March 2018

March was a transitional month, in the wrong direction, coming in like a sweet lamb with mild temps and sunshine and ending with winter roaring back---snow, wind and cold!  Mark and Hilde kept very busy and managed to see both sons and families plus do the spring focus on sap.

The trip to John and Evie’s was sweet---seeing Hazel’s growth and increasing vocalization was sheer joy and watching the happy parents with her would make anyone happy.  Hazel is growing rapidly and sleeping well, a lot like her father in his early months.  It is always hard to say good-bye because Mark and Hilde enjoy the company of their sons and daughters-in-law!

The sap started running middle of the month and Mark and Hilde put in some 50 taps, using new trees on the west end of the woods.  That means there were no trails to the trees and plenty of prickly ash and other underbrush to struggle through,   Outside of one trip, slip and fall, dumping about 2 gallons of sap on herself, Hilde managed better this year, carrying the sap buckets.   On the east end of the woods/swamp, Mark cut a new path to avoid the worst mud hole, where they had often had trouble getting through. 

Jim brought the three kids up for the first weekend of cooking and the weather smiled on  the weekend:  it was warm enough for the kids to play outside happily,  for Mark and Jim to sit out in comfort firing the cooker, and then Jim with help from Rhi and Ro gathered the sap in the evening.  When there was a mix-up about the time of church, it was truly a blessing for Mark and Hilde to hear 7-year-old Rhiannon read an entire chapter of the Bible out loud and then have Jim lead the Bible study.

The weather grew less pleasant for the rest of the sap run, but Mark and Hilde were able to gather every night and cook twice more.  The end of the run goes to a hardy 85 year old neighbor who cooks syrup ‘on halves’ and is likely to keep going forever.  So maple syrup for the next year is bottled and ready for three generations to enjoy on pancakes.

Hilde has continued busy in the wrap up of her time on county board, including interviews for HR director, a final counties association steering committee meeting (she was on that 14 years) and working hard to transfer all photos off and delete all emails from the county iPad.  She also attended the retirement celebration for the ADRC CW director, with whom she had worked very well over turbulent times.  Lots of people are aging out of government and the new folks will have different issues to deal with.  However, few others are aging out and running a taekwondo school!

On that taekwondo front, Mark had to attend a mandatory YMCA employee meeting, and both Mark and Hilde did intro to taekwondo for school activity days (that was fun once they found the school).  When Mark had to travel for work, the couple managed to fit it in between workouts by getting up at 4:45 , hustling out, driving 5 ½ hours west to Sleepy Eye MN and then after farm inspection and conference, drive another 5 ½ hours back to get home by dark.  That was a lot of sitting!

Holy Week started warm and allowed for both a lovely day trip to Horicon Marsh and some slower times of meditation and thanks giving.  Hilde always remembers her father, who died on a Good Friday, and the Easter she was so grateful to awake in the hospital after emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix.  There was also the improvised Easter in Platteville, when Jim and kayme told them they wanted to get married.  Easter is always special.  As the month ends in cold and snow, Mark and Hilde are grateful for the eternal spring of Easter, tomorrow.

February 2018

February 2018 was a fun month with lots of first time occasions for both Mark and Hilde.  The weather varied wildly from frigid to frosty to fine enough for long walks, but overall, it averaged out.  A major snow storm plus illness postponed the visit to John and Evie’s (yes, that had been planned for the weekend Chicago got about a foot of snow), and an ice storm made the February county board meeting challenging, but Wisconsin natives manage somehow.

One main focus for Senior Masters Mark and Hilde was taekwondo in various aspects.  They spent several days finishing arrangements on separate bank account, charge card and other details, like printing the testing certificates, and then successfully ran their first promotion testing at the YMCA.  They also attended a special recognition of Dr. Dwight Stevens for his life time achievement in his 36 + years of teaching taekwondo at the YMCA.  They have been in contact with several high ranking black belts, too, all of whom have generously shared time and valuable comments and advice.

Hilde continued to finish out all the county board stuff, including speaking at the annual leadership class and dealing with ornery supervisors with both civility (on her side) and sweet baked goods.  On the fifth, Mark braved -11 degrees to go out for flowers first thing in the morning. The anniversary celebration was a quiet dinner and enjoying each other’s company and 46 happy years together. 

Tree tops all ice coated

When a visit from relatives was pared down to just Alana and Kayme, it was fun to have a little girl time and relax together over lunch.  Then they headed out on a winter trip to north central Iowa for Mark’s business, starting off in terribly icy conditions but then making good time after ‘getting south’ a little.  Mark’s cases seem to take the couple to remote places, but they found that New Hampton has one really good restaurant and lots of friendly people.  Mark’s efficiency in depositions meant they were able to return in time to run taekwondo class and for Hilde to participate in the UW-Extension interviews in the morning, and finish out the month. 

The Winter Olympics meant lots of time cozied down in front of the television, which is not common in the Henkel household, but was fun and resulted in Hilde completing three cross stitch projects and other projects.  Watching those premiere athletes is a treat, but it was sometimes better with the sound off!

Despite the up and down weather, there were many moments of quiet beauty with squirrel and birds getting more active.  The super moons began and ended the month with super silvery light. With a mild ending to the month, here’s hoping for a lovely and early spring.

Ice coated burning bush