 |
| Ominous sunset on cold April 8 |
April in Wisconsin is always such a jumble: weather bouncing back and forth between
extremes, flowers starting, stopping when it snowed and then finally coming out
in glorious welcome color. April in
itself is a month of photo ops! There
was snow in Rudolph on the 8th (the
last we devoutly hope!) and just a week later, Mark and Hilde enjoyed a warm
sunny day at Horicon Marsh viewing wildlife and plants and actually getting
HOT. There was a prescribed burn going
on which led to some eerie photos, too.
On the way home they finished with dinner at Silvercryst in Wautoma…a
very excellent day.
 |
| Spotting ducks at Horicon April 15 |
Several of the things on the list for “in spring” got taken
care of too. Mark had the farm truck
checked out and the carburetor membrane replaced and the part of the exhaust
system, so it is ready to be used (is no longer gassing occupants!), and Hilde
started the process of getting medicare coverage in place. Once the truck was available, Mark and Hilde
worked on trimming brush in the fence rows and then around some of the
buildings, hauling three truckloads to the pile where the wood chuck resides.
 |
| Redhead ducks at Horicon |
Mark’s major chore was retrofitting the eaves with air
channels in advance of the re-roofing with a ridge vent scheduled for early
May. This was a dirty, awkward job,
removing the soffits and then cutting
slots in the solid and ancient wood before wriggling the channels up
there. Mark managed with no blood loss,
only a little cussing and no incidents of dangerous drops of debris on Hilde,
so it was a very successful project.
 |
| Adding eave venting |
Some socializing was fit in around the work---lunch with Dr.
Stevens, Hilde’s ladies breakfast and then crafts was out for a delightful
evening, with frog chorus instead of snowfall.
Hilde continued to work on the heritage photos and was able to send off
three envelopes to descendants after copying them. The sad note was saying good-bye to the
Douglas family. Hard to see such great
folks move on, but St. Paul’s has called another pastor and the congregation
awaits word on that.
After the spring elections and the re-organization meeting
of county board, Hilde was reappointed as chair of the conservation, education
and economic development committee and to the executive committee. There is much happening on the county level
and in the departments overseen by CEED so it is a challenging time.
 |
| Naking cherries abloom |
The last week of April was very interesting as Mark received
a call on Sunday the 24th saying ‘come to the law office, we have a
flood!’ Due to a malfunctioning sensor,
water had been running all weekend and the office had to go virtual, working
out of seven locations with everyone off site for a week while the experts
brought in enormous fans and dehumidifiers to dry out the upper level. The lower level is going to take longer to
repair ceiling and drywall, but things are returning to normal there. There have been leak-related projects at all
three Henkel households, so with this disaster at the firm, the hope is for a
finish to the trend!
The sequence of bloom in April is so beautiful—from
bloodroot to spring beauties and fawn lilies to plum brush. Mark and Hilde had a little time to get out
and enjoy those changes around Rudolph, hearing frogs and birds and welcoming
the changes. They spent an afternoon at
Lake Emily in Portage County and many shorter walks. And to end the month, Hilde began mowing
lawn….that first time smells as special as early morning coffee!
 |
| Yellow fawn lily in Rudolph |
