Henry's Bed

This past weekend, Kathie and I traveled to the Chicago area to celebrate a birthday (see prior posting below) and to deliver to Henry a bed that I had built for him. Henry has been sleeping on a twin-size mattress cozily placed on the floor of his bedroom, but in his mother's present condition, that hasn't been too convenient lately. In addition, there has been a limited amount of available storage space in the bedroom. So, the solution on which we settled was the so-called captain's bed, which has drawers below the bed and a headboard with shelves for books and toys (conveniently available for bedtime attention).

I built and finished the bed at home, of course, (though there is an "oops" about which to report in a moment) and we transported the pieces to Henry's house on Sunday. After the afore-mentioned birthday celebration, we returned on Monday to assemble the bed. Henry was a big help. After moving the existing mattress and bookshelves from the target area, some vacuuming was necessary.


Next, we began to assemble the bed by screwing together the headboard, footboard, and side rails. You can see that Henry helped with this too. He's pretty good with a screwdriver, and I like his focused attention to detail.



On the other hand, his attention span (understandably) leaves something to be desired, so with Grandma's help, I finished up the installation of the center supports.


Then, it was time to install the drawers. It was at this point, that I discovered the "oops." I had failed to stain and varnish the two outside edges of the center supports, which separate the drawers. They are the only visible part of the supports, and I somehow overlooked them when staining the other pieces. (After a later trip to Lowe's, we remedied this situation. D'oh!!)


Here is Henry with the fully assembled bed at this point.


Next, we installed the so-called posture-board and paused for a shot of Henry and me with the completely finished product.


Now we were able to place Henry's existing mattress atop the posture board. At this point, Henry had to give the bed a test drive.



He pronounced the bed fit for use and gave his grandfather an opportunity to give it a try too. By the way, he especially likes being able to sit atop his new bed and look out the front window or study the toys on the shelves of the headboard. He also likes that the headboard has a little H-shaped shelf right in the middle.


I had not anticipated how delighted Henry would be with this addition to his room. You can build things and have adults say all kinds of nice things about the end products, but nothing will ever feel quite as good as having the recipient of your labors demonstrate such joy over the results. Thanks, Henry, for making this all worthwhile. Sleep well, my boy!!

A Decade Birthday

Kathie and I traveled to the Chicago area on Sunday to help celebrate the arrival of a certain decade birthday for a certain sibling. The following attractive young lady (Kathie's sister Gail) was celebrating a birthday, and we wanted to be there.


We began the afternoon playing a new game of dominoes--well, at least it was new to Kathie and me. It was great fun, but we only got through a few rounds before dinner was ready. After a terrific meal of steak, potatoes, and salads, Gail was obligated to blow out the candles on the requisite cake.



After consuming pieces (or more) of the cake, Gail and Kathie sidetracked into some questionable behaviors as noted below. (Alcohol cannot explain this behavior, as little to none was present!!)


Then, it was back to the games of dominoes, which occupied us until late in the evening, when all of the dots began to blur together. (I recall that I won both games, and I was the newbie!!) We had a great time.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAIL!!

Football

Among the greatest things about having worked at the UI for so many years are all of the wonderful students and colleagues with whom we established such great relationships and friendships. On Monday, we received a surprise package in the mail from one of these friends who had only recently learned of our retirement. It turns out that our friend Wesley's wife (Lauren) is a sister to the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. So, Wesley pulled some strings, which obviously were close at hand, and arranged to give us the following autographed football as a retirement gift.



This is truly a one-of-a-kind football, with the autographs of Head Coach Tony Dungy and two former Hawkeyes who now play for the Colts (Dallas Clark [#44] and Bob Sanders [#21]). What a special gift this is. Thanks Wesley and Lauren for all of the good wishes!!

To our readers: We will understand if you are envious, but we will, of course, let you experience the football for yourselves when you are here.

Decker/Drake/Frink Family Reunion 2007

Note: You should be able to click on any of the photos below to view a larger image.

We had a good turnout at this year's reunion in spite of the heat. Here are my Uncle Ed Decker and Aunt Irene admiring my son Rob's new daughter, Eleanor Ruby Decker (my first granddaughter and second grandchild!). This picture captures the oldest and youngest of those in attendance.


The food was wonderful. Is there anything better than a potluck dinner? Here is my grandson, Henry, getting ready to "serve", followed by a shot of "the remains of the day."



Here are some random shots of the tables as groups enjoyed their meals:





Finally, we got the following group shot.


For those who were not there or for those of us who may have difficulty remembering all of the names, here is a key. I have listed everyone according to their given name as it appears in the genealogical report I shared with everyone by mail or at the reunion. For direct descendants in the Decker/Drake/Frink lines, I indicate the relevant parent. For those who married into the family, I indicate the spousal relationship.


1. Erica Renee Drake (descendant of Mark Melvin Drake)
2. Jessa Nicole Drake (descendant of Mark Melvin Drake)
3. Phyllis Marie Decker (descendant of Edwin Raymond Decker)
4. Lynn Marie Hunwardsen (descendant of Phyllis Marie Decker)
5. Edwin Raymond Decker (descendant of Frank Walter Decker)
6. Irene Wilhelmina Meyer (spouse of Edwin Raymond Decker)
7. Cody Harold Wood (descendant of Christine Ann Wilson)
8. Travis Kevin Wood (descendant of Christine Ann Wilson)
9. Edwin Behr (spouse of Barbara Jane Drake)
10. Barbara Jane Drake (descendant of Melvin L Drake)
11. Megan Dietz (friend of Douglas Jennings)
12. Robert Lee Hunwardsen (spouse of Phyllis Marie Decker)
13. Mariah Lynn Butterbrodt (descendant of Lynn Marie Hunwardsen)
14. Ross William Butterbrodt (spouse of Lynn Marie Hunwardsen)
15. Susan Kay Decker (descendant of Robert John Decker)
16. Deborah Lynn Decker (descendant of Robert John Decker)
17. Christine Ann Wilson (descendant of Kathryn Ann Decker)
18. Elizabeth Jean Decker (descendant of William Frank Decker)
19. Eleanor Ruby Decker (descendant of Robert Acres Decker)
20. Carolyn Ann Hough (spouse of Robert Acres Decker)
21. Robert John Decker (descendant of Robert Henry Decker)
22. William Frank Decker (descendant of Frederick John Decker)
23. Jeffrey Lynn Loring (spouse of Deborah Lynn Decker)
24. Linda Lou Smith (spouse of Mark Melvin Drake)
25. Mark Melvin Drake (descendant of Melvin L Drake)
26. Reginald F. Jennings (spouse of Helen Rebecca Decker)
27. Helen Rebecca Decker (descendant of Robert Henry Decker)
28. Douglas Jennings (son of Reginald F. Jennings)
29. Randy Lee Butterbrodt (descendant of Lynn Marie Hunwardsen)
30. Melissa Elizabeth Drake (descendant of Mark Melvin Drake)
31. Barry Lynn Carter (spouse of Susan Kay Decker)
32. Samantha Lynn Carter (descendant of Susan Kay Decker)
33. Kathryn Ann Decker (descendant of Robert Henry Decker)
34. Richard L. Wilson (spouse of Kathryn Ann Decker)
35. Kathie Jane Novy (spouse of William Frank Decker)
36. Henry Andrew Herr (descendant of Elizabeth Jean Decker)
37. Peter Andrew Herr (spouse of Elizabeth Jean Decker)
38. Robert Acres Decker (descendant of William Frank Decker)

Overachieving

You may recall that about one year ago we restained our lake home, our garage, all of the decks, and the stairs leading down to the dock. You can click here for pictures from that exercise last year.

About the only thing we didn't stain was the underside of the upper deck. Because we had some stain left over (although I ended up having to buy three more gallons anyway), and because I tend to overachieve or to be obsessive or compulsive or all the above or whatever, I decided we should finish the job. So, here are a couple of shots of Kathie helping me finish up that job. By this point, I had succeeded in staining all of the underside from the west end over to this area.



These were taken shortly before, I hurriedly tried to join Kathie up on this flowerbed to do the final parts, failed to duck, and bashed my head into the edge of the deck, leaving quite an impression on top, wrenching my neck, and falling on top of a number of Kathie's flowers, mashing them to the ground. After some moaning and several choice words, I recovered and did help finish up. The wrenched neck has been the worst of it, although that has almost now recovered, and the "impression" on my head is healing. I wish I could say this was a one-time event, but I'm afraid I have to admit that I quite often do something like this, for example when mowing the lawn and driving under a too-low tree branch. Maybe my peripheral vision isn't so hot. Maybe I'm just absent minded. Maybe I get too focused on whatever else I'm doing and fail to pay attention. Maybe I'm just a dunce. Maybe I should learn to say d'oh with great vigor and feeling!! I have, however, been enjoying my spouse's sympathy and frequent neck rubs!!

Visit to Northern Minnesota

We are home in IA again, but before we left our WI property for the summer, we traveled to northern Minnesota to visit Sandy and Will. More than a year ago, they bought a piece of property there, which is nestled alongside a lake deep in the Superior National Forest, quite close to the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness, and only a few miles from the Canadian Border. Driving to the property involves the Gunflint Trail, several National Forest Service roads, and about two miles of very rugged and sometimes very hilly road into Sandy and Will's place. Did I mention "very rugged?"

The property itself is beautiful. There are lots of woods, as you would imagine, and the lake is picturesque. (It is also full of lake trout. Will spent about two hours giving Kathie and me a chance to try catching one, but we had no luck this time. Perhaps we will try again on a future visit.) Unfortunately, the prior owner of the property had made a very poor attempt to build a house, which by the time Sandy and Will bought the place was already beginning to fall down. There were a few other structures too--a sauna, an outhouse, and maybe a simple shed or two for storing wood. Will has blogged extensively about the work that they are doing to claim the property for themselves. If you click here, you will be at Will's blog, and if you examine some of the past postings, particularly the November, 2006 archive, you will get some idea of what they are dealing with.

Kathie and I had not visited this new property until this trip, and so we had not had a prior chance to lend a hand with any of the work. Through the summer, Sandy had been rebuilding a deck that was to one side of the "house" (note the quotation marks). She had done a terrific job putting down the new decking, which created a wonderful spot for them to set up a gazebo-style tent for dining and evening visits.



Will first assigned me to help Sandy with the construction of a railing around the deck. You can see some evidence of the results in one of the pictures above, as well as in this shot that looks out form the deck toward the lake.


Sandy has become a master with the power tools. Here she is cutting some of the railing pieces that we needed. You might remember a similar picture that I took of Betsy when we built her gardening bench. I'm seriously considering making a 2008 Women With Saws calendar. I'm missing shots of Kathie, Jessica and Carrie with saws, and I'll have to find seven more candidates for photos, but you might want to get your orders into me soon. I'm sure these will sell like hotcakes.


Later, we built a bench for the deck, but unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of that.

While I worked a second day on the railing and the bench, Kathie helped Sandy clean out the lower level of the old house and helped Will remove most of the second floor of the "house."






In the last shot above, Kathie is obviously loading scrap and debris into our pickup. We were pleased to learn that the pickup could be so helpful to Sandy and Will in terms of moving waste to a burn pile (which has become immense and which will be ignited evidently sometime in the dead of winter when there is little forest fire danger, according to Will).

Those are all of the pictures I have to share. I wish I had taken more. We really like what the kids are doing with their place and can imagine that it will be a very restful place to visit in the future. They already have a very nice little (maybe 10x12) cabin that they built for their visits there, and they are thinking about the possiblity of a bigger cabin at some time in the future.

Reflections on an Outfit

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
-- Mark Twain --

One of my ongoing retirement projects is to collect all of my photographs in one place and in digital form. Along the way, I keep reminiscing and running into little stories. Here's one.

In the following three photographs, taken respectively in about 1944, 1968, and 2005, each individual is wearing the exact same item of clothing. Note the accessorizing that individual number two has added with the shoes and socks. All three poses are interestingly similar!! I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to determine who is who. The big question is whether or not this item of clothing will make it to yet another individual in another few decades. Who would that be, I wonder!!

1944:


1968:


2005:



P.S. Extra credit goes to anyone who can correctly tell me exactly what this unnecessarily frilly item of clothing is called.

Thieves!!

One of the last nights that Betsy, Pete, and Henry were here, most of us had gone to bed. Except Kathie, who with her usual sharp ears heard some commotion near the bird feeders. She decided to snap some pictures, even though it was almost pitch black. (Pete, who was in bed but not yet asleep, later wondered what all the flashing lights were about.) Conditions prevented focusing the images, and the flash didn't quite compensate for the distance and the dark. Nevertheless, with the help of PhotoShop, we were able to extract this story.

We knew that raccoons had discovered the bird feeders. Usually, I took the feeders in at night, but on this night, I had failed to do that. Turns out there was a mother and maybe as many as four babies. Mother found a way to get to the feeder, in spite of a squirrel baffle, as you see below. She also found a way to avoid tripping the perch that would shut off access to the sunflower seeds (this feeder is designed so that squirrels and other critters are supposed to be too heavy for the perch; birds can rest on it and easily feed, on the other hand). Evidently, she was busy scraping seeds onto the ground.


Then, below the mother and beneath the feeder, the little guys are busy enjoying a meal (and no doubt learning how clever mother is and filing that away for future raids of their own).


Here is a shot of the entire caper.


Thanks to my spouse, the budding nature photographer, for capturing this story. As for me, I'm keeping my supersoaker loaded with water for the next opportunity to disrupt such a raid. (But mostly, I'm keeping the bird feeders inside at night.)