2010 Week 44: Friends, old and new

Sunday evening we welcomed Dennis and Donna, great friends these forty years since we met and worked together in Germany. Our children were born in the town of Freystadt am Oberpfalz three months apart--our firstborn son and their third daughter.

Monday evening at Stephan's meal, we had a great time remembering old times.

After some persuasion, Stephan regaled us with his famous hunting tale of the five-point doe. His Wisconsin accent is a bit rusty, Mike said. Even so he had us in tears, as we tried hard not to LOL lest we interrupt the storytelling.



Tuesday, tornado warnings interrupted my class. Some chose to leave and try to make it home, others sought shelter in a safer place. A small tornado did touch down at the edge of our little town, ripping the roof off part of the hardware store and either uprooting or snapping more than a dozen good sized trees in the cemetery. 

Wednesday I was pleasantly surprised by a call from a South African lady I met recently. We went to lunch and talked for over two hours. Is it unusually coincidental to have so many life experiences in common, or is it that when you live long enough 'there's nothing new under the sun'?

In the evening, Mike offered a pottery-throwing lesson to one of my former students.

Thursday we were finally able to get together with our friends Dane and Laurie, who traveled to Basque Country with us last June. The electricity was out all afternoon and evening, so we ate out. 

Davenports' newly painted house

I also enjoyed this fall-view of the old railroad that divides our town.

Saturday, we spent the day at an arts and crafts show, met some nice people and had our biggest sale at the last minute. It was easier setting up and tearing down the exhibit this time because it was indoors. However, we broke two pieces in the process. I leave you with this unique candleholder which can live on only in photographic form.