It was another early morning departure for me as I left the Hyatt Regency and beat the traffic out of town and began my trip down the western shore of the Mississippi River toward Winona, MN. About half way into the trip, my lack of sleep the previous night and early morning rising caused me to feel sleepy behind the wheel. After spending some moments drinking water and trying to force my eyes to stay open, I saw a sign for a state park 1 mile ahead. I pulled into the parking lot and that is where I met Maureen. She pulled into the parking lot just after me and we were the only two cars. i asked her if I could get a good view of the river from this point. She told me that she was going for a hike, but the overlook and state park were down the road and there was a fee for getting into the park. Before we knew it we had struck up another one of those random conversations that filled the next 30 minutes of my life with stories about our common use of the camera, another quick summary of my trip and where I was headed, and an invitation to hike down the path just at the side of the parking lot, which she thought might end up at the river, but was not sure. Well early, on we turned back because the path was quite muddy from the rains. We talked for a while longer. I took her photo, told her about putting this little story on the website, and gave her my email and website addresses after searching without success through my various stuff to find my homemade "business cards." She drove into the park and I drove back to the highway much more awake than when I stopped because of the unplanned encounter with Maureen. Later in the day, she emailed me several nice photos of what she saw in the park that day. She had already taken a look at the website and said some complimentary things about it. I sent her a photo of the bald eagle that I had taken on my Apostle Island cruise and thanked her for our serendipitous meeting.
After reaffirming my goal of engaging with people that I do not know, I moved on to the next objective for the day, which was to visit St. Mary's College where I went to school the first year out of high school. in those days, it was a men's college run by the Christian Brothers. Today, it is still a Christian Brothers' Institution, but is coed and has become a university with many new buildings nestled in among the old and familiar ones. I arrived around 10:00 AM, found the main receptionist, Johanna, told her that I was a former student for one year, and would like to walk around the campus. She said fine. I spent the next 45 minutes or so walking the entire campus, taking photos of places remembered and photos of new facilities never enjoyed in my day. I wanted to take a photo of the famous rock that juts out of one of the scenic bluffs that surround the south side of the campus, but the rock, still an avid destination point for college hikers was hidden behind the greenery on this pleasant summer day. The rock at St. Mary's is still one of my three favorite places I list when asked on silly surveys, "What are your three favorite places?" I spent hours sitting on the edge of the rock contemplating how I should spend my life beyond the first nineteen. It is there where I concluded that I would leave St. Mary's at the end of my first year and enter a diocesan seminary for training to become a priest. The next year would be spent at Holy Cross Seminary in LaCrosse, WI located on a backwash of the Mississippi River about 30 miles south of Winona. You might guess that was the next destination on this day's journey and you would be right.
However, there is more to tell about St. Mary's. I receive numerous invitations from the St. Mary's Alumni Office to donate to the cause. I have several places for annual donations and St. Mary's is not one of them. My thought in stopping was to consider leaving a small donation to the School of Education if I felt so inclined at the end of my walk around the campus. I decided to take a walk through St. Mary's Hall, the original building on the campus. I thought I had seen enough several times, but I continued to explore the building including a beautiful area where the president's office resides. It was there that I encountered Megan and engaged her in conversation about the fact that I was a former student and just stopping by to see how the place had changed. I mentioned my places that had memories for me, and some of the brothers who were my professors in those days, including one of my favorites, Brother Francis, who used to play football with us. He was the Dean of Students who made my first days away from home less threatening because of his gracious welcoming attitude toward the new freshmen arriving on campus. He passed away a short time ago. Megan and I talked for a few more minutes before we were joined by Audrey, another person from the alumni office who was also a professor. I rambled on some more about current travels, how much I enjoyed my single year at St. Mary's some 43 years earlier, and the changes that had taken place on campus, including the impressive Page Performing Arts building. We talked for almost a half an hour. I took their photo at the end and told them about the Website, still having no "business card" to give them. They gave me two great hugs and I was off with another great episode to tell in my quest to engage complete strangers in conversation.
However, there is more to tell about St. Mary's. I receive numerous invitations from the St. Mary's Alumni Office to donate to the cause. I have several places for annual donations and St. Mary's is not one of them. My thought in stopping was to consider leaving a small donation to the School of Education if I felt so inclined at the end of my walk around the campus. I decided to take a walk through St. Mary's Hall, the original building on the campus. I thought I had seen enough several times, but I continued to explore the building including a beautiful area where the president's office resides. It was there that I encountered Megan and engaged her in conversation about the fact that I was a former student and just stopping by to see how the place had changed. I mentioned my places that had memories for me, and some of the brothers who were my professors in those days, including one of my favorites, Brother Francis, who used to play football with us. He was the Dean of Students who made my first days away from home less threatening because of his gracious welcoming attitude toward the new freshmen arriving on campus. He passed away a short time ago. Megan and I talked for a few more minutes before we were joined by Audrey, another person from the alumni office who was also a professor. I rambled on some more about current travels, how much I enjoyed my single year at St. Mary's some 43 years earlier, and the changes that had taken place on campus, including the impressive Page Performing Arts building. We talked for almost a half an hour. I took their photo at the end and told them about the Website, still having no "business card" to give them. They gave me two great hugs and I was off with another great episode to tell in my quest to engage complete strangers in conversation.
Just about 30 miles to the south of Winona and across the Mississippi is the town of LaCrosse, Wisconsin where I spent the 1962-63 school year in the diocesan seminary of Holy Cross. It is no longer a seminary, but rather the location of Catholic Charities for the LaCrosse Diocese and is the home for some other uses for the Catholic church in this fair city. I knew all of this, but I wanted to spend a few moments visiting this place for the first time in 42 years to see what had changed. Well, the property no longer was fronted by Hwy. 14 as it was in those days. Instead there were multiple businesses located on the property where I used to play touch football with my seminary colleagues. There was still the impressive looking building where I lived in separation from most of the daily life going on beyond the seminary confines. However, there was the bowling alley across the street where we could go bowling and have a few beers on Wednesday afternoons, but I could not find it. We were not cloistered in anyway, but my year at the seminary was a year long retreat where I could consider whether a priestly vocation was mine or not. My Dad died several weeks after I began my studies there and that was devastating for me. However, I spent the rest of the year at the seminary and to this day, do not regret it. It was a year of reading and reflection. There was an old dilapidated boat house located in the backwater marshes of the Mississippi just behind the seminary. I wanted to see if it was still there. Believe it or not, the boat house is another of my three most favorite places.
I really had no interest in looking at the inside of the old seminary building, so I started toward the back wash. I ran into Bishop Callahan, the current Bishop of LaCrosse, crossing the grounds on his way to his home, I presume for lunch. We had a short conversation about the seminary, Bishop Tracy of days gone by, and the current uses of the building. It was a short visit, but at time when I am finding serendipity everywhere, it kind of fit into the scheme of this particular day of remembrance. I walked down a culvert, somewhat overgrown with vegetation and found no boat house. Just to the right of this still environmentally preserved area was a housing development where a forest of trees once reigned. I was thankful that there were remnants of the backwater and marsh still present (see photos), but quite disappointed that I could not climb one more time on to the roof the boat house where, just like the rock at St. Mary's, I had done so much of my reflective thinking during the transition from my teens into my twenties. I am glad I stopped, but time moves on and not always in ways that you like.
The photos below show the seminary building and the backwater of the Mississippi as they are today. I cannot find the past represented fully in these photos, but there is a hint of what it was like to spend my 19th and 20th year on these grounds.
I really had no interest in looking at the inside of the old seminary building, so I started toward the back wash. I ran into Bishop Callahan, the current Bishop of LaCrosse, crossing the grounds on his way to his home, I presume for lunch. We had a short conversation about the seminary, Bishop Tracy of days gone by, and the current uses of the building. It was a short visit, but at time when I am finding serendipity everywhere, it kind of fit into the scheme of this particular day of remembrance. I walked down a culvert, somewhat overgrown with vegetation and found no boat house. Just to the right of this still environmentally preserved area was a housing development where a forest of trees once reigned. I was thankful that there were remnants of the backwater and marsh still present (see photos), but quite disappointed that I could not climb one more time on to the roof the boat house where, just like the rock at St. Mary's, I had done so much of my reflective thinking during the transition from my teens into my twenties. I am glad I stopped, but time moves on and not always in ways that you like.
The photos below show the seminary building and the backwater of the Mississippi as they are today. I cannot find the past represented fully in these photos, but there is a hint of what it was like to spend my 19th and 20th year on these grounds.
Back to the car and a quick drive through the heart of LaCrosse to pick up I-94 and my next stop for the night in Baraboo, Wisconsin. I planned to meet my daughter's friend Tiffany and her husband at the High Rock Cafe in downtown Wisconsin Dells and I did. We had a delightful dinner. It was the first time meeting Patrick and it was good to get to know him a bit. Tiffany and I went on to the Del Ray Bar, with Patrick's permission of course, for a drink and a little more conversation. We ran into a friend of Tiffany's behind the bar who had worked at Disney World for awhile, so we included Gina's experience at Disney as part of the discussion of what is like to work at the park. The traditional visit with Tiffany that has become a part of my treks back to Wisconsin came to an end and I returned to the Clarion Inn in Baraboo looking forward to heading toward Madison the next day and settling in for a two week stay. My journey was about to slow down and I was ready for that change.
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