The lady and the loon.

  It was a beautiful October day and Trygve and I decided we'd walk around Lake Calhoun.  As we rounded the south west corner of the lake I spotted a large bird in the water not far from shore.  Just across the path directly in front of the bird was a woman on a bench facing the lake.
  Drawing nearer to the bird I could tell it was a loon.  Unperturbed by the woman on the bench nor by our approach the normally reclusive and shy loon was splashing and preening.  I envied the woman her perspective on this exotic bit of wildlife.  Momentarily I shifted my gaze from the serendipitous viewing of this migrating waterfowl to see if the woman was taking it all in.  However, she was so engaged in a conversation on her cell phone that she was totally oblivious to the scene in front of her.  I felt sad for her. 

A Grand Birthday!

  As it happened my birthday fell on a Sunday this year, October 28, to be exact.  CT has been coming from New Jersey to hunt pheasants with me for the last several years.  Since Lars and Melissa have moved to Minnesota his wife comes too.  So, it seemed only logical to use the event of their visit as opportune time to plan Sella's baptism, ie., on October 28.

  So it was that on my birthday I was invited to preside at Sella Grace Townsend Negstad's baptism at Lars & Melissa's new church, (they joined that day) Calvary, Lutheran at Chicago & 39th S, Minneapolis.  It became a most memorable birthday.  The pictures tell the story!