This is the last Friday of Summer. Doesn't seem quite right does it. We are sure enjoying all the fresh picked veggies. Tonight corn and tomatoes. Yesterday corn and beets. Tomorrow, fresh broccoli and purple green beans. Yum Yum.

Celtic people have a tradition that a lone bush in a field should not be cut down. It may be a secret gathering place for the fairies.

Have a nice evening.

Mary

Yesterday was beautiful and I got the opportunity to take a bus trip with the Senior Saints from Blessed Trinity to La Crosse. We got there at about 10:30 and then boarded a paddle boat called the La Crosse Queen for a 1 1/2 hour tour of the Big River. We were served an excellent lunch while on the tour and a nice young man provided a verbal guide of the trip. Then I stood up on the upper deck for the trip back. What a nice way to clear your mind.

Upon our return to shore, a step on guide joined us an took us on a tour of the city ending at St. Rose Convent. We there were treated to a video and tour of their chapel and the Perpetual Adoration Chapel that exists at the site. This Franciscan Order has had perpetual devotion for 125 years. 24/7 - Two nuns pray in the Perpetual Adoration Chapel for world peace and whatever other prayer requests that are there. The chapels are beautiful and full of wonderful pieces of art. I found out that I can send petitions for prayer. Boy will they be sorry.

After we left the convent, we went accross the Big Muddy to La Cresant to tour an apple orchard. We got an apple turnover and coffee or cider and had the opportunity to buy apples or other things before we headed home. Apple Crisp for us this weekend.

I came home totally relaxed.

Of course, today has taken care of that.

Love

Mary

I was having memories today, so will share them with you. I was thinking of my Uncle George Deeley.

Uncle George was my Dad's younger brother. He was also my godfather. Uncle George never married. He seemed a very content man. He worked hard all his life, retiring from the tanning factory in Sheboygan. He had season tickets to the Packers with a group that went up to all the games. He never drove a car. He was a good looking man and from what people tell me had a beautiful voice.

After he retired, he would go downtown one evening a week and make the rounds of certain bars where he would visit with his friends. This was his social life. I know for sure he always went to Dale's Bar and the Villager. If he didn't show up on "his" night, there would be a call to see if he was feeling ill, or if the weather was bad, offering a ride. Rosemary Eigenberger said that she and Uncle George used to write poetry back an forth in the bar at the Villager.

One night, he was talking to Gert Nitze, a neighbor, who was also downtown socializing. Gert asked George why he never got married. She said that there were a dozen women in Sheboygan Falls who would be glad to marry him. Uncle George just smiled at her and said "Name three."

What a guy. When I was living in California and my boys were young, we looked forward so much to his Christmas gift. He always sent a cheese box. One of those boxes with all the little packages of all the different kinds of cheeses in it. Aunt Helen said he spent hours picking out which boxes went to which people. I know he would have been delighted to watch the boys and their enthusiasm in eating those cheeses.

So those are my memories today. I hope you liked them too.

Mary

This morning when Dick and I went grocery shopping, we came out of Park and Save by the Sheboygan Clinic to the sound of geese. Lots of them. I believe that Autumn is right at the gate. It is impressive to see them flying in their vee formations and hear their honking. Too bad they have become such a nuisance in our parks and all over the place. The winters have been too mild and the food is too plentiful so they don't go so far south.

Have you ever been to the Horicon Marsh in mid Wisconsin in the Fall to watch the waves and waves of geese landing and taking off from the Marsh. It is hard to believe that there are that many geese in the world much less in one place.

I wrote a poem about Autumn. I called it


THE LOVER


Fall caresses the land, stroking
With touch as gentle as a lover
And the Earth trembles.

The Burning Bush, impatient, blazes
As lush trees leak a tinge of yellow on leaves
Still protecting now deserted nests.

Light comes later. Dark comes sooner.
Warm sticky mornings give way
To cool crisp dawns.

Gardens spew out their bounty.
Sweet and juicy and frantically
Produce seed for survival.

God’s creatures gorge on the plenty,
Storing up fat and memories
For the long winter ahead.

Geese practice flying in formation
Ready to flee from the cold that
Is creeping over the land.

Fall, the wanton lover, seduces the earth
Then flees, laughing,
Before the stern, starkness of Winter.




Hope you enjoy

Mary

Packers are winning today. Good thing after last week. Last week was painful to watch. Probably not for Minnesota but they are really nasty fans and deserve a little pain. Dick and I went to a game in Minnesota on a bus tour several years ago and I was actually a little afraid. Those people are nasty. To give you an idea of what I mean - in the pregame prior to the National Anthem the announcer called for a moment of silence in honor of some MINNESOTA person who had died and in the middle of the MOMENT OF SILENCE a drunken Minnesotan yelled "Packer's Suck!" at the top of his lungs. That dome is also an awful place to play because of the noise.

Anyway this week is FUN and we are winning!

Have a great week!

Mary