what a view...

last night we accompanied our good friends to hermann, missouri for an excellent evening of delicious food, music and dancing.

we ate at a lovely, secluded hilltop restaurant, the cottage. the poached salmon was light. dear husband's prime rib was tasty too. the cottage is also home to an adjacent art gallery, but we were too late to see what they had to offer. save that treat for next time.

then we were off to stone hill winery for the big band dance featuring the blue knights. the pavilion was decorated with a million twinkle lights and white tulle. the effective was fairy tale magical. kelly and i danced the polka, waltzed, tangoed and even got on the floor to a swing number or two. the weather was hawaii perfect, with a slight breeze blowing in from the valley and cooling the dancers off after each number.

on the way home, kelly (our designated driver) pulled off to the side of the road so we could stargaze. awe-inspiring stuff! saw mars--last night it was at its closest point to earth. the war planet so close to ours could mean something...or not. and we could see a band of the milky way. i've only seen the milky way two other times in my life. once was on a mission trip to jamaica in 1980 and the stars seemed to be carpeting the ceiling above me and the other was on a family vacation to fox springs lodge in cuba, missouri. it never fails to make me feel small but part of something big and powerful.

it was a very special evening. i hope to do it again next year.