Rain, rain go away...

It has been a wet, wet planting season. You can see the rain gauge has 2 inches of rain. The pond is in the background along with some "ponds" of rainwater in the field of soybeans. We have farmer friends who haven't been able to get their crops in, and there are many more in southern IL who are probably in worse shape. So we'll see what happens this season.





Here is Tom's planter and tractor. Note that the tractor is green (John Deere) and the planter is red (Case IH). Tom's farmer friends like to rib him because his equipment isn't color-coordinated.






Here is a picture of Dan's 13th birthday party. There were nearly 50 at the party. Thanks goodness for the Party Police who helped maintain order.






After our meeting the other night we decided to go out for a beverage. This sign was posted in the outdoor "beer garden" where we were sitting. We figured it had to be a joke because certainly no one would actually... Suddenly a silhouette of a male walked up to the other side of the fence and, well, the sounds told the rest of the story. We thought our gales of laughter would shame him but apparently he had to go. You never know what you'll find in Fairbury, IL.

I feel the earth move...

Friday began with a shaky start. The midwest experienced a 20 second long earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale at 4:37 am. At first there was no noise, just the sensation of our bed mattress shaking (and both spouses wondering what the other was up to). As soon as the little beagle (see picture) began rattling on the bookshelf I knew it was an earthquake. I assumed Dan slept through it, but he didn't. He was thrilled to survive his first earthquake. It all seemed kinda neat.

Spring is springin'

I know, this picture doesn't look very spring-like, but I didn't bring home the little cable to transfer recent photos from my camera! I'll upload them tomorrow. In the meantime, this picture is kind of funny.

A week ago we pulled out the stops and took Dan to Disney World. Tom had an electric conference in Orlando so we went a couple days early. One of my former students met us at the hotel to give us Disney-tips: If there's even the slightest hint of a line at It's a Small World, skip it! Be sure to go on all the rides that have mountain in it: Space Mountain, Splash Mtn, etc. Dan listened to every word, armed himself with a map and paraded us all over the park (conveniently skipping Fantasyland where It's a Small World was awaiting me). We managed to hit Pirates of the Caribbean which made Tom very thirsty after watching all those fun-loving pirates drinking. Thought Dan would die of embarrassment when his dad asked a cast member if he could buy alcohol in the Magic Kingdom. Have you ever seen the cartoon Fairly Odd Parents? That would be us.

Now it's April and the grass is turning green, the frogs are doing their thang in the pond, Dan is playing baseball, and the farmer has moved every farm implement out of the sheds and into the yard.

One of the things Tom moved out of the shed was the trampoline. This trampoline has some history. A few years back it blew 1/2 mile away in a terrible storm. Fortunately we were gone at the time so I didn't see it bounce across the corn field into several pieces. Anyhow, Tom was sure to chain the trampoline to the field cultivator in case of a wind storm. While he was still in Orlando we had a storm with 60 mph winds. The trampoline looked like a kite tethered to the field cultivator. Dan was at open gym so I was all by myself when this occurred. I'd say it was right up there as one of my loneliest hours.

February 2008

In mid January I traveled to Monterey, California to a rec/park dept. chairs' conference consisting of 50 people from around the country and Canada. And who better to organize a conference than leisure-types who schedule meetings in the mornings and evenings so that we had time to romp around the coast in the afternoons.

Tom tested out my new cheap camera that has audio/video capabilities. You can hear Tom's commentary as Dan skates around the pond.

The next picture is of Shadow's new plywood house. Its rustic looks do little for me, especially with its front porch location. Dan and Tom even installed a heater. Last night Shadow didn't come home which worried us a bit. Tom found her locked in the shed this morning, he must have accidently shut her in there yesterday. As you can see, she's happy to be back in her house.

Chillin' in Chatsworth

The snow storm is over and we probably have about 7 inches on the ground. It's 18 degrees and the wind is pushing those 7 inches into substantial drifts. Church has been cancelled and we are stranded here on the farm...Kyle, too.





Here is our front porch complete with Tom's Weber grill. In fact, he grilled last night in the height of the storm! Then Kyle's dad and brother decided to pay us a visit on their 4-wheeler (a 3 mile trip from town!).




Yesterday was commencement. My advisee from Thailand, Daow, finished her masters degree. It was a great occasion! She will now return to Bangkok after being away from her family for more than 2 years!







Here we are in outside in the snow storm.

Chillin' in Chile

Next stop on our trip was Chile. We took a 2+ hour flight from Asunsion, Paraguay to Santiago, Chile. It was a clear day and you could see the flat green lands of Argentina before arriving at the Andes mountains. I considered telling the pilots to ascend a bit more because I thought the plane would scrape its belly on those towering Andes.


Spent one night in Santiago at a classic 70s style hotel. It was on Avenida Libertador which was like Chicago's Michigan Ave or NY City's Broadway. The hotel has no apparent parking so I had to dash in and get directions for a garage. It was all quite challenging, but Tom and Dan told me to calm down, we're on vacation, reminding me that this little glitch wasn't the end of the world. Soon we were in the Bellavista neighborhood eating dinner at an Argentine steak house.

Santiago is quite a big city and we weren't expecting that. And what made it extra challenging was that the street names change even though you never made a turn. One street we traveled changed names 5 times!! Somehow, though, we navigated our way out of the city and into the Andes mountains for our next night.


Stayed at a beautiful resort in a little cabin about 1.5 hours outside of Santiago. The Andes are some of the highest mountains in the world soaring as high as 22,000 feet! You can click on these photos for a closer look. The snow capped mountains were wonderful.





Here is Tom in front of our cabin in the moutains. We loved this stop on our trip.








Hike to a waterfall in the Andes.









Here is Dan on the zip line crossing from one side of the Maipo River to the other.








The next day we drove out of the mountains and down through the Central Valley which is the country's main agicultural region. We saw large-scale farms raising corn, grapes, veggies, etc. Somehow we passed by numerous Chilean wineries and didn't even stop! After 3+ hours we arrived at Pichilemu, a surfing town on the black sand coast. This area is renowned for its great surfing. The water temperature was a crisp 55 degrees.



Dan and I signed up for surfing lessons. We didn't know it but our teacher, Ramon Navarro, is the number 1 professional surfer in the entire country!!! I googled him and sure enough there he was being interviewed on You.tube and surfing in the very area we visited!! We had to wear full wet suits to go surfing. The mere act of putting on and taking off a wet suit is eventful enough, and that doesn't even include the surfing!



Here is Dan with Ramon. Dan did a lot better than I did. I asked Dan what he and Ramon talked about when they were having their lesson. Dan said that he talked about how to get up on the board and balance yourself. Ramon mostly talked to me about how I shouldn't worry, that I was safe with him, and that I should relax and have fun. Hum.




Dan the surfer dude.

Visiting Karen in Paraguay

At last the road dried up so Karen could take us to her little town of Monte Rosario. We drove an hour from Villarrica on asphalt and another hour on dirt/mud before making the 4 km hike. On our walk we passed an entire family who was cutting sugar cane. Only the ones who were too little to work sat waiting in the shade on a blanket. It was a toasty walk for us, and I couldn't imagine being out there cutting cane!




Karen showed us several demonstration fields that she's planted on her own. Tom was impressed to see her thriving corn field. After the corn reaches a certain height or stage she will add in the green manures to fortify the soil and help the corn grow.





The host mom greeted us with hugs and kisses. A little sweat and mud didn't bother her! They invited us over for terere which is drunk communal style...you can see Dan partaking in the picture. He drank and ate all that was offered to him. Karen's family invited us to eat lunch with them which was rice, broth, and a chicken leg...and boiled sweet potato on the side! It was all tasty, especially after that hot walk.



Karen has a veggie garden right outside her house. Since my visit in May she's done a lot to fortify the surrounding fence from those hungry chickens. Dan enjoyed all the animals at the homestead - chickens and chicks, pigs (one was already dubbed "the Christmas Pig"), cows, Lassie and Lassie (all dogs are called Lassie), cats, and Karen's horse which Dan mounted...but the horse didn't go. That might have been a good thing.


One interesting creature in Villarrica is the cayabara, the largest rodent in the world. These buck toothed, short-legged 100+ pound babes are native to South America's floodplains and humid forests, you know, just like the city park in Villarrica! Karen knew this would be of great interest to Dan and so, after three trips to the park we finally encountered one!



Dan said he wants to go back and spend a week with Karen and help her in her fields, enjoy the animals, and hang out with her family. She has such a hard-working, giving family who can make anyone feel a part of the family.






In house-keeping news, I delivered several airline tickets to Karen who, in turn, was to deliver them to her Peace Corps pals at the Thanksgiving feast. It was a great trip and we can't wait to see her at Christmas!


Here is a short video clip of Dan crossing the log into Karen's community. Click the play button twice to start.