Farewell to Wisconsin

My time in Wisconsin has drawn to a close and I find myself in a hotel room in Valparaiso, Indiana tonight as I write this. Woke this morning to the sound of the monastery bells at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Madison.   After I ate my breakfast and packed my car for the departure later in the day, I met Paul, the groundskeeper for monastery.  A quiet man with a very calm presence, he introduced me to the prairie there and showed me several of the flowers that had now finished blooming and gone to seed.  Part of his work there is overseeing the 135 acres that has been converted back into prairie after it was used as farm land.   One way they do that is to harvest seed from the spent flowers and redistribute them in other areas.  So after my tutorial I was given a large trash can and clippers and went out into the field to harvest seed.   I have to admit that it was a wonderful experience...... the early morning cool air (28 degrees when I woke up!), no one around and surrounded by nature.   Plus, when we first got to the field, we were greeted by a HUGE flock of geese flying overhead, announcing their arrival by the loud honking, long before they came into sight.  It was almost breathtaking to see so many fly directly over us!

Besides my seed gathering task, I was given the task of filling a few more bins with sticks and twigs that had fallen in and around the road.  Slightly confused, I asked Paul why he didn't just use a blower.  He seemed a bit surprised and said something about he didn't like them but he did have one.  So away Paul went in the truck to work on something else, telling me he would be back in about an hour.   My time clipping the plants for seeds was very enjoyable but I still remained confused about the whole "picking up the sticks" thing.....   Was this a test of my patience?    Was there something I was supposed to learn by doing this?   But I did what I was told and filled both bins and even had a huge pile on the roadside. (They had a big windstorm so there were a lot of small branches!)  While I am still not completely sure why I was given this task, I did find that after a while I didn't mind even this menial task and enjoyed the solitude.   And I got to thinking about how they frown upon the use of any kind of devises that create a nuisance like televisions and radios, so I guess that leaf blowers would sure fit that category too!

Once Paul came back, we drove to another part of the grounds and picked some spots to scatter the seeds.  He showed me the best way to shake them loose and how to crumple them up and spread them around.   I must admit that there was a moment of pride when I thought about if I were to return in a few years, perhaps I could look at this field in bloom and know that I did make a difference for at least this one day and helped to get that flower to grow there!   The rest of the morning was filled with some leaf raking at one of the houses that the sisters live in, but I was happy to help since Paul has way too much work to do! 

Then it was time for lunch.  I had opted to have lunch at the monastery for a small charge and had read that eating together was very much a part of the life there for them - part of their community fellowship.   There were only six of us for lunch - four sisters, one other visitor and myself.  The sisters wear "real clothes" and could even talk football with me, so again, it was not what you typically think of as a monastery!!   The food was wonderful - chicken stew, salad, fresh fruit and freshly baked scones, with apple cider to drink. It was an interesting meal and the women were all very nice, though I must admit to feeling very much  like an "outsider" or impostor as I sat with them.  They talked about a meeting they had had the night before at the Islamic Center and other things in their life.  Nothing profound and nothing extraordinarily unusual.

So after lunch I snapped a few photos since the sun was out and the view across Lake Mendota over to the capital building was pretty amazing.  Then it was time to head on  tothe next leg of the journey and I must admit that after 24 hours there it felt a little jarring to deal with the hustle and bustle of every day life.

With the car pointed south, I bid farewell to Wisconsin and headed to Valparaiso,Indiana where tomorrow the Butler Bulldogs will take on Valparaiso University in an annual game called the Hoosier Helmet.   Bragging rights are at stake and we have to defend last year's win!

Today's song is in honor of my time at the monastery.   The song I really wanted to use is a song called "All My Angels" sung by The Refugees.  I heard it on my iPod today as I traveled and it really struck a chord for me.   But alas, I could not find it on grooveshark so have to pick an alternate!   (For anyone who would like to hear it, this is a link that should take you to a site where you can hear it:    http://ilike.myspacecdn.com/play#Refugees:All+My+Angels:101653935:s40959594.10908139.5175303.0.2.50%2Cstd_8a289685b76a47a49373cdf7445e59e9

In it's place, the song for today is "One of Us" by Joan Osborne.   If you listen to the lyrics, there is a lot in this song that mirrors the beliefs of the Benedictine Women of the monastery there.  I quote from a paper that I got there ..... "Benedictine spirituality is rooted in the Rule of Benedict, which fosters listening, hospitality, humility, embracing change, respect for people, learning, prayer and work.   It promotes a sense of balance and provides a basis upon which faith can be strengthened in the ordinary circumstances of everyday life."   There is another part that says that "Living in community, Benedictines strive to see Christ in each person".    I am still not sure exactly WHAT  or WHO I believe in, but I do believe in something.  

And like the song says ........ what if God was one of us?