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| Snowy sap season |
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| John n Evie practice forms |
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| Henkel table at Doc's party |
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| Rhiannon helps Kayme dig |
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| Rowan enjoys bouncing outside |
April was a challenging month in Wisconsin as in other northern states---cruel weather conditions with hazardous driving conditions and winter storm warnings several times. It was not until the very end of the month that the snow piles around Rudolph finally departed with the final four days a delightful run of 70 and even 80 degree days. Crops, trees and grass are all coming late this year! The sap run continued well into the month, but Mark and Hilde closed down after they finished the third batch off April 8. The syrup was very good quality this year to make up for none last year.
This was a special month for Henkel taekwondo connections also. John led a small but intense taekwondo workout with Evie, Hilde, Mark, Justin Buehler, and Amy and Andy Emerson which was great fun as a prelude to another event:. Hilde and three other black belt gals organized a large birthday gathering to honor Dr. Dwight Stevens, bringing in this three daughters and a total of 65 people for a dinner. It was like a grand reunion of black belts and the talking and sharing went on quite a while. Mark and Hilde enjoyed having Jim and Kayme and John and Evie there—getting the four senior master Henkels together is special. The next day was another snow event as people struggled to get to the belt promotion testing with 73 students testing that day and another 16 at make-up tests during the week.
Hilde had a heavy schedule beyond the taekwondo stuff this month with eye, dentist and other appointments to fit in around several meetings. Hilde is chair of an ad hoc committee to study and recommend administrative leadership for the county---interesting information is coming to light, but the end result is still unknown. Since Mark has had so many delayed trials, he had time to attend a conference in Kohler for CLE credits. He and Hilde enjoyed the one night of luxury at the American Club.
From the conference Mark and Hilde headed to Sussex to help with various spring tasks. Mark dug out a shallow rain diversion trench in Jim’s yard before he and Jim installed three new basement windows, finally solving the issues of water leakage, bug infiltration and security which the ancient ones presented. Grandma Hilde helped by keeping the dear little ones happy and busy out of the way, with wagon rides, singing and books. This allowed Kayme to dig in the planned front flowers and then tackle the overgrown spruce which blocked vision at the driveway. Since Mother Nature finally relented and sent good weather, all the yard and building work was pleasant. It was precious seeing Rhiannon help her mommy dig and her daddy plant blueberries. Rowan loved being outside in her play saucer, so everyone had a great time. The final task was an unpleasant surprise as the dishwasher needed a rapid replacement. The floor was full of Henkel as Mark and Jim worked together to adapt the water and wiring to the new machine….they spent a lot of time on their stomachs craning under there. It is almost exactly three years since the same duo had this task up in Rudolph!
When the senior Henkels returned home on the final Sunday of April, they tackled their own outdoor tasks, loading and removing two truckloads of elm branches that afternoon. The following day, Mark and Hilde wrestled three large loads of pine and spruce limbs down to the woods before Mark prepped the asparagus bed for spring. After the long cold spring, the outside work was very satisfying, with many more hours of raking, weeding and clean up ahead. As Granny Scheid used to say (in German) Work makes life sweet. That would make April very sweet indeed.
