Archive for December 2014
Family Fun
We experienced a dose of two extremes yesterday, our first entire day of a “stay-cation,” engaging in something we had no interest in doing, but later enjoying just what we were really wishing to experience.
After a good period of recovery from her surgery, Cyndie followed up all that holiday family contact with a dose of the flu that is going around. Concerned about getting a serious infection at this point of her healing, she chose to check in with a doctor, which led to us spending much more time than we hoped at a nearby urgent care provider.
I sat for much longer than I felt comfortable in a waiting area that was a revolving door of coughing patients. Turns out it was a good thing Cyndie went in, as they confirmed her flu diagnosis, and prescribed strong meds to treat walking pneumonia. She also learned that her weight continues to drop, so we have yet to succeed in getting her muscle mass growing any measurable amount. I mentioned that the protein smoothies might need to be accompanied by more intentional exercising. Cyndie responded that she was doing exercises while enduring the long wait for the urgent care doctor.
I got her back to our stay-cation home at her parents’ house in time to snuggle under blankets for an afternoon nap. That rejuvenated her for the evening she has been longing to have. Since the family didn’t gather up at the lake like she hoped, Cyndie convinced them to come over for pizza and games in town. She got the dose of niece and nephews time for which she hoped.
We are having a wonderful time thus far, pretending we are up at the lake with her family, even though we are still in town and only an hour away from our usual home.
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Did It!
We did it! We are on a stay-cation! Our house-sitter, Andy, arrived yesterday afternoon and we hung around long enough to see him feed the horses, then ran an errand to nearby Baldwin while he served dinner to Delilah and Pequenita. After that, we packed the car and drove off to stay at Cyndie’s parents’ house for a few days, through the new year.
The errand we were on was, washing the horse blankets at the laundromat that has large-sized washers. Boy, did we pick the wrong time to do that. First, the horses could really use those blankets about now. We are under a severe wind-chill warning for 24 hours. Second, after we got the blankets loaded and washing in the giant machines, we spotted the sign that said, “Don’t put horse blankets in the dryers.”
Oops. I suppose if you wash them in the summer, you could just hang them outside to dry. Sadly, the spin cycle on these machines didn’t do much in the way of pulling excess water out of the blankets. It was running off a couple of them as they hung over a high bar on the rolling clothes baskets provided.
We were making a heck of a mess on the floor. About the time I was ready to freak out over the situation we had created, Cyndie’s resourcefulness had her digging through a trash bin to discover an old t-shirt and baby blanket that had been tossed. We used those to mop up as best we could and I hauled the blankets back out to the car in the rapidly dropping temperatures.
We waited another half-hour for a comforter to dry and then were ready to stop back and see how Andy was doing with our animals. When we got to the car, the windows were all fogged up from the moisture of the blankets. What a fiasco.
Happily, we found everything in good order at home and felt confident that Andy was plenty competent to manage things in our absence. We spread out the blankets in the basement to dry, packed up the car with our stuff, and headed west to my in-laws’ place.
About the time we were retiring for the night, we received a text that Andy had chosen to move the horses into the barn for the night due to the wind-chill warning. Minutes after Cyndie replied with some added details related to keeping the horses in the stalls, she received Andy’s response that all had been done.
It already feels like we are on vacation.
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House Sitter
In the calm snowy sunshine blessing us after the busy Christmas schedule, Cyndie and I walked down to the labyrinth to see if she could navigate the course. She handled the exercise pretty well, despite slipping once when she inadvertently stepped on a stray rock.
I gave her a good head start before entering myself, side-stepping my way along the route to move enough snow for a clear path to appear. We didn’t make it all the way to the center before getting interrupted by the arrival of an expected guest.
We had an appointment to meet a man who provides house-sitting services with animal care included. Andy visited with us for a while, appeared to receive Delilah’s approval, and seemed completely comfortable with our horses. We’ve invited him to cover for us for a few days this week, to see how things go when we’re not around.
We were thinking about going up to the lake place for New Year’s Day, but circumstances changed people’s plans and we would be the only family members up there, so we are considering other options. We may make it an in-town vacation and spend a couple of nights at Cyndie’s parent’s house.
There are several chores that we hope to get taken care of first, particularly a plan to take the horse’s blankets to a laundromat that has giant washers. We finally felt the need to use the blankets during one of the recent above-freezing precipitation events. The two geldings seemed to feel a need to paint the blankets with wet lime screenings. It made a real mess.
I tried laying the blankets out to brush them off as much as possible before putting them in a machine, but it didn’t seem like I accomplished much. We are getting some below-zero overnight temperatures today and tomorrow, so we are a little late in having the blankets available if the horses appear to need them.
I’m hoping they took advantage of the hay in the slow-feeder boxes under the barn overhang and stayed sheltered all last night to stave off the worst of the deep-freeze. I worry more about them needing blankets when it is wet. Below-zero temperatures can feel cold, but they are hardly ever wet.
I hope they do fine, because I would prefer that our new house-sitter not need to bother with managing the nuisance that is blankets.
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Precious Memorial
The Christmas holiday brought a bundle of family events which required that we do a lot of driving. For three days in a row, we drove the over two-hour-long round trip distance, twice a day on two of those. It was all worth it, but when yesterday arrived with no agenda requiring we leave our home, the exhaustion hit and we luxuriated in the gift of staying put.
In the afterglow of the Christmas eve and Christmas day events, Friday the 26th became an additional day of precious activities with Cyndie’s family. We started in the morning by gathering at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, where we visited the graves of some of their relatives, including Cyndie’s sister, Michelle, who died at the age of 4 in 1967 as a result of leukemia.
It took some hunting to locate the grave sites, but with the benefit of the lack of snow cover, it didn’t take long to find the markers. Some flowers were laid and then a few members of the family read portions of a memorial prayer that second brother, Barry, had composed.
This is the first time the entire family has visited the graves together, which made this a particularly special occasion. Michelle’s death occurred on December 14th, so the Christmas season for Cyndie and her parents and siblings has a way of bringing with it memories of that time in 1967.
As the middle of the day approached, we headed across the city to take a tour of the new auditorium under construction at the Masonic Children’s Hospital at the University of Minnesota. The family connection to the U of M is strong, but the connection to the Children’s Hospital is especially poignant.
The Friswold family has adopted a room in memory of Michelle. We were able to visit a similar adjacent room which was vacant, to see the special features available to children and their families as a result the financial contributions.
A significant effort is made to give the kids being treated as much control over their environment as possible. A touch-screen monitor is suspended on an arm that, among other things, allows the child to remotely control the window shades and alter the color of the room lighting. Of course, I only remember those features because they are the ones our group played with while exploring the room.
To top the day off, we finished with a special private dinner event at the U of M McNamara Alumni Center 
along with the family of Fred Friswold’s frat brother from the class of ’58, Larry Laukka. The Friswold and Laukka families have been getting together regularly at Christmastime the last few years, and this year the two patriarchs took it up a notch, bringing us on campus to share the full story of their incredible persistence as the volunteers who dreamed up and pulled off the incredible accomplishment of this world-class building.
It was a spectacular way to conclude the flurry of holiday family gatherings. Cyndie’s family is very precious, indeed, and I am a lucky man to be included as one of their own.
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Snow’s Back
I’m sitting with some Guatemalan hot chocolate and fresh-baked puppy dog tails from Isles Bun & Coffee (thanks Jeff and Catherine!), preparing to have a late breakfast after an extended trip to feed the horses. It took a little extra time this morning because of the new snow that fell overnight.
It has been a while since I needed to clear snow. I’m out of practice. I’m behind schedule and chomping at the bit to get out on the Grizzly and plow, so I’ll make this short. I’ll post pictures!
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Found
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I’m here
but I’m not here
right now
never was
listening
to the cacophony
of unwanted sound
despite every effort
to not be around
I’m hiding
upstairs
way underground
beneath the pathway
repeatedly beaten down
by footsteps
figuratively traipsing
across the surface
of everything
waiting to be found
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Parking Job
It looked like we had a bit of a wild party around here overnight Tuesday. Elysa and Anne had come to spend the night so they could wake up and already be here in the morning for our family Christmas-Eve-day stockings and gift exchange.
When I stepped out with Delilah for her morning walk, I was surprised that Elysa’s car wasn’t there. As my mind worked to solve the puzzle, I realized that I had seen only Elysa the night before, when she peeked into our bedroom to say hello. Did Anne just drop her off and take the car back home, I wondered? Or, did they get up super early and need to make a run to the store for something?
I walked toward their usual parking spot and noticed the tire tracks. Then I spotted the car beyond the driveway in our back yard. What the heck? Did they come in too fast and miss the landing? No. It was obvious from the markings in the snow that they had parked and stepped out of the car doors like always.
From that, I deduced the car must have moved after they parked it. The only explanation I could figure was that the parking brake wasn’t set, and whoever had driven had failed to leave the car in gear after they stopped and shut off the engine.
It made for some good-natured ribbing with Elysa all morning. She said the parking brake was on, but she knew it wasn’t pulled tight. When pulled as tight as possible, she reported, it is difficult for her to get it to release when the time comes.
It took both Julian and me pushing, but she got it turned around and back up on the pavement again before it was time to head home.
Luckily, no one beyond us and the UPS delivery driver witnessed the car in the back yard, so she shouldn’t face any more teasing over the incident. I’m not going to tell anyone about it.
A note for our friends, the Morales family in Guatemala, who visited us during this holiday time last year… notice the lack of snow in the image above? You guys picked the perfect winter last year. What a difference we are now facing. It hardly feels like winter at all.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
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Serious Challenge
I want to send a shout out to my niece, Tricia, for the wonderfully appropriate little fiendish gift she presented to me last Sunday. She said she thought of me when she saw this item, and I can understand why. It’s a puzzle. I like puzzles. Done.
Well… I’m being reminded that my skill with puzzling is stronger in the realms of jigsaws and Sudoku. I can easily consume hours toiling away at either. Physical puzzles tend to strike me in the gaps between my logic. I have fiddled with this little metal challenge for a couple of days now, and am absolutely no closer to a solution than when I started.
That’s part of the fun. If I had solved it this quick, it would have been too easy. I think she picked just the right level for me. That is, if I can someday decipher the solution. I’ll let you know in a few weeks.
I’ve never in my life succeeded in solving the Rubik’s cube puzzle. I’m okay with that. The puzzles that entertain me feel comfortable, like a cuddly soft felt blanket. The cube is more like a scratchy wool to me. Right now, this tangle of metal seems to fall somewhere between those two.
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Calm Interlude
The day after our big Hays family gathering was in stark contrast for us. Overnight Sunday to Monday brought a fair amount of rainfall which almost entirely melted away the snow cover. The ongoing warm and dreary wet winter weather kept me indoors most of the day, which served me well in getting the laundry done. Cyndie spent endless hours in a meeting over the phone for her work.
We decided to leave the horses in the barn for the day because of the crummy wet weather. After Cyndie finished her phone work, we headed down to brush them off and put blankets on them so we could let them back outside. It’s actually the first time this year that we have had blankets on them. I’m so happy that none of them laid down as soon as we let them loose in the paddock. I’ll be surprised if at least one of them isn’t dragging around a dirty, crooked blanket this morning.
For once, with Cyndie’s help, I didn’t procrastinate cleaning out their stalls yesterday. It feels great to have the barn already clean and ready for the next time we feel the need to bring them in.
Speaking of caring after the horses, Cyndie learned that the brother of a friend of hers does some house-sitting and pet care. She has contacted him and initiated dialogue toward planning a visit so we can get to know each other. If it turns out to be a good fit, we will finally be able to start making plans that involve us being away from home for more than a few hours a day.
And speaking of being away from home, our calm interlude will be short-lived. The next few days will become a whirlwind of Christmas events with Cyndie’s family. It is wonderful and intimidating, all at the same time. It will be fun, but I am grateful to have the moment of pause between family holiday events.
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Sibling Revelry
Despite a sloppy wintry mix of precipitation doing its best to dampen our spirits (sorry ’bout the pun), the gathering of Hays relatives was a joy and a half. As always happens to me at family gatherings of limited duration, the riches of access to siblings I grew up with is enticing, but the reality of our usual chaos leaves me wishing there was more time. It is hard to finish a story, and sometimes a single sentence, without interruption. My attention is too often wrenched away from the person I was listening to, and time flies by so fast, the hour of departure comes up way too soon.
Regardless, every moment was precious. Reconnecting after long periods of separation, with siblings who share so many tendencies and characteristics, is refreshing and invigorating. I tend to feel a kind of validation of who I am, discovering the brothers and sisters that I grew up with remain so similar in behavior and perspectives. I am among my people again.
I’m lucky that, as a family, we all get along. These are the people who inhabited Intervale Ranch with me from the day I was born until 9 years later, when our family moved out and the property was razed for development into an industrial park.
With technical assistance from my son, Julian, I was able to display a digitized version of a slide show I put together close to 30 years ago, which featured that old farm property. It provided an opportunity to exercise our memories, as we analyzed some of the images and compared recollections.
Meanwhile, there was non-stop food to be consumed, youngsters to get reacquainted with and entertained by, and horses to visit. Unfortunately, that last part with the horses was complicated by the weather conditions. They have been a little jumpy the last two days. I’m thinking there may have been some coyote activity in the area. That jumpiness was then compounded by wet precipitation which brought them to shivers.
As the bulk of our visitors wandered down to greet the herd, the attention suddenly needed to be redirected to preparing the stalls and moving the cold, wet horses inside. At least people were able to witness the process as it happened, and see the horses enjoy the reward of coming in to warm up and dry out.
Delilah was pretty excited to have so many visitors, but eventually adjusted to the clamor of all the conversations and quietly laid in front of the fireplace. She seemed more than happy to accept cuddles from Reese, one of the older grandchildren present.
It’s nice to see the kids doing well with our animals, because we see them as potential ranch hands in the years ahead. When their parents eventually start thinking about sending them off to some camp for the summer, we can put in a pitch for the valuable experience they could gain here, doing chores at Wintervale. Seems like a win-win.
Cyndie and I express our extreme appreciation to all the family members who made the trip through messy weather to bring our place to life with their love and energy. Here’s hoping we don’t let too much time pass before the next Hays family gathering materializes!
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Relative Something 