It rained for the last part of the ride, but since it's warm, the
rain didn't bother me much. It did bother my leather seat though. Three
drenchings have, despite waterproofing, turned it to mush. I
suspect the saddle will, when it dries, harden to something like
granite.
As I came into town, an African-American fellow dressed like a priest; wearing a big, silver, Orthodox cross; and driving a beatup pickup stopped me. He asked whether I wanted a place out of the rain in his church for the night. I declined. I declined mainly because I had heard that Ash Grove had a good spot for cyclists to stay but also because I couldn't figure out why anyone, particularly a black guy, would be wearing an Orthodox cross in the middle of nowhere Missouri if he wasn't a whack job. But when he gave me directions to his church which included "look for the gold dome," I reconsidered the whack job part and asked him about his cross.
His name is Father Moses Berry. He is an Orthodox Church of
America priest. He also curates the little Ozarks Afro-American
Heritage Museum in Ash Grove. (The paintings on the museum's
windows have a distinctly iconic look. ) Father Berry gave me a
brief history of the OCA and himself. Since he was leaving town, when I discovered the museum, I didn't want to ask him to come back and open it just for me. He's an interesting
guy. I wish I had accepted his kind offer.
