Retreat

It was a lovely spring evening, birds singing, sun shining, and Larry and I were on our way to a nearby retreat center for an evening function.  As our car ascended the hill on the winding road, I could feel my pulse slow and my breathing deepening.  We weren't on our way to an actual retreat, but somehow, my body was reacting as if it was. The event was to benefit Durward's Glen Retreat Center, nestled high in the hills outside of Baraboo, Wisconsin.  An energetic and enterprising group of volunteers rolled up its sleeves to save the restful, beautiful spot from developers a few years ago and were now actively generating funds to sustain it.  The event focused on the theme of an evening in Paris.  From French wine to French country music to French cuisine to the pastries and prayers of a French Sister, the evening spirited us to a place a half-world away.  Although we were among some 75 other adults in the lively, chatty atmosphere of a single room, that enchanting evening was my very definition of retreat.

Working Women of WWII

I had the pleasure of hearing a historian's lecture recently about the women who were employed during World War II at a then-new army ammunition plant on the Sauk Prairie near Baraboo, Wisconsin.  Women started out working there in the more typical clerical capacities, but were quickly trained for the more dangerous duties of making ammunition powders and propellants.  They were paid well for the times for their work.  And their numbers swelled to the point that there were nearly as many women as men employed there.  It was a time of great patriotism and a willingness to sacrifice at home for those fighting for our freedom in another part of the world.  This same ammunition plant is no longer in operation and the thousands of acres that once made up the plant are now being divided up between various parties.  A large swath of the land will become the property of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and made into what the historian called a recreation park.  In a transformation from forest and prairie to farms to ammunition plant to a park, as we recreate there in the future, may we always respect and remember the amazing history of that land. 

Thunder and Blazes

My good friend Jim surprised me with the gift of a miniature circus wagon he made.  It's a bright orange circus cage wagon, complete with snarling bears inside.  It's made of wood with brightly painted "sunburst"-design wagon wheels and all of the details of the large circus wagons preserved at Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin.  And this miniature wagon isn't any "ordinary" (if there is such a thing) wagon model.  It's also a music box.  I don't know if Jim knew it, but he couldn't have selected a more appropriate musical selection for my circus wagon music box.  My all-time favorite piece of circus music is Entry of the Gladiators, also known as Thunder and Blazes.  It's an iconic piece of music, always associated with the circus.  I so appreciate Jim taking the time to make such a wonderful gift for me, especially since I know that such items are often reserved for members of his family.  Thanks so much, Jim, for helping preserve the "stupendous, colossal" memories of my 15 years working at Circus World Museum.  I couldn't have a more beautiful and musical reminder!