Good morning all:

Weekly Wisdom:

“I don’t know how you get dressed if you live in Wales, because it’s pouring rain and then it’s hot sunshine, and then it might hail. It’s just so confusing.” — Piper Perabo (actually discussing the ‘Nati)

Mind you, I am not saying that Spring flowers are out in force. What I am saying is that, yes, I am enjoying immensely those patches of yellow, blue, and white crocuses I see on my daily walks.

Mother Earth – is still in charge; proven as Japan was thrown into chaos in a mere thirty seconds. Today experts are saying that the tectonic plates shifted 18 meters, the main island of Japan moved 8 feet, and the earth’s axis shifted 4 inches – WOW. Then even hours later Tevita’s family members were advised to seek higher ground in their island nation in the South Pacific (everyone there is safe and sound). Even coastal residents in North America and South America were all affected by that same event. Yup, again we’re seeing who is in charge, and it isn’t us.

Even in the “nothing ever happens here” ‘slow paced’ Mid West the rivers are raging outside of their banks. Since we’ve lived here I’ve seen worse flooding, nevertheless it’s still enough for the floodgates to be pulled out of storage. Last evening one of our favorite waterfront restaurants, aptly named The Waterfront (picture below/right), broke free and along with about 150 patrons set sail. Safety services managed to halt the adventure and with a makeshift gangplank made from ladders got everyone off. The patrons included former Bengal wide receiver and NBC Sunday Night Football announcer, Chris Collinsworth who was probably positioning himself to announce an impromptu Riverboat race.

More Party – Last weekend we celebrated Dinah’s and my birthdays. These events have turned into pure delights. Something to look forward to. No longer is it something where the adults main duty is to manage the young fry. Now the young fry are managing themselves. So, the laughter and the giggling has remained, only the frequent emotional breakdowns caused by two or more wanting to play with the same toy at the same time is now missing.

Dinah is currently the ultimate ‘princess’ and as of the party time also announced her ‘ballerina’ status. She pulls it all off with status, that and several clothing changes throughout the event.

One of my gifts was a survival kit. Apparently the kids have noted that at the cabin I tend to venture forth, via Kayak, into some of the more remote portions of our and the adjacent lake. With this kit, and a cool head, I should be able to manage comfortably for an extended period of time.

One of the items in the kit is a fire-starter consisting of a small metal plate and a flint. To the delight of the kids, I proceeded to demonstrate how a spark could be thrown to start a fire. I did not realize that the nap on carpeting is actually an excellent tinder substance. My demonstration was quickly halted.

Brother Pieter also sent me a gift. Actually this just blew me away. I knew that along with his photography Pieter had been participating in some Poetry reading events. His gift was a wonderfully bound booklet of his photographs and on each adjoining page is an accompanying Nonnet which he had written. These insightful nine line poems are beautiful and the stunning photo accompaniment makes for a delightful moment as the poem is read and reflected on. I am trying to figure out a way to insert a few over the next several posts—bear with me.

Closing – Tevita is welding and shaping a little wheeled rig which will allow me to quickly get the dock sections into the water. After this duty, this same rig will convert into a kayak cart. This way I can move the large two-person Folbot kayak single handedly from it’s storage area to the water. See, I am thinking beyond winter!

Make it a great week

Cheers,

Dirk