AUGUST WAS

 really popping (metaphorically, and else-wise).  There were so many sparkly events (little actor visits popping up here and there; wagon rides with The Yard Man's horses and wagon).  There were evenings when the nighttime view from the balcony displayed both natural light and unnatural light.*  Here's the apex of both on the very same night!

*Neighbors in this area are keen on setting off fireworks on lovely summertime evenings.  On the night of full moon, there was a real extravaganza. 
....................
Early in the month, my Brooklyn sis came for a visit.
The two of us took a tour of the Ephrata Cloister, a nearby historical spot.  We marveled at the story of this cloistered group of people who lived during part of the 1700's and the 1800's.

Come along, Listener Dear, and hear our guide as he tells us about it:

My sis and I, we oohhhed and ahhhed over many things.  The man who began this movement believed in denial of the body.  The cloistered folk, they ate very little food, basically just bread and water; they slept on hard, flat wooden benches; they were awakened in the middle of the night for religious services; they had no fun and games-- (uh, it almost goes without saying)--made wall hangings "just for the sake of doing something"; had no sex (vowed to be celibate*). 

I must confess, Dear Reader, at the end  of our tour, my sis and I  rushed out to continue on our hedonistic way...eat a lavish (relatively speaking, you know) and delightful lunch, go shopping in the "chocolate town" of Lititz, eat chocolate, and pay to have our toenails painted purple!** 













**Sisters giving pedicures to sisters.










...................................
*Okay, yes, well you might ask: "Er, didn't this group quickly die a natural death, with no young 'uns squalling to take the place of the old!?"  (Questioner Dear, I'll tell you about that tomorrow.
Now go lie down on your hard wooden shelf and get
your meager sleep!)