I snapped this... near home... crossing the Old...Cedar River.... She's down... it's been so dry.... Beautiful...always...

This is a Cemetery, in Manchester, Iowa... I have always noticed it...while driving through... but...last night....coming home... it grabbed me.... I realized... the Cemetery, is situated, on both sides of the hi way... It was then...an unsettling feeling....came over me.... like I was driving through...a Cemetery.... and should show some respect....

It crossed my mind.... since I was a child... driving through Manchester, with Dad....passing by the Graves, that were there then... had been there... for a hundred years prior, and...are still there...and will be... when I am gone...All of those people...the lives... the families...friends.... Each Stone is Representing a Life...or...Lives...

and...I never really 'got' that... like I did... last night....

I never knew a Soul...who is there.... but....they have seen me...many...many times....as I have grown up...traveling down hi way 13....{this hi way...and the number '13'.... has been woven into my fiber...since I was a child...} Some things... are Wonderful....concerning... 13.... others...very sad.... I guess... that's life....

I don't remember going through Strawberry Point, and not seeing this Amazing Strawberry... I remember Dad pointing it out to me...the very first time I saw it... then... I remember the Kids' faces...the very first time we pointed it out to them.... Happy Days....

A Fresh Coat.... The men were busily painting the Old Church, in Strawberry.... Lovely...

This Beauty is in Elkader, Iowa... Nestled in a Most Amazing Valley... The little town was bustling...even tho, it was a Monday... Good to see....

Marquette... what a treasure....on the Mississippi....

John and I used to take a Drive...on Sundays... and...we would come up to this area... Marquette...Mc Gregor...Prairie Du Chein, Wisconsin... We always chuckled, at this Giant....So Cool!

I had fun digging in this Store.... oh my...there was all sorts of 'Stuff'.... but...mostly.... Fun... I went up on the 3rd floor... that they call a 'Flea Market'....It had a bit of everything... modern... and old... I found...on a bottom shelf...a massive Ironstone Platter...that had a little crack...but...in a pattern I had never seen....and...a smaller one...also...from the mid 1800's... and an old Shaving mug....I'm going to use for my new Coffee Cup...Treasures...

I had to laugh.... the owner of this store... loaded a settee in his Mercedes Convertible... and helped me load a pair of Italian lamps and shades...and a Victorian Mirror, in Sally...He said... we were quite a pair... I agree...{ I actually thought about, how I could get a big metal glider... strapped on Sally's Back.... but.... I had no ratchet staps....so...I'm headed back, today, to pick up...with the Ford...I think...I had better keep the straps away from Sally...If there would have been a couple...I would have bought a cupboard...too...

The Sun Set..was Beautiful... I enjoyed the Day...The People... The Food...{I ate at Old Man River's, in Mc Gregor....very good...} I missed Chris, at The Olde Time Shoppe...but her husband, let me in....and I found some neat things...as always....} I didn't plan on doing any shopping.... but...I'm glad I did... It was a good day... The leaves...were past their peak... but...no matter... it was Lovely...

Barb C.