So, some people say that small towns have nothing to do. But I’ve been hanging out in Allegan for almost a week (and a trip back to Chicago for Sunday) and I’ve stayed plenty busy.
Larry’s retirement – my boss from Camp Kidwell retired! Congrats to Larry! Get rest!
Hanging with Marc – and seeing Hitchhiker's Guide (review coming later)
Ellen’s show – my friend Ellen makes beads (for necklaces, earrings, bookmarks). She and her friends get together twice a year and hold a show. I stopped by for a surprise visit to see what was there. Ellen’s stuff is of course fantastic – and unique. I love wandering around town and seeing people wearing her beads. It’s always a fun conversation starter – “Hey – aren’t those beads by Ellen?”
ECW dinner – The ECW of the diocese of Western Michigan had generously supported me through seminary. I went back for their annual meeting and shared with them my process and current job.
Township Meeting – Well, I thought that I would be hanging out with my friend JoAnne, but that didn’t work…so I went to the township meeting instead. Not much really went on, but I got to see people and help plan where the new play equipment will go at the township hall.
Camp Kidwell – Of course I stopped by and helped out by creating more work for my dad. I looked at the old cabins that they are refurbishing and though, “Light would help these out a lot.” So, they are now working on increasing the amount of light in the cabins – by almost three times the previous light. I haven’t seen a completed one, but did get to see a partially completed one and it looks great!
Horses – there are horses in my/my dad’s backyard that belong to camp. I was going to ride, but it was too cold most of the time. I did get to brush them a lot. They seem to like that.
Delora – hanging out with a friend that I haven’t seen in YEARS. We haven’t really hung out in like 23 years…and we couldn’t name the last time that we had seen each other. But she’s back in Allegan now and we got together for dinner. Very, very fun.
A massage – because no vacation should be without one.
Target Practice – Marc and Aaron took me out to shoot guns. It’s always a fun adventure. I’m getting better each time and they are both good teachers.
Planting TREES! – this was one of the best parts of the trip. I have been planning on planting trees for a good year now and probably longer. Someone a long time ago was clever enough to line 104th Avenue with sugar maples. For all of my years growing up, we had these pretty trees along the road. Unfortunately, trees get old and these are falling apart. I’ve now been trying to figure out howt o get more trees planted along the road. Unfortunately, sugar maples seem to be hard to come by. But we did pick up some red maples for not very much money and planted 4 of them! Again, it was cold, so I didn’t get as far as I was hoping. Next trip back, we’ll start transplanting the sugars from the woods. But for now, I can at least be happy about the 4 trees.