My Heart is Going Boom-Boom-Boom-Truck

Airlift support is on the way. I went down to United Rental in Sioux Falls yesterday and made the call, bringing this big unit to Madison to assist in the aerial support of the war on bad shingles. It's supposed to arrive this morning early. Not here yet. The peonies have been warned; civilian casualties are expected.

A Pile of Shingles, a Roof in Need

It's time to make good on the promise to shingle the roof. I've got the shingles and the roof, and now I just need to put a plan into action. Now if I could just decide on a plan. Whichever action I devise, it will have to accomodate the significant height of the roof, a height that my hunky ladder cannot attain. Extended out to its full length, my big ladder will get me up to where I can reach the gutters (full of gunk and plants as you can see in the roof photo), but I'm looking at a big boom or fork lift to put me up where I need to be. More later.

Casey Gets the Job Done

Youngest son Casey graduated from Rosemount High School Friday among 545 others, which led to celebrations by friends and family. Here's a picture of David, Casey, and April with their dad. Good deal!

Their Grandma Rosemary also was in attendance and shows her happy face here.

More photos are available online here.

Running Photos

Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half Marathon photos are available. I'm here. The wife is here. There's no blood!

Medals for Madison

We've been busy the past week or so, doing yard work, working on machinery and houses, and getting ready to run the 2009 Deadwood-Mickelson Trail Half Marathon. It's a done deal, and we brought back two medals to add a little bling to the closet.

The wife was a little fearful of this, her first big race, and first half-marathon to boot. It was her longest run ever, and she faced it with aplomb, picking up speed throughout the race, finishing with the fastest mile of the 13. She wanted to finish under 2:30, but her pace brought her in over a minute per mile faster--2:14. She's ready to try it again! She's looking at the Leading Ladies Half Marathon in Spearfish Canyon. There may be some takers, now that we've got a growing group of runners. Congratulations Wife!

I did fine, not quite what I had hoped for, but about what I expected, same as what I did two years ago, about 1:41 for the half. I'll get better as the summer goes on (I hope).

We enjoyed staying in the Ryan cabin up near Terry Peak, especially the hot tub after the race. Sunday night, though, it snowed! Brother Jess and wife Rena showed up and we enjoyed lunch with them. Saturday we visited sister Renee and her son Dillon and the bunch at her house, who all went up Crazy Horse Monument for the Volksmarch.

I wonder if they're all still as sore as we are!

Happy Anniversary to Us

First we went to Spain, then to Kansas City, then to Sioux Falls (twice? three times?).  Today we went for a short run in Lake Herman State Park, then went to Howard, where we enjoyed lunch at Higher Grounds and then off to the Bechen farm.  It was also a good day for garage sales, and we picked up a little music box (pictured here), a 1963 model Wonderland Music Company radio-type thing that plays "It's a Small World" and has a little rotary-dial and a strap.  It works great!  A search of the internet didn't show me anything similar.  I hope nobody realizes it's the holy grail of Disney memoriablila and raids our house!  We'll entertain offers.  Send me a note if you find something, will you?  

Then we ate at our favorite Madison restaraunt, El Vaquero, to include a jumbo sangria which we shared, and then went to Pixar's new movie, "Up," a big pleasant surprise to both of us.  It was a great ending to our anniversary day.  

Thanks, Pixar!  Thanks too to the wife for six good years of married life.  

Thomas Jefferson Comes to Town

Friends the B's visited Monticello this spring and brought back some of Thomas Jefferson's legacy, a packet of corn poppy seeds (papaver rhoeas) that we're planting in our new flower beds in the back yard.  Thanks, Thomas.  Thanks, B's.  

Laying Tree Fabric

Last Thursday Joe B. called and asked if I'd like to lay tree fabric with them, so we set out with Wayne M. at 9:00 am and just 14 hours later we were heading home, the day done and gone.  

It was a good day; here's a photo of late afternoon, just south of Madison, with the fabric laid, the newly-planted trees in place with their protective barrier ready.  A dozen years from now these trees will probably be fifteen feet high.  

It might be the fabric day, or it might be the days moving sod in the yard, but I'm still sore.  Now for a long run!  

New Back Yard

Several days of effort have resulted in a new look for the back yard.  The dedicated rose gardens are gone, though most of the rose bushes are thriving in their new spots further north in the yard.  We took up the sod from the north side, where the old willow fell, and moved it to where the angular gardent was.  We took out two of the biggest, oldest apple trees; it was sad to see them go.  We've got one struggling survivor replacement apple tree from last year still hanging in there, and one new Honey Crisp sapling to augment our apple situation.  

Several of the lilacs I planted last summer along the east side are blooming this year, an amazing thing to me.  Today the lilacs are beginning to fade, but as you can see in the slide show here, the yard is looking healthy!  

Happy Memorial Day!  

Testing Simple Viewer

I'm trying out SimpleViewer from Airtight Interactive, a tool to create interactive photo slide shows, using a variety of photo editing tools such as Picasa3, which is what I used here. Check it out!

Hmm. Why isn't it loading the full pictures?

Yay! Fixed!

I Saved My Husband's Life (and his washboard abs)

Strange juxtaposition of ads on The NY Times, with Maureen Dowd looking on.  

Middle School Slamming

Today we showed up at Madison Middle School and led students through a quick, slam-bang poetry slam in an hour and a half, with a few minutes of training and examples, some writing and revising time, and mostly time for performing.  

I wasn't sure how it would go, but it was part of "May Madness," on the second to last day of school, and they got into it, cheering and booing and having a great time.  It rocked; it slammed.  

Poems ranged from curses on family members to odes to shoes.  The champion won with one poem on a peanut and another cursing someone for not sharing their pizza.  For that performance, he got to raise the slam belt pictured here.  

Baby We Were Born to Run

After long delay I finally finish my phrase from the Bruce Springsteen gala weekend--coming home with songs in our heads and two new pair of running shoes from Marathon Sports in Minneapolis, where the treat people right and offer a 20% (!) discount for members.   We're members now!  

We had a great time playing Settlers of Catan on Sunday night with Casey, April, and Chester, and we spent Monday poking around the city, taking in a jog, getting shoes (see above), and eating.  Then it was BRUUUUUUUUCE!  We were impressed with their playing "Good Lovin,'" never having played it before in concert.  Cool!  We wanted to have signs calling for "Part Man, Part Monkey," but we didn't get them made.  We did get to see one woman's huge pink Cadillac poster when she unfolded it at the restaurant and then later at the concert, and we saw her bouncing with joy when that song hit the playlist.  

Yesterday we both gave our new pairs of shoes a good workout by going for long runs (two plus hours!) in the final big run before the Deadwood-Mickelson Trail Half Marathon, June 7.  Nothing like a long run to poop a guy out.  Sunday it was TOO WINDY!  Today it was TOO HOT! Yesterday morning it was just right.  

Tramps Like Us

Springsteen was rockin' the house last night, and we were there!  St. Paul was appreciative!  Pics here.  

Powerful Pie

The wife put her talents to work on a German chocolate pie this evening, and it tasted just as good as it looks here.  She claims it was her first pie, from crust to filling.  She got in on a pie-making jamboree on Wednesday to prepare for the Derby Party at Miss Lynn's on Saturday (where we enjoyed mint juleps, a home-stretch sprint from Mine the Bird, and good company--then went to the theatre-people party and karaoke).  The assembled team made crusts galore and the wife came home with two she'd done herself, brimming with new pie-crust skills.  One became a quiche, the other this dandy.

We also enjoyed some delicious stuffed pork chops, asparagus, and sweet potatoes, cooked on the grill and enjoyed out on the porch, a perfect topping to the first day of finals.  

Makes me feel powerful, too!  

If Objects Could Speak

Thanks, Dan for the link!  I love a simple, unadorned piece like this that speaks from the gut.  Or the coin slot.  
The Lost Tribes of New York City from Carolyn London on Vimeo.

More Weekend Stuff, My Sore Back

This weekend was partially clean-up weekend, with Saturday's leaf-raking and leaf-hauling-away, but it also got the house cleaner, the kitchen wall finished, some herbs planted, some rhubarb moved, some flowers planted, and some visiting done. Not to mention the schoolwork that always comes with Saturday and Sunday. Closing in on the end of the semester, the beginning of summer!

We're waiting to see if peonies we moved last fall with survive the migration. The rain Saturday night(over one inch, I think) should help. Good thing we got the raking done (mostly) on Saturday!

John + Deana Endures

Our special pumpkin from last fall is still sending out its feeble and fading reminder, grown into it last summer and being proclaimed last fall from our front doorstep. Say on, pumpkin! Say on!

Saturday Snow

Saturday morning we woke to snow covering the ground, but only lightly, and by the time I went out with the camera, the only snow left was this on the windshield of the pickup.

Later we went to the new Moose abode and tore out some carpet that looks good enough for the rental house. We brought that home, rolled it up, and stored it away for a project to be completed later.

Portrait of the Bard?

This photo, from the Washington Post, shows a controversial portrait of William Shakespeare, which some think is the only portrait of him done during his lifetime.  I like the wry smile and the knowing, engaged look in his eyes.  That should be him!  

But some think the whole thing is bogus.  WS would have appreciated the controvery, I suspect.