Mar 25th - Hessel Church

This morning we went to Sunday School and church at Hessel church. It is loosely affiliated with Mt Gilead. It is located south of Sebastopol, a 30-35 minute drive from the camp. The location of the church was in the information packet Frank had given us. In addition Chis, one of the regular local volunteers, invited me/us. It is quite a facility. Their monthly budget is over $130,000. The Sunday School teacher in the class we attended was born and raised in a Jewish family. As an adult he converted to Christianity. He is teaching on the book of Esther and, as you might expect, because of his Jewish background he had some interesting insights to share.

We had lunch at a small Mexican restaurant in Sebastopol. Not bad but not worth going back. As we were driving through town we noticed a Farmer’s Market so we parked and walked through it. Based on what we saw at the market, and later at the grocery store, this place is certainly a home for aging hippies. At the Farmer’s Market in Oakland we could buy a small citrus fruit for 89-99 cents per pound. Here they want $2.00 per pound. Other items that were available were lamb steaks, rabbit meat (at $8.99/pound!) and burdock roots (weeds!) at $2.99/#.

We then stopped at a local grocery the first thing I noticed as we walked in was the low light level and row upon row of different wines. There were lots of high priced organic this and organic that. The store did have a deli that included a buffet line that included LOTS of cooked food that you could purchase to take home and eat. I didn’t see any place to eat in, or near, the store.

Not everything it Sebastopol is hippie. This was our view when we left the restaurant after lunch.

This is the stencil on quite a few of the church parking spaces. I think it is nice they reserve spots for seniors but I don't think they should just reserve spots for the skinny seniors. We had to find another place to park and walk quite a distance (no we didn't).

It is not raining today. There is a fair amount of sun today. Hooray and Praise the Lord! It rained all through the night and stopped this morning.

We are on our way home from a very enjoyable evening. We went back to Hessel to listen to the Senior Choir and the Bell Choir. There are 27 people, including 10 men, in the Senior Choir. They sounded really good to me. It was a 90 minute program and I enjoyed it all. You have to be over 55 to be in the Senior Choir.

I didn't proof any of this, since I am trying to get it typed and sent while I still have a signal, as Kathy drives us home. Sorry for any errors.

Good day to all and may God bless you and yours.