Saturday in the rain

There’s nothing like a weekend at the farm and rural Wisconsin …

I’ve said it before: It has a way of making you forget about all the stresses of city life. It seems all we do -- all you really can do -- when we’re there is sleep, eat, read, hike and watch movies.

It’s better when it doesn’t rain though …

We went there this weekend to spend some time with Kates’ family and visit the Viola Horse & Colt show -- visiting some of Kates’ childhood memories …

… I wasn’t in the mood for all the driving this weekend.

But my consolation prize was taking a morning bike ride up the country hills that surround the farm land. Getting lots of love and licks from my favorite dog, Chloe. Shopping for antiques. Marveling at the tornado damage done to this place a couple months ago and daring to walk inside what was left of the old feed mill (picture above) , even while its bricks and skeleton could topple at any moment. Standing in the rain to watch a small town parade -- which by the way was fraught with horses and tractors and bands and fire trucks -- that lasted an hour and a half, although it seemed to last all day. Feeding on enough grease-loaded fries and cheese curds to expect a heart attack any day.

… and falling asleep in a recliner at Grandma’s house.

We grabbed a bite at Culver’s (mmmm... ) and were so tired and cold on the drive home that we had Enya’s ‘Day Without Rain’ and Sarah McLachlan’s ‘Surfacing’ going in the CD player. Now that NEVER happens while I'm driving…