2018 September spectacular

September is always a special month…the last bursts of summer fun, the softening of the decreasing sunshine, the brilliance of the grass and beginnings of fall colors.  This September in Wisconsin marked a very abrupt change in weather, and lots of rain.  In fact a few places delayed the start of school because of flooded roads, but not for long!  Still the fall activities of harvest and families went forward.

Mark and Hilde got lots of time visiting family and friends during the month:  several trips to Wausau to visit Dr. Stevens, a run up to Peshtigo to see Mark’s dear aunt Veiga, who just turned 100 years old, and a short visit with Hilde’s mother, now home from rehab and determined to stay there!   Hilde managed to enjoy a lunch with her crafts friends, after Irene got her surgery taken care of and before Melodie headed south for the winter.  Those times are treasures laid up.

The garden did slow down, but Hilde spent many, many hours dealing with tomatoes and then drying herbs and freezing peppers.  The eggplants really produced this year and each one was delicious!  Zucchini was ongoing, with lots shredded and many chocolate zucchini muffins frozen.  Those are delicious when zapped in the micro---instant chocolate dessert.

Mark had a very busy month with work as there were deadlines for very complex expert reports on the one case and a farm visit in Sleepy Eye MN for another case.  He was able to build an extension on the loft in the big shed, and managed to get the antique brooder tucked away up there with help from our neighbor Robert. 

Mark and Hilde were both picking fall raspberries despite the attacks of hordes of late hatch mosquitoes which made outdoor activities miserable for folks all over the state.  The apples are ripening, so Mark spent time picking the early varieties and Hilde raked and raked the windfalls and wormy apples.  A doe jumped into the garden one night and couldn’t get out, so Mark had to take down part of the fence to shoo her away.

Taekwondo has been exciting this month as the class returned to the traditional 7 pm timeslot and more than a dozen new students showed up.  Hilde met the challenge of teaching up to 19 white belts with a little help from others, and things are looking good after the slow summer.  The all purpose room is full with students and lots of parents looking on.  That means lots of energy and activity on those Tuesday and Thursday nights.  Both versions of the seventh dan black belts arrived and now the head instructors for Stevens Taekwondo Academy are wearing them proudly.

September was special for some fun times, too.  Mark and Hilde grabbed some time to visit Sturgeon Bay, the Whitefish Dunes park, and the Cave Point County park with waves booming  in the caves underfoot.  They also overloaded on the colors and scents at the incredible lush Green Bay Botanical Gardens and visited the railroad museum…a great combination trip!

The highlight of the month was the long-awaited concert of Andre Rieu in Milwaukee.  Hilde and Mark enjoy watching his concerts in evenings at end of day, but the up-front, in-person sound and effect is truly incredible.  When an arena is full of happy, people humming, singing and swaying to the music, it is quite a happening.  Being able to stay with Jim and Kayme and visit even briefly with them (after Jim sternly admonished his parents for staying up so late and worrying him!) was the icing on the cake.  Going to church with either of the offspring and their families is a joy.

The fall has begun in a damp fashion, but the colors are starting change and fall flowers at their peak.

Absolutely Awesome August 2018

7th Dan Clan does Diamond Punch

The long-waited day for the Henkel family black belts kicked off a very full August.  On the Fourth, the four original Henkels assembled at Wisconsin Lutheran College, where Jim had made really excellent arrangements, parking space reservations and set up for the testing for 7^th dan.  Mark and Hilde came down first to Jim's  house, dropping off produce and eggs (plus Rudolph cheese, of course!) and then the four had about an hour to work on coordinating the forms…tricky to work that out at the last minute, but they had no opportunity to all get together before the day. 

Next Generation Cuties

In addition to the flags Jim brought, Grandmaster Robert Stevens set the scene with a Kukkiwon banner and an elegant table cover.  Dr. Dwight Stevens was able be present as the family he trained so long did cheonkwon, jitae and broke boards.   The papers on teaching techniques had been submitted before the day.  Jim and John also demonstrated fierce, but controlled sparring.  

This is the first time four family members, from two generations all earned seventh dan black belts together, so quite an occasion.  The special, special day was enhanced by the presence of Kayme, Evelyn and all three Henkel grandchildren.  Two of Grandmaster Stevens’ sisters attended and took photos, his daughter and nephew were also there, so three generations of Stevenses and three generations of Henkels together.  The celebratory hibachi dinner afterword was happy and relaxing before John and Evie took Hazel home.  It was a truly remarkable and memorable day!

August, as always, contained many garden and social activities, as the corn ripened and Mark and Hilde enjoyed sharing corn and brats with neighbors (Sarah and Robert), colleagues (Eric and Sandra) friends (Dr. Stevens, Kim, Karrie and Jeff, Carol and assorted kids) and family.  In between, they froze corn for the coming winter, and feasted on various old and new ways of enjoying beans, cucumbers, zucchini and eggplant.  Working together, Mark and Hilde processed and canned many boxes of tomatoes as stewed, sauce and ketchup, plus savored the fruits directly.  August is a lush and delicious month for gardeners!

There was time for family fun, with John and Evie bringing Hazel and the two dogs for a long weekend.  Hazel had just begun crawling and was delightful as she started exploring at Grandma and Grandpa’s.  It was good to see the parents relax and enjoy the slower country rhythms, tour the Point brewery with them , and attend church together.

The month included other family time.  Mark and Hilde got to visit her mother while she was in lovely rehab facility in southern Wisconsin.   She is now returned to her apartment and working at keeping active and well.  They also got to visit Hilde’s brother Brian and wife Anne at their new and beautiful home near Westfield and also joined Mark’s niece Alana and all the Rice Lake Henkels to celebrate the newest addition, Philip Henkel.

The first part of the month still very dry, so Mark and Hilde ventured into the swamp where they found great difficulty navigating, even with the ATV.  The tangle of tops, stumps and ruts from the logging last fall are now disguised by vigorous growth and after some struggles and  getting stuck, we resolved to return in cooler weather SEVERAL times with the chain saw…that will be lots of good exercise!  Right after that adventure, the waves of rain and storms started, so things are even less accessible over there.  Rudolph did not have the horrible flooding or tornadoes, but seeing what happened elsewhere in the state was painful.

Since other activities also continued, Mark and Hilde ran a taekwondo testing for their students, dashed to north central Iowa to supervise a farm visit, and fit in other projects.  Mark replaced the cracked washline posts, while Hilde handled the local publicity from the family testing.  She also enjoyed a lunch with dear friend Irene, a lunch gathering of the crafts ladies and then lunch with Linda from ADRC days.  All in all the month was very social, busy and fun.

Jam-Packed July 2018

Donna and Hilde on FTD gate

Hot, hurried and full of family and fun, July was a wonderful and challenging month for Mark and Hilde.  This was almost as much fun as the wonderful July 7 years ago when John and Evie got married.  Yes, that was 7 years ago!

Mark and Hilde started the month with one last picking of strawberries and then marching in the Stevens Point 4^th of July Parade.  For Hilde’s birthday, the couple attended the kick-off dinner for the Farm Technology Days which Hilde had supported while on county board, then she had three early mornings of driving to Marshfield and helping at the gate.  Hilde got hot, tired and dehydrated but very much enjoyed being part of this huge agricultural gathering, and ‘contributing rightly’ to it.

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July was hot and dry in Wisconsin, but Rudolph suffered a real plague of small and determined mosquitoes which made some of the outdoor work really miserable.  Clouds of them attacked while they picked blueberries , blackcaps and beans and especially while they weeded, but Mark and Hilde emerged victorious, although itchy.  Despite the dry conditions there were good yields of blueberries, so Hilde will have blueberry pancakes through the next year.  One happy Sunday, Mark and Hilde rejoiced with St. Paul’s church as they finally installed a new pastor.

Then it was time for family fun.  For the first time, Rhiannon, Rowan and Caleb came to stay with Grandpa and Grandma.  They came to taekwondo and actually joined class (not Caleb, but he mimicked on the sidelines!). The fun time included trips to parks and picnics and pool splashing, plus a great farm tour at Thorsons.  All five Henkels enjoyed it and Jim and Kayme got a break from full-time parenting.

The last week of July was the off week from taekwondo, so Mark had scheduled depositions in River Falls and Mankato.  He was very busy, but Hilde was able to take some time to just walk around, shop and enjoy both places, plus getting a press release drafted and doing some work on the 7^th dan form.  Testing is coming up!  In the evenings, Mark and Hilde strolled in various parks, enjoying Minneopa Creek’s double waterfall, too.

Later in the month also, Hilde’s mother had some issues, and after brief hospitalization, is now working at rehab for strengthening and mobility.  She is looking forward to a visit from son Steve and staying positive in outlook.

As a finale to the month, upon return from Minnesota, Mark and Hilde enjoyed a brief visit from John, Evie and Hazel.  She is really growing and working hard at crawling.  She goes in reverse, but forward will follow.  They learn so much and change so quickly, those wonderful grandchildren and surely light up all the folks around them.

July was high summer—bright, busy and full!

Hilde in anti-mosquito gear

June, June, Wonderful June!

Human beings must be solar-powered.  That must explain why people can get so much done in the days with longest daylight.  The energizing sunshine gets folks going full-steam, and the Henkels steamed along rapidly in June this year.  It helped to have the month start while they were still visiting Sussex and a full day with the lively grandkids! 

  

June was focused on outdoor work and berries.  Mark and Hilde labored long and hard to twice completely weed their large raspberry bed and used lots of dried grass from the continual lawn mowing to mulch them.  The blueberries got attention also---they look very good and almost ripe.  The couple also went and picked strawberries twice, rejoicing in having a really well run patch (Arnold’s Strawberries) just a couple miles away.  The luscious berries ended up on top of oatmeal, ice cream, shortcakes and lemon pie, plus lots of berry smoothies for Hilde.

June is also a wonderful month for getting together with folks.  Mark and Hilde picnicked with Paul and Pat Onan, had lunch with Dr. Stevens and got to share father’s day with the Fritz family and Jim, Kayme and their kids.  It was a lovely day for it with a breeze and Paul’s tall parsonage trees shading the gathering.  Jim and Mark practiced forms a little too!  And Hilde got to enjoy a luncheon with her “gold” friends from crafts, which is always special.

In addition to the mowing and weeding, Mark and Hilde dug in and each wrote the required ten-page papers for the taekwondo promotion later this summer.  Getting that out of the way allows for work on the difficult cheunkwon form and reviewing the other forms.  They also tested a small, but promising group of their own students, and Mark spent a day repainting the  north side of the big shed.

The whole month was the wonderful  succession of early summer blooms, with roses, poppies,  iris, catalpa, bluebottle, plus all the wild flowers.  Watching the birds , especially hummingbirds visit the deck flowers is always a joy.

June went out with a bag, in several ways.  On the 28^th Mark’s brother Phil gained a new grandson, Philip Daniel Laufman.  The family continues to expand!  Then the blistering heat of the final three days had everyone looking for cool spots.  Spock snoozed in the culvert, Mark and Hilde went out to Big Eau Pleine and zoned out looking at the water, and the month ended with storms, power outage and generally wild weather.  Lots of summer sizzle!