GreatLaurel of Bloom

Another day that was like a day and a half. We saw the Former Naval Person and her boyfriend in the breakfast room at the motel, and she accepted our invitation to stay with us in June when they come for a weekend bicycle tour of the area. Then we drove to Fritz's house via state highways through rural areas, instead of the freeway. This turned out to be a good choice--slower, but much more relaxing. Once we arrived in Frankenmuth, we were immediately plunged into an introvert's nightmare of traffic and crowds of extroverts doing things that extroverts think are fun to do en masse. Our room wasn't ready, so we joined the crowds and found a relatively quiet restaurant open to the air, where we enjoyed a glass of wine and some charcuterie. The only problem with that was that when we finally got our room, all I wanted to do was take another nap!

However, it was time to go surprise Fritz. Apparently he was completely beguiled by the schemes of his wife, son, and son-in-law, and didn't expect a thing until he arrived and found three rows of picnic tables laid out and ready for a party. More and more people came. It was a big party, and most of them were Lutheran school teachers, with a few farmers and other occupations. Fritz's nine month old grandson was there, and the Sparrowhawk got to exercise his secret power of baby whispering. It was a very nice event, although it drained the last drops of my socializing juice. We just watched a few minutes of fireworks from the window at the end of the hall in the hotel. Now I am done, so very done. And my stomach is killing me from eating Lutheran picnic food. The Sparrowhawk remarked, "The things we do for family," and I said "Mostly they involve just showing up."