Palm Sunday

It was a beautiful day, lots of sun and temperature around 70 degrees.


Pastor Cole was not at church this morning. He has, for several years, been the guest speaker at Bayside Church in Roseville on Palm Sunday. A video tape message from him was played during the worship service this morning. The choir presented an outstanding musical by Bill Gather entitled "Alleluia - The Praise Continues".


After church we drove into Sacramento and ate lunch at The Spaghetti Factory. After that we went for a ride which took us through Carmichael, into Old Fair Oaks town, back into Carmichael and Fair Oaks, through Folsom and Granite Bay, Loomis and Auburn. From Auburn we got on I-80 driving back towards Sacramento. We got off the freeway at the Highway 65 cutoff because the traffic was backed up as is usually the case coming into Roseville on I-80. We drove a ways on 65 and then cut through the north side of Roseville to get home.


Along the roadways the wildflowers were in bloom, the California poppies and blue lupine and others. It was ironic because in the Sacramento Bee today there was a story about where to find the wildflowers in and around Sacramento.


Gerry is watching the Lifetime movie "Amish Grace". I purchased the book several months ago yet haven't read it. You may remember the news story how in October of 2006 in Pennsylvania, a gunman entered an Amish schoolhouse, took several girls hostage and ended up killing 5 of them and himself. The book explores the many questions that the story raised about the religious beliefs that led the Amish to forgive so quickly.


I googled "Amish Grace" and found several articles about the movie. According to the writers of these articles, the authors do not support the movie nor the message it portrays. I decided not to watch the movie, preferring to read the book sometime soon. I have always been fascinated with the Amish people, their beliefs and lifestyle. They are such a simple people and so misunderstood by the "English" as people outside of the Amish community are called.


We traveled back to Ohio the middle of October 2006 right after this tragedy. The area of Ohio we were in has a very large Amish community. Actually Holmes County in Ohio has a very large concentration of Amish, the second being the area around Lancaster, PA. We did some shopping in Holmes County, ate at several buffets and saw the Amish traveling in their buggies. We also visited a farm where we toured two different homes that were actually lived in by Amish families at one time and rode in a buggie. It is a tight squeeze in them and not very comfortable to ride in. :) On our way to Canton where we were meeting up with Denise and family, we stopped at a bakery that was in a separate room of a family's home. We thought they were Amish yet our son-in-law's parents said it was probably a Mennonite family. They are a little friendlier with the "English" than the Amish people are.


Our weather is going to be changing this week. We have enjoyed days of sunshine and temperatures in the 70's. There is a storm heading to the Sacramento area tomorrow and we should be getting rain tomorrow night and through the week. Just hope Easter Sunday is nice. It often is rainy on Easter Sunday.


Have a great week!