unexpected guests

Wyatt surprised us with a phone call and email announcing that his friends may be stopping by last night on their way through. And they did. What a nice, pleasant surprise. Fletcher D. and Lauren P. are a great couple of kids and we were pleased to be able to host them for the night, on their journey to the left coast. They arrived about 10:15 pm and shortly introductions were made, we had the maps spread all over the kitchen table. I hope I was able to offer some good advice as they are basically following the same trip I have taken before. Anyway, we had a good chat, good breakfast and a good send-off. If you guys are reading this down the road, good luck in your journey and in Austin.

Nationalism

I've been reading with great enthusiasm the comments on Wyatt's blog concerning the smoking in bars issue. Poor Christoph has been taking some hits. Somehow, the fact that he's German is being used against him, as in, well, no wonder he's liberal, he's from Europe. I know a few Europeans, mostly German, and Christoph is a voice of reason compared to some. I always value his input because of his heritage. I find the global view-point much more interesting than just our regional differences. But it leads me to my quote of the day, after which I must take my leave, 18 holes on a glorious day await me. Enjoy your weekend, all. "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries, because you were born in it". - George Bernard Shaw

Foreign Exchange Student

We are thinking about taking in an exchange student for the school year. I have mixed feelings about it. Do you think we should? Send us your thoughts.

Summer must be here.....

So lets try and cram 100 events into every weekend. By my calculation, there are only 12 weekends here on the tundra that can actually be considered summer. (ie; no chance of snow) Out of those 12, at least 2 will be inundated with torrential downpours or tornadic episodes of some degree. This weekend looks good so far for weather. And luckily so, for it is Quarry Days weekend, our annual small-town weekend shebang. Check it out- www.quarrydays.com. My sched- Thurs. 8 am- in SF to talk about Quarry Days on 2 radio stations, home by 10 am. Head to the office and try and return phone calls and get some real work done. I also have 3 lawns to mow today. 7 pm appt. with a client and contractor to bid a new house. Friday- Staff in the office in the am, golf in the Quarry Days golf tournament in the afternoon. Friday night- surprise 50th b-day party for my friend, John Rave. Sat. am- lots of Quarry Days activities but I will be set up at the J&L Harley swap meet, trying to sell a lot of unused parts, and find a new windshield for my bike, to please my wife, who is complaining of severe buffeting. Sat. afternoon- can't miss the Burn-out contest!!! Sat. night- Lee Burggraffs birthday party at the lake or Maren Hendrickson's wedding dance. Sun. am- set up in the park for the car show. Noon- head for home and change clothes for my Open House from 1-2 pm. Hope I have a good turn-out. After the open house, head back to the car show for the awards and then clean-up. Sun. eve- enjoy a cold beverage and watch the fireworks display by the river. It's a good life! "I started out with nothing, and still have most of it left".

I'm feeling melancholy

Last weekend I set my jet-ski out in front of the office with my phone number on it. Got a couple calls but no lookers. This morning I happened to be in the office when this lady walks in inquiring about it. So I show her the whole deal, doing a soft sell. She had her son with her and they both loved it. So, the deal was struck, paperwork completed and away they drove with the boat. I should be happy, I only dropped $100 off my price. So why did I feel so sad when she drove off? There were a lot of happy memories that went with that boat. I think all the kids had a lot of fun with it. I rolled it over in Lake Madison the first day we bought it and pert near drowned. After that i wasn't such a big fan, but all the kids had fun, and that was the reason I bought it in the first place. Life goes on. I guess we'll make memories on our own now, everybody's so far away. Big sigh for what used to be. "You know why they call it PMS? Cause Mad Cow Disease was already taken". Author unknown, presumed deceased!

Your time may be shorter than you think

I'm very sorry to report this, but apparently there were 2 deaths in Dells last night. The first, substantiated, happened only a block from our house at 7:30 last night. 24 yr old male, riding a 2005 Harley, lost control of the bike at the intersection of 8th and LaDelle and was thrown from the bike. After being air-lifted to Sioux Falls, he died at 10 pm. The second, unsubstatiated, was also a 24 yr old male, thrown from a 4 wheeler approx. 6 miles south of Dells. Also air-lifted to SF, reports on his condition vary from dead to very critical. Neither rider was wearing a helmet. I've been riding my entire life. I don't pretend to be Safety Sammy, not that I'm careless, far from it. Only because I don't wear a helmet. Maybe I should start. I do believe I have logged over 100,000 verifiable miles on a motorcycle without a serious accident. To what do I attribute this ? Mostly luck. For the fact is, if you ride a motorcycle, sooner or later, you will be involved in a serious accident. And it probably won't even be your fault, but there you lay, just as dead. "But officer, I just didn't see the motorcycle". So to all of you that engage in risky behavior, no matter the kind, send up a prayer to whatever god you worship that you are out there walking around today. We never know when our ticket is going to get punched.

Perfect

Today when I woke up I could tell it was going to be a perfect day before I even got out of bed. For one thing, I could see the sunshine, as opposed to the gloomy clouds that have been here forever. I walk outside to fetch the paper and I was right, no wind, perfect temp, no humidity. Time to spring into action. I spent the morning spraying weeds. I know that sounds like a waste of time, but there have been no suitable days and it needed to be done desperately. So it goes, even spraying weeds is a happy task when the weather is like this. It's noon now and I see the flag is standing straight out from the flag-pole but if you can get a couple hours with no wind here- that's pretty good. I'm going to try to go for a Harley ride tonight. "When one door closes, another one opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us". - Alexander Graham Bell

Our neice, Erin, got married on Saturday! She married Jeff Grieme from Sioux Falls. It was a beautiful wedding and she was a beautiful bride. They are a wonderful match, and we wish them all the happiness in the world! The wedding went flawlessly. Our niece Maggie played the piano, it was nice to hear her play. She did a great job. Our nephews, Ben and Alex were ushers, they are all grown up too. And it was unbelievable to see Tim in a Tux looking like such a distinguished young man. They had gerber daisies for their flowers, they were just gorgeous. I love those brilliant colors. I was lucky enough to bring home one of the altar bouquets, so now I can enjoy them all week, thanks Deb!

I just can't believe all the changes this age in a person's life brings. They just keep cascading down all around me. It is so unsettling. Some changes are welcome and nice and others are down right disturbing. I will list two categories and then see if our reader's can help add to it. Unfortunately, most blog readers aren't in our age group but you youngsters can add information gleaned from the elders in your life. So here goes.

Welcome and Nice
1) Less chaos at home
2) The house stays clean and organized
3) No parent/teacher conferences
4) Less laundry
5) Fewer groceries
6) Total freedom to do what we want, when we want
7) Watching your children become adults
8) More travel
9) Less concern over appearance
10)Don't have to worry about unplanned pregnancy

Down Right Disturbing
1) The phone doesn't ring
2) The doorbell doesn't ring
3) Our kids are adults, our youngest is the age I was when we got married
4) We have neices and nephews that are married
5) We have health issues
6) Our friends have grandchildren
7) Greg's hair is totally gray, and my hair is starting to go
8) Greg will be 50 this year
9) Our mortgage will outlive us
10)Unless we live to 100 years old, our life is over half over

So have at it, add to the lists.

Busy weekend past

Our niece got married last weekend. We were the host and hostess for the reception. We also had to help decorate the reception hall on Friday afternoon before the rehearsal, so it was a busy weekend. But it was a beautiful wedding, the weather cooperated, all in all, very nice. So, congratulations Jeff and Erin, flying even as I write this, to a beautiful Jamacian honeymoon. In other breaking news, I should be able to pull my camper now. As of last Friday, I'm the proud owner of a 2005 Chevy HD 2500 crew-cab. No, it isn't a Duramax, but no more than I have to pull, that would've just been money wasted. Cool, yeah, neccesary, no. Now I can pull the Wasta hill on my own. Erik, thanks for the offer though.

June 4, 1977

28 years ago today me and the missus was gettin' hitched. That's right, today's our anniversary. I wish I could say the day dawned bright and sunny and we had morning coffee on the deck while gazing lovingly into each others eyes, but that would be a lie. Instead, the day dawned like Seattle in November, which is to say, there wasn't a dawn, per se, just a gradual lightening of the sky to the point where you could discern that the pounding on the roof was a torrential downpour and not neighborhood squirrels running amok. We did have a fine celebratory breakfast of Belgian waffles and coffee, snug in our jammies while we watched the rain. I wish I had the formula for our longevity, but it's not one thing, it's so many things put together. Patience, perseverence, trust and respect. Everything else will take care of itself. It hasn't always been easy, but it's always been worth it. Once I had a poster titled " 10 Rules for a Successful Life". Rule #1 was "Marry the right person. They will determine 90% of your future happiness and success". Truer words were never spoken. Best of Luck to all those still searching, and remember to never settle. "You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, "My God, you're right! I never would've thought of that!" Dave Barry

The torch is passed

Last night was the Customer Appreciation Supper at T & C's. For those not in the know, it is a family owned gas station/c-store here in Dells. Tim and Carol actually sold the business to Michael on Jan. 1st, but waited 'til now to have their last hoo-rah. It was a very nice party, there was a tent set up in the parking lot, Minnehaha Co. Pork Producers bar-b-qued pork loins, Lorna Reiff's home-made potato salad, beans and stuff. Very tasty. Congrats to Tim & Carol, a class act, happy retirement & Good Luck to Michael in the Future. They will continue to receive my loyal support. Early Onset Alzheimers Update: My cousins boy is graduating high school this weekend. Jeannie drops a card on my desk to send him. Luckily, I read the card before actually signing it. The card reads "Happy Birthday Grandson", same thing inside , along with a verse. I guess maybe "grandson" looks like "graduation". OK, I think we all know it doesn't, but I'll cover for her until the dementia gets too obvious to hide. Poor thing. I don't think they treat you real nice in the home.

Memorial Day 2005

I've been warned to quit blogging about camping and my health problems & surgeries, both of which are typecasting me as a geezer. But at the risk of sounding geezerish, I must comment on the past weekend. We had another family camp with Grandma & Grandpa, Jeannie & I, sister Deb, BIL Brian and T-bone (Tim). We were in Pierson Ranch, part of the Lewis & Clark campground complex, Yankton, SD. It was the best Memorial Day weather wise, that I can remember. Niece Erin & groom-elect Jeff came late Sat. night and stayed 'til Monday, so we had a good crowd. We played lots of camping games, played lots of cards, rode bikes, drove the go-carts and ate, ate, and ate some more. The new camper worked great again, we are very pleased. Thanks, First National Bank. My only regret of the whole weekend was that I did nothing to commemorate Memorial Day at all. Didn't even fly a flag at camp. Which is really lame, considering the supreme sacrifice so many made so we can still live in the land of the free. I don't think an hour out of my day to salute the brave men that came back from war, is too much to ask, from every one of us. I'm ashamed of myself.