Memphis Democrat
July 22, 2004

This has been such a fun week, I don't know where to start. In honor of our July birthdays (Cecil, Amy and Tom) we went on a camping trip to Thousand Hills State Park in Kirksville. We made a luscious picnic and topped off the night with smores over the fire and a sing along. We woke up the next morning to find that the raccoons had opened the latches on our coolers and eaten all the good stuff! That didn't stop us from having a good time, though. We headed down to the lake and rented every kind of human-powered boat they had (kayak, canoe, paddleboat and rowboat) and spent the morning on (and in) the lake. Then we all went to the movie in the afternoon. A fabulous time was had by all.

Ingrid organized the Corn-A-Rama dance party. The theme was for everyone to show off their corniest dance moves. The rules were that everyone receives a few corn kernels when they arrive and are supposed to award especially corny dances with a kernel. The person with the most kernels wins. I can't even remember who won, but it was hysterically funny.

Tony, Ted, Jeffrey and Cecil headed to Columbia for the weekend to participate in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament. They joined up with some other folks to make a team and ended up coming in 4th. Even more importantly, while they came home sore, there were no serious injuries. Those guys play hard! Stefanie joined the trip and was the one-woman cheerleading squad.

My friend Bob, who I've known since high school, came to visit from Urbana, IL for the weekend. We had great fun visiting Lorraine Kapfer with Laura. We helped her with her pear trees and she made us delicious chocolate cake. We are always happy to harvest surplus fruit. Bob and I also went up to Fairfield, IA to have dinner and were pleasantly surprised that a big salsa band was playing a concert on the square. We danced until we were exhausted.

Penn came home for one day, accompanied by his father, before they headed out west together. Alline and Kurt got home from the Sierra Club trip they were leading where they walked across Great Britain. I can't wait to see the pictures.

We have been getting stuff done, too. Dan, with the help of six volunteers, erected the tresses on his house. Don harvested his mounds and mounds of garlic. Ironweed is building gates for their garden, including one that lifts straight up, made with old bicycle rims and counterweights. It's pretty neat. Laura harvested her carrots and they looked delicious.

Tom and Tereza have been living in a tiny one room house for a few years. They might be looking for a place nearby to housesit this winter so they can have a little more elbow room. Let them know if you need someone.

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