Front yard visitors
Last week, we had quite a journey ~ first a Sunday wedding in Stillwater, MN on the Mississippi, then heading north to family. Mid week Joel officiated at a Dahlen family friend's funeral, and Saturday morning we headed south to Red Wing MN to another wedding. In between we watched a grand run in cross country and another play soccer. We watched harvest taking place outside our window, talked way too much, laughed just enough, and shed tears just a little. I wrote about our week here, A Funeral, Two Weddings, and a Baby.
We arrived home Sunday afternoon and settled in to our quiet house. By Wednesday I was feeling pretty punk and have continued to fight some kind of virus. Our grands and son Mark were all a bit unwell, so expect I picked something up. Actually, I would never intentionally pick it up, it just latched on to me. Ha. I have been sleeping, napping, reading, not really that sick, but not that well either. Prayer and essential oils are certainly helping.
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Joel has been riding when he can, hoping winter will hold off until December this year. While up north he rode his favorite biking path, the Central Lakes Trail, which goes from Fergus Falls to a smaller town south. You only cross three roads, and ride mostly through woods and prairie on paved paths. I believe the trail is 62 miles long, but he rode from FF to a small town 11 miles south and then turned around, making his ride that day 22 miles. He loves to ride!
While up north, as usual, we never watched TV. I did not see the news at all. When I first arrive at the farm I usually go through some "nightly news withdrawal", but by the time we leave, my stress levels are down and I am quite relaxed. When we came home this time, Joel wondered aloud if we just needed to get rid of the TV. My response was, "No we just need to manage what we watch and not let the TV manage us"!
After the last "debate" we decided no more election news. The drama of it all is very enticing. We seem drawn to it like a moth to a flame, but it is not healthy for us, and we know who we are voting for. Soon, people, soon this will be over. Joel keeps saying we need to do what England does and have two weeks of campaigning instead of two years! Sounds good to me!
We always enjoy going back to Joel's roots, the home farm, and his country church just a couple blocks away. You can see the steeple high above the trees before you arrive at your destination. The cemetery surrounds the church, and at this time 17 Dahlens are buried there. We, too, will someday lay our ashes there near his parents. When we were first married we lived in town and drove the 15 miles out to services at his home congregation, Aastad Lutheran. I taught Sunday School for a couple of months and sang in the choir before the military sent us another direction. It was a full church at that time, and many of Joel's family sat in those pews. The congregation has gotten smaller and smaller over the years as fewer grown kids stick around and farms are fewer to behold, but it's history is rich and it's present time and future important to those who still worship as a congregation.
Aastad Lutheran as seen
from the family farm
We have watched only a couple of teachings this week and a few TV shows. I have been reading the same books as last week, so that tells you I am not getting much reading done! Joel is off preaching in a congregation south of us tomorrow, so he has spent some time writing a sermon. He has hundreds to choose from, but prefers writing new ones. Not much going on in our corner of the world. So what have you been up to this week? Any new books to recommend? Hope you are enjoying the beauty of October wherever you live.....
Until next time.......................
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