Henkel Family Blog: March 2014

Mark and John lay floor

March was a whirlwind month---much happening in the Henkel and Bormann families and Wisconsin did not make anything easy with the third coldest March on record. In fact, March did not come in like a lion, nor a lamb, it was more like a polar bear! Several days started at minus 11 and 12 before Mother Nature relented and things thawed a couple of days. Then more snow and cold---winter just didn’t want to end.

Mostly, March was full of family for Mark and Hilde, with the big item being helping John and Evie move into their new house in Palatine. It is a lovely split level (houses in that area do not have real basements) and a fenced yard with a glassed in shed for plants—perfect! John and Evie decided to redo the floor throughout the house, so first order of business was picking up the rental truck and 3,000 pounds of wood flooring. It was loaded with a forklift, but the senior Henkels kept up with the other three in unloading it carton by 45-pound carton. By noon, with two loads of larger items removed from the condo, the moving part was over and the flooring was well begun. Mark and John worked at laying the floor in the master bedroom, and then everyone helped remove carpet, padding and the amazing number of staples in the great room floor. By the time Mark and Hilde headed home on, John and Evie had moved into the master bedroom, Genghis was settling in and the first rows of the great room floor were fitted.

Mark and Hilde also got to visit with Jim, Kayme and the girls in March, with Mark and Jim working together on constructing a workbench and Hilde delighting in Rhiannon and Rowan. They are both growing and getting much better at communicating what they want. Going to church with the family always makes a visit special. Mark, Hilde and Jim were able to go to Waukesha and visit both Arlene, Hilde’s mom, and Ray, Hilde’s dad Arlene has settled in to Linden Heights and is sharing her sewing and tailoring skills with some of the other folks. Ray was happy to see family, but tired very quickly.

The only non-family travel was Mark’s quick flight to Michigan for depositions. Due to weather other conferences and depos were done over the phone or by skype. Technology really helps reduce hours on the road for him. Mark also got one huge white pine and a dead maple safely cut down and most of the mess from that cleaned up.

Despite the cold weather, Mark and Hilde finally tapped some 50 trees down in their swamp on the 28^th. That was the first time the snow was so deep that not only could they not reach the trees on the ATV—they ended up using snowshoes and a sled. The last days of the month were the first of the very late sap run, with very challenging and aerobic conditions for hauling the pails of sap out of the woods. But it did finally start warming and the snow finally began to recede so it could be called semit-lamblike!