A Quiet Day in Retzow

Today we start with a picture of the house that Ingrid's parents built back in the 1940's. They made the bricks and built it all by hand. The bricks weighed 25 pounds each and Hanna would carry two at a time up to her husband, Sam. This is the house that they all walked away from in 1954 in order to escape, each one leaving separately. It is always a moving experience for us to see it today.

Most of today was spent just visiting with family and other friends from the village and a cousin who drove out from Berlin. Then I spent part of the afternoon with Egbert, another cousin who works for a farming business and drives these wonderful big toys! The first picture with him shows his seeder and tractor. This tractor is all computerized and does everything at the touch of a button. The next pic shows their brand new harvester. You can buy one just like it for just under $400,000.

Then he gave me a fantastic tour of their new bio gas business. The government is really into this kind of project and I was very impressed. The bio gas is produced by combining the manure from the dairy cows with silage and a process produces the gas and returns the manure to be used as fertilizer for the fields. Nothing is lost and everything is returned for productive use. This one plant generates enough electricity for 10,000 homes. It is a somewhat smelly business, but fascinating to see.

Finally you will see Ingrid very happy to get some more tomatoes from Egbert's green house and then we ended the day with Ralph and Jeanette, Sigrid and Irvin, and a marvelous dinner. It was a beautiful day and we now prepare to leave to pick up a car in Berlin and drive down to Halle via Wittenberg.

While we have had such a wonderful time with family we have been shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of two precious members of our church family. Rob Shipley and Karl Yared both passed away within the last two days. We thought they would both still be with us when we returned and our hearts reach out to the families. The lesson: Enjoy your loved ones every day you have and don't be slow to tell them how much you love them.

We hope to see you here tomorrow, but I'm not positive about the wireless connections where we will be, so if you don't see something new, don't worry!