In the Land of the Living

What better way to kick off a visit with my broter and sister-in-law, Dustin and Rebecca, than to tour the Museum of Funeral Customs? That's right. We couldn't think of any, either. After viewing various elements of how to bury the dead, I opted to pass on buying a chocolate coffin complete with removable lid and a little chocolate body inside, although I do know now the difference between a coffin and a casket (shape). I did add New Orleans jazz funeral music to my CD collection. (The museum has a great Web site; click on the hotlink in this paragraph to see it.)

Dustin and Rebecca were here for Friday and Saturday and we filled the time as completely as was possible. On Friday, they visited the Abraham Lincoln Museum while I finished my work week. Afterwards, we met and visited the Lincoln tomb, followed by a leisurely cook out at home.

We began Saturday by eating a local traditional breakfast horseshoe: toast, (optional) meat choice, eggs, cheese or gravy and hash browns all stacked up on top of one another. We digested this while viewing the dead.

Then it was off to tour the Dana-Thomas House, a stellar example of Frank Lloyd Wright's genius. When one of the kids on the tour asked our tour guide for what the basekment safe had been used, I ominously whispered, "Dead bodies." Too bad I didn't have one of the chocolate coffins to give the kid.

To balance our morbid-leaning agenda, we checked out both new and old state capitol buildings, ate a great middle eastern vegetarian smorgasboard and ventured off for five hours of the Illinois State Fair. This included an elephant show; the high school national rodeo competition; deep fried pickles; a drop from the Mega Drop ride; reggae; viewing the 400 lb. butter cow (see photo above...yeah, that's all butter, even a butterfly that you can't see); and a departure heralded by fireworks. Although late, we also stopped to walk by Lincoln's old Springfield residence on our way home.

I'm in my final week and a half of working for The Autism Program, then it's back home to Albuquerque.