May 2013

A great show of trilliums this year

Justin n Alana--first gig  as married couple

Rhiannon and Kayme

Those handsome Henkel guys!

 May was a transition month as the weather went from snow flurries in the beginning of the month (and flannel sheets still on beds!) to monsoons at the finale with over 5 inches of rain flooding fields and super-saturating Rudolph clay loam.  It is now very wet out there.  The change in weather has resulted in the delicious asparagus and wonderful spring flowers, started the relentless mowing of the nearly three acres and brought out a very heavy crop of TICKS.  That last has been a real irritation, as Mark had three of the more than a dozen found on him which dug in and got nasty.  Perhaps someone should find a natural predator for these things and sell boxes of them to beleagured country folks.

May is always full of graduations, weddings and gatherings.  Mark and Hilde couldn’t get to all of the friends and family events, but rejoiced in niece Heidi’s graduation and return to Wisconsin, nephew Jarod’s confirmation and several other events.  They did travel to Milwaukee for the annual bar convention with some pampering at the Pfister and a great German meal, as Mark got the rest of his continuing education credits for the year.

The highlight of the month was the gathering of Henkels for wedding of niece Alana to Justin Laufman in Rice Lake.  The couple was radiant and perfectly in tune for their oboe-tuba duet of  ‘love’ly music and everyone had a great time.  Kayme played beautifully  for the service and the new header photo is the family at the event.  John and Jim up-grade events when they both wear their tuxes!   However, the sweetest award goes to the girls:  Rhiannon and Rowan in the heirloom handmade dresses from their great-grandmother.  Music at the reception was great, and the guys slipped outside to review nuances of the 7th degree black belt form, so everyone was happy.

May also turned out to be a month of good-byes as  first neighbor Mert Hartjes, then three weeks later for his wife Louise, and also one of the original law partners,  Neil Conway died

Mark and Hilde finished the month with actual vacation (9 ½ days straight for Mark--  that’s unusual) which gave them time to plant half the garden, enjoy working around the house, spend a day relaxing at Lake Emily, going out to the range with Dr. Stevens, and even work on hobbies, go to lumberyards and be contemplative.  That’s a great way to start summer!

John and Evie

Rhiannon and Rowan