write to the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Center for Home Gardening at plantinformation@mobot.org or the Horticulture Answer Service, 4344 Shaw Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63110.
THINGS TO DO IN THE GARDEN THIS WEEK • Continue mowing lawns until growth stops. Lower mower cutting height by ½ inch with each successive mowing at this time until a final height of 1.5 to 2 inches is achieved. • Spreading a thin ¼- to ½-inch layer of screened compost after the lawn is aerated is a sound practice at this time of year. • Apply lime now to garden beds and turf areas, but only if a soil test indicates the need. • Continue planting daffodils, tulips and other spring bulbs while soils remain unfrozen. • Plant small bulbs such as snowdrops, winter aconite, squill and glory-of-thesnow among shade-loving perennials. The drying leaves of these early bloomers will be hidden by the rapid growth of the perennials’ foliage in spring. • Harvest mature green tomatoes before frost. Storing them in a warm, dark spot will promote faster ripening.
Q • This may seem like a simple question with a simple answer, but so far there seems to be endless advice. What is the best way to clean areas in our house where our 8-monthold twin babies crawl, roll, sit, sleep, bathe, etc.? We’ve heard about using many different types of sprays, lotions, wipes and much more. Which ones are really safe for their lungs and skin, and does this depend on how frequently we use them? What have other parents had the most success with in this situation?
From a reader • When our children, now 3 and 5, were babies, our pediatrician told us to use liquid hand soap and hot water to clean hard surfaces. As far as wipes and sprays, he told us not to use any type of sprays as they could linger in the air for a while, and if we wanted to use household wipes to pre-clean whichever area, that would be fine. We only used the liquid hand soap and used “elbow grease” while cleaning. The drying was done with a separate cloth. — Shay M. in Baton Rouge, Louisiana From Jodie Lynn • As you mentioned, there are many choices of products used to
Can you help?
keep areas clean for young children wherever they are, like in a house, car, child care facility, etc., especially for babies. Therefore, it can be somewhat overwhelming when trying to select one. There are many that are safe to use to clean the areas and surfaces your twin babies touch without causing agitation to their skin or lungs, that actually sanitize. Some of them are offered in various forms. Your choice is going to depend on how sensitive their skin is as well as keeping in mind current or potential allergies. Keeping our cleaning
regimens more focused has grown more important in the pandemic. One mom was dead set on finding/creating such a cleaner; thus, MomRemedy was born. It’s an eco-friendly cleaning product that is nontoxic and utilizes naturally antiseptic hydrogen peroxide. It tackles stains, dirt, grease or grime while removing unwanted odors and germs. The formula melts grime, grease and dirt, and the hydrogen peroxide lifts the mess to be wiped away with ease on any surface such as floors, counters, bathrooms, upholstery, clothing, sneakers
Sultan
process of who gets in and who doesn’t and why, and explains how any school is From S1 looking at how the applicant, if admitted, will enhance the percentages ever at the colcollege versus what the colleges that rank highest on lege can do for the student. high-profile lists closely And many of those factors tracked by students, parents are completely out of the and college administrators. student’s control, such as The early applicant pool genwhether they are a legacy canerally has a higher admit rate didate, what part of the counthan the general applications try they live in or if they excel (sometimes significantly so). in a niche sport, for which the Unless they get a jump university happens to need start the summer before their their particular skill set. senior year starts, students are Sabky shared some helpful juggling the stress of demandcollege tips for those navigating coursework and timeing the process without pricey consuming activities while consultants. an insider’s take, “Valedicobsessing about their college First, when filling out the torians at the Gate: Standing applications. extracurricular interests secOut, Getting In, and Staying The admission game has tion, make sure not to use Sane While Applying to Colbecome so highly fraught for acronyms. In other words, lege.” families that wealthy parents write out the full names and She decided to write the are willing to go to extremes titles of any clubs and organifor any advantage. The coun- book after her essay in the zations. Don’t assume admistry saw high-profile examples New York Times about the most memorable college rec- sions reviewers will know the of this in the 2019 Varsity shorthand of local abbreviaommendation she received Blues scandal, but even tions and acronyms. went viral. It wasn’t a letter ethical, rule-abiding college Spend time on supplefrom a high profile recogconsultants can cost tens of mental essays. While many nizable name. It was a high thousands of dollars, with applicants obsess about some charging as much as six school janitor who described the personal statement, it’s how the applicant knew the figures. important to remember that names of everyone on the It is precisely this highother short-answer questions janitorial staff and thanked stakes, inequitable, anxietyalso count. them regularly. making system that Becky Bring your resume to an That letter highlighted more Munsterer Sabky wants to than a student’s accomplish- alumni interview. It will help counter. She spent 13 years jog the memory of the alumna ments, it revealed character working as an admissions when she writes the report. counselor at Dartmouth Col- and decency. To learn more about a Sabky’s book explores that lege. In August, she published
BILL MCCLELLAN IS OFF. HIS COLUMN WILL RETURN SOON.
I just started going back into the office three times a week. I spend those mornings running around the house getting my kids ready for school and getting myself ready for work. It’s such a madhouse, the last thing I need is a messy kitchen to deal with after packing school lunches. Can you help with tips on minimizing this situation and toning down my kids while I get ready for work, etc.? To share parenting tips or submit questions, write to: Parent to Parent, 2464 Taylor Road, Suite 131, Wildwood, MO 63040. Email: direct2contact@ parenttoparent.com, or go to www. parenttoparent.com, which provides a secure and easy way to submit tips or questions. All tips must have city, state and first and last name or initials to be included in the column. Jodie Lynn is an award-winning parenting columnist, author of five books and mother to three children. She and her family live in Wildwood.
college from home, read the college’s online newspaper. Student op-eds can share a great deal of information about what currently matters to students who attend that institution. Ask teachers for recommendations well before the due date. And make sure to thank them for their time, she adds. Perhaps one of the most powerful messages in her book is that there are plenty of paths to success — the majority of which do not require a degree from one of the universities with the lowest admit rates. Sabky herself was rejected from Dartmouth as a student applicant and her next three top choices. She says those rejections are among the best things that ever happened to her. In a chapter that examines what to do, and not do while on the waitlist for your dream school, she recounts an interaction with an upset parent who called her, pleading for her to reverse their decision and accept her daughter. “You have to let her in,” the mother begged. Otherwise, “she’ll have to go to Colby.” “I went to Colby,” Sabky replied. Aisha Sultan • 314-340-8300 Home and family editor @aishas on Twitter asultan@post-dispatch.com
HOME
10.10.2021 • Sunday • M 1
Perched on the side of a hill at the end of a cul-de-sac, the colonial home features a white picket fence guiding visitors to the front door.
A map in the Terry house delineates trips the couple has taken throughout the United States. A similar map exists for destinations traveled to in the rest of the world.
ST. LOuIS POST-dISPaTCH • S3
A large bay window in the family room looks out onto a forested backyard where the Terrys enjoy a daily parade of wildlife. “We see deer every day,” Charles says.
AT HOME WITH PAT AND CHARLES TERRY
DES PERES HOME IS HOMAGE TO COUPLE’S FAMILY, TRAVELS
PHOTOS BY HILLARY LEVIN, POST-DISPATCH
Charles Terry’s favorite room in the home is the library. Once a small living room with only one entry door, the Terrys opened the room to the family room by adding the door on the left. Then they lined the walls with bookcases. Dark window coverings installed by a prior owner were removed to allow in sunlight, creating a comfortable and sunny nook for reading. In the dining room a hutch displays a collection of demitasse cups and plates purchased one-by-one in antique shops and BY JIM WINNERMAN on overseas trips. Each piece brings back fond memories Special to the Post-Dispatch for Pat, who thoroughly enjoys being surrounded by the wo things collections that remind her of their extensive travels. define our house,” Pat Terry says. “Family and our love of travel.” In fact, a visit to the home is akin to visiting a personal museum on both subjects. Generations of Pat and Charles Terry’s families are represented by cherished furniture and décor. Examples include a small bathroom mirror with unusual, scalloped edges. It is the mirror Pat’s grandfather used to shave each morning as she would sit on the floor, fascinated In 1990 a flat ceiling in the kitchen was vaulted using space from the attic, and a large skylight by his straight edge razor. was installed over the kitchen island and the cabinets were sprayed white. Seven years ago, Antique lamps belonged new kitchen cabinets were installed along with a new floor and granite countertops. to her mother, as did a pair of floral paintings and an Each trip the couple has antique sewing machine taken is marked on a world now repurposed as a table. map by a colorful array of Displayed over the famstrings stretching from ily room fireplace is an St. Louis leading to a pin 1870 Kentucky long rifle, marking the destinations characterized by an unusuthey have visited around ally long barrel; it was a the world. “This pandemic gift to Charles’ father by a has stopped us for a while, neighbor who lived on the but I am ready to go again,” adjacent farm. Primitive Pat says. “There are so paintings by his mother, many places in the world who began painting later to see. I can never have in her life, are hanging in enough travel.” several rooms. Included is An antique sewing machine that has been passed from Pat’s When the Terrys moved one of the early 1800 redgreat grandmother to Pat’s mother and now to Pat has been into the five-bedroom, brick home of his parents. converted into a side table. Pat has vivid memories of her great four-bath home 35 years A large four-poster bed was grandmother sewing on the machine when she was a child. The ago they did make some Charles’ parents, and dates floral painting is one of a pair originally owned by Pat’s parents. changes, all of which added to 1824. Ages • Pat is 78, and Charles is 86. Elsewhere in the home the Terrys have five of Charles’ mother’s natural light, a feeling of Shelves on either side of paintings. She began painting when she was about 60. Occupations • Charles worked at Maritz Motivation Co. for spaciousness, or both. the hearth are devoted to In the kitchen a low photographs of family, as is 35 years. Pat was a psychiatric counselor at Mercy Hospital. but fortunately it was easily or mend their clothing in ceiling was vaulted using an upstairs hallway. Home • Des Peres some way,” she says while rerouted. Ever since it has space from the attic, and Fond memories of a lifepointing out a dining room been my favorite room in a 4-foot-by-4-foot skytime traveling the world are Family • The couple has six children, 14 grandchildren and tablecloth her mother crolight was installed over the the house.” found in almost every room. three great grandchildren. Molly, their beloved family dog, shared the house and family for 16 years. cheted. More recent changes kitchen island. Upstairs Hanging on the hooks of Large bay windows in have been an all-new the door into a bedroom a coatrack are a decorated kitchen and a backyard fire both the kitchen and famat the top of the stairs was displays a collection of from Patagonia. Nearby a Japanese coolie hat disily room in the back of the pit in the space that had widened to accommodate map of the Nile River recalls demitasse cups and plates covered in Bali, antique house look out onto a tidy two 12-glass paned French been a hot tub. a cruise in the Middle East. purchased one by one on jewelry from Egypt and a wooded area that is home The lower level has doors. The top portion of trips overseas. In the dining room a hutch souvenir wooden coaster always been the domain of to a variety of animals. “We a wall that enclosed a bar area in the family room was their children and now the see deer every day,” Charles says, adding that they grandchildren. Pat recalls eliminated, while creating have also been visited by when the basement was a a bar-height counter and coyotes, fox and opossum make-believe kitchen and opening the space to the that venture within 20 feet restaurant one day, and a rest of the room. of the home. “One day we The living room had been fort made out of cushions had a raccoon on top of the enclosed on three sides, so off the couch the next. “I skylight in the kitchen starthey created a second pas- still have the restaurant ing down at us.” sageway through a wall into menus they made,” she They originally pursays. the adjacent family room. chased the house because It is also a room where Then, as voracious readers, they needed more space they had custom bookcases the family still gathers in built turning the room into front of a cast iron fireplace for their family, Pat says. “Then as our kids moved to open “white elephant” a library. out of town our house Christmas presents they “I remember when we became a place to stay each received but do not opened up the wall I heard when they visited. Now want. Off to the side is the contractor ask what five of our six children a room devoted to Pat’s every homeowner dreads: hobby of sewing, an inter- have returned to St. Louis, Mr. Terry, do you have a and our house remains est passed down from moment to look at this?” the center of our family her grandmother to her Charles recalls. “A water celebrations. We love this mother and now to Pat. The posts of the massive four-poster bed in the guest bedroom almost reach the ceiling. The pipe had been uncovered house. It is so full of good “The grandkids ask me to in the center of where the bed belonged to Charles’ parents, and dates to 1824, and is one of many cherished family memories.” hem something, take it in, new doorway was to be, heirlooms throughout the residence.
‘T
Pat and Charles Terry
S4 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
STL LIFE
M 1 • SUnDAy • 10.10.2021
PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN GOODEN, POST-DISPATCH
Mary Ann Owens was a “monster kid” who loved scary movies, sci-fi and classic and folklore monsters. Her collection includes original pieces from artists she befriended and hunted online for unique blow molds. Below: The coffin from Owens’ staged funeral for her 50th birthday celebration became a coffee table in her basement.
Halloween From S1
Naturally, Halloween was a big deal. Dressing up was exciting. She was drawn to those who embraced the creativity and imagination around the holiday. As she became an adult, she threw epic Halloween parties. Last year is the first one she skipped because of the pandemic. In many ways, Owens, 63, has been ahead of her time. Now, Halloween has become just as much an adult celebration as an opportunity for costumed kids to get free candy. The National Retail Federation predicts American consumers will spend an all-time high of $10 billion during the Halloween season. A growing chunk of that goes toward décor. Spooky decorating is one of Owens’ specialties. For her 40th birthday, a friend gave her a vintage Frankenstein blow mold, a figure made of hollow hard plastic, that lights up. “I just kind of fell in love with him,” she said. She was afraid he might get stolen if he stayed outside, so she moved him into the basement. Her collection of scary stuff continued to grow. She bought original pieces from artists she befriended and hunted online for unique blow molds. Two years before her funeral parade birthday, she turned the basement in her Southwest Garden home into a selfdescribed “haunted rathskeller.” The decision was made soon after one of her elaborate Halloween parties when the decorations were still up around the house. Her young nephew suggested that instead of packing it all away, Halloween could become a permanent look for the basement. “We used to call her our Scary Aunt Mary,” Jeffrey Owens, now 24, remembers. Owens loved the idea. The two spent a few days setting up the décor and moving around the furniture. (The coffin from her funeral parade eventually became a coffee table.) have been a little freaked out by “One part of me thought, “Scary Mary’s dungeon.” ‘This is awesome,’” Jeffrey The Halloween spirit season Owens said. The other part may
haunts Owens’ home yearround. She has about 70 blow molds downstairs. One area is
house at Halloween.” Her husband, Jeff, was a lead designer at Trendmasters, a toy company that was based out of St. Louis. When the store closed, the couple was able to bring a lot of the Halloween products he had helped design home. Stephanie also likes to hunt for rare pieces and alerts Owens when she spots something she might like. “We enable one another with our collections,” she laughed. The appeal of the holiday goes back to her childhood memories of awe and joy associated with it. “People like us just hold onto that good feeling you had as a kid,” she said. It’s a chance for them to share that sense of wonderment with younger generations. Sociologists who study Halloween’s growing popularity and cultural influence say the celebrations give emerging adults a chance to explore identity in a socially rewarding and creative way. Linus Owens (no relation), an associate professor of sociology at Middlebury College, writes that during Halloween, hard work and creative thinking matter. Costume contests, in bars or online, give people opportunities to construct costumes that meld humorous or timely cultural references with craft skills, he writes. “You can do more than simply participate in Halloween; you can ‘win it’ with the best cosdevoted to creepy clowns. A skeleton in a black wig and long tume,” he says. That creativity is what white apron stands in a corner, delights and draws Mary Ann while another hangs out in an open standing casket. One poses Owens to the genre. She lights on a chair with a drink. A couple up when she talks about the costumes her guests have created of menacing werewolves surround the sofa where a life-size over the years. One year, she organized a zombie-themed pub zombie is perched. crawl through her neighborThe rathskeller is equal parts hair-raising, kitchy and artistic. hood. Nearly 50 people showed up in costume to party with her. On the main level of her They lay down on her yard house, Owens displays her most prized and one-of-a-kind items, until her brother announced, “Rise, zombies!” He recorded several of which pay homage to them slowly getting up and legendary horror actor Vincent staggering around. One of her Price, also a native St. Louisan. guests put prosthetics over his One Christmas, her daughter eyes to make it appear as though gave her “The Vincent Price Treasury of American Art.” She he just had dark sockets — no eyeballs. A car driving by threw had found it for $12 on eBay. a bag of Snickers candy bars at When Owens opened it, she the group as they headed toward discovered a bookplate signed by Price himself. Over the years, the bars. It was another Owens stunt she has even become friends with Price’s daughter, Victoria, and masterpiece. But she knows there’s a limit an author and speaker who to how long she will be able to manages her father’s legacy. maintain the Halloween life. They met at one of the events Price attended in celebration of Every year it gets a little harder to unpack the extra 15 boxes she her father. keeps of Halloween-specific When Price visited Owens’ decorations. She’s running out home, she was impressed with of storage room for much more how she incorporated her love stuff. Her daughter said she for horror throughout the plans to move in with her in house. about 10 years when Owens will “How my dad would have be in her mid-70s. loved her aesthetic,” she said. “The first thing she said she’s “It might not make sense to doing is remodeling the baseeverybody, but it’s how he saw ment,” Owens said. Her daughthings; he saw from his heart.” ter, Jesse Wise, has told her to Owens’ friends, Stephanie prepare a spreadsheet with her and Jeff Bergeron, of Barnhart inventory of collectibles, so she get it, too. Stephanie Bergeron describes can sell it online. By then, it may be time for yet herself as an “extreme decorator,” who is also excessively pas- another farewell and rebirth. sionate about Halloween. Aisha Sultan • 314-340-8300 “Our whole basement is mon- Home and family editor sters and stays up all year,” she @aishas on Twitter asultan@post-dispatch.com said. “We decorate the entire
STL LIFE
10.10.2021 • Sunday • M 1
ST. LOuIS POST-dISPaTCH • S5
MADE IN ST. LOUIS
Couple crafts clever birdhouses and chimes BY PAT EBY
Special to the Post-Dispatch
Ken Cundiff is no stranger to the arts and crafts fair circuits all across the country. “I was a craft fair artist every weekend. I did that for a living for quite a long while,” he says. Today, he and his wife of 11 years, Candy, sell the crafts they design and make together at local fairs, and online through their website and their Etsy store, BirdhouseWines. “I’ve always been artsy,” Candy says. “I started crafting with Ken in 2015. We went on a trip to San Antonio and couldn’t find a photo album that said ‘San Antonio’ on the cover. When we got home we said ‘Let’s make destination photo albums!’ We weren’t too successful with those, but we both liked crafting together.” They tried clocks that incorporated a space for a houseplant, and terrariums with sea shells and air plants. They painted glass bottles then put lights in them to glow like stained glass. All of these ideas weren’t nearly as successful as their current offerings — clever, cheeky birdhouses and not-yourusual wind chimes. Drinkin’ wine spo-deeo-dee • Another trip, this time to a winery, inspired the duo to make birdhouses — with wine corks incorporated in the “building materials” for the birdy abodes. “Ken has a friend who has a business in California leading winery tours who sends us thousands of wine corks. We’ve got the wine corks covered with Ken’s friend, but everybody jokes and asks us how much wine we have to drink to make these,” Candy says. Candy man can • “And I’ve eaten lunch on another joke for many years. After she introduces herself, I’ll add ‘and I’m her Candy man,’” Ken says.
Chris-Crafts Sales Artists • Candy and Ken Cundiff Ages • Candy is 68; Ken is 75. The Cundiffs’ sports-theme windchimes for the Cardinals and Blues use glass and aluminum beer bottles plus accessories.
Family • Ken and Candy have been married for 11 years. The two share their home with Zeus the cat, and Maggie May, the dog, who is the resident studio mascot. Home • St. Charles What they make • In addition to their wideranging birdhouse designs, the Cundiffs currently make wind chimes in a variety of materials and styles.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CANDY CUNDIFF
Each Hogwarts birdhouse has the house symbols and colors.
A Margaritaville birdhouse highlights the “lost shaker of salt.”
The surfboard is ready to go on the beach-themed Surf’s Up birdhouse.
The two met at a festival event in St. Charles after Candy placed a personal ad on a local online list. “You can’t do that anymore,” she says, “but we met, and we talked and talked.” Soon, the two would be a couple. “We’ve been married 11 years, and crafting together since 2015,” Candy says. They have separate offices and separate work spaces, but coming up with the ideas, shopping for the myriad pieces that make
their birdhouses unique, and staffing the shows are all things they share. Whistle while you work • Every birdhouse the Cundiffs make is one of a kind. “Even when we make duplicates of a kind of birdhouse, like the Hogwarts sets, they’re each different,” Candy says. “For the decorative elements on both the bird houses, and on the wind chimes, we go all over — to Joanne’s fabric store and Michael’s, we shop online,
The Cundiffs knew the recent find they made of metal cars, boats and planes would make great toppers for windchimes. and we get a lot on Etsy — we’re always looking for things,” Candy says. “We purchase alreadymade birdhouses. Ken adds the corks, stains them, and lacquers them, then I decorate them — and Ken sometimes does as well. Lastly, we spray them with polyurethane,” Candy says. “We do lots of different architectural kinds of birdhouses — two-story houses, one-story houses, tiny houses; we have one we call the Alamo birdhouse — there’s seven or
eight different kinds,” Ken says. Blowin’ in the wind • The Cundiffs birdhouses and wind chimes stock nearly sold out after the Festival of the Hills in St. Charles in August. They’ve been busy restocking ever since to work the upcoming Treasure Chest Holiday Expo in St. Charles, and the Fall Craft Show at the Belle Clair Fairgrounds & Expo Center in Belleville. “We keep threatening to stop, but we enjoy making things and doing the
Where to buy • The Cundiffs will be a the Treasure Chest Holiday Expo at the St. Charles Convention Center on Nov. 19-21 and at the Fall Craft Show at the Belle Clair Fairgrounds & Expo Center in Belleville on Nov. 26-28. Their work is also for sale through their Etsy store, BirdhouseWines, and through their Chris Crafts website, chris-crafts.wixsite.com/chriscrafts How much • Birdhouses range from $20 for a tiny house to $60 for an elaborate house. Windchimes vary by materials and range from $15 to $45. shows. We keep busy, and it gives us purpose in our retirement,” Candy says. “We’ve got new things planned for these shows,” Ken adds. “We found these metal elements with vintage cars, trucks, boats and airplanes on them that are perfect for wind chimes. We’re always on the lookout for the new.”
ARTS
S6 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
M 1 • SUNDAY • 10.10.2021
SLAM From S1
• The World’s Fair brings in art from across the country. Later, activists in the 21st century react to 100-year-old fair images. Melissa Wolfe, curator of American art for the museum, said a goal was to show “complex, and sometime competing, artistic narratives that resulted from these powerful elements and the communities they attracted.” To do that, she and Amy Torbert, assistant curator of American art, and others traveled to dozens of regional places tracking down works, some never before exhibited in St. Louis, that conveyed a sense of the area’s cultural heritage. All of the 155 pieces on display were made or collected near the confluence of rivers. The curators traveled north to Hannibal, west to Hermann and south to Cairo, Illinois. In Hannibal, for instance, they found a quilt made by a formerly enslaved woman, wellused but saved for generations by the woman’s descendants. In Hermann, a rooster weathervane made by a German immigrant topped the steeple of the town’s first purpose-built church. Only about a third of the items in the exhibition are owned by the art museum; the rest come from nearby, national or international institutions. A buffalo hide robe, on which a warrior painted some of his life story, was lent by a museum in Switzerland. An intricate wooden cabinet is borrowed from the American Folk Art Museum. The exhibition is arranged by themes, including items displayed at the 1904 World’s Fair; goods, even rifles, well known in the area; and art used for activism, from George Caleb Bingham’s 19th-century river paintings to hands photographed by Damon Davis after Michael Brown’s shooting in 2014. “We didn’t want to be limited by the Anglo definition of land or statehood,” Wolfe says. From earthy tinwork to fine marble, the range of artworks, Torbert says, likely will leave visitors with a “sense of delight or surprise.”
‘Art Along the Rivers’ When • Through Jan. 9; hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday (closed Monday) Where • St. Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Drive How much • $6-$12; free for members, children under 5 and for all on Fridays; bicentennial halfprice discount for adults Oct. 12-14, Nov. 9-11 and Dec. 14-16 More info • 314-721-0072; slam.org
COURTESY OF FAYE DANT, JOEL DANT SR., JOEL DANT JR., KALECIA & JENNI DANT
Mary Susan Dant’s quilt Crazy quilts were in fashion during the Victorian era. This well-used one is still owned by the maker’s descendants. Mary Susan Dant, born into slavery in 1846, made the quilt sometime after 1886. Today, Faye Dant runs a small museum in Hannibal called Jim’s Journey that educates visitors about the history of African American residents in the town, including the man who helped inspired a central figure in Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”
COURTESY OF THE ILLINOIS STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY ST. LOUIS ART MUSEUM
Flint figure A Mississippian artist made this figure of flint clay perhaps 1,000 years before Missouri obtained statehood. From East St. Louis, it’s now called “Kneeling Female Figure With a Shell” (or “Exchange Avenue Figurine”).
‘Raftsmen Playing Cards’ George Caleb Bingham’s “Raftsmen Playing Cards” shows a sedate scene with a message: a snag on the viewer’s right and sandbar on the left were a sign that the Missouri River needed proper dredging so the waterway was suitable for business traffic. The painting was made in 1847, the year before Bingham was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives.
COURTESY EVERSON MUSEUM OF ART
‘Scarab Vase’ Look closely at the intricately carved porcelain “Scarab Vase (Apotheosis of the Toiler).” Made in 1910 by Adelaide Alsop Robineau, who taught then at the Art Academy of the American Woman’s League in University City, the vase is now owned by Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York. In 2000, Art & Antiquities magazine said the vase was the most important piece of American ceramics of the last 100 years. COURTESY OF THE MISSOURI HISTORICAL SOCIETY
A barber at the Southern Hotel Daguerreotypes were affordable enough in 1860 that working citizens could have one made by Thomas M. Easterly. This picture is of Robert J. Wilkinson, a barber at the Southern Hotel.
ST. LOUIS ART MUSEUM
‘Marquette and Joliet on the Mississippi’ “Marquette and Joliet on the Mississippi” was painted in 1907 by Oscar Edward Berninghaus. The museum’s book on the exhibition says that by the early 20th century St. Louis had a selfsustaining art scene. Berninghaus, who was born in the city, went to work for a lithography company as a teen and took art classes at night. August A. Busch purchased this painting and commissioned more than 20 others.
TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART
A stunning punch bowl Two artists, John Rufus Denman and Patrick H. Walker, carved this almost 2-foot punch bowl in 1903-04 for Libbey Glass Co. in Toledo, Ohio. Shown at the 1904 World’s Fair, the stunning bowl was valued at $2,700 and described as the “most elaborate ever produced.” The St. Louis firm Mermod and Jaccard Jewelry Co. was a dealer for the Libbey company and produced the bowl’s ladle.
ART RESOURCE, N.Y.
‘Performers’ COURTESY ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM
‘Weathervane’ L. Brent Kington, who led the metals program at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, used blacksmithing techniques with his sculptures and sparked new interest in it as a modern art. In 1977, he created “Weathervane,” a 54-inch-wide balanced sculpture of forged and welded steel.
Philip Guston’s oil painting “Performers” shows a connection to German immigrant Max Beckmann, who followed Guston to Washington University for a teaching stint after World War II. Guston’s “Performers” (1947) is on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
BOOKS
10.10.2021 • SUNDAY • M 1
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • S7
FAMOUS WRITTEN WORDS 10 of the most captivating recent celebrity memoirs ANNA TINGLEY | Variety
T
hese 10 extraordinary stories all have real-life Hollywood endings. Some of the most captivating celebrity memoirs have been published in the past couple of years, with many making their way to best-seller lists. Matthew McConaughey’s “Greenlights” became an instant No. 1 New York Times bestseller when came out in 2020, and it still sits comfortably in the upper ranks of nonfiction book sales. More recently, Brandi Carlile’s “Broken Horses” was heralded by reviewers as one of the best music memoirs ever written, shortly before Seth Rogen’s “Yearbook” became one of the most purchased books on Amazon. Here are 10 of the most captivating — and top-selling — celebrity memoirs of the past couple years.
In’ 5 ‘All By Billie Jean King
‘Yearbook’ 1 By Seth Rogen From the beloved comedian known for “Superbad” and “Freaks and Geeks” comes the New York Times bestseller, “Yearbook.” In the hilarious pageturner, Rogen recounts his wildest and funniest stories, from doing stand-up as a teenager to making awkward conversation at star-studded Hollywood parties.
‘Broken Horses’ 2 By Brandi Carlile Since its April debut, Brandi Carlile’s insightful autobiography has been heralded as one of the best music memoirs ever written. In “Broken Horses,” the Grammy-winning musician tells how her life shaped the music that resonates with fans around the world. She shares her experience of coming out as gay in her very small, religious town and finding salvation through the music of heroes that have become collaborators, like Elton John and Dolly Parton.
3 ‘Trejo: My Life of Crime,
Redemption, and Hollywood’
By Danny Trejo Trejo’s captivating memoir tells the actor’s remarkable story of growing up in an abusive and drug-addicted home and landing in some of the country’s most notorious prisons before becoming a recognizable face in some of Hollywood’s biggest shows and movies.
4
‘Make It Nice’
By Dorinda Medley The title of Dorinda’s memoir (the memeable one-liner that came out of an episode of “Real Housewives of New York,” when the rest of the housewives made a mess of a weekend at her Berkshires estate) is a motto she’s lived by her entire life, through not-so-glitzy experiences before her glamorous reality-show life.
The tennis champion chronicles her experience as one of the best female athletes in the world, boasting six years as the top-ranked woman in the world, 20 Wimbledon championships and 39 Grand Slam titles. In her spirited account, she describes making her way to the top in the male-dominated sport and her watershed moment defeating Bobby Riggs.
nished’ 6 ‘Unfi By Priyanka Chopra Jonas From her childhood in India to her teenage years in the U.S. and then moving back to her home country as a beauty-pageant star, Chopra Jonas’ rise to fame has been far from ordinary. In her memoir, the actress reflects on challenges and triumphs as she doggedly pursued her calling, while sharing honest stories about her father’s death, her marriage with Nick Jonas and her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
7 ‘Greenlights’ By Matthew McConaughey A No. 1 New York Times bestseller, McConaughey’s memoir and self-proclaimed “approach book” is filled with raucous stories and one-of-a-kind bits of wisdom from the actor’s not-quite-average life. His approach to living life is captured in the book’s motto: catching greenlights, or learning how to deal with and even thrive amid life’s challenges. The audiobook version is read aloud by the actor himself.
to America’ 8 ‘Letters By Willie Nelson Following his best-selling memoir “It’s a Long Story,” the beloved country musician and activist is back with “Letters to America,” in which he writes patriotic and heartfelt letters to family members, his hero Gene Autry, his guitar “Trigger” and a younger generation.
Beauty of Living Twice’ 9 ‘The By Sharon Stone Stone gets brutally honest in this New York Times bestseller as she opens up about her near-death experience after suffering a massive stroke and losing her career, family and fortune in the process. In the candid pages, she chronicles her efforts to rebuild her life and regain her health while also taking readers back to a childhood of trauma before making her way in an industry filled with its own types of demons.
‘Just As I Am’
10
By Cicely Tyson Tyson died at 96 just days after her memoir was released at the beginning of the year. In the 400-page chronicle, co-written by Michelle Burford, the actress recounts her very full life, as a child of immigrants in 1920s Harlem and Hollywood model and actress. Weaved through all her stories is Tyson’s strength, resilience and success against a backdrop of racism and sexism.
NONFICTION
Anita Hill urges us all to battle gender violence BY TRACEE M. HERBAUGH
Associated Press
On view through January 9, 2022 In conjunction with the 200th anniversary of Missouri’s statehood, Art Along the Rivers: A Bicentennial Celebration explores the remarkable artwork produced and collected over 1,000 years in the region surrounding St. Louis. Marvel at more than 150 works of art that tell the story of this region’s role in the history of North America due to the confluence of powerful rivers. Slam.org/ArtAlongtheRivers Visit the Information Desks or metrotix.com to purchase advance tickets. Norman Akers, citizen Osage Nation, born 1958; Dripping World (detail), 2020; oil on canvas; 78 x 68 inches; Collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, Kansas, Gift of the Jedel Family Foundation 2021.102; © Norman Akers, Courtesy Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, photo: EG Schempf
Connect with us! @STLArtMuseum #ArtAlongtheRivers
Organized by the Saint Louis Art Museum and presented by the William T. Kemper Foundation.
Special Missouri bicentennial celebration pricing Adult tickets 50% off on these dates: October 12, 13, and 14 November 9, 10, and 11 December 14, 15, and 16 Members see it free.
Anita Hill didn’t care if President Joe Biden apologized or not, but she found his aversion to doing so rather dramatic. This is one anecdote from her new book, “Believing: Our ThirtyYear Journey to End Gender Violence.” “Women are often told to accept an apology for bad and even brutal behavior for their own healing,” she wrote. When Biden called Hill to apologize in late 2017, almost 28 years has passed since she testified against Clarence Thomas for sexual misconduct. The testimony to an all-male Senate panel was a media circus for the ages, one that Biden oversaw. But if Hill sounds jaded, she’s not. The law and gender studies professor at Brandis University and famous women’s rights advocate remains hopeful about the future. She’s also hopeful Biden will make addressing gender violence his raison d’être. Hill still gets office voicemails with misogynistic messages because she dared to speak out against Thomas. But she wouldn’t change her decision to testify. The experience — both good and bad — has shaped her life’s work. “Believing” is 300 pages packed with some of Hill’s personal stories, including the emotional days before Christine Blasey Ford testified against Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh for sexual assault.
“Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence” By Anita Hill Published by Viking, 306 pages, $30
During the Kavanaugh investigation, Hill recounts the hope she felt when watching Ford speak, and extreme disappointment and sadness in the realization nothing had changed when Kavanaugh secured a lifetime appointment on the country’s most powerful court. There’s also a lot of gender studies and theory in “Believing.” With scholarly sophistication, Hill calls out the failings of our politicians, courts, places of work and home life. She argues we’ve been conditioned to view gender violence as somebody else’s problem, something that happens to others or “not that bad.” Even since the #MeToo movement, tougher measures are needed to make significant progress in reducing gender violence. Hill is uniquely equipped to offer a combined scholarly and personal perspective on this subject.
S8 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
M 1 • SUnDAy • 10.10.2021
RIDES
2021 Cadillac Escalade
DRIVING WITH DAN DAN WIESE
Fifth-generation Caddy SUV is not only big, it's also a techno tour de force In the mid 20th century, when Detroit ruled the automotive world, Cadillac was the industry's gold standard -- a luxury brand whose toniest cars stretched . . . oh, . . . 17-, 18-, 19-feet long. You didn't need GPS to be able to see your Caddy from space. Still don't. Only, these days, you're not looking at a 19-foot, '66 Eldorado coupe. Today, you're eyeing Caddy's toniest 2021 vehicle -- the all-new Escalade, a full-size SUV offered in regular and king-size editions. King-size is the nearly 19-foot-long Escalade ESV, a cousin of Chevy's Suburban and the perfect vehicle for wellheeled buyers who cling to the notion that nothing succeeds like excess. We, however, drove the standard model, a Tahoe relative that packs into its 17-foot length enough sybaritic luxury to make a rock star blush -- at least, it did in our topof-the-line Premium Luxury Platinum model. Other trims, none of which could be described as austere, include Luxury, Premium Luxury, Sport and Sport Platinum. By all accounts, buyers who carry a heavy burden of excess disposable income are responding to this total Escalade redesign. In the last quarter of 2020, the then-just-arrived 2021 Escalade captured the No. 1 sales spot in its segment. And --suggesting Cadillac has, indeed, regained its cache among the upper crust -- more than 40 percent of those Escalades went out the door at a transaction price north of $100,000. Among this Escalade's lures are its available SuperCruise self-driving talent, an Air Ride adaptive air suspension, more interior screens than a three-season porch, an available Duramax diesel, and -- finally! -- a fully independent rear suspension that not only smooths the ride but also creates
Brand Ave. Studios Contributing Writer drivingwithdan@gmail.com
2021 CADILLAC ESCALADE
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CADILLAC
The all-new 2021 Cadillac Escalade boasts astounding infotainment tech, an available diesel and a fully modern independent rear suspension.
more cargo space, taking, as it does, less under-floor space than did the old stick axle. Offered with rear or 4WD, the latter's transfer case including a no-brainer all-wheel drive mode, Escalade can be had with a new 3.0-liter, straight-six turbo diesel that makes 277 hp and a robust 460 lb.-ft. of torque. We, however, drove a top-trim model powered by the standard 6.2-liter V-8, generating a muscular 420 hp and 460 lb.-ft. of twist -- grunt that matches the diesel's. Regardless, every Escalade is managed by a 10-speed automatic. On the road, Escalade feels every bit as wide as it is, but it's quiet, rides beautifully, and handles better than you might expect, lots of credit going to that height-adjustable air suspension. It's also quick, given its nearly 3-ton heft. We greeted 60 mph in 6 seconds as our V-8 4x4 returned 15 mpg in 100 miles of mixed city/ hwy motoring. Wrapping the powertrain is styling that makes a statement -- you won't mistake it for a Chevy Tahoe.
CAR TALK
Looking as if it were sculpted from a single block of steel, Escalade shows a robust shield-grille flanked by techy lighting. Out back, the taillights, in a classic Caddy cue, are vertical, stretching bumper-to-roof. It all rides on standard 22-inch rims. Inside is a techno feast, with three connected display screens that, taken together, stretch 38 inches (!) from the driver's door to the far side of the center stack. Happily, Cadillac makes its space-age gizmos relatively easy to use once you get the hang of it. Among our tester's techy toys was a discreet "Conversation Enhancement" microphone that can be engaged to allow the driver to speak in a normal tone of voice to third-row passengers. So, now you can say, "Hey, you kids, don't make me come back there!" in your "indoor" voice. Room, of course, is fine in all three rows -- we had two middle-row captain's chairs -- while the decor is appropriate to a $100,000 vehicle: suede headliner, panoramic sun roof, beautiful wood-plank trim, two tone leather . . . you get the idea.
VEHICLE TYPE: Full-size, three-row, seven- or eight-passenger, rear- or 4WD SUV BASE PRICE: Luxury: $77,490; Premium Luxury: $84,290; Sport: $86,890; Premium Luxury Platinum: $101,290; Sport Platinum: $101,290 (add $3,000 to each model for 4WD) PRICE AS DRIVEN: $109,500; 4WD Premium Luxury Platinum with these major options: $2,000 Night Vision; $1,750 Power Assist Steps ENGINES: 6.2-liter V-8; 3.0-liter Duramax turbo diesel inline six HORSEPOWER: V-8: 420 hp; diesel: 277 hp TORQUE: V-8: 460 lb.-ft.; diesel: 460 lb.-ft. TRANSMISSION: 10-speed automatic EPA MPG: V8 RWD: 15 city/20 hwy/17 combined; V-8 4WD: 14/19/16; diesel RWD: 21/27/23; diesel 4WD: 20/26/22 WHEELBASE: 120.9 inches LENGTH: 211.0 inches CARGO (behind 3rd/2nd/1st rows): 25.5 cu. ft./63.0 cu. ft./109.1 cu. ft. SUSPENSION: Fully independent TOWING MAX.: V-8: 8,200 lbs.; diesel: 8,000 lbs. BASE CURB WEIGHT: V-8: 5,635 lbs.; diesel: 5,827 lbs. WHERE BUILT: Arlington, Texas
It's safe to say that Escalade's platform-mate, Chevy Tahoe, will do all the heavy lifting -- toting, towing -- that Escalade will do, and at a cheaper price. But with a lot less cache. This content was produced by Brand Ave. Studios. The news and editorial departments of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had no role in its creation or display. Brand Ave. Studios connects advertisers with a targeted audience through compelling content programs, from concept to production and distribution. For more information contact sales@brandavestudios.com.
OLD CAR COLUMN
Prius electrical ‘63 Corvette – Real? systems each Or imaginary? require a battery BRUCE KUNZ Brand Ave. Studios Contributing Writer the_fin_man@msn.com
RAY MAGLIOZZI King Features Content cartalk@gmail.com
DEAR CAR TALK: We recently had to jump-start our 4-year-old Toyota Prius. It turns out that the Prius uses a 12-volt battery for starting. My question is: When the Prius has a large battery that can move the car, why does it need a separate 12-volt battery to start the engine? Is this just poor engineering? -- Malcomb DEAR MALCOMB: Good question, Malcomb. Here's the answer. For decades, cars have used 12volt electrical systems. Those 12-volt systems run computers, radios, windshield wipers, lights, seat heaters, butt scratchers and pretty much every other accessory. So when Toyota's engineers built the Prius, they could either grab all that 12-volt stuff off the Toyota shelves and put it in the Prius, or they could start from scratch and design a whole new set of electrical components to run on high voltage. Not surprisingly, they took the easier route. Why spend time designing a new windshield wiper motor when you're already reinventing the propulsion system? And that's why there are two electrical systems in your Prius. One is a 12-volt system that runs all the traditional electronics. The other is a high-voltage system that powers the wheels and the motor-generator that starts the gasoline engine. OK then, you may ask: If the high-voltage battery runs the motor-generator, which starts the gasoline engine, why can't I still drive my Prius when the 12-volt battery is dead? It sounds like I don't need the 12-volt battery to start the gasoline engine. Another good question, Malcomb. And here's the answer: All of the car's computers run on 12-volt power. And in order to turn on the high voltage battery, the 12volt battery has to first power up the 12-volt computers that control it. That's why your Prius is useless when its 12-volt battery dies. But think of the good you're doing in the world. Those AAA drivers' kids have to go to college, too, Malcomb.
The photo on this page is NOT a real 1963 Corvette Stingray Coupe. It is 1/18 scale diecast model – spectacular in detail – with opening hood and doors, detailed interior, engine compartment, undercarriage and more made by Auto World and dressed out in Chevy-accurate, Saddle Tan Metallic. The 1963 Corvette Sting Ray is a true American classic. It was the first of the second generation or C-2 Corvettes and it was a total makeover insideout and under the hood. I can still remember the first time I saw the cover of the ‘63 Corvette sales brochure, showing the aircraft-inspired aft view with that split-window rear design. It had the look of a fighter jet – to me, a truly stunning design. I took a break a few years ago from my lifelong hobby of model car collecting. I found out that things have changed a lot since then and the hobby seems to be healthier than ever. Cars come in scales from 1:64 to 1:12 or larger and the prices in all scales are set by the quality of the reproduction. 1/18 scale cars generally run in the $30 to $100 range. However, I’ve seen some offered in the upper five figures. Larger scales, 1/12 and 1/8 can be found for upwards of $10,000. The selection and the quality has been growing rapidly. One could fill a room with these models and I’m working on it fairly hard! Three major players who have been receiving a good portion of my monthly social security checks are Diecast Models Wholesale, Fairfield Collectibles, and the Hamilton Collection. Find any of these by entering the name in your URL search bar. For the Hamilton Collection, hover your mouse over the “cars and motorcycles” tab and drop down to whatever is your interest. Any of these three sources will be more than happy to lighten the load in your wallet too.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY BRUCE KUNZ
This 1963 Corvette is NOT the real thing. It is a 1/18 scale diecast model which I purchased from the Hamilton Collection for four monthly installments of $37.49 each plus shipping and handling.
IN SUMMARY: The 1963 Corvette Sting Ray is arguably the most sought-after collectible Corvette. Eight years ago a 1963 Corvette sold for $275,000 at Mecum’s 2013 Kissimmee Auction. My latest copy of the Old Cars Report Price Guide lists a number one condition, show car at $120,000. Add a few extra cost options and the figure jumps to just over 200k! Be sure to check out the full length version of this story with several photos in full color, plus expanded trivia answers at stltoday.com/lifestyles/autos on the web. No computer? Get yourself a Grandpad from your local Target store. UPCOMING EVENTS: I’m still working out the details for a special Breakfast with the FIN MAN which will include bus transportation to a local area car collector’s garage in nearby Illinois. Ticket prices are yet to be determined, but will include pickup from a St. Louis-area park-and-ride and breakfast. Write to me at Bruce Kunz, c/o the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 901 N. 10th Street, St. Louis, MO 63101 if you would be interested in this event. The St. Louis Swap and Garage Sale (formerly the Model T Swap Meet) at Worldwide Technologies Raceway is planned for Sunday, May 2. We’re awaiting final approval, but hoping it comes soon. Stay tuned right here. Meanwhile, Keep on Cruisin’ and stay safe and healthy!
TRI-POWER TRIVIA 1. Corvettes were manufactured continually with the exception of what year? 2. “He’s So Fine” (and I like to think I was), was a 1963 pop hit by what girl group? The Shadows, The Angels, Ruby & The Romantics or The Chiffons? 3. Dead or Alive? TV evangelist, Ernest Angley.
ANSWERS 1. 1983 2. The Chiffons 3. Ernest Angley is alive at age 99. Got a question about cars? Write to Ray in care of King Features, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803, or visit cartalk.com. (c) 2018 by Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
This content was produced by Brand Ave. Studios. The news and editorial departments of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had no role in its creation or display. Brand Ave. Studios connects advertisers with a targeted audience through compelling content programs, from concept to production and distribution. For more information contact sales@brandavestudios.com.
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10.10.2021 • Sunday • M 1
ST. LOuIS POST-dISPaTCH • S9 ® ® ®
®
aking apple butter is a hallmark of Appalachian cooking. With so many varieties of apples available in the mountainous region during the fall, farmers and other locals always looked for different ways to preserve the abundance nature provided. Aside from eating them fresh picked, home cooks dried and fried them, pressed them into cider, and stored them in cellars. For a real treat, they canned jars of apple butter, a sweet, smooth spread that’s similar to applesauce but cooked much longer for a thick, jamlike consistency. Like syrup making and hog killing, preparing apple butter was a seasonal community event. For generations, families and friends gathered around large copper kettles set over open fires and shared in the laborious, daylong work of peeling, coring, chopping, seasoning, and boiling apples. After many hours of tending the pots, they were rewarded with delicious caramelcolored apple butter. Walter Harrill of Imladris Farm in Spring Mountain, North Carolina, is well acquainted with this tradition. He lives and works on land that his greatgrandparents settled, and he grew up watching his grandmother make apple butter in her own kettle on the stove. Today, Walter continues the custom with a few modern adaptations. “While we’ve changed the copper kettle over the fire to a stainless steel steam kettle, the process is still the same,” he says. “I use mixed varieties of apples cooked for 16 hours or so with spices.” Even though there is no longer a crowd gathered around the fire, he has found a way to make the community a part of his process by purchasing apples from neighboring farms. “The methods have changed,” Harrill says, “but it still takes hard work, time, and patience to turn out a good batch— and it’s worth every minute.”
M
®
falling for
APPLE BUTTER Apple Butter Cobbler with Drop Biscuits
The fruit of Appalachian traditions, this sweet ingredient is a baker’s best friend.
Active 25 min. Total 1 hour, 10 min. COBBLER FILLING 2 lb. Granny Smith apples (about 4 apples), peeled and cut into ½-inch wedges 2 lb. Honeycrisp or Gala apples (about 4 apples), peeled and cut into ½-inch wedges 1¼ cups packed light brown sugar 5 Tbsp. all-purpose flour 4 Tbsp. butter 1 cup Slow-Cooker Apple Butter (recipe, left) 1 tsp. lemon zest plus 2 Tbsp. fresh juice (from 1 large lemon) ½ tsp. salt DROP BISCUITS 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 Tbsp. baking powder 1 tsp. kosher salt ¼ cup granulated sugar, divided 10 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into cubes 1 cup whole milk 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
Slow-Cooker Apple Butter Active 25 min. Total 25 min., plus 10 hours slow-cooking
North Carolina farmer Walter Harrill follows his grandmother’s method for making apple butter, which he sells ($8 for a 12-oz. jar, imladrisfarm.com). The recipe, adapted here, is best made using a mix of sweet and tart apples. 5 lb. mixed apples, peeled and cored (such as Gala, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Golden Delicious) 3 cups granulated sugar, divided 1½ tsp. ground cinnamon ½ tsp. ground nutmeg ½ tsp. ground cloves
YOUR STYLE For more food, home, and garden stories, pick up a copy of Southern Living ® Farmhouse Living™ magazine on newsstands today.
1. Cut apples into 1-inch cubes; place apple cubes and 1½ cups of the sugar in a 6-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high 6 hours. 2. Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and remaining 1½ cups sugar. Cover; cook on low until apples are very soft, about 4 hours. 3. Place half of apple mixture in a blender. Secure lid on blender, and remove center piece to allow steam to escape. Place a clean towel over opening. Pulse until smooth or to desired texture; repeat with remaining apple mixture. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 1 month. Makes about 5 cups.
1. Prepare the Cobbler Filling: Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss together first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Melt butter in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over mediumhigh. Add apple mixture (skillet will be very full), and cook, stirring often, until apples are almost tender and syrup thickens, about 10 minutes. 2. Remove apple mixture from heat; stir in Slow-Cooker Apple Butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt. Bake 15 minutes, placing a baking sheet on oven rack directly below skillet to catch any drips. 3. Prepare the Drop Biscuits: While the filling bakes, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and 3 tablespoons of the sugar in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut butter into flour mixture until texture resembles coarse meal with some pea-size pieces. 4. Stir in milk with a fork just until mixture is evenly moistened. Remove Cobbler Filling from oven, and scoop dough into 8 (about ¹/₃ cup) mounds on top, spacing about 2 inches apart. Brush dough mounds with melted butter; sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Return to oven; bake at 425°F until biscuits are golden brown and cobbler is bubbly, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove to a wire rack, and let stand 20 minutes. Serve warm. Serves 8.
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S10 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
BOOKS
M 1 • SUnDAy • 10.10.2021
FICTION
Saints and scoundrels aplenty on ‘Lincoln Highway’ early, but any plans he has to stay on the family farm disappear with foreclosure Before the interstate proceedings. highway system took the As Towles puts it sucglamour and the serencinctly and memorably: dipity out of long road “Because a farmer with trips, there was the Lina mortgage was like a man coln Highway, the nation’s walking on the railing of first transcontinental a bridge with his arms motor route, stretching outstretched and his eyes from 42nd and Broadway closed. It was a way of life in New York City westin which the difference ward to San Francisco. between abundance and The road holds special ruin could be measured by meaning for the young a few inches of rain or a men and boys in Amor few nights of frost.” Towles’ latest captivating “The Lincoln Highway” Emmett and Billy want novel, coming after the A novel by Amor Towles to escape that precaribestselling “A GentlePublished by Viking, ous life. They plan to hit man in Moscow” and his 592 pages, $30 the highway and head to debut, “Rules of Civility.” California, where Emmett Unwinding over 10 days envisions the midcentury of Emmett Watson and in 1954, “The Lincoln equivalent of flipping his 8-year-old brother, Highway” has suspense, houses, and where they humor, philosophy, and a Billy. At age 18, Emmett think their long-departed has served most of an strong sense of time and mother has gone to start place, moving quickly and 18-month sentence at a a new life. But their plan surely toward a satisfying juvenile work farm for involuntary manslaughter, changes quickly when two conclusion. inmates who had being the result of a fatal fist The action begins in serving with Emmett, fight. With no parent at Morgen, Nebraska, with home, Emmett is released Duchess Hewett and the death of the father
BY DALE SINGER
Special to the Post-Dispatch
Woolly Martin, go AWOL and turn up at the Watson farm. Duchess is particularly taken by the small-town life in Morgen. “Living in the big city,” he says, “rushing around amid all that hammering and clamoring, the events of life can begin to seem random. But in a town this size, when a piano falls out of a window and lands on a fellow’s head, there’s a good chance you’ll know why he deserved it.” The four balance nicely, with friendly rivals Emmett and Duchess using their experience and savvy gained at the work farm, and Billy and Woolly bringing a more innocent but often very resourceful point of view. As Duchess says of Woolly, “Let’s just say his receiver is tuned to a different frequency than yours and mine.” And given the range of characters the quartet will
1790s that Americans (Alexander Hamilton prominently) adopted “our cause” retrospectively when referring to the Revolution. As Ellis’ “The Cause” takes us only as far as 1783, when American independence was officially acknowledged, we’re left with “the cause,” as an expression of consequence, being embraced declaratively in the initial crisis, with its resurgence again years after. In short, the Revolution, in historical memory, has always been unfixed. Ellis knows this. He COURTESY METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART knows that words always “Washington Crossing the Delaware” by Emanuel Leutze, painted in 1851. matter and that the Revolution wasn’t all glorious or miraculous. He regularly reminds us of what it wasn’t. The Valley Forge period, when supplies were meager and disease ravaged the army’s winter camp, is wrought in these pages in especially satisfying detail. There’s the valid accusation, of course, that the Founders talked too much about the metaphorical BY ANDREW BURSTEIN slavery they supposedly Pulitzer Prize and a Special to the Washington Post suffered, while owning National Book Award for and cruelly exploiting previous works, is sensiThis carefully wrought, tive to contested vocabu- Black people. Here, too, highly engaging realthe author supplies a tart laries. He adopts a cauity check on the elusive tious perspective in accord reminder: an unsigned character of the American opinion piece arising in with that of Andrew Revolution opens with the Virginia that anticipated a Jackson O’Shaughnessy, author clarifying what postwar project where all whose important study otherwise appears to be enslaved people would be of British leadership in a simple, almost generic the 1770s, “The Men Who freed and sent to Canada book title. “The Cause” Lost America,” paints the — a territory that would is not an arbitrary term, by then supposedly have other side as firm believJoseph J. Ellis asserts: fallen into the grasping ers in liberty and the rule It’s how the struggle for hands of the new republic. of law, convinced that political independence Ellis classes Washington parliamentary authority from Britain was cast by secured just that. Thus we as “typical of first wave the revolutionaries them“The Cause: The American have prospective enemies abolitionists” (a questionselves. Perhaps the most Revolution and Its able designation, perhaps) on opposite sides of the memorable renderings are Discontents, 1773-1783” for addressing the slavery Atlantic whose impulse those invoked by Thomas By Joseph J. Ellis issue without a sense of was the same: They were Paine in “Common Published by Liveright, urgency. It’s more of that both fighting to uphold Sense”: “The cause of 375 pages, $30 stunning ambiguity the the British Constitution. America is in great meareader comes to expect Before battles on the sure the cause of all manground changed the com- when a prominent Quaker kind,” and later: “The sun of George Washington writes to urge Washington plexion of the conflict, never shined on a cause of emphasized the timely colonial activism crystal- to set an example and free exits of one who might greater worth.” his enslaved people. He lized in a “steady chorus otherwise have chosen to “The Cause,” Ellis ignores the plea, “telling of voices” bubbling up aggrandize power, here explains, was short for friends that he seldom again portrays the general from below — multifarithe “Common Cause,” ous resolutions in defense listened to advice from as a realist with his eyes a phrase that came into Quakers,” pacifists whom of “British America.” on the prize of military vogue in 1774, along with Jefferson’s Declaration of he discounted for having victory: indifferent to an the Coercive Acts by sat out the war. Independence described attempt by some in Conwhich London imposed Ellis concludes with an gress to replace him mid- the British people as a blockade on Boston almost rueful recogniwar and with an “uncanny “unfeeling brethren.” Yet Harbor — the ostensible tion that the states had flair for silence” at a time still brethren. point of no return in the a distance to go before While nimbly chartof internecine feuds. march to war. The “allnationhood felt even ing mood shifts over the The author has consuming patriotism of a little secure. “All the course of the war, Ellis “rounded up the usual 1774 and 1776” did not refrains from chasing “the political energy belonged suspects,” as he puts it, last, however. to ‘pluribus,’ not ‘unum,’” cause” (as a vocabulary As Ellis lays it out, when featuring many of the he says. He means we still item) through its zigzag the War for Independence figures who loom large in have good reason to ask life. He cites the unarguhis earlier books, though was launched, rebellious questions about the true able ambiguity of the this time the stage lights colonists exhibited a character of the slow, “Common Cause” and localized sense of belong- also shine upon several painful birth of the United traces its determined use ing, not yet a national one. lesser-knowns, such as States of America. Joshua Loring, a recipient in the correspondence His argument points to With its combined of several revolutionary the uncertainty of expec- of British patronage as examination of tactics superintendent of prison- characters. tations and contending and atmospherics, “The But an interesting ers of war in New York; voices in the Continental problem of interpretation Cause” is a serious (and Billy Lee, Washington’s Congress. He injects into seriously entertaining) arises: Didn’t the propabody servant, whom the the narrative such destabook and a lively addition gandists advance their author unabashedly calls bilizing texts as Samuel to the literature. It is told “the most famous African cause as that of “liberty” Johnson’s “Taxation No above all? Research reveals in the breezy manner that Tyranny,” which, in “defi- American slave in Amerfans of the author have ica”; and Caty Greene, the a curious anomaly: “The ance of traditional codes “disarmingly social” wife cause of liberty” was most come to expect. All in all, of etiquette,” offered a it provides a clear and often invoked in print of the outstanding Gen. delirious takedown of fair-minded assessment and oratory in the 1760s Nathanael Greene. She colonial excuses. There of men and women and (in England as often as “never missed a winter was, too, a momentarily issues that mattered at encampment” and danced in America) and sharply convincing “fiction” diminished in use year by a time when everything with Washington at such floated in Philadelphia: mattered. year until the outbreak length that it raised a few that war would be preof the French Revolution virtue-signaling eyevented by a direct appeal Andrew Burstein is the Charles P. in 1789, peaking three brows. to King George III. Manship professor of history at years later. It was in the Ellis, a winner of the Ellis, whose biography Louisiana State University.
NONFICTION
True character of the American Revolution? It’s complicated
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meet — a collection of saints and scoundrels, like the cast of “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” but on dry land — they need all the smarts they can muster. Soon, any intention of heading west takes a 180, with a promise of riches waiting in New York. And the road trip is made more vivid with the inclusion of such remnants of mid’50s road trips as folding maps from Phillips 66 and stays at Howard Johnson’s motels. Towles writes smoothly and paces the picaresque story nicely, telling it from a variety of points of view and dividing the novel into sections, starting with No. 10 and moving down to the finale. But the quartet’s journey is anything but smooth and straightforward, combining a car trip with train travel and lots of side stops along the way, both physical and
literary. One key to the plot is a book that Billy studies over and over: “Professor Abacus Abernathe’s Compendium of Heroes, Adventurers, and Other Intrepid Travelers,” which tells tales of literary and real-life heroes ranging from A to Z. Towles also mixes in philosophy and riddles, with discussions of Zeno’s Paradox, Schrödinger’s cat and an intriguing riddle: What’s the difference between a ton of flour and a ton of crackers? Like the intercontinental route that it is named for, “The Lincoln Highway” is long and filled with intriguing detours. In the hands of a master wordsmith like Towles, it is definitely worth the trip. Dale Singer retired in 2017 after a 45-year career in journalism in St. Louis. He lives in west St. Louis County.
FICTION
A grieving son hears voices in Ozeki’s insightful new novel BY HELEN T. VERONGOS
Special to the Post-Dispatch
Life has not been kind to Annabelle Oh lately. Once her dream was to be a librarian, spending afternoons reading to a semicircle of rapt children. But she fell into a storybook when she fell in love with Kenji Oh, a jazz musician, and instead of pursuing her degree, she ended up at a newspaper clipping agency, wringing an income from a dying industry. Ozeki The couple cocooned in a modest duplex, had a baby they named Benny, and called themselves the Cheery Ohs. But not every life is a fairy tale, as any book will tell you, and permanence, of course, is an illusion. An intimate connection exists between Ruth Ozeki’s characters in this novel, just as writing can defy the laws of space and time in some of her previous works. Here, books in general, and the public library in particular, are a portal to a certain kind of magic. This book, for example, drives itself now and then, taking the narration and declaring itself to be Benny’s book. A book within this book, “Tidy Magic: The Ancient Zen Art of Clearing Your Clutter and Revolutionizing Your Life,” quivers with energy, throwing itself at Annabelle repeatedly, as if it wants to ease her shopaholic and hoarding tendencies. Zen Buddhist teachings, too, gently suffuse Ozeki’s books (she’s a Buddhist priest). This one is Zen from its title, “The Book of Form and Emptiness,” right down to its core. The fairy tale is fractured by the time Benny is in middle school. Tragedy strikes, quick and hard as a baseball bat cracking a plate-glass window, shattering his life and his mother’s. His father has died, and his ashes will reside on a shelf in a closet. On the brink of puberty and feeling fragile in his grief, Benny becomes attuned to the voices of inanimate objects — the lament of a table leg, the whining of a shoe — until everything around him is a grating voice in his head. The voices are amplified and inescapable, and he takes to wearing headphones to block out the cacophony. At school one day, a commanding voice orders him to hurt someone, and it takes all his strength to divert the violent impulse, turning it on himself instead. In the book, his actions
“The Book of Form and Emptiness” A novel by Ruth Ozeki Published by Viking, 560 pages, $30 ultimately land him in a pediatric psychiatric ward where numerous labels are slapped on him that include words like schizoaffective and hallucinatory, and multiple medications are prescribed. Ozeki, from her Zen point of view, explains gently that hearing voices is not synonymous with mental illness. Her novel, after all, is dedicated to her late father, whose voice, she says, still guides her. She refers interested readers to hearingvoicesusa. org, where they can learn more about a phenomenon she clearly believes is not a symptom. In Benny’s case, the Western practice of classifying and pathologizing voices blinds his doctors to other explanations for his sensitivity, like a state of mourning or even enlightenment. But Ozeki’s elastic prose, grounded in her spiritual education, makes room for every belief and interpretation, paying special heed to the strength of nature and community and the bonds of love and friendship. Annabelle, frantic about her son, meanwhile struggles to adapt to the digitization of news, working from her living room, or Mission Control, as she calls it, consulting a bank of computer monitors, reading and archiving data on discs that pile up by the bagful around her until they obscure the very walls of the house. In this, she seems to foretell the pandemic doom-scrollers who comb the media, compelled to read all the bad news as if, by turning over every stone will uncover some tiny sprout of hope. Hope is here, along with Ozeki’s wry observations and oblique insights, not to mention the other eccentric, interlinked souls who populate this fantastic, dense chunk of the cosmos that Ozeki has laid claim to. Just wait until you meet them. Helen Verongos is a senior staff editor at the New York Times.
10.10.2021 • Sunday • M 1
TRAVEL
ST. LOuIS POST-dISPaTCH • S11
PHOTOS BY SUSAN HEGGER
American Camp, which dates back to the Pig War with Great Britain in the mid-1800s, is now a part of the San Juan Island National Historical Park and includes historic buildings, trails and beaches.
Escape to the Pacific Northwest National parks, mountains and sea define trip where temperatures were warmer than expected BY SUSAN HEGGER
Special to the Post-Dispatch
How to escape hot, humid St. Louis? The answer was supposed to be the Pacific Northwest. On a recent trip to Seattle, San Juan Island, the North Cascades and the Olympic Peninsula, we experienced mountains and beaches, a big city and small towns, astonishing landscapes and engaging culture, a trifecta of national parks — and temperatures soaring above 100. Here are some highlights.
The Pig War The San Juan Island National Historic Park, American Camp and English Camp date back to the mid-1800s when Great Britain and the U.S. waged a 13-year “war” sparked by an American shooting a British pig on San Juan Island, territory both nations claimed. The standoff is famous for the fact that the pig was the only casualty. Our plan was to explore the southern part of San Juan Island, starting with American Camp, and the northern part, including English Camp, the next day. But Siri apparently had other ideas. Each time I asked Siri for directions to American Camp, Apple maps sent us to English Camp. Both camps have buildings still standing. English Camp, complete with a small formal garden, is on a quiet bay in a forested area while American Camp is on a seaside bluff with views of the ocean. South of English Camp is the even more popular Lime Kiln Point State Park, known for its lighthouse and its reputation as a whale-watching spot. We didn’t see any whales, but we did see tons of people milling around the lighthouse, making it hard to get that lonely lighthouse photo. (On that front, we were more successful at the Cattle Point lighthouse on the island’s southeastern tip, close to American Camp.) A surprise find was the San Juan Islands Sculpture Park and Nature Reserve by Roche Harbor with more than 150 pieces of art spread out over 20 acres. But hands down, the quirkiest art was the cement mixers transformed into the Yellow Submarine and a certain undersea pineapple home that we came across on the side of a road. My sweetest memory, though, is savoring lavender shortbread cookies and vanilla ice cream with lavender right smack in the middle of the Pelindaba Lavender Farm after a long day of sight-seeing. Seeing, smelling and tasting lavender amounted to a triple jolt of tranquility.
The Fremont troll lives under the Aurora bridge in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. If you look carefully, you can see the VW bug being squished under the troll’s left hand.
go in the late afternoon. We got there shortly after 10. Even then, we were in line for 15 to 20 minutes before we reached the gate. The ranger in the booth told us to drive in, pull over to the side and then wait for a car to leave. We took two short trails — the Hall of Mosses and the Spruce Nature Trail — and were immediately transported into an otherworldly forest primeval. Twisty, tangled roots. Drooping curtains of mosses. Oversized ferns. Air heavy with moisture. We didn’t know if a wicked witch, a demented dinosaur or an amphibious alien might be around the next curve in the path. Of course, Hoh is not the only temperate rainforest in the park. The trail to Sol Duc Falls also wound through an enchanted forest, with the bonus of a raging three-pronged waterfall. We also originally had Quinault rainforest on our agenda, but we bailed when we realized it was a three-hour drive from Port Angeles. When we left Hoh, the cars lined up to enter seemed to stretch on for eternity, just as the ranger had warned. We couldn’t be too smug because we were just minutes away from another parking nightmare at Rialto Beach.
It was a dark and stormy day
Normally, when you think beaches, you cross your fingers and hope for blue sky and sun, sun, sun. But for me, when it comes to the shores of the Olympic peninsula, with their rocky beaches, piles of driftwood and enigmatic sea stacks, I much prefer fog, mist, roiling clouds and mottled skies. I got my wish at Rialto Beach as blue skies gave way to gray In the 1960s, Leavenworth, a town in the Cascade Mountains, decided to adopt a Bavarian theme, so all the as the clouds moved in. The buildings have German facades, and German restaurants abound. closer I got to the sea stacks and the hole-in-the-wall rock, sagging tourism by adopting a the more dramatic the scene state Highway 20, a scenic with cafes sprawling onto the byway and the northern part of German theme — and it turns sidewalks and galleries beckon- became. It was worth every step out they were wildly successful. ing visitors. on the shifting, uneven black the Cascade Loop, to the Wild All the buildings have quaint sands and pebbles. West town of Winthrop. We’d As much as I wanted to stay (Because of COVID, the park’s stopped at the overlooks: Gorge German facades with overthere, it was just too far a drive beaches on Indian reservaCreek Falls, Diablo Lake and the flowing flower boxes; German to the places we wanted to see tions are closed. Those closures jaw-dropping Washington Pass restaurants abound (a curse in Olympic National Park. So as much as a blessing); streets (technically just outside the we stayed in Port Angeles, Port may have accounted for the have German names. We even overflowing parking at Rialto park in the national forest). Townsend’s scruffier cousin. listened to accordion music Except for camping, the Port Angeles turned out to be Beach.) Quite accidentally, we dispark doesn’t have lodging, and as we ate wuerst and kaesesthe right choice. We took early paetzle in a keller (basement) covered an evocative beach at “gateway towns,” like Winmorning photos of a marina restaurant. Corny, yes, but it Dungeness Spit on our ill-fated throp, are pretty far away. So, shrouded in fog, we walked its given the distances, we decided sure was sehr gemuetlich. waterfront trail and downtown quest to visit a lighthouse. We Of course, it doesn’t hurt learned at the trailhead in the to sample sights closer to streets enlivened by public art that the town is surrounded “our” side of the park. We did and murals, and we had fantas- Dungeness National Wildlife by stunning natural beauty, Refuge that the lighthouse could Happy Creek trail but stopped tic meals at Spruce and Next including the awesome Icicle only be reached by a 10-mile unknowingly just short of the Door Gastropub. (Warning: roundtrip walk on the spit. So waterfall. Alpine lakes and jag- Gorge trail, which we might Lots of restaurants don’t take have enjoyed more if it had instead we opted for a short ged mountain vistas were the reservations so we learned to been better marked and the star attractions of the Rainy put ourselves on a waitlist early trek to the observation deck in temperature wasn’t 105. At hopes of getting a glimpse of the Lake and the national forest’s so we could eat at a reasonable least our next destination had a hour.) All the while, we felt lighthouse. No dice — we could Cutthroat Lake trails. Having Ain’t no mountain predicted high of 73. barely see the water. racked up thousands of steps, like we were in a real workaday high enough ... We made do with a conwe still got back to our hotel town. solation prize: an appealing before completely melting. …. To keep us from swelterA Tale of Two Port Cities crafts market in the nearby The next day we continued ing in 100-plus heat. We had Port Townsend regularly Hoh, Hoh, Hoh on the Cascade Loop to Leavone full day to explore North finds itself on lists of the pretThe park ranger in the Olym- picturesque town of Sequim Cascades National Park, and the enworth, an ersatz Bavarian tiest towns in Washington pic National Park visitor center where one of us succumbed and bought a work of art. village in the “American Alps.” temperature that day was pre— and for good reason. It’s was insistent: If you want to Sometime in the ’60s, the dicted to hit 103. a Victorian seaport, with an visit the Hoh Rainforest, be The day before we had scoped town’s civic leaders apparattractive marina and a handthere before 10 a.m. when the ently decided to revitalize their somely restored downtown, out the park on our drive along Please see ESCAPE, Page S12 parking lot fills up. Otherwise,
S12 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
TRAVEL
M 1 • SUnDAy • 10.10.2021
Escape From S11
The Emerald City Our trip began and ended in Seattle, where we happily played tourist at full tilt. At the Seattle Center, we soared to the top of the Space Needle, where on a clear day, we really could see forever. We were entranced by the Chihuly Garden and Glass, each dramatically lighted gallery showcasing a particular shape or type of assemblage. And at the Museum of Pop Culture, we stood outside in awe of Frank Gehry’s sinuous architecture and inside in awe of Isaac Asimov’s electric typewriter and Indiana Jones’ remarkably small leather jacket. At the famous Pike Place Farmers Market, we saw a fishmonger toss a fish to a surprised onlooker, humongous salmon and lobster tails, and also a rather disgusting bubble gum wall. Sad to say, though, as much as I love Pike Place, the crowds have become simply overwhelming, PHOTOS BY SUSAN HEGGER leading to unbearably long lines The lighthouse at Lime Kiln State Park is a popular spot for whale watching on San Juan Island. for a Starbucks or a piroshky or anything else to eat or drink. On the waterfront, we rode the Ferris wheel and splurged on very crabby crab cakes at Elliott’s Oyster House. We day tripped to Snoqualmie Falls (of Twin Peaks fame) and Mount Rainier. We did see Mount Rainier in its full glory, its summit snow covered and unobscured by even the slightest wisp of a cloud. But road closures and snow made our efforts to explore Mount Rainier National Park less successful. We also made our own discoveries, like a lighthouse in Discovery Park. But our fondest find was surely the colossal Fremont troll, hanging out under the Aurora bridge and all gussied One of the most popular areas of Olympic National Park is the Hoh Rialto Beach in Olympic National Park is open to visit, but nearby First up for visitors. temperate rainforest. By 10 in the morning, the parking lot can be full. Beach and Second Beach were closed because of COVID restrictions.
BRING IT ON HOME • SAN FRANCISCO Who and where • Fran Endicott Armstrong of St. Louis at the Dahlia Dell next to the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The trip • She spent three and a half weeks in San Francisco, visiting her granddaughter, Ronia, and Ronia’s parents, Fran’s daughter, Zan Armstrong, and her husband, Jonas. Travel tip • There are so many wonderful delights to see and adventures to enjoy in Golden Gate Park; many are free, such as being awed by the colorful Dahlia Dell. The Dahlia Society of San Francisco’s website sfdahlias.org is quite helpful. Contribute • Email your photo to stlpost@gmail.com. Include the full names of everyone in the photo, including where they are from and where you are standing in the photo. Also include your address and phone number. Please also tell us a little about the trip and a travel tip. We’re looking for interesting, well-composed, well-lighted photos.
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