My Lutheran church has a very "informal" Wednesday night service. On several occasions the hymn boards were not changed. There was nothing I could do about this since I don't know where the numbers and stepladder are stored. (Perhaps I should investigate.) On several other occasions the stands into which the communicants are to deposit their individual wine cups were not put out. Even though I am not an elder or even an usher I brought out these stands. On another occasion, due to a shortage of ushers, I was pressed into service to help collect the offering. On another occasion, due to the usher(s) suddenly disappearing, I passed out the bulletins. On another particularly humorous occasion during Advent, on my way up to the balcony to find a seat, I spotted our organist on the first floor. Wishing to say hello, I walked over to her. She handed me her keys and instructed, "Please park my car." Finally, on one occasion when she and the assistant organist had a miscommunication and the former failed to show up, I almost had to play the organ. All of these incidents combine to move me to quip, "I have done everything on Wednesday night except give the sermon!"
Last night my worst nightmare almost came true. It was 6:30 and the organist had not started playing. I looked up into the balcony and she was not even sitting on the organ bench. Instead, she was running around the narthex [lobby] of the church. I looked at Jill and whispered, "I don't think the pastor is here yet." I looked again into the narthex and observed the organist's husband, the elder on duty, pacing and talking into his cell phone. At 6:35 the organist came to the front of the church. "The pastor is on his way but is stuck in traffic. We will sing some songs while we wait." Before she could start the first song, her husband also came to the front of the church. "The pastor is here now and we will be underway shortly." The organist ascended to the balcony and began playing the pre-service music.
At 6:45 our senior pastor appeared, apologized and promised that he would make up the time by cutting back on his sermon. The congregation chuckled appreciatively, since he is known for his long-winded sermons, and I gave a sigh of relief. He did make good on his promise, cutting back from his usual 25 minutes to 15.
[For the record, I am not an ordained Lutheran minister and may never give the sermon. LOL.]
STRAIGHT FROM THE PENGUIN'S BEAK + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Larry and Jill's Travel Adventures + + + + + + + + + + Larry's Bicycling Adventures + + + + + + + + + + Larry Alan Wolf, Penguin-in-Chief
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Friday, August 3, 2012
I survived the Port Washington 50! (Part II)
Before I begin part II, I feel the need to apologize to the fourth member of our team, Paul, for my slight of not mentioning him in part I. While not a founding member of the Port Washington 50, he earned the dubious distinction of bringing rain to our event for the first time back when he signed on. Howl-ever, he finally lived down his title of "Rainman" this year when even he could not end the drought of 2012!
After using one of my two allotted cell phone calls to tell Jill we had safely made it to Port Washington, we bid farewell to Harry's and PW. When we leave PW, we trade the "cooler by the lake" route for the usually much warmer Interurban Trail. Howl-ever, we still enjoyed a cool breeze as we traveled through the communities of Grafton, Cedarburg and Mequon. In previous, hotter years I felt like abandoning the ride and jumping right over the fence into the Grafton (or Mequon) public pool! One particularly hot year, I looked forward to just standing in the Mequon pool's shower with all of my clothes on. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a hot shower offering no way to regulate the temperature. Ugh!
Since its opening a few years ago, the trail bridge over Interstate 43 has really enhanced our enjoyment of the ride. It eliminated two grueling hills and shaved about a mile off the total distance. (It is still over 50 miles.) During the ride back, Bob informed me that another improvement is in the works. The trail is going to be straightened out at a point we now refer to as "Dead Man's Curve," where the trail makes an abrupt, right-angle turn to avoid a WE Energies substation. Since the bridge seemed to take forever going from concept to reality, it should be interesting to monitor howl long the straightening takes!
As we approached our final scheduled rest stop, Mequon's public pool, Bob, Dave and Paul obliviously kept on pedaling. Momentarily dumbfounded, I stopped at a picnic table, pulled out my cell phone and typed Bob's number, hoping he would hear the ring and answer since he has never set up his voice-mail. When he did answer, I informed him that I was stopping as was traditional. He said he would alert Dave and Paul. When they all returned to the rest stop, Dave explained that they were anxious to get back to Bob's house [our starting point] for the celebratory beer!
Bob informed me that they would join me this year on the final leg of the Interurban Trail because Paul had discovered a new connecting trail that would take us beyond busy Brown Deer Road into Brown Deer Park and right onto the Oak Leaf Trail. (Bob and Dave had obviously forgotten that I had also told them about this connector.) Howl-ever, when the three of them continued east down Bradley Road, I decided to stick to the Oak Leaf Trail back to Bob's house. (Paul later told me I would have been OK with his route as it was non-hilly.)
I arrived at Bob's house at 2:30 PM (we had started out at 7:30 AM), about five minutes behind the three of them. According to my bicycle computer, I had traveled 55.44 miles and my actual riding time was five hours, leaving two hours for breakfast and rest stops. Hostess Marie, Bob's wife, served us beer, snacks, washcloths and ice water at the afterglow party. A special appearance at the party was made by a future rider on the PW 50, Bob and Marie's new, first, one-month-old grandchild, June Marie. (June? Poor kid! Is this 2012 or 1912? In case the parents happen to read this, just kidding!)
My next major bike ride of the summer will be the second annual "Freak 50" on Labor Day. It is also fifty miles (duh!) and the "Freak" is my nephew Dan. In his teaching days (he is now a labor negotiator) he tried to look like his students, hence the moniker "Freak." The nickname stuck even though today he looks more like Screech from "Saved By the Bell." The route follows the Little Miami Scenic River Trail from Milford, Ohio (suburban Cincinnati) northeast to Morrow and returns the same way to Milford. Last year there were 11 riders and four womanning the sag wagons and refreshments. Check back here in September to see how we fared!
After using one of my two allotted cell phone calls to tell Jill we had safely made it to Port Washington, we bid farewell to Harry's and PW. When we leave PW, we trade the "cooler by the lake" route for the usually much warmer Interurban Trail. Howl-ever, we still enjoyed a cool breeze as we traveled through the communities of Grafton, Cedarburg and Mequon. In previous, hotter years I felt like abandoning the ride and jumping right over the fence into the Grafton (or Mequon) public pool! One particularly hot year, I looked forward to just standing in the Mequon pool's shower with all of my clothes on. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a hot shower offering no way to regulate the temperature. Ugh!
Since its opening a few years ago, the trail bridge over Interstate 43 has really enhanced our enjoyment of the ride. It eliminated two grueling hills and shaved about a mile off the total distance. (It is still over 50 miles.) During the ride back, Bob informed me that another improvement is in the works. The trail is going to be straightened out at a point we now refer to as "Dead Man's Curve," where the trail makes an abrupt, right-angle turn to avoid a WE Energies substation. Since the bridge seemed to take forever going from concept to reality, it should be interesting to monitor howl long the straightening takes!
As we approached our final scheduled rest stop, Mequon's public pool, Bob, Dave and Paul obliviously kept on pedaling. Momentarily dumbfounded, I stopped at a picnic table, pulled out my cell phone and typed Bob's number, hoping he would hear the ring and answer since he has never set up his voice-mail. When he did answer, I informed him that I was stopping as was traditional. He said he would alert Dave and Paul. When they all returned to the rest stop, Dave explained that they were anxious to get back to Bob's house [our starting point] for the celebratory beer!
Bob informed me that they would join me this year on the final leg of the Interurban Trail because Paul had discovered a new connecting trail that would take us beyond busy Brown Deer Road into Brown Deer Park and right onto the Oak Leaf Trail. (Bob and Dave had obviously forgotten that I had also told them about this connector.) Howl-ever, when the three of them continued east down Bradley Road, I decided to stick to the Oak Leaf Trail back to Bob's house. (Paul later told me I would have been OK with his route as it was non-hilly.)
I arrived at Bob's house at 2:30 PM (we had started out at 7:30 AM), about five minutes behind the three of them. According to my bicycle computer, I had traveled 55.44 miles and my actual riding time was five hours, leaving two hours for breakfast and rest stops. Hostess Marie, Bob's wife, served us beer, snacks, washcloths and ice water at the afterglow party. A special appearance at the party was made by a future rider on the PW 50, Bob and Marie's new, first, one-month-old grandchild, June Marie. (June? Poor kid! Is this 2012 or 1912? In case the parents happen to read this, just kidding!)
My next major bike ride of the summer will be the second annual "Freak 50" on Labor Day. It is also fifty miles (duh!) and the "Freak" is my nephew Dan. In his teaching days (he is now a labor negotiator) he tried to look like his students, hence the moniker "Freak." The nickname stuck even though today he looks more like Screech from "Saved By the Bell." The route follows the Little Miami Scenic River Trail from Milford, Ohio (suburban Cincinnati) northeast to Morrow and returns the same way to Milford. Last year there were 11 riders and four womanning the sag wagons and refreshments. Check back here in September to see how we fared!
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