Josh Renaud

Stamped in my memory

Today, Jadzia and I were watching Mr. Rogers. Early in the show, Mr. Rogers took us to see how the Postal Service makes postage stamps. Whenever we watch Mr. Rogers, I always try to do something afterward with Jadzia that connects with the episode. So when we were done watching, I remembered my little stamp collection. I dug it out from the basement and showed it to Jadzia. Yoli gave us a magnifying glass so Jadzia could really inspect the stamps. (Truth is, she still doesn't quite get how to use a magnifying glass)

Anyway, as we went through the book, I saw my old stamps with new eyes. I realized how I am connected to the places represented by these stamps in ways I didn't know about when I was a kid collector.

Space

When I was in grade school, I lived on Yaqui Drive in Florissant, Missouri. My brothers and I were friends with all the boys on the street. And for a brief period, some of us got into (oddly enough) stamp collecting and created an informal club, which I think was called "Philately Friends." It was serious enough that we even placed a few orders for stamps from a mail-order place.

I was big into space stamps. After all, I liked sci-fi, having become a fan of Star Trek because of my Aunt Karen. Years before this stamp-collecting fling, I had started a club at school called the "Space Academy Federation" or "SAF" for short. It was basically my own personal version of Star Trek, with ships and crews (and myself at the top of a suitably bureaucratic chain-of-command). It was played out at recess at Russell Elementary. Most of my friends stopped playing along after a while, but three of us kept it alive for a few more years, despite the fact that all three of us ended up at different elementary schools. Eventually, though, it lived on only in my imagination.

Britain

Probably the largest section of my little stamp book is my collection of British stamps. This is probably because my Nanny (mom's mom) immigrated here from England, and she and her brother gave me gobs of stamps.

Israel & Palestine

Around the time I was in junior high I began developing an interest in the history of modern Israel. This interest never waned, and I was able to fulfill a dream and visit Israel for a week in December 2000-January 2001. That was my first trip out of the country, and surprisingly, not my last.

South America

I don't have any stamps from Bolivia, but I found I did have them from other countries in South America, like Argentina, Brazil, and Chile (the latter considered an enemy state by many Bolivians). Yoli's father lived in Argentina for a while.

Germany

Because of my new genealogy hobby, I now realize just how German I am. There are several very strong German lines coming to me through my dad's family. Our Becker ancestors came to St. Louis around 1860, having first lived in Louisville, Kentucky for a while in the 1850s.

Poland

I also now realize how Polish I am! My great-grandmother's parents were both Polish immigrants; they came to St. Louis in 1906 and 1910. Unlike with the Becker family, I think I may be able to trace the Horosiewiczes and Klekotkas back to Europe, because these surnames are pretty unusual, and also because I know pretty much which cities they came from. Recently I signed onto a Polish social network site (something like Facebook before it opened up to non-school-age people) called nasza-klasa.pl. I searched for people who might be distant relatives, and have been talking with some of them for a couple weeks now. It will be very interesting to see if we can actually figure out if we are related!

Free! Free! Free!

Saturday night was Yoli's annual appreciation dinner for employees of the Ferguson Municipal Library. It was held at the Thyme Table, as usual, and the food was pretty good. This year they had a beef roast, with an egg/potato layered thing, and veggies. There was also a very nice chocolate mousse cake with an oreo crust. It all tasted even finer because it was FREE.

As were planning for the dinner, we decided to use a babysitter again and make an evening of it. I tried to come up for ideas of stuff to do afterward (art museum? history museum? some sort of concert?). I came up with something different — we should go to The Blanche.

(The Blanche, for those who don't know, is what I call the "Touhill Performing Arts Center" at UMSL)

UMSL music students were holding end-of-the-semester recitals. There was a violin and piano performance scheduled for 7:00 p.m. This seemed right up our alley, since we are a somewhat musical family... (Yoli is the one who can actually play instruments. I just sing) Anyway, Yoli and I showed up. I think we were the only ones there who were not fellow music students. But still it was a lovely hour of FREE classical music. It doesn't get much better than that!

After the concert we watched a movie called "Once" which I really, really enjoyed. It's about two brokenhearted people in Dublin — a street musician guy and a Czech immigrant girl — who hang out, sort of fall in love, and make really great music together. That description doesn't do the movie justice. Suffice it to say that it is probably one of the best films I have seen in the last year. Making it even sweeter? The fact that we checked it out for FREE from the aforementioned Ferguson Municipal Library.

Change of seasonry

It finally feels like spring.

Today I mowed the grass for the first time this year. It had become a jungle. Now it looks somewhat civilized. (I also got to bust out my new weed wacker)

But the yard still is reeling from the abuse it took from last year's moles. It seems like there aren't any tunnels right now, but I still think I need to call somebody to come out and take a look. I definitely don't want a repeat of last summer/fall/winter where virtually every inch of the front and back yard were eventually tunnelled under.

Still, we've had some flowers bloom, our hostas are popping up, and the front gardens look very nice. The backyard gardens aren't in such good shape, but at least nobody else is looking at them.

We want to start a small vegetable garden in the back, which should be nice.

Speaking of veggies, tomorrow marks the first week of the Ferguson Farmer's Market which seems to get better every year. It's a great place to find food and flowers, but it also has a very nice social atmosphere. Plus there are lots of great activities each week. (Yoli is looking forward to this summer's pie contest as usual)

So, I'm happy that warm weather is here and the farmer's market is starting. But I am definitely tired of the rain. This year I am playing in a softball league with a bunch of friends from The Current. The past 3 weekends we have been rained out, with the potential for another rainout this weekend if the field doesn't dry from tonight's downpour. But the fields have been decent enough for us to practice on.

And boy have I needed the practice. It's been 10 years since I last played organized baseball or softball. My fielding has been pretty rusty, though I think I have made great improvements. I am less optimistic about my throwing abilities (I'll be in the outfield)... that softball is a lot harder to throw than a baseball.

The singer

In the last month or so, Jadzia has become an exuberant singer.

We have always been a singing family. We started making up songs for each of the girls when they were born. Yoli and I also both share a long history of working with children at church, so we each have repertoires of Christian children's songs (in English and Spanish respectively).

All this time we sang, but Jadzia never joined in. And then she began singing snippets of "Twinkle,Twinkle" a while back. And before long she was singing the whole song. And suddenly she was singing pretty much every other song she's ever heard in her young life.

We haven't yet shot any video of her singing yet (though we plan to do it soon), but she sings really loud ... especially if she thinks Mamá and Papá are ignoring her.

The exception to this is when "strangers" are around... She kind of clams up until she's had quite a while to warm up again.

Ludi speaks — and the world listens

Last week Ludi said her first word. It was "Pa."

But if I hadn't been there to hear it myself, I don't know if that's how it would have gone down in the record books. :)

See, not long after she said "Pa," she started saying "pa" and "ma" and "mama" all together. Yoli and I were both there are she made these babbling noises. Truth be told, she probably said "ma" a lot more. But the very *first* word was "Pa."

I am very pleased.

Swimsuits in April

Ludi tries a cracker. She doesn't really have the knack of it yet. But she has come to love eating cheerios.

Click the link below for more photos.

Ludi is pretty excited in her little hat.

Yoli couldn't resist modeling Ludi in a swimsuit, even though the days still are alternating between cold, rainy and warm, sunny.

Wow, dramatic lighting!

We took a little trip this past Tuesday to Grafton and Elsah. We had a little trouble following the (poor) detour directions to go around the mudslide in Grafton, but eventually we made it to the Fin Inn. After we ate, we went to Elsah to walk around. This picture is on the steps of the old schoolhouse. In the interest of full disclosure, it's worth noting that this is actually a photoshop composite of two photos to get both Yoli and Jadzia smiling in the same image. First time I've posted such an image on this website.

Also, we noticed a lot more construction (mostly of two-story garages) in Elsah this time around.

Ludi in the arms of The Bearded One.