| July 4, 2005 Hello All, Happy Independence Day to all of you. News from the Great Northwest, all things considered, we are doing well. We have had a particularly bad year with allergies. The only one not affected is Jon. I think the biggest culprit is the grass seed that is grown near us, acres and acres of grass seed! The last week seems to have been better and we are actually able to go outside and not go into a sneezing fit. Around the place since last update, the sliding glass door has been installed in the master bedroom, it is a very nice addition and makes the room seem more roomy and open. The boat has been readied for the summer and in fact we have had it out three times already. The garden is doing so so. We had a dry winter and a very wet spring so things had a slow start. We have been battling a rogue deer that needs to find something more constructive to do with his time. He ( I assume it�s a he) is very bold and walks right up to the house in broad daylight and eats what ever suits his fancy! Some of his fancy has been the strawberries and tomato plants. We have shot him with the bb gun, thrown rocks, yelled, we even let Queenie the dog out at night to keep him away. Nothing seems to be working. We have been enjoying fresh strawberries for about the past month with some blueberries and raspberries mixed in. The grapes are doing well, as is the plum tree. The other fruit trees are not doing so well. It looks like we will get some pears, but the apples are questionable! In animal news the chickens are doing well and giving us about 3 dozen eggs a week. The ducks are as noisy as ever! The two ducks that were sitting on nests did not hatch any ducklings. I think part is my fault for not remembering to spray the eggs with water. They need a certain amount of humidity. One more is still sitting and we will see if any hatch. Shaq the cat is still missing and presumably gone for good. There was a stray in the yard a couple of weeks back and it had the coloring of Shaq so it was probably one of his offspring. We have been battling moles and gophers lately. Now I don�t mind moles and gophers, in fact they are kind of cute, but when they threaten the garden and my septic drain field, that�s another story. The best way we have found to hunt them is to flood their holes with water, which drives them nuts and when they return to clean out the mud we have deposited in their holes, we are waiting with the 12 gauge. I have killed 2 moles and 2 gophers in the past few weeks. My gun of choice for this chore is an old single shot that was given to me by my Dad and it was his Dad�s. I would like to think my Grandfather would appreciate his gun still being used as a tool around a household rather than sitting in a dusty closet somewhere. Jon and Adam finished up school with straight A�s again this year. Adam was honored for his achievements in several classes. He is working for a neighbor down the road doing yard work, earning money in an attempt at keeping up with his growing love for music. He and Jon have purchased an electric guitar and amp together. Adam has some software for his computer that he can play and store different tracks and blend them so that he can compose an entire song with different instruments all played by himself. He spends many hours practicing and playing. Jon went to the junior Olympics in Portland and took first place in the 400 meters with a time of 59.2 seconds. He became the only middle schooler in his league to break the 1 minute mark for the 400 in 2005. He also high jumped 5�4� and nearly cleared 5�6� for a second place finish in that event. He has a chance next year to come very close to several of the league records. Cody finished up his first year of home schooling and will probably return to public school next year. Cody turned 7 last month and we had the normal for us, low key celebration. On Fathers Day we had no big plans and I was out working in the yard. The weather has been so spotty this year with rain and storms blowing through. But Fathers Day morning was bright and sunny. Lorelei hollered out �do you want to do something today� I said �sure how about boating�. We checked the weather with our super duper VHF, GPS, Weather Radio (thanks Dad!) and the report said sunny in the morning with chance of showers in the evening. Heck we could handle that! So we throw some food and fishing gear in the boat and off we go. We head up to Detroit, a mountain lake about an hour and a half from our house. One of the reasons for heading up in the mountains was to get out of the pollen in the valley and hopefully have at least half a days relief from allergies. We launch around noon and the weather is beautiful, temp around 70 degrees with clouds and sun. We cruise around the lake and explore (this is Lorelei�s first time on this lake), we fish and Jon eats, we fish some more and Jon eats some more. We are in a cove on the far side of the lake from the launch and the skies begin to darken. It�s hard to see which way the weather is coming from because we are deep in a cove with rugged tree lined hills all around us. Finally we look at the clock and it�s 5:30 with the skies darkening rapidly. We decide to head back in. By the time we pulled the anchor the first gust of wind hit and blew some branches from a nearby tree into the lake and nearly hitting the boat. We put everything we were worried about getting wet down in the cabin. Up to this point we had been comfortable wearing short sleeved shirts and we all had on shorts. It was clear by now we were in for a drastic weather change. We put on all the extra shirts and sweatshirts that we had brought. Lorelei grabbed her life jacket and her and Cody got down in the cabin. About this time the thunder and lightning began. By the time we hit the main body of the lake the wind was blowing 30-40 mph and the surface of the lake was a frothy 3� chop. The rain and the sleet hit us so hard the boys and I were instantly soaked through our clothing. Even though we have a windshield wiper, it did no good. The only way I could see was to look over the top of the windshield. (Note to self: Please move up on the list 1 new canvas top for the boat!) It was a little unnerving with the lightning so close, but the boat handled the rough water very well. We could not head directly across to the launch ramp because of the wind and wave direction, so we went past the launch and then turned back up wind. It was interesting trying to bring the boat into the dock, the boys held the boat with all their might while I went up to get the truck. I hollered back to Jon to turn on the bilge pump and it was amazing how much water was in the boat in such a short time. Water was gushing down the parking lot, people were frantically tying down camping gear and boats. Many people had apparently been listening to the radio and heard the warnings and had already left in time. (Note to self: When you are given a cool VHF, GPS, weather radio as a Christmas present and you take it with you on the boat, TURN IT ON!) The national weather service had issued a severe thunderstorm and funnel cloud alert EXACTLY IN THE AREA WHERE WE WERE! Once the boat was loaded we helped Cody and Lorelei out of the boat, the boys and I stripped down to our shorts and climbed in the truck. About 15 miles down the road there was rest area and they were serving coffee and hot chocolate. Adam and I stood there in our shorts and a soaked towel in the pouring rain staring in at the Veterans who were manning the beverage trailer. The one old guy hollers out, �are you guys taking a bath�. Lorelei comes back from the bathroom with a frown on her face. Now keep in mind, during the whole ordeal on the lake, her and Cody are snug and dry down in the cabin. The boys and I are in the open cockpit of the boat. Her and Cody stayed in the cabin until we got them out and into the truck. I ask her what was wrong and she says � I stepped in a puddle on the way to the bathroom and my feet are wet� The boys and I are still teasing her about that! We will always remember Fathers Day 2005! Lorelei had more biopsies taken on her face and chest last week. We are praying for negative results on those. Lorelei and I went to the Civil War reenactment yesterday that is held every year at a local State Park. We like wandering around through the camps and seeing how our ancestors lived through those hard times. Cody is excited about today being the 4th of July! We purchased some fireworks and we will probably just hang out and throw a steak on the barbecue and shoot off fireworks. I guess that�s about it for now, I know I left out a bunch of stuff but hey I don�t remember as good as I used to! Glynn Jr. |