Installation

It will be official tomorrow...now I can actually start doing some work! The assistant to the Bishop is coming down from Rice Lake to install me in the morning. I have some family coming down for it, and Aly's parents are coming into town in the afternoon.

I feel like reflecting tonight on some of the interesting things that open country living has to offer:

--today we took our garbage to the dump. Two weeks of it and they took $2 from us. It was sort of a community gathering. It beats the trucks waking you up at 7 a.m.

--after three weeks we know all of our neighbors within a radius of 1/2 mile. Of course I can't remember all their names but that is why I have Aly around.

--anytime we want to go running more than a 1/2 mile we have to climb out of our valley 200 vertical feet.

--so, those are called stars, huh?

--the other day a neighbor brought over 80 cobs of sweet corn!!!!! Hence that allergy I mentioned.

--10 miles to the nearest decent sized town (well, depending on where you are this is not bad, huh?)

--no where else on a one block walk to work could you be greeted by three of your neighbors.

--quote: "Wireless internet, what is that?"

--we are definitely the only wi-fi hotspot within a 1/2 mile radius.

You get the idea. We are having fun and learning a lot about farming and the different trades that people are involved in. We have great neighbors who keep their tabs on us and within 200 ft. I have three electricians if we run into a problem.

Aly has got a job already working at a cool coffee shop in Red Wing where they also sell cards, gifts and flowers. She did pretty well lasting three weeks without a job. It was too much for her to be around home all the time--it is quiet around here. I will keep busy planning sermons for the next 16 Sunday's straight!!! Do you have any good books to inspire the soul?

Paz