Maddening March

March was mostly spent in Buffalo Minnesota for Mark and Hilde. Going early by one day avoided a horrible sloppy spring storm with ice, sleet and wet snow, but extended the already lengthy time away from home to nearly three weeks. The town is rather small and mostly summer tourism, so things were not very lively there, with limited shopping and activities during winter.

While “Mark’s” trial (he was assisting another attorney for this one) dragged on, Hilde kind of zoned out, and explored Buffalo. They had lots of decorated buffalos in town, but 3 of them caught her eye. The one with a mural of the town welcomes people coming in from the south, the martial arts one stands before a karate dojang and the fenced-in, finny one represents the reason for the town name: buffalo fish in the lovely lake. Hilde read up on town history one sunny afternoon in the library.

Being in MN so long allowed Hilde to have a special reunion lunch with Marilyn Baxter Carver, who lives a ways north, but they met in St. Cloud for a long, long lunch full of chat. It was great to see her after 41 years! Marilyn and Hilde were at Arrowhead High School together, where Marilyn played bass clarinet and Hilde alto clarinet for all four band years. They also had a couple years at Ripon College together, and both had sons get married last year, so there was lots of sharing and laughter.

The 16th, the happy day when Mark and Hilde finally returned to Rudolph, was also the 83rd birthday of Hilde’s dad Ray AND the day he returned home after rehab from his fall back in January. The entire family is hoping for no more falls and a healthy spring and summer for Ray and Arlene!

The best news of March was (1) the official call for Jim to teach microbiology at Wisconsin Lutheran College and Jim’s acceptance. This means that in July, Jim, Kayme and Rhiannon will be moving back to Wisconsin, to the great joy of all the relatives on both sides of the clan. The moving plans are a little complicated, but lots of family help will make it work. They plan to locate and offer on a home in the coming month so to be well settled when classes start the end of August. Oh yes there is a (2)! It is the joyous news of what Jim calls "Henklet #2" , a little sister or brother for Rhiannon and a second grandchild, who will arrive after they are back in Wisconsin. It made March so happy for Mark and Hilde. This is the news which has had Hilde beaming all through the month

Like most of the Midwest, our spring came very early and in such a rush that Henkels had NO maple sap for the first time ever. Others who tapped early got a small yield, but most did not have enough sap to cook down. The plus side is that things are green and flowering and lovely much earlier than usual—the lawnmowing is about to begin here. Now if only the fruit trees don’t suffer any damaging freezes, the year could be great for apples, pears and maybe even a peach on the lone hardy peach Henkels have been nurturing.

Our niece Heidi took her spring break out in DC to visit Jim and Kayme, and see the the capitol. Heidi took some really great photos of cherry blossom, and historic sites, but I liked the pictures of her and Jim with our Rhiannon the best. The last one, at Mt. Vernon, shows Rhi clearly pondering HOW to get some of those neat sheep for her own.

February 2012

February was one day longer this year--which helped Mark and Hilde with a very full schedule. Coming home from the successful trial in Wausau, Mark and Hilde had a lot to catch up on, slightly hampered by Mark coming down with a nasty cold.

One of the annual tasks is getting all those tax papers together and totalled and off to the accountant. What a great relief when that is done! The Henkels had another demonstration of the great community they live in when,with all the travel and confusion, Hilde left her checkbook at the post office just before heading out of town. Becky, the post master, carefully secured the checkbook, left messages for her on the phone and even called the bank so that Hilde would not need to cancel checks or accounts. Small towns are great!

February is a special month for Mark & Hilde--this year it was their 40th wedding anniversary, and of course the birthday, one day later, of Dr. James Henkel. The anniversary celebration was delayed a week so that they could be in town for the February taekwondo testing which went great. The next day the couple flew to Tucson for a wonderful relaxed week. While the residents thought the weather cold, the 60s seemed balmy and invigorating for Mark and Hilde! The one rainy day was spent seeing wonderful exhibits of quilts, pottery, mining, history and much more at the historical museum and Arizona State Museum---so much at once nearly wore them out. The weather was perfect for their day at the Sonors Desert Museum where they delighted in the raptors flights and got lots of neat photos. Other enjoyable sights included the Tucson Botanical Garden, the Presideo, Pima County Air and Space Museum, Reid Park Zoo and the older area of Tucson---beautiful houses and flowers.

The last day was perfect: Mark and Hilde took a tramride up Sabino Canyon, hiked up and down and picnicked next to Sabino Creek, sitting on rocks and enjoying the stark beauty. It was totally restful and refreshed both for the next set of travel. After the difficulties of finding parking--you pay, then circle for 20 minutes before snatching a spot --and those ominous flyers warning of mountain lions lurking, it was such a great day.

Meantime, the extended family was also having an interesting time. John and Evie went up and participated in the famous cross-country skiing event, the Birkebeiner. Evie has done it before, but this was John's first--so they skied the Korte, "just" 13 miles, and had a great time. Unfortunately, they were too busy to take any pictures! Howedver, Kayme took this great one of Rhiannon out enjoying early spring in Maryland. Hilde's Dad is still in the rehab place, but much improved and was able to 'get out on pass' to enjoy having 6 of 7 'kids' home around hime for fish fry. Having his oldest son Steve fly home for a visit was very special for them.

As February came to an end, a major storm sept into the midwest, so Mark and Hilde left a day early for his trial in central Minnesota (that's a contrast from Tucson, for sure!), safely arriving before the ice/rain/snow which left a nasty mess everywhere. They brought boots and the trusty-worthy RAv 4 and had no problems. February was full, and with trials beginning and end, a little busier than they prefer....both are hoping the pace will slow a little soon!

Starting 2012 Off

January was a great month, long and full. Mark and Hilde tend to be mood-influenced by the Packers, so the start was great and the loss in the play-offs a real bummer, but after such a record-setting season, Packer fans should not complain. This picture of Rhi at the Fritz Christmas shows a girl ready to tailgate!

On the health side, both Hilde and Mark had some short doses of flu, but Hilde’s father was the one for concern. He took a fall right onto the last decent shoulder and also landed with the inplanted defibrillator under him, leading to a proximal humerus fracture and lots of pain and bruising on the chest. He was hospitalized briefly and is now in rehab for a while to get him through the worst part, and hopefully avoid more surgery. However, Ray is doing pretty well now.

This month’s travel schedule included depositions for Mark down in Madison for two days and then continuing education credits in Waukesha. This very nicely landed on the 80th birthday of Hilde’s mother Arlene, so while Mark was in a seminar, Hilde, sister Terri and Laure and the new octogenarian had a great ladies luncheon. The four look pretty good and definitely look related!

Although January warmer and less snowy than usual, there were also a few nasty snows including one very slippery day where Hilde carefully drove into Wisconsin Rapids (9 miles) and chaired a 15-member meeting by video-conference from four locations with another on speaker phone, instead of everyone trying to get to Wausau . Those modern communication options sure help life along in bad weather! Jim and Kayme rented an off-season cabin in W Virginia to get out in the snow and then hiked around Swallow Falls, with Rhi bundled and perched happily on Dad.

The end of the month was focused on Mark’s preparation for a trial in Wausau. The pre-trial period involves getting boxes and boxes of documents sorted and all the evidence verified, duplicated, numbered, entered into computers and then all of that checked again. Mark has a very good legal assistant and a sharp young associate, which helps a great deal. So the final week of the month ended with Mark in Wausau. Hilde had a heavy-duty meeting at the end of the month then joined him up there in support mode.

Being away from the computer with all the photo files delayed this posting a little. To include a tad of February news: Hilde was able to do a little genealogy, have a wonderful lunch and visit with her friend Katy and then was in court to watch Mark very careful defense and closing arguments. To top everything off, Mark won the case. It was a good month plus!

December 2011

December made for a dazzling end to the year of 2011—full of happy times and joyous gatherings.

Early in the month, Mark and Hilde were happy and proud to attend Evelyn’s presentation on her doctoral study of ferns. Evie spoke well and the slides were great, bringing together enormous amounts of data. Her committee gave her some changes to make in the paper but full approval—congratulations Dr. Williams! After champagne in the lab and a fine luncheon together, Tony and Kathy headed back to MN and Mark and Hilde back to Rudolph.

Despite (again) extra meetings, including training on the new voter ID requirements for chief election inspectors, and going around gathering signatures on nomination papers, Hilde managed to attend all three Advent services this month. It seemed to help having them at 3:30 instead of at 9 am, and they really helped prepare hearts and minds for Christmas. Mark and Hilde rejoiced also to be present when Loren Fritz, Kayme’s father, was installed as pastor at Immanuel Lutheran in Waupaca. His daughter Naomi played organ and son Rev. Paul Fritz installed him---a special day. Hilde and Mark are looking forward to getting together with the Fritzes more now that they are closer to Rudolph.

Oh Christmas was really special this year for the Henkels. John and Evie were able to come up Thursday afternoon, and Jim and Kayme came the next day. Rhiannon is moving very quickly now and seemed delighted to be at Grandma and Grandpa’s. In preparation, Hilde had borrowed a playfence for the tree, plugged outlets and gated the stairway, so Rhi could run the length of the house and explore safely. Christmas with a bright, active little one in the house is wonderful. Rhi looked angelic in a ruffled dress for Christmas Eve---she was chewing on a rubber snake half of the time, to the amusement of all. What a joy to worship with our whole family together!

Although the whole month of December was chilly, Rudolph got only temporary dustings of snow, but one arrived on the 23rd so that Rhiannon could get out the next morning to experience her first snow. She also loved being pulled on the green sled on the gently sloped front lawn, and was introduced to Coffee and Freddie also. John and Evie gave her a more portable pet: a large TRIBBLE that vibrates and trills, with the batteries removable for quiet..

December brought many other gatherings with friends and relatives: the crafts ladies came out, niece Heidi came to visit, and the black belt Christmas party brought all those friends together also. At the very end of the year, Mark and Hilde traveled to Rice Lake to so brother Phil , Connie and their three grown up kids. That was a special gathering, very cozy with Phil’s stove snapping, their house beautiful for Christmas and Connie laid out a great meal. It was a wonderful month and a fine finale to 2011. Hilde and Mark were very happy.

Noteworthy November 2011

November has been a fabulous family month, but it has flown by quickly.

The best and most joyous days were early in November when Mark and Hilde flew to DC and got to spend a long weekend with Jim and Kayme. The weather was wonderful: crisp, sunny and clear, so the five Henkels visited Mt. Vernon on Saturday, with little Rhia toddling up to “Martha Washington” and sitting on her lap! Since Rhia started walking, she seems never to stop and is deliriously happy to be so mobile—Grandma spent lots of time on her knees and on the floor playing with the speedy sweetie. After church the family went to Ft. Washington for a picnic and tour of the historic site, with time out for a nature study of a large praying mantis. It was hard to leave on Monday after a golden visit!

Central Wisconsin got an early dose of snow the 9th: we got 5 inches of very sloppy wet snow. Since there were still some leaves on oaks and it was windy, yes, the power was out for nearly two hours,. Hilde discovered that if the bread is almost done, leaving it in the oven will finish it off without additional heat, thank goodness!

Inevitably in a month foreshortened by holidays and trips, some secret formula decrees extra meetings and seminars for Hilde. Mining and zoning issues popped up, bringing small and large meetings, with lots of time on the phone, and the monthly county board meeting got lengthy and fairly acrimonious on the budget motion. Mark had another video deposition in Roseville MN, so a couple of days were spent on driving, deposing and driving, meaning the eager Packer backers had to listen to ONE of the many wins on the radio on the road.

Deer season had its good points and its disappointments. The weather was good (above freezing and not raining) for the opening, and Mark really enjoyed having Paul and Loren Fritz join him in the Seneca woods. However, no one saw any deer at all! Jim Douglas sat in the lower woods that morning and was entertained only by squirrels quarreling. It turns out to be good that the buck collided with the trailer last month…otherwise there would be no venison in the freezer.

This year for Thanksgiving, John and Evie went to Minneapolis (en route Evie delivered the hard copies of her doctoral dissertation in Madison!) and Jim and Kayme are coming in Christmas, so Mark and Hilde joined her family down in Pewaukee for the first time in years. Rachael and Ryan were down from Minneapolis, Curt and his fiance Lori were in town, everyone brought great food and the Packers beat the Lions---made for a wonderful get together!
Here is a picture of the grandchildren present for the holiday.

The final days of the month did get a little disordered as Mark and Hilde prepared the kitchen for new countertops. Mark had to finally install cut-off valves under sink and then disconnect everything. It is amazing what had accumulated on those counters and had to be moved. But the new countertops are beautiful and Mark has successfully altered the outlet faceplates to fit, so that Hilde can really push on Christmas baking--Christmas is just around the corner.

October 2011

What a delicious, varied and beautiful month October can be! The early days were golden and warm, allowing Mark and Hilde to finish the chicken run fence, paint and hang a new front door and clean up the lawn. Since one of Mark’s cases in Minnesota settled, the month was available for lots of other things. They took one day early in the month to go visit the woods in Lomira, stopping in Neshkoro --> and Green Lake to revel in the colors and light on the water. The Lomira woods is tangled and needs lots of work, but the dense maple cover makes for a serene and beautiful setting. Stopping by for some Widmers cheese topped the day!

It was still warm for the World Dairy Expo down in Madison, which three other from First Law Group attended also. It is always fascinating to see the newest machinery and the best of the line bovines . This year we saw a day-old calf and another was being produced.

All month Mark and Hilde cleaned up the last of the harvest: lots of fresh tomato soup was enjoyed and frozen for winter, and the pear crop was so very good! Neighbors and friends received visits from the ‘pear fairy’ and got little bags of sweet juicy fruit, and the last of the pears went into a wined compote using fresh cranberries for the tangy component. Cooking with fresh fruits and vegetables is so satisfying! The carrot crop was small enough that Hilde dug it herself, and the squash were fine quality this year.

NOT being in trial meant that Mark and Hilde actually got to attend social events also: the lovely outdoor wedding of Ben Nummelin and Kimberly Richardson at Powers’ Bluff and the happy gathering for Paul Onan’s 60th. There was also time for cutting and splitting wood (after getting the splitter starter to work finally!), both senior master Henkels were able to assist at taekwondo testing and Hilde didn’t miss a month of meetings.

The month ended with a flurry of activity as Mark had a farm visit in Campbellsport (Hilde looked at cemeteries and tried to find Scheid properties), went back to Minnesota for a couple of days, shared a dinner with Evie’s parents, Kathy and Tony, and then returned to Rudolph as Coach Fritz and some delightful track stars from Luther Prep visited.

John and Evie had a fairly quiet month since John had a long, nasty cold, but Jim and Kayme were out and about with Rhiannon, who is walking very well for 10 months old. They took her to a wedding in Mo (with a visit to cousin Heidi), camping in New York and then to a pumpkin patch where she tried hard to pick a large pumpkin, settled for gnawing on a smaller one, played with a calf and had a great day.

The month went out with a bang as Mark and Hilde turned their attention to their hunting land and spent three days out there, clearing trees fallen on the trail and building and erecting another tree stand. On the way home, a large buck decided to try to jump over the car and trailer, but didn’t make it. He hit the trailer hard and the ground harder, so the month ended with Mark and Hilde butchering a nice 7 point buck. Finally, the last day of October, the balance kits were installed in the front room windows: no more sticks holding them up! The month was filled with blessing for which to give thanks.

September 2011

Seldom has September been so full and so varied a month in Rudolph. It was wonderful starting off the month with a Labor Day weekend with John and Evie. The weather was warm and rainy, but Mark and John managed to do all the rust repair and painting on the pathfinder…probably the last of these fix up efforts as she is getting pretty old. It was great to be able to grill out and enjoy the newlyweds in lush summer aspect of Rudolph. The following Friday, Mark and Hilde drove down to Palatine for their first visit since the transformation of the condo. John’s work on the flooring and the paint job of John and Evie combine for a great improvement in their home. The weather was perfect the next day as all four headed to the Hamfest in Bellvadere. Mark and John found some good buys in gear, followed by a fine breakfast at the Steam House Restaurant.

This has been one of the craziest month’s for Mark’s schedule ever. As he struggled to complete work on the hen house, the two cases in MN kept morphing and changing, with lots of phone calls and conferences. By the very end of the month, it looked like all of October would be spent in Minnesota. The drive over to Mark’s depositions in Buffalo MN was beautiful with colors of trees, shrubs and purple asters, but Mark spent much of the time on the phone struggling to set up last minute farm visits. Then during the depos, the decision was made to delay the one trial, much to the relief of Hilde, who really didn’t want to spend October in Marshall.

Fall harvest and meetings kept Hilde super-busy in September. The magnificent tomatoes meant lots of juicing, cooking and canning, so the tomato sauce, ketsup and tomato jam are all stocked up for the year. Tomato soup simmering on the stove frequently made a wonderful aroma in the house and many containers have been frozen. Hilde had several extra meetings, including a 4 hour meeting with DNR specialists in floodplain regulation (which wasn’t dull, but intense!) the land conservation fall tour, budget meetings and the finalization of the county redistricting plan. She attended the Wisconsin Counties Association convention, which was fairly intense this year also, coming right before the run to MN.

September was also a month of firsts for our Rhiannon. She has begun to take two or three steps on her own, but then goes to her knees for speed. And just at the end of the month, the first of six imminent teeth popped out. John had a work trip out to VA, so he and Evie were able to visit Jim and Kayme, gaining new appreciation for the challenges of DC traffic and child-rearing in an apartment, too! It was good for the brothers to get together.

In addition to John and Evie’s visit, Terri stopped in one day and Donna another---getting to feed family and friends is always a joy. All month, as the weather cooled and the summer ended, the landscape was beautiful. Early in the month there were several misty mornings and some bedewed spiderwebs just beautiful in the roadsides. The fall bounty from the garden made for daily tasty and attractive meals—God has been very good!

August Assortment

Garden harvest, chicken coop coopering, and project wraps-ups filled August to the brim for Mark and Hilde this August. The month started with a business trip to Marshall MN where the farm visit was postponed at the last moment, irritating those gathered from various states, and really complicating the case preparation. Mark and Hilde went ‘straight’ from there to Wisconsin Dells for the annual civil trial conference, then back to Stevens Point in time for taekwondo. The best part was knowing that was the last of travel for several weeks, so things could get done at home.

The sagging chicken coop roof had been a concern for a while, and this year, with only young chickens, no layers, was the perfect time to replace it. Not just replaced, but raised, sloped and even a new window so starlings cannot nest in the chicken coop! While there was mention early on of this taking only ‘three dry days’, reality meant 2 ½ truckloads of junk to be pulled off and removed to the dump, building wall extension sections and then building the roof joists. Mark did a great job, but it was a much bigger job, and took much longer, than he expected. Those pullets better be grateful (and productive) when they move into the airier, lighter and less drafty coop next month!

Hilde worked mostly on garden produce: sweet pickles, dill pickles, pickle relish, and an amazingly abundant yield of muskmelons. Mark helped her freeze corn and begin on the fall raspberries. Those efforts were slowed by many extra meetings and her nasty case of bronchitis mid-month. Hilde's energy levels have finally returned to normal…none-to-soon in this busy season.

Mark and Hilde had one special family event mid-month also: a memorial service for his Aunt Sylvia in Winchester. That was preceded by a great lunch and gathering of Henkel relatives, including his Aunt Veiga, her sons’ families, Sylvia’s daughter Kathy and two of her children, plus Richard’s daughter and son-in-law Sandy and Dick. It was very good to get together.

Hilde’s many meetings included two on the county redistricting plan, which was complicated by some state-generated changes. The committee and advisors worked well together, so that major project is done. Hilde also went on a conservation tour which included the production line oat Del Monte. It was totally fascinating to see the commercial methods for green beans compared to home freezing and canning.

The last weekend in August is time for the Edgar Steam Engine show. The weather was perfect and Mark and Hilde had a lovely morning there after church. The only disappointment was the absence of “the buckwheat lady” who would grind the buckwheats for your pancakes. But wandering around the show grounds and enjoying great ice cream is wonderful.

Our Rhiannon just keeps growing and is eating lots of great food now. We enjoy hearing her babbling and seeing her wearing her food. Here she is enjoying blueberry pancakes at 8-months old.

July 2011: Jubilant, Jam-packed and Just Sizzling

This July will be long-remembered at a jubilee of joyous activities for the Henkels. The month was hot and stormy but it really brought along the flowers. It all started with a wonderful four-day weekend at home which was restful, productive and the quiet time needed before plunging into all the activities. Mark cleaned out the basement addition, fixed the leaky sink, and shoveled a truck-load of shredded bark for home projects. Hilde finished two sundresses for little Rhia, and then dug up and fixed the edging around the deck using lots of bark and sweat-equity. Working together, Mark and Hilde picked lots of beautiful cherries from their little trees, made a double batch of cherry jam, pitted and froze a year’s supply of cherries and enjoyed the traditional cherry soup for the Fourth. Since Mark also finished the repair of the electric dog perimeter, Freddie is now allowed out to play and roam part of each day.

The high point of the year and the month was the wedding of Evelyn Williams and John Henkel in Minneapolis. The service was beautiful, moving and music-filled. The bride and groom were elegant, relaxed and radiant. Sharing the day with so many friends and family who came to MN was truly wonderful—especially since the date was also Hilde’s 60th birthday. Getting a special new daughter-in-law for a birthday gift is certainly unbeatable. This was the first time the Henkels had all gotten together since Hazel’s funeral last May, so it was a wonderful reunion of the expanded family. The wedding reception was right down on the river with a unique setting and the fun of board-breaking for any who wished to try, from the Lane and Buehler children to some fairly senior folks. Evie and John did a special forms dance and broke boards themselves. Meantime, the Henkel clan’s secondary interest was the game of “Pass the Baby! with Rhi (here with Great-Grandma and cuz Heidi) sweet in an heirloom crocheted dress. No one got permanently lost in the cities, everyone rejoiced together and eventually Hilde’s parents, Ray and Arlene Bormann, were released from the defective elevator. A very memorable day!

As quickly as everyone gathered, folks returned to their many states of origin, but Mark and Hilde were only home for a week to try to catch up on the delayed meetings, garden and lawn. They attended Farm Technology Days in Marshfield (huge tent city of farm-related activities, innovations and equipment) and then drove the load of wedding gifts down to Madison, enjoying lunch with the newlyweds, after their honeymoon in Door County.

Kayme returned with Rhiannon to give a very happy Grandma Hilde her first ‘grandma gig' as the three generations drove to St. Peter MN for the WELS National Conference on Worship, Music and the Arts. The weather was again hot and humid, but the Henkels, with Rachel and Naomi Fritz shared an air-conditioned dorm suite, so cooling off baby was easy (and necessary!). The conference (nearly 1000 people participated) was chock full of wonderful music, with an opening concert, five special church services and a closing hymn festival. Kayme played for the fifth service—her playing sounded wonderful in the chapel. The many practices and two presentations which Kayme played for meant that Hilde played, strolled and fed that precious girl, which was pure joy.. Rhiannon is crawling, pulling herself up, bouncing and balancing with great vigor…she will insist on walking and running early, it appears.

While Hilde and Kayme were away, Mark received the shipment of 30 little chicks, so when the gals rendezvoused with Kayme’s dad Loren in Rudolph, Grandpa Mark got to introduce Rhi to the chickens. It was hard to see them leave again, but Rhi was definitely missing her Daddy, looking hopefully at men with beards and glasses and rejecting and sometimes shrieking at those who WEREN’T Daddy.

The final week of July included more downpours and heat, plus the complications of car repair that took twice as long as estimated, so that Hilde was driving Mark to Stevens Point, then going to Wisconsin Rapids for meetings, then to Rudolph to work on raspberries, beans and lawn. Finally the clutch is good, springs replaced and things are in order. In between the storms and much rain, Mark had some interesting times on the radio with long-range propagation and contacts from Canada to Connecticut and the Caribbean. He now has new QSL cards featuring this picture of his stacked beams. From now on, the garden will dominate and the main crop of the lovely fall raspberries look to start early.

Jumbled June

Early June was quite a rush with as many things as possible done by the 10th: last garden plants out, an extra zoning conference fit in, new window balances installed, hair cuts, transfer of the boat to Paul and lots of planning for the trip to southern Missouri. Hilde had Irene and Melodie out for crafts, and rushed through a lot of sewing, which was fun. The flowers were really nice this year: clematis are both doing well and birds have been frequent visitors. In fact, our red-bellied woodpecker brought her young one to the feeder, stuff some seeds into his mouth and then left him to the buffet.

Things never seem to go in a straight line, and this June was a perfect example of that. Mark and Hilde had done all the planning for a lengthy (three-week) trial in Springfield: Mark had shipped 14 boxes of documents and hauled another 5 along in the car, Hilde had made arrangements for the animals and had others take over her meetings, everyone concerned had gathered, set up the courtroom and even the jury selected, Mark primed to give his opening statement, but after only one day, the trial delayed until next May and everything had to be canceled, changed and replanned due to ill health of one of the plaintiffs. Hilde had one day of being at leisure by the pool; Mark ended up doing a 6-hour video deposition, then they turned around and came home.

While coming home early was irksome (and took a full 14 hours due to road delays!), it did allow Mark to rototill the entire garden in the one dry day before a week of rain and gloom. Other places enjoyed the longest day of the year, but in Wisconsin, the evidence of sunlight was not there! Being home for Father’s Day let Mark to do what he wanted: which was to crawl under the deck, jack it up and replace supports to remove a slight sag. Since this had been nagging at him, Mark was very satisfied to get this remedied.

Hilde was glad to be back for county board and for marathon mowing and weeding days: the rain really brought things along. Food production has begun, and the last day of the month was spent on freezing the peas for the year. Toward the end of the month, Hilde was tickled pink to watch Rhi crawling via skype. She knows where she wants to go and now she can get there! It should be fun to play with her when the family gathers.

Anticipation and excitement is mounting for John and Evie’s wedding, the whole focus of July is that happy day. Those two are very organized and efficient and have really gotten lots done while both are so busy, and seem happier as the day approaches.

Over-filled May

It’s a good thing there were 31 days in May---but a week extra would have helped fit everything into this month for the Henkels. The busy-ness meant missing some family events, like Leslie's confirmation and Evie's bridal shower, but they were thought of, for sure. Mark’s trial preparation is really dominating the schedule and meant that Mother’s Day was spent on the road to Springfield MO again. But making lemonade from lemons led to going to Madison the night before and having a great dinner at Delaney’s with John and Evie. Since it was still very chilly and un-green in Wisconsin at that point, driving south was a fast-forward into spring with lovely flowers and , of course, road construction delays. Meantime, in Maryland, Jim and Kayme took Rhiannon strawberry picking for the first taste of berry good stuff.

That evening, food as always was great at Zio’s, spiced with a strange encounter with a lady from down there who “just felt” that Mark was a head directed person who needed to ‘listen to his heart.” Doesn’t sound like good trial strategy advice. She also told of trying to use a long feather-duster to wave the flies off her employer’s purebred cattle….imagine the ensuing stampede. Lots of interesting folks out there.

The trip to Missouri was just short enough that Mark and Hilde were able to get back to taekwondo on a very hot night in time for the celebration of Dr. Stevens birthday. Mark had to fly back to Springfield the day after the terrible tornado down at Joplin. Flight down was just bumpy, but trying to get home was much longer and round about.—Mark went to Denver, Minneapolis and then Mosinee. Since he had departed from Appleton, Hilde had to retrieve him from one airport and then the next morning drive him to Appleton to retrieve the car.

This has been a fantastic month for flowers: the cooler damp weather was great for holding the blossoms on all the fruits trees: cherries, crabapples, apricot, pears, apples and for the first time, blossoms on the little hardy peach tree. Lilacs, and lots of spring flowers made it a delight to spend hours land hours on the lawnmower and on weeding the two raspberry beds, the foundation beds and the rose bed. The rabbits have done serious damage to the roses (how can they nibble on those thorny stems?) to the naking bush cherries and even the burning bushes. One smart-alec bunny came up on the deck all winter to nibble on the upper branches of one burning bush, since there was fence on the lower portions.

Mark managed three spring projects in and around his travels. He cleared out and sorted through all the junk in the north shed to get the fishing boat out of dry dock. It had been out of the water for 22 years, and the mice had chewed up the floatation vests, leaving lots of Styrofoam loose all over, but he cleaned it out, replaced the wheels and tires on the trailer, and repacked the bearings. The motor may not be repairable.. Mark also dug out a new strawberry patch and got that planted just at the right time, converting the old patch to a melon bed. Then Mark tackled the brick pillar holding up the rooflet over the front door. The plastic qualities of our Rudolph clay make stability a problem, but it had been up for over 20 years. He did a great job tearing out the old and mortaring a very nice new pillar. When spring comes, he really gets going.

Hilde has been pushing the whole month with lots of meetings, including the public hearing on and approval of the tentative county redistricting plan. Mowing seemed to be unending, whenever it wasn’t raining or too windy. The last days of the month featured very strong winds which snapped off the young sugar maple transplanted from the Henkel land in Lomira.

There have been more skype visits with Jim and Kayme to enjoy the antics of Rhiannon. She is rolling and squirming around now, almost crawling and loves bouncing in her play saucer. She recognizes and smiles at “Grandma and Grandpa in the Box” every time.

It was a very busy month, June looks even wilder, but we are counting down the days to John and Evie’s wedding for a great celebration and family gathering, before nieces Alana and Heidi head off to their grad schools. Thank goodness for facebook, skype, blogs and cell phones to help keep far-flung families in touch.

April 2011

April has been a chaotic month with strange weather, lots of activities and yet, as always, Easter raised our spirits and refreshed our faith and focus.

The month started with the finale of syrup cooking. The last day of gathering and cooking was April 2, with sap boiling early and finishing up by early evening, cooking around 120 gallons down. Despite the bifurcated season, the yield was good this year so both Jim and John will get plenty to enjoy this year. All the taps and bags got pulled on Sunday afternoon in gloom and fog from melting snow. At that point, one would anticipate warming weather and the progress of spring to flowers. But the weather did a flip flop on the 10th: to hot and stormy. Stevens Point (and the taekwondo testing) was fortunate, as tornadoes hit north and south and then things got colder and colder with another snow storm on the 19th; snow showers off and on in the end of the month. Those here in the north could only watch in horror during the end of the month as the southern states were trampled by twisters.

However, in Rudolph, the indoor time allowed for the completion of the bedroom renovation for Jim’s room. The room looks so great compared to the old look! The Henkels managed to get in some social moments also: lunches with Doc Stevens and the Onans, a scrabble afternoon with Irene and then crafts out in Rudolph, too. John came home for the Easter weekend, fixed my computer and let his mother feed him.

Hilde had MANY meetings due the task of redistricting the county (happens every ten years after census data comes out). It went very well with lots of interaction from committee members, county officials, and even the League of Women Voters representatives. There may be some minor changes, but the plan is fair and fits the odd municipal boundaries and school district boundaries as best possible. Hilde also opened and ran the town polls for the morning of the spring election, with things going smoothly.

Mark has been brought into some cases in Minnesota so we spent the end of the month over there, visiting the two areas of litigation, with Hilde along for the ride. This allowed for a stop in Minneapolis on the way west where Evie’s mother Kathy showed us Lake Harriet Methodist and the lovely area around there, plus the possible places for the rehearsal dinner. Despite the cold weather, July is not far away and plans are pretty set. Besides being a great couple, John and Evie are pretty organized, so all is going well.

Though the month we had skype visits with Jim and Kayme with Rhiannon wiggling and growing quickly. Kayme shared this wonderful picture of Rhi with her Easter bunny from Great-Grandma...gotta call it "Somebunny Sweet"! The technology is such a blessing, but we are looking forward to the gathering in person of the expanded Henkel clan in July.

April ended with slightly warmer weather a parade of turkeys through the yard and then a beautiful gleam of sunset while rain turned Powers Bluff violet. Wisconsin is a beautiful place to live.