Yesterday I swam across our lake and back. Good lot of fun, especially with the other students that went with me. (or I went with them) Either way, it was really nice. The water isn't warm like Texas lake water, it's nice and cool.

So, I'm planning a trip to Detroit in October to go to my grandmother's 80th birthday party. I was thinking about driving, but then I thought - "Why don't I just take the train?"

Here's the deal. I drive to Kenosha, WI on the Friday morning. I take the Metra line to downtown Chicago. I have lunch with an friend from A&M. At 2:25pm, I'm on the train to Detroit, and I make it there by 8:15pm. Sunday is the problem. I want to go to church at St. John's Downtown, so I have to leave at 4:15pm, getting to Chicago at 10ish. Then, I have to leave after midnight to go back to Kenosha, getting there at 2:15am, and then driving an hour to Nashotah. I'll have to get up in the morning for Chapel, but this is why this is a good thing -

A) The price. The Amtrak tickets are $49.50. The Chicago Metra tickets about $12. In comparison to plane tickets, this is a savings of $140 - plus no need to park at the airport for exorbatant prices. Drive time to the airport and Kenosha is give or take about the same.

B) Time to study in peace. As a seminarian, I really value downtime, and I don't mind buying it when I have to. So, if it means a combined total of 16 hours on trains over 3 days, I'm game. I figure my iPod will make this go quickly.

C) It's a true shame that such a magnificent means of transportation is dying quickly. I want to be able to tell posterity that I rode on the great American railroad.

Coming unto God,
I believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him:
I know that my Redeemer liveth;
that He is the Christ the Son of the Living God;
that He is indeed the Saviour of the world;

that He came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I am chief.
Through the grace of Jesus Christ
we believe that we shall be saved
even as our fathers withal.
I believe verily to see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
- Lancelot Andrewes

I've started to collect the Harvard University Press edition of Richard Hooker's On the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity which should be a great addition to my library. The currently printed paperbacks are too flimsy, so going after the academic editions will be tough, but I've already acquired the commentaries and Books I-IV. Just have to get the Tractates and Sermons and Attack and Response.

In other news, my room is infested with hornets - so I've gotten the spray and have tried to get rid of the nest, but it is trapped in my windowframes.

Toured the Tyranena Brewery in Lake Mills, Wisconsin yesterday with John. It was great fun. They had us get a pint to take with us on the tour. And, there were only 5 of us on it. The tour was free, but the samples were $7 for 9 6oz glasses.

Back in Wisconsin, doing a lot of fishing and reading.