The Garden

About a year ago Traci and I engaged in some idle chit-chat about putting a garden in the back yard and how much fun it would be to grow our own vegetables. Well, little did I know that our chit-chat would turn into our next project.

About a month ago Traci came home with a bag full of seeds and some containers to start some of the seeds. We spent the next couple of hours placing seeds in the middle of these things that looked like dirt slinkies. The dirt slinkies start out compact and then expand when water is applied. Once they are fully expanded, you drop 2-3 seeds in it and then wait for something to happen. Over the course of the month we got to watch the plants break dirt and reach for the sun.

The seeds

Pushing the seeds into the dirt slinkies.

One of three types of tomatoes.

One of two trays of seeds.

While we were waiting for the seeds to grow, we started on the above ground garden box. After much conversation and a recommendation from someone with building experience, we started on our 20ft by 10ft box. We picked the back corner of the yard and started digging. Little did we know that before our house was built there was a cobblestone-type road that ran right though where we were going to put our garden. Rather than pull up the stones, someone decided to just lay sod over the top of it. So we spent a good 12 hours pulling up huge rocks and leveling out the ground. Since we had no need for the rock, we put an add on Craig's list and offered the rock for free. It was gone within 24 hours.

In the final stretch.
Some of the rock. We doubled the size of the pile by the time we were done.

The neighbor boy came over and offered his assistance digging up the rocks. I think he enjoyed the fact that we let him get as muddy and dirty as he wanted. He wasn't coming into our house, so we encouraged him to dig and move the bigger rocks. ;-) We even played this cool game with him. It was contest to see how long we could go without saying "Hey Bill". I think he went a full two minutes and lost he competition.

We finally finished up the planter box and dug up most of the rocks last Saturday. I called the landfill to see if we could get some compost and they said it would not be available until the first week of April. So we are in a holding pattern until then.

The finished planter box minus the compost and veggies

This morning we transplanted some of the tomato and bell pepper plants to bigger containers and had to find a place in one of the rooms where the sun could reach them but the cats could not. Once these get big enough, we can plant them straight into the ground, cardboard and all.

The plants in their new home

We will keep you posted on their progress and more than likely share some of the tomatoes with you as Traci will not eat them... that is ironic as we started about 40 plants.

Hope your gardens are green and the snow stop falling.


Bill and Traci

The aftermath

Below are some pictures of the tree and my mother's house. VERY SCARY!!

Side view of house

The backyard

Your Prayers are welcome

All,

Just wanted to add a quick note regarding my mom. Earlier this afternoon I received a call informing that a huge oak tree had fallen on her home of 20+ years. Fortunately, she was at the movies with my sisters when this happened. She learned of the horrible event from my Uncle Dewey. He ran into the movie theater yelling her name.

When she arrived home, the emergency vehicles were still there and she saw the damage. The tree fell through the living room, kitchen and back room... I am confident she will not be able to continue living in it. Her and my brother-in-law Jack were able to grab some of her belongings but the rain and wind made it much too dangerous to be in the house. The insurance adjuster contacted her within 20 minutes of letting them know of the accident and she will talk with someone else from the agency tomorrow.

For the time being, she is staying with my sister and can use your prayers.

Thanks,

Bill

Here Kitty Kitty

This past weekend we were invited to partake in a yearly celebration with some of our friends. Every year, Lai and Billy have a Chinese New Year Party and this year was no excepion. We had been invited in the past;however, this was our first time attending.

2008 is officially known as they Year of the Rat in the Chinese Zodiac. There are a total of 12 animals in Chinese Astrology: Rat, ox, rabbit, Tiger, Dragon, Snake,Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. I was born during the year of the sheep and Traci during the year of the horse.

Bill, Traci and Lai

The party consisted of LOTS of homemade Chinese food, 15-20 friends, bubble tea, too many deserts and some Chinese Karoke being piped through a laptop computer. I brought a bottle of Sake that I had been holding onto for about 18 years. I figured there was no better time than a Chinese celebration to crack open the Japanese beveage. I won it while on the island of Okinawa in 1990 participating in a sumo-wrestling contest. I beat three people and won two bottles of Sake. I was finally beat by one of the local sumo champs.

Me, Lai and Bill enjoying some warm Sake

Someone cooking da bird

Beef or Chicken... I swear

Egg with shrimp

If you ever have the chance to attend a Chinese New Year event, by all means, do it!

Zai Jian (good bye)

Bill

Heavenly Voices

The weekend of January 26th Traci and I made an unplanned trip to Vermillion, South Dakota where we attended the funeral of Larry Torkelson. Mr Torkleson was her College Choral Director, friend, academic advisor, private voice coach and inspiration for singing.

I say that it was an uplanned trip;however, we knew that the day was coming just not when... Mr. Torkleson had been in a battle with cancer and in his last days had planned his service. He had several wishes and one of those wishes was for the Alumni Choir to sing a handful of songs that he selected for his funeral.

Traci had prepared me before we headed to South Dakota that we were going to meet up with several Alumni and friends some of which she had not seen in years.

We pulled into Vermillion about 11pm on Friday and promptly headed for one of the local establishments. She spent the next 3 hours getting caught up with her friends and sharing wonderful and funny stories about Mr. Torkleson and their time at the University of South Dakota (USD). I had the pleasure of listening to it all and enjoying their company.

I got full nights sleep in preparation for the next day's events as Traci tossed and turned for most of the night. The events included choir practice in the morning, lunch with friends, the service, and finally another night on the town sharing more Torkleson stories.

We arrived on campus and headed to the choir practice room about 11am. The plan was for the Alumni Choir to meet up and practice the songs that they were going to sing later that afternoon. I took a seat in the back of the room and sat as quiet as possible and watched as 50+ people assembled to join voices. I experienced the most amazing thing over the next hour.

The Alumni Choir consisted of former students from the 1970s to 2001 and as they walked in, everyone took their place without coordination. Even though a majority of these people had never met eachother, they knew where to stand and sang like they had been singing together for years.

For the most part, I was looking at the backs of heads and could see the sides of some faces. Everyone was singing with so much passion that it brought goosebumps to my arms and I choked up on more than one occasion as I saw tears welling up in some of the singers eyes.

The Alumni Choir

Mr. Torkleson was a lover of music for his entire life. I would go into detail but know that I could never articulate the magnitude of this man's passion. I do know that he helped commission a piece of music by Peter Williams and he develped a relationship with Mr. Williams over the years. One of the requests that Mr. Torkleson had was that the choir sing "Agnus Dei", the piece that he helped commision, and a song that the USD choir learned to love.

Mr. Williams was present to pay his respects and conduct the choir in their singing of this incredible song. When Peter Williams stepped in front of the choir, they appeared to stand taller and reach deep inside for a voice that was filled with power and emotion.

Mr. Williams also took a few moments to share some of the same wonderful stories with the alumni that they had shared with each other the night before.

Peter Williams conducting the Alumni Choir

Traci and some friends from her class

Once practice ended, we headed off to a South Dakota hot spot for lunch... Dairy Queen. Not sure how we picked this place out of the 4-5 options in the tiny town of Vermillion but the vote was overwhelming. ;-)

We arrived at the United Church of Christ about 1:30 and were seated shortly thereafter. The service was one that I will not soon forget. The pastor gave a wonderful sermon and shared many stories about Mr. Torkelson. The congregation joined together to sing "When in our Music God is Glorified" and "How Great Thou Art". Then the Alumni Choir then took to the stage around Mr. Torkelson's coffin and sang several wonderful songs to honor a man they all admired. Then came the time to sing Mr. Torkelson's favorite song. Once the choir started singing, it was apperant that "Agnus Dei" was everyone's favorite. I heard this song earlier, during practice; however, I was sitting behind the choir and did not realize that sitting in front of the singers made a difference. WOW!!! I cannot even begin to describe how powerful this song was. Everything about it was perfect... the singers, the words and most of all the emotion that filled everyone singing around Mr. Torkleson's coffin.

Alumni Choir at the funeral service

Following the service, we drove to his grave site. His site was located the edge of a hill overlooking the local airport. Music was not his only passion... he also loved to fly. We gathered around the site and everyone said their final goodbyes. As we were walking back to the cars, a plane flew overhead, circled and came in right over tops of the trees. It was one of his flying buddies paying tribute and saying his goodbye.

We met later that night at the same establishment that we met the night before and everyone picked up right where they had left off. One of Traci's friends, Elizabeth, brought several photo albums and everyone spent the night looking at the photos and reliving the memories of concerts, plays and parties of yester-year.

Celebrating the memories

Before we left, everyone expressed an interest in getting together yearly to honor Mr. Torkleson. As of today, I think the wheels of planning are in motion and we will more than like make a trip a year from now, up to Vermillion, for another round of singing, drinking and memory sharing. If anyone is interested in attending or wants to help to coordiante the next event, Anthony Burbach is the man to talk to.

A memorable quote from the weekend:

"Wow, there must be at least a million dead people here" From one of Mr. Torkelson's grandchildred when we arived at the cemetery.

Until next year...

Much love,

Bill and Traci