|
William Nelson
Hi, Y'all! We're in Waukesha for a couple of weeks, awaiting the birth of our 8th great-grandbaby. They want to be surprised, so we won't know the gender until it's born. We arrived on Friday the 13th after a day that sounds a lot like Gary's vacation went. Drove through torrential rain north of Poplar Bluff, MO for a couple of hours, but made it to Watertown safely, at long last. We spent three nights there before moving to Waukesha. Mary's middle sister died from COVID in December, but they couldn't have the funeral then, so we gathered at the Rock River for a service last Saturday with perfect weather. The ladies of the church put out one of the best meals of our trip, so far, before we headed to the cemetery in Wales.
The following day we all gathered at the home of a nephew in Pewaukee, to celebrate the 90th birthday of Mary's eldest sister, who also had a bout of COVID, but survived and is doing very well. Guess her seven kids keep her busy, now that most have kids of their own. Really enjoyed that event, because we were able to have good conversations with the "kids" we haven't seen for years, and their kids, most of whom we'd never met before except seeing pictures of them.
We're trying to make arrangements to see all of our grandkids and great-grandkids in the area during the next week, or more. We'll hang around until the new baby arrives and then head out to the Western part of the state to visit some of my relatives and friends from Onalaska to Chetek. Hope we'll be able to head home by the end of the month.
We took a day trip on Saturday to Waupaca to see our eldest grandson and his son. They have a brand new home with plenty of yard work to complete, but he needed knee surgery on Thursday, so the yard will have to wait a while. After lunch, we headed to Wautoma (it's getting difficult to sort out all the Wau-Wau's) to visit Dan & Janet Farchione (Class of '61) at their summer home. They've been cleaning up after a tornado went through their property and dropped several large trees. This is the 3rd time they've been hit with a tornado. The first, about a dozen years ago, dropped nearly 30-trees, and lots of damage to neighbors property, as well. The last two have only affected them. He said he's having trouble getting rid of the wood. Most is cut into stove lengths and they do have a wood furnace and fireplace, but spend their winters at their home in Yuma and count on their backup furnace to keep things from freezing up. They're doing pretty well, with the usual problems folks of our age deal with.
Sorry Gary's Wisconsin visit was fraught with problems, but I suspect some of his narrative resembles a fish tale where it gets a bit grander with each telling! :) Our only complaint, so far, is heavy traffic, lots of construction, and too many folks trying to use the same facilities. Life here is more hectic than in Quitman, LA. After we've visited as many family and friends as we can, we'll be more than happy to head home.
Stay safe and avoid COVID.
|
