Buick Alert!

The Buick rolled in last week along with my parents.



Here is a picture of Dan assisting my mother cook bacon (of all things!). It was a cholesterol-gathering event.



During their visit we sat on the porch and watched the soybeans grow. We went for walks, too, and man, are they both in great shape! They also watched Dan play baseball.

The Pond

We put the pond float out yesterday. It's not a simple task because you must anchor it to the bottom which is some 20 feet down. Tom found an old wheel well that his dad had filled with cement years ago to serve as a 200 lb weight. We tied the rope to the anchor (wheel well), and then carefully placed it on the stern of the kayak. Dan perched himself on the bow to offer some counter balance. My job was to swim all of this weight to the middle of the pond without losing the anchor too early. Tom was shouting directions from the shore, "you need to go more west, now more south west..." I suggested that pointing might be easier to understand under the circumstances. When it was time to sink the anchor, Dan slid off the bow making the kayak look like the Titanic for a moment.

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.