 |
| Happily expanded Henkel family |
June is the month of weddings, reunions, roses and
gatherings. Mark and Hilde had a wonderfully full schedule and some leisure
time to enjoy, so this June was especially great.
 |
| Rowan and Rhiainnon snuggling at the wedding |
The month started with Joel and Lisa Henkel’s wedding in
Rice Lake, a happy gathering anytime, but this was first time since
Thanksgiving that the Rudolph family was assembled in one place and first since
the addition of Caleb. Rhiannon and
Rowan were good as gold at the church, loved the reception and managed to both
dance with Daddy, with Alana and Justin and with Uncle John and Aunt Evie. Mark and Hilde just enjoyed having all the
loved ones assembled as the family expands again.
 |
| Day old chicks are so neat |
June was also the month that Mark switched to working
half-days for the summer….and he is liking it a lot, since there are many
things around the place he has been itching to work on. He has gotten the garden into very good
shape, despite the relentless rains and soggy conditions, and tackled another
big project: planning and constructing a
radon removal system for the lower level.
He spent a lot of time on it, but enjoyed the new hammer drill for
cutting the concrete floor and the brick wall, and the system seems to be working. Between that work, Mark constructed and
installed a new door for the hen house, a screen door for the entrance to the
workout room and cleared away another FULL pickup load of stuff to the dump. Hilde mowed grass, weeded and mowed more
grass.
John, Evie, Genghis and Kubla came to visit mid-month when
Evie tested for her third dan black belt.
Mark and Hilde were very proud of her speed break and sparring (and her
instructor). John and Evie did a demo
form together in very nice synchronization and elegance…great to have John out
there leading testing once more. Evie’s
folks, aunt, brother and friend stopped by to see her, so we got to see them
too. Life is so busy that visits with or
from friends and family make for a special treat. Hilde had the ladies from crafts out…all long
time friends she enjoys so much. It was
fun attending the office picnic in Stevens Point, too.
 |
| Evie's speed hook break |
June is a fruitful time, also. Rudolph has a fine pick-your-own strawberry
farm just 2 miles from the Henkel hilltop and Mark and Hilde went over two
mornings to fill up on the great fruit.
The cherries ripened a week early this year and despite a strange malady
of cherry trees, Mark and Hilde picked plenty of cherries for jam, soup and
cherry crisp. Hilde had several days of
jam-making, leading to rows of beautiful jam jars in the cellar. Both Mark and Hilde spent time ‘clucking’
over the new chicks, happy to have chickens after nearly a year.
The only downside for the month (besides the too frequent
rains) involved some nastiness at the county level for Hilde. Why do people complain about the federal
level politicians and then try to be just that nasty at the local level? However, two staff vacancies have been
filled, so planning and interviewing for that is out of the way. Ever the optimist, Hilde expects things to
smooth out eventually.
 |
| Mark atop the ladder picking cherries |
The month concluded with Mark’s 45th reunion at
Ripon College. They had a great time
visiting campus---Ripon is a beautiful college and town---and seeing folks,
including his 3rd cousin Larry and Larry’s new grandson. In between the scheduled activities, there
was time for lovely leisurely time various places on Green Lake. While Mark and Hilde did get booked into a
‘vintage’ (meaning shabby retro!) room, they still had a fun time.
So June was just fine,
with family, friends, food and fun.
Just the way summer should be.
 |
| Ripon College Harwood Union |
