Today we take you to ~ ; Fr. Ed; Farming; Hot rod Lincoln; Seriously

Destination:  Ela Orchard, Rochester WI

Sign at road.  A cloudy day.
If you go down, mind:
it is hidden away, up a winding lane through old trees.
You'll know when you're there.  Road ends.

Co-owner Edwin sorts apples.

Dee chats with Wendy while choosing from the many species.

(Our new Ford Fusion (Erin's) is in background.)

A Moonglow Pear.

Very juicy and sweet.

They're about gone this season.

I'd  buy a bigger sack now we've tried them!

Erin studies animals at Ela.

Ben and Erin wed at Rochester Public Library, 7-3-16

Ben's family are orchard co-owners .  A 3rd generation operation.

Though both employed at Lawrence University in Appleton

Erin and Ben are active helping out at the orchard.

They participate too in the historic Madison Farmers Market.

Notes from Ela:  (From website)

Oct 19, 2016

The Apple Barn is open  everyday  from noon until 6.

 At this point in October we have available at the apple barn,

 McIntosh, Cortland, Macoun, Jonathan, Snow, Tolman Sweet, Russets, Spartan, Golden Delicious and Red Delicious  and several other varieties. Jonagolds will be coming soon,

Ida Reds and Black Willow Twig  are lightly set  because of a Spring freeze and we don't  expect a significant crop  but will harvest what there is and have it available when we get it picked and sorted.

 Moonglow Pears are still  available this week.

We plan to be at the Burlington Market Thursday Oct 20. There will be one more Burlington Market on Oct 27.

We also plan to  be at the Dane Co Farmers' Market,  Sat. Oct. 22

and we plan to be at the Shorewood Market  on Sunday Oct 23. This will be the last Shorewood Market of the season.

We pressed Fresh Apple Cider on Wednesday Oct 19 and will have it at the Markets and the barn while the supply lasts  We plan to press again next Wednesday Oct 26.

We do not have pick your own at Ela Orchard,

but have a barn selling area where you can choose from a large number of varieties.

^,^

In the 60s and 70s

I often habituated this landmark water tower park

at the foot of St Mary's Hospital on the east end of 

North Ave, Milw.

In those times there were peace rallies and marches

that went down the curvy hill to Memorial Drive

where we would march south toward downtown

with anti-Vietnam signs,

 hollering mass chants.

It was my pleasure then to meet Fr. Ed Vojtik

of Holy Rosary Catholic Church on Oakland Ave

just past Brady Street.

We would often visit a chicken place after a march 

or demonstration on Farwell Ave near Ed's church.

Then we'd go to his priestly room

and talk far into the night.

There were at least three of us so engaged.

The memory I have now is of the

spiral of significant verse we jointly painted on Ed's ceiling,

starting at the central ceiling light fixture

and going out from there in an ever-widening

 spiral

until we felt we had said what we 

wanted to together say 

at the moment.

The writers each took a turn composing.

Person to person, it was a work in progress.

~ I much later did a version of that spiral versage

on our 6 foot pine 2 X 4 dining table

shown at times in the Raccoon. ~

  

http://raccoonnews.blogspot.com/2010/05/now-that-we-live.html

^,^

I lost track of Fr. Ed in the intervening years.

I heard he left the priesthood

and got married.

So I was surprised to see an obituary for him

in the local paper last night.

His age was given at 83.

He'd been a psychologist

for the Kettle Moraine school district

for many years.

Gosh! I thought.

He was just a kid

when we did that painting on his Catholic ceiling.

When we did the Vietnam protesting together.

When we ate all that great chicken

together.

The obit didn't mention that.

 I have not forgotten that wee mutual history.

^,^

  FARMING

The harvest is in and it is bountiful.

I went out to the community garden plot

 which Dee, my third world disenfranchised

companion/grounds/housekeeper/tenant farmer

faithfully tilled, a 20 ft by 20 ft plot.

All season long.
Times several successive seasons.

While she unearthed beets and carrots

I dug the two rows of potatoes

As though it were a treasure hunt

And filled a large five gallon bucket

With redskins.

Intermittently I sat in a folding chair

Watching my CGHTF work

As she is considerably younger than I.

I eyed the flock of indigenous turkeys

Make their jerk-neck ramble

Through adjacent closed-for-the-season plots.

The four chicks of early summer now

Looking quite adult, but the father

Keeping his blue-gray neck and head high

on the watch for anything too close

to his family of tempting roast or raw meat.

It was lovely sun and temperature in the 50s

And the produce had clumps of mud sticking to it

As it has rained lately

But we had to close out our plot today

Because it will be plowed over next week,
end of season.

I felt I should fry up some potatoes for

Me ‘n Denise ‘n our two kids.

We live as one happy family.

Being alone at my age would be no good.

zep 10-26-2002

^,^

Hot rod Lincoln

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R7l7nDuj1o


^,^

Seriously

from Rev/Dr Bentz

https://youtu.be/hI8TCA3fJcs