A time to reflect



Lake Erie rocks that came home




Landing!!!!




More Lake Erie rocks at home




Terry at the Falls in New York




Yet more flat Lake Erie rocks




Did you say WILD turkey




I see what you see mommy

 It has been a fun filled, exciting, fast and memorable several days.  Why?

• Several days ago Cynthia/Mike were told by the Dr. that most likely little Ben had a very serious lung problem.  I am sure for many but I know for Terry and I we felt strongly that he was healthy and the Dr. was wrong.  Two days ago tests were done and God was good, no serious health problems.  We are so thankful.
• In a whirlwind of activity and in the short short time of a week or so Aaron/Amy sold their house in Madison and bought another one.  They will close on both in mid August.  How can that happen in our economy of today??  I think A/A did things in a right way and God chose to bless them through it all.  Thank you Lord.  I could say they bought in the wrong city (their new house is a short way from their old house in Madison) and they really should have looked is St. Paul but I will not say that :)
• I finally, after many many years:(, got started on ordering the wood shop.  Terry has been a great encourager and helper.  When all is finished the walls will be patched and painted and the wood, I have too much, will be ordered along with machines and tools.  I know one can not have too much wood but really that may be the case on Niles Ave.
• Terry and I survived the heat wave by working in the morning, keeping mostly inside in the afternoon and not doing much riding or walking.  Three days the temp registered 100+
• We had a delightful time yesterday.  We invited a friend from the biking club over for the afternoon.  We had not seen her since 2010.  We finished a delightful afternoon of conversation by having dinner at a restaurant near home.  One of the interesting points of our conversation was when she shared how she has been taking care of her mother in so many ways and how that can and has impacted sibling relationships.  Those darn tears, yes real men have them, came oh so close to the surface as I reflected silently how those situations have impacted relations in my family.  It brought to mind again just how complex human nature is and how at times understanding is such an elusive thing.
• We are looking forward to grand daughter Tori coming this afternoon and staying for a day or so.
• Terry is looking forward to having some "girl time" with a friend Tuesday.
• We are gearing up for a MN State park ride this week as we camp for a few days in southwest MN.  So far we have visited 17 parks and we may be able to add 4-6 more this week.
• Another highlight yesterday was a small tray of beans, tomatoes and cucumbers which we enjoyed as we chatted.  It is so much fun and so good to have things from your own garden.
• Travis came over for a short time July 4th.  Our lunch of grilled baby back ribs, garden beans, garden swiss chard, garden cucumbers and store bought sweet corn was so so good. 
• Travis also brought over his golf clubs Friday as Terry and I plan to play a round with Norma and Wayne later in July.  I am so hoping that like my fast bike which compliments my slow body his really nice golf clubs will compliment my really bad game of golf.  Terry has played once or twice in her life, I have not played in at least 10 years and I think Norma has not played in more than ten years.  Now Wayne plays several times a week but he claims his game is getting worse!!  I have a feeling that our round will include man made good lies, a 10 stroke limit on any one hole, a second chance on most tees and maybe some other rules as well.  Of course the goal of the whole things is to have fun so maybe we will not keep score.  On second thought I know I can not play a round of golf without keeping score, good or bad it will happen.  Anyway my point was it was generous of Travis to lend them to us. 

I just took my last sip of coffee from my favorite cup.  The cup came from our camping trip last year.  It has a red tent, a tree, some flowers, a bee, some stars, a deer, a squirrel and the words "Northern Highland American Legion State Forest" on it.  It had to be my last sip as the cloudy brown delicious coffee in the cup turned to a dark dark color on the bottom.  Of course that means THE END.