May 20, 2005 - Carlinville, IL

Last time I wrote, it was Friday the 13th, and I casually asked why the superstition of that day existed.  And then Friend John writes: "Paraskevidekatriaphobia: Fear of Friday the 13th  Now if you want the WHOLE story go to:  http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/friday_the_13th.htm".

I tell you friends like this are priceless.  His blog is http://www.gypsyjohn.net/weblog/blogger.html by the way.  Since he's getting ready for his "adventure of a lifetime" he's pretty excited and may not be posting real regularly.  He also does web hosting for several individuals as well as businesses.  His "adventure" is a trip to Alaska; we'd originally planned on going up too, but have tentatively rescheduled the trip for next year--everything's "tentative" until you're actually doing it when you're a full-timer.  Currently, we're slowly heading to New England to visit Barb's family for this year.  Bill and Carol will be going up with him, and we know they'll all have a great time.

And while I'm talking about friends, Frank and Susie still have their Monaco Dynasty that they'd like to sell.  I published some pictures of the Monaco Dynasty here a while back, and I'm sure they're no less inclined to sell it now than when I published the information.  You'll not find a nicer better kept Dynasty anywhere.

John took this great picture of us just before we left Quartzsite this year.  And remember last time I was wondering what the name of this flower/plant might be? Well, Jon Vermilye was kind enough to write and tell us it's called a red trillium--we're familiar with the small ones with the white flower, but this one was like 18 to 24" tall.  He was also kind enough to share his excellent website with us and gave me permission to share it with you.  http://lakeshoreimages.com   Besides his excellent flower photography, he's got lots of enviable pictures of birds and other things.  He hails from Oswego, NY, but is a traveling man who loves the "red roads" (secondary roads on atlases) like many of us.

Our co-workers on this SOWER project are John & Ellie.  One of the things John did in the past was electrical contracting, and when the Lake Williamson Christian Center found that out, he spent all his time on the new construction of the chapel.  I rode that lawn mower for a week and loved it.  Then I got to do a variety of things like work on a new fence, pressure wash, acid etch and paint an outdoor swimming pool and help John with some of the electrical stuff.  The women did office work, helped in the mail room with really big mailings, and folding laundry.

But it wasn't all work.  SOWERS are known for their love of Dairy Queen and games.  Here Barb and Ellie are letting John and me beat them at Pegs & Jokers, but they beat us the next hand.  But we guys really whipped 'em  at "hand and foot."  And then a view of the new chapel; offices in back.

The lady in the thrift shop where this tree is located said it's a Ginkgo tree.  Real unusual shape for the leaves, eh?

Then one day we took off with John and Ellie and did some sightseeing.  Ellie had heard the "river road" to Alton was fun, and since we were interested in seeing the Piasa Bird as well as visiting the tallest man who ever lived again, off we went.  What fun when we discovered the road included a ferry ride across the Illinois river.  Oddest arrangement for a tug we'd ever seen.  The tug was fastened to the barge we're on by this swivel mount on the downstream side of the barge so that it swiveled to the opposite position when heading in the other direction.  And it really made sense once we experienced it.  And we weren't the only barge getting pushed on that river, either.

Then down the Mississippi we came across this painting on a cliff.  In 1673, as Marquette and Joliet made their way down the Mississippi River, they noticed on the face of the high bluffs just below the mouth of the Illinois River the image of two large monsters.  According to Marquette's diary, "each was as large as a calf with horns like a deer, red eyes, a beard like a tiger's, a face like a man, the body covered with green, red, and black scales, and a tail so long that it passed around the legs, ending like a fishes' tail."  Later records describe only one image of the monster.

The bird that the figure represents was called  "The Piasa" (pronounced pie-a-saw) by the Illini Indians meaning the bird that devours men.  According to the literature, you may choose not to believe that this monster actually ate men, but (we go on to read), this much is certain, the figure of a large bird was indeed cut into the solid rock at a height that is perfectly inaccessible.  How, and for what purpose was it made?  And why, for centuries, did every Indian who passed in his canoe fire an arrow at the figure of the bird?  The answer is lost in time.......

The most popular legend  is that many thousands of moons before the arrival of the white man, when great magolonyx and mastodons roamed the prairie, there existed a bird-like creature of such great size, he could easily carry off a full grown deer in his talons.  His taste, however, was for human flesh.  As the legend goes, hundreds of warriors attempted for years to destroy him, but without success.  Whole villages were nearly depopulated and consternation spread throughout all the Illini tribes.

At length, Ouatoga, a chief whose fame as a warrior extended even beyond the Great Lakes, separated himself from the rest of his tribe, fasted in solitude for the space of a whole moon and prayed to the Great Spirit, the master of life, that he would protect his children form the Piasa.  On the last night of the fast, the Great Spirit appeared to Ouatoga in a dream and directed him to select twenty of his warriors, arm each with a bow and poisoned arrow, and conceal them in a designated spot.  Near the place of their concealment, another warrior was to stand in open view as a victim for the Piasa, which they must shoot the instant it pounced upon its prey.   When the chief awoke in the morning, he thanked the Great Spirit, returned to his tribe and told them of his dream.  The warriors were quickly selected and placed in ambush as directed.  Ouatoga offered himself as the victim.

Placing himself in open view of the bluff, he soon saw the Piasa perched on the bluff eyeing his prey.  Ouatoga drew up his manly form to its utmost height, and planting his feet firmly upon the earth, began to chant the death song of a warrior.  A moment later, the Piasa rose into the air and swift as a thunderbolt, darted down upon the chief.  Scarcely had he reached his victim when every bow was sprung and every arrow sent.  The Piasa uttered a wild, fearful scream that resounded far over the opposite side of the river, and died.  Ouatoga was safe.

In memory of this event, the image of the Piasa was engraved on the bluff.  No Indian ever passed the spot without discharging an arrow at the horrible creature.

I got this information from The Greater Alton/Twin Rivers Convention and Visitors Bureau brochure.

Then off to visit the tallest man.  And who should we meet, but Flat Mitch!  What a thrill for us.  Of course, we all know about Flat Stanley, but it was a real treat to meet Flat Mitch.  He was visiting from Iowa, or was it Idaho.  Maybe if he'll write to me I can get it straight.  His chaperones really had a chore too, since the wind was blowing so hard.  He had sticks fastened to his backside so he could enjoy the scenery without flying all apart.

We'd visited him last time we came to Alton (see June 6) but knew we'd enjoy seeing him again, and we sure did.

This time the museum across the street was open.  While small, it has lots of interesting stuff about the area.  We were mostly interested in the Robert Wadlow things though.  Among his other talents, John is good with his camera, and these shots and some others on this page are his. And besides that, John is an expert with Photoshop Elements and Photoshop Album, a couple of things for me still to learn.  John and Ellie hang out in AZ during the winter at a RV park that has all kinds of activities, among them John's classes on Photoshop.  That fellow standing with us is the curator of the museum, and full of information himself.

Tomorrow the plan is for Barb to have a day to herself here at home while I go play with son Doug and his race car.  With any luck at all the weather will cooperate and I'll have some fun shots to post from "track day".  His daughter Robin will be there too, driving their diesel powered VW bug in the novice class.  Great training! 

Is this a great lifestyle or what?