God's Hope for America #II

America cannot win this battle alone. She needs God. In this test you cannot win without God who is the foundation of all truth, and all true ideology. A confrontation is inevitable between the two worlds -- the God-affirming world and the God-denying world. This is a confrontation of ideology. Therefore, as a champion of God, America must win ideologically over atheistic communism on the worldwide scale, with the unity of all races and nationalities. Our faith in God must be stronger than their faith in communism. America must win in the name of God. Thus God would establish the "Foundation of the New World Ideology" in a higher dimension.

The American forefathers fled from religious persecution in Europe, came to the new world, and in the spirit of building "One Nation Under God" they brought about a new nation here in America which is now at the threshold of her third century. In a similar way today, people are fleeing from the communist world of slavery to the free world. Many were persecuted for their religious beliefs and ideological differences. The time has come to unite them to build a new world centered upon God. United, the free world must liberate the enslaved communist world. This time our task is to build "One World Under God."

To do this, Christianity of the world must unite. The church must liberate herself from sectarianism. She must undergo a drastic reform, and achieve an ecumenical and an inter-religious unity. For this, we need a spiritual revolution. We need a new ideology, and this new ideology must incorporate Oriental philosophy, uniting the cultures of the East and the West.
 

“If there is an illness in your home, do you not need a doctor from outside? If your home catches on fire, do you not need fire fighters from outside? God has sent me to America in the role of a doctor, in the role of a fire fighter. That is why I have come to America. Good medicine may taste bitter, and an operation may involve some pain, but the treatment must begin at once. Should a patient complain and push away the doctor's hand when he touches the infected part?”
~ Sun Myung Moon


This new ideology will also be capable of unifying all the existing religions and ideologies of the world. Therefore, it has come in the form of a new religious or spiritual movement. The Unification Church movement has been created by God to fulfill that mission. This spiritual movement must first succeed here in America in order to spread throughout the world. The new ideology which the Unification Church brings is Godism, an absolutely God-centered ideology. It has the power to awaken America, and it has the power to raise the model of the ideal nation of God upon this land.

With that done, the rest of the world will follow America's example and will build the Kingdom of God upon their respective lands. Then we shall all truly become brothers and sisters under one Father, God. This will be a world of love, a world of happiness. Our planet will be one home, and mankind will be one family. God's will, His long-cherished desire from the beginning of time will finally be fulfilled. This will be the eternal, ideal world of God. Indeed, it will be the Kingdom of God on earth. We will build it with our hands.

 

This is our supreme mission. It is truly our God-given, sacred mission. God is crying out to the world, and we are His instruments. The world must respond to His call. Listen to God's commandment. Initiate a courageous march towards the Kingdom of God on earth. Whatever the difficulty, let it not stop us. Our march is God's, and it will go on to the end.

My beloved citizens of America, today let us pledge to God Almighty our loyalty and dedication to the fulfillment of this divine mission. Ladies and gentlemen, in the name of God, let us unite, and together build the Kingdom of God on earth!

Let us together give our united thanks to God. In the name of the people of the world, may I congratulate you on the 200th birthday of the great nation of America. May God bless you, and may God bless America and her third century.

Excerpt from GOD’S HOPE FOR AMERICA

~ Reverend Sun Myung Moon - June 1, 1976 - Yankee Stadium

 

This past week I participated in a rally in Cleveland.  The occasion was the commemoration of Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s work here in America.  In 1965, Rev. Moon came to America to establish “Holy Grounds” in 55 different locations all throughout this country.  He had brought soil and rocks from his homeland Korea to connect these two countries together, for God to have a solid ground to stand on.  In Cleveland that place in near The Museum of Art.
 

The gathering was planned for 1:00 PM.  As everybody started to arrive including the bus from the God’s Hope for America tour, about a hundred people started singing.  We even had some blessing from above in form of a drizzling rain.  None-the-less, the spirit was high and we raised our voices to the Lord.  We listened to a few testimonies, as well as the above excerpt of Rev. Moon’s proclamation from 1976.

In the afternoon, we all drove to Columbus where we had a banquet at the local church.  Members and participants of the bus tour were treated to a wonderful array of American, Japanese and Chinese foods.  The singing, the music, and especially the speakers, all contributed to a meaningful evening.  We all could feel the hope God has for this country.  When people of all different backgrounds and religious affiliations gather, God can see his vision for the Kingdom of Heaven on earth being realized.

Coming to America

Contrary to the movie “Coming to America” my arrival in America was not a comedy.  Rather, I came as part of a group of missionaries who were to participate in public crusades to introduce the American Public to the Rev. Sun Myung Moon from Korea.

It was on June 21^st 1973 that our PanAm flight arrived at JFT airport in New York.  We were greeted by an enormous thunderstorm which delayed our arrival for over an hour.  When our plane finally dived through the clouds cover and New York City appeared, we were certainly glad to get off the plane.  We were welcomed by a group of members who loaded us and our luggage into several station wagons to drive us to a church property north of New York.  The rain came still pouring down and in that way New York didn’t make its best impression.  When we finally arrived at our destination, a place called “Belvedere” the rain had stopped, and we could move easily into our quarters.

How did I come to value Christianity?

I was raised in the Lutheran Church that is I went through a period of training that ended with my confirmation.  I chose the following passage from the Bible as my guide:

 

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

~ Proverbs 16:9
 

After my confirmation I didn’t have a deep faith but I always felt that I was guided by an invisible hand.  That’s why when I met a member of the Unification Church I discovered a whole new view of life, faith and values.  I truly came to value my Christian heritage and expanded in my knowledge that my life was not just my own but rather belonged to God.

 
True Christian values give us:

·       Personal responsibility

·       Equality of man and woman, fairness between races, and tolerance of other religions

·       Spiritual freedom to pursue technological advancement, innovations, discovery, exploration, which lead to prosperity.

·       Forgiveness – Jesus taught how to pardon trespasses

 You may say, what a minute, does Christianity implements these values?  Maybe—maybe not.  That’s why I got to appreciate Rev. Moon’s teaching.  In one section of the DivinePrinciple, we learn about the three great blessings:

“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

~ Genesis 1:28

That is the essence of Jesus’ teachings, too.  We are to become mature individuals who partner between husband and wife to give birth to a family. With that spiritual discipline, we can then take care of the environment and can create a peaceful world.  Rev. Moon’s teaching makes so much more sense to me than any of the interpretations of the various denominations. 

What were my greatest obstacles coming to a new country?

When I arrived in America I couldn’t speak any English, even though I had participated in English language classes before my arrival.  I knew a few sentences like ‘how are you?’ ‘I am fine,’ ‘come,’ and just a few other words. 

I had made a determination despite my lack of English to only “converse” in this new tongue which to me sounded like people chewing gum while speaking.  My greatest advantage was that I participated in lecture presentations which I had heard before in German and could therefore understand its meaning and basic content.  On the other hand I learned the language just like any child learns new words and sentences; by repeating them over and over again.  I had several people make fun of my “speaking” because often I would translate words and they would make no sense in the new circumstances.

Why did I come to the USA?

When I left Germany in 1973 it was a divided country.  It was my youthful desire to contribute to world peace.  America was the super power with an enormous influence throughout the world.  I later on learned that Rev. Moon’s teachings contributed to the downfall of communism.  During the many speaking engagements, where we invited thousands of people throughout this country during the 70s, 80s and beyond, Rev. taught not only on the significance of Christianity but also on the invalidity of communism I am deeply grateful to the Rev. Moon for his contribution to the reunification of the two Germanys, and I just hope and pray that his home country of Korea can also be reunified shortly.  In his biography “As a Peace-loving Global Citizen”  he writes about his journey from the countryside of Korea to emerge on the world stage, being misunderstood, persecuted, and ridiculed.  He never wavered from his mission, a path which had been blessed by God.  Rev. Moon passed away last year at the age of 92 but his legacy and teachings will remain with us forever.

As I celebrate my 40^th anniversary of coming to America, I have some regrets.  I am not sorry that I came to this country.  Every time I come back from visiting Germany I love to hear “Welcome Home” from the immigration officer.  I am just very unhappy with the ways this country is run right now.  I see that the basic Christian values are pushed aside and that the very foundation of this country is shaking.  People are asking, “Where is God in all this?”  We have been rejecting God, taking prayers out of our public schools, marriages and families are falling apart without God as the center, our country is run by politicians who are more interested in getting votes than leading this country in a constructive way, and the churches are infiltrated by immoral behavior. 
Above all, the media is totally bias to the liberal agenda that the average citizen cannot understand. What happened to those Christian Values?  Have we completely lost our love of God?  One Nation Under God?  Every time I say the Pledge of Allegiance (yes, in my Toastmasters club we recite it every meeting), I feel a tingle go down my spine and I feel proud to be a citizen of this country.

Looking in the Rear-View Mirror Again

On my recent trip to Germany I was part of a class reunion with men and women from my Elementary School.  Since I was the one who came the furthest way, they ask me to give a short account of what happened to me since I had left my hometown.

 

Here I was enjoying my homecoming and suddenly, I felt like looking into the rear-view mirror again.  In my younger years I had pretty much lived looking in the rear-view mirror (fortunately, I was not driving then). Have you ever wished you could have been born in another century?  I always desired I had been born in the 19th century remembering my grandmother telling me about the ‘good old days’ before WWI.  She painted her younger days in such a serene and peaceful way.

 

I was born in Nordhausen/Thüringen after WWII as the second of four children.  My parents

had been ‘matched’ by their mothers since my dad was a soldier and didn’t really know many girls.  He was 10 years older than my mother.  The mothers were part of a women’s group who used to meet regularly at the popular local Café Dietze.  My parents were married during the war on one of my father’s furloughs.  While my dad was away, our 1,000 year old home-town was almost completely destroyed.  Within two days of allied raids, the proud “Freie Reichstadt” was 85% destroyed, leaving homes, businesses and factories leveled to the ground.  When my dad returned after the German surrender, he found his parents business in rubbles.  To the credit of their undying spirit, he set up his tools and started repairing watches and jewelry in an old garage. 
 

Soon after that, the Russian troops moved in and my home town came under their occupation.  I grew up in East Germany until I was 12 years-old.  Even at that young age I understood that I was dealing with different ideological opinions: I was going to religious classes at the church, at school we were indoctrinated with the socialistic ideology, and at home my parents would express their opinion in a hushed voice.  By that time they had moved out of the garage and build up a pretty nice retail store with watches, jewelry and porcelain.  At one point my parents traveled to Prague for a brief holiday, and learned that in Czechoslovakia many private businesses were already socialized and taken over by the government.  Based on that experience and some other tell-tale-signs, they decided shortly after that, to flee from East Germany.  That was in 1961 when thousands of refugees escaped every day.  My parents had laid out a cleaver plan.  They had booked a vacation north of Berlin, where we stayed for a few days, and then instead of returning to our hometown, we went to register at the refugee camp in West Berlin.  For a few months we went from one camp to another, finally ending up in Southern Germany.  My father was to work there in a factory using his watch maker’s skills.  It was a strange environment for us, mainly because in that area people spoke a different dialect and the kids made fun of me in school.  They wondered if I was ‘a spy’ from the other side.  From then on I pretty much kept to myself, mainly reading books.

 

The next big event in my life was that when I turned 21, I thought, now I am grown up, I

want to see the world.  After I finished my education at a local savings bank, I had a chance to become a staggiere (apprentice) at a bank in Zurich, Switzerland.  Switzerland has very strict immigration laws and the only way I could enter the country was that I became an apprentice again.  For 1 ½ years I traveled all over that beautiful country and spend the small salary they paid me on travel and fun.  When my time was up, I realized that I was on some kind of a quest, seeking out seminars and books to find a deeper meaning in my life.  After I had returned home, I secured an exchange program in France.  Because Germany and France had been at war for many Centuries, the government gave young people an opportunity to study and work abroad.  My destination was Avignon in Southern France where I worked at a bank to exchange foreign currencies into francs.  During that time, it was the early 1970s, I met many young people there who were hitchhiking around with just a back pack and no particular goal.  I guess they were the European hippies. Conversations with them only reinforced my own internal search.
 

When I look back today, I feel grateful, that I never lost my internal drive forward.  What I didn’t realize is that I felt a lot of guilt for my past, not so much for what I did but for what my country did.  I know we can say, I didn’t do anything wrong, but I also am pretty sure that we carry our ancestors offences and one way or the other, we are responsible for them. 

How can you tell about a life-time in a few minutes?  Therefore, I leave the rest of the story for another time.

I use the rear-view mirror as an analogy to driving a car.  We have to focus on where we are going, with our eyes looking forward on the road ahead.  Yet we have to look into the rear-view mirror to see what’s going on back there, for our own safety.  When we know where we are coming from, we can orient ourselves better to where we are and most of all where we want to go. 

 

Stranded at one of the Far-corners of Europe

While visiting my brother in Spain, we took one excursion to the Southern edge of the Iberian Peninsula which is the British territory of Gibraltar.  Beside the military operations it contains the famous rock of Gibraltar which rises over 400 meters above sea level. 

 

We went there on a breezy day in May and since I wanted to see into Africa, we decided to take the cable car to the top of the mountain.  In the early 12^th century, the Southern Iberian Peninsula was conquered by the Mores who left fortresses and castles including one on the lower part of the Rock of Gibraltar.  We were able to see it as we ascended in cable car. 

 

When we arrived at the top we were greeted by the rare Barbary Macaques, the only free living “monkeys” in Europe.  Even though they have their feeding places, they like to sneak treats from the tourists.  They jump unto the cars or buses and playfully show off their tailless bodies.  We were watching one older Barbary enjoy a box of crackers, while a younger monkey was eyeing him and trying to get his share.  Anytime the younger animal got close to the older one he would hiss at the young creature and scare him off. 

 

We went to the observation plateau and marveled at the beautiful scenery below and above where seagulls took pleasure in the currents of the wind coming up the mountain.  I was thinking of “Jonathan Livingston Seagull’s story.”  While I was trying to take a picture of a seagull above my head I notice that my balance wasn’t so steady, considering that I was standing with pretty much only air around me.  The wind was blowing hard and I had to hold on to the railing of the observatory.

 

After we had seen all the pretty flowers, saw some more monkeys and took pictures of the “other continent” on the other side of the strait of Gibraltar ( the separation is only about 20 miles, and on that clear day we were able to see the mountains of Morocco) we decided to take the cable car back down.   We were lucky as one car was just leaving and the operator even opened the door again for us, only to learn a few minutes later that they had to close down the operation due to high winds.  We were told to wait in the coffee shop for a bus to transport us down the mountain.  Since all the roads up the mountain are only one-way, we had to wait 3 hours for our turn, with the number 3 printed on our tickets.  While waiting we enjoyed free coffee, water and finally were given a certificate that showed us being present at the “Top of the Rock.”

 

Even though we were never in any danger, I was very glad when I had solid ground again under my feed when we arrived safely by bus at the bottom of the cable care station.

How can a Thousand-year-old City Re-invent Herself?

I was born in Nordhausen, a city in the state of Thueringen (Thuringia) in Germany. When I lived there we always would refer to the Harz-Mountains which are north of the city.  I lived there when Nordhausen was part of the DDR or East-Germany.  My dad owned a Jewelry store which he had built based on his training as a watchmaker and his drive to be a business owner.  When in 1961, he was notified, that he would have to surrender his ownership to the state, he decided to close the doors himself, and leave his business as well as all other personal property, except for a few suitcases, behind.  With four children in tow he and my mother managed to bring us all safely through Berlin into the Western sector where we registered as refugees. 

 

For many years I had dreams, roaming around my hometown.  We had left quite suddenly, not telling anyone, leaving our friends and neighbors without a clue.  At the time I didn’t understand why we had to leave. Then on August 13, 1961, a wall was built in Berlin, which created a more permanent separation between the two countries. I could only be grateful to my parents to have the foresight to bring us to freedom and give us a better future.

 

In the meantime, I have gone back to Nordhausen several times.  First, I just wanted to see all familiar places, like the house we lived in, walk the well-known streets, and see the locations where we played.  I even could share some cherries from the garden my parents cultivated with my children.

 

Nordhausen is in many ways a significant city.  It was first mentioned in a document on May 13, 927.  A distinctive landmark is a Roland statue, which represents a middle-age knight and symbolizes freedom, power, and jurisdiction.  He is holding a sword in one hand and the coat of arms with a crowned black eagle in the other.  Since the statue was one of the few remaining landmarks surviving WWII, we celebrated in the 1950s each year the Roland with a parade. 

 

Nordhausen was over many hundred years an important economic region of the South-Harz Mountain.  The city experienced many devastating catastrophes including fires, famines, and the difficult years of the plague. None of them were as bad as the damage of the bombing at the end of WWII.  With the destruction of 85% of the city the whole city image was changed.  Not until the re-unification of Germany in 1989 came the city to new life.  In 2004 Nordhausen became the center of the “2^nd Thüringer Landesgartenschau.”  Through this event Nordhausen was transformed into its new glory with flowers, landscaping and restoring many of the old ruins into beautiful works of art.
 

 

Nordhausen was once known for its tobacco industry, especially chewing tobacco. It is still famous for the distilled spirit “Nordhäuser Doppelkorn” which is made from fermented rye, containing more than 37% alcohol. 

 

Nordhausen has one other secret: during WWII it became the center of the V-2 rocket production.  In the nearby underground tunnels of the Kohnstein the Nazis used slave laborers and prisoners to build their defense.  Statistics mention that during the last years of the war 60,000 prisoners from over 21 nations were working day and night underground of Mittelbau-Dora in the tunnels never seeing daylight.  About one third of these captives were either killed or died of malnutrition and the work circumstances.  Some of these laborers came from other concentration camps to speed up the production and to replace the dying.  Today, the former crematorium is the center of the museum for the Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp.

 

I believe that the city had to pay a high price for the atrocities happening before their very eyes (maybe hidden in the underground of the Kohnstein Hills).  To restore this, the city faced not only the bombings of WWII but also 40 years (from 1949-1989) under the East-German regime. 

 

When I met my class mates at the class reunion on May 4, 2013, I became very inspired that I saw people who were not only survivors but even at their advanced age believed in their city.  They were people who still had spunk and were proud to have lived through it all by reinventing themselves many times, by adjusting to new work environments, different ownerships, and even retraining in a different branch of occupation.  They didn’t take anything for granted but rather were willing to work hard and to roll up their sleeves many times, just like their parents did after their city was destroyed.

 

Even though I didn’t live there for the past 52 years, I feel like I have taken away the same willing spirit in me.  We sure can never forget where we came from. 

 

 

Let Your Light Shine like a Lighthouse



Big Bay Lighthouse from the East
 

During our summer vacation we spend one night at a historical lighthouse.  I enjoyed very much the beautiful evening and morning we spend at the Big Bay Lighthouse.

Original Fresnel Lens
 

The lighthouse has a grand view of Lake Superior and is located about 25 miles north of Marquette in Michigan.  The lighthouse was still in use until 1950’s and still shines its blinker every night into the vastness of the lake.  I went up the tight spiral staircase unto to the platform and enjoyed the gorgeous view.  Later I watched the tower from the ground shining its beacon and competing with the full moon.

Lighthouses in the 19^th century and even until GPS navigation systems became popular had a very important role of safeguarding the coasts and bringing the ships home out of harm’s way.  At the lighthouse which is now a bed-and-breakfast inn we saw a replica of the  3^rd Order Fresnel Lens.  It is a special lens which can project light in all different directions with a wide reaching beacon.

Small Sculptor on the grounds
 

For the keeper of the lighthouse and their families it was a lonely job, far away from any town or other neighbors.  It was not an easy life with many dark winter nights; and some people just couldn’t handle the loneliness or other struggles.  It is therefore not surprising that a gruesome murder was committed there which was recorded in a book and movie “Anatomy of a Murder.”

 

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

~ Matthew 5:16

 




my husband sitting in the library of the Lighthouse Inn with a replica of the lens on the table

Many thoughts went through my mind while we were over-nighting in the lighthouse.  The lighthouse has been a symbol of the Christian faith, as the blinker represents also a warning sign or to flash a special message.  This is certainly a time where we need to pay attention to the many warnings of everyday events.  When tragedy strikes we have the choice to take it as a wake-up call that we as humans have to change our ways.  We can’t just go back to our old habits which have contributed to the mishap in the first place.  Truth proclaiming prophets have always been rejected and laughed at but in times of disaster we better connect with the higher authority of our creator.  That's why I like the symbolism of the lighthouse because we all can be a shining light unto our fellow men.  This is the time for the “good news – the breaking news.”  Men has been living without the guidance of God for too long that’s why the world is in the shape it is now. 

 

In the past America has been the shining light for the world.  Immigrants came from all around the globe to find a safe haven in this country.  America had a status of opportunity and infinite possibilities for all those who decided to work hard and serve their fellow men.  At this point I feel very hopeful for this country if we walk with the ideas of the founding fathers to draw God into our lives and consult him in all of our affairs.
 

For me the Divine Principle has been full of the breaking news.  It not only explains about the historical time we are living in through parallels of historical events but it also gives a clear blueprint of human relationships and how we can create a better world.

 

With that I want to be a shining light and Lighthouse for those who are in darkness and loneliness.  This is a time where we don’t just have to accept current circumstances but rather ask and question the infinite intelligence of God for our purpose and greater fulfillment. 

 

 

Bed and Breakfast Adventure

My husband and I are celebrating our 30th Anniversary this year.  For weeks we were thinking about how we could best commemorate this particular day.  Since we wanted to connect the special day with a trip to Minnesota visiting his family, we decided to take a little detour to visit beautiful Michigan.  Instead of taking the usual route we headed north on interstate 75.  We were hoping to escape the heat wave but it followed us all the way though Michigan.

Our first destination was Frankenmuth – the Christmas town.  After a stroll through Bronner’s biggest Christmas store  in the world (?) we visited the more quiet chapel which is a replica of the church in which the German Christmas song “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht (Holy night)” originated.

During this part of our trip we stayed in “Bed and Breakfast Homes.”  Our first sleepover would be in Bay City at the Historical Midland Street Bed & Breakfast.  We found the house in a quiet part of town and enjoyed the hospitality of Mr. and Mrs.  Joyce Loomis.  Since we were the only guests in the house we had the whole upper floor for ourselves.  The couple advised us that there was good eating at the Atrium restaurant in the downtown area of Bay City.  We weren’t too crazy about the food, that’s why we quickly moved to the river site to watch the sunset where we were serenaded from a close by bar. 

The next morning we were served breakfast in the very cozy dining room which was beautifully decorated and the table was set just for us.  We had delicious French toast with fresh fruits, coffee and juice.  After saying good bye to our hosts we headed to Mackinaw City and admired the impressive bridge which is the official divider between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.   We couldn’t have asked for better weather with plenty of sunshine and as further north as we drove, the lower the temperatures went.     On the way to our next sleepover we enjoyed first the drive over the magnificent Mackinaw Bridge and then the south shore of the Upper Peninsula.  We saw white sand beaches and a very calm Lake Michigan.  The water seemed a little slimy with algae and I didn’t feel like swimming in it, even though many people did.

We had booked a room at the Blaney Park Lodge and found it a little run down.  But the owners Howard and Lorene were very friendly and many other guests seemed regular visitors, enjoying the historical lodge.  In its heydays the lodge was part of the Blaney Park Resort which was an example of lumber towns that survived in transmuted form  where people came by car, horse carriage and plane to discover the peaceful nature surrounding the resort.  After a hardy breakfast with oatmeal and blueberry muffins we went on our way.

It was one of my observations while on the Upper Peninsula seeing many little towns as well as, hotels and properties abandoned like ghost towns.  As we made our way toward Munising, we decided to take a boat ride to see the majestic rock formations of “Pictured Rocks.”

The boat tour took over two hours as we passed ancient rock formations colored by mineral dripping and seeping from higher places into lower layers and creating the most beautiful colors only nature can paint.  Our tour guide explained about the different rock formations and what they represent.  With a lot of imagination we saw “marine fleet”, “Indian head”, and many others.  During the trip a picture book was passed around and the captain announced that a lucky winner would be announced at the sales desk.  Guess what, we were the winners.

That night we found our way to the “Big Bay Lighthouse.”  The B&B was housed in the historic lighthouse which was still functioning with its blinker at night.  It was a beautiful full moon night and the light house was even more magical.  The inside was completely modern beautifully decorated with the light house theme everywhere.  We had a very tasty breakfast with other guests and exchanged traveling stories with the light house inn owner, Linda Gamble.

Then it was time to leave the Upper Peninsula and pass through Duluth to find our last B&B at the Superior Gateway Lodge in Two Harbors.  The sky became very dark as we drove through town, and we hastened to find the location of our lodging.  It was hidden in a big forest outside of town.  We finally found the beautiful new log cabin.  The owners were not there to advise us but had given us a nicer room to accommodate another family needing an extra room.  We met Joe and Pat the next morning.  We were surprised that breakfast was not included in the rate.  Since we were hungry, we paid the extra fee and were served a lovely breakfast along with the other lodging family.

I like very much the hospitality at Bed &Breakfast lodgings and meeting other travelers at the breakfast table.  The hosts have everybody assemble around the same table, serving them homemade fresh baked goods and fruits.  I had a very good experience with my four sleep-overs at B&Bs and can promote them warmly.  It makes it easier to travel off the beaten path and find remote places in natural surroundings.

Traveling Through the American Heartland

It has become a yearly tradition to travel to grandpa’s house in Minnesota.  The Midwest region of the United States of America is known as the “American Heartland.”  The Heartland’s primary role for the rest of the country is manufacturing and farming.  We saw mostly farming since we avoid driving through the big cities. 

This past weekend we got our reliable Venture van ready to make the 1,000 mile trek.  Starting in Cincinnati, Ohio, we drove west on I-74 through Indiana, then Illinois, Wisconsin, and arriving in Minnesota a day later.  

How do you bring excitement to a trip which consists of bathroom stops, lunch breaks and one sleep-over?  We know the route very well, and met with only a few constructions and detours.   When we were driving through the cornfields of Illinois I couldn’t help but think of the farmers which provide our food and fill our grocery stores.  I got into a deep state of gratitude for their tireless labor and dedication.  They are certainly not on the job 9-5, five days a week.  Especially, during the summer and during harvest season, they work deep into the night and bring in the crops.

Maybe we should start a campaign with green ribbons for their service for the country.  Most people, shopping in the cities’ grocery stores have no thoughts of were their food is coming from.  The life on the farm is a life of sacrifice and often of uncertainty, because the harvest depends on so many factors.  One of them being the weather, the other the general market prices, and last but not least the economy.  But there are so many rewards for farm life.  The greatest being, at least from my perspective, that it is a family business.  In fact, the reason that in the past farmers had lots of children was that they had more hands to do the farm work.

From the website America’s Heartland I learned some interesting facts about corn:

Corn or maize is a grain and not a vegetable. It is grown around the world as one of the most widely used food staples.  It is processed into oil, corn syrup, corn starch, and flour.  Its other important use is as animal feed and can also be transformed into industrial products such as ethanol and polyactic acid (PLA).  The USA is the largest corn producer in the world, farming about 50% of the world’s harvest. 

Here are some fun facts about corn:
* There are about 800 kernels in 16 rows on each ear of corn.

* The corncob (ear) is actually part of the corn plant's flower.

* The main ingredient in most dry pet food is corn.

Sweet corn, feed corn, and pop corn require different seeds.  Today, farmers have developed many hybrid forms which give bigger and better yields.  Unfortunately, some people are allergic to corn.

Through working together as a family, the parents can teach their children hands-on values.  The unity of a family can produce not only a “great crop” but also healthy relationships.  It is in the family that children learn to love, the give, and to be selfless.  So the heartland is truly the breading-ground for American values.

Deep in my thoughts, the landscape changed, and we arrived at the tourist country of the Wisconsin Dells.  Exit after exit big bill boards enticed us to visit the water slides and boat rides.  All of this amusement is also provided for family fun.  This time we only had one thing in mind, getting to grandpa’s home. 

The best thing for us: our daughter and her husband came from Germany, and we traveled together as a family.  That was entertainment enough and exciting news for us: we are going to be grandparents.  Wherever we went to visit, grandpa came along, sharing lunches (dinners) and dinners (suppers) with the rest of the extended family.  We had a lot of fun and laughed out loud, isn’t that relaxing?