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| What thunderstorm? |
As Kel Friesen once quoted from a country song lyric ( I think it is a Porter Wagoner song), "I've enjoyed about as much of this as I can stand." By that, of course, I mean the midwestern weather. Last night we enjoyed yet more rattling hail, more driving rain, more pounding rain, flashes of lightning, and quite a bit more wind (80-90 mph). We awoke to a power outage that encompassed much of Newton and quite a bit of Wichita. The Newton library suffered significant wind damage. In Wichita power lines fell, trees toppled, semi-trucks tipped over. They cancelled school today. In Southeastern Kansas, at least three tornadoes were confirmed. We were thankful that no twisters hit us in Newton, but Frac was swaying and jiggling like a hot footed zydeco dancer and the hail was pooping around us like gun shots from a drunk cowboy's six shooter. Sleepless, and jangled like nervous nellies, we travelled in what was left of the wind (30-35 mph) to Manhattan. We stopped in Abilene, KS for lunch at a little cafe off the main drag called the Dish. It's housed in one of the turn of the century store fronts with the tall ceilings covered with decorative tin. The more I travel, the more I'm noticing the "Hey Day" of the late 1800s. Every town we've been through from the California Coast to the Arizona desert to the New Mexico mountains, to the vastness of Texas, and now the Midwestern plains is speckled with the jewels of a glorious time. Abilene is no different, although we didn't take time to do much more than sight see on this trip. Those must have been heady days. I'm moved to research the era to find out a bit more about our time of "Manifest Destiny". If life is good now, it must have been great then. We enjoyed a nice supper with Rod and Karen, and then we attended a Good Friday service at church. Tonight's theme was the crucifixion itself, the loss of faith, the betrayal, and the wail of Jesus to His Father. Still, amidst all of that, He said, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." We're parked in front of the Franz home on Thackery street. This will be our last extended stay. After this, it will be 250 mile hops and one night stands until we get home. As always, life is good, especially today.
Judy and Arlene planting strawberries before we left this morning.
Amanda gave this petunia to Arlene at yesterday's tea party.
The Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church outside of Abilene.
The Dish.
Art shot of the day.
Turkey Bacon sandwich with sweet hot chutney. Potato bacon soup.
Brownie covered with caramelized bananas.
Abiline was once (and maybe still is) one of the wildest towns in the west.
The town isa filled with structures like this one.
Frac at home in front of the Franz's
Rod and Judy.
Karen and Judy.
Supper before church.
Garlic soup with pea pods, yogurt, and home made croutons (The skinnies will elude us at the Franz's).
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