DAY 40 

Daybreak from my cook kitchen, my camp on the road from Marion to Florence.

Nice looking Church in Florence and from what I understand, a good youth ministry program, and that is so important! I was only in Florence for a few hours (around the lunch hour as I had hoped/planned to be) but I spoke with a lot of folks and gave out lots of cards and booklet s (which can be a challenge with a 1,700lbs Clydesdale horse to tie up and no hitching post, but I’m getting good at finding places like phone poles and signs. While speaking with folks and giving out materials, I focused on the ACTION PLAN; I didn’t claim to have the answers, but said there was good stuff in the Action Plan that could help folks hold on to what they love, and that the photo journal (including Facebook) helped to prove that what they loved was priceless. Everyone in Florence was friendly, kind, and obviously loved and cared about their community! 

House in Florence, pretty fall colors (note the bicycle in the yard).

Historic school preserved as a home by its owner, Karyn. Thank you Karyn for preserving a historic land-mark! And thank you also for letting me use your hose to wash the mud off my wagon wheels.

Karyn, Phoebe and Steve; thank you for your kindness, enthusiasm, and for helping me get the mud off my wagon!

Downtown Florence, love that architecture! I would like to thank the gals who work at Auntie M’s Dinner; they bought my lunch which was delicious! And they gave me ice. Thank you Renee, Shirley, Julie, Desiree! And thank you to the folks who were having lunch in the dinner, John and the rest (can’t remember names), thank you all for being positive! Keep up the good fight for rural and small town America, you give us all hope!

Here is an excellent idea I saw in downtown Florence. Even though many stores are closed, the store fronts can still be painted and decorated with old well pumps and other artifacts. What a great idea! It totally changes the towns appearance, it makes a statement that folks care, a statement to themselves, and also to folks who might be tired of the big city, might be considering a different kind of life, a better life, as soldiers in the ragtag army of the true King, not to conquer, but simply to build safe streets and clean streams!

Another excellent idea! The painted wall completely changes things for the better! What a great example in the fight to save small town America!

Florence library, nice clean looking building!

After departing Florence, we traveled southeast into this open windswept plain with few, very few people, and I thought, “It’s the first of November, am I crazy… oh Lord!”

We camped in a little ravine with hedge trees and a pond, in a wind-break behind the pond damn, I left a note in a plastic bag tapped to the open gate saying that I was camped there and I hoped it was okay but was ready to move if it was not (there were no homes around to ask permission from). A couple came later and told me the camp belonged to some hunters out east, and they were there to feed the deer. The couple then called the hunters and got permission for me to stay there. Thank you!