STL Free For All

Ever since we moved to St. Louis seven years ago, Cherokee Street has fascinated me. There’s the eastern half, with the antique shops and modern art galleries and a handful of eateries, separated by the great Jefferson Avenue divide from the western half, where the flavor becomes more deliciously Mexican and Central American. Then there’s the far-western fringe with interesting ideas for art galleries, shops and theaters percolating.

What’s great about all the sections of Cherokee, even the dicier ones, is the pervasive sense that soon things will improve, that some unknown tipping point has almost been reached, that everyone is finally working together. You’ll get a good sense of that this Saturday (May 3) at the Cinco de Mayo street festival between Nebraska and Iowa (west of Jefferson). In past years it’s had ups and downs — one year was freezing cold, another there was internal wrangling that scrapped the whole thing — but for the past two years both Mother Nature and the organizers have been on the same page, and some good ideas have blossomed. My hopes are high for this year’s festival, which combines the best from 2006 (lots of mariachi music) with the best from 2007 (getting rid of the ridiculous fenced-off area for the bands and alcohol sales).

The music lineup runs the entire day, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and alternates between authentic Mexican and rock-funk-jazz groups (see the schedule here). We’re having trouble deciding when to go; Javier Mendoza is one of my favorite local artists; Boogie Chyld is one of my husband’s, and the mariachis are just plain fun — they get the whole crowd salsa dancing (and if you’re up for it, you’ll have no shortage of partners, because this is the kind of festival where strangers embrace each other in the best sense of the term). My enthusiasm for the food — authentic seafood ceviche, corn on the cob with mayo and shredded cheese, open-face savory tacos and smooth, cool horchata — runs a close second to my enthusiasm for the music.

The festival is a great introduction to Cherokee, and while you’re in the neighborhood you should definitely explore a little further to the east. My pick for this weekend (and yes, I’m a bit biased about it, because it involves my kids!) is an art show, Only Connect, at Boots Contemporary Art Space, 2307 Cherokee, featuring the work of students from the Soulard School. M.’s preschool class will have a display, a “found object” sculpture based on the work of Sarah Tse, but the bulk of the exhibit is work by older students, some of whom were mentored over the winter by local artist Cbabi Bayoc. The exhibit runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday (May 3).

After visiting those two events, you’ll have your bearings — and you might just be lured back the following weekend for two more new gallery exhibits. One is across from Boots, at PDH Gallery, where there’s a fun-looking show involving Hello Kitty! and miniature copies of masterpiece paintings by Leslie Holt. It opens next Saturday (May 10) in the evening. The other is on the western fringe, at the Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts, 3151 Cherokee. That new exhibit — described as a peaceful yet powerful montage featuring sculpture by Wesley Fordyce and paintings by Jenna Bauer — opens Friday evening (May 9).

Then you’ll be hooked! And you’ll be hauling your friends along to Cherokee later this spring, when The Stable, one of Missouri’s newest distilleries, opens its restaurant/bar on the site of the old Lemp Brewery stables, near the very eastern end of Cherokee.

If you have some outdoor gear taking up space in your basement from that sport you never quite got into as much as you thought you would (inline skates? tennis racquets? tents?), bring it to the Alpine Shop in Kirkwood starting tomorrow (Apr. 30).  The store’s 15th annual Swap and Sale — the largest in the Midwest — is a destination for outdoor enthusiasts looking for bargains on used gear (maybe yours!).  There are a few restrictions posted on the homepage, but the premise is pretty simple:  Bring your gear, get it priced on consignment and let them do the selling.  After the swap ends on Sunday, you can either use your profits in the store, or take home 75 percent of the cash value.  Unsold items can be reclaimed or donated to charity.

If, on the other hand, you’re looking to outfit your family (bike helmets? sleeping bags? active-wear clothing?) without spending a ton of money, the swap is also worth visiting.  In addition to the used gear in the tent, there’ll be new gear on sale (at all three locations, Chesterfield, Columbia and Kirkwood, although the used gear will only be at the latter).  The race for bargains begins at 7 p.m. Friday (with a $5 entrance donation for everyone over age 13 that evening only at the Kirkwood location) and continues through Sunday, with further markdowns happening that final day.

Questions about swap items that aren’t answered on the homepage can be directed to the Kirkwood store at 314.962.7715.

It’s back to lousy weather today, but I’m undeterred — I’m still going to post about two outdoor events. And if we’re all wearing parkas, oh well!

The first is the weekly Twilight Tuesdays concert series on the front lawn of the Missouri History Museum. The spring half of the season (it skips the hottest summer months) commences tomorrow (Apr. 29), with smooth jazz from the Bosman Twins from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Over the coming weeks the music will range from classic rock to disco/funk/soul to Motown to classic jazz. The spring finale on June 10 with The Smash Band will have a party feel — and by then the weather will be nice and warm, so hundreds of groups will be scattered around the lawn. Tomorrow’s show may be a little sparser, what with the daytime high predicted in the 50s — but that’s good for you and the kids, because you won’t have to arrive quite so early to find a primo spot. (In case of rain, the concert will be rescheduled; keep tabs by calling 314.746.4599 or by listening to the sponsor radio station, KEZK 102.5.)

In some ways it surprises me that so many people come to a venue where the sightlines to the stage are better from the back, but I think people come as much for the picnic and the Forest Park ambiance as for the music, as great as that music is. And although there’s food for sale from Patty Long Catering, people really do tend more toward picnics — some organizing very elaborate potluck affairs complete with wine and candles, others throwing together brown-bag sandwiches. (That’s my realm, although I usually do find a bottle of wine to bring too!)

At this week’s other outdoor sure-bet series, on Friday night (May 2), there’ll be plenty of music but no band in sight; it’s the Union Station Twilight Under the Train Shed movie series featuring a Grease sing-a-long. You might have already heard about this one — Grease is the second movie — but if not, you’ll definitely want to mark the first Friday of the month on your calendar to see some of the other well-chosen movies (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Independence Day, Singing in the Rain). There’s a recommended age cutoff of six years, which makes sense since showtime is 8:45 p.m. And I don’t know that I’d bring the young’uns to Rocky Horror anyway! For details, visit the homepage.

Now for one final note: If you read Saturday’s post you’ll know about our crazy daisy experiment. It didn’t go so well! The flowers sucked up some of the food-colored water, but veeeeery slowly and unevenly. They made more progress once we dumped in about 20 drops more food coloring to the half cup of water in the glasses, but it’s been four days now and I think we’ve got all the tinting we’re going to get. Still, it has made for a good lesson in how flowers pull water through their veins, especially in the daisies where we slit the stems and put them into two colors of water.

Yesterday we started a new experiment that M. “read” about in a magazine: colored daisies. We filled six glasses with water and added food coloring to each of them to make all the colors of the rainbow, then we put white daisies into each one. In theory, the daisies are supposed to drink up and turn the same color as their water — and on one we split the stem so it’s drinking two colors, blue and yellow.

The catch is that it isn’t working yet, 24 hours later. We’re seeing a few veins on the underside of the petals turn red or orange or blue, but the rest of the petals are still stark white. So I think I’ll dump in a bunch more food coloring and see if that does the trick. (To do your own Crazy Daisy experiment, click here for directions.)

I wasn’t surprised M. leaped on this idea, because for the past few weeks we’ve been experimenting with colors in other ways too. The longest running of these experiments is the Smoothie Project, which entails making smoothies of every color of the rainbow and then some. We drink smoothies a couple of times a week, and it was easy to get pink and blue and yellow and orange and purple … but then we started going for colors like true red, brown, black and white. Those are challenging us in some very creative ways.

Our basic three-serving smoothie recipe is guaranteed not to fail: Take 8 ounces of yogurt (either with fruit or plain) and pour it into the blender. Add two ripe bananas (either peeled and frozen ahead of time or fresh). Let the kids run the blender a few times to get a nice thick goo — this step can go on and on in you’re working with a 22-month-old! — then add your choice of frozen fruit (about 2 cups), ice (about the same amount) and any other fresh fruit, should you so desire. Once all that’s in the blender, pour in your choice of 100% fruit juice to cover and let ‘er rip.

This basic ratio of fresh-frozen-liquid makes a satisfying smoothie. Note that there’s no added sugar — even using plain yogurt, the fruits more than compensate with sweetness — and that there are an infinite number of combinations. Green has been one of our favorites; I’d never have guessed that M. would be OK with my tossing in a couple big fresh spinach leaves in addition to kiwis, but I’d read that they get blended up completely, and guess what? It’s true! You’d never have guessed there was spinach in that smoothie.

It’s hard to go completely wrong, although we’ve made a couple false steps: Mandarin oranges, for example, just aren’t meant for smoothies, although plain old orange juice tastes fine. And we can’t find a way to get a black smoothie, even using blackberries, black currant juice, blueberries and blue food coloring. It’s that yogurt lightening it up. We’ve recently moved on to a quest for white, using white grape juice, apples, bananas, plain yogurt and ice.  Very yummy, if I do say so myself!

I have never been afraid of bees. Even when I was about 8 years old and stepped a bee that responded by stinging the bottom of my foot, I was more upset that I stepped on the bee in the first place than by its reaction. It’s a little hard for me to relate to M., who’s terrified of bees — and as far as I know, he’s never been stung by one or chased by a swarm or anything. Once I realized the direction things were heading, I made a point to explain to him what bees do and how important they are for our garden. We also read books and sang songs about bees, to the point that 22-month-old S. expects me to hum Laurie Berkner’s Bumblebee (Buzz, Buzz) whenever he sees a bee picture. This PR campaign hasn’t really been working with M., however.

My new strategy is to get more scientific with him, especially in light of the current worries about colony collapse disorder and the potential loss of bees as a pollinator of important ag crops. I was very gratified to see an upcoming class from the Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center, Busy Buzzy Bees, on Monday (Apr. 28 ) at 10 a.m. Targeted to kids age 3 to 6, it’s an info session about what bees do and how they “talk” by dancing, and it includes a visit to the center’s own hive. (The thought of this doesn’t freak me out at all — when I was growing up we always had hives on our ranch, out by the alfalfa fields, and I don’t remember any of us being in jeopardy of a swarm attack out there.) There’s no need to register in advance for this free session; for more info and directions, visit the Powder Valley site.

The project I think will really help M., though, is something the University of Illinois came up with to help track wild bee populations (both honey bees and bumble bees). It’s called BeeSpotter, and it’s an online identification tool that helps the scientists find out which of the species it monitors are being sighted where. Because it’s primarily set up for Illinois bees, I contacted the project director, May Berenbaum, to find out if we St. Louisans could participate. She sent a nice reply: “The only limitation is that the color-guided keys for identifying bumble bees were developed for the 11 species that are found in Illinois–some parts of Missouri have some bee species we don’t have so we might not be able to identify your bee conclusively. If you live near Illinois, though, the keys should work, and we can certainly record your beespotting.”

We’re so close to Illinois — about half a mile from the Mississippi — that I bet some of our bees commute to the city. We’ve registered at the BeeSpotter site, and M. has his little automatic digital camera ready to capture pictures of the Missouri state insect at work.

I get the most interesting tips from fellow playgroup mothers! Today’s post is one example: Meet the Machines on Saturday (Apr. 26) at the Budrovich Companies headquarters, 10328 Bluff Lake Drive (off Interstate 55 in south St. Louis County).

Between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., parents and kids ages 3 to 15 can come to the north entrance of the company’s “bone yard,” in an old quarry, to register for the event. Then the kids can climb around on actual excavation, earthmoving and hoisting equipment, as well as operate cranes and motor graders on a training simulator and see helicopters, a monster truck and a top fuel dragster. It sounds very dirty, a little dangerous — and very wonderful for boys who love construction toys. (For a full list of other participants and activities, see the online press release.) The first 1,500 visitors get goodie bags and hard hats (probably not a bad idea!); food and drinks are provided for everyone for free.

What surprises me about my kids’ relationship to puppets isn’t that it’s imaginative — that’s a given. It’s that they each branch out immediately in such different directions. M. wants the puppeteer to tell stories, usually by reading along with books and having the puppets act out the drama. S. wants to dance as the puppets sing, and the puppeteer is well advised to choose one of his favorite songs, either Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star or Pop Goes the Weasel. He’s only seen one “real” puppet show where the marionettes were telling a story, and he promptly fell asleep.

On Saturday (Apr. 26) the Missouri History Museum and the Regional Arts Commission are co-sponsoring a tribute to the genre to mark the National Day of Puppetry. There are 45-minute puppet workshops at 11:30 and 1:30 p.m., followed by performances of the same length at noon and 2:30 p.m. These are hands-on events that take place throughout the museum, and they’re all free. For details, visit the museum’s calendar (scroll down the right date) or call 314.454.3150. The regular weekly Storytelling in the Galleries (also free, Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for ages 2 to 6 and Saturdays at 1 p.m. for ages 10 and under) also picks up the puppetry theme, with kids using hand puppets to act out the stories. Ah, perfect for M.! It meets in the exhibit Seeking St. Louis: Reflections.

Other free events at the museum this weekend include a self-guided, five-mile bike ride through some of Forest Park’s lesser-known routes, teens acting in Streetcar Stops on the front lawn at the trolley at 11:30 a.m., and the 2 p.m. Gallery Talk about what the condition of artifacts can tell us about their history.

So are you participating in National TV Turnoff Week (Apr. 21 to 27)? If so, good for you — today’s post is dedicated to you and your family. If not, give me a holler and we can commiserate while our kids are glued to the tube. There are weeks where M. doesn’t care either way if he gets his daily limit of TV, but this is not one of them. I don’t know what triggers these cravings, all I know is he’s stuck in a deep one lately. My goal is to stick to his daily limit, and if I can make it through to Sunday without giving in, I’ll consider myself worth of a pat on the back from the week’s sponsor, the Center for Screen-Time Awareness.

There’s a Web site for the week, but it’s not got as many ideas for ways to fill TV time as I had hoped. I think the assumption is that the end of April is a good time to schedule this event, as kids will want to be outside anyway … but even so it’s good to have a few ideas for plein air entertainment up your sleeve. Here are some that we’ve enjoyed lately:

• Sun-faded cards: Using construction paper and “found” objects, experiment with how quickly sunlight fades colors. Early in the day, set out a piece of paper with the objects positioned carefully on it (a diversity of shapes works best). As the day goes on, remove one or two objects for comparison; at the end of the day, see how much the entire paper has faded. This can be a very simple project or a more elaborate one (for older kids); for directions on making it “art” see the Martha Stewart version online.

• Magic bubble wands: If you’ve got a Frisbee and a flyswatter, you have the tools for a great bubble-making experience, especially for kids too young to blow into those ridiculously tiny bottled wands. To make a very sturdy bubble solution (one that will still work with some dirt and debris in it), stir together 4 cups water, 1 cup dish detergent and 1/4 cup light corn syrup. Pour a bit into the upside-down Frisbee, dip in the flyswatter and wave it around. Voila! Bubbles everywhere.

• A new park or playground: It always surprises me how many city parks we haven’t explored yet, let alone county parks, and new playgrounds are being installed all the time. Both St. Louis County and city have sites listing their parks and playgrounds; the county also has a list of its newest parks at the Municipal Park Grant Commission site.

Yesterday M. and I went to see his babysitter sing in a recital — she’s one of the Opera Theatre Artists-in-Training (see a Fox News segment on the program here). It was a wonderful afternoon, hearing those beautiful voices and seeing 21 teenagers who’re so passionate about their talents.

I haven’t seen the new documentary “Girls Rock!” yet, but I suspect it’s uplifting in the same way as yesterday’s recital. I base that opinion on the review in last Friday’s Post-Dispatch and on the film’s Web site, including background on the Rock ‘N’ Roll Camp for Girls, where the movie is shot. Reviewers say this is a movie you should bring your daughters to, and I’m all for encouraging kids’ aspirations through the example of their peers. That’s why I took M. to see his babysitter in the recital.

You can see the documentary in screenings Tuesday (Apr. 22) and Thursday (Apr. 24) at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium. There is an admission charge for the shows, which begin at 8 p.m. (for admission prices and details see the Webster University Film Series site).

Earlier this week you might have seen news images of tourists hoisting SuperSoakers in Thailand, where the traditional new year was celebrated April 13 to 15 with much throwing of water to symbolize ritual bathing. I hope those tourists also participated in some of the customs that are less about public spectacle, like giving alms in monasteries. Here in St. Louis I didn’t see any water being thrown, but there is a Songkran festival on Sunday (Apr. 20) where the public is invited to celebrate in the Buddhist monastery in Florissant. The Wat Phrasriratanaram is at 890 Lindsay Road; for details call 314.839.3115.

There’s a schedule of events at the temple’s Web site, starting with prayers and ritual chants in the morning. Lunch is at noon (authentic Thai food for sale — yummy!) followed by a Klong yow (long drum) parade. After some speeches by dignitaries, the shows get underway. The first, with traditional dancers in costume accompanied by instruments like the marimba and flute, will probably be the highlight for kids, unless they’re girls who’re into princesses, in which case they might get a big kick out of the day’s final event, the Miss Songkran Beauty Pageant.

สวัสดีปีใหม, or in phoenetic spelling, sa-wat-di pi mai! Happy New Year!