Wonderful Day

Sunday was cold and rainy in the morning. My ride was late. The rain drops got harder and more frequent. When my ride to church arrived, I said we needed an inclement weather policy. We have now agreed where I should wait in case I cannot be out at the curb.

Our conversation around Elie Wiesel's book is still very largely lecture, but I think that is more the desire of the leader to share info than a desire to squelch conversation. The holocaust and the history of the Jews is, after all, quite a large topic. Next week we are to share passages.

The jux apposition of this book with Sunday's sermon was quite jarring. The basic thrust was to develop a sense of wonder: God's rescue of the people at the Red Sea. We don't hear that anyone was lost. As I thought about it, I thought about the 400 years or so it took for God to send Moses. Many were lost. The people, in the end, were saved. Is this a connection? It raises all sorts of questions.

The Children's Moment is worth sharing. The children were the children of Israel. The congregation stood in the center isle. They were the Red Sea. The children were stopped. When the adults moved out of the center isle, the children were free to move forward.

I have learned that there is a dinner group that meets on Wednesdays followed by some kind of discussion–a small group experience. I will try it out and the Bible study which follows it. This group is reading the Book of Mark.Rides have been arranged.

J. and Melanie came. We had split pea soup. Willie Street only has green split peas. I added carrots and smoked turkey which gave it good flavor without adding salt. Someone from the church had visited during the week and brought chocolate chip cookies. The kids ate them up and brought the 4 remaining ones with them for the homeward journey.

We did paperwork which was necessary, but we also checked out where the local library is. It is less than a mile away. It seems a pretty straight forward run. This library is not open on Sundays so we couldn't go in. It is in a shopping center which has been taken over mostly with non-shopping stores like a medical center and human services.

The neighborhood changes as we walk south. We were amused that a Taco Bell is right next door to an "authentic" Mexican restaurant. The neighborhood is definitely Spanish-speaking. This is a different neighborhood than mine with a different name and there has been trouble in parts of it, but no sign of problems on our walk. People are just people.

On the way back we stopped at a farmer's market in the field on the corner. I had thought it was Saturdays and wish I knew about it sooner. Not many people around midday of a chilly day, but the vendors were very friendly. I bought apples and sweet potatoes from one man who handed out slices of apple, had a long tasting with a woman who sells grass-fed beef and bought kohlrabi's and blue beans which turn green when cooked from a Mong woman. I bought bacon from the beef woman. I think it is interesting that a Mong immigrant grows local food stuffs in the Madison area. I wonder if she was a farmer in Laos.

Coincidentally, we went out to dinner at a Mong restaurant the kids like. It is moderately priced, but not a "foreign" experience. It's a noisy regular restaurant with American weight staff. The hotness of the food comes in several layers. I chose careful and J. had native Lao. I think melanie likes cautious. There is also adventurous.

I had wide rice noodles with lots of veggies and shrimp. Very tasty. I can get rice noodles at the coop. I ordered green tea to drink. It was honey green tea. J. had a sweet coffee which turned out to be iced and with a touch of coriander in it. It would have been a great dessert.