Dizzying, Delightful December to Remember

What a wonderful whirlwind of a month December has been! All parts of our lives came together and made for some incredible emotional highs, framed in wild weather, lots of traveling and a wonderful addition to our family.

Taekwondo was the planned focus for December, with Evie getting her black belt in grueling and lengthy testing in Madison on the 5th. Mark and Hilde were able to get there to see her impressive performance! Then John and Hilde finally tested for sixth dan black belt the following week. Since the WTF requires candidates to be 30 years old, Hilde waited to test until John was eligible and then worked to match his awesome technique. Both wrote rather lengthy papers (Hilde’s was “Taekwondo: Training for Life and Success” and John’s “Teaching the Art of Taekwondo”), and gave speeches on the topics at the testing, plus did the Ji-Tae form in close unison. Then John wowed the onlookers with a spinning hook speed break thru three boards. Hilde’s board break was minimal—she was still beaming but shaken from hearing about the real news of December 12—a new granddaughter!

Yes, Jim and Kayme became parents just before the testing started. Rhiannon Clara Henkel weighed 7 pounds 9 ½ ounces and took a long time to arrive, but she is absolutely beautiful. Kayme had a tough labor, but has been recovering very well and looks fantastic. Skyping was neat, but Mark and Hilde got out there on Dec. 23 to spend Christmas cuddling and rejoicing in her! The heavy snows on the East Coast meant that flights were canceled and the happy grandparents got to spend an extra day delighting in the granddaughter. Jim and Kayme are already very good at handling her AND they made a wonderful Christmas feast also. It was a very memorable Christmas! The delay getting home sent the senior Henkels to go directly to Madison for Mark to do depositions, but that also allowed for a birthday breakfast with John and Evie---there was lots to talk about with baby news and wedding plans.

All through the month, Mark was on the road, doing depositions and prep work for the four long trials scheduled for next year. He was gone more than half the month and had a minor problem in central Illinois when an ice chunk off a semi damaged the rental car, but he managed it all well. The weather surely complicated things when central Wisconsin got 14 inches of snow on the 11th causing cancellation of the black belt Christmas party for the first time ever. It was very beautiful, however, followed by some really cold days with wonderful hoarfrost. Then after Christmas, warmer weather meant fog and rain and really messy conditions. Perhaps January will be calmer, weather-wise and work-wise!

This year, Hilde did fewer Christmas cookies, but lots of stollen and candies to give as gifts. The fruit baskets for shut-ins went well this year and she even managed to run a meeting with 15 people by videoconferencing, which was challenging, and did better than usual when Mark was out of town so much, even when there was a dead hen to dispose of and a rabbit hunter to send away. This month really had everything in it!

All in all, December was a wonderful end to the year 2010. We look confidently forward to 2011, trusting God to guide us and bless us all the way.

November News

The month started out with elections for all of the country, but Hilde was chief election inspector for the morning shift in Rudolph and that meant starting early and coping with a irritating set of machines. First the counter jammed repeatedly and then it beeped for four hours and turned off! It seems the fiddling from the first invisibly disconnected the power and four hours is the battery-backup limit. NOW workers know what the beeping meant! The changes in governmental leaders in Wisconsin made for an abrupt change.

Mark and Hilde were in Madison the next morning for a couple days of depositions, allowing for a photo of “new light on state capitol”---certainly a prettier shot that the political fall-out may turn to! We were able to meet Evie (John’s fiancée) for dinner at the Great Dane and transfer to her a couple of sacks of squash and pie pumpkins. Even Madisonians, used to the outré, likely wondered at the middle-aged couple hauling chicken feed sacks down the sidewalk! Hilde used the time during the day to retreat in the far corner of the historical library’s reading room and get thoughts, quotes and outline together for her required taekwondo paper.

Mark spent another couple of days in Madison the next on his own, but when he returned the third week, Hilde went with him and thus got a cold weather visit to Dodgeville and Spring Green. The pace has been fairly hectic for him with several trials in 2011---lots of depositions, discovery and all out of the area, requiring lots of time on the road.

Even as winter approached, we had some sunny, cool days to get things done outside, including the removal of all the sumac on the west fence line and the replacement of rotted off cedar posts, so that fence looks orderly for winter. Hilde got the ditches tidied up and Mark and Hilde went out to the hunting land to check out stands and then to go thru and mark the ‘trail’ again. Our little portion of Elm Creek is running full and cold right now after several years of nearly drying up in fall. The weather allowed for other chores also: snow fence is up, and over Thanksgiving, John helped Mark get the tractor chains on so we are ready to plow. That turned out to be necessary once already as we got an icy mix of sleet and snow the night before Thanksgiving, leaving our driveway fairly nasty..

This year for deer season Loren Fritz (Kayme’s dad) came up and hunted with mark for opening day. They saw nothing near enough to shoot, although Loren also staked out the lower woods in the afternoon. When John went for a run after thanksgiving, he spooked up three does, but was not able to chase them down.

The month ends with Hilde working diligently on the JI-TAE form to prepare for testing and both prospective grandparents waiting for that special phone call. Kayme is on maternity leave as of December 1 and is definitely ready to carry her daughter in her arms instead of out front. Apparently little Rhiannon wants to really fit into the Henkel clan, where December is preferred for birthdays. We eagerly await her arrival!

Awesome October

This month turned topsy-turvy early on and became a winner! Mark’s big trial in southern Missouri was delayed from October to next June (yes, it will be hot then ), which allowed him to take off three days in the absolute best weather…beautiful sun-drenched days with warm temps and fantastic colors in the trees. We did things around the house and yard, then went to the range one morning and out to Sherwood Lake and the county forest out there for a fine walk. After the past three months of lots of deadlines and pressure for Mark, he really relaxed.

All through the month, I felt better and better and finally got back to lots of energy and worked on getting fall harvesting and cleaning done. We gathered in an enormous yield of squash and pumpkin and throughout the month shared them with family and friends and took about 30 squash to St. Paul’s School. I began enjoying the pumpkin baking: pies, breads, and those melt-in-your- mouth orange blossom sweet rolls, which I made for the crafts ladies. I enjoy having them out very much…on those seventh Thursdays when there is no taekwondo.

The postponement of the trial allowed Mark and me to be here for the October taekwondo testing, always a good gathering and celebration of the progress of students. I also had election training, attended a conference on the redistricting coming in spring, and the last meeting of the board of Aging & Disability Resource Center of Central Wisconsin as a two county agency. Starting November 1, the ADRC CW will serve four counties---Marathon, Wood, Lincoln and Langlade. It will be exciting to chair meetings of such a large group and watch the expansion happen.

At the end of the month, a buyer showed up for Hazel’s house in Rice Lake, so Mark and I took the trailer over and retrieved the other pieces of furniture to be cherished by the grandchildren. Of course, until they have room, the bed, chest, desk and low dresser will be here. That trip on the 22nd of October was not only the last day of really nice weather, it began with this full moon setting just at dawn over Rudolph. Very nice!

As nice as the beginning weather was, allowing lots of outside detail work, the final week of October featured two days of very high winds and some of the lowest barometric pressures ever recorded inland (not from a hurricane) The wind did damage in several areas, but mostly, made it hard to sleep and concentrate…it felt like an attack! Further north, power was out for several days and schools closed.

We don’t have a lot of spooks and goblins out here for Halloween, but we did get to skype with Jim and Kayme….they are fine and nearing the time for the new arrival in the family. We are all counting down the days.

September Summation

September is always a transitional month, but this month was not a smooth transition, ups and down, floods and trips, sickness and celebrations all combined!

We did have a warmer period to start off the month which helped the later produce finish and ripen---tomatoes were the focus for Hilde with lots of stewed tomatoes, tomato juice, tomato sauce and tomato soup put up and squirreled away for the dark months. The first cool, wet weather coincided with John and Evie’s corn roast and congratulations here on the 3rd. It is amazing how a small gathering seems large when crammed indoors with four healthy and energetic preschoolers bouncing around. It was a fun start for the Labor Day weekend! Mark and John did the annual remove rust and weld on the pathfinder, but that may be the last year for that. From three pathfinders, we are down to only one 1995, and it is putting on lots of miles between Chicago and Madison. Evie’s parents came through and got to see Rudolph in the ‘green’ mode, so the Labor Day weekend was social and great.

The rest of the month was a muffled one, as Hilde got a very nasty bug which left her ears blocked up and her energy levels just above zero. We were also praying constantly for the relief from pain and reconstruction of nephew Adam’s knee---he had a very comprehensive football injury. Thank God for skilled doctors and a full-time mom/nurse/chauffeur for him. We hope he will be on his feet before Christmas.

September 9th was the 60th wedding anniversary of Hilde’s parents, Ray and Arlene. Some 35 Bormann family and friends gathered in Oconomowoc to celebrate, with Jim and Kayme, John and Evie, and Hilde’s brother Steve joining by skype, thanks to Terri’s wireless card. It was a special day with shared memories and photos, great food, a lovely house (thanks for hosting, Laure!), and even unexpected ‘entertainment’ with a brief dogfight in the middle!

Mark is in the intense, pre-trial mode and flew to Springfield Missouri for a court appearance, being gone during THE rain event of September 21 & 22 and 23, when Rudolph received at least 6 inches (overfilled the rain gauge!) and Pittsville nearly washed away. He returned to find detours and roads closed as the water gathered and over-flowed almost everywhere in Wood County, where 50 roads were closed at one point. The Henkel home, being on one of the highest points in the county, had no damage, but so many folks did!

Other assorted incidents included the dryer deceasing after more than 20 years hard use, the garage door opener breaking again, Hilde winning a raffle of a beautiful Amish quilt, and the raspberries and lawn continuing productive. Despite all this busyness, Hilde has begun to update and outline the family lines from her genealogy records, so relatives are going to be getting questions and draft outlines to add to, update and embellish. She also wrote up some early Bormann memories to share with her parents and siblings and during those long dark months of winter hopes to continue on that. Now on to October, to pumpkins and long trials, to frosts and prepping for winter. The view down the hill here is absolutely lovely!

Active August

August has been a sizzling month---not just in temperatures, but with literal shocks, special surprises and socializing!

Mark and Hilde were happy to attend the installation and the welcome luncheon for St. Paul’s new minister, Jim Douglas. We had Pastor Douglas, wife Sara and little two-year-old Emma out for lunch at the end of the month and enjoyed our discussions and getting to know them better. We also had a visit from Paul and Rachel Fritz. We all picked raspberries together and had a great afternoon. The main social event of the month was a black belt corn roast here. It is always good to have those gatherings!

The hot, wet weather continued and resulted in great garden growth, lawns that just didn’t stop and some really healthy weeds. When we talk about weeding all the time, it is in an effort to avoid any the size of this lambs quarter which we finally chopped off at around 10 feet! The intense heat led to some really noisy storms, including the one early August 11 when lightning struck Mark’s antenna tower. That was "shockingly" loud! While the tower is grounded, the one rotor cable formed a pathway for some of the charge. The rotors, the cable, Mark’s digital interference filter, the internet card for my computer and our cordless phone and answering machine all got zapped. Getting things replaced, fixed and remounted took much of the rest of the month.

Right at mid-month, Jim and Kayme informed us that the new Henkel will help even the numbers---sonogram shows a GIRL! They are going to name her Rhiannon. We got to see Jim and Kayme down in Watertown, with John and Evie meeting us there for church, lunch (thanks, Naomi!) and lots of talking and hugging.

Although the month really focused on the harvesting and preserving of corn, berries, tomatoes, onions, crab apples and other good things, Hilde has also had some extra meetings and tours, including a celebration of ADRC CW, a thank you lunch for the library parking lot , election workers training and a fascinating conservation tour to a farm with robotic milking -- the cows come in to be milked and the farmer reads the yield and data without touching the cow. Mark and Hilde both attended a day of taekwondo referee training and enjoyed the annual Edgar Steam Engine show.

Mark has been working long hours on the preparation for a big trial, doing depositions, motions and briefs. In among all the business travel, we found time for a special visit to Madison to meet Kathy and Tony Williams, Evie’s parents. We all went out for dinner together and then on a walk. There, with all parents witnessing, John asked Evie to marry him, and she accepted. It was a very special evening for all of us. While dates and details are not settled yet, the joy in both their faces left us misty-eyed and glowing. As an odd coincidence, John actually proposed outside the house Mark had lived in back while in law school. It has been quite a month!

Steaming through July

The song may say "lazy, hazy, crazy days" but someone left the lazy out of this month. Hotter than usual, wetter than usual, and pretty UN-lazy would describe July 2010. Although none of the 'next generation' were home for the Fourth, it was special because we drove over to West Bloomfield (near Fremont) to attend the ordination and installation of Kayme's brother Paul as pastor. It is a beautiful rural location near Lake Poygan.

Hilde had a very busy meeting month with three of one committee and hassles left and right as very small ($20 every three years) user fees had to be implemented for folks with septic systems. This is not popular, of course. Another flurry of phone calls, memos and meetings involved all the steps necessary to apply for a grant for Wood County to rehab low income houses...we will hear in September if the half million is awarded to us. Fortunately most of the work could be done on line and phone from Missouri.

Missouri again and Madison 6 days in 8 was the story for Mark. He has been on the road so much this summer! For that to work, the car needs to be functioning at its' peak. The Rav 4 was working, but....the week before the 12 hour drive to Springfield, it started smelling bad, really bad. After investigating the air filter and air conditioner, we finally turned it over to experts who found a putrifying mouse in the heater core! It took them two hours to pull it out, flush things and sanitize it to a bearable level. Those things are the dickens!

This time in Missouri, it was very hot...Hilde laid low in Springfield (3 days) but did get a little mall time in. Driving to St. Louis in 95 degrees and arriving in rush hour was trying, but that evening we met Rod and Cindy Rasmussen for dinner---first time we had seen them since Rod and Mark were in ASA training at Ft. Devon in 1972! Unfortunately, we didn't think to take pictures. The next morning Mark went buzzing around doing depositions in Illinois and St. Louis while Hilde had a great time getting together with Lynn Chaput Arana. she had been a bridesmaid in our wedding back in 1972...hadn't seen her since. We talked and talked and managed not to melt in the 96 degrees and humidity while visiting the Missouri Botanical Gardens. What a beautiful place! She was a wonderful guide, taking Hilde to see great archtecture, a Jesuit museum, a Spanish lunch place (delicious!), the museum at the Arch and then the Forest Park. During the whole day, we didn't stop talking and catching up on those 38 years.

Earlier July was described as wet...that seems inadequate, with more than 8 inches of rain forcing weeds and lawn to grow unbelievably. whenever we were home and it wasn't raining, we were mowing, weeding and picking raspberries, beans, cucumbers, with canning, pickling and freezing of all the goodies. There were small handfuls of blueberries from the upland bushes: the lower ones seem to be flooding out, event he little tamarack are yellowing! While we were in Missouri a gust of wind snapped off the top 15 feet of a large black spruce...just that one tree had damage. The weather has been--quirky.
The Henkels have taken another techno step and added a webcam and skype so as to visit better with Jim and John. Originally we could not hear others...Terri called Heidi in London, who told Jim in DC, who called and talked us through settings to get things right. What a magic casement that is! So good to be able to see our far off family members!
July ended well, as Hilde's brother Brian had back surgery and despite some complications, came home tonight. ON Friday, while mark was doing yet more depositions in Madison, Hilde got to meet niece Alana for lunch and enjoy hearing how she is doing. Even in a very busy, steamy month, there were moments that were really special.

The rose garden in Missouri Botanical was at LEAST 10 degrees hotter...those roses were sizzling, but so beautiful and fragrant!

June-Rushed, Wet and Fun

This June started tense and rushed as Mark was cramming three years of another attorney's trial prep and depositions to start a month-long trial in Idaho! Since Hilde was going with him, lots of planning went into care of animals, gardens, meetings and things for such a long stretch. But, after enduring flight and car arrangements with three separate delays, they arrived in Twin Falls and settled in...for two days! The Shoshone Falls were beautiful but a month would have been a very long time. The case settled even as the jury selection proceeded and we packed up and gratefully came home again to enjoy June in Wisconsin.

The return was in time to have both Mark and Hilde attend the world premiere of Grandmaster Robert Stevens' seminar for high-ranking black belts on taekwondo mastery and leadership. We also got to practice weapons defense, leading to this Henkel tangle, since John joined us for the seminar and stayed over to Sunday.
The entire month of June set records for rain and challenged everyone to keep up with rapidly sprouting weeds and lawns in the brief drier moments. Hilde spent a lot of time mowing, but the flowers and gardens are extremely green and lush from the rain.

Mid-month was a little tense when Jim called to tell us Kayme had a car accident totaling their car. Thank God she and the baby were protected (the two cars hit the passenger side), and the 'eastern Henkels' have acquired another car, bruises faded and all okay. That same week a long-time friend, Dale Termunde, died in Illinois. Mark and Hilde struggled to get to the Saturday morning funeral but drove partway Friday night, watched all the storm warnings for Chicago, then arrived after things subsided and most of the power back on.

With the time freed up from the Idaho case, Mark decided to take vacation, domestic vacation, and took off the final week of the month. The weather settled down after one final blow and 2 more inches of rain on the 25th, so it has been fine and delightful for working in the garden, picking luscious raspberries, and, for Mark, enjoying fine propagation and time on his radio. Attending Mark's 40th Ripon college reunion was really special this year as Hilde and Mark visited the park where they first met, the Little Corporal for breakfast and happily walked all over Ripon. After the main dinner, they drove to Green Lake and watched fireworks out over the water just before a golden full moon slid over the horizon...blissful!
And, to finish off the month, we finally had our yucca blossom. We have loved those things since our stay at Ft. Hood in 1972, now we have one here in Rudolph!

May 2010

This was a month of highs and lows, gain and loss, challenges and extremes of weather ranging from the 4" of snow on our flowers, breaking off lilacs to the 4 days of more than 90 degrees. It was a month we felt God's love and support throughout.

On May 7, Mark's mother, Hazel, went home to her Savior. At 91 years old, she was able to be at her own home until the last 2 weeks, with lots of loving care and oversight from son Phil and his patient wife Connie. They did so much for her those last 7 years in Rice Lake. In Lomira, we were overwhelmed and moved by the large turnout for Hazel's funeral on the 15th, where all four grandsons served as pallbearers, with Jim and Kayme getting up very early to fly in that morning.

Mark had to be in Missouri the week before the funeral and then off to Colorado and Utah right afterwards, very hard for him to be away instead of home. However, one of the blessings of the month was those 3 extra days of having Jim and Kayme here, filling the house with activity and hope for the future. They will be adding the first of the next generation of Henkels in December, a great joy to all of us. Kayme has a real glow about her most days.

We were all glowing for the other truly happy occasion on the 21st, when Jim was formally "hooded" with his PhD in microbiology in the Milwaukee Theatre. Kayme's brother Paul had graduated from seminary that morning, so the Fritzes and Henkels were all very happy gathering for dinner before departing in different directions.

Mark and Jim had lots of bonding time the day after the funeral: they struggled mightily to replace our dishwasher in the non-standard cabinet, with rather wet results. Jim, Kayme and Hilde invited Heidi and her boyfriend Aaron and several black belts for a grill out which was enlivened by SIX children age four or younger! One guy volunteered to come back the next night so he and Jim could solve the dishwasher dilemma. What a relief.

Between all the big events and travel, Mark and Hilde got their large garden in and mowed and mowed the lawn. Lots of other chores kept both busy as we weeded and mulched, painted and fixed. Today, at the end of the month, we installed the new carriage lights around the driveway, despite the challenges of really backward wiring, and Mark wired and mounted the invisible fence which Jim, Kayme and John bought for us. They did all the digging and testing while they were here...we just had to affix it to the wall. Freddie is learning about the new limits and we are very grateful for the set up.

ON the way home from the funeral, we stopped in the Horicon Marsh to watch and listen to the birds and watching a muskrat. It was perfectly tranquil, despite the rush of traffic.

Active April

Lots of family interaction this month, starting off with Easter. John and Evie came to Rudolph for a nice visit, including sunrise service on Easter. Niece Heidi Orchard joined us for Easter dinner, so there were five at the table this time. Mark's business in Wauwatosa later that week allowed Laure and Mom and Dad Bormann to meet Mark and Hilde for lunch. Late in April, Hilde and Heidi met for lunch , since even very busy, nearly done with UWSP seniors need to eat!

Spring elections resulted in Hilde's reelection to Wood County Board for the sixth term. She has been reappointed as chair of the Conservation, Education and Economic Development Committee which will also oversee the redistricting for the county next spring....that will be interesting.

Spring also means planting and cleaning up. Mark got both gardens worked up very nicely, early, but then had to spend some time with a metal detector searching for the winch handle which had vibrated loose while he was plowing. He did recover the handle! After spending a morning working with Land Conservation drew sorting and bagging the spring tree seedlings, Hilde brought home 100 tamarack seedlings. Mark and Hilde planted those in the lower 28 acres, where the acid wet soil ought to be optimal for success.

What a beautiful spring it has been in Rudolph! The flowers and trees have been long blossoming and the air full of wonderful scents (and pollen). Asparagus is producing early and well; the cherry, crabapple, apple and pear trees blossomed one day after another until the entire orchard was beautiful, and the lilacs add their perfume. Of course the early warmth meant that the lawn mowing season has also begun.

Mark has had some major revisions to his business schedule. The lawsuit in Maryland was settled favorably, but that meant no much-desired visit to Jim and Kayme. However, Mark will be adding several trips out west for another case, so he will be very busy. Actually, the case for early May settling was an example of God's grace, since it meant that Mark and Hilde are here in Wisconsin able to visit his mother on May 1st as she is fading from this life and heading home, after 91 years.

Mild March

The weather was what folks talked about this month, not just in Rudolph but all over Wisconsin. No major storms, mild temps and early snow melt---not what you expect in Wisconsin in March. The early warm-up had Mark and Hilde out working in the yard and finally getting the branches and damaged limbs from Christmas cleaned up. It took most of a weekend and several truckloads of brush, plus a half truck of birch and maple chunks. Meantime, the spring flowers started coming up early.

Mark had depositions down in Platteville for a couple of days early in the month, with Hilde going along. Although both are familiar with the town, driving around in the dense fog from snow melt was odd and eerie.

This year's Maple syrup season was short and skimpy. Although Mark and Hilde tapped 42 trees and did everything but wring out the trees, there was very little yield and they only cooked twice, short cooking times. That was less tiring, for sure, but disaapointing to get 25% of what they got from same trees last year. The rain deficit for 2010 is already over 2 inches here...doesn't bode well for the gardens and crops.

Every committee or board that Hilde is on held a special meeting and /or hearing in March in addition to the regular meetings. It really filled up the schedule and kept her hopping setting things up. In the middle of the month, a tooth broke off and since the dentist is having back problems, she couldn't get anything done...scheduled for after Easter.

The cultural highlight of the month was meeting John and Evie in Madison for niece Alana's senior oboe recital. Her talent is exciting, the English horn was wonderous, and we were enlightened as the the far-out sounds an oboe can emit.

No lion, March was a warm month, with daffodils blooming by the 31st--most unusual for central Wisconsin!

Fairly Frenetic February

Whew! The Olympics and February are both over...it was quite a month, wasn't it?

First thing this month, Mark took off for a couple depositions in California. Getting there from here by air took an entire day plus driving, not much fun, all work. I "fail to thrive" or to sleep well while he is gone, so things were less than happy. However, he got home on the 4th, unwound at taekwondo and then took off on the 5th so we had the entire day together for our anniversary. We went to Menards and his office for an hour then dinner at the Hilltop. Thirty -eight years sounds like a long time, but seems to have sped by.

Jim had a LOVELY birthday--snowed in there in DC again. It is truly amazing how much snow they ahve gotten socked with and for Wisconsinites, they could kind of watch in amusement at the way people dressed, drove and dug out.

February always includes a taekwondo testing. Mark helps with the actual judging and I do registration and photos and then write everything up for the paper and our school blog. This time, it was Valentine's Day. There were 60 color belts testing, and the three black belt testing performed quite well, always satisfying to watch that.

After two and a half months of being unable to walk outside, the ice on Second Avenue cleared, so we drove down there and walked several times. There is a good view of sunsets from there!

The week of 14th was hectic as I squeezed in two weeks of meetings into one, wrote up all the taekwondo stuff, cleaned house, and enjoyed having the crafts group out on Thursday night. Since I can't drive at night, when we have a week off of taekwondo workouts, I try to get them to come out here for stitching, chatting and goodies. Then one more meeting before packing up.

Since Mark needed a week in southern Missouri for lots of depositions, we both went down, driving twelve hours straight through wetter and wetter conditions, poor visibility and hidden potholes. Although Springfield is nearly 700 miles south of Rudolph, it was not a lot warmer down there...they were having a cold snap until we left. It didn't matter to me...I got to relax completely. Mark and I walked almost every morning and a couple of evenings, and then he worked. I shopped, read, worked on computer, and visited the zoo. I got to see a three-day-old baby giraffe named Billie---just about 6 foot tall and curious about visitors. I also went to Fantastic Caverns....really interesting history of use for that place and fascinating formations. Saturday, we drove another 12 hours back, with much better weather, clear roads and light traffic. It sure felt good to be home.

While we were gone, a neighbor did the critter chores, but he warned us the faucet was leaking, so Mark finished the month by fixing plumbing after church. We would like to stay home for the near future, but the trip was much better for Mark with me along, and much better for me than staying home not sleeping, worrying about Mark and dripping faucets. That's what 38 years mean--everything is better together.

News from January

The Christmas Eve ice storm damaged or snapped off several of our trees. Jim and Kayme could hear the snapping during the night. Morning showed branches and pieces all over the yard. We are only slowly cleaning them us...lots iced into the snow and footing is so treacherous working out there is tough. Mark and John took down the remnants of one birch, but we will probably wait for early spring to climb up and deal with the higher limbs from the white pine and cotton wood. It is discouraging how much damage can occur and how many years of tree growth can go in one night!

The New Year started very quietly here, since Mark was only semi-mobile after an attempt to smash the icy coating in the yard with his back. Neither the ice nor he broke anything, but he moved from one uncomfortable position to another for several days.

John actually took a vacation in Arizona, going out for a short week to visit friends in the warmth and sunshine. He visited a missile silo, aircraft museum and got in some hiking. It looks like he got up fairly high.

Hilde had lots of meetings to make up for the long break for Christmas and new Years...at least most of them were in Rapids and Point, only one run to Wausau. Planning meetings in the winter months is tricky, especially when most of the folks are considerly older than Hilde.

Jim and Kayme took a long winter hike up a trail called the Old Rag in the Shennadoah Vally area. They seem to like heights also. It was good for them to get out in daylight and fresh air. Jim works long hours in the lab and Kayme is teaching or in transit many of the daytime hours.

Mark's mother is, at 91, feeble and more and more confused. It is painful to see and hear her in this condition, but Phil and Connie really spend a lot of time and love making things work, so far.

Heidi stopped by for a visit on her way to her last semester at UW-Stevens Point--that was fun--it was good seeing her.