June 2 - A week of Summer

It's already been almost a week since I wrote in my blog. So here's a recap. It was a pretty cool time.

Friday my two cousins Barb and Luann and their husbands invited Marco and I over for game night. Lots of fun! We were pretty bad though at Gestures, where you have to act out certain words in about 30 seconds and get your teammates to guess them. Only Barb, an actress, could do it in time.

Then Saturday my same cousin Barb and her husband Pete invited us down to their new land in Southern Minnesota near Lanesboro. It was BEAUTIFUL weather out. We ate lunch on the porch of the cabin on their land while a storm passed, then after the sun came out they showed us the bees in their new beehives and we looked around their land which is part prairie and part forest. Afterwards we fished on the Root River (caught nothin' but sticks though), and looked at Barbs mosaics, which are on display in an art gallery in Lanesboro. Great summer day out!

Sunday Marco and I tried to fish again in the stream next to my house. It was beautiful and I we swam in the nice cool water but no animals came to us except mosquitos.

Through the week I worked on creating a design for a massive, super-cool work table for my new studio. It's huge! I was supposed to get word today whether or not I had the studio for sure but I don't think the phone has rang yet. I'm impatient.

And the other cool thing this week was a dinner we had with Lauren (the guy), Emily, Lauren (the girl) and Mike. We grilled out on Lauren & Emily's patio. They have a newly-planted garden with tomatoes, a cherry tree and a GIGANTIC rhubarb plant. They grilled delicious vegetables and ahi tuna and cod with tomatoes and onions with good Italian wine. It was very amusing and relaxing and we left with a big pile of rhubarb which is still sitting on the kitchen counter. Must cook with it soon!

As for Indonesia, I haven't decided what to do. I don't think I'll decide anything right away. I'm not going to forget though. Just by coincidence I did find a group in town that teaches gamelan, an Indonesian orchestra that I actually learned to play for a year. It's a set of gongs, xylophones and other indescribable instruments and is very odd and exotic. I might join the advanced classes and that way I can probably get to know some Indonesians in town and finally make some use out of my Indo speaking skills. PS that reminds me....Shelley, I got your super nice email last week. I will respond soon!

Oh, one final note -- we also saw the following animals this week: a deer and her tiny baby deer next to our porch, a river otter in the pond, more fish spawning in the pond (northern pikes we think), more woodpeckers.

Whew, this was a long post.