Pedal Day 33 - Creative.

"One man's trash is another man's treasure."

-Anonymous

"One man's trash is another man's trash!"

-Barry

"One man's trash can become a treasure in the hands of Wally Keller!"

-Barry, after meeting Wallace "Wally" and Shirley Keller today.

"Don't say you aren't creative. You were made in the image of God. God is the Creator . . . therefore you are creative!"

-Barry

We pedaled from Hillsboro, WI to Mt Horeb, WI today, a total of 77.09 miles. Good riding weather and the wind even cooperated most of the way.

Along the way we stopped in Spring Green to eat lunch at The Round Barn. It is really a barn that was converted into a restaurant. The food was super, the people friendly, and the barn amazing. According to the menu, Frank Lloyd Wright once said, "They don't build them like this anymore."

My highlight today was meeting Wally and Shirley Keller who live on State Road 78,  about five or so miles outside of Mt. Horeb. Wally's business card says, "Iron Sculptures - Collector of Antique Wrenches & Tools." I'm a firm believer that there are people who can turn one man's trash into another man's treasure: that would be Wally.

Pedaling south on Route 78 I spotted what looked like the Tin Man from "The Wizard of Oz" holding two mail boxes. I motioned for Jonathan to stop so I could take a picture. When we did stop I saw a zoo of objects in the yard to my right: large steel creatures were everywhere in this front yard. I said to Jonathan, "The driveway's paved, lets go back to the house and ask if we may photograph these creatures."

At the end of the driveway we met two of the nicest people you could ever meet, Wally and Shirley. Wally welds! He welds a lot! He must do a whole lot of thinking too because he sure can put together some incredibly creative steel stuff with a welder. When I asked him if I could take pictures of his creatures he said, "Why sure, go ahead." We talked a while and then I started taking pictures. I told him, after I had taken about fifteen pictures, "I could be an online catalog for your creations." His response, "Oh no, I'm already turning people away."

Shirley is a registered nurse and still works at a local nursing home. She is just as creative as Wally except her creativity comes through in quilts. Two creative people in the same home. One works with hard steel and welding rods and one with soft cloth and thread. Creativity oozes from this couple.

Jonathan and I stayed for about thirty minutes, took a bunch of pictures, mounted our bikes, and headed to Mt. Horeb where we are staying for this evening. Before going to the motel we had to stop by Procycle, the local bike shop, just to check it out! Margaret and I are now at the Village Inn Motel and Jonathan has been given permission, by the owner, to sleep in a tree house behind the motel. Some kids have all the luck!

We just finished supper at The Grumpy Troll in town. The friendly, smiling staff wears "Team Grumpy" t-shirts but they certainly are not grumpy. The food was very, very good! One more thing, they brew their own root beer and it is excellent. I'm sure it's really great (and healthier) with ice cream!

Back to Wally . . . he does with steel what Jesus does with people. Jesus took what was trash to the world and changed the world with it. His trash wasn't steel and welding rods however, his trash was people. Wally takes what would often be thrown out and makes things that are valuable. Jesus took people who would often be thrown out because he saw that they had great value. There's a song that says, "He looked beyond my faults and saw my needs." Jesus not only sees the needs, he meets them too, and then changes lives! The Bible says Jesus was, "a friend of the worst sort of sinners" (Matthew 11:19). Trash! He hung out with trash. What did he do with that trash? He changed the world and still is changing it today. I'd rather be trash in the hands of the Father than treasure in the hands of the world! I was reminded today that the world's trash is the Savior's treasure. Thanks Wally.

" . . . God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise" (1 Corinthians 1:27a).

Be creative!