New Puppy - Molly Tupal

Call me crazy....but, I had a weak moment on July 29th when we went to visit/view some Springer Spaniel/Lab puppies. It was on the last day of dog sitting my old lab friend Shaddow. (See the story of Shaddow in my 2005 archive). I once again was thinking seriously about wanting a larger dog, and, well, there in the morning newspaper was the answer to my desire.

The puppies were at a house on an small lake out in the country, about 16 miles away, so we had a nice drive for a Saturday morning. There were 3 female puppies available. All were black, although each had unique markings. One had a white speckled foot and more Springer look, but she was very clingy. I didn't want (another) clingy/whinny dog...so we skipped that one. The other two...one was pure black with no white...a bit longer hair with curly hair on her ears; the other had some white but looked more lab. So....I picked the pure black/curly ear hair puppy....much to my husband's dismay. At the time, he was negating my trying to make a decision with comments like "we should talk to our vet", "you should do more research on dog breeds", etc. I, instead, took out my checkbook, paid the fee, and gathered the puppy up...heading out the door.

We struggled with discovering a name, kicking around a series of them on our drive back home. The one that seemed appropriate was "Molly", although when run past my daughter, I was told it was "too common". Well...the dog seems to come to "Molly", so....Molly it is. I decided to fancy it up by adding a Star Trek character's name to the mix...Tupal. Tupal was the Vulcan woman on the newest series - Enterprise....that was sadly cancelled last year. So...Molly Tupal is our new dog's name.

Molly seems quite smart, is picking up on routines very quickly for a gal that has been on the planet for (now) 8 1/2 weeks. The other dogs are getting accustomed to her...and I'm enjoying having a new dog pal.

(Above Photo is of Shaddow (L) & Molly (R), with my dog Zeek in the background. Below is John with Molly and Zeek on the couch)


S~

Astounding Rainbow

June 18th we had an ominous storm pass over, and luckily we were spared any severe weather. The storm, though, momentarily made the most astounding rainbow that I've seen.


I was driving along the Lake Michigan lakeshore when I saw it. It brilliantly glowed, and where the illusion suggested it met the water, the water seemed illuminated. I tried to capture it with my digital camera. The pictures do not begin to show the glory that it let us glimpse for the fleeting moments it arched across the sky.

Feeling Crummy Summer

I've not been the greatest at keeping up with my blog this summer because I have felt crummy ever since going on my trip to Colorado. I mentioned that while I was there in early June, I did develop bronchitis. I lost my voice, developed a cough, and by the time I got back to Wisconsin, I had a sore throat and plugged up ears. I've had several doctor visits, and the initial ones did address the bronchitis. However, I have never quite gotten over the plugged ears, my throat still flares up, and about every couple days, I'm back feeling fatigued and generally not great. So..it certainly has slowed down my summer.

I've tried to think of the good things that this has given me...not feeling great for 6+ weeks causes a person to ponder many things that are not so positive. But, on the positive side, this has certainly caused me to slow down! I mean, left to my own devices, I tend to be busy..busy...busy. Feeling crummy has made me take naps and rest and do nothing. So...hopefully by the time college begins in September, I sure hope to be back to my zippy self.

Yearly Fireworks

4th of July was quiet...relatively...for us as we had no plans for parties, or company, or anything really out of the normal routine. Instead it was a day of working in the yard on projects that we've had in mind. The main project of the day was beginning work on a cement block patio area below our deck. After finishing 1/2 of the project, we took some time to leisurely bask in the joy of our work....setting up our chairs and enjoying the cool of the evening. When dusk fell, off we went to watch the local fireworks, choosing a spot along the breakwater of Lake Michigan where I usually go fishing here in Two Rivers.

HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT HOLIDAY!

Garden 2006

Its time for me to post some photos of this year's garden!

Here's my garden (left) area after initial prep in early May. The leaf covered bed in the fore ground is one of my potato beds. Here I had finished planting it. The path is covered with old carpet pieces, excellent for keeping weeds down.

Here is the same view, (right) as of July 3, 2006. The potato patch is in the fore ground. Next are two tomato beds, and then some corn and misc. Raspberries and a grapevine are along the far edge of my garden.




Here's the early May view of my garden again (left), this time taken looking straight on towards it, including my green house frame.



Here's how it looks on July 3, 2006 (right)! What I love about Wisconsin is how lush everything grows.






Here's a photo of last year's potato bed area (left) , again in early May. I had a compost heap by it, which I used and then relocated at the back of the big garden for this year.

And here (to the right) is the same bed, which this year has peas, lettuce, and onions, on July 3, 2006.

Of course the thing that I have been so keen on all year long has been tomatoes. Although I do have some tomato beds in the large garden, I have once again planted tomatoes along the fence. This year I am actually fighting tomato "weeds", as the seeds from last year's dropped tomatoes are sprouting. This might be due to having planted heirloom plants that do produce viable seeds. So, here again are some before and after pictures:
(left) Here's part of the tomato area before I prepared it by tilling, digging, and working over the soil. Again, this photo was taken in early May.



(right) Taken July 3, this same area includes a "medicine wheel" flower bed (fore ground), and then tomato plants beyond. Yes, that is a sunflower. I have random sunflowers coming up due to the gardening efforts of the local bird population.

Here are a few more tomato photos taken July 3. The plants are just starting to bloom and set fruit.


This year's garden is so exciting for me. I have salad greens galore...I just take my scissors and snip off a patch of lettuce. The peas are now coming ready. It has potential to feed us for several months after harvest! If all goes well, we should have: tomatoes, potatoes, turnips, squash, cabbage, broccoli, sweet peppers, corn, peas, carrots, radishes, lettuce, onions, beans, cucumbers, Swiss chard, spinach, pumpkins, tomatillos....to add to the fruits from our yard, which include strawberries, cherries, apples, pears, grapes, raspberries, rhubarb, and plums. We already enjoyed the asparagus. Happy Summer!

Pike's Peak ...again

Having spent 14 of my first 17 years growing up living at the base of Pike's Peak, taking a journey up the mountain...whether by car or cog train...is not a novelty. It is, however, an important experience for anyone never having the experience, and so on this trip the goal was to take my husband John up to the summit on the cog train. A few years ago we tried to drive up the Peak, but it was too early in the year and the road was still closed to snow. So...the number one goal of this latest trip to Colorado was to make sure we took the Cog Railway up the mountain. The following are some pictures of our adventure. We took the noon train. It is very important to try to take a morning or early afternoon train, as a typical summer day in Colorado Springs brings a daily afternoon rain cloud that obscures the mountain. The afternoon showers usually develop around 2:30 p.m. or so....even though they rarely produce enough rain to amount to anything in the extremely arid climate of the E. Slope of the Rocky Mountains.
Here we are at the summit on June 8, 2006.



This picture of John is evidence that he did eat a famous Pike's Peak donut while at the summit.

Trip Pictures

This is a photo of my son, Try, with
his father, Duane. It had been 24+ years since they had last seen each other.


This is a photo of the cabin site where our family cabin once stood. The Haymen Creen Fire took our cabin on Father's Day, June 17, 2002. Nature has reclaimed the land.... the trees are now gone. It looks much the same (sans trees) as it did when my folks first built a 1-room cabin in the 1960's.

Here's a picture of my son, Try, and my husband, John, at the lake named after my father. This was one of my dad's favorite places to fish for trout. We took a few minutes to pause and remember dad as we walked the banks of this small pond.

Here's a picture of my extended family taken at my sister's house in Colorado Springs, June 06. The only person not pictured is my daughter, Megan. (We did "photoshop" her into another picture, however...to make the group complete!)

Home and Back Again

Last week was my first journey home to Colorado since 2004, really not that long of a time between visits. This visit, however, was one of connecting with family, more-or-less a mini family reunion. Originally we were getting together to do a memorial for my father, who passed away on Thanksgiving 2004, and maybe our gathering was just that...but we did not do an official "farewell" to dad...yet. He is still in an urn on my sister's piano...not forgotten.

Our trip coincided with what could have been my 35th wedding anniversary, if my teenage marriage had lasted. I found myself thinking back to Monday, June 7th, 1971....the wedding, the reception, the honeymoon trip, the beginnings. Interestingly, my ex husband from that era reconnected with our son, after 25 years absence, during this visit. So, there I sat across the patio at his parent's house, looking at the man who was my "young adult" mate choice. Our conversations tended to be frozen in time, with the only common memories from the early 1970's. I wondered if he was thinking about 1971.

The activities of the trip included taking my husband, John, up Pikes Peak on the Cog Railway. It was a wonderful trip, especially interesting to him since he is from the Dakota's. Later, we wandered around the mountain edge of the city, and we drove thru the Broadmoor. The day on Friday was spent taking my son around the city to places he wanted to visit, plus making a trip to the cabin property that burned in the Haymen Creek Fire in 2002. The weekend was a flurry of reunions with family.

Much of the trip is well documented with photos on my son's blog: http://ochimaru.blogspot.com/2006/06/grandpas-lake-colo-trip-continued.html

One outcome of the trip (that has my family amused) is that I lost my voice from too much talking. From that, it developed into a nasty case of bronchitis, and a bad head cold...and I've basically been in bed since returning. Regardless of feeling so sick this week, last week in Colorado was a blast!

S~

Travel

This past week was the National CEC convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. CEC stands for the Council of Exceptional Children, a professional organization dedicated to the teaching of children having special education needs. This was the very first time I've attended a CEC National Convention, and it was a fantastic experience. I learned quite a bit, discovered what a National convention is like, networked with new people, and reconnected with past colleagues. I'm not sure which was the best part, although seeing some of my past colleagues from Montana was certainly a nice surprise.

I travelled with the sped department chair from our college, and we had a nice time. (Sr. Mary Karen and I are seated on the wall in the above picture of the Temple). Sight-seeing was minimal, but a few things were fit into our tight schedule. I walked over to the Morman Conference Center and enjoyed a rehearsal of the Tabernacle Choir on Thursday night. Then late on Friday, we visited the Temple Square and took the tour. The weather on Friday afternoon was beautiful, so wandering around the Temple Square area was pleasant. Amazingly, the gardens were filled with fragrant flowers for such an early time of year.

Our trip was quick...we flew there on Thursday and back on Saturday. The planes were full, the airports were busy. It was also good to gaze out the plane window and look down upon Western prairies and mountain vistas. For a "Westerner" like me, it was good to get my "mountain fix" (if only fleetingly) since living in Wisconsin for 3-years. (My last view of mountains was in October 2003). I have another opportunity to see Western lands again coming up in June when headed on another trip...this time a vacation with my husband.

~~S

Spring Break Visitor

A friend from my UG College years spent part of spring break with me and my husband. It was a treat for me, as I hadn't seen this friend in a few years. He has been overseas working for the UN, having quite the adventure...assisting emerging governments..through his work as a graphic artist.

Anyway....his visit was an opportunity for me to break out of my usual routines and do/see some other things. The adventure began with driving in the FOG to pick him up in the middle of the night at the Milwaukee bus depot. Getting to the depot is a bit of a challenge as the Interstate highway interchanges in the downtown area are all under construction. Luckily, I sort of know my way...sort of...and so, although there were momentsof being lost, the task was accomplished. Once we arrived in my little burb, we had breakfast at a marvelous "mom & pop" restaurant that I like to frequent. Thus the visit began.

Some of the things that we did included a very brief walk along Lake Michigan...it was too chilly for my friend, who has spent the last few years in dry middle Eastern lands. We also checked out (briefly) one of the county parks along the lake shore, before taking a jaunt up to part of Door County and down along the Green Bay. We also did some driving around exploring of the city of Green Bay, specifically downtown, where we searched for some obscure bars/taverns....


(Photo here is of the frozen Green Bay-->)
The days of the visit seemed to rush by, and although we did some more exploring of local coffee houses, and interesting things around town, soon it was time to take my friend back to Milwaukee, to catch the Greyhound bus for home, and time for me to return to work following Spring Break.

Its so good to have friends come and visit! Thanks for taking the time, my dear friend Brad. It was a terrific break!

~S

Spring Approaches!!!

Sunny days have brought brighter moments for me, and I feel the awakening of wanting to get out and enjoy the outdoors. Today was one of those days, and so I took a few hours and, with the company of my dog Zeek, we meandered along the Lake Michigan shoreline on the Mariner's Trail. It was refreshing to feel the brisk breeze off the lake, see the deep blues/greens/tans of the lake water, and enjoy the soft giving sand beneath my feet.

I'm eager for Spring....gosh, only 24-hours or so
until the equinox is here. I have baby tomato plants peeking leaves into the world, along with year-old plants awaiting the warm days of late May and the warm fertile garden soil. Its a time of anticipation, a time of thinking of summer things.

I've been pondering what to do during the summer months of 2006. I've had the bug to do some volunteer work - somewhere - but I haven't figured out where. I've had the bug to travel, but again, I haven't figured out where. I've even had the bug to take a summer job, but again...I have no idea where. What I do know is that there's about 6-weeks left in the Spring semester, and so my college teaching days are busy as the session wraps up. This week is our annual conference, and all the hustle and bustle of getting things ready, as we put that on, will fill the hours of this week.

So.....the walk along the lakeshore....what a refreshing, relaxing activity. I must add this into my routine. Zeek will love it, my body will love it, my brain will relish it. The lake feels much like the ocean....

For the past three weeks I've been working on life changes for better health...especially weight. This darned American diet fatness problem...my genes have caused it to haunt me all of my life. Every year I start again, and again, and again....to do something. Recently I've embraced what I call the "Oatmeal diet". That just means that every day I wake up and eat a big bowl of oatmeal, augmented with some dried fruit & a sprinkling of nuts. It fills me up for hours and hours..and with that I don't crave other things...well, except oranges. So...my diet is defined by oatmeal and oranges, plus a regular meal of less fattening items. Maybe I should start defining my life style by "O". If I call the lakeshore walks....Ocean.... then I'm on the Oatmeal/Oranges/Ocean health plan.

Enough for today's meanderings. Happy Spring!!
~S

Time Speeding Past

Again it has been well over a month since I've taken a moment to write in my Blog. In fact, its mid-term in the college semester, and Spring Break begins today!! Wow, time certainly flies by.

I've also been at a loss for creative writing ideas, seeing this venue as where I take time to "meander"....to dabble in my writing hobby. Even sitting here with fingers to the keyboard...I'm drawing a blank...although a nap sounds really good! I mean, its my first moments of Spring Break...having returned home from work just minutes ago.

After some rest...the next order of business will be domestic tasks of cleaning house. I do have company coming in a few days...a great inspiration for putting the house in better order. However, I'm most looking forward to taking a break and regaining energy for the coming weeks left in the Spring semester.

Til another day.
S~

Christmas Here and There

If you read my posts below on a "professor's life" and such, you might think that I "skipped" Christmas. Well, I did fit it in. Here are a few pictures:
Where's the Christmas Tree? Well, see that little pine tree in the center? It has a red bow on it! That is our 2005 Christmas tree. It is a Black Hills Spruce...a tree I bought at Walmart during the clearance sale in September. I have been keeping it in a pot, so it came inside for the holidays and is currently a houseplant.


Of special interest to me, of course, is the fact that there is a TOMATO PLANT right there with all the Christmas presents. Yes, you are seeing right. That plant has ripe tomatoes on it. It is the plant that I plucked ripe tomatoes from at Thanksgiving. Sadly, however, I must report that the plant passed on to "plant heaven" not long after Christmas. I now only have 2 tomato plants living from last summer's garden....but, with nuture...I hope to have them back in the ground come springtime!

Here are a couple pictures from our Christmas Dinner at my husband's sister's house:

We had a terrific time! Lasagne,
Ham, Salad,
Taters....

Christmas Misc....Giftmaking

Even though my time was short, I needed to make "gifts from the heart and hand". On Dec. 23rd/24th I took time to make "firestarter" cups for friends and family who have woodstoves. This picture is of the basket of firestarters I made for our woodstove. How do you do it? Gather old candle stubs/ends/unwanteds, melt them down, put some sawdust or wood chips in the dixie cup, pour the melted wax over the top until the sawdust/chips are covered. Let cool. I threaded yarn through the top of the cups to pull them shut and make them quite "pretty". These are working fantastically! An old Girl Scout craft!

For momentary stress relief during the end of semester rush of early December (between Dec.5th - 21st), I began doing a little crocheting. Here you see an example of the homemade dish cloths that I crocheted. These took very little time to do...and I found making them quite relaxing when I had enough of grading papers....before the exam week hit! I actually used crocheting as a "reward" for working hard on grading papers.

The crocheted dish cloth became part of a "Snowman Soup Kit" that I made and gave to several people. The ingredients for such can be found on the Internet, including some ideas for how to write a poem. I used the ideas I found and came up with my own poem. These were a real hit!! The kit includes cocoa, marshmallows, peppermints, chocolate, and my homemade dishcloth.

Of all the gifts given, I enjoyed giving these homemade items the best! ~S

Surrounded by Papers

Here's a picture of me during Christmas Break 2004...another fine example of the daunting task of grading papers/projects when the Fall college term ends.

Although I have a home office, my livingroom easy chair is where I settle in when the stacks of 3-ring binders and papers are tall. ~S

A Professor's Life

It has been a month since I've had a bit of time to write in this Blog. My last entry was just as the week of final exams and the end of a semester were hitting. The flurry of work that came with that ending put a stop to my creative writings and meanderings here in the net. I had too much to do.

I know that when I was a college student, I used to wonder why I could never find my professor when I'd go looking for him or her. I'd see office hours posted on the office door, or in the syllabus, and generally, a professor might have been available during those times. I also really never gave it a thought as to what professors were doing when the Christmas break came along. My only concern as a college student was getting the grade sheet in the mail telling me what my handed in work had awarded me, and relaxing inbetween semesters.

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My First College Instructor Christmas - 1996:
My worst ever Christmas Break was many years ago (Dec. 1996) when I was an instructor at a University. The week before finals we had a horrible snow storm, and then during finals week, we had a huge blizzard. The blizzard closed roads and although the University tried to limp along with the staff that could make it in, basically, everything was at a stand still. For my courses, students needed to turn in portfolios of work (special education projects). We didn't have "finals" per say. I was unable to get to college because I lived in a different town and the highways were closed. To add to this, Christmas in 1996 fell on Weds of that year. The term ended on Dec. 20th.

I was finally able to get to college on Dec. 20th. When I approached my college office door, there were 3-ring binders/portfolio projects stacked 3-deep and 3 feet high leaning against my door. I had to move all of the projects to even get into my office. I began the arduous task or organizing all the piles of submitted work. I had to seek boxes to organize all of the items into, and since there was no way I could get the grading done there, I got a 2-wheel cart and took 3 loads out to my car. I took these home to my tiny cottage. Grades were due - NOON Dec. 26th.

Now, originally the projects would have been in my hands in a gradual hand-in progression, and although daunting, certainly a bit more manageable than getting these all at once. Oh...did I mention I had 40 students in one class? 25 in another? etc.....etc.....

I had plans to be with family on Dec. 21st and 22nd....so those days were not available for grading projects. Dec. 23rd was, although I also had to get ready for Christmas with my daughter. Since I was living by myself, I worked from sun up to sun down on those portfolios and papers. What sticks so graphically in my mind is my Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I was alone, so I sat on my loveseat in my small livingroom, surrounded by those boxes, and steadily plowed thru grading all of those projects, while watching TV. I had friends that were like a mom and dad to me, so they would call every so often to see how I was doing. On Christmas Day, I was still working on the pile. I worked at a feverish pace...and around 3 p.m. on Christmas Day in 1996, my friends called me up and insisted I go out to dinner with them. They came by to pick me up....trundled me out to the van, and away we went. In my hands were the last of the papers. I had about 5 left to do. I insisted on taking them, as we had about a 20 minute drive. I sat in the back of the van, grading the last of the papers. My friend "mom" kept shaking her head. I finished that last little stack.

After our marvelous dinner - we went to a Christmas buffet - I was nearly to the point of having some time for myself. Late Christmas night, I finished averaging up the grades, and on Dec. 26th (exhausted) I drove the 22 miles to the college and submitted my grades before the noon deadline. I then drove 300 miles more (with a lighter spirit) to go and pick up my daughter for her Christmas visit. It felt so good to finally have some time off to spend with friends and family until the first full week of January.

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As I planned the Spring 06 courses, I tried diligently to make sure that the projects and papers are not going to bury me the first week of May, that they come in gradually across the semester...but, in reality....they will still bury me at the end.

~S

P.S. On a side note...I always wondered why a professor I came to know (Reno Parker) was ALWAYS at college during Christmas Break and Spring Break.....Now I think I know!!!!