Lordy I'm Forty (Lulu & Mark Visit)

Happy Birthday to me...

You may view the 40 year-old version of my self at left. If you squint carefully you will find I look just the way I appeared in highschool.

I'm standing under a willow tree with my 10 year-old son Michael. We ducked under the canopy of this fine old tree yesterday while exploring the shore of Lake Superior.

Our trip yesterday-- a day-long trek to Superior and Duluth-- was Jon's birthday/anniversary present to me. Since I am a nerd and since he knows that well, he realized what a treat it would be for me to roam the lakeshore in quest of good rocks for my "collection".

I'm also going to give him credit for being a romantic. After all, it was fourteen years ago (this August 19th) that we were married... and our honeymoon took us on a week-long drive around Lake Superior.

We really haven't been back since.

We'd come to Duluth about 10 years ago, when Jon and Brent competed in Duluth's big in-line skating marathon. But there were other things to do on that trip besides look for rocks.

I think WE ALL had a good time kicking up the shore yesterday for treasure... I mean, who wouldn't?!? The kids and I came away with pockets full of pebbles, driftwood, beach glass... even the broken chip of a flower pot (in archaeology that's known as a shard, Don).

Emma wasn't feeling well on the trip (stomach flu). We had an unfortunate incident involving vomit right by the front door of a restaurant (we let them know so they could clean it up right away... didn't think it would look good for business). But otherwise Emma was a traveling trooper.

Leila's been feeling fine these days, but she wasn't real cooperative on the trip. She doesn't

seem to travel as quietly as the other kids did when they were her age.

Michael got his educational fix at the aquarium in Duluth. It features a new building with some impressive displays of Great Lake fish (which, by the way, can become massive in size). The

exhibits are interactive and educational, many aimed at getting kids engaged with what they're looking at.

For example, there was a kid-height model of the lock-system used to transport ships through the Great Lakes. Kids could wear aprons and get elbow-deep in the water. They could maneuver plastic boats through the model and see for themselves how locks adjust the water level so boats can travel through.

This display was a big hit with Leila, though I'm not sure she appreciated all the finer points of lock travel.

I think mostly she liked the splashing.

Another interactive display involved "petting" aquariums, where people are allowed to touch the fish.

Have YOU ever touched the back of a sting ray??

This picture confirms that we have!

It was a fun way to cap off my birthday/anniversary week. Things had already opened with a bang when Laurie and Mark came for an impromptu visit.

I love my sistah-!

We have a few simple rules when folks like these come to visit...

1) Anyone who visits us must walk up a big hill to view our neighbor's farm.

2) They should admire our calves, horse, and chickens.

3) They should then admire our flowers and garden.

4) While admiring the garden, they should listen to my Bear Story. Bonus points are given if they ask interested questions or compliment me on my bravery.

5) Depending upon how clean our house is, they may or may not be given a full tour of our home.

6) If a visitor is named Mark Valaskey, that visitor should help grill the food.

7) Overnight guests sleep downstairs on an air mattress. If we like them we feed the cat BEFORE everyone turns in for the night.

8) We offer a wake-up service for late sleepers. The wake-up service is operated by Emma, Michael, and Leila and involves NOISE.

9) Any pictures taken during your visit will probably end up on my BLOG.

Which reminds me of a funny story...

Why did the chicken cross the road? (Laurie and Mark, you knew this was coming).

To get away from Mingo and Lily who really, really like to chase chickens!!!!!!

Mom's Visit to Colfax... and a Tribute to Aaron

Last week Mom came over for a three-day stay.

We've had these extended summer visits with Mom before, but this was our first one since moving to Colfax.

Michael slept upstairs on an air mattress so that Mom and Emma could bunk together in the basement. I think Emma enjoyed having her Grandma as roommate for awhile.

Our first morning was spent at the Farmer's Market in Eau Claire. Though we have a large garden and have been successful with many things we planted (like beans and cucumbers), some things haven't done as well. Emma's potato garden was a complete loss (moles, possibly?), and the carrots have been very shabby.

These are the kinds of treasure that can be found in abundance at the Farmer's Market.

It was a warm day, but we enjoyed the browsing. A couple of guys sang and played guitar. We ran into several old friends from Eau Claire, including a couple of the kids' former teachers.

After shopping at the Farmer's Market we headed downtown for Summer Fest in Eau Claire. Several city blocks were closed off so people could shop, socialize, and enjoy a variety of booths. Emma and Michael liked the booth at left, which gave away popcorn, balloon animals, and temporary tattoos to those interested.

There was also an antique car show. Michael decided that this orange car was his favorite. I'm sorry I can no longer recall the make or model-- maybe a Model T? (Uncle Bob, can you help?).

I was impressed with this car too-- because of a painted detail it had. You can barely see what I'm talking about in the photo at right (look on the black by the rear window-- same height as Michael's head), but someone has airbrushed the whisper of a woman's face onto the paint.

You can see it better in the close-up photo below.
I had to play with the camera angles to get it to show up this well... the air brushing is very subtle. I have never seen this kind of painting done on a car before. Usually it's all stripes or flames or eagles... you know the drill. Nice to find that there's artistry and originality in the world of car detailing-!

I included a picture of the car below for Kenny, Beth, and Stephen. I bet they know the name of this guy!

It seemed a little out of place, but there was also a (small) petting zoo, complete with baby animals, on a patch of grass in the downtown area.

The menagerie included this young zebra and camel.

Leila enjoyed sitting on the grass by the other babies (but no, Leila is NOT for sale!).

Further down the street we found "Chalk Fest", a fun event where local artists sketch chalk drawings on the sidewalks.

It had rained that morning so I was unsure whether this festival would take place or not... but things dried up quickly. It turned out to be a sweltering hot, sunny day.

It was interesting to see what the different artists were working on. Nothing was done yet... they were all works in progress. Someone was selling sidewalk chalk for children, so Emma and I even left some chalk scribbling of our own on the sidewalk, for posterity. I was reminded of my trip to Arkansas, when Kenny and I drew chalk drawings outside on Don and Hope's patio.

My personal favorite was this one of an oriental girl, her eyes cast down demurely.

While Mom was with us she helped me work on my canning. You can see the fruits of our labors (so far) in the photo at left. I've done green beans, beets, three kinds of cucumber pickles, watermelon rind pickles, and pickled green beans. I've also been freezing other things, like roasted peppers, shredded zucchinni, and a variety of berries.

Our tomatoes are starting to ripen, so pretty soon I'll be making salsa and tomato sauce (for canning).

As you can see, Jon's going to have to build me some shelves, because this little hutch can't support more jars!

Dad's sister Margy and two of her children (Heidi and John) came for a visit while Mom was with us. They had trouble finding the house... we've been here long enough to sometimes forget how remote and confusing the path to our house seems, the first few times you look for it.

But they eventually found us... and we had a nice visit. Thanks for stopping by, Aunt Margy!

Unfortunately we had sad news at the tale end of Mom's visit. Our friend Aaron Bourget, Jon's co-worker at MJ Electric, was hit by a car and killed. He was only 28 years old.

Aaron and his wife Kate had been over to our house just a few months earlier. I posted pictures from their visit on this blog... they have a daughter, Olivia, who is very close to Leila in age.

Kate and Aaron were expecting their second child. She is only three weeks away from having the baby.

Aaron's sudden death is hard on many levels. He died the night of his 10 year class reunion. It was also the night of his first wedding anniversary.

Aaron was confident, fun-loving, and generous. He let Jon's horses stay with his own horses when we didn't have a better place for them (and they stayed for free). He was one of many horse lovers who made the big group ride past Sally's house in Holcombe-- one year we watched those dozens of horses walk past her house and stop at her barn for rest and water before continuing on-- it was something to see.

Aaron loved living out in the country and had really accomplished a lot for someone his age. He had just built a new pole shed-- the biggest one I've ever been inside. He and Kate held their wedding party in that shed. The party was memorable... long tables spread out in rows, Aaron's mother passing out slabs of blueberry cheesecake that she'd made herself. I was immediately impressed by how open, friendly, and happy she was. It was obvious that Aaron was the apple of her eye.

His Amish neighbors attended the reception as well. It stood out, since I've never seen Amish people at a Catholic wedding party before. I don't think that happens very often. They kept to themselves, but stood in line, got plates of food, and ate and talked like everyone else. Aaron made sure they had a place to sit, and that no music was played while they were there (I assume that was out of respect for them).

So strange to see Aaron's mother and the Amish neighbors again a year later... this time for Aaron's wake.

Unfortunately newspaper reports of Aaron's death made it sound like he was passed out in the road when he was struck. For the record, people who saw Aaron that night said that he had NOT had too much to drink. Apparently he had been having chest pains. He may have had a heart attack that night. I don't know if we'll ever know for sure. But it wasn't the way the newspaper made it sound.

I had planned to stay in Rhinelander awhile after bringing Mom home from her visit. But the news of Aaron's death and our uncertainty about when the wake and funeral would be seemed to call for a change of plans. I let Emma know that we would be dropping Grandma off and then coming right back. She was disappointed to hear that we couldn't stay.

After thinking it over I decided that another way to do it would be to drop Emma and Michael off with Grandma in Rhinelander... if Dad could bring them back in a few day's time. Dad thought it over and decided that arrangement would work out fine, since they already had plans to head in our general direction later that week for cousin Brett Linskey's wedding.

So when we took Mom back to Rhinelander, there were two extra sets of luggage in the trunk of our car.

We stopped at Bud and Jane's house for a quick visit before heading to Ladysmith. Mom wanted us to see a little antique / fabric store that she'd discovered.

We got Mom home safely. It was odd leaving Mikey and Emma behind, but they were excited for the big adventure of staying at Grandma and Grandpa's by themselves.

While they were gone we attended Aaron's wake and funeral. Bud and Jane watched Leila for three hours while we attended the wake (and Leila was happy and good for them... what a relief! We weren't sure how that was going to go).

Mom and Dad brought Michael and Emma back Thursday night. Leila was SO happy to be reunited with them... and so were the neighbor kids (who came over while Michael and Emma were still unloading their things from the car).

It sounds like everyone had a good time; the kids came back loaded with school supplies and new toys... and if they were naughty Mom and Dad decided not to tell me about it.

The Circle of Life... and a Trip to Emergency

We've been learning lots about life-- and death-- at the farm this summer.

I've found myself discussing the "circle of life" concept with the kids (yes, that is shamefully borrowed from The Lion King movie).

One of our newly adopted Holstein calves, Kit Kat, died suddenly last week.

Background: Kit Kat and Daisy were only two days old when Jon bought them from an auction house. Each calf cost a mere $25.

They were sold so cheaply because there is no way to tell at that young age whether or not they will be fertile. And calves separated from their mothers so young often don't make it to adulthood. They can be bottle-fed, but while formula gives them basic nourishment it doesn't offer the same health benefits as mother's milk.

Still, we tried. Jon (and sometimes the kids) fed the calves twice daily. When it became apparent that both were sick, we gave them medicine and did what we could. In the beginning, Daisy was the one we were most worried about-- she was smaller and the first to get sick. But for some reason, she got better and Kit Kat didn't.

We'd already lost a second chicken.

Whatever goblin it was that had taken Chicken Jane in the night also injured Ulga.

We'd noticed feathers missing on her back side a few days after the incident, but hoped it was unrelated (sometimes the rooster's amorous attentions result in feather loss for the chickens).

But as the week went by it became obvious that there was a wound on Ulga's back side that was not healing well. Jon decided that (short of emergency chicken-surgery at the vet's office) the most humane thing to do would be to put her out of her misery. So he did the deed and we buried her.

Emma tearfully inscribed Ulga's name, in chalk, on a tombstone. But, as in The Lion King, the "circle of life" goes on. So our story does not end on a sad note.

Jon bought three new calves from a local organic dairy farmer (only $50 for the three!). The farmer couldn't keep them because they had already been given antibiotics, so would no longer be "organic".

These calves are already almost a month old and have been fed by their mothers the whole time-- so stand a much better chance of thriving. They are definitely more active and lively than the first two.

The new calves are Jerseys, and resemble deer (if you ask me). Same tawny color, same large soft doe eyes.

These new calves seem to have finally drawn Michael into participation at Johnne's farm. Till now he's resisted the neighborhood kids' general belief that Johnne's farm is the Place To Be this summer.

But he likes spending time with the calves. Also Johnne has found some kind of small paperwork job for him to do in the greenhouse. So he's excited about that.

A few days ago I "made" Michael come along with me to the farm. I knew that Johnne was having the neighbor kids (and Emma) paint her "Egg-Mobile" and wanted pictures.

The Egg-Mobile is a portable chicken coop that can be hauled by tractor around her fields. That way the chickens always have a fresh supply of bugs to forage for in the summer. They roam freely but stay near their Egg-Mobile, which gives them shelter (and protection) at night.

Anyway, Johnne decided it needed a coat of paint. So she called for neighborhood volunteers and ended up with Emma, Daken, and Makayla. They could paint it any colors, any design they wanted-- it didn't even matter to her if Emma used a paintbrush or her hands. Her only stipulation was that all the wood be covered.

When we got there and Michael saw what was going on, he decided that he wanted to help too. Me, Leila, and the volunteers were all treated to watermelon afterwards. Fun day!

We really like our neighbors here in Colfax. Unfortunately we had to call on one of them for help the other night.

(I've been debating whether or not to relate this story on my blog. It's personal and I usually write about lighter things. But this blog is becoming more important to me, and what happened is important as well. So here goes...)

Leila had been running a fever for about a day and a half. It seemed like her only discomfort, other than diaper rash and maybe teething.

Twice in the night she woke up and cried. I brought her into bed with us, and she fell back to sleep for a few hours. At about four in the morning she awoke and was so cheerful and lively it woke us up. She kept saying "mama mama" and "dada" loudly and affectionately, giving us little hugs and flopping around. She was still very warm but her energy level seemed to indicate an improvement.

I went to find her a bottle, hoping milk could coax her back to sleep. I came back and sat with her in the dark. I gave her the bottle.

But she wasn't drinking it. She was twitching. Jon had left the room for a minute, to use the bathroom. I called to him, "Turn the light on."

"What?"

"Turn the light on. Something's wrong."

He flipped the switch and we watched our baby convulse. It was a horrible, unreal thing to see. We were shocked and unsure what to do.

Holding her in his arms, Jon called 911. He described what was happening to the operator. While still on the phone with 911, her seizure ended. We told them we'd bring her in.

Of course we both wanted to be with her. But the other two kids were asleep downstairs. I weighed whether or not to wake them or if one of us should stay with them, instead. But immediately I thought of our neighbor across the road, a nice lady I've been walking with occasionally and have gotten to know.

I called their house and her husband answered. I described the situation and he was immediately sympathetic. Candy walked right over. She stayed at our house till the kids woke up in the morning. She made them breakfast and calmed their fears and was really a helpful angel to us.

We're hoping this seizure was a one-time occurrence, due to Leila's fever. There haven't been any more problems since we began controlling her temperature with medicine.

This same thing happened to me as a baby, I guess. I've also heard of other people who's children experienced one seizure, during a fever, and never had a repeat episode. Still, this was a truly frightening experience, and we are thankful and glad to have our baby girl back to health and well-being.

We appreciate all the sympathy and kind words we've had from neighbors and family members.

I'm willing to write about the "circle of life" when it comes to our pets and farm animals. But I cannot have that attitude of c'est la vie or any kind of acceptance of the "flipside" of life when it comes to a child... my child. I am so grateful that my mind and heart don't have to try to wrap around anything heavier than calves and chickens right now.

I'll close with this picture of our corn... along with a stubborn optimism that all will be well in our world.