Lawnmowing Can Wait

These flat Skechers are currently my most comfortable pair of shoes. (They were a clearance rack find.) Normally, flats are not my thing, but this pair is amazingly comfortable for some reason. I got the chance to wear them yesterday…..read on to find out why.

Yesterday morning, as I was scraping cow manure in the barn and morosely contemplating the lawnmowing job that needs tackling, Husband suddenly asked, “What’s on tap for your day?” Uh…..hmm……he rarely asks that question, so what is going on? He better not want me to do fieldwork because I HAVE A LAWN TO MOW, so I announced with flourish, “I need to mow the lawn.” He wasn’t fazed at all by that, and proceeded to say, “I feel like taking a drive.” I nearly dropped the scraper.

Actually, his plan was go to Fort Atkinson to buy parts for the haybine---the machine which cuts hay---so I tagged along because he said we could drive around for awhile afterwards. I threw together sandwiches and drinks to take along….plus the camera, of course…..and off we went. Drive-by shootings, here we come!

This blue-shingled barn looked quite fetching against the greening trees…..

I’m sure you all clearly recall my Fort Atkinson post, so I’ll not include photos from there, or from the nearby ruins of an old limestone church.

After Husband bought $600 worth of parts at the implement dealership in Fort Atkinson, we headed northeast out of town, thinking we’d end up in Spillville. A closed road sent us detouring in an easterly direction and soon we came to an intersection with Highway 52. I expected Husband to turn south to start meandering towards home, but to my surprise he steered the pickup north towards Decorah. I certainly didn’t care which way we went……the further from home, the better!

The scenery was a pleasant treat……that part of northeast Iowa is very rolling, much more hilly than our own home territory to the southwest.

As we traveled further north, billboard signs for businesses in Decorah began to appear, prompting Husband to suddenly say, “Why are we getting near to Decorah? I thought we were heading south.” I was stunned speechless for a moment (like most guys, my husband NEVER takes wrong turns) then found my voice and said, “Dearest, you turned NORTH at that intersection back there.” He shook his head saying, “I thought it was south.” Weird.

Quickly, I devised a plan to take advantage of the turn of events…..we could stop at Walmart in Decorah to pick up a couple grocery items and then head south on W-42. Husband was OK with that idea. Speaking of Walmart, practically every semi-trailer we saw today had “WAL-MART” printed on it, including this disabled one.

Husband snoozed in the pickup while I went into the store and grabbed Cheerios and a jug of orange juice. Then we continued our round-about journey towards home, with me now at the wheel.

A few miles southeast of Decorah we came upon the Washington Prairie Lutheran Church…..established by Norwegian settlers, I presume. Across the road from it was this quaint old limestone church building and I simply had to brake for some pictures.

Quite a story etched on the ball-topped gravestone……

Five children of A.K. and Julia Anderson---Rudolph (age 17), Florence (11), Adella (13), Helma (4), Anders (19)---died in 1886. Their epitaph states:

THEY ARE NOT LOST---BUT GONE BEFORE. These children may have been taken by diphtheria or some other disease. What a heartache that must have been. It would surely be a story too sad to tell. The parents’ epitaph reads:

OH, ‘TWILL BE SWEET TO MEET

ON THAT BLEST SHORE,

ALL SORROW PASSED ,

ALL PAINS FOREVER O’ER

I almost had the chills as on down the road we went. As we came over a hill, the perfect photo opportunity presented itself---a herd of Holstein cows grazing in a pasture in front of another old church! But, for some reason, I just couldn’t bring myself to reach for the camera. That scene will have to wait until another time.

Further on, we saw this old brick church building in the town of Ossian:

South of Ossian, we had to detour onto a gravel road for awhile and ended up spotting this silent old schoolhouse, guarded by a silo.

This final picture is a doozy! I realize my drive-by shots are often off-kilter, but these farm buildings appear to be rather lop-sided to begin with!

Needless to say, I did not get any lawnmowing done yesterday. Hopefully, today.

Thanks for all good wishes for my son’s “almost” pneumonia. He continues to cough, but has no fever anymore and feels generally improved. He did go to school yesterday, but not to track practice.

Enjoy your day!

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