Dear Kid,

The planets are still in the sky where they belong.

I know this because last night Dad and I went to the Cincinnati Observatory to see Venus and Jupiter converge.

“Converge” means come together. In this case, “convergence” means be less far apart than usual because planets are inherently far apart. Far. You just can’t really plan a weekend visit.

So we went to the Observatory (after a short “discussion” about where the Observatory is actually located). There were telescopes set up outside the lawn outside the Observatory building and the buildings themselves were open for visitors.

The first thing we did was nothing because it wasn’t time to see anything. So Dad went into the main building to ogle the big, big telescope and I went outside to wander around, look at the deer that were helping themselves to dinner on the far side of the lawn, and admire the humidity.

Then we went together into the little building to see the original telescope and learn a little about it. The observatory people were very excited for it to get a little later because they were hoping to use the scope to see Saturn.

Eventually, time decided to move on and we went over to the outside scopes to peer at the planets. Sad face—clouds were in the way. Nothing to see. Wait, wait, happy face! Clouds moved and if you look right here you can see Jupiter and Venus. We looked. Yep. Two round spots in the sky. Fuzzy round spots, if truth be told. Very cool, fuzzy round spots, but round spots nonetheless.

We went back to the little building to see if anyone had found Saturn. Yep, it was right where it was supposed to be (gotta love when planets are cooperative) and the clouds weren’t a problem.

We climbed up the little ladder thing to look out into the universe. And there, right where we were looking, was the most fake-looking planet I’ve ever seen.

You know what Saturn is supposed to look like? That’s EXACTLY what it does look like, rings and all. Crystal clear, plain as day, choose your cliché, there it was and there was nothing that looked real about it.

Except that it was verifiably 100% real.

Which is completely bewildering and completely cool.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

Yesterday was the first annual Paws in the Park event.

You can tell it was the first annual because A) it’s never been done before and B) lots of people say it will be held again next year.

The particular park in question was Summit Park, the new park in Blue Ash where the airport used to be. Much of the park is still under construction (some of the plans are still under discussion as we found out when we asked about the expansion of the dog park part) but the entrance and the main lawn (where the event was) are beautiful.

Mid-afternoon, Pi, the Puppy, and I headed over.

Puppy: It was very nice of me to take you
Me: What?
Puppy: I’m the one with paws
Me: I’m the one with car keys and the other end of the leash

First we wandered around the booths (vendors of dog related things). Then we went to the area where dogs could compete in various activities. The Puppy and I competed in an event called “Round the Bases”. Inside the ring there were 4 big pieces of posterboard laid out like a baseball diamond. The dog’s job was to sit at the first one, wait until the person ran to the second one, run to the second and sit. Rinse and repeat all the way around.

Puppy: And I won
Me: We won
Puppy: I had the hard part
Pi: You were only competing against one other dog
Puppy: I paid attention
Pi: You do realize you cheated a little?
Me: The referee didn’t call it, so it counts as a win

Pi and I sat on the swings and the Puppy introduced himself to one of the firefighters. The swings at the park are brilliant. They are great big bench swings (think front porch swing not little kid swing) on both sides of the main lawn. In a nod to the park’s history, there are quotes from the Wright brothers about being free in the air.

Once the Puppy and the firefighter were done with their mutual admiration, we went over to watch the K9 demo. Rather intimidating in a good sort of way.

Then on to the dock jumping area. The organizers had set up a huge pool with a runway for dogs to compete in jumping contests. The Puppy was quite happy to continue meeting his adoring public and not bothering to be impressed with dogs crazy enough to want to jump into the water. The rest of us were quite impressed with canine athletes flying through the air for 20 to 30 feet before splash down.

In this particular competition they were measuring the landing spot based on where the dog’s tail connects to his or her body. Presumably this made for a level playing field pool for larger and smaller dogs.

The cutest dogs were the ones who weren’t at all sure about leaping off the end of the dock. One dog raced up to the edge, came to a screeching halt using his toenails to grab onto the astroturf with all his might, and proceeded to have an internal conversation (you could see it on his face) about whether he actually wanted to jump. He did. Distance of 2 feet 6 inches. Adorable.

The wonderful Girlfriendology took a break from painting her new home to join us for a while. Our Puppy decided to give her dog a hard time. Let me set the stage. The two of them go back several years, so this is not the first time they’ve met. Brando is a gorgeous retriever of large size and calm disposition. Puppy is a small dog of sweet but demanding attention disposition. The Puppy kept poking Brando with his nose. Brando kept looking at the Puppy like he was an annoying little pest (which he was). Poke, disdain, poke.

The funny part was that with all the zillion other dogs there, the Puppy only wanted a quick sniff and to move on to adoration from people. With Brando, he had an entirely different agenda. Silly baby.

We had a very tired Puppy by the end of the day.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

As you may recall, I spent Saturday morning downtown with Best Friend Errand Service helping set up for the Samuel Adams annual employee Oktoberfest celebration.

I must say (and so I shall) that we did an awesome job turning the “before” into the “after.” Table cloths, centerpieces, corn stalks (yes, I tried to put one bunch up upside down, but we fixed it), HUMONGOUS pumpkins, bales of hay, and a bunch of other stuff make for a great transformation.

They were expecting about 750 to the private event and I hope they had a wonderful time.

Not only did we get to see the incredible ArtWorks mural (still waiting for someone to tell me where the second pint glass and the word Cincinnati are hidden), we got to learn a little about Samuel Adams brews.

First of all, it turns out there is a special, secret, private, locked, and very cool room for the making of the KMF. OK, first it turns out that there is a beer (or perhaps it’s an ale) called Kosmic Mother Funk. You probably knew that, but I didn’t. And it turns out that some (or all—I’m a little unclear about the specifics) of it is made here in Cincinnati. And it further turns out that it ages in HUGE (bigger than the huge pumpkins) vats that are Works of Art Themselves. Holy cow is this room gorgeous.

I know you are probably more interested in what’s in the vats, but I don’t really have info about that. What I can tell you is the room is a beer brewer’s dream and even for those of us that don’t dream of beer it is amazing.

At either end of the room are big stained glass pieces that Samuel Adams commissioned. They show the important figures in Cincinnati brewing over the ages. Beautiful.

After our quick tour of the room, we went back to work transforming the parking lot into an event locale. But the memory lingers. Just like a fine beer.

Love, Mom

Check back Thursday for more about beer.

Dear Kid,

Yesterday I got to help the Awesome Sue of Best Friend Errand Service (shameless plug for her business) set up for the Samuel Adams Octoberfest employee party. More about that tomorrow. One of the cool things we got to see while we were there was the new mural on the side of the brewery.

The mural was done this summer as part of the ArtWorks program with the youth apprentices (apprentici?). As in the same program that wonderful Zoe participated in (albeit on a different mural). I don’t know any of the kids who worked on this one, but it is amazing nonetheless.

The mural depicts the history of brewing here in the Queen City.

Did you know that King Gambrinus is considered the patron saint of beer? That’s him on the far left of the mural. According to My Friend the Internet, Gambrinus isn’t actually a saint of anything but since I’m not one to let facts get in the way of a good legend, I say we go with the patron saint thing.

At King Gambrinus’ feet is the Miami Erie Canal which used to transport materials and goods through Cincinnati.

Then comes the barrel room with the stain glass (I’ll show you pix of the Real Thing soon), wonderful farm ingredients for beer, and the “Louis” beer kettles.

After that Findlay Market, the Cincinnati skyline (the buildings, not the chili), and Genius of Water (better known for standing in the fountain downtown) raising her glass to King G and the people of Cincinnati.

The coolest part of the mural, however, is that there are hidden elements. Not the periodic table kind of elements, but hidden pictures (I knew to call them “elements” because the information flyer about the mural calls them elements.)

There is a big beer bottle on its side (found it), two Samuel Adams perfect pint glasses (found one so far), a flying pig (FINALLY found it), and the word CINCINNATI (still looking; it’s driving me crazy). Here’s a link to a clearer depiction of the mural if you want to try to find the hidden elements.

For the record, it is VERY cool that we have this kind of public art project in Cincinnati. It would be even cooler if someone would show me the second pint glass and the word Cincinnati…

Love, Mom

Yes, Zoe is going to update me on mural she worked on. Very Soon. (Right, Zoe?) Here are the first two parts of that in case you’ve forgotten.

Cincinnati ArtWorks Mural | Teen Interns Participate

ArtWorks Summer Apprentice Program Part II

Dear Kid,

All sorts of moving sporting events are happening. And by “moving” I mean motion not e-motion.

The bulls have started running in Pamploma. This is possibly one of the stupidest events in the history of stupid events. I am not referring to the intelligence level of the bulls. The running of the bulls lasts for a week and sends a lot of people to the hospital.

The Tour de France has started. In France. This is possibly one of the dopiest events in the history of dopy events. And by “dopy” I really mean dope-ed. Yesterday there was a huge crash forcing a number of riders (including the guy wearing the yellow jersey) out of the race. The Tour last 21 days and generally doesn’t send this many people to the hospital this early in the event.

The World Cup is moving out of Canada now that the women have agreed that the USA women are the best. Now eyes are being cast in this direction in preparation for the All Star game next week. Since the entire world was watching, a violent fight broke out on Fountain Square on the 4^th. Lovely. Usually the 4^th of July doesn’t send this many people to the hospital for non-fireworks related injuries.

Makes you want to vote for the bulls.

Love, Mom