Christmas Events, 2013

Weather interfered with our plans to have all of the Decker kids and their families with us a week ago for a day of holiday celebration. Will's and Betsy's families had to stay put due to hazardous travel conditions. However, Rob and his family were still able to be here, and we had a wonderful time. 

Before we opened gifts, Penny enjoyed playing with some of the toys we keep around for our grandchildren to play with when they visit. She discovered some old MicroMachines this time. Penny seems to like things with wheels.

One of the things we gave Eleanor for Christmas was a gadget for making friendship bracelets from embroidery yarn, beads, and such. Grandpa spent a little time helping her get started with it. I seem to have that classic Decker trait of having to hold your mouth just so when engaged in detailed activities. It helps you know!

Eleanor brought a gingerbread house kit along with her. I had never participated in making one before, but I enjoyed it and appreciate Eleanor allowing me to help. She applied her never-ending creativity to the task.

This year, we were also able to host and to enjoy a Christmas Eve dinner with some of our best friends. Kathie set a beautiful and very festive table for the event.

We had decided to exchange gifts, and they turned out to be a fun mix of light-hearted and sentimental items.

Dick received a game to play with his beloved dog, Daisy. Something like a shell game, it allows Daisy to search for a treat. Dick later posted on Facebook a short video of Daisy successfully playing the game.

David received a new "Keep Calm and Carry On" coffee mug.

Donna and Rina each got some new reading material.

I was wildly excited over one of my gifts and used the little finger lights that Kathie put at each of our dinner settings to peer into my package. Meanwhile Kathie enjoyed receiving a coffee house gift certificate.

Canoe Sculpture

Betsy recently posted an entry on her blog which she composed on her iPhone using a new Blogger app. So, I decided to give this a try too. Maybe this will result in more regular postings in the future.

Kathie and I recently enjoyed a wonderful several days in Las Vegas. Saw three good shows (Shania Twain, Jersey Boys, and Cirque de Soleil Beatles Love), had some very nice dinners, and actually won some money for a change. We stayed at the Aria, which we thoroughly loved--we'll definitely go there again. Outside the hotel was an unusual sculpture that we liked. I sent Will and Sandy a picture of it, since they are so into canoes. Here is what it looks like:

Visiting Jessica and Her Family

Since not everyone can be together at Thanksgiving this year, we decided to visit Jessica and her family for a weekend prior to Thanksgiving. Knowing that we would also not be able to spend Christmas together, we chose to bring along some of the Christmas presents too. Maia was excited about opening them.

Each grandchild always receives a US Mint proof set during the holidays. This was a tradition started originally on Kathie's side of the family, and we have enjoyed carrying the theme forward. The sets are a nice way to take note of the years in each life. The older grandchildren are already showing interest in looking at the sets, while the younger ones, unsurprisingly, typically just hand them to their parents and move on to the next, hopefully more fun, gift.

She liked her new PJs and wore them that night.

And she loved her new camera. Now she won't be as tempted to grab her mom's camera all the time, although I must say she has taken a number of interesting keeper pictures in recent months.

Nana taught her how to play her new Cootie game.

Leo is sure growing up. Two months old already, he has doubled his weight and is doing great. He had little to say about the gifting.

Jess and Mike asked me to take some photos of them as a family. Here are my favorites.

A Green Surprise

My sneaky but wonderful spouse caught me completely unaware and surprised me with a new toy recently. When I got home from Wisconsin a couple days ago and parked in the garage, I looked to my left and wondered why my tractor was parked at an odd angle. Then I noticed it seemed much brighter green than it should have been. Then I noticed it was a brand new one. I'd been looking at them for a couple years, and while I was in Wisconsin tending to our new garage, Kathie was still at home trading in my 18-year-old John Deere tractor on a brand new one. The old one had well more than 1000 hours of use on it, which is roughly equal to mowing and other work 24/7 for six straight weeks. (It is hard for me to think I've spent that much of my life on a tractor, although it is surely much more than that given all the hours I spent on tractors working the fields and doing chores for my dad during my younger years.)

Anyway, this new tractor, a John Deere X739 for those who are into such things, is sweeeeet and only has one hour on it as of this afternoon. It works great and has a number of new features, including the ability to install the mower deck by driving the tractor up over it and then snapping a couple things into place. The old one required a fair amount of time and labor to accomplish the same thing, lots of it with me lying on the ground reaching under the tractor to connect the power-take-off, hydraulics, and other things. This one is also all wheel drive (should be great for plowing snow) and all wheel steering (makes trimming around trees and other yard items very easy).

You can take the boy off the farm, but you can't get the boy off the tractor.

(We were raking and burning leaves today, hence the smoke!)

Pete Turns 40!

Pete turned 40 yesterday, and Betsy threw a party for him. We drove over for the festivities. We took lots of pictures and will share them here with a few comments sprinkled throughout.

A number of Pete's closest friends and colleagues, some who traveled a long way to be there, were at the party.

Family members were there too, and kids were invited.

I like this shot of Pete and his dad!

Not sure what was being said here. We all love Pete and think him a terrific son, son-in-law, spouse, father, friend, coworker, etc. Maybe Betsy was saying something about that to Pete's mom and dad. On the other hand, maybe she was explaining some of the pictures of Pete in the slide show she had playing during the party. There were pictures both fun and interesting from throughout Pete's life, and I think there may be some background stories we will want to hear eventually.

Henry, Clara and Eleanor were at the party, of course.

Clara took this picture with my camera!

Having friends, family, and children there made it quite the rowdy, festive party. Here are a few of the young ones when I managed to get them to hold still for a bit.

Betsy welcomed everyone and offered some fun remarks about Pete's having achieved this milestone.

Frederick crashed quite early but was perfectly content in his stroller until it was time to go home.

We all enjoyed a great cake, but the kids were the ones most excited about the candles.

Later, a few of the guests jammed.

Meanwhile, Clara and Henry finally crashed too. I ended up being the pillow, with one resting on each side of my lap.

Down, Down, Down

Our lake continues to fall. Again, this is a planned event. Our lake is actually a flowage or reservoir that was created by damming the Chippewa River back in the 1920s. Xcel Energy operates the dam and typically draws the lake down beginning at this time of year to create capacity for spring snow melt and rain. However, this year the plan is to draw the lake down much further than usual (eight feet rather than the usual two to three). A plan developed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource, Xcel, and cooperating local agencies calls for the more significant drawdown in an effort to kill invasive vegetation. This has been a highly controversial move and is strongly disliked by many who believe that the effect instead will be to destroy fish habitat, reduce water oxygen levels, and kill frogs, turtles, and other aquatic species. Some believe that fish populations will be seriously negatively affected, while others claim that exactly the opposite will occur. We simply don't know what to expect, since we have so little relevant knowledge and experience. Nevertheless, we are beginning to see things we have never seen since we bought our property eight years ago. Most of the area boat ramps have become exceedingly difficult or impossible to use, and navigation on the lake has become even more dicy than usual for those boats that are still out in the main body of the lake. Most of the lake has depths of around 25 feet or shallower (there are just a few areas that are much deeper), but there are many, many areas (usually navigable) that are at depths of only three to ten feet. So, even the main body of the lake will become interesting and visually different.

I took two pictures this morning while the sun was shining, one looking each way past the stairs coming down to our dock area. The water is already down nearly four feet. If our dock was still in its summer position, rather than in storage on the shore, it would be completely uncovered (supports and all). We are seeing all kinds of old dead wood that typically lies, water-logged, on the bottom of the bay. Lots of lake bottom is starting to show too. If it wasn't all such soft muck, it would be interesting to wade out and explore it further. As it is, you can only get about four or five feet from the shore before it becomes too soft and you sink down quite deep. We are wondering what it will all look like when we come back in the winter for skiing or snow-shoeing. I wonder if the muck will freeze hard enough to support us, and I wonder how much we will have to dodge the many pieces of deadwood that are sticking up now.

Just for reference, here is what it looks like when the lake is at a typical summer level. We hope there will be an above-average snowfall this winter and good levels of spring rain to allow the lake to be refilled. Then we can go out and see what has happened to the fisheries.

Low Lake–Dreary Day

Our lake is down over three feet now, and we understand they intend to take it lower in order to kill undesirable vegetation in some of these back bay areas. Maybe you can't tell very well from this panoramic shot, but the amount of exposed lake bed now extends a good ten to twelve feet from our shore line. Our dock is stored up on the shore for the winter, so the part you see in the photo is just at the shore's edge. The water out there is maybe only one to one-and-a-half feet deep and lots of deadwood is appearing.

There is no sunshine today. Cloudy conditions and mist dominate our views out the window. Still, it is all pretty in its way.

So Long, Gus

Alas, today we said goodbye to our friend, Gus the Bear (2006-2013). After battling insects and weather while guarding the entrance to our lake property for many years, Gus finally succumbed to forms of decay that caused him to lose one of his hands during a storm. His nose and other parts of his anatomy were in grave danger of peeling off as well. So, reluctantly, we chose to bid him adieu.

Born in Minnesota in 2006, Gus was transported to Wisconsin and marked the entrance to our property from about April to November each year. In the winter, Gus hibernated in our garage. You could actually hear his snores if you went into the garage anytime during the winter months.

Gus posed willingly and often for photographs. Though he was mostly welcoming...

he sometimes preferred to be left alone.

Several years ago, in ways each of us can relate to, Gus began to suffer the effects of age. The stump on which he previously stood decayed, and his legs refused to hold him as they once did. So, after some surgery and rehabilitation (wood hardener, new paint), Gus sported a new platform from which to greet our guests.

His life was not without controversy. Gus once appeared in the local newspaper, the Sawyer County Record, and suggestions were made that he was not always representing the welcoming and open hands and hearts of local residents for those of us who are non-residents. Funny to us, because we non-residents found Gus quite welcoming.

Gus loved having children around, especially all of our grandchildren. Here are Henry and Clara, several years ago, rubbing Gus's nose for luck and pointing to the proud way he displayed our name.

Eleanor was just as tall as Gus when this picture was taken.

Gus was a special bear, because unlike our other bear visitors, he never tore down our bird feeders, frightened dogs or children or left scat on the road. We always loved his goofy grin too. He was our pal.

Because he lived up here in the north woods and therefore probably came from a Nordic tradition, we thought it only appropriate to send him off on a pyre. We talked about building a raft and putting him atop the raft with lots of combustible material, then setting him afloat on the lake and shooting flaming arrows onto the raft. Just like in some of those movies you may have seen where the Nordic hero is bid farewell at the end of the picture. However, we decided against this for several reasons: the DNR might not approve, we weren't sure how to build a raft that would fully burn, and neither of us is an archer! So, we opted for our burn pile. Adieu Gus! You have been wonderful! (And the toasts we raised to you as we tended the fire were also outstanding!)