Most interesting to me, nestled in among the church and social hall and residences, was a restored log cabin-like structure, dating back to 1878 or something, commemorating the presence of John Neumman, the first American Bishop to be canonized into sainthood (by Pope Paul VI in 1977), reassembled amongst the cornfields of the St. Alphonsus parish. The history of the place and its settlement by German families, with the site selected virtually by accident, was quite interesting to this non-Catholic.
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In fact, we had intended to make it up to the Village of Milan to possibly take in their museum on Sunday, but I chose to take an extended nap instead, evidently...
Friday presented another very important (in my view) example of people gathering together for a common cause. This was the evening of our community's Relay for Life (and to those reading this who responded to my "annual shameless request", another huge "thank you". As well as an "it's not too late..." aside...) This event, the eighth or so that we have attended, never fails to move me, with its spirit of hope and happiness, despite the time taken to remember those who fell to cancer in recent memory.
Anyhow, Linda and I head home around midnight now, once our team has sold our last hot dog and the last ice cream sundae, and the bounce house has been deflated, and the team's tent battened down for the night. It's not quite the same as making it all night until breakfast burrito time time at six, but on the other hand, any feeling of sad nostalgia is usually overcome by the soft bed and central air that greets us at home.
The next gathering on the docket is a couple days with friends from Linda's college years and assorted others - a group that has managed to get together somewhere in Ohio or Michigan on a nearly monthly basis since 1977 (well, actually before that, but that was the year I entered the picture). I guess this gathering together stuff is pretty intrinsic, pretty essential. I think some of the finest things people have done have probably resulted from gathering together for a cause, a purpose, or a desire.
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After the busy-ness of the St. Alphonsus festival, we found the absolute opposite of a gathering in the serenity of our local conservation club last night. The only gathering we found there were a gaggle of seven or eight geese beating a retreat when we showed up on "their" beach. You can just see them in the center, nearly at the trees.
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