Quarry Days

I survived my first campaign parade, the Quarry Days parade last Sat. I had practically my entire extended family there helping, bless their hearts. Some rode in the car, (Sunkist, my '41 Chevy, now pressed into parade duty) others walked along and handed out candy to the crowd. I learned 2 valuable lessons- 1) it is impossible to shake everyones hand and keep up with the rest of the parade. 2) Don't wear cowboy boots. They're fine for ambling along but I was in full blown sprint most of the time. All told, I thought the team did a great job, thanks everybody! It was a beautiful day, and except for a thunderstorm on Friday night, a beautiful weekend. The cardboard boat races on Sat. afternoon were really fun and the LandMark Realty boat, piloted by Allie, Amanda, Erin & Jeff took first place in the "B" feature, all of them managing to stay dry. I have never seen so many campers in the campground, ever. I do believe it was party central down there. Grandma & Grandpa had their camper set up down there, but ended up spending 2 out of the 3 nights at our house due to excessive campfire smoke, no parking and general hooliganism. It was pretty much a free for all. The fireworks display last night was great as usual, a fitting end to a perfect weekend.

Candy memories

So I'm preparing for this weekend and there are all these details, not the least of which is, what do we hand out while we're walking the parade route. I know you can go through candy like corn through a goose, so I get on the phone and start checking around. One phone call later, I score. Queen City Wholesale in Sioux Falls will sell me a 25 lb case of assorted hard candy for, get this, $26.15! Now think about the candy you buy in the c-store. I didn't do any factual research or anything but how much candy is usually in those little bags? 2 oz? for 99 cents? or more? This is a dollar a pound, people! It made me smile to think of how excited Wyatt would be to hear of this great discovery. If he were here for the parade, I would certainly have needed another case. That boy was a candyholic. I never said anything to him about it either and now I'm glad I didn't. Didn't matter in the end, now did it?

Time to campaign

It's been kind of slow in the political arena, but now is the time of the year when all of the towns in my district have their annual summer festival, which means parades, which means me being in the parades, pressing the flesh and kissing babies. We're starting out this Sat. right here in Dell Rapids, with our own little celebration, www.quarrydays.com. I'm pleased to see that we have a larger variety of activities planned than in years past, so I hope we have a great turn-out. I'm having t-shirts and banners made for the parade as we speak, so it should be fun. If I ever figure out how to post a photo on this blog, I'll put one up of the parade.

Yesterday was Father's Day and the 7 month anniversary of Wyatt's passing. A very bittersweet day indeed. I spent it with my own father. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed it, every second. As fathers who have both lost sons, we have a bond that no one else will ever know. A special thanks to Donald, Ali and Kasha, who remembered me yesterday, along with their own dads.

Labyrinths

I thought I would post a short article about labyrinths for all of you who don't know much about them. The garden plans are moving slowly. We are waiting for the brochures to be printed. We are planning to get underway on the garden in about 2 weeks. We can't wait to have a place to go to pray and meditate.



Why would I walk the Labyrinth?
Even though historic pilgrimage travel may not be available to everyone, the need for Pilgrimage is still present deep within each life. Pilgrimage represents our spiritual journey, our desire to grow spiritually, and in the Christian tradition, represents our commitment to Christ. Because of its Sacred Geometry, physically walking the many turns in the pattern stimulates a most quieting and conducive brain-wave pattern which opens our heart and mind to the awareness of the holy presence of God within.

Jesus said, The kingdom of God is within you. But just where is that kingdom really to be found in our human life experience? How do we attain it in this fast-paced society? No matter what our spiritual orientation, most of us need to contact that special state of awareness via the practice of prayer, corporate worship, quieting, centering, or meditating through a form of spiritual discipline. Just as spirituality is not a spectator sport, the labyrinth is not a one-time event, even though many report marvelous insights from their first experience. Rather, it invites you to deepen your spiritual experience, to 'be still and know,' to seek the Kingdom within. In short, walking the Labyrinth offers the following:

It can serve as a mechanism to reconcile you to a new spiritual way.

It can help you quiet your mind, and prepare you to listen for God.

It can help you pray with your heart (instead of with words).

It can serve as an alternative to meditation.

Dr. Lauren Artress points out that the seeking of answers to our questions is the act of walking a sacred path. When we walk the labyrinth, we discover our sacred inner space. We are attracted to healing tools such as the labyrinth because they deepen our self-knowledge and empower our creativity. Walking the labyrinth clears the mind and gives insight into the life journey.

In the words of Marilyn Campbell, All Saints' Labyrinth facilitator, "Allow yourself 45-60 minutes to experience the meditative walk. Be assured that there is no right or wrong way to walk this path. There are no tricks or decisions to make, one only follows the winding pathway into the center, then returns by way of the same path."

And finally, as excerpted from the Hungry Heart News, "The labyrinth allows us to offer up to God the reality of our lives, trusting in Godâs immense love and grace... The very life of Christian faith is a labyrinth -- full of unexpected turns and twists, requiring us to step forward in faith, confident that Christ -- our Way, our Truth, and our Life -- is at the center of the very universe and at the heart of our life in God."

Wyatt's Poker Run = Success!

All the work and worry and anticipation and then- poof! So quickly, it's over. But what a glorious day it was! A recap-
Friday night I quit working about 6 pm. Ginger was already here, having flown in on Wed. night. A very good help she was on Thursday but Friday was a sunny day and even demi-goddesses have to be tan, so I lost her to the beach towel and tanning lotion. No matter as we were winding down. Friday night was to be a relaxed evening on the patio, renewing old friendhips, and so it was. Kyla and Lauren got in about dark from Mnpls, Bobbi, Josh and friends from southern MO, Will from WI, Ali from CO, Laura from Mnpls, many more friends and family. We grilled and ate and laughed, it was great.
Sat. morning dawned kinda cloudy but the forecast was for a hot, sunny day. We loaded up t-shirts and registration forms and headed to Sioux Falls about 10 am. It started to rain on me on the way down and I had a couple bad thoughts for a second but then it quit. Once we got down there, I found out the first disturbing fact of the day- there was ANOTHER POKER RUN LEAVING FROM THE SAME PLACE! No wonder the owner had not been staying in touch with me. Whether or not by accident or design, we had a local ABATE chapter set up right next to us in the parking lot. The (very literally) big guy from ABATE was whining and crying like a baby as soon as we got there, he couldn't believe we'd scheduled our run on the same day, they'd had the first weekend in June for 16 years, blah, blah, blah. He was really starting to get annoying and I was on the verge of telling him he didn't own June 3rd, no matter how much he liked to think he did, when he gave it up and went back to his table to sulk. So we're set up by 10:30 am and in the next hour we'd registered maybe, oh, 10 people. I was starting to get nervous. It was so bad we had to forge an alliance with the ABATE folks that we would ask anybody that came to our table which run they were actually there for, so we wouldn't steal each others people. About 11:45 things got busy in a hurry. Suddenly we couldn't keep up and there were lines. It felt so great to ask someone I'd never met before which ride he was there for and have him reply, "I'm here for Wyatt". There was a group of friends from Dell Rapids that actually chartered a bus, filled it and came to the run. It was awesome and overwhelming. From then on, the day was a piece of cake, riding to each spot, spending some time on the bike with my daughters, visiting with all our friends and making new ones. Too soon, it was almost 6 pm and we had to be back to the Old Dutch Inn for the drawing for best hand. All the winners graciously donated the money back to the fund. We all ate great food donated by Tom & Jamie of the Old Dutch, then danced and sang the night away with karaoke. I haven't tallied final numbers yet, but between 175-200 poker hands were sold. Special thanks to Jack at the Sidewinder, Mark & Elizabeth from Baltic Corner, Trisha & Matt from the Prarieview, Kathy & Chris from the Colton Bar, Steve from Steve's Bar in Trent, Susan & Smith Publishing for the flyers, Chris Hintz and Pinnacle Entertainment for karaoke, and last but certainly not least, Tom & Jamie from the Old Dutch Inn. I know I'm forgetting someone, forgive me, it wasn't intentional. Thanks to all of Wyatt's friends and family who traveled long distances to be with us. What a tremendous tribute to our son. Thank you all from the bottom of our heart.