Pestilence

Do I spend an inordinate amount of time discussing and photographing insects? They outnumber everything, after all, on the planet.

Is this annoying illness of mine a virus or bacteria, then? Do the flea bites have anything to do with it? Did I really catch it from my living partner? Why was he unfunctional longer? Am I actually pushing myself to some silly worse thing? Has anyone ever threatened you with "walking pneumonia?"

I went to work Saturday. Not Friday. I'll likely go today, as well, trudge up to the Northeast Fall Festival, starting around noon, perhaps, to catch sight of the women making pancakes in the park. It's in Concourse Park, home of the weak fountain and the random-seeming JFK memorial flame.

Anyone hungry for pancakes and pagentry? The business-owning and otherwise leaderly women of Historic Northeast are almost all over 50 years old, and thus they qualify for the International Red Hat Society. A-hem. You see how well someone like myself fits in.

They have a sense of humor, albeit not so funny to me, though the name "Real Ladies of Independence Avenue" does have its ring. There is no doubt, as my Saturday afternoon drive confirmed, that the place is rife with unhealth, some of which is prostitution-related, and I admire anyone who can take that in stride while also working half-heartedly to eradicate it.

The cops do help, I should say. The other night, they did a decoy on the Avenue and made over 40 arrests. Too bad hardly any of those people will serve any time or pay much of a fine. . .judges in Jackson County continue to make it the choicest spot for petty crimes. There are jokes about drug dealers who will meet their Platte or Clay County customers right on the Jackson County state line. Crossing over means risking real time.

But I digress. Forgive me if I seem, well, ill. I am. It's a sinus thing or perhaps avian flu, is making my throat and ears ache and obviously is also inducing me to be awake at this time.

I've eaten these Northeast Red Hat pancakes before, and the city's health department does come about and inspect the process, which is more than I can say for most of the mobile vendor units that crop up like mushrooms around Northeast parks and intersections. The pancakes are good, and I hear that the coffee is from the Roasterie.

Meaning, if you have six bucks and don't mind the scenery of a sleeping-carnival, stop by St. John and Benton (right by St. Anthony's Catholic Church/Cliff Drive/The Kansas City Museum) this morning between 10:30 and 1:30 (for the lazier of us and/or those who are awake at 3 a.m. but have recently taken Tylenol p.m., only getting now the joke that, hey, it's not yesterday anymore).

Speaking of fun and such, the actual festival wraps up today from 3 to 11 p.m. Expect free musical entertainment, kids' stuff like art and goofy little shows, bouncy tent things, aforementioned carnival rides to pay for, as well as people galore, food from places like Knight's Barbecue and Del Porton, Solgado Fruits and some place from up north called the Corn Crib, and even recycling.

I can't predict how the Chiefs home opener outcome may affect the atmosphere.

I will conjecture that my personal atmosphere will be cloudy and have something to do with Sudafed. Yes, I bought some of that again.