January 2018

Frosty start to the year

January 2018 was not a bad month, considering it started with Mark and Hilde still recovering from something nasty and the fact that the Packers season was ignominiously over.   

The month included an assortment of very cold snaps, short thaws and ice ponding in yards and ditches, and some really brilliant sunshine days.  It was pleasant enough at times for some outings to the woods, some not-too-perilous walks and even  some clean up in the yard. It was notably short on snow in Rudolph, however.

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January also marked the beginning of Mark and Hilde running Stevens Taekwondo Academy, and arranging additional insurance, bank account and a credit card plus many phone calls and other decisions.  Hilde designed a letterhead and cards, but mostly they are enjoying the teaching, as always.

Hilde is winding down county board activities, and as there are others retiring from elected and director positions, she is saying lots of good-byes, with recognitions for someone every few weeks.  She got a lot of crafting done in January, and figures the winter Olympics will provide time for more knitting, crocheting and cross stitch.

After 29 years here in Rudolph house, Mark suddenly decided to build the shoe and boot storage for the bottom of the stairs and in one weekend got  all the pieces cut and assembled, so Hilde can stain them.  Not having a total tangle of footwear will tidy things up there and may be the start of a general home improvement year, since the exteriors and roofs were the focus last year.

Jim, Kayme, and kids met cousin Alana up in Rudolph for a brief visit and musical practice for the ladies.  After all the preparation and brush-cutting on the hill, there was not enough snow for the grandkids to sled, but every visit from them is a happy time.  

At the end of the month, the weather blocked viewing of the blue moon-super moon, but the effect of the full super moon filtered through overcast was magical---like a stage set effect making the sky an opalescent bowl. The end of January is always encouraging…the winter is at least half over!

Delayed December 2017

December 2017 turned out to be quite a momentous month with many activities stuffed into it and emotional moments aplenty.  The weather was dramatic, too, with warm, sunny start, allowing for another trip to cut ash stubs at the Lomira land, and then bitter, bitter cold for the holidays, challenging travels, animal care and celebrations.

Perhaps the major event of the month was the retirement celebration for Dwight Stevens, as he finished up 36 years of teaching taekwondo at the YMCA.  Hilde contacted dozens of black belts, wrote a press release, organized a thanks booklet and got it printed, arranged for cake and then took lots and lots of pictures, both at the celebration and five days later as he taught the last class.  It was sad for all of the long-time students, but Mark and Hilde are very able to teach and continue the school and the long traditions.

Other changes during the month were quieter:  Hilde formally signed the non-candidacy papers for county board just as Mark arranged to go to emeritus attorney status, which means, he can practice without the membership costs and without the continuing education requirements.  Not many people retire to run a taekwondo school, but both expect to be quite busy with those details.  They have met many times with Dr. Stevens, purchased the belts, boards, printed materials and miscellaneous items for the school, and have stuffed all those items into the house, with all the boxes of legal files.

All the above, meant that Christmas preparations were a little lighter this year, with slightly fewer cookies and candies made,   In addition, Hilde had extra meetings with  contentious tone, as she was very unhappy when a short-sighted faction tried to over-regulate horse drawn buggies, causing public outcry and lots of on-going tensions.  The matter was referred back, but has not really gone away.  Mark had extra trainings to manage for the YMCA position, taking first aid and CPR and getting those details settled.   Mark helped Hilde with the fruit basket deliveries for church shut-ins---more and more folks are on the list and yet it gets done in a fairly efficient way.

   

Then when all these items were completed, the Henkels packed the car with lots of Christmas items and headed to Sussex.  They got to see both Rhiannon and Rowan in the childrens service, to hear Rhiannon play for the pre-service music and then enjoy Christmas with the whole family, as John, Evie, Hazel and the dogs came up to spend Christmas together.   What a happy, chaotic morning it was as even Hilde’s mother was brought over for a while to meet Hazel and watch the gift opening.  The many hours of knitting were a success and the three kids all liked the sweaters Grandma Hilde made.  Next year she will knit four!

Mark and Hilde headed down to Palatine for an additional day with John, Evie and Hazel, enjoying the sweet cuddly little girl and just relaxing as John set up Hilde’s new laptop.  Then they headed home to huddle down in the worst of the bitter cold.  Three days below zero was quite enough!  However, since they both finished the month and 2017 with colds, staying inside and drinking lots of tea worked well.  What a full month!