2019 Summer Rush

Summer suddenly went into high gear for Mark and Hilde in July and August and sped by with little time to catch their breaths.  They worked very diligently on the gardens in early July, as mark was preparing for a long, out-of-state trial.  The garden was really cleaned up before they left, and they had time to pick a third batch of delicious Arnold’s strawberries, too.

This year Hilde’s birthday was a very quiet celebration.  It was marked by the news that wolves had killed 13 sheep in western Wood County, making everyone in area nervous.   Mark and Hilde did get to meet Dr. Stevens and Sue for  lunch up in Abbotsford.  After so many years of friendship, it has been sad to have Doc  out of easy reach and was so good to see him and just visit.  Hilde also attended funeral visitation for Gary Allwarden, a friend from the county board, getting to brighten that farewell with a quick visit with Heather Quackenboss. 

Then it was time to pack up and head to Mankato for Mark’s trial.  Having reliable, helpful neighbors to care for animals while they are gone surely helps Mark and Hilde do all this kind of travel.   Both masters Karen Johnson and Kim Buehler covered the taekwondo classes for them, too. Since the weather was really hot and rainy, Hilde took along lots of craft work but also drove around enjoying summer sights.  She also went over on day to Owatonna for a  visit with nephew Curt’s family—wife Lori, and delightful sons, Henry and Jonathan.   Cuddling  the boys was a real treat!

Since the trial hours were going really long, Mark and Hilde decided to come home very early Saturday, leaving at 4:30.  This turned out to be a very important decision, as they arrived home about 30 minutes before an historic storm smashed into Wood and Portage County.   The devastation of the derecho winds and flash flooding was hard to comprehend.  The Henkels lost power, lost the favorite snow apple tree (which was loaded with apples) lost four large limbs off of various trees, and the garden appeared to be trashed with four foot corn stalks flattened and the ground nearly quicksand.  Since the garage door had still been open, Mark was able to drive to Marshfield (local stations out of power also) to get gasoline for the  generator.   After 10 hours the power came back on and Hilde hurried through laundry and repacking, going right back to Mankato in the morning.  Most of Wisconsin Rapids and Stevens Point was shredded and many areas  were still out of power for days, and the clean up of downed and damaged trees went on for two months in the area.  The storm of July 2019 will be remembered.

 Back in Mankato, the weather improved and Hilde was able to find a used book store, and spend an afternoon in the beautiful Sibley Park.  The craft work really got done, and Hilde also worked on some of the family history files from the hotel room.  Unfortunately being out of state meant that Hilde could not attend services for  long-time Rudolph town chairman, Jim Bushmaker, with whom she had worked and respected.  On the weekend instead of a nine-hour round trip, Mark and Hilde stayed in Mankato after the second week of trial, giving Mark more time to rest up from the rigors of a high-stress trial.  Then suddenly, middle of the third week, as Hilde was just beginning her visit to the historical museum, the case settled and packing up became the order of the day. 

    

Heat and lots of moisture had transformed the garden in two and a half weeks:  the weeds were tangled and waist high but also the corn had righted itself and shot up to 8 foot high!   So Mark and Hilde dug in and weeded, weeded and weeded, while picking beans and zucchini and cucumbers.  The blueberries were really great and even missing the beginning of the crop, they were able to freeze enough for Hilde’s Saturday morning treat of blueberry pancakes. 

The catch up continued in August, with extra taekwondo events, testing students both at the YMCA and at Karen’s.  The rainy weather continued:  central Wisconsin and other areas are on track for the wettest year ever!  Somehow, mark and Hilde managed to freeze and enormous amount of corn, put up sweet pickles and relish and then had friends over twice for corn roasts.  They visited Lakeside Park in Fond du Lac (and the alpacas!) and annual treat, and enjoyed the Edgar steam show.  It felt like things were getting back into the normal rhythm.  Jim's kids started school, even Caleb.

But the best was yet to come as John and Evie asked for grandparents to come a little earlier than planned in August, so Mark and Hilde had time to play with Hazel a day before her sister arrived on August 31!  It was a special unique joy to hold little Rosemary Henkel just hours after birth, to care for Hazel while her parents were bonding with  the newborn and then be present when Rosemary was baptized—in the new Henkel family baptismal gown Hilde finished in July..  Uncle Jim canceled a class and came for the baptism, and her Williams grandparents arrived in time also.  Loads of love and happiness were present!

So a hurried and somewhat frazzled summer came to a very joyous end as the Henkel family expanded.