Weekend activities

Friday night Kris had a birthday party/sleepover, so Karen and I went to see the Star Trek movie (it was good) and later watched Leno's finale on the Tonight Show. Saturday we went garage saling (I got a globe), picked up Kris, and I went fossil hunting at my hot spot. Pic is of a large horsetail stem. Saturday night we had dinner east of the river - as you can see the water is still high with lots of trees submerged. This morning we went to church (Kris served again) and this afternoon Kris and I took a six mile bike ride. Tonight someone gave us tickets to a fundraising dinner for Wildlife Prairie State Park - a really neat park and zoo that was on the ropes for funding but might be doing better now. We got our best ever look at the wolves - I did not realize they were so big!

The Big Rock

Pix from the outcrop of granite-type rock near my parents' cabin known as "the big rock". The blueberry plants there are in blossom. It also has marks from when the glaciers ran it over.

Assorted events

Pictures from Door County last Sunday. The apple orchards were full of white blossoms (and the fields were full of white dandelions). The lilacs were peaking up there, ours did about 3 weeks ago.

Karen was driving down Forest Hill Street this afternoon (on the way to get a haircut) when a bunch of police cars converged on a spot ahead of her, forcing her to stop. The police got out of their cars and ran to a house and pinned a person up against a fence. Karen thought it was pretty scary. Tonight we found out that a couple of people robbed someone at gunpoint at the 15th hole of a nearby golf course, and Karen was watching one of them get caught.

In other news Kris has finished fourth grade (and elementary school), accompanied by awards and tears. She and Karen are planning a summer full of activities. Karen is done subbing at PCS for the year. I am halfway through my May Interim class.

Heard a song on the radio today that I have not heard in a while. The lyrics give me goosebumps...

"It's Like Me" by Kutless

My conversation is leading nowhere

And we talk of God but still I don't share

So many times that I just never saw the chance

It's like me to never see

When it came, when it went

Now it's gone away

It's so like me to never see

When it came, when it went

Now it's gone away

The phone rings with news that he's gone

Just the time I shared my heart was prepared and another soul was won

So much truth to tell, I am so glad I saw the chance

It's like me to never see

When it came, when it went

Now it's gone away

It's so like me to never see

When it came, when it went

Now it's gone away

Sometimes I still never see when perfect opportunities come my way

Would my care increase if I truly believed that a life could be saved?

It's like me to never see

When it came, when it went

Now it's gone away

It's so like me to never see

When it came, when it went

Now it's gone away

Memorial Weekend

Friday evening we drove from Peoria, IL, to my parents' cabin near Mountain, WI. Saturday we hung out at the cabin, shoveled sand, climbed around on "the big rock", and had a good campfire. Sunday we drove around the south end of Green Bay to Sturgeon Bay, WI, and saw Karen's family. Among the things we did up there was attend an art fair. I gravitated toward the photography-imagine that. That evening we drove back down to Green Bay. This morning we visited and breakfasted with my grandma, who has recently moved to an assisted living community. The place is nice, but she needs to get out of her shell and network with people out there. We drove back to Peoria this afternoon. It was a whirlwind, but good, trip.

Around here things are growing well. Some of the tadpole/frogs are beginning to hop out of their tank (which I moved outside before we left). Some of the lettuce leaves in our garden could be cut to make a small salad. Our first strawberries are ripening to the point of picking within a couple days.

Firefly Season

We saw fireflies tonight, meaning that we are getting into one of my favorite seasons of the year, peaking around the summer solstice and running until about late July. My other favorite time runs from about mid-October through New Years, peaking at Christmastime. It is hard to take pictures of the fireflies, but here is one from last summer.

The racetrack area down by Farmington Road that was flooded last Saturday is slowly drying out, but it smells like a swamp. Two people in the area were killed by the flash floods last weekend. This week has been dry so far.

In other local news, the Diocese of Peoria has lifted its church ceremony restrictions related to the H1N1 virus (a.k.a. swine flu). Kris and I had fun pretending to shake hands in the past couple weeks.

Playground Makeover

We have made some modifications to Kris's playground equipment. We have added a new tarp for a roof because the old one was starting to leak. We also added some boards around the base to make a small additional play area for her. On Sunday a couple of Kris's friends (Sam and Regan) came over to help paint the boards.

Memorable Flood Day

Lots of thing going on today. First, we finished adding insulation to the attic this morning. The do-it-yourself book said 4-5 hours. That was assuming that there was not a bunch of stuff to move back and forth and organize in the attic. In the end a home was found for all the stuff with room to spare.

Today we had Bradley's graduation. Another academic year done. May Interim starts Monday.

This year we have had 21.31 inches of rain so far (average is 11.57 inches). The Illinois River level has been pretty high for months, peaking at near record levels months ago. In the last few days we got nearly 4 inches of rain and Kickapoo Creek finally had enough. It made a second small channel near the railroad tracks (flooding the lower set), making most of the race track area into a lake and shutting down Farmington Road for most of the day. I was tipped off about this and drove down to take a look about an hour before the road was closed. I think by this evening the level had dropped several inches. The good news is that: 1) clear weather is predicted for the rest of the week, 2) the Illinois River is predicted to crest at levels lower than earlier this year, and 3) Kickapoo Creek rarely does this. Interesting (at least to me) is that the one other time that we have seen this happen was almost exactly 10 years ago, not long after we bought this house. At that time we had several people over for a house painting party. I left to go to the store to get more paint and then when I got back the road was closed, which made things challenging. Anyway, I anticipate the road will be open again on Sunday.

Pix from around the house

The robins nest tucked away in our front maple finally has a sitter (look for the orangish beak). Our tadpoles are starting to grow back legs. Once they start growing front legs we will try to move them outside so they can leave when they want. We were not able to keep any alive last year once they left the water. Last pic is of the start of efforts to add insulation to the attic (note the pink ridge in the distance as well as the dust in the air). Karen finished her last exam of the semester tonight; I'm wrapping up loose ends and hope to have grades all recorded tomorrow.

Happy Mothers Day!

We had a fairly low-key Mothers Day today. Karen also recalls that we closed on our house 10 years ago today. Didn't shoot any pix today, but here is a pretty one of Redoubt volcano erupting fairly quietly now in Alaska.

Race for the Cure

Peoria's 24th annual Race for the Cure was this morning. Karen, Kris and I joined 18,000 participants (mostly women) this year because:

1) the cause (raising money to combat breast cancer) is good

2) my young aunt died of breast cancer a couple of years ago, and Karen's grandma was a survivor

3) we wanted to see what the hype was all about - this is a pretty big event around here because one of the founders of this national event grew up around here

Anyway, we got there around 7 am to watch part of the opening events. The bathroom lines were pretty bad - I called it the "race for the can". The runs started first; the walkers started at 8:10. We crossed the 3 mile finish line at about 9:20. The event does not have a well defined closure, but some people make it a spa day or go shopping. We ran errands.

Later on, we did a last demo event for the school year for the Lakeview Museum. The attendance was not great. After church tonight Kris got training to be a server, so she will probably do that soon. We ate dinner in East Peoria and stopped by the riverfront. The water is still a bit high.

Chem Contest

Yesterday the Bradley University Chemistry Department had its annual High School Chemistry Contest, where over 400 high schoolers from a couple counties in the area come to compete on written exams, eat lunch, and watch a chemistry demo show. My small role in this big operation is to run the three demo shows. This year I had seven students doing most of the demos - I mostly "directed". The students did great and a colleague and I shot lots of pictures.

A canyon in Peoria?

No, just a close-up of an erosion gully at a construction site near the airport. Last Sunday school was yesterday. Sunday Mass was interesting with the swine flu restrictions: no wine, no handshakes, no holding hands during the Our Father. Tomorrow is the last day of classes (where does the time go?), followed by demo shows and final exams. I can hardly wait for summer - though I need to get organized to maximize its potential. In the works for now is summer teaching and research, insulating the attic (in cool weather), and a conference in Virginia in early August.

In the woods

Karen went to a meeting in Springfield Friday and will return Saturday. Kris and I tried to look for morels in the woods but did not find any, but we did find a trail that we had not taken before and found a little footbridge. Woodland plants and flowers are starting to pop up - violet, jack in the pulpit, may apple, wake robin, and, yes, poison ivy. Here is something weird - Kris has had some teeth that have been loose for a while but have just not fallen out. Then she has lost 3 in less than 24 hours!