So deer, and yet so far

Before they take passengers out on the R&GN Railway every morning, they do a run along the route to make sure nothing is on the tracks, like tree limbs that might have fallen in the night. This morning when they made that first run, there was a doe near the tracks with a newborn fawn. They thought it might have been just a few hours old, because it was not able to stand yet. Roberta -- wife of the chief engineer and also a volunteer in the gift store -- and I were invited to take a ride to see it. Unfortunately by that time, they had disappeared. I wasn't too surprised. After all, if a train, even a small one, is running by over and over, you probably don't think it's a good place to stay with your baby.

So no deer sighting there. It did turn out to be a fairly busy day, though, for the railway, which is a good thing. I am enjoying it still. It is fun to talk to the parents while the kids run around playing with the wooden train set that is laid out for them or trying to convince their parents that they need the most incongruous things. There was a little Asian boy there today, probably five years old, trying to convince his father that he (the boy) definitely needed a red caboose key chain. His mother confided in me that they have so much train stuff that it is driving her crazy, but whenever they go anywhere, her husband gets on the internet and checks to see if there is anything train-related in the area. I'm sure his story is that it's for the kids, but I am more and more convinced that it is the fathers dragging their kids out there so the men can play with the toys.

Bright, bright sunshiney day

Helen and Buddy headed back to St. Paul early this morning. Naturally the day she leaves is beautiful, sunny and in the high 60s, while most of the days she was here were cool and at least intermittently rainy. It didn't stop her from helping Tom work in the yard some, however, and yesterday afternoon they put in about 50 gladioli out front. This was particularly noble of her since she doesn't like them. But then again, she won't have to look at them. Peggy, on the other hand, is a big glad fan and will enjoy getting some from us from time to time for her flower arrangements.

Last night Helen, Buddy and I watched The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first of the Disney versions of the Narnia tales by C. S. Lewis. We both thought they did a pretty good job of it. The next one, Prince Caspian, is due to be released soon, and ABC (a Disney company) used this opportunity to stir up interest in that new film. For those who have not read any of the Chronicles of Narnia, they are fantasies with a definite Christian slant. My favorite in the series is the seventh volume, The Last Battle, which serves as the apocalypse/end of the world. Although it was written in the mid-1950s, I always thought it presented the bad guys as barely disguised Muslims. I am sure Lewis did not intend that, and even if he did, the way things work out, it is obvious that at least in Narnia, it is not always so obvious in advance how people will be judged.

These are children's books, but I first read them in the monastery and found them engaging. If you are looking for fairly light reading with a clear message, you might enjoy them. I am sure your local library has them. The title of the entire series is The Chronicles of Narnia, and you can read individual books without having to read the whole set.

And that's the librarian's report for the day.

Somewhat soggy Saturday

The morning started off pretty cool and with a definite threat of rain. Tom and Helen joined some other people in the annual clean-up along the Wisconsin River and I went over to the railway. The threatened rain never amounted to much, although that combined with the chilly weather did mean we got pretty much no action this morning at the train. I sold two tickets right before I left at noon, but a few cars loaded with folks pulled in as I was pulling out. The skies began to clear in the afternoon, although it stayed cool, so maybe they got some business. Besides the two tickets, I had sold a coffee cup and Tom bought a couple of whistles and Helen got a postcard to send her mother. They have a clearance on pin-on buttons of a train with a flashing light -- normally $4.95, now going for $0.50 -- so I got one of those to add to my flashing button collection. (I now have three, so I am not sure that really constitutes much of a collection.)

I had a pretty quiet afternoon. Went to the bank to deposit a check, went by WalMart to pick up a prescription and a few odds and ends. Helen brought a book with her by a Harvard prof, James Kugel, called How to Read the Bible. It's one of the books she had been recording for the blind, and she found it interesting enough to get a copy for herself. It is a pretty hefty volume (over 800 pages with the notes and all), but I had read another of his books and have been reading what I can of this one while she is here. I am close to halfway through, but she has to go back to Minnesota tomorrow. I have added it to my request list at the library, as well as requesting yet a third book he wrote. He is an Orthodox Jew and an excellent writer. Apparently the course he teaches at Harvard, based on this book, is the most popular course at the university.

I think we are just going to watch a movie tonight. Last night we all went out to dinner with Debbie and a friend of hers. As a reward for helping with the clean-up, Tom and Helen got a nice lunch provided by one of the better local restaurants. As a result, they don't sound too concerned about dinner. I had a small piece of leftover fish for breakfast, a small bit of leftover Chinese for lunch along with a tablespoon of peanut butter. They may not want a real meal, but I likely will. We'll see.

Meanwhile, I keep checking my email to see if Vinko has sent me any more stuff, but nothing so far. He leaves Rome on Wednesday, so if he hopes for me to get anything back to him by Tuesday so he can give it to his director, he'd better hurry.

May flowers and things cold at Witches' Gulch

April showers and all that.

Seems we had more April snow, but Helen has been helping Tom work on the yard to get some more flowers and other things moved around. Today has brought May showers, thunder and lightning and more is predicted for tomorrow. When I was working at the library, we got a torrential spell. The good news is that the roof didn't leak the way it had a month or so back when a foot or so of snow had piled up.

It was still cool enough in Witches' Gulch -- one of the sights along the Wisconsin River that is included in the boat tours -- when Tom and Helen were there yesterday that you could see your breath and there are patches of unmelted snow. The boats stop and passengers walk up along the gulch to a rustic snack bar. During the warmer months, it is refreshingly cool there.

According to Native American legend it was a great serpent, wriggling down from the north and his home near the Big Lake, that formed the bed of the Wisconsin River. Crawling over the forests and the fields, his huge body wore an immense groove in the land and the water rushed in behind him. When he came to the sandstone ridge where the Dells begins he thrust his great head into a crevice between the rocks and pushed them aside to form a narrow, winding passage. At his approach, lesser serpents fled forming the canyons which lead off from the main channel. It was these timid, lesser serpents that formed Coldwater Canyon and Witches' Gulch, so the legend goes.