Sunday

You could say that the day is a culmination of everyone and everything, of a summer of swings and swirls, of interesting possibilities and incredible rewards. And that probably doesn't fully describe it all.

(Venerable farmhouse and the Big Bed...)

(Some lilies are so-called repeat bloomers, but here up north, that second bloom is modest. Still, you love every secondary bloom, because, well, it's September!)

(Breakfast greetings from the farmette!)

The plan is for me to meet up with everyone. The two young families, and with the Polish gang if the timing is right, all together at the Union Terrace.

At first I'm with just the kids and their parents.

But just as the Chicago young family was getting ready to head back home...

Just as we managed to sit the cousins down for one last photo...

... the Polish group arrived. And we had a chance to meet. All together... (well, a few of the men are parking cars, or getting cars, or taking photos!)

Still, the timing is right. We had that lovely moment together. 

And now the young families leave and the Polish group remains.

Since my pals are here only for 24 hours, I decided that we should calm down the sightseeing and concentrate on something else -- take in a whiff of Wisconsin as I know it from this wee corner of the state. It's all well and good to climb to the top of skyscrapers and to visit the musts of San Francisco. But if you step out of that tailspin and look around you, there's a bit of interesting America right here, on the Wisconsin campus...

 ... and on farmette lands. 

And so after the Union, and the campus, and after they check into their hotel, we come out to where I live.

Ultimately, we settle into an evening around the kitchen table...

And a wonderful dinner on the porch, with the song of crickets adding music to our evening. 

And it is all so grand...

Ed tells me I laughed a lot tonight. Yes, that would be right. We were feeling celebratory. And grateful for all these years of friendship.

With so much love...