Of cats and circuses

Chris and Linda arrived around 7:00 last night and we had a great meal and visit. They were duly impressed by the flamingos and grieved with us over the neon one that arrived broken.

Sundance took it upon herself to stand outside their bedroom door (my room) and so persistently demanded to be let in that I finally put her outside and closed the door to the laundry where her cat door is. She could still get into the garage if she wanted shelter for some reason, but at least she wasn't annoying the Kimballs. I apologized to Chris, but he said they managed to ignore her.

Today I was at the railway store all by my lonesome. Circus World Museum opened its season today, and the woman who has been training me at the railway also works there as a volunteer and had to be in Baraboo for the day. Roberta's husband Bernie is our chief engineer and he does some things for Circus World as well. The museum is located along the Baraboo River on the former winter grounds of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and it includes a live circus performance as well as opportunites to ride an elephant and an incredible collection of old circus wagons.

I also missed the Faire on the Square today in Baraboo, a pretty good arts and crafts show. The more important thing is that I survived in the store on my own. The weather was good until late afternoon, so we had a pretty good morning, but things slowed waaaaay down after lunch. Tom brought Chris and Linda by to ride and then they took off to Minnesota to see their son Chase in a production of Romeo and Juliet. He plays Friar Lawrence. Chase is still a young man, but he keeps getting cast as the wise old man in the plays he is in. He's not all that happy about it.

Also on the railway front, a couple of days ago they came out to film the scenes for the Johnny Depp movie (Public Enemy, in which he will play John Dillinger) that they scouted for last weekend. They used this full-sized steam engine, Milwaukee Road #261, which will be paying the Dells another visit later in the summer.

I learned today that Spiritual Life is planning to publish my article on the names of God. All things considered, though, I doubt it will appear before early next year.

And that wraps up the week.