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What We Have, … Is Before Us

A homily delivered by Gene Hutchins on October 8, 2006 at Bergfried.

Last night was an usual experience, at least I think so. Rich Vaughn, Janet Highfill, Larry and Debbie Ross and I watched the Moonrise and Sunset at the same time.

Yesterday morning, I was driving here from Washington at about 7:30AM. I have never been this far out on Hwy 100 at that time of the morning and at this time of the year. The dew was heating up from the sunrise. It was gathering in mist clouds that would hover in the fields and following the path of least resistance, move through the fold of the meadows and finally disappear.

This happens all the time out here, ... rarely do you see that in the urban setting of Kirkwood, or south county where I live, but it is here to behold at Bergfried. We take that for granted, or don’t think about it. It can be lost though if you don’t treasure it. It is lost if you do not come out here to witness it.

You see Joey, Noellle, Kirk and Kelvins’s eyes sparkle when they see a turtle, or something here that they don’t see at the their school’s playground. That is why Bergfried is so special.

It was eighteen or nineteen years ago, when I came to Bergfried with my son, Robert. It was an experience that he and I never forget. The hikes in the woods: finding salamanders, snakes and turtles, bones of turkeys and deer, tracks of the animals. Those are not just found in your backyard anymore.

As he got older, he would take his friends here. They had not any affiliation with Eliot, except through Rob. They would marvel at the experience.

Rob is in the Army now, I have to find out if the forests of Fort Jackson are like the Bergfried forest. I do not think they are ... I could be wrong.

I got a phone call from two of his friends. One boy, now a young man like Rob, was our neighbor when we lived in Ballwin about 12 years ago. The other young man, knew Rob from his high school days. They work at the same place now, they were talking about a camping experience they had with this kid they knew. The place was near Gasconade, MO. These boys were startled to find out the kid who took them on a trip was name Rob. And his Dad is named Gene.

I get phone call from these men while they are at work, to their amazement: the guy they know as Rob, whose Dad is Gene, who took them camping at the place near Gasconade, MO, is one and the same.

I invited them out here for this weekend, but school, work and their hectic schedules won’t allow that, or maybe who wants to be with Rob’s old man, but each told me, “Bergfried, is way cool and awesome.”

One of them, Paul was here when they were eighth graders. His parents would send him to some expensive outdoor camps in Michigan, Maine and they were cool, according to Paul. But this he thinks is also really cool: a two hour drive from Webster Groves, he could be in real forest, climb some steep hills and see vistas that lots of people use the Discovery Channel, or National Geographic for. Its right here at Bergfried.