Soybean Festival

Yesterday, Pat and I participated in the always surprising and fantastical Jaycees Annual Soybean Festival in Mexico, Missouri. What could be better than eating a potato tornado while listening to the wailings of The Next Mexico Idol contestants? As far as the soybeans, we saw none. Not even someone in a soybean costume. One of the best parts of the day was listening to the Ozark Mountains band Big Smith. From their bluesy "Go Away Maggie" and "Ain't Got Nobody" to the raw country of "Ride That Train," Mark, Jody, Rick and all sing with gumption to entertain.

It is no surprise that Pat set up camp within arm's reach of funnel cakes.

Porch turtle

I don't know about you, but we like to keep a porch turtle to give the porch light toad company. Amphibians get lonely. This lovely lady box turtle is an exchange student from the gulf, seeking a cleaner, quieter environment, and midwestern cultural exposure.

New tops

New granite countertops were installed in our kitchen this week, which gave me the opportunity to do the most pleasurable of all chores--plumbing. There ain't nothin' else quite as special as popping my neck out of place crawling under the sink, skinning my knuckles and making three trips to the Home Depot. Plus it's a good excuse to cuss up a storm. That being said, the counter top rocks...err, is rock.

Fireworks

We watched 4th of July fireworks from the University of Missouri's Memorial Stadium stands. Row 11, 50 yard line. Before the fireworks, we enjoyed the beautiful crooning of Hillary Scott and a couple great songs by the Hickman High School choir. The fireworks were set to music blasted over the football stadium's public address system. It's a fun way to celebrate USA's birthday. It was dark and I was wasn't sure of my iPhone camera settings. Below are either pictures of the fireworks or some galaxies far, far away.

Last tug

Mr. Bojangles and Mizuho had their last tug of war contest on Sunday morning. Mr. Bojangles always wins. He's that competitive. As I am writing this, Mizuho's plane is somewhere over Canada en route to home in Osaka. Thanks for four great months, Mizuho!

Ana

Ana Popovic rocked the Blue Note on Friday night. Oooooh! Oooo-ooh! Oo la la!

CO Capitol

Since we were in Denver for a conference, Mark and I stopped at the Colorado state capitol building. My bucket list includes visiting all 50 state capitol buildings. 15 to go. Colorado wasn't a new addition to my list, but I needed practice.