All of a sudden the leaves on our trees are changing color and the air intake in front of my car’s windshield is gathering leaves that have fallen. We know what’s coming: a good Wisconsin Winter. I love the way the sun’s angle sets in Fall and the way it filters through the leaves. Once we get a freeze, mosquitos are gone and it’s more pleasant to work outdoors. More log cutting and splitting of the trees downed by the tornado of two years ago awaits me; meanwhile, most of my gardening here consists of digging out or cutting volunteer trees and weeds. That, and mowing the grass around the house and down at the lake.
Marina and I went down to the lake earlier this morning. Due to showers early last night and a heavy dew, things were damp and I wasn’t bright enough to bring along a towel to dry places for us to sit, either on the pontoon or the dock. I found a cleaning rag in one of the boat’s compartments and was able to wipe off enough space for the two of us. In our time there, only one fisher-person was on the lake and that boat was headed for the north landing. Things were calm and skies were a Fall Blue. It was perfect! Later on, the lake will be surrounded by Fall-colored trees, but that is yet to come; it’s early.
I can’t share which story WPCA-FM broadcast Tuesday night because the station inserts my stories into the pre-programmed music they feature. Once in a great while someone forgets to do the insertion (I think they call it a “drop in”) and, what with the Labor Day holiday, it probably just got missed. I can’t complain; I’m not buying the air time and, as I’ve said often, having my stories broadcast is a privilege afforded very few writers and I am grateful.
It’s almost mid-September and those of you who follow these notes know that I’ve been working since the last week of December, 2020, to rehab a small house in Luck that we hope to rent. Finally, I feel comfortable showing it. Two good prospective renters applied. One would like to move out of his present situation; the other must move out, as his landlord has re-purposed where he lives. So it’s a choice: a want, versus a need. I asked myself, given two almost equal choices, what would Jesus do? Jesus, I feel, would go with the potentially homeless. In regards to that, I need to say that finding any rentals at all is very difficult now. One landlord I know advertised a two bedroom apartment and got 13 calls. In Luck, there are no others available or coming on the market. I feel badly not to be able to accommodate both applicants and I dislike having to make the kind of choice I’m making. I do pray I’ve made the right decision.
The church? We continue to meet, but with masks optional since virus cases in Polk County have been rising rapidly. Everyone in our small congregation has been vaccinated, there are not many of us to begin with, and we don’t have a choir up front spewing droplets at us as they warble their anthems, so we should not be very vulnerable. We will be talking about what we can do to help the Afghan and other refugees now in Wisconsin. I suspect one or more of the larger churches in our area will sponsor a family. We might be able to help that effort. Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Conference has an in-gathering of clothing and other items that will be sent down to Camp McCoy, where the refugees are being housed initially. Wolf Creek UMC also is on You Tube each week (Wolf Creek United Methodist Church services) so you can see us in action, complete with the pastor’s mess-ups and all on record for the world to share. We are getting some views; I have no idea who those viewers might be, but I’m guessing that at least one of them is a person who just can’t quite make it to our in-person 8:15 a.m. service. We do have coffee before service time and I suspect it’s an effort by the congregation to help people stay awake during the sermon.