Serving - lunch

 Our mission is to serve the Members and Leaders.  Sometimes it is harder than other times.  We have a family in the branch who run a restaurant/resort.  They've been a bit isolated during the COVID-19 outbreak because there have been no regular sacrament meetings since March.  So, Liz called them and set up a meeting with them.  They suggested we meet for lunch at their restaurant, which is only a quarter hour west of Maribor.  So, today we drove out there.

The road follows the river upstream and winds through little towns that would look perfectly at home in Austria.  It is rural and there were fields of corn, vineyards, and orchards of apples and pears.  Incidentally, the vast majority of apple trees here produce IdaRed apples.  I can usually find some Jonagold, or golden delicious, but it is nothing like the variety of apples we are used to in the USofA.  I find IdaReds to be of boring texture and bland flavor.

The restaurant is just out of town on a little road leading down to the river, and we drove right past it before we realized it.  We had to turn around and come back to it.  Turning into it was like entering a driveway more than driving along a road.  We met a delivery truck coming out and had to pull over onto the grassy verge to let it pass.   House numbers here are assigned as houses are built, rather than pre-planned like we are used to back home.  The restaurant was number one, but the houses we passed in that narrow lane were all over the place, number 10 being between numbers 4 and 7.  Number one was at the end, closest to the river by a couple hundred yards.

We entered and were asked if we wanted to sit inside or outside.  It being a nice day we requested outside seating, just like everybody else had done.  We went through the place and out onto a patio seating area under a huge grape arbor.

The grapes were smallish and not quite ripe, but bunches of them hung over our heads as we sat in the silence found only in the country - never in a city.  It was pleasantly peaceful, cool, and welcoming.  We had a delightful meal.  I ordered dora fish on potatoes and mixed veges.  Liz had a pasta dish with prosciutto,  truffells and chantrelles.  We had dessert with fresh fruit and ice cream.

Our friends were tied up and only joined us after we'd finished, but we walked down towards the river through an orchard to meet them.  We'd noticed families with children walking past the restaurant as we ate, and they were at a park along the water's edge.  The river moves too fast for swimming, but it is endlessly fascinating to watch water moving past.  We had a wonderful time meeting our member family,

My knee continues to deteriorate and I can seldom sleep more than 5 hours before it becomes intolerable, after which I move to the recliner.  We have scheduled an appointment with an orthopedist in Ljubljana next week.  According to the mission doctor who is familiar with my case, the choices are:

1. Live with pain.

2. An injection might give relief for a few months.

3. Go back to the US for a knee replacement.  This choice would end our mission, and I don't like that!  Besides, the USA is the worst place in the World to go right now with COVID-19 raging and people so emotional over whether the government can ask them to wear face masks.  Add racial tensions and I'd rather stay here.