CAMPOUT 2026

This weekend I was able to chaperone our Cornerstone Youth Men’s Campout. I am pretty proud of myself that I have made it through. Of course my role is different these days than it used to be. I am the old man now. I sit. I talk. I watch. I prepare. I leave the heavy lifting to the younger guys now.

I had two great young adult chaperones with me. James and Christian. I laid out the tent spaces. The younger guys set up the tents. I bought the food. The younger guys built the fire and kept it going.

I went to bed early and the younger guys put away the food and put out the fire.

I got up to do my prayer at 2:30 A.M. and to get breakfast ready. Soon I will go out and wake the young men up. We will eat breakfast together and pray and read the Word and then we will break down the camp together. Mostly the young guys will do the heavy work.

I still have my part to do. It’s just different these days.

The Book Club at the Book Mill

The Doing Life Together Group I attend at Cornerstone is called The Book Club. Our summer field trip for the Book Club was to the Montague Book Mill located in Montague MA.

The ride from Cornerstone in Winchendon MA to the Book Mill was about 45 minutes using Rt. 2 West into the Pioneer Valley.

This gigantic used book store is a bit off the beaten path, but that didn’t seem to stop the crowds from gathering. The place was very busy and books were moving.

Our Book club members.

One of the non fiction rooms at the Book Mill.

Jody finding a book.

Michelle finding books.

We took a run through the music store and the art gallery located on the floor above it.

The Book Mill has two restaurants. The Watershed (which was not opened for business when we were there) and The Lady Killigrew

I had the Curried chicken sandwich and a Cane Cola. Delicious!

The views around the mill are great for photography.

Here are the books I bought.

…and I purchased some art pieces from the gallery too.

If you are ever in Massachusetts, the Book Mill in Montague is worth a look see. Plan your trip using the link in the first line of this blog.

The Forest Garden at the Vicarage 8-11-26

The color of the forest garden in August is Yellow and purple. The pollinator garden is in all its glory right now.

It is time to harvest some mint.

The jewel weed is attracting a lot of hummingbirds right now.

I am going to try grinding some of the curly dock into flour this fall.

I ate our first apple off of the trees today. They still need a little ripening.

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?