Over Before it Begins

The pilgrimage, about which I wrote last week, continued with a journey to Algoma for Sunday Eucharist at St. Agnes by the Lake. A friend of mine is the priest there and it has become a tradition to go there for Sunday. We enjoyed lunch with him before heading into Door County.

¶ We headed for Sister Bay and had been warned that their fall festival was taking place. This involved blocking off the streets, parking far from the “main drag.” There were numerous PortaPotties, bouncy houses, vendors, and party goers. All Johnson’s restaurant is famous for its turf roof complete with goats. The goats were not present. We were told it was too cold for goats. Who knew?

¶ After dealing with our disappointment, goat wise, we traveled to Sturgeon Bay to spend the night. Waterfront Mary’s was the chosen place for dinner where we got involved with the famous Door County fish boil. The cooking is an outdoor event. The night was a beautiful with a lovely moon shining over the water. ¶ The next morning we visited the Maritime Museum and then headed for Austin, Minnesota. Following the hotel breakfast our next stop was the Spam Museum. It really is a fascinating place especially when one was raised on Spam as a young person. Then it was a fairly short trip to Sioux Falls. It seems like the pilgrimage was over before it began. ¶ The fall colors were not spectacular this year, yet. Door County had some pretty scenes. Even though the pilgrimage is the same time every year, the fall color varies widely. I’ve yet to receive a firm answer on why that is. The weather was excellent while we were away. The temperatures were above average over the weekend. ¶ The welcome home from the resident cat was interesting. She seemed to want attention but her essential catness prevented her from being too welcoming. The look was more like “you’ve been away, and now you’re back, big deal.” The next day, however, the need for attention was desperate. Sophia even took up residence in the suitcase in case I had any thoughts about leaving her behind again.

¶ The rest of the week flew by quickly. I attended an interesting OLLI class on cults which provided enough information to make one uncomfortable in the current time. ¶ Today I saw the live HD stream from the Metropolitan Opera. It was a new opera and the first one by a Black composer with an all Black cast. “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” is based on the early life of Charles Blow, a columnist for the New York Times. Jazz makes up part of the score. The “step dance” is amazing. It was a worthwhile afternoon, for sure. ¶ When Monday comes I will have yet another CT scan, visit with the doctor and begin my week of chemotherapy. I know that all will go well. I don’t seem to have as much anxiety about the CT scan as I do the MRI. For one thing, it’s considerably more comfortable and is not noisy. The doctor will share the results when I see him Monday afternoon. ¶ Thank you for your prayers and thoughts. Thank you for all your kindnesses to me and to others.