During my last evening with the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, I was offered a ticket to a production of Dracula at Viterbo University. I was very eager and enthusiastic about attending this performance. I had wondered how the Dracula story might be performed as a ballet. I was especially interested in finding out how […]

Early in the afternoon on September 20, I went to downtown LaCrosse to stand with the Women in Black. Five of us stood on a street corner for half an hour. We silently held up signs with messages that asked for an end to the war in Iraq. The response that we received from passing

The archives at the LaCrosse, Wisconsin, motherhouse of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration are full of stories of the sisters’ lives from the order’s founding in the mid-19th century to the present. In 1849, a group of third order Franciscans, both men and women, came to Wisconsin from Ettenbeuren, Bavaria, to found a religious

Sister Arlene and a few other Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration were my breakfast companion on the morning of September 19. After the other sisters had finished their breakfast and had left, I asked Sister Arlene what motivated her to enter the religious life.Sister Arlene told me that she went to Catholic schools when she

On Monday, September 18, I had my last breakfast of oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, and homemade apple cider at the Sliwas’ organic farm near Decorah, Iowa. I enjoyed one last visit to the raspberry bushes to pick that wonderful delicacy before I got into the car to head to LaCrosse, Wisconsin.Raspberries and tomatoes are foods that

After a delicious breakfast of oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, and apple cideron Sunday, September 17, Perry-O, David, and I got into the car for our trip to Gays Mills, Wisconsin. We were going to the Driftless Area Friends Intervisitation Meeting. We took the scenic route through Iowa and Wisconsin that included such places as Lansing, Iowa,

Saturday, September 16, was the day that I was going with Perro-O, David Sliwa, and David Rice to the solar food dehydrator workshop. It was held at another farm that we had to get to by a roundabout route of traveling up and down country roads. We couldn’t take the direct route to this other

Early in the morning of September 15, I woke up to the sound of roosters crowing. I looked out the window, which presented me a view of rolling ground, trees, a large garden, and a birdhouse. It was very green. Except for the roosters’ songs, I heard no other sound. It was a very peaceful

On Thursday, September 14, I got on Amtrak’s Empire Builder in Chicago, which would take me to LaCrosse, Wisconsin. I didn’t know it, but I was in for a treat.Shortly after the train set off, an announcement came over the loudspeaker that two volunteers from the Trails & Rails program, co-sponsored by Amtrak and the

Late on Tuesday evening, I got on a train, heading west. I found a window seat and settled in for an all-night ride. Fortunately, I had my “survival kit” with me… a portable CD player, a bunch of CDs, and some food, including my mom’s famous chocolately chocolate chip cookies (good enough to bring joy