Train rumbles by family; the bike ride: air dancer, church chicken offers free eggs, art and soul; the wood gatherers
Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 10:43AM 
When I walked into Family Restaurant for breakfast, there was a different lady handling the seating and she tried to seat me in the wrong place. I refused to go there, because if I had sat there and a train came by, I could not even have seen it.
So she relented and gave me a booth by the window that looks out at the railroad tracks.
Sure enough, a train went by.
Sometimes, you just have to stand up for your rights if you want to see the train.
Between breakfast and coffee break, I took a break for lunch and ate it in the backyard with Jim. The temperature was 45 degrees, very pleasant, and I shot a nice little picture story titled, "Lunch in the Backyard With Jim."
But I don't have time to edit, process, place and write about the pictures, so I will just move on to coffee-break time. Here I am, on my coffee break. I have already been to Metro and now I am pedaling on the bike path that parallels the Parks Highway.
This guy or gal is dancing and waving at me, trying to get me to come into a nearby store and buy clothes.
I refuse.
I pedal on.
At the corner of Parks and Church, I come upon a gigantic chicken with the face of man waving a sign advertising free eggs. The chicken is Ned, and he says the eggs are being given away at the Lamb of God Church, about one more mile up the road.
He says there are a lot of people who can't afford to buy eggs during this Easter Season and the congregation at the Lamb of God wants these people to be able to celebrate Easter with eggs.
But even if you are rich and don't celebrate Easter, you can still stop and get free eggs. They do not do means testing at the Lamb of God.
At least, you could have got eggs yesterday. The egg giveaway is now over.
Ned told me to let everybody know that each Wednesday, the church puts on a noon feed for the poor. But it is not limited to the poor. Anyone can come and eat. So you are all invited. Yes, my Hindu family in India - you too. You come here and we can go together to eat at the Lamb of God - just like we get to eat at your temple if we want.
I gave myself an assignment to go to the Lamb of God one Wednesday and eat.
The problem is, it could easily be another month before I am in Wasilla on a Wednesday again and by then I will probably have forgotten that I gave myself such an assignment.
But if I see another chicken in the road giving away eggs, I will remember.
The lady who was with Ned. I believe she was his wife, but I didn't pry, so I can't be certain.
I could have pedaled on towards the Lamb of God, but I turned on Church and pointed my bike towards home. Soon, I came upon this bike path art.
I remember when Maureen Dowd, columnist of the New York Times was in Wasilla and she described my town as a tiny, bleak soulless place devoid of culture and sidewalks.
Well, as regular readers of this blog have probably figured out, Wasilla is not tiny at all. It sprawls. You could probably drop half or more of Manhattan Island into Wasilla. We don't have no sidewalks, all right, but we got bike paths and plenty of culture - just look at the fine art you can find right on a Wasilla bike path!
There is soul aplenty in that there art work.
A bit up Church, I found these people gathering firewood from a newly cleared lot. They spoke to each other in what sounded to be Russian. They were friendly enough and I was tempted to hang out and learn their life history, but they were busy, I had a huge amount of work waiting for me at home, work to keep me going into the wee hours of the next morning, when I would stop only because I was ready to drop.
So I held my questions for another time, another day, should I ever meet them again. I pedaled home and got back to work.
Reader Comments (6)
I like Maureen Dowd. I read her columns all the time. I didn't see her column about Wasilla, though. I'm glad. It would have changed my opinion of her.
Thanks Bill. Another pleasant ending to a busy day. I save you for last as I like to go to bed with happy thoughts. I do so enjoy your pictures and thoughts. And art. And trains. And chickens with a mans face. You have very skinny people waving at you. But colorful. Hope you get some sleep tonight. Read your post, it will make you happy so sleep comes fast. Thanks.
very important to watch trains. late at nite when i'm in bed i hear a freight train off in the distance. i always pay total attn as it clacketty-clack-clacks away. maureen dowd certainly misspoke. soulless? nevah!
Oh dear.
Ms Dowd thinks a community's soul resides in sidewalks ?
Oh my.
And culture is WHAT?
I'm seeing a fair amount of 'culture'
http://anthro.palomar.edu/culture/culture_1.htm
in the man in the chicken suit myself.
Excellence in arts, letters, scholarship, etc is all well and good but no human group lacks basic culture.
Those notions of what is to be revered in human endeavor which begin and end with stuff we have piled up in museums and libraries or sing/play out in concert halls cuts the strings they have with everyday life and our hopes and dreams .
And really, I'm just having a hard time with souls in sidewalks...
The act of giving food to any who want or need it, chicken suit included, just seems a much more likely place soul could be said to reside.
Yiiipppee!!! Your Indian - Hindu family waiting to get there to have lunch at the Lamb of God!!
Really enjoyed reading! Thanks for posting.