March complete and April ready to write in my never ending calendar (plus Sally's birthday and views from the St. Louis Arch)

This is the last day of March, and I must share these calendar pages today because tomorrow I begin my annual 22 days of rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle, re-invent, redesign, re-craft, recover, restore, rebuild, revamp, reclaim, or repurpose something in order to save it from the trash, and ultimately to save our planet.  Which of course, leads to respect: respect for our planet, respect for trash as art, and respect for what you and I as artists can achieve.   This all leads up to Earth Day on April 22, or as I prefer to call it, bEARTHday.

Because I always finish each entry at the end of my day, I had to be optimistic that today, the 31st will be great!

April is represented by a green Earth, a birthday cupcake, and some bunny rabbits running away from a traditional Easter dinner.  The partial "E" I somehow covered in the top corner is because this is my bEARTHday month.

Before it was time to get Sally and wish her a happy birthday, I managed to take a few photos of my front flower bed.  You can see the Naked Ladies/Surprise Lily leaves have grown, despite the fact we had two hard freezes and snow since the last time I shared this area.

The hyacinth on the left didn't make it, succumbing to the two freezes.  The rest are doing well, though.

Also showing signs of a freeze, you can still see one tulip is trying to pop out (directly above the "A" in my watermark).

I fear with temps dropping to about 20 degrees F last night, the tulips will not make it, either.

Then it was off to Denny's where Sally would get her free grand slam breakfast FREE.  Free is always good!

My friend Sally is SO "funny" when it comes to jewelry.  One time we went to a high end costume jewelry party and, after we left, I asked why she didn't order anything.  She said she only bought real gold and silver and often had rings and earrings made by artisans.  That's why I wasn't sure she would like a PLASTIC bracelet, albeit one for a good cause.  If you haven't heard of 4 Oceans, you should check it out.  These guys remove plastic from the ocean and turn it into jewelry.  Each bracelet is made of one pound of plastic and their silver 4 O with a wave.  Ironically, she had already ordered one, so I agreed to pay her for it once it arrived.   I was so happy she likes it.  I couldn't believe how wrong I was that she might not like this pound of plastic.

I sewed a portion of a map to signify the earth that held the money to pay for it.

Then it was time for our food to arrive,  Sally had the regular Grand Slam, with two pancakes, two scrambled eggs, two sausages, and two slices of bacon.

I had two pancakes, two eggs, but I got hashbrowns (with ranch dressing) and oatmeal.  It was a wonderful meal and we talked a lot, too.

Some of you more than likely remember the post I called Meet Me In St.Louie, Louie. I discussed why I liked the Arch so much better than the Statue of Liberty.  Avril (aka Mrs. B) told me in a comment that she had found a You Tube video that showed the inside viewing area in the top of the Arch.  Although I'm not big on You Tube, I found several I will share.

This one shows the pod you ride in to reach the top of the arch.  There are five seats in each pod.  Jeanie mentioned how claustrophobic it felt.  For some reason, I didn't feel that way, even though I am very claustrophobic on elevators.  At the end of this less than 3 minute video, you can see the viewing areas, but not very well.

This one is about 6 minutes long.  It also takes you to the top, but also shows the trees that had apparently just been planted.  Construction was still in progress, so I was surprised there was nobody there.  You can see the viewing areas.  Because I'm so short, I had to climb up on the viewing platforms to see out the tiny windows.  However, I was able to stay as long as I liked.  One person said it cost $10.00 (USD) to go up to the top.  The first time I went up, it was $3.00 (USD).  The second, third, and fourth times were $3.50 (USD).

One person mentioned it was 630 feet high.  It is also 630 feet from each of the bases, too. 

One of the things that surprised me was how the Illinois side of the river has been cleaned up.

This is my own photo I took from the Illinois side back in the mid-80s.  You can see I had to walk through practically a forest of debris and dead trees to get this shot. 

I took the photo out of the frame, but because of the mat finish, it was still hard to see.

One of the years I was there for a July 4th concert, I broke down and purchased a VP Fair beer.

VP stands for Veiled Prophet, and this organization has been going strong for well over 100 years.  Either I'm getting old, or I no longer know current artists, but I've never heard of the ones they are listing for this year's fair.

These live in my basement and they are part of a larger St. Louis vignette.  I also have a photo from the Illinois side of the river I took one year during the daytime.  However, I didn't have time to look for it.  On the other hand, you can see I photo bombed my own photo!

Thank you for visiting today.  I hope you learned a bit more about 4 Oceans, as well as the Arch.  I hope Sami sees this because she also went to the top of the Statue of Liberty.  I would like to read her thoughts on the Arch versus the Statue of Liberty.  

Please don't forget to join me over the next 22 days of recycling, too.