A Tale of Friends, Family, a Corn Maze, and a Garage Sale
A week after we were in Missouri with the Timothy Demonbreun Heritage Society, Ray and I went back to Missouri for the annual Homeschool Trade Association conference. We were excited to be at the conference in person after two years online due to COVID. We had missed being with our friends who also serve homeschoolers.
I enjoyed meeting this lady who helped keep breakfast stocked in the hotel breakfast room. She was happy for me to share her picture with you.
I was fascinated by all her wings pins. The hotel is in sight of the airport and serves many pilots and stewardesses. One day a pilot or stewardess gave her a pin. Soon others learned that she liked them, so now she proudly wears a row of wings from pilots on one side of her vest and a row from stewardesses on the other side.
After the conference, we spent happy times with our son and his family. One of the many highlights of the visit was a trip to a corn maze on historic Dickherber Farms. The farm once had a hotel that served as a stagecoach stop. It continues as a working farm. We saw folks doing farm chores, including gathering walnuts. Here are some scenes on the farm.
Naturally I love this picture of our son, John.
When it was time to head back to Tennessee, Ray and I were thrilled when our maps app showed that the fastest way home was through our beloved New Harmony, Indiana. After lunch in the Red Geranium, . . .
. . . we decided to delay our drive home a half hour so we could enjoy a crisp, cool, sunny walk in beautiful New Harmony. These scenes are of the lake behind New Harmony Inn.
This bridge reminds me of Monet’s 1899 painting, Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies.
As we walked down the sidewalk toward the tiny downtown, we passed the pretty St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church.
I had my eye on this pretty tree . . .
. . . when a lady who was walking toward us from the other direction began talking to us. Her first words were about the top I was wearing. She said that she likes to see people wearing clothes she likes so that she can find them later at a garage sale.
Now, wasn’t that an interesting way to start a conversation? The conversation lasted for several minutes. I confess that I kept thinking about how our thirty minutes were ticking away. I am not sure if she is (as we say in the South) a big talker or if she simply wanted to meet someone new or if she was feeling lonely. I do know that God made all of us to hunger for connections with others.
I’m thankful for our family connections, my online connections with all of you, our Homeschool Trade Association connections, and even momentary connections with people I meet along the way through life.
Sometimes it’s easy to be thinking about what we want to do instead of what someone else needs from us at the moment. Thank you for all the time you spend with your children. They desperately need their connection with you. It will help them make healthy connections for the rest of their lives.
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,
but with humility of mind
regard one another as more important than yourselves;
do not merely look out for your own personal interests,
but also for the interests of others.
Philippians 2:3-4