Art

Although I am still hoping someday to have one of Dr. Evermore's large metal snake sculptures, yesterday we found this nice piece by Dave Senkbeil. He is a machinist in Sheboygan, and he was one of the artists selling things at the arts and crafts fair in Bowman Park this weekend as part of the Taste of the Dells. It is about 40 inches high (101.6 cm) and fits perfectly into a section of the flowerbed between the sidewalk and the garage near the front door. That section is always in shade, and Tom has filled the space with rocks. The heron picking its way through cattails is a great addition.

A bit down the road is a small pond near which Tom's ancestors built the first farm house when they came to the area in the 1840s. They soon learned about mosquitoes and relocated further away. From time to time in the last few years, we have seen a Great Blue Heron on the edge of the pond. So it is nice to have at least an image of one now at our front door. (It probably seems a bit classier than our diminishing flock of flamingos!)

Iceland

Number 9.

On the home front

Just an update on a few things going on.

1) Two of my Distance Learning students have now completed their course work. That means I only have two active students left, and I am assuming that when they finish, I will be finished with that. It is hard to know, though, because people signed up for the courses who have never sent in any of the assignments. By my counting, they have dropped out. I am not sure how the Institute and the Washington Theological Union will consider it, however, in case one of them wants to start up. So we will see. I have enjoyed the work, the students have done great papers, and the income certainly came in handy while I was trying to find a full-time job with benefits. But now I am sure it is time to let it go.

2) We have begun the bookmobile summer schedule, which does not add to my total hours per week but does mean I spend less time at the library and more out on the road. Our summer reading programs are underway, too, encouraging children, teens and adults to read this summer.

3) This weekend is the Taste of the Dells, with lots of local eateries providing samples of their tasty treats in order to lure tourists into downtown and away from the waterparks on the edge of town for a while. The library has its first big book sale of the year (we have at least three) as part of the weekend. At the moment, though, it is looking like we will have scattered thunderstorms, so not so good.

4) Yesterday was the second anniversary of the Draining of Lake Delton! I am amazed that the lake made such a quick comeback, although I think there are still some issues with stocking it with fish.

Well, I have to get to work. Today we hit two nursing homes and two senior citizen apartment complexes. Busy little bookmobile bees!