JULY 13 a perfect day !

Waking up in my Boondocker hosts driveway with just enough time to caffeinate and beautify myself to get off off to the 9 o'clock service at Saint Augustine. A beautiful church with an unusual crucifix, Very well spoken and delivered readings by two (I'm guessing) 12 year olds of some African descent. The prayers for grieving Texans resonated in the hearts of every parent who has ever sent their child off to camp. My license plates aroused several inquiries of concern." No,God has been more than merciful to me and all my family"

If you have never been to the Munsinger and Clemens Gardens running along the Mississippi for many blocks in St Cloud you need to. It rivals the Palace of Versailles right here in humble Minnesota. Munsinger was primarily built in the 1930s as a WPA project.The Clemens garden, however, was a gift of love to Virginia who had MS from her husband who would wheel her around the garden to view her beloved roses. Now there's a gift that has kept on giving!

The Stearns history museum is usually closed on Sundays but lo and behold on July 13 they were putting on a special World War II event on the grounds with particular emphasis on the role women played in the war effort. Well I had to see that course. We got there just as they were commencing a discussion and exhibit of the various rifles used in combat. ( I videoed some of it for Kevan ) All was fine until they proceeded to actually shoot the rifles to prove ? something?. Well Sheba went ballistic herself. I could hardly contain her in my arms and had to runback to the Casita to calm her down and convince her that the sky was not falling and I would return in due course. They had done reenactment of typical mess hall and served stew in the mess kits to the exhibitors who had to go through the wash routine.And much more. The museum itself is fun especially the granite quarry exhibit. Can you imagine working in a such an environment without any OSHA regulations. Oh, and I finally got a tattoo which apparently came into respectability when the veterans returned covered with meaningful tattoos from their deployment .

Next on the agenda was to go say "Hi" to Joan at Assumption Cemetery. I had in my head that since she was in that beautiful oak earn she was in a vault of which there are hundreds Nobody in the office and no answer on the phone. Only Megan could help with this one and or course she quickly directed me to the beautiful red granite Weismann head stone with Joan, John and Dorothy. The glass vase I had the flowers in was an absolute no-no according to the flower rules, but they looked pretty pathetic just piled in front of the head stone so I planted them in the ground and poured the water over them. So I guess we'll just see what happens.

And now I'm writing to you on the front porch of The House That Jack Built in 1927. I'm going to read it before I leave to soak up more of it's soul and try to appreciate the significant

place it holds in each of the kids hearts.

I' m pooped Goodnight, cant get the photos to post