RABBITS AREN’T AS SMART AS THEY’RE CRACKED UP TO BE

Last night a baby rabbit fell into one of our egress window wells.  I’m not a big fan of rabbits because they eat flowers, but I didn’t want to see one starve to death in front of my eyes.  I thought it would climb out via the ladder that’s fastened to the wall, but after an hour it had not.  So we moved the cover of the well off and put a step ladder down so it could hop up the steps to freedom.  No go.  This morning it was still there, so I donned a pair of Sam’s heavy work gloves and climbed down into the well.  Stupid bunny didn’t want me to catch it, but I finally cornered it, grabbed it much against its will and tossed it out of the well.  It skedaddled without even a thank you.  I hope he has a good excuse when his mother asks where he was all night.

I’ve been slow in posting pictures of the reunion because I have over 500 pictures of it.  We combined everyone’s pictures and I haven’t had time to go through and delete duplicates.  Here’s a small selection of the 500.

Water temps in the mid 50s is not enough to deter those who really really want to tube.

What’s an old lady doing mixed up in this group?  Really, I was not cold.  I was just trying to keep my hood up and my hat on.  Contrary to how it looks, I was having a good time.

Richard bought a new mountain bike and had it delivered to Houghton while we were there.  Some assembly was required, and it drew a crowd.

Voila!

We went to the site of what David says is the largest steel dam in the world.  It was built in 1901 during the copper boom.  It’s in the middle of nowhere, so the copper boom must be over.

I was going to add more pictures, but for some reason I can’t upload them.  I’ll try again tomorrow.

Usually water sports are front and center at our family reunions, but usually our family reunions take place in August.  We knew this one would be different as we were dealing with Lake Superior in May/June.  The water temp was in the mid-50s.  However, some of us are intrepid, as witness Stephen water skiing.

Larissa likes to try new things.  Here she captains the boat for the first time.

Those white patches are snow – on May 29th!  They had 314 inches of snow up there this winter.  It’s not a place for the faint of heart, but it’s beautiful all year round.

Our older granddaughters, Natalie and Catherine.  Every year I take a picture of them in the back of the boat.  In the background the guys get ready for a boat  trip.

Alas, boating was cut short this year as the boat hit a rock while going a million miles an hour.  It ripped off the skeg and ruined the prop.  Richard was able to find a new prop up there, but a couple of days later the motor stopped dead when we were several miles up the Portage Canal because of gear problems no doubt caused by hitting the rock.  We called Ken to come get us in a car.  David went to the rescue in his jet ski, but it too died before he could tow the big boat back to the house.  Richard, David and Stephen paddled the boat  a mile and a half to a launching ramp (NOT an easy job as the boat is 21 feet long and heavy) where both it and the jet ski were loaded onto trailers and taken back to the house.  Thus ended boating for this trip. 

So there were two disasters at sea, and one of our people had a fender bender with a car.  Other than that – things went smoothly .

We’re back from our annual family reunion.  We went to the same place as last year – way WAY up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the towns of Houghton and Hancock.  Houghton is the site of Michigan Tech, where David and Catherine go to college.  There were some minor calamities (if a calamity can ever be minor) which I will detail in the coming days, but all in all, things went well and everyone seemed to have a very good time.  Here is a picture Stephen took and which I shamelessly copied from Natalie’s blog as Stephen flew from Michigan to California to a swim meet and hasn’t had a chance to send me the picture yet.  I think it’s fantastic.  “Leadmewhere” is the title of Natalie’s blog.

Fortunately our church hasn’t fallen into this pit.  (Thanks to Lynne for the reference.)

On Thursday, May 16, I mailed an envelope by certified mail at our local post office.  It was to go to White Cloud, a town 115 miles due west of here.  I could have driven there in two hours.  This is the route it took from here to there:

Midland
Detroit
Grand Rapids
Wayland MI (I don’t even know where that is)
Grand Rapids
Catano, Puerto Rico (yes, Puerto Rico)
Grand Rapids
White Cloud (today, May 24)

And this, my dears, is the government that wants to run the nation’s health care system.

BRAGGIN’ ON THE GRANDSONS

An article that appeared in our local paper last week:

They spelled our last name right two out of three times, and 66 2/3% accuracy is excellent for our local paper.  Historic, even.

David likes entering these competitions, and he often takes third place.  He says he’s going to have to find competitions that pay more for third place.  Good job, David.  I proofed the paper for him, and it was very well written.  It had good ideas for improving education in Michigan, but alas they will never be put into effect, given the power of teachers’ unions and our politicians.

Stephen, meanwhile, was accepted at Northwestern University and also received an appointment to the Air Force Academy.  After much thought, he’s decided to go to Northwestern and major in mechanical engineering.  We would have supported either decision, but we must admit we’re pleased with his choice.

We’re proud of both these young men and delighted to call them our grandsons.

By the way, David and Stephen will be the fourth generation of male engineers in our family.  Still no female engineers, but we have the little girls coming along and who knows – one of them might pick up the banner and run with it.

IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHOSE OX IS BEING GORED

Well, you just have to laugh.  The mainstream media have been in Obama’s pocket for years, ever since he came on the scene.  They got him elected and have protected him ever since with all manner of excuses.  But now, now he’s spying on them – he’s checking their phone calls and finding out who their sources of information are.  Now, now they’re all atwitter and all outraged and yelling First Amendment all over the place. 

Yes, you just have to laugh.

A “TWO-FER” DAY

Today is not only Mother’s Day but also Barb’s birthday.  The two coincide every few years, and I understand she was born on Mother’s Day.  We gathered at her house for a delicious lunch prepared by David and Catherine and then visited with Richard (who is still working in Augusta GA) via a Skype-type hookup.  What a wonderful age we live in where absent family members can join in a celebration.

Barb’s family gave her two semi-dwarf cherry trees.  Here you see Barb with the trees and Richard on the screen.

Catherine made a wonderful gluten-free cake and decorated it in a special way.  It tasted as good as it looked.

Happy birthday, Barb!  It was great spending part of it with you.