June started off with Hilde cramming five meetings (one six hours long!) into three days, which was exhausting but efficient. With June turning out to be a record-setting month for rain (only 8 days without measurable precept!), it was very hard to get the rest of the garden in and the lawn mowed to any respectable level, but somehow things got done. Mark and Hilde had one special evening early in the month at the members open house for the new Jung Carriage House at old Wade House in Greenbush. The collection of wagons of all sorts are beautiful and colorful, ranging from sleds and sleighs to an ornate hearse, beer wagon and other kinds of vehicles, even a children’s dog cart.. What a neat place! Wisconsin’s historical sites are very interesting. It was a beautiful and memorably dry drive home in the dusk.
Things were relatively quiet for a while until the 12th, when, in a downpour, Hilde’s parents, Ray and Arlene, were in a nasty car accident. Arlene was crunched pretty badly with 3 ribs, scapula on the left side and the tibia in her right leg broken. Ray, who has extremely fragile bones and dementia, did not fare well: he has four vertebra fractured and is simply not improving much. The doctors think Arlene is doing well. They don’t sound optimistic about Ray, and don’t feel surgery on the back is an option. Right now both are in a rehabilitation center, sharing a room, but Ray is on hospice care and Arlene getting therapy to try to get her mobile again. Seeing them both in wheelchairs is hard to take – but they are both staying fairly cheerful, and Ray is not in pain, just sleeping lots. In just a moment, life can change very quickly. The family is trusting in God’s plan for them.
Despite having most of their attention and prayers centered down in Menomonee Falls, Mark and Hilde had lots of other, mundane things to fit into the month: duct cleaning was an all day event, and Mark replaced the pressure tank without flooding or bloodshed. Mark had a streak of depositions in Madison, with five days in the end of the month, plus a couple visits down to the hospital. With Jim located only 10 minutes away from the hospital, the visits there were followed by joyous romps and cuddling with Rhiannon and Rowan, who is crawling rapidly and trying to follow Rhi or Mommy everywhere.
So time flew by for June, much of it spent on the road, or mowing and weeding. All that rain meant very lush growth, and some beautiful strawberries. We give thanks for the beauty and bounty and for the protection of Hilde's parents.
