🎵"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" 🎶

     Today, the church celebrates Reformation Sunday. Someone suggested that we wear red today, and I thought it was a great idea. However, I forgot and wore olive green when I selected something to wear this morning. I should have left myself a note. We sang Luther's Hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" with trumpet accompaniment!

    The small children heard a story about Martin Luther before they went outside for Trunk or Treat. The weather was cool but sunny. The children were dressed in their Halloween costumes. This event has been a tradition for several years, but something I hadn't seen before. At least a half dozen car trunks were decorated, and candy treats were handed out to the children as they came by. Someone even set up a bubble machine to add to the festive atmosphere.

Bubbles everywhere!

    The IU football team did it again. They defeated Washington State 31-17 yesterday and are now 8-0 for the season! The Colts did not win today. They were in Houston against the Texans and lost 20-23.

    We aren't planning for trick-or-treaters on Thursday evening since we haven't had anyone knock on our door since we moved to Beckenham Way. What about you? Do you stock up on candy for Halloween? What is your favorite to share?

My Everyday Life - October 20-26, 2024

Birthday Week

     Our celebration was low-key, with phone calls, greeting cards arriving in the mail, cake at the senior center, where we play bridge on Thursday afternoons, and a flower arrangement. A local restaurant offers a free personal pizza for your birthday, and we enjoyed that, too. We had a Zoom visit with Bart and his family in the evening. Today, a gift was delivered, and we put it to good use this afternoon since we had lots of sunshine.

A special gift:
Monogrammed Corn Hole Bags

    I baked a cake and cookies for the birthday celebration. The two recipes called for melted butter, but I must have overheated the butter because I heard a loud explosion and opened the microwave door to find this mess. 

I set the microwave for a few seconds, 
but it was enough to cause a butter explosion!

    A few days ago, I saw a post about the Indiana Live Steamers Club in Johnson County Park. They offer train rides once a month, and yesterday was the last one of the year. The weather was ideal; we drove south for 30 minutes to the park after lunch. When we arrived, a large crowd was waiting to purchase tickets. 

Waiting in line for our turn.

We had a few minutes waiting for the next train.

This is our train coming into the station.

Just about ready to depart the station.

My Everyday Life - October 13-19, 2024

    

    Football update: Indiana beat Nebraska convincingly yesterday, 56-7! Today, the Colts outlasted Miami, 16-10. IU is 7-0 for the season, and the Colts are 4-3.

Murder Trial

    On a warm February day in 2017, two teenage friends, Abby and Libby, went hiking on a Delphi, Indiana trail. They didn't return to the arranged point for a ride home, and a search was begun. The next day, the girls were found murdered. The story received national attention, but no suspect was apprehended until two years ago. A local Delphi man, Richard Allen, was arrested, and his trial begins this week. The trial will occur in the county where the girls lived, but the jury comes from Allen County, the home of Fort Wayne. The jury will be sequestered for the duration of the trial, which is expected to take weeks. 

    I can't begin to imagine what those jurors' lives will be like. They will be far from home, and their lives will be on hold. They won't have access to much outside of the courtroom. From what I've heard, jurors are closely monitored. No cameras, recording devices, or TVs are allowed in the courtroom. We'll be hearing daily reports when the trial begins after the jury selection process is completed. 

    On the days I go jogging, I like to get out of bed and go outdoors fifteen minutes after waking up. I've noticed that it's barely light when I leave the house. On a clear day, I can even see the sun rise above the horizon. Later this week, we will have some mornings in the low 30s, so I'll need to jog later when there's daylight and warmer temperatures. 

My Everyday Life - October 6-12, 2024

    
    I wish all my readers a lovely week. I hope to see some fall colors soon and share them with you.

 

More Football and This and That

    Sadly, we watched the Colts lose to Jacksonville this afternoon. The Colts have not won on their turf in the last ten years. The Colts were without their regular starting quarterback, running back, and center. Joe Flacco played an excellent game and tied up the game, but Jacksonville had enough time on the clock to kick a field goal and win the game.

    On Saturday afternoon, we cheered IU as they went 6-0 for the season, defeating Northwestern in a well-played game. IU is the first team to achieve six victories to be bowl-eligible!

    Before the IU football game, I helped with the Lutheran World Relief ingathering. Nine volunteers loaded the truck with quilts, school and personal care kits, fabric kits, and baby layettes. We also had help from several people who were dropping off their contributions. Churches from central and southern Indiana made the trip to Greenwood to bring kits to load on the truck for transport to the warehouse in Minnesota.

More than 400 boxes were loaded on the truck

All the boxes are moved to the front of the truck.
It's a big job, and these guys worked hard.

    Today, we celebrated LWML Sunday, and many women and some men wore shades of purple. October 6 is Dustin's 29th birthday, and we enjoyed visiting with him and his friend, Josh, for lunch at Tacos & Brews. 

Next year, he'll celebrate #30!

My Everyday Life - September 29-October 5