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Thursday, September 1, 2005 Bob and Kathy Herb and Leslie arrived from Illinois and were greeted with welcoming song at the door, as was SpongeBarb, arriving from Madison. Pam left early but the new arrivals and Phil, Mary, Dana, Kirsten and David, Leroy, and Steve, all sampled Chef Roberto's homemade cheesy creamed tomato soup, Cheffie Stevie's salmon cassserole, gorgeous big red plum tomatoes (plucked from the patio garden by Leroy), several types of salads, root beer floats, etc. It is a delight to watch these loved ones, chatting, loving, and eating. So gratefulare we, for oh so much! And the help in the kitchen is consistent with many hands preparing meals and cleaning up. Thank you all! ....................... Friday, September 2, 2005 Bob and Kathy Herb set up his mini-recording studio this morning and recorded twelve of Bob's songs, sung either solo by Bob or Kathy, or as a duet. Brenda and Robert arrived from Iowa with their friend Laure and all were greeted with song. Phil, Mary, and Dana, all joined us later in the day. Fifteen of us (five couples and five singles), spent parts of the day together in food gathering, meals prep, breaking bread, and personal sojourns. David, Kirsten, and Steve, have all become regulars at Silver Lake Beach in Portage. Kathy has also joined them there. Tonight 12 angels are sleeping at Bumpity Road. Bob helped Leroy with selecting a tent site, from the many choices available, and so tonight Leroy is sleeping under the stars. Barb and Laure are camped out in the many windowed Sunset Room. A nd LeRoy, he who bicycled around the world, is grounded tonight beneath the heavens. ............................................................... Saturday, September 3, 2005 Bob and Kathy 2:30 a.m. Robert M. is doing ACIM work, David is at the computer, and Bob is defrosting food, and then catching up on these daily journal entries. Steve went into Walmart in Portage and returned. David and Kirsten had their 10 a.m. workshop and discussion group about allowing Holy Spirit to guide your life. The afternoon was personal time so four cars went to the Silver Lake Beach in Portage for part of the afternoon. A kitchen crew of chefs picked basil, made pesto, pasta, cucumbers, tomatoes, spinach, pasta, and broccoli, carrot, and rice, baked in a mushroom and celery cream soup, with canteloupe, watermelon, bagels, pastries, cookies, etc. It was a fun time working with others in the kitchen, preparing a meal for the thirteen of us. Sessions resumed at 7 p.m. for several hours, followed by root beer ice cream floats. Ken came downstairs to thank SpongeBarb after 11 p.m. and that resulted in a very interesting, entertaining, and inspirational sharing, much of it provided by Ken, with Kathy, Bob, Dana , and SpongeBarb, also participating. We really treasure all of Ken's insightful sharings with us! .......................... Sunday, September 4, 2005 Bob and Kathy Kirsten and David shared with us in the 10 a.m. morning session, answering any and all questions. Then dinner was a make your own tacos or tortillas with lots of ingredients, accompanied by all kinds of veggies and the vegetable/rice casserole, etc. Eternity also stopped by to visit for a few hours and then guided Robert and Lauri to the Miracles Healing Center, near Wisconsin Dells. A group of seven took blankets to spend part of the afternoon in the shade of the cedar grove, northwest of the house. After a supper of pasta, salads, many leftovers, etc., we drifted in for the evening session, lulled into a meditative state by Kirsten's selection of moving music. The evening session began about 7 p.m, and with follow-up chats, went till about 11:30 p.m. Ending up with watermelon, root beer floats, chocolate sundaes, and popcorn. ................................................. Monday, September 5, 2005 Bob and Kathy It took a while for Leroy to load all his veggies into Jim's van, for his return trip to Wisconsin Dells, on Jim's way up to LaCrosse. Robert, Brenda, and Lauri left in the late morning for their return to Iowa (we just heard from Lauri, about their safe arrival home). And then David and Kirsten left for the Silver Lake Beach, and then on to Sleepy Hollow, Illinois (to be with Herb and Leslie for a presentation there tonight). Helen Thompson, Mother Superior, and Victor, joined with Bob for another card playing shootout at the O.K. Card Playing Corral. Afterwards, we took Helen T. home, visited the popcorn stand, and chatted with Steve before he left for a few days at the Manke's. It has truly been great having so many helpful, caring, considerate, and loving people here during the past two weeks. .......................................... Tuesday, September 6, 2005 Kathy and Bob This morning, it was nice to relax, and sleep in a little while. We checked to look for tickets, to go to Mejico in 2/2006. They are reserved, and we are going. Cuzzin' Jerry stopped by, to visit. We talked with him about how life is going, with his many stops for animal friends everywhere. A casual, relaxing day of tidying up, and, giving repeated attention to all of the leftovers. Thank you Holy Spirit, for all of the blessed expressions and experiences of LOVE that are always here NOW! ------------------------------------- Wednesday, September 7, 2005 Bob and Kathy Work, play, and laughter. In the very late afternoon, we drove to Madison to meet with Sally and Ken Adi Ring for a Chinese Buffet at Hilldale. The real dessert was this interesting couple, and, meeting Sally, (a nurse for 25 years at St. Mary's), for the first very time. Ken invited, planned, and is promoting, Marianne Williamson's Madison appearance next month. Ken and Sally are a very interesting, well informed, and inspiritational couple. We four, then went to see (at Ken's earlier suggestion), the movie, "The March of the Penguins," at Hilldale, which is a very moving, awesome, thought provoking and inspirational documentary about the lives of Emperor Penguins in Antarctica. The photography was gorgeous, moving, and stunning. The true life story line, made visible by incrediblly artistic filming, was truly awesome. And the narration, by Morgan Freeman, was an informative and inspirational banquet, all by itself. After a late evening, warm and hearfelt chatting, with Sally and Ken in the Hilldale parking lot, we two, wended our way to Duncan's and a midnight appointment with a luxurious air mattress. What a nightcap! To be so graciously, and warmly welcomed, by our favorite Cosmic Clown (Duncan's promptings, led to the creation of the Cosmic Clown website, last October 31st). See entries at: http://community.webtv.net/cosmicclowns ............................................................. Thursday, September 8, 2005 Bob and Kathy Duncan french toasted us for breakfast and we had a leisurely morning with this very dear, profound, and cosmically clowning soul, who was also best man at our legal wedding last December 19th at Pathways of Light in Kiel, Wisconsin. Then we met with Deb in the early afternoon to go to the movies at the Market Square Theater, where we were later joined by Don Spencer, and then Duncan. The five of saw one or two movies in different combinations. Madagascar was a humorous and inspirational cartoon about zoo animals seeking freedom. Quite well done! Followed by a double dip of "Cinderella Man," oops, "Murderball." This movie shares the lives of people who have become wheelchair bound, by life experiences, that everyone imagines will never happen to them. They embrace this miracle, do what they find challening, and play professional ice hockey. The story tells about this, and what they do to be professionsal Olympic ice hockey players. It gives a taste of what it is like to be faced with a seemingly life changing experience, and do something which helps one enjoy the moment. The five of us then rejoined to adjourn to Perkins Restaurant on University Avenue in Madison, where we were joined by Paul, later Carol S, and then Ken A R. After dinner, Ken popped for a banana cream pie, and we spent a leisurely couple of hours at Perkins, enjoying the tasty dessert of conversation with delicious friends. As we were leaving Perkins, Catherine B arrived from an orchestral rehearsal viewing, which led to more parking lot warmth and sharing. The two of us then followed Catherine home, where we unloaded melons, and chatted into the wee hours. .......................................... Friday, September 9, 2005 Bob and Kathy Catherine breakfasted us in her Sun Room which was very cozy, with the solar light coming through the ceiling. What a delight! To just be in a house so exquisitely decorated! Many enjoyable and stimulating sharings over the breakfast table, and on the front lawn, with this very articulate friend who has a very wide ranging mind! Then, back to Bumpity Road, where Steve U. arrived to help Bob with a long driveway tree trimming and tree removal project (very necessary, as the very large septic tanker truck could not get down the driveway last week!). All trees under the power line to the house, plus others, were to be totally removed, thus permanently removing future tree for trimming to prevent electrical outages. By dark on Friday, a dent had been made, clearing branches from trees that were to be felled, with piles of scattered limbs, hopscotching down the long driveway. .................................................. Saturday, September 10, 2005 Bob and Kathy Steve, Kathy, and Bob spent much of the day wrestling with oak, hickories, box alder and mulberry trees. Steve was outstanding in keeping our saws in operation and sharpened. We spent the day, trimming trees, felling some, and stacking limbs and cutting larges limbs and tree trunks for firewood. Bob was the monkey on the ladder, scampering among the larger limbs and tree tops with a chain saw. During the hot part of the day, Steve continued his pilgrimages to the cooling waters, and white sands, of Silver Lake Beach in Portage. Kirsten and David also made regular relaxing "forays," to this peaceful, soothing beach and lake, when they were here. Talk about tired! Wow! Goodnight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ..................................... Sunday, September 11, 2005 Bob and Kathy All the monkeys scampered back into the trees! Trimming, felling, and cutting wood into blocks, or the two stove wood sizes. Steve kept the chain saws humming, making repairs, sharpenings, and adjustments, on an ongoing basis, as well as trimming and chain sawing. Kathy used a special manual trimmer that lopped off branches over an inch thick. We ended the afternoon by surveying a driveway that looked like a disaster area! All trees that had fallen into the driveway (away form the power lines, thanks to heavy rope and log chains and tractor for pulling), were finally removed from the driveway. We two, then went to a 6:30 p.m. Conscious Community pass-a-dish supper at Mark M.'s house in Verona, where we met with friend Jim (from the DNR), and Catherine and Duncan! We had a feast and a great discussion around the randomly selected questions of, "examples of when we felt respected?," and, "whom did we respect?" Very, very interesting answers! Yummy! .................. Monday, September 12, 2005 Bob and Kathy Monkeys back into the trees! Kathy finds this manual labor very helpful, and a lot of fun. Kathy left for a Discussion Group, at the Portage Public Library. By dark, five haywagon sized loads of brush and limbs had been loaded, transported by wagon and tractor, and unloaded, in a northwest field for wild animal cover (rabbits, quail, song birds, etc.). Fifteen heavy wheelbarrows full of heavy green wood fire wood for the two woodstoves, were also wheeled into a pile just a very short walk from the front door (in case of deep snow this coming winter). The three of us accomplished a great deal. But, the driveway area, still looks like it got hit by a series of tornados and tsunamis. .................................. Tuesday, September 13 2005 Bob and Kathy Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! The Septic Truck got through today! Talk abut getting rid of your"stuff!" About 3,000 gallons! Twelve tons! Talk about "letting things go!" We gifted the septic tanker truck driver with an immediate check payment in full, and..... watermelons. Kathy worked inside, getting ready for guests. and Bob and Steve outside. Humdity and heat require lots of slowing down, and taking breaks. But another four loads of brush were taken out to the field and unloaded for wild animal cover. The 80's trio, (Helen, Bob's mom, Eva, Helen's youngest sister, and farmer Victor), and his friend Flossie, joined us for supper and card playing. Lots of fun, chatting and playing. We all pitched in for a smorgasboard of food! Lots of laughs! Lots of desserts! We didn't get mom back to Portage till almost midnight (way past her bedtime). And when the smoke had cleared, the top card slinger for the night was Bob. Another fun night at the O.K. Corral, Card Playing Shoot-Out, where cards are bullets, and the three dedicated, card playing eighty something year olds, show up with machine guns. ............. Wednesday, September 14, 2005 Bob and Kathy Bob cut, loaded, and unloaded, four more hay wagons piled with branches and brush, a total of 13 wagon loads so far. That is a lot of cover for wild animals in the back field. Kathy harvested from the gardens and did house work in preparation for weekend guests. E-mails, and phone calls, continue to remind us of the many blessings of friendship. Thank you, Grant, Steve, et al. ................................................. Thursday, September 15, 2005 Bob and Kathy Steve left for the Mankes and Kiel, loaded down with veggies. Kathy picked large tomatoes, and Steve, cherry tomatoes from the patio garden. Then Steve and Bob drove to the watermelon patches to pick three kinds of melons for Steve to gift people with on his travels today. Bob wrapped an injured left leg today and had, what was for Bob, a relatively quiet day. Puttering in the kitchen area, organizing, cleaning etc. We went to sleep early, which is so easy to do when one is deliciously tired! ................................................ Friday, September 16, 2005 Bob and Kathy Duncan stopped by with a former co-worker from San Francisco (Paul lives in Berkeley), and an Amish Apple Pie (still warm from the Amish Bakery), and we wedded slices of sharp cheddar to the pie (from Paul's Amish Cheese Factory purchases) to make a very tasty dessert. After they left for their baseball game with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Mel stopped by to join us for supper, and then Linda and Dekora arrived from Baraboo, and then Leroy from Wisconsin Dells, all for the Dream Interpretation Group. We worked on dreams till about 9 pm and then some of us chatted till almost midnight. The evening ending with Amish apple pie, home grown watermelon, rootbeer floats, and Hershey's strawberry syrup sundaes. ................................................................ Saturday, September 17, 2005 Bob and Kathy Leroy breakfasted with us, starting out as we usually due, with fresh from the fields canteloupe and lots of watermelon. Dan, Deb and Paul, Phil and Mary, Leroy, and we two, then discussed Holy Relationshiops in Deb and Paul's, morning and afternoon workshops. A marvelous sharing by all eight of us, that was very touching, open, warm, insightful, and inspirational. We ended the day with Bob's favorite movie video, "WHERE THE RIVER RUNS BLACK." ................................................................. Sunday, September 18, 2005 Bob and Kathy Leroy is a perfect melon mirror for Bob. They share an unusually great enthusiasm for melons, and, each of them routinely eats more melon each day, than all other guests combined. Bob is a faster melon eater because he doesn't bother about seeds, except for those large seeded Charleston Greys watrmelons. Bob is ignorant of the fact that the other five varieties of melons, have seeds. The same eight, again together, for Deb and Paul's morning and afternoon workshops of discussion and sharing. A sense of "old fashioned family weekend," contributed to the spiritually nourishing and healing weekend for all of us. Help in the gardens, in the kitchen, and cleaning up, made everything a joyfal sharing . Three, four, or five of us were sometimes in the kitchen area, preparing for the next meal. Scalloped potatoes with peas in mushroom cream sauce, pasta with vegetarian sauces, cranberry sauce, home grown venison sausage, hard boiled Amish eggs, flat bread, apple sauce, oven warmed mini loaves, lots of melon, etc. Like yesterday, the whole day felt like a warm family reunion. We sure do eat good. And alot! ............... Monday, September 19, 2005 Bob and Kathy After our extensive melon breakfast, Leroy, Kathy and Bob had a long chat about the wonderful (Onederful) weekend, and, the directions in which Bumpity Road seems to be going. Leroy has a very wide ranging mind, that always proves helpful, no matter what question we ask him. The three of us made a trip to friend Becky's, near Pardeeville, to pick grapes and returned with 2, five gallon pails of purple grapes. Then we asked Leroy to glean food from the gardens and three refrigerators to take back to the Dells. What a blessing it is to have such dear souls spend part of their lives, enriching ours! .............................................................. Tuesday, September 20, 2005 Bob and Kathy Brian, the septic lift pump man, stopped by to check out our lift pump system to the drain field. The pump still works but it is shorting out electrically in the electrical box, so, we put in a call for Billy, an electrican pro. Bob called the Veterans' Administration Hospital in Madison to talk to them about the pain in his left leg, and when he mentioned the "nearly losing consciousness" spell that he had while walking across the Sunrise Room to the bathroom, on Sunday, Bob was adivised to get down to the VA Hospital, IMMEDIATELY. Which we did. After a long discussion, and series of discussions with the Urgent Care Doctor, quite a number of tests are being scheduled to take a look at Bob's heart, blood supply, etc. Then home to Bumpity Road, where John and Charlotte brought their friend Bob Z, from California, to meet us. A great chat with these three wonderful people, and, Charlotte had use home grown carrots and zuchinis to make a very tasty nut cake that is definitely a gourmet classic! They left about twilight. We settled down to a Public Televison Special. And a VERY classy dessert. Some of us did the dessert more than once. One of us did it more than twice. .................................................. Wednesday, September 21, 2005 Bob and Kathy We made a morning trip to the Amish "bent 'n dent" store, finding lots and lots of bargain prices. Kathy picked large and cherry tomatoes from several gardens, to add to what Bob had already picked. Cuzzin' Billy stopped by with his son, Saint Jerry, who replaced starter parts in our 20 horse Allis Chalmers tractor. I still have the 40 horse tractor hooked to the hay wagon to continue cleaning up our driveway after our chainsaw tornadoes limbed or felled about 15 trees (to clear power lines and allow the septic tanker to get in and haul away our "stuff.") Jerry had "Pew' (a.k.a. Phew) Skunk along for the ride. "Pew" is a very fat, full grown skunk that has adopted Jerry. "Pew" as opposed to "Phew," was really more appropriate in view of the hushed atmosphere around "Pew." When Jerry brought Pew into the house and sat down at the kitchen table, we became quite quiet. No one asked Pew to leave. Each us us was very careful not to hurt Pew's feelings. Inasmuch as he has full skunk powers, we were very careful to not startle or scare Pew while we were having dinner together. In paticular, Bob avoided laughing his usual boisterous way, and Kathy sat still and avoided any unnecessary movements at all, except breathing. Quietly. Very, very quietly. After Pew, and his retinue left, we left for Portage where Kathy had her first 3 hour Columbia County Master Gardener Introductory Training Class. This is the first of 12 consecutive weeks of Wednesday nights training, with 30 students, all who have gardening experience. Bob joined over 2 centuries of card playing experience with the 3 eighty something year olds, at his mom's house. Bob turned out to be the top gun at tonight's card playing shootout. But, it was close. The top gun is avidly targeted by 80 year old card slingers. Next Wednesday, they will probably bring machine guns to back up their card slinging. .................................................................. Thursday, September 22, 2005 Bob and Kathy Dave, the electrician, beeped his horn at 7:30 a.m., and found that a mouse had chewed the wiring in an electrical box of our older septic lift pump tank. So, a new part is ordered. We made a group delivery for different people, of nine watermelons to Debbie Thompson's and returned home to find Barb Weaver and her wheel chaired brother, Gary Lee in the driveway. Barb had just returned from a two day round trip pilgrimage to Kentucky to rescue her bother from the lack of care facility he was in. The facility was not going to release him, but then, the facility had the disadvantage of never having met Barbara before. In 21 minutes, Barb had loaded Gary Lee, and was off from Kentucky to Bumpty Road. Barb was exhausted on arrival, but got so charged up with laughter and love, that she was only able to stay up and about for another five hours! Gary Lee is rcovering from severe brain trauma after a brutal mugging and beating. He had been in a coma for weeks, and now, after a few months, Gary Lee is able to occasionally stand, and take a few short steps. ....................................................... Friday, September 23, 2005 Bob and Kathy Barb fixed a dozen Amish scrambled eggs for breakfast, and then loaded Gary to go meet the Wisconsin bureaucrats. I am very happy that I am not a Wisconsin bureaucrat. Gary could not have a better advocate, as Barb is very resourceful, knowledgeable, creative, persistent, and strong-willed. Shortly after we left Bumpity for Lodi, Wisconsin, Leroy arrived at Bumpity with Marlee, his friend from the Bahamas, whom he had not seen for 16 years. Patty Cakes prepared a pasta dinner, and she and Roger were excellent hosts in spoiling us overnight. We were joined by Patty Cakes daughter, Kymmie, and her husband, Jason, whose wedding Bob had officiated at, a year ago. Her son, Travis, and partner Jennie, also showed up for dinner, and, to show us the big boat that Travis had purchased and was working on. We watched the meanderings of Hurricane Rita, until the wee hours, thinking often of our friend, Rev. Myron, who has been so active in relief efforts in Louisiana. We spoke to Myron on Friday morning as she was about to evacuate to a friends cabin, farther north in Lousiana. We then slept in Patty Cake's luxurious guest room. We are so warmed by this family's caring, generosity, and hospitality. It's kind of like being on the other side of An Open Door. ............................................... Saturday, September 24, 2005 Bob and Kathy We picked Helen, Bob's mom, up in Portage, along with the ingredients for one of Barb W.'s favorite casseroles. And mom bought flowers for Barb, and we, flowers for Deb and Paul's wedding at Bumpity Road tomorrow. Mom, Barb, Gary Lee, and Leroy played euchre together, laughing hilariously during several games. Bob played a memorable, final game with Gary Lee as his partner, against mom and Leroy. The final score was 13 - 0. My mom had never been "skunked" by such a lopsided score before, in over seventy years of card playing (she is 86). It was a legendary game. Marlee is an angel, warm, open, helpful, and peaceful. The seven of us really were warmed by each other's kindness, generosity, and helpfulness. After we took mom home, we started the Atlanta wood stove in the Sunrise Room, and enjoyed the flickering flames and penetrating heat. House cleaning and organizing occupied parts of the day and evening, as we prepped for the wedding and guests tomorrow. ............................................................ Sunday, September 5, 2005 Bob and Kathy We had our "quaker meeting" about 10 a.m., followed by our reading of, and initial discussion of, the introduction to MINDFUL LOVING (this is now planned as an every Sunday event at 10 a.m.). Paul and Deb's Wedding began after 2 pm. Guests included Mike and Barbara K. from Hartford, Phil and Mary M. from Markesan, Jim and Diane from FonDuLac, Derrick from Milwaukee, Barbara W. from Poynette, and her brother Gary Lee, very recently from Kentucky, Marlee from her Bahaman Island, Leroy between thousands of miles, international bicycle rides, and Cuzzin' Jerry, our local country saint. Daisy Head Garlands were blessed by each witness and placed on each head, before being returned to the bride and groom. As were their rings, blessed and held by each before the ring ceremony. A candle ceremony was follwed by Holy Relationship Vows by Paul and Deb. Holy Spirit guided the entire ceremony, and tears were shed by both men and woman. A very moving ceremony that was intended for the bride and groom, and with them, for all of present, to take with with us as an inspiration, and a guidance, for the rest of our lives. Lots of food followed the ceremony, with many hands participating in the meal preparation and cleanup. By the time Bob went to bed, the only owls flying around Bumpity and still hooting were Barb, Gary, Jerry and Kathy. .................................................... Monday, September 26, 2005 Bob and Kathy Kathy, feeling blessed, and resting. Barbara and her bro, Gary, off to see the Social Security worker. Bob out along the driveway lopping small branches off felled trees and loading them on the hay wagon. Bob just rode by on the tractor after unloading the branches for wildlife shelters in the northwest field. Kathy, is so grateful for the quiet and peace here. Looking out, the sun is shining, and fields are full of light. Horses grazing, nearby. Wow, God is blessing us sooooo much! Mowed the 50 foot row of sunflowers along the mailbox and Monthey Road, after saving lots of sunflower seeds. Began cultivating some of the fields for next year. We have about 8 backup watermelons on the north patio, and will be picking more of the larger melons tomorrow as the temperature is predicted at a low of 34 for Wednesday night. All four of us spent time watching the sunset tonight. Chef Barbara is in the kitchen working her magic on chicken for supper. Kathy adding herbs from her herb garden. Cuzzin Jerry stopped by to join us for chicken, after having checked over a van that Barbara is (was) thinking of buying. The same four little hooters were owling away when "big owl bob" wento to roost in bed. Their hootings were a loving and warming lullaby. Sixty-five years fell off this old owl and I was a chld again, hearing the voices of Grampa and Grandma, Uncles and Aunts, all of these voices and laughter, a lullaby, as I drifted off into a child's happy, dreamy sleep. ............................................................... Tuesday, September 27, 2005 Bob and Kathy Visitors from a rehab facility interviewed Barb and Gary here this morning, for an initial assessment for potential placement in their facility. Then they were off for a series of appointments, etc. Bob and Kathy picked a wagon load of watermelons. Then Bob harvested large tomatoes and Kathy went after the brussel sprouts and cherry tomatoes. Barb's roofer friend, Rick, stopped by for a visit. And the weather? Going to be near-freezing tomorrow night, so, we are going to have to "tuck in" about a hundred or so melons, by tomorrow night. My goodness, fall is here! And only 3 more days in September! ............................................. We have spent so much time in the kitchen that I am reminded of the poem that I found in one of Duncan's books: Here's are those excerpts: Thank you, Duncan. .................. The Kitchen: Familiar and strange, the kitchen is a holy place - alive with possibility. A place for the elements. Water in the tap, fire in the stove, earth in the food, air - between, around, above, and below. Behind the cupboard doors are the pots and the pans, the bowls and the dishes, the measuring cups and the measuring spoons - holy things that lie ready for use, much like our dreams that lie waiting behind our eyelids. The kitchen is alchemical, a place where we cook - actually and spiritually. We come to it for nourishment and ease. We come to it as to a center - the heart of the house, the heart of dwelling. In the kitchen we are one, linked by hunger - actual hunger and spiritual hunger. We go to the kitchen to be nourished and revealed. It is a holy place. Becoming Bread: ......................... Meditations on Loving and Transformation by Gunilla Norris ................................................................ Wednesday, September 28, 2005 Bob and Kathy Rainy, rainy day. Feels like early spring. A quartet of breakfasters feasting on Barb's bacon and eggs. Rick dropped in to visit and Bob and Kathy left for Portage. Kathy for her second Columbia Master Gardeners' Class at the University of Wisconsin Extension Building. And Bob for another cardplaying shootout at Mom's O.K. Card Slinging Corral. Mom, Mother Superior, Vic and Flossie, Bob and Kathy, ended the visit with a reunion around homemade pumpkin pie (with whipped cream). Then we avoided the deer by driving the backroads home, at 28 M.P.H. .............................................. Thursday, September 29, 2005 Bob and Kathy A very quiet Thursday morning. Usually every one is up long before 10:30 a.m., breakfasted, and up and out and about. But lots of late night activities have left us with some late risers. Kathy is moving around, making the bed upstairs, and Bob is heading for a second cup of coffee. Barb's friend, "Roofer" Rick, stopped by and pulled out a forest of weeds, and mowed, on the south side of the house, and, it really looks great! Cuzzin Jerry stoppped by to install a toilet seat and repair an electic thermostat switch for heat in Barb's bedroom. We two, then joined Mary and Don at the Market Square Theater for: You, Me, and Everyone We Know. Then we went to Mi Cocina (my kitchen) for delicious Mexican Dinners, where we were serenaded by Miguel Angel (from Cali, Columbia), who we also invited to Bumpity Road (as well as the manager and his family). Then we went to Don and Mary's home in Middleton to chat for several hours, with Bob asking alot of questions about their years of involvement in the Saint Benedict Oblate Program, which is an ecumenical community, sponsored by the Benedictine Sisters. The Saint Benedict Oblate Program, and our An Open Door policy here, have much in common. Then a quiet and restful drive home, and again, we managed to avoid several deer, near or crossing the backroads. ............................................... Friday, September 30, 2005 Bob and Kathy We breakfasted with Barb and Gary Lee, packed the little car, and drove to Wild Rose checking into the Krahl Inn, before showing up at the Skiera Farm near Almond for Jason and Julie's wedding rehearsal. Grandma Pat Skiera, graciously took us on a tour around the property which has been a family focal point for this Milwaukee family, for over 30 years. A number of details were modified during the rehearsal, and as darkness descended, Bob was very grateful for the flashlight which was very necessary to finish the rehearsal! The family then began working on supper, and Bob and Kathy adjourned to Wild Rose and The Duck Blind Inn to feast on poor man's lobster, again and again. A warm conversation ensued between our waitress, Carol, and her husband Jack, who is also a correctional officer. They also are recent newlyweds and we invited them to join us at Bumpity with their family. During our little walk afterwards, we heard lots of screaming and yelling, (from a nearby Wild Rose hometown football game). Full tummies and a hot bath. Yummy! ...................... |
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