"If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is 'thank you,' it will be enough." Meister Eckhart.

I thought this was an appropriate quote for the day before Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for.

I'm thankful to have a job, a family and a home. Thankful we live in a friendly, welcoming, lively and helpful community. Thankful gas prices have come down! Thankful we don't have to worry about where our next meal is coming from or the quality of the food.

I'm thankful for the dedicated and generous volunteers and donors who made the annual HOPE Thanksgiving Dinner and Auction fundraiser for Cooperating Congregations a success.

I'm thankful for my parish, St. William, and it's pastor, Rev. Leonard Barbian, who is retiring next year after 10 years at St. William and 44 years as a priest.

I'm thankful for all those who gave to our recent clothing and Caps for Kids drive. You filled up the truck! Also thankful to parishioners who so generously give to the St. Vincent food pantry regularly or whenever there is need.

Thankful for the great group of people we had last weekend for confirmation retreat at beautiful Camp Whitcomb-Mason in Hartland. And the weather wasn't too bad either.

Very thankful to have many friends who lift me up and hold me there.

feel free to add your own thanks giving 

I've been to the Congregation of the Great Spirit a couple times since I documented my first visit here almost two years ago. I think about them every time I'm running late for mass, which is 9 times out of 10, because their service doesn't begin until everyone gets there. Something mine should consider.

A national radio report on the Congregation this morning interested me because one of my short-term goals is to get there again, soon. We're told the Congregation is the nation's first Catholic parish to combine Native American traditions with Roman Catholic ceremony; hard to believe when you consider the Catholic missionary work in this country going back hundreds of years.

The point of the report was to mention the funding cut by the Milwaukee Archdiocese, which could potentially destroy the parish. It's in a poorer area around 10th and Lapham, and it ministers to some of the poorest in the area: street people, alcoholics, jobless.

It would be a shame to lose such a unique parish, one of only a handful similar to it in the country. The answer might be to solicit donations from Potowatomi Casino, though I'm pretty sure the Archdiocese wouldn't be too keen on that idea.

10/18 Journal Sentinel article

Spent several hours at Pewaukee Lake yesterday. With the no wake law still in force it's unusually quiet, and if my canoe didn't still have gaping holes in it... So we fish from shore. Very peaceful watching the regatta of around 50 sailboats. Later in the day was Taste of Lake Country and fireworks, but that's another story.

Making every cent of my weekend dollars count I went to Milwaukee today to do several things. I parked under the Hoan Bridge by the river, saving $10.00. I attended a very nice Lutheran service in the Marcus Amphitheater and was allowed into German Fest free, saving $13.00.

German Fest is one of the few festivals I missed last year, (Pride Fest will still have to wait) and I wanted to get there for the food and music. I haven't been to this one before. I wasn't into the music and dancing all that much, but the scents, tastes and sights were overwhelming. Got my first look at the new Harley Stage also. Very cool.

Wandered over to Discovery World next door to use the pass I obtained with the purchase of my Les Paul concert ticket, saving $17.00. I spent the next couple hours in my first tour of the Technology and Aquarium Buildings and the Les Paul House of Sound exhibit!  The Les Paul exhibit, indeed all of Discovery World, was way more than I could've imagined. I enjoyed handling everything, trying it out, playing with things, discovering at my own pace.

Discovery World has to be seen to be believed. When I thought nothing could possibly top the Les Paul exhibit, I had doubts while touring the rest of the building. The bed of nails was one very interesting interactive feature of the Technology Building. Fun to try. The Great Lakes are to scale in the Aquarium complete with interactive locks, rain and storms, and bluegills (not to scale). Also had fun touching the rays and lake sturgeon.

The schooner in the Aquarium Building is a fun play thing. Lots of things to touch, turn and see with many things identified with labels. I played with as many things as I could today and the best thing is I only got yelled at once - at the German Fest Splash Pad for not taking my shoes off!  

A fellow blogger passed away a week ago today. He was born and died in June... with eighty years in between. He led a very interesting and full life, spoke many languages and had friends around the world. 

He began blogging three years ago this month and, while I've read them in the past, the posts have new meaning for me now. He was a somewhat eccentric character, and his writing certainly helps to demystify his complexity.

I travelled 600 miles to Omaha by Greyhound Sunday night for the Monday memorial service. I had wanted to visit while he was still alive but something always came up. The last time I saw him was by way of a Skype video connection. He knew he was dying.

The memorial service was a fitting send off for an extraordinary man. It was the perfect mass with stories and testimony from many of his friends and colleagues. It celebrated his long, fruitful life and quirky nature. There was read a long poem about him, songs and readings he would've enjoyed, tears of joy and sadness... and plenty of humor. If I live to be a hundred, I will not again witness such a wondrous mass for as unique an individual.

I was to return to Waukesha the following day, so while there I had to explore the Iowa dish antenna farm known as SCOLA started by him. It's an imposing sight in the middle of an unimposing cornfield. Huge dishes sprout from the fertile soil like trees in Arthur C. Clarke's imagination. The bowls in the corn stand ready to accept flakes of information. The studio digests programming from around the world and spoon feeds it to subscribers via a regular schedule. (SCOLA used to be seen on cable in the Waukesha area several years ago. It was the channel with the foreign news broadcasts.)

Before I left Tuesday, I wanted to sign the guestbook for the room on the Creighton campus I was staying. It was started in the late 1980's, and as I paged through it I wondered if I'd see him mentioned -- he had taught at Creighton for many years. Right there on the second page, a note from a Frenchman visiting SCOLA, thanking Father Lubbers, SJ, my uncle, for the hospitality.    

My Uncle Lee was uncommon and we had a lot in common. He loved to book shop, more than he'd ever have time to read, it seemed. He gave me a enormous "The Last Whole Earth Catalog" and "The Zen of Running" years ago. He left me his well-used "Roget's International Thesaurus" which I will use in blogging and used for this one.

He took the nieces and nephews skiing many times, and these are favorite memories. It took Lee's enthusiasm to get teenagers out of bed before dawn on a freezing winter vacation day, cook us a hot breakfast of grits, drive for miles to the ski hills on snow-covered roads, and ski all day even when it was coldest. Three times he took us skiing out West and you will see skiing and mountains prominent in his art from that period.

After Uncle Lee's brother died in the 1960s his sister, my mother, began an Easter egg hunt tradition. It was the first big holiday after the plane crash and she wanted to do something to help the five orphaned kids get through it. Again my uncle's enthusiasm took over and he really, really, enjoyed hunting for his own colored eggs well into his 60s.

It was always fun seeing my uncle for holidays. He'd share stories and ideas from his travels and get us to try foods and drink we were unfamiliar with. He liked strong, black coffee and liked sweets and French foods, especially cheeses.

I could go on and on about his art, his marrying us and baptizing our baby. About a trip to Missouri for an antenna. About sailing ... Maybe later. 

My uncle began the art department at Creighton University and is still instructing even in death. His body was donated to science. 

My last remaining uncle has died.

His life in pictures.

Two weeks ago today a terrible accident shook Oconomowoc. The aftershocks are still felt in the Milwaukee Metro area and now, with talk of changing the laws, in all of Wisconsin. How do you forgive a former doctor for recklessly ending the most innocent of lives?

Everything about this tragic crash was wrong. Everything from the speed of the SUV, driven just two days after suspension of driving privileges, to the kind of drugs he was on his way to pick up. How do you forgive someone who was so doped up on drugs that he couldn't even see a car in front of him, yet thought he could still pick up some Viagra?  

Reading the online guestbook, one notices how very many people were touched by the tragedy but had never met Jennifer. The fact is everyone knew her. Everyone has a mother. Had a teacher and a principal. Everyone has known someone expecting a baby. Has birthdays. How do you forgive someone who kills another in what was probably their happiest time of life?

Mrs. Bukosky was doing what mothers all over the world do every day. She was transporting kids home from school. She was looking forward to her 40th birthday the next day. The new baby on the way. Her life with her new husband and family. She was looking forward, as always, to seeing the kids at the school who love her and she them. How to forgive someone who wasn't looking forward?

I feel this accident has affected more people. Personally, other than one involving my own family or friends, I can't imagine a worse accident. The baby Jennifer was carrying was not only loved and wanted but was treated as fully human, as it should be. Her 10 year old daughter? What had she done to not deserve to grow up and have kids of her own?

How do you forgive someone who was trained to save lives but instead took them?

Condolences to fellow WaukeshaNOW blogger Steve Bukosky, Jennifer's father in law. Our prayers are with you now and always.

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This is my Hope:  that Ana, Jeff, Garrett, Shannon, Krista, Michael, Mitch and Zack will continue to lead peaceful, helpful, and faith-filled lives.                                                 This is my Dream:  someday I will be there to see their children confirmed -- and maybe they will be their kids' catechists. 

This is my Question:  after years of religious instruction, are they finally ready to become adults in the Catholic Church?                                                 This is my Answer:  the candidates themselves are the only ones to know for sure, but all eight have my endorsement.

This is my Birthday:  my gift . . . their Gift of the Holy Spirit.                                                 This is my Wish:  their baptismal candle never flickers. The anointing oil of chrism never wears off.

This is my Rhyme:  This is the prayer           I'm honored to share.                    Teach as Jesus did, that is my role.          Model God's love to others, this is my goal.                    I'm a catechist, and I want to teach.          It's the teens I want to reach.                    I'd like to be there to watch them grow.          Jesus' life I'd like them to know.                    They're adults in the church, anointed with chrism.          More responsibility, less criticism.                    They are the future, I am so proud.          An inspiration to their faith, proclaimed aloud.                                                        This is my Reason:  the opportunity to teach, and to teach as Jesus did no less, has left me with a profound sense of warmth and accomplishment. Being there for them during the last year of preparation before confirmation has been my greatest honor.

This is my Joy:  proud to have a role in this sacrament, and thrilled for all those confirmed at St. William's today.                                      This is my Sadness:  Besides the eventual and eventful end to a memorable final year of preparation, my own son chose not to be confirmed today. 

This is my Prayer.                                                      And this . . . is my Amen.

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Hope everyone had an enjoyable Easter. I did. Sun out. Family over for Easter turkey. It was a nice quiet day here.

Went to the Easter Vigil mass last night at St. William with Mom and Sis. It was Father Jason's first leading of the Easter Triduum, and from what I saw last evening he did a great job. During the 2-1/4 hour service he blessed fire, water, oil, the Easter Candle, the congregation, altar and catechumens, bread and wine. He baptized four people, distributed first communion to several others and welcomed still more into adulthood in the church through confirmation. Michael played the pipe organ and piano to a full house and the choir sounded great. It was a good experience made even better by seeing so many familiar faces. One familiar face was missing though; Father Leonard isn't feeling well, wasn't there. Prayers for Father.

Note: The confirmation I mentioned above is not the same service my small group and the 80 or so other Waukesha Catholic kids have been preparing for. They will have their own special mass one week from today with Archbishop Timothy Dolan presiding. To say I'm looking forward to it is an understatement. 

I share this machine with two teenagers and a cat, so that could explain why I haven't been doing a lot of writing lately. Fortunately, Pepi just stays put where it's warm atop the monitor, or I'd still be waiting. Now that I have the time though, thought I'd talk about what I did last weekend.

Much of what I do on weekends I hear about first on WaukeshaNOW, and last week was no exception. I find that the site's community events description is a little more in depth and easier to access than the alternative.

I went to the UWW play God Willing: A Twology not because I'd heard it was good or even because I'd heard of it before. I checked it out because it promised to be different. Two avante-garde plays in one with seating on the stage for the audience. I won't try to describe it because I can't. I can't relate it to anything I've seen before. It was entertaining, serious and thought-provoking. It was intimate and dark, quiet and loud. I guess you could say it was a good play for the university because they tried something outside "normal" and it was a good experiment. 

Saturday morning I joined my confirmation group for a service project at Jeremy House, a homeless shelter for individuals with mental issues on Moreland Blvd. We prepared breakfast for the guests and learned more about the facility. It was a worthwhile experience for all of us, and fun too.

After mass last Sunday I interviewed candidates for confirmation to see if they had any thoughts, good or bad, on the whole process and to make sure they grew spiritually in this last year of preparation. Tomorrow is confirmation rehearsal.

Later Sunday I attended Waukesha Choral Union's production of Handel's Messiah while not realizing what I came to see and hear. I penciled the Carroll College event on my calendar because WaukeshaNOW made it sound good and, the best part, it was free. I arrived after the last of the programs had been handed out and, because I've never been to "Messiah" before, didn't recognize it. Bumping into a friend at intermission, I mentioned how religious all the pieces were. "Well, it is Messiah. The whole concert is related to the bible, starting with the Old Testament and ending with the New." She showed me the program and every aria, recitation and chorus was straight from a bible verse or psalm. Up to this point the one thing I knew about "Messiah" was the Hallelujah Chorus. Two and a half hours after the start of this concert I was much better informed. It's a monumental production with orchestra, pipe organ, soloists with community members joining the chorus. The concert was fully funded by donations from individuals and businesses. It was director Gregory Carpenter's last production of Messiah. His last production with the Choral Union will be in celebration of Mozart's 250th birthday: Mozart's Requiem at St. Joe's Church in Waukesha, May 4th, with orchestra and soloist. I'm going to pencil this one in too, and hope I don't forget why.  

By now Mrs. Lee is wondering if I'm seeing someone because of being gone so much last weekend. (The family is always invited, but my tastes often differ from theirs.) I later attended Vespers, or evening prayer, at St. William. It's something I've not done before and my family wouldn't have enjoyed either. It was an interesting mix of hymns, readings, reflection and incense. All the prayer without the hassle.

After Vespers I joined 80 to 90 others from my parish to learn about Judaism and Jewish traditions in a Seder meal, something I've wanted to try but never had the chance. I felt this Lent was a good time to understand the roots of my own faith and this was a wonderful way to do it. The nicest Jewish couple, Sherry and David, led us on this trip to the past. Seder, the Passover meal, is full of lessons and history, details, ancestors, special diet and ways of preparation. I'd have to say everything had meaning and relevance and the meal was history come to life. Everything was performed in order, involved the oldest to the youngest, was entertaining and lasted about 2-1/2 hours. The education we received and meeting Sherry and David was wonderful. This meal was far more involved than any other meal I've shared, and I would happily do it again.  

The theme of the weekend seemed to lean toward religion. Not a bad thing with Holy Week beginning tomorrow.

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The last time I visited the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist the pews were still there and the altar was in front. I recently visited once again, on St. Blaise Day, with a hundred high school juniors. Besides mass and having our throats blessed we were able to have a little tour and learn more about the cathedral.

The restoration and renovation begun in 2000 was almost as controversial as the archbishop who wanted it done, Rembert Weakland. It was very expensive and the changes drastic but I like the finished product. It's definitely brighter and more colorful than before. Much of the old cathedral was saved and reused and we can see the marble in the altar and bishop's chair, among other things. The first unusual thing people notice is the "wishbone" Jesus is holding on the cross. The Italian artist actually meant it as the representation of a dove in flight.

Several things about the cathedral deserve comment:

Many, many objects are in threes; three steps, three pillars... They represent the Holy Trinity.

There's a relic of St. John Vianney beneath the altar. I spent 6 years of grade school at St. John Vianney and don't remember learning as much about him then as I did in one day at the cathedral.

One of the juniors, Michael, has played the cathedral's four-manual, 74-rank, 3586 pipe, 38 foot tall pipe organ. He was the best guide to have on hand for that stop on our tour.

We toured the chilly crypt beneath the church where four bishops are resting. A time capsule is also there to be opened sometime around 2040.

It was good to see the "mother" church again. I missed her.

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From the prayer card at visitation:          

In Loving Memory Of Governor Lee Sherman Dreyfus

June 20, 1926 - January 2, 2008

"He has given us a 23rd Psalm place in which to live;

He has given us life and all the marvelous senses to savor it;

He has given us minds with unlimited capacity to imagine and create, and

He has given us a Saviour, His own beloved Son.

How he must love us."

-  Lee Sherman Dreyfus

..

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I suspect churches are at their most crowded this time of year, Christmas only a couple days off. If you plan on going to the 10:45 mass at St. William, 440 N. Moreland Blvd., this Sunday morning the 23rd, make sure to leave plenty early if you want to find a seat. Milwaukee Archdiocese's newest auxiliary bishop, Bishop-elect William P. Callahan, was ordained yesterday and will celebrate his first mass as bishop at St. William. As the new bishop's name is William and ours is the only parish in the Archdiocese named St. William, Father Leonard invited him and he accepted.

I'm not kidding. If you want to find parking or a seat don't leave home a couple minutes before mass like I usually do. And that goes for Christmas also.

Christmas schedule at St. William:  Monday 12/24  -  3:00 Children's Choir concert. 3:30 and 5:30 Christmas Vigil masses. 9:30 p.m. Adult Choir concert and 10:00 p.m. Midnight Mass.          Christmas day  -  9:00 and 10:45 a.m. masses.

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First of all, I'd like to say thank you for reading my blog and for the feedback. I really appreciate having this excuse to get out and be more involved in the community I love. This is good writing practice, you give me that opportunity, and I thank you.

You've just been palanca'd!

I spent the weekend with dozens of seventeen year old confirmation candidates and other group leaders at a beautiful camp a couple miles from Monches. Camp Whitcomb/Mason is a huge Boys and Girls Club camp on Lake Keesus and is nearly 100 years old. Fortunately, I'm becoming more and more familiar with the camp -- I've been there several times with school -- fortunate because it has so much to offer and because of it's serene location. I love it.

One of the first things we did at camp was to create a palanca bag, or planka bag as they pronounced it. We had earlier picked adjectives for our names to use in an icebreaking memory game. The game grew increasingly more difficult as it progressed around the circle and I was glad I was just the third one. Toward the end of the circle the kids had to remember 30 or so difficult names and adjectives such as Loud Linda, Lethargic Leo, Touchable Tom, Witty Wes, etc. Because camp is located just a few paces from where I did so much hot air balloon crewing this summer, I chose b'loony Brien for my adjective.

Everyone decorated a paper bag with their adjectives, names, interests and whatever else identifies and defines them. Some of the bags were true works of art, many were cute or funny. Sports and religion were on quite a few. Many bags accurately reflected the adjective and many adjectives acurately reflected the people. Once the bags were made, hundreds of paper slips were provided for us to use in little messages. We were encouraged to say nice things in notes and place them in the bags.

Got Palanca?  The concept was new to me but I caught on soon enough. I learned that the more I showed appreciation for others the more I myself appreciated. Telling others how helpful or kind they are is addictive and it didn't take me long to start palanca'ing strangers. Because we spent the whole weekend together there weren't too many strangers left by Sunday.

Where the best part of the palanca bags may have been reading the notes we received, the best part of the weekend for the kids had to have been the love letters the parents and family secretly sent them. Whether one letter or many, the result was the same: kids, some in tears, learned how much they were really loved, appreciated and supported.

The best part of the weekend for me? Guess.

  

There's always something happening at St. William's, my home parish at 440 N. Moreland. Last weekend was the rummage sale. Today we hosted the St. Matthias meal for the needy and tomorrow is blessing of animals in observance of the Feast Day of St. Francis. This Sat. at 6:00 p.m. is wine and cheese and Sunday is a pancake breakfast from 7:30 to noon -- both in the Parish Hall, and both a fundraiser for Cooperating Congregations of Waukesha County's new kitchen.

I'll be helping out in the kitchen Sunday for a couple hours, but may have to miss linking with fellow parishioners for the Life Chain on Bluemound between 2:00 and 3:00.

The following Sunday, the fourteenth, should be interesting. J. Christ will be in the Parish Hall and the Packers will be in the gym! Jennifer Christ will be talking about the rosary at 10:00 a.m. and the Packer game will be shown in the gym at noon. Tickets for the game are only $5.00 at the door and include a brat or hot dog, chips, soda, etc. There's a movie and sitter for the kiddies and raffle for the big people. The game is a Home and School fundraiser for Waukesha Catholic. Meeting J. Christ is free. As it should be.

 

 

I gave away a ring; a finger rosary actually. I was given the ring 21 years ago by my sponsor on the occasion of my adult confirmation. A few years ago, when I sponsored a teen in his confirmation, I gave the ring to him. I asked if he could keep it going by giving it to someone if he's a sponsor. So there's no telling where the ring, given to me by Pat and Maria, will end up.

Besides doing whatever we think we should to keep a candidate on the right path, there is usually not a lot for a sponsor to do after confirmation. This could explain why I've only seen my candidate once since confirmation, at the funeral of his mom. If I felt he was the kind of kid that needed more than just my prayers, I would've done a better job of keeping in touch.

I chose to ask Pat and Maria to sponsor my confirmation even though I didn't know them. I saw their dedication to God and took that as enough of a sign. Getting their baby, Angela, ready and making it to 7:00 mass every day told me they knew something more about worship than I did.

As busy as I was working two jobs, it should be no surprise that I lost touch with my sponsors. I got married and had kids. Pat and Maria had another child. Then another. Another and another. Eight more children after Angela. I talked to them once by phone after reading Laurel Walker's 2002 column on the family but haven't seen them in 21 years. Until today.

Add reunions to the many benefits of quarterly St. Vincent De Paul breakfast meetings. I always enjoy seeing new prayer spaces and meeting new priests among the 26 parishes in Waukesha County the meetings rotate among. I knew Pat and Maria used to attend St. Luke's, today's destination, and found they still do. I was thrilled to see them and their beautiful children - of the eight girls and one boy they have, all but three girls were with them at the mass.

I was so thrilled to see them and meet the kids after all the years that I invited myself to their home, using the gift of an accordian as an excuse. I remembered Laurel mentioning their musical giftedness. I knew I had this instrument I'll never play taking up space in the basement, so I offered it to them.

I really wanted to take my whole family but only my oldest child complied. Their home, hidden in the woods, is beautiful. It's large and tidy and the girls were doing their homework on the kitchen table. The large accordian, almost as big as the youngest child, was passed around and Pat played a recognizable tune. We had a good visit.

Even though we haven't seen one another, Pat and Maria taught me a lot about family, faith and perseverance in the face of adversity. As if holding together a family of 11 wasn't enough, Maria suffered brain damage following the birth of her last child. She had gone into cardiac arrest after doctors couldn't locate the source of internal bleeding. When I last saw her she was a new mom breast-feeding a dependent baby Angela. Today she is a still a wonderful mom, but now is more dependent on her children. All nine of them.

I learned valuable lessons about family and faith from Pat and Maria which I hope to pass along to the next generation. This year I was asked to be a catechist for teens preparing for confirmation, and I gladly accepted. I'll be there to ask and answer questions, and I know they'll have lots of questions. There's 150 of them the kids have to answer before confirmation next spring! I might be able to help.

I saw a group of Buddhist monks enter Peking House Restaurant on Grandview Wednesday night. I knew they were in town from William Meyer's photo in the Journal Sentinel a day earlier. Tibetan Buddhist monks were creating a mandala sand painting at WCTC and the public was invited to see the painting or take part in the closing ceremony.

Loaded with blessings and prayer for personal health and healing, the mandala was auspiciously created on 9/11 by ten monks over a total of about 24 hours. WCTC was the right place for this event because it was educational and entertaining. Plus there's a pond on campus. Water is necessary for the last ritual, the dispersal of the sand.

There were many open minds in the Student Lounge during the final blessings and prayers and, though there were periods of singing, drumming and blowing of loud, ten foot horns, there were also solemn moments of chanting. I prayed my cell didn't ring. Actually, I didn't hear any cell ring, which was very good because the chanting obviously requires concentration.

About an hour after the closing ceremony began, one of the monks slowly began taking down the three foot wide round mandala sand painting. After all the colored sand was swept into the middle of the table the monks distributed half to the audience in plastic bags, a prayerful reminder of healing made more meaningful by this week's 9/11 anniversary. The rest of the sand was placed in a container to be poured into the pond.

Several of us processed behind the monks and the ten foot horns, past students eating lunch in the cafeteria, to outside. We stood across the pond from them while they concluded their prayers and watched while they dropped flowers in the water. The sand from the mandala is cast into flowing water to spread healing energy throughout the world, but it was so windy Thursday that I didn't see any of it hit the water. The sand was dispersed to the wind. So I ask; did you feel any different Thursday afternoon?

It's 3:00 a.m. and I'm too anxious to sleep. Too many things going on. Maybe if I blogged about it...

In two hours my phone will probably ring to go hot air balloon crewing. The grass is really wet in the morning and the mosquitos swarm around us when we're readying for a flight, but the days are getting shorter and I welcome any opportunity to go. Regularly crewing is one of the best things I've done with my swiftly-coming-to-a-close summer.

Yesterday morning we took an excited retired teacher up. She was simply following her dream, had already rode a motorcycle. Another thing to check off on her list of things she must do before she dies. Many of her fellow teachers, including the principal, chipped in for the flight and were there to see her go up. By the time they calmly landed on a residential street there were about seven cars following. One of them opened a tailgate and had a little breakfast party ready for everyone.

After ballooning this morning, my mom-in-law and I will drive east for the last ethnic festival of the year at the lakefront, Indian Summer. The non-denominational prayer ceremony will get us into the fest for free but the real incentive is to participate as a Native American. To learn more about Earth Mother, honoring ancestors, sacrifice and cleansing of the soul. There'll be much dancing, drumming, music, speeches and stories. Attending religious services at the many ethnic festivals is another of the best things I've done with my summer and I'm sad that the year is coming to a close.

I'm anxious to get going with this new blog tool we've heard about, and BrookfieldNOW's been using, for a month. It will allow readers' comments and dialog directly on my blog, and if it works right I should be able to add my own photos. It should have begun by now so I'm just waiting.

Still trying to get a new furnace and A/C. I signed a contract and scheduled the install with a highly recommended Rheem dealer then cancelled it after talking again with the Carrier dealer. Hopefully there will be resolution soon.

Looking forward to a tour tomorrow of the near half million sq. ft. Journal Sentinel printing plant in West Milwaukee. It'll be interesting to see how they produce 85,000 copies of the paper an hour, and it'll be nice to meet the publisher, editor and Journal Interactive V.P. Like the downtown facility, the new plant is something I've wanted to tour when I worked as a weekend Journal Sentinel distributor but never had the chance until I left that job and started doing this. Another blog-efit I enjoy.

Have been tired lately but don't know why. I got a good night's sleep Saturday after a late tether of the Re/Max balloon in Richfield and woke up at 4:30 a.m. Sunday to crew again. We set up alongside another balloon at a dairy farm on Hwy. G in Delafield and this time, instead of chasing the balloon, I rode in it. My second flight ever.

Yes, I heard about the two hot air balloon deaths in Canada the day before. I don't know what the cause of that fire was, and may not know for quite a while, but with the safety precautions we take here, I knew I'd be safe. Pilots have to be licensed, winds have to be calm, have to have enough daylight and weather prediction has to be good. We're in radio contact with competent crew, and redundant controls virtually eliminate accidents. (the balloon I flew in had two burners, two tanks, two vent ropes, three people in the chase vehicle...)

Winds were dead calm for my flight so we travelled just a mile or two in an hour, from north of Hwy. 18 on G to just south of 18 on G. There was a little wind at 100 feet so we used that to find a spot to land and took the envelope down on a driveway between a row of trees. It was neat to see Lake Michigan, Pewaukee Lake, Lapham Peak...

After a quick breakfast, and more coffee, I headed to Maier Festival Park for my fifth ethnic mass and festival of the year, Mexican Fiesta. Honduran Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiga lead the two hour Spanish Mass, along with Archbishop Dolan and Bishop Sklba. When the cardinal remained seated for the homily, that should have clued me in. The half hour sermon must have been great because he gestured, raised his voice, got a few chuckles and a large applause, but I only knew about twelve out of the thousands of words he spoke.

I was still in the dog house for spending nine hours at Irish Fest the previous weekend, so I didn't stay at Fiesta very long. I did enjoy what I saw very much though. I got a good look at the Ballet Folklorico and Milw. Ballet II in the Cultural Village, along with many handcrafted items and demonstrations. There was a lot of music, food and activity, as you'd expect, with approx. 70,000 attendees anticipated for it's three day run.

To make a long story not as long; Soon as I got home gave son ride to party. On way home from party stopped at an acquaintance to visit. They're disabled and needed to mow the lawn that day because landlord coming. Mower not working -- grass real long. Went home, got my mower and finished what they had started. When done, rushed home to get ready for evening balloon crewing. Was pretty windy but we waited until after 6:00 and pilot, Rod, was able to lift off with two passengers. We chased the swift-moving balloon all the way to just this side of Holy Hill and walked it out to a gravel road through 6 foot tall weeds. It was dark by the time we got back but still only 8:30 so I went home, ate something, read the paper, and contemplated this blog entry.

African World Festival is the seventh. Last week I pointed out the six ethnic festivals at Maier Festival Park having Sunday religious services. Add another to the list because African World Festival also holds one. And, like all but one of the rest, allowed free admission to the fest.

Six of the festival masses, including African World, are Catholic so I'm comfortable. I had to be comfortable to sit through a two and a half hour service at the lakefront today. It seems this year I'm trying to go to as many ethnic festival masses as possible. As I may have mentioned; it's not only an inexpensive way to get into the different fests to try them, but diversity of prayer is also a great way to learn about other cultures.

The 10th Annual Sacred Liturgy at African World Festival was engaging, vibrant and electric. There was enough energy emitted from the choir, drummers, dancers and musicians to spread to the audience and we clapped often. The choir may have received the most applause but the sermon also got it's share. A Dominican priest from Chicago gave the homily and it started out in the usual way. But soon Father Paul gained speed and momentum and his sermon started sounding more like song than speech. His words all came together so rapid-fire that I thought I was at an auction for Jesus' Love and Father Paul was the auctioneer. It was wild, it was why I was there, and I applauded him.

After mass I walked around and tried to find lines of people at food stands, which would indicate to me which ones to be the best. I didn't find any lines, there weren't a lot of people there, so I bought some gumbo and worked up a sweat eating the spicy meal out in the sun. As I walked around the marketplace I kept seeing the same product offered -- one I'm not familiar with. Shea butter was being sold at probably more than half the stands and looked messy, especially when the sun got to it. African shea butter is made from the seed of the shea tree and is supposed to be better than cocoa butter for skin and best when it's not processed. There were huge chunks of it everywhere I looked.

As I headed toward the exit I discovered some long lines at the fried catfish and wings stand, but by then I was full of gumbo and had to get going.

I've been noticing that one of the best ways to get into many of the ethnic festivals at Maier Festival Park free or at reduced cost is to just attend Sunday Mass. I'm aware of four festivals with mass and only one charges a little for fest admission.

Fest masses are a good way to experience other cultures. You may pick up a little bit by walking through the grounds listening to the music, tasting the food and shopping the vendors, but to really get to know a culture you need to pray with them.

I couldn't have learned any more about the former Italian community of the Old Third Ward, and it's central fixture Our Lady of Pompeii Church, than I did at the Festa Mass. I learned Festa is really a continuation of the traditional religious festivals held on summer weekends not far from the current Maier Park. The mass and procession is the highlight of Festa Italiana and after it was over I wasn't drawn to stay long on the grounds, just long enough to enjoy a couple calzones.

I didn't attend German Fest's Mass yesterday. I didn't hear about it until it was too late. If I did go to German Fest I'd have missed the 18th Century Anglican Church Service I attended by chance at Delafield's Colonial Encampment.

I was drawn to the encampment by the price, free, and the location, St. John's Northwestern Military Academy. The Academy is someplace I've always been curious about and heard of but never visited. I thought this would be a good time to check it out. I was there by myself Sunday morning before it got busy and really enjoyed the time and knowledge the reenactors shared with me to explain what was going on. I'm familiar with civil war encampments and this wasn't much different except it was set much earlier - during the Revolutionary War. One of the reasons I feel these encampments make history come alive is that some of the reenactors research and live like their very own ancestors. If the ancestor they researched was a cloth merchant then they'd know everything about linen and cotton dyeing and weaving in the 1700s. They'd operate a small shop in a canvas tent and sell unusual gadgets as well as patterns and cloth made the 18th century way. They'd inform their visitors that the Revolutionary War coincided with the Industrial Revolution and the cotton gin helped America gain independence from Britain.

I was so long in listening and learning that the church service was about to begin at 10:00 and I had a decision to make. Do I drive back to Waukesha for mass at my own church or stay for a unique 18th century experience? I didn't even have to think twice. The service was held in the beautiful stone Victory Memorial Chapel on the Academy's grounds, a place I'd only seen pictures of, and it was phenomenal. We prayed like they prayed 300 years ago and it seemed strangely familiar. The message was very similar but so were several of the prayers, including the Lord's Prayer. The setting was so authentic, and not a single person didn't take the service seriously. It was an interesting experiment in history. I can see myself going again next year.

******* 7/31 addendum *********

A little more research on this topic produced a total of six ethnic festivals at the lakefront with Sunday religious services. Only Polish Fest charges a small fee and Irish Fest usually a couple cans of food to enter the fest grounds after services. The six fests are; Polish, Italian, German, Irish, Mexican and Native American.