While on our way to the EAA Airventure in Oshkosh, Gramps and I stopped to visit cousins in Dubuque, Iowa.  It’s a wonderful town on the Mississippi River, bordering Wisconsin and Illinois.  The weather was perfect and one evening we took snacks and a bottle of wine to a music concert at the arboretum.

The evening was cool (in July!), the grass was covered with blankets and lawn chairs and the air was filled with the singing voices of young people from all over Wisconsin.  We sipped our favorite wine from handmade glasses and shared a wonderful occasion with some of our favorite relatives.  The whole time we were surrounded by flowers, trees and bushes of magnificent beauty.  Could we have had a more perfect time?

Oh, and in the midst of this idyllic scene I saw a young woman carrying a small furry animal.  It wasn’t a cat or a dog.  It was . . . well, it was a wombat.  That’s right , a wombat.  A baby wombat in the arboretum in Dubuque, Iowa!

It was all snuggled up in a blanket and seemed as mesmerized by the stunning singing voices as we were.  But really, a wild animal in a crowded group of people just didn’t seem normal to me.  No one else seemed bothered, just me.

At the end of the program, we all showed our immense appreciation, finished off the last of the wine, gathered our belongings and headed home.  What a splendid evening we all had.

I think the wombat had a good time too!