Picture this : May 2014

Reef knot aka square knot, is a well known knots among scouts.

I came across this interesting display at the Comlara Park situated in Illinois.

 To support this picture I wanted to share, I took help of Wiki and found some interesting stuff about this simple "Knot". 

A reef knot is formed by tying a left-handed overhand knot and then a right-handed overhand knot, or vice versa. A common mnemonic for this procedure is "right over left; left over right", which is often appended with the rhyming suffix "... makes a knot both tidy and tight".

 The reef knot is at least between 4,000 and 9,000 years old.

 The name "reef knot"   originates from its common use to reef sails, that is to tie part of the sail down to decrease its effective surface area in strong winds.

Other uses of this simple knot can be traced to medicine in tying bandages.....known to the ancient Greeks as Hercules knot.

Used since ancient times to tie belts and sashes, a modern use in this manner includes tying the obi (or belt) of a martial arts keikogi.

A note of caution however that it is an insecure knot, unstable when jiggled, and is not suitable for supporting weight.

66...Going on 66.

Travelogue of a weekend of cars, highway and history through the historic Route 66.

Seeing the numerous links for the annual celebration of the old US highway I66, him and her blocked the weekend of May 3 and May 4.

Visit to the I66 Happened on Sunday due to other unplanned activities. 

However a one day of the trip along the old highway should be enough if you are going on a quick hop of each county fair. 

Starting from the twin city of BLONO(Bloomington and Normal), the drive was pleasant for the afternoon. Starting in the afternoon after a heavy brunch, Towanda was the first stopover about 30 min away. 

Stopped by on seeing a board which read " flea market". It was mentioned in some articles that they recreate the days when the highway I66 was in use. True. 

The stalls were set up on a small ground with a live band strumming out songs at one end. 

Stopped by a stall at the entrance where an elderly citizen was selling wooden shapes of birds and animals. 

Next stall had some hand crafted bracelets and curios. There were wood painted crafts which looked cute. 

The visit to this stall did not end with just a window shopping. Purchases included a couple of bracelets for the little nieces back home.

Another interesting stop was by a stall that sold hand knit shawls for little children. The ladies had a story to tell about the stuff in the shelf. Like the muffler that a retired kindergarten teacher used to knit. She used to give it to the children annually. And now that she has retired she decided to knit some for the flea market this year. 

If all this seems like the place full of things only for "her", here are a few stalls that were purely for "him"..... Complete set of John Deere automobiles in metal. Prototypes that were quite close to the actual sizes I felt!

Another interesting place and story was that of the silver dime circulated during the civil war.. Those were on sale and interestingly the ones during the war cost more while the coins just printed (coined) a year later cost a little less. Here the purchase included a 50 cent coin bought for 8dollars .

.

The music band played on with three musicians on the guitar and another dude on the drums.

While some of the visitors relaxed under the trees with a lemonade, some grooved to the songs.

Every town along the route 66 has carnivals set up to welcome the summer.

We drove then on the peaceful two way highway to the next pit stop only to see that that they were winding up on the dot.The drive was lined with  some vintage car displays along the route.

One of the notable stops is Pontiac. As the name suggests, a must see here is the Oakland Pontiac Museum. Maintained by a group of enthusiasts, the place has a wide range of the brand of automobile with a history to tell. There is no entry fee and one can walk into the well maintained museum which also has some interesting souvenirs.  Photography is allowed inside the museum. For HIM- Lots of clicks possible here.

A few murals also line the walls of this town, which is very quiet on Sundays. Here's one of the murals overlooking the empty Sunday street.

The mural depicting Route 66 is an apt background for a good picture to sum up the road trip.

Head further towards Chicago unless one wants to camp or pull over at one of the many such pit stops along the Route 66.

Routing through Route 66

U.S. Route 66 (US 66 or Route 66), also known as the Will Rogers Highway and colloquially known as the Main Street of America or the Mother Road, was one of the original highways within the U.S. Highway System.

Established in1926, the highway originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending at Santa Monica, California, covering a total of about  3,940 km.

 It was recognized in popular culture by the song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66.
While reading up on the Route 66 I found the mention of the song in almost all articles on Route 66:

The song by Bobby Troup goes:

If you ever plan to motor west
Travel my way, the highway that's the best.
Get your kicks on Route 66!
......


Route 66 underwent many improvements and realignments over its lifetime, and it was officially removed from the United States Highway System in 1985, after it had been replaced in its entirety by the Interstate Highway System.

Route 66 doesn't appear on the maps these days. The stretch between St. Louis  and Chicago is still usable for a certain extent. The section of I-55 between Chicago and St. Louis was built as an alternate route for U.S. Highway 66.

One of the remnants of Route 66 is the highway now known as Veterans Parkway, east and south of Normal, Illinois, and Bloomington, Illinois.

During its days, Route 66 served as a major path for those who migrated west, and it supported the economies of the communities through which the road passed. People doing business along the route became prosperous due to the growing popularity of the highway, and those same people later fought to keep the highway alive.

The annual celebration of the Old Route 66 happens with displays and flea markets in some of the communities along the route.
For more on some of the celebrations in a few communities between Bloomington and Chicago, watch this space .

( Information collated from the information over the www)

Rain drops

Liquid water in the form of droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then precipitated—that is, become heavy enough to fall under gravity.

One form of water - Showers of blessings from above is called by various names in different parts of the world.

Regen  in German
Pluie in French
Baarish in Hindi
Matar in Arabic

A boon more often than not, rain can nurture life as well as create havoc - One of nature's ways to remind us not to control or mess with her.
Monitoring and forecasting has been closest we have come to be with mother nature.

To be able to harness the benefits, we need to be able to appreciate and respect this resource.
And when we want to value the times she is benevolent, simple tasks of harvesting rain water can go a long way in conservation.

On World environment day in April, heres a toast to mother nature.
As always: Let every day be a reason to celebrate nature.

Don't wait for the storm to pass....Walk in the rain. It is better than just  getting wet!