The Henney-mobile

I think that when I was in High School my parents must have stayed home a lot, because I got to drive the family car quite a bit. In fact, I used it so often that my friends called our vehicle the Henney-mobile. I actually think mom and dad were pleased that it got used so often to transport huge numbers of high school buddies around the city of Madison, WI. My friends and I were mostly athletes and cheerleaders, so we would pile in the Henney-mobile and go off to games, meets, matches,... If we were paricipating, of course, we would be bussed by the school, but we also went to other high school's events or events for sports that we weren't involved in.

One of the reasons the Henney-mobile was so popular was that it was a full-size 1965 Dodge van and I could carry a lot of kids. We once got 22 guys and gals into the van on one of our excursions.

You know what, though, there are disadvantages to having a popular vehicle. A small group of us used to do "commando raids." Started off with toilet-papering trees and houses, and then we would get a little more creative. We once saw a friend's little Corvair parked at his girlfriend's house. So, we picked up his car and moved it so the front wheels were resting on his girlfriend's front porch and the car was facing toward the front door. Then we rang the doorbell.

So, the problem was that many people in the neighborhood recognized the Henney-mobile and it was difficult to get away with stealthy exploits while driving the Henney-mobile. We put a cherry-bomb in a kid's mailbox once and blew it up. When we came back around to inspect the damage, the guy and his dad saw us and the kid recognized us immediately. Resulted in a late-night visit from the police department. My dad was of course not happy with my actions, but he also said that I should have known better than to use that van and expect to get away unnoticed.

A Beaver Creek Proposal

Joe's proposal to Rachel seemed so romantic, sunset in the middle of Sparks Lake while on a camping trip and all. It struck a familiar chord for me as my proposal to Barb also was offered on a camping trip. In a canoe in the middle of the lake? Well no, in my 4WD GMC pickup truck as we drove to Beaver Creek, CO for a weekend campout with our good friends, the Greisers.

Barb will surely expand upon what remains in my often abbreviated memory, but as I recall the proposal went something like this, "so, you wanna get married?" "Well, OK." Its a good thing I have other attributes that Barb finds appealing, because romance and recollection of those events where I have attempted it are certainly not what I am noted for.

There are hundereds of Beaver Creeks in the USA, and more than one in Colorado, but this was one of our favorite places and became even more so after the proposal. It is a 4-wheeling, fishing, camping, and wild kind of place centered in the Colorado Rockies:We got to Beaver Creek and pulled off the road. I locked in the 4WD, but Mike's pickup was 2WD, so he "aired down" the tires to give him better traction and off we went bushwhacking. We didn't go very far off the road, but I can't remember seeing another vehicle or person all weekend.

My littered memory otherwise remembers two other things about this weekend (maybe Barb will return from tennis soon and add some other more meaningful memories):

• we made a cobbler of some sort over an open fire, but it was more than we could eat, so I covered the creation and stored it in the bed of the pickup, where it later cast itself onto the sides of the bed as we negotiated the 4WD roads on the way out; (Barb sez "picture bright red cherry cobbler strewn over the snow covered truckbed")


• we slept in a tiny little green backpacking tent and were totally surprised when we awoke the next morning with over a foot of snow engulfing most of the tent.

Okay, Barb here, to add my 2 cents worth! I am always looking for basic luxuries (?) when camping, and I recall Dave and Mike promptly building us a latrine--a sturdy branch secured to a couple of trees we could sit on in the woods to take care of business :) A fine, fine work of art. It was hardly used before the big snow came and we thought we should at least get to a road before the weather became more severe.

I was ecstatic about the snow (except when we woke up with the tent smashed on our faces). The tent was a little two person tent and we were cozy in there with Olga and Rocky, our dogs. Greisers brought their cats, Big Foot and Sam.

When we were in a more secure spot (knowing we could get out), we stopped and made some little snowmen. It was something I missed from Nebraska--having enough good snow to build a snowman.

Some old photos

I've been carrying around a bag of old film for the past eight years. The photos were destroyed in a freak rain storm while I was living in San Diego but I kept the film. For my birthday, Rachel had the photos put onto a CD for me. Most of the pictures came out OK despite a little water damage. I thought I would share a few of my favorites....

I did not eat a bagel . . .

Rachel said we should blog if we eat a bagel, cuz Joe wants to hear what we are doing. I didn't eat a bagel, sorry.

We did have a productive few days and I am so excited that I have to share it with y'all.

Dave went out to our little cabin on Friday and singlehandedly removed four layers of shingles from the roof. What a superman. The roof has been leaking for years and years. That's why I am so excited. It was way past due.

On Saturday, Martha and Rick went out about noon and Tom and I got there a while later. (my brain wouldn't work--I left behind half of what I wanted to pack. Sheesh). Dave, Rick, and Tom put up plywood sheets to cover the old roof while Martha and I picked up the four layers of shingles that Dave had thrown on the ground the day before.

Dave and I spent the night and it was pleasantly cold. In the morning David Ambrose (one the profs where I work) came out at the crack of dawn to help, because he really talked Dave and I into getting this steel, snap together roofing. They put up the tarpaper and began to put up the roof--just like that. I continued to gather the shingles. Martha, Rick, and Tom all came out around noon and David A. left now that the new crew arrived. The roof came in premeasured sheets --about ten or twelve per the two sides of the roof. They worked and worked and voila! a roof. It is shiny and loverly and should last forever, they say.

Martha and I hauled everything we could out of the attic and started tearing down the drywall ceiling, because it was horrible even before it had been leaked on. I was on a mission and confess that I broke several things as I ruthlessly tore down the chunks of ceiling. The fam left cuz Cathy and I had planned to have a peaceful overnight on Sunday, but when she (and Jim, too) arrived I only had 2/3 of the ceiling down. We continued to rip with a vengence. Now it is bare rafters and I could look at that for a long time till I need to finish it. It's great!!!

Now, I want a bagel.

Prince Charming

Reading that romantic entry reminded me of when I was getting to know Dave. You know he's super wonderful and I do, too, now. At that time I was weathered and hardened from dating (bleah) and had pretty much decided I was through with men (age--about 26). He had such a calm and even way that I was really intrigued--I actually pursued him :)

Probably during the first month that I knew him, we went up to Aspen (lived in Colorado then) to drive around and see the mountains. This part was very Joeish, Dave wanted to use my old station wagon to drive on some 4-wheel drive roads. Well, we had fun and the car survived that but it got rear-ended out on the highway. This is making a short story long--but I was broke and there was a nice repair guy who was trying to find a used tailgate for my station wagon. During this time, about three weeks, I rode my bike to work (picture that!). Colorado is wonderful weatherwise for bike-riding. We lived in Golden and I rode over to the Denver Federal Center--not too far. This is where I get to the point of this story--whenever Dave would get off work early enough, he would intercept me on my ride home, throw the bike in his truck and rescue me (not in that order). It was so new to me--this consideration, thoughtfulness--and, dang, kindness. It honestly took me quite awhile to believe he was real. And we lived happily ever after.

I am getting married...

to the most wonderful woman in the world. She is my best friend and will surely keep me on my toes for the rest of my life!

Here's how it all went down. I knew for a long time that I wanted to ask her while camping at her family's favorite camping spot. They have been going there every year for almost 3 decades now and as long as I can remember talking to Rachel she has always described it as her happy place. I thought this would be an ideal location to pop the question. The only person who knew I was going to ask her is her Grandma Trudi, for two reasons, one, I knew she would be absolutely thrilled to be involved, and two, Rachel has always expressed a distaste for fancy, expensive jewelry so I wanted to see if Trudi had anything with more sentimental value that she wished to pass down to Rachel. She found just the thing, Rachel and I are going to wear her grandparents' wedding bands. I am greatly honored by this and think it is perfect for us given our strong connection to our families. So, while were were camping I asked Rachel out for a sunset canoe paddle. We made our way to the mouth of the lagoon at dusk, with the South Sister and Mt. Bachelor watching over us. Something came over her and she decided that she wanted to turn around in the canoe to face me. Lucky thing because I was trying to figure out how to pull this off with her back facing me. Turning around in a canoe is not a graceful maneuver regardless how steady your sea legs are and she nearly dumped us in the cold water. After settling down, she noticed that I was clutching something in my hand as I was paddling the canoe. She asked what it was and I knew it was time. 

I held out my hand, revealing a pretty little pin that her grandma had given to me and said, "your grandmother wanted me to give you this when I asked you to marry me, so, will you marry me?" She was taken completely by surprise as she was sure I was preparing to throw a frog at her. She replied "really?" Since I have been known to pull a fair number of pranks on her over the years, this was not a surprising response. Seeing the sincerity in my eyes, she quickly replied "yes" as her own eyes began to well up with happy tears. We spent a few more minutes in the canoe, just soaking in the moment and then headed back in to camp to break the news. Now Rachel's happy place has one more happy memory and every year when we go to Sparks we will enter the mouth of the lagoon and remember the time when we agreed to spend the rest of our lives together.

Veggie Burgers

We are having veggie burgers at the house tonight. I found some really good ENORMOUS 1/4 pound veggie burgers, not the usual little cardboard disks. We also have fresh avocado, lettuce, pickles, alfalfa sprouts, ketchup and mustard to put on them. A couple of our friends are coming over, we usually try to have people over at least a couple nights a week if we can...I think if it were up to us we'd have everybody just live at our house but apparently some people need a little more space.

My summer in Seattle is sort of winding down to an end. I am working on the Roman Forum presentation I have to give on my third day of my Rome trip. Also, practicing with my new camera, a lot. I take it EVERYWHERE with me. I have had it for a little less than a month and have already taken over 1200 images! Not all of them stick around though, most get deleted, but to get those few good images you really have to take a lot of photos!! It makes me really thankful for the advantages of digital photography. On my budget, I don't think I could afford all the film I would have gone through and practicing would be much less convenient.

Here is a cool image I took at Lena's 4th birthday party on Sunday(Happy birthday Lena!!). She had a local Seattle celebrity come to the party, the Bubbleman. He does a pretty cool show, makes the kids smile and relays his very liberal political messages to the adults, whether they like it or not! Of these messages, one is repeated, "CHEAP TOYS!" Most of the props in his act he found at thrift stores or recycled other discarded items. The reason I like this photo so much is because of the amazing echo of the profile of his cap, face and beard in the outline of the bubble he is creating....very cool.