PILGRIMAGE

Getting there is half the fun??? By the time I left for my Pilgrimage, I felt like I had run a marathon!! Nothing went right~especially Mapquest~SHOCKER!!I was late for the rendezvous. The force was definitely not with me!I had a flashlight that didn't work, couldn't find the rain poncho, bedding was still damp because Tyler forgot to put it in the drier...I could go on and on! Whenever we make big commitments in our lives,it seems that big obstacles pop up to test our resolve! Such was the case with me and Pilgrimage.Still, I had the sense of being called and I knew deep down that it was meant to be for me to experience this thing called Pilgrimage. But what the world is Pilgrimage anyway??? Nobody was telling...Some sort of spiritual journey I was sure. But what were they going to do there? Especially without cellphones, laptops, and FACEBOOK!!! I wondered if it was an Amway ploy? A secret society like The Skulls? Worse yet..some kind of cult. Hmmmm. Hey, wait a minute, Kathy Bruins invited me. I'm sure she's not into anything weird.She looks innocent enough. Anyway, the Presbyterian church has some affiliation with this. When was the last time you ever heard of a bunch of Presbyterians running amuck, losing control, and going wild?? NEVER! Yeah, I'm sure it's probably ok. What's the worst thing that can happen? Go ahead, live dangerously, take a risk, right? So, I went.
You know me, I'm the one with the "I'm blogging this" T-shirt. It was my intention to write a tell-all, complete with pictures, describing in extensive detail everything I did and experienced on my Pilgrimage. In retrospect, I have decided not to do that. Why? Because Pilgrimage was a very unique, life-altering, God-finding, soul-searching event and, looking back, I understand why my friend did not want to tell me about Pilgrimage. She wanted me to have my own experience, uninfluenced by the input of others.There are people in my life that I hope will make this journey themselves and I do not wish to diminish the experiences of any future Pilgrims in any way. In fact, I believe that Pilgrimage should be on everyone's Bucket List~a once-in-a-lifetime must!
So, I apologize to those I promised to enlighten upon my return...
There are a few things I can say about Pilgrimage, however:

*Presbyterians are a lot more fun than I had ever imagined!
*The dining experience was very colorful, shall we say...roosters were crowing, hens clucking, chicks peeping!
*The first night I thought I had morphed into a nun.
*The second day I was channeling Picasso, Rembrandt,Leonardo Da Vinci, or maybe someone more on the order of Andy Warhol :)
*The third day I could have been mistaken for a cast member from Saturday Night Live!
*The fourth day everyone turned into a ROCK star!
*For some reason, the number 22 keeps popping into my head (inside joke!)

Lana Mae Baker gives Pilgrimage a 5-star rating and 2 thumbs waaaay UP!!

THE LORD IS MY ROCK! Psalms 18:2

Ponderings

This slideshow is basackwards because I couldn't figure how to re-order the pictures in the web album after it was uploaded.A Benjamin Button kinda concept! Please keep in mind that this pond is not finished...and probably will not be until the good weather comes again in Spring/Summer of 2010. Just consider this a work-in-process:

Granny's Groovewalk

Jayden and I have our own version of the Groovewalk and here it is:


After a frustrating attempt to attend the Kids Hope Prayer Walk...which turned out not to be a walk, which I was counting on to work the wiggles out of my little wiggle bug...Jayden isn't big on a lot of talking and no activity. So, Barb graciously excused us from the rest of the meeting and we spent a surprisingly entertaining afternoon walking downtown in Holland. Not very busy downtown this crisp Fall Sunday afternoon. Only a select few have acquired this taste...But we had fun noticing all the pumpkins downtown and drooling over the candy at the Peanut Store and Kilwins. We scoped out all the toys at the Sandcastle. We even peeked in the window at the Windmill where we will have breakfast in the morning before school. Most of the businesses were closed but we enjoyed the water fountains and all the sculptures that Jayden likes to pose with. We encountered a mix of Fall and harvest themed decorations and Halloween ones. We saw the occaisional dog out walking his owner. We shuffled our feet through several big piles of leaves. Stopped for a drink out of the drinking fountain at City Flats Hotel. Then made our way back to the water fountain where we parked our car. A quick trip to McDonald's for some Chicken Nuggets. Then home to check out the inside of the barn -just to make sure nothing has changed since last week! Jay taks a little sit on top of the hay bales in the pasture. We let Gunther and Patches run, before settling back inside for our usual viewing of Cars before bath and prayers and naps. We like our version of the Groovewalk just fine :)

Honey Crisp Express

Yet another trip to Crane's...Somehow this never gets old! We had a wonderful lunch at the Pie Pantry and then out into the orchard to pick our favorite apples...Honey Crisps, of course! So sweet and delish~Bombdiggity!



We picked up some apple cider doughnuts to go, along with an apple pie that was still warm from the oven and some apple butter and raspberry jam, along with a gallon of their apple cider. That should hold us for awhile...but not too long~it will soon be Halloween time and time to go through the Haunted Corn Maze! What would we do around here without Crane's?? It just would not be the same!

Labor Day 2009: All Play and No Work!

After extensive physical training, exhaustion, and near-fainting, I am proud to say that I made it ALL the way-all .19K- of the 11th Annual Blue Star Bridge Walk between Douglas and Saugatuck! Took all of about 5 minutes! The event began with the town crier announcing the bridge walk officially open. He was followed by a cadre that included the mayors of both Saugatuck and Douglas, two bagpipers, and congressman Pete Hoekstra. I would say there were at least 500 of us walking, double that if you count all the dogs! I had my reversible sign: Saugatuck or bust/Douglas or bust...there was one guy on a pogo stick...and then an entire line of people with toilet plungers(???).It was quite an experience! Of course, Kim and I just had to get the official T-shirts. We stopped at the doughnut and ice cream breakfast in the park afterwards as well. Next stop was Crane's Orchard. This marks the first weekend of apple picking. Since we were meeting Rachel and Carol for lunch at the Pie Pantry, then off to Detroit to the IKEA, we didn't want to pick a lot of apples~just enough to snack on during the trip. So, Gala's, Golden Supremes, and MacIntoshes were the ones ready now and we picked a few of each. We had lunch with Carol and Rachel Nykerk at noon and it was yummy as usual.Great conversation and wonderful to catch up again with both those gals~don't think I've seen Rach and Carol since our trip to Oregon in May/June. Our delicious lunch gave us the sustenance we needed for our roadtrip to Detroit Rock City IKEA. Kim had never been to an IKEA and I have only gone several times...with men..who have no patience for shopping, I might add! Never have I gone and been able to look at my leisure. So, we both shopped until our heart's content. We looked at EVERYTHING! There's enough stuff there to just make your head swim!We got a lot of great ideas and bought a few small kitchen gadgets and closet organizing supplies. Tired but happy, we stopped at Chili's for a very nice dinner and then home in the rainstorm. Our Labor Day was all play and no work~as it should be!Tomorrow is back to reality but, on the bright side,a short work week.

OMG! FMG!

Granny has been working waaaay too much lately! So, last weekend I promised Jayden that I'd take him wherever he wanted to go...I am always amazed at the number of times he asks to go to Frederik Meijer Gardens! This is why, after our first year going to the butterflies, we just went ahead and got a membership. I'll bet we've been there an average of 8 times a year for the past three years! Jayden adores this place and I have developed such a fondness for it, too. I know we have taken many photos here. Many of them similar except for the fact that Jayden continues to change and grow up. This day, we went walking in a part of the garden that we've never gone to before. While on our walkabout, we ran into some aquaintances from Holland who were attending the wedding of a former neighbor. It was an Indian wedding and the traditional saris the women were wearing were just breathtaking! Jayden hit all his favorite spots...the fountains, the Great Lakes (complete with boats) and the sandpit where he is obsessed with the trucks and digging holes! We ate lunch in the cafe there and then did something at FMG that we have never done before-we took the tram all the way through the garden and viewed all the sculptures. It was really worth doing. I had no idea there were so many...and so much more room left for future expansion. The guide gave us all the names of the various works of art and told us who the artists were and a bit of background information about each artist and each piece of sculpture. It was really neat~and I learned something, too. Always a bonus!The farm hosted tastings for heirloom tomatoes today and there was also a rose show. It is my intention to get more involved with the exhibits and classes offered here in the future. For now, we'll be back later in the Fall for the pumpkin art and the Halloween decorations, then, of course the Christmas trees...and the cycle will begin anew with the return of the butterflies in the spring. We will be there!

What the cluck?!

The Whitecaps took a shalacking by the Fort Wayne Tincaps! The Whitecaps started out like champs~Gustavo Nunez doubled, then made it to third on a grounder and ran it home on a pitch that went astray. This in the first inning. After that, no Whitecap made it past first base! The Tincaps scored a run in the 5th, three more in the 6th, and buried us under 3 more runs in the 7th to strike the final blow. Whitecaps lost 7-1. The worst game I've seen this season at 5/3RD Ballpark.

The redemption of this night came by way of the famous San Diego Chicken who I hear is possibly slated for retirement this year. This guy, Ted Giannoulas, has been "doing the chicken" since he was in college at San Diego State in 1974! A rock station in San Diego hired him for $2/ hr. to pass out candy at Easter time at the San Diego Zoo. He was such a big hit, the station kept him on to do other promotions. The chicken started showing up at the Padres games and that was the beginning...since then, this famous foul has appeared not only in sports events, but has been part of the concerts of such artists as Paul McCartney, J.Geils Band, Sammy Hagar, and even Elvis! He has entertained presidents. He even had a cameo in the cult classic movie, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.During all these many years, Ted Giannoulas has never refused an autograph request or denied a photo with a fan of any age, no matter how long after an event he has to stay to accomplish this.

I have seen the San Diego Chicken probably 6 times~it never gets old! This guy is always coming up with new material. Tonight was no exception. He pulled out the eye exam chart for the ref, he did multiple dance moves, ate and pooped out a ball(Jayden is still talking about the chicken going potty outside!), he kicked the ref in the rear, he made a mess sweeping the field when the groundskeepers were trying to do their work, he got the bases stuck to his feet and ran off with them, got into a water balloon fight, got his clothes ripped off(or is that feathers plucked?)and too many things to mention! ALL adorable and Jayden really loved it!! The chicken definitely saved the day seeing as the game itself was a total loss!