Cold Sunrise That's just the name of the song written by Gordon Lightfoot. It was actually -13 F when I got up this morning (wind chill -24). Tucson may have pulled back into the lead! There's a lot of weighing pros and cons of Colorado vs Arizona by the wood stove. Not much else to report. I did enjoy a few games of pool and a beer with my brother this week. We don't get together very often, so it's good to try to keep the lines of communication open, especially with my mother celebrating her 86th birthday next month. He lives in Milwaukee and just started semi-retirement. Our opposing politics and lifestyles keep things very casual and surface-level. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's important to find common ground. He and his wife have started going to concerts and recently saw the Steve Miller Band. Music is one of our common interests.
A minister who gives me something to think about is more likely to
see me on Sundays. This week, our minister told a story that stuck with
me. When this pastor was a youth, he worked summers as a day camp
counselor for fourth graders at Marshall Park on the western shores of
Lake Mendota.
As
a special summer treat, the counselors would find some garbage
can-sized tubs into which they would pour water, root beer extract,
sugar and dry ice. Coupled with vanilla ice cream, and you had all of
the makings of root beer floats (or black cows as they are called in
Iowa).
The kids would line up for their floats while the counselors filled
the paper cups with root beer and a scoop of ice cream. He noted that
no one got a perfect float. Some of the cups were fuller than others;
some floats had more ice cream than others.
Years later, the minister still remembers the kids falling into two
categories. One category of kids said, “Thank you, Thank you!”. These
kids had smiles on their faces that could light up the world. The other
category of kids wore frowns, looking at their cups and at other kids’
cups, and asked for more root beer or more ice cream. Some of the
really greedy kids would down half their root beer floats and, without
even leaving the line, ask for a re-fill. The minister remembers that
the counselors called these kids the “more-mores.”
The point that the minister was making is that people who feel and
express gratitude are generally happy people. People who aren’t
satisfied or search out ways that life is not fair are generally
unhappy people. I reflected on that during today’s six-mile hike from
Marshall Park to the top of the hill at Pheasant Branch in Middleton and
back again.
From Allen Blvd., I walked north to the end of the road next to the
Walgreens, discovering a private trail easement that the Heins family
thought to donate to the community. I was thankful for their
generosity, which established a link to the Middleton Trails System and
Pheasant Branch.
Ten
minutes later, I was enjoying nature, and I was grateful that to the
many governmental entities and volunteers who worked to establish the
Pheasant Branch Conservancy, a safe place to hike in the middle of deer
hunting season.
I was out here
not that long ago for the first time, but I discovered a new feature:
the Frederick Springs These springs feed the wetlands, producing 1100
gallons of water per minute and 1.6 million gallons of water per day.
Steps lead down to one of the “boils.”
The temperature of the spring water is 52 degrees Fahrenheit, no matter what the season.
I’m grateful to the Friends of Pheasant Branch Conservancy who
protect and maintain this valuable natural resource through countless
volunteer hours.
On the way home, I stopped at Taqueria Gonzalez
for a carne asada burrito and a Modelo Negra beer. I am grateful for
diversity in America, good food and drink, and hard-working immigrants.
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