“Hello, Senor Rod? This is Ernesto, the caretaker at your country house.” “Ah yes, Ernesto. What can I do for you? Is there a problem?” “Um, I am just calling to advise you, Senor Rod, that your parrot, he is dead”. “My parrot? Dead? The one that won the International competition?” “Si, Senor, that’s the one.” “Damn! That’s a pity! I spent a small fortune on that bird. What did he die from?” “From eating the rotten meat, Senor Rod.” “Rotten meat? Who the hell fed him rotten meat?” “Nobody, Senor. He ate the meat of the dead horse.” “Dead horse? What dead horse?” “The thoroughbred, Senor Rod.” “My prize thoroughbred is dead?” “Yes, Senor Rod, he died from all that work pulling the water cart.” “Are you insane? What water cart?” “The one we used to put out the fire, Senor.” “Good Lord! What fire are you talking about, man?” “The one at your house, Senor! A candle fell and the curtains caught on fire.” “What the hell? Are you saying that my mansion is destroyed because of a candle?!” “Yes, Senor Rod.” “But there’s electricity at the house! What was the candle for?” “For the funeral, Senor Rod.” “WHAT BLOODY FUNERAL??!!” “Your wife’s, Senor Rod. She showed up very late one night and I thought she was a thief, so I hit her with your golf club.” SILENCE……….. LONG SILENCE………VERY LONG SILENCE. “My new Ping G15 204g titanium head golf club with the TFC 149D graphite shaft? Ernesto, if you broke that driver, you’re in deep shit!”

In St.Louis, at the home of DnA, cushions sometimes have feet:

I was watching this video, where an honest and committed IAS officer talks about the Service, and “babu”dom, and several people who realized their dreams:

The Coneflowers are blooming all over Forest Park, and for once, I thought I’d post just a single photo of their wild beauty:

There were fireworks at 9.15 pm scheduled on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of July at the Gateway Arch. We went on the 2nd….on the 3rd, rain resulted in the fireworks being cancelled, and on the 4th, we looked up at the sky at the fireworks everyone around us was letting off (private fireworks are permitted on the 4th of July.)…and enjoyed the flowers in the sky from home.