Saturday, December 29, 2012

After the burn this fall we still had a stand of swamp willows that are very invasive.  When Mike took out a whole "pasture" of them with a bobcat, he couldn't get to these because of the very soft soil.  Now that it is frozen   ....

It was beautiful...although 12 degrees, the snow was always boot deep, and often knee deep and sometimes hip deep.  We got a real workout trying to cut the willows and stack them.  Burning just wouldn't work so we have another project!



Merry Christmas

This year I shared some of our nativity sets at our church.

Guatamala & Brazil

Italy & Rwanda

Homemade

Mexico

Palestine - note the barrier wall preventing the Wise Men from reaching the manger.



I love Mother and Child lying together.



Germany & Corn Husk

The Burn December 1, 2012

The Burn

Our volunteer fire department burned part of our prairie.  Some wouldn’t catch fire because the vegetation was thin or wet.  They hope to come back and try one more time.  I’ve been working on the restoration for about 7 years and my reading indicated a burn would be favorable.  A burn decreases European grasses and helps native grasses get started. 

and a picture of the ice beginning on Loon Lake



Kenya Luggage

In early 2000 Mike and I stopped at the Williamsburg outlet mall to get some luggage for me.  (My H.S. graduation gift of red hard-sided American Tourister (with the bellhop key!) had lots of trips but not much travel.)  We found a two piece set of American Tourister called Kenya. I liked the color and the thought of what Kenya luggage might bring.  Little did I know these suitcases would take me to Galveston, San Diego, San Francisco, Indianapolis, Charleston, Vancouver, Wisconsin, Florida, Rwanda,  Chile, Israel/Palestine and now my 8^th trip to Tanzania. Only once have I arrived without my suitcase and that was delivered via our very generous hosts to the interior of Tanzania a week later. Of course my Kenya luggage has also taken trips to Minneapolis, Des Moines, Pittsburgh, Fort Dodge, Lincoln, Decorah and many other towns in Western Iowa.  BUT as yet it has never been to Kenya!  I’ve kept journals of our travels.  I wonder what I could read if my Kenya suitcases had kept a journal.

Off to Tanzania

Two suitcases, one 50 lbs and one 40 lbs, a backpack and purse....are all packed.  The alarm is set for 4:00 AM and I guess that is as ready as I'll be!

This is my 7th trip and I'm just as excited as the first.  My blog from TZ is

http://ilgss.blogspot.com

We've gathered over 100 lbs of medical supplies plus 4 laptops.

And so this adventure begins.

Parkinson Support Group

Last spring my friend Carolyn from Spencer asked if I knew someone that might organize a Parkinson Support Group in Storm Lake.  The group provides information for those diagnosed and also caregivers.  She has hosted one in Spencer for 5 years…and it grew from five to 15 or 20 with some were driving many miles and even from Storm Lake.

I said I knew nothing about Parkinson’s disease and she quipped right back, “Can you talk?”  Had to admit I can talk.  And of course we now have Parkinson Support Group in Storm Lake.  St Mark Lutheran offered facilities with no steps and easy parking, two others agreed to help host (and now we’ve added a fourth).  We “joined” the Iowa and national chapters and have had two meetings.

Our first was organizational and idea generating with 10 attending.  Our August meeting had 15 there and a pharmacist presented on the medicines prescribed, side effects, and how the medicines work.  With ideas from the group we have scheduled a physical therapist for our September meeting and a speech therapist for our October meeting.

My Little Prairie Patch

I have spent both quality time and sheer sweat time at my prairie paradise. 

I’ve cut back many many cottonwood seedlings and attacked the invasive white prairie clover and mowed my prairie path.  I’ve also enjoyed spotting yellow cone flowers, evening primrose, big and little bluestem, and some liatris starting to bloom. 

There are milkweeds and one plant is used as a trellis by a morning glory .  With the drought the mosquitoes haven’t been a problem although flies have a nasty bite.

As I walked the lane I marveled at the multitude of swallows line up on the power lines.

Vacation July 22-26, 2012

July 26, 2012 and four nights at Loon Lake…the most this summer.  It was hot, hot, hot, and of course humid until day 4.  Swimming provided a cool relief.  Between our dock and the neighbor's dock is 37 paces and so each day I swam between the docks…using every stroke I know and worked up to 12 laps….which by my math is about a ¼ of a mile.  Of course I also did some floating, too.

The lake is down, earlier this summer when I jumped off the end of the dock it was over my head.  Now I can stand with head and shoulders above water….which made last night’s ½ inch of rain very welcome.

Our neighbor here was in Hinton last night and called about hail warnings of which we were oblivious ….and offered a place to put the pickup!  Good neighbors are a gift!  Fortunately no hail here.

Mike has had “the fever” for a car project.  He bought the present pickup two years ago (when I went to Tanzania with a group)  and has given it the Last detailing and also some not so detail…such as a seat reupholstered, and the rust repaired… I’m going again in September and he’s decided to trade the pickup for a suburban to detail. What conclusion can be drawn from this?

Friend Ray figured out how to fix the wire that connects the mini solar panel to the pump for the garden fountain.  Apparently a critter had chewed through the wire in a couple of places.

We took a boat ride Monday and of course Sneakers had to be on the bow with ears flapping.  Except this time she either leapt in or fell!  So around we came and he was dog paddling for shore.  It took both Mike and I to get him back in the boat.  He still likes the bow!

April 2, 2012

Another Monday and another trip to Loon!  Our neighbor’s asparagus is peaking out…I didn’t touch it! 

Path on the other side of creek

We had Marinus, our 7 year old sweetie with us.  Our goal for this Monday was to mow a path on the far side of the creek before the grass was so tall that it was impossible. 

I ended up finding 4 ticks on her.  Needless to say…we checked everyone and carefully showered and washed hair when we got home.  Amazingly Sneakers was tick-free.

Warming up in pickup

Mike also pulled out an evergreen that had died.  The evergreens that we’ve planted and replaced hoping for 14 are down to two.  This was part of our mind set that had to change from a north woods lake to a prairie lake.  Evergreens are possible but where we tried to plant is apparently too wet much of the time. Our neighbor has a great windbreak with many evergreens and cranberry bushes.

March 26, 2012

Today was our first drive to Loon Lake in 2012.  As we headed north…the wind picked up, the temperature dropped and the sky clouded over.

Our purpose was to burn paper lots of it.  I had spent the last three days cleaning my office.  And so I discarded notes, articles, and essays from my masters.  Papers about writing, reading, listening, speaking, linguistics, pronunciation, cooperative learning and jigsaw groups…and much more…some nostalgia so I didn’t spend too much time looking again! 

We also loaded our compost drum into the pickup and emptied it on the prairie.  As opposed to lawns that are now greening up, the prairie is brown and fall looking.  Prairies tend to sleep later in the spring and stay awake longer in the fall.

The creek (a drainage ditch flows into it) is high.  We also checked the replacement for the bridge that was built last fall.

rebuilding the bridge

completed culvert system




Many Canada geese complained about our presence…or maybe it was Sneakers!...but after awhile Sneakers just ignored them.  They moved between the shore and the lake.  The wind created white caps and the geese rode the waves.

We ate our lunch standing in the cabin…with our little cast iron stove putting out heat.  With the wind it wasn’t prudent to burn outside.  We both did some pruning and walked the lot.  The wind blew water on the shore so I didn’t get too close.

My soul was fed.

This really happened!

Aaron graduated from college and found himself working “part time” jobs often for 18 hours a day with two different sleep times of 3 hours each.  He managed to put his nest egg together and moved to California to pursue acting. 

After living again for a time with part time jobs he finally landed a job with benefits!  Coincidentally he had noticed he’d get a cold/cough about every three months.  So with his new insurance he headed to the doctor.  The doctor listened to his chest and ordered x-rays.  The doctor came in and said there must be a mistake and sent him down to the lab for another set of x-rays.

The doctor called Aaron into the office and asked if he had been abused as a child!  He showed Aaron the X-rays and there were two pins in his lung.  Aaron promptly asked the doctor if this was the latest medical joke!

An appointment was made with the ENT.   Aaron of course called his mother about his abuse!!

He started on medicine.  Later at home he starts coughing and hacks up a rusty pin with a white head.  Aaron’s cogs start turning…one of his jobs in the twin cities was set up and take down of displays…involving using pins with white heads to attach the skirts to the tables.

And the true story ends as he is driving 60mph and coughs up the second pin!

Border Crossing and More

San Diego is also having beautiful weather….it is supposed to be raining according to those who know.  One of our hosts said that San Diego doesn’t have weather.  When a storm is approaching then they say “We have some weather coming!”.  Another told us the three seasons in San Diego are Gloppy, Gloomy and Glorious.  We’ve been treated to Glorious!

We crossed the border into Tijuana, the busiest border crossing in the world.  Many of the crossings are commuters between Tijuana and San Diego.  Many US citizens have chosen to live in Tijuana with the low cost of living and commute to work.

We did a border crossing…of course easy for us…a bus, no luggage, clergy with collars…but we did get out and walk the walk….still took over an hour each way…(no check going into Mexico) but for those that commute between Tijuana and San Diego..it is often 3 hours …talk about a commute!   The wall has gotten bigger and better in the last month – so reminiscent of Israel.


Guard Tower



….no swimming pool use– but I did put my foot in the Pacific Ocean on the beach in Tijuana and put on a jacket in the evening. We had supper in Old Town and were serenaded by 3 mariachi types…(double guitar, guitar, violin) excellent and wonderful food.

Friday for me was a tourist day….a bus trip to Balboa park (second largest public park – Central, NYC is first)…and then to La Jolla where we saw high surf, a few surfers, pelicans, cormorant, and sea lions…and way out 3 whales, lunch and then back to Marriott…

 

In the evening we traveled to Mission San Diego De Alcala…the oldest Mission in the U.S. –started in 1769.  The Lutheran Bishops were invited to hold an Epiphany service there by the  Roman Catholic Bishop – organ and acoustics were great.  A docent after the service did a wonderful job narrating the history….but he went on and on and on…and the Monsignor who had another engagement arrived…..and introduced himself.  (Afterwards I overheard our Presiding Bishop quip….I was never so glad to have a priest show up!) 

Saturday about noon we headed to the USS Midway….with lunch on the ship and tours of the ship that was commissioned 1945 – and decommissioned in 1992.  Amazingly we met a docent (and Lutheran) that saw Mike’s jacket from Okoboji originally from Pocahontas, Iowa and relatives still there.  Then during the tour we met Tony another docent whose wife’s cousins are the Geisingers from Storm Lake.  Indeed a small world and hardly 6 degrees of separation!