This Really Is My Father's World

I love this weekend each year in August because we have our "Worship in the Park" combined with our church picnic. But when I was awakened by thunder this morning, I realized this wasn't going to work out as planned. 

At the same time, of course, a lot of people were saying thank God for rain!

So we used our plan B and had worship and picnic food in the church basement – not because of the rain, but because of the lightning! When we're talking about Jesus walking on water this week... you kind of don't want to press your luck. Even if the message was all about having faith to do so!

But because we are normally in a park setting, we sing hymns like "This Is My Father's World" and " For the Beauty of the Earth."

So after eating way too much good food and having some really good visits, I decided to detour on my way home to our downtown park. 

Because of the rain, I saw a puddle for the first time in ages and captured a reflection.

And then a few more blooming flower photos... 

My conclusion was that life is not a "walk in the park" but we can purposefully take a walk in a park and find the beauty amongst the ugly.

And by weird happenstance, this was the daily quote from one of my daily guides...

So fitting. It's been a tough weekend for friends and loved ones. But even if your heart is breaking, shattering even, believe that beauty is there. Somewhere.

It's All Relative

It was a weekend on the road seeing family and cousins on both Dad's and Mom's sides of the family tree.

Not all smiles and laughs, but we still found occasion to sneak in a little of each. And hugs. Lots of hugs.

Saturday we headed to the Twin Cities for a celebration of life for my late cousin Dan's son Andrew, who died at age 34 in a motorcycle accident. He served 10 years in the Navy and has two children. Yesterday would've been his 35th birthday.

So tragic!

For context, my dad's brother Ray was Andrew's grandpa. So we had a few Hedberg cousins there obviously for support and sharing. The two love ladies seated are 2 of our 3 remaining aunts. That's all that's left of the OG Hedbergs.

So we treasure any and all time together.

Naturally, since we were in the Metro, we made plans to connect with COOL son No. 1 for COOL treats on such a hot day!

Casey met us at a little ice cream and burger joint called Dream Creamery on Minneapolis' north side.

My kind of place!

We all had ice cream and their homemade Scotcheroo was delightful!

After an all-too brief visit, we headed north to Luck, where we stayed the night at my sister Rachel's place.

Today was my mom's side of the family to get attention. Jim and I met my cousins Laryn and Lydell for a 7:10 a.m. tee time at the Frederic Golf Course just north of Luck.

Early but that was fun. We somehow managed to get 18 holes in by 11 a.m.! That gave us time to get back to Luck to Rachel's and pick her and our potluck food items up and get to Siren for the Johnson family reunion.

This year, in Mom's absence 💔, my siblings and I were the hosts. I sent most of my stuff ahead so it could be there for setup while only 4 of us took part in the morning golf outing. It's a great thing to pair with the reunion!

It was one of our biggest turn-outs (over 50 people) but was due in part that it was combined with a celebration of life (yes 2 in 2 days) for my mom's cousin's son Lamar.

By strange coincidence, two of our high school classmates were there. I say "strange" because last night was our Luck Class of something a long time ago reunion and Raylene and I didn't make it.

So we took a "mini class reunion" picture of our own. Rhonda (left) was there because she's related to Lamar on the non-Johnson side. And Jordan married our cousin so we see him more often than he'd probably like. Ha.

After reunion cleanup, Jim and I got Rachel home and were on the road around 3:30 p.m. Traffic was strangely light compared to Saturday's commute to the Cities. And we were OK with that.

Side note: Temps were warm but tolerable. And same with the air quality – not too bothersome. Thank goodness or some of my family/cousins might not have ventured out.

Hope you all enjoyed a good, safe weekend too!

Check Out The View

 

As our city's main paper mill continues to be dismantled, there are fewer and fewer "towers" in "Grandpa's castle." I thought most of the big ones were down until I caught sight of this tonight after senior portrait session from down river.

For my hubby's family anyway, it will continue to be a part of their history until it's completely gone.

So crazy when we think that 20 years ago there would ever be a day people didn't need paper versions of everything. Or for our livelihood, that people would ever need an alternative news source than their newspaper on their doorstep every morning.

Unreal.

As for today, I was happy to catch this view after a rushed "beat the thunderstorm" senior portrait session. And earlier today, a nice church worship in the park that also timed out perfectly to rain happening when we were in the shelter. 

Mother Nature is fickle, but some days she allows me to do what I need to do. Thanks, lady!

TGIFF (Thank Goodness It's Fun Friday)

When Friday fun is on the agenda, I go all out. First was our company picnic. I worked a few hours in the morning then headed up to Stevens Point. My goal after last year was just to get a spot at the BINGO tables and win something.

Plus save 2 spots by me for my co-worker/friend Sharon and her daughter. 

Mission accomplished. Then Sharon won. Then I did!! I picked the Five Crowns card game as my prize. It's on that my sisters and I always play during sister weekend!

After that, it was time to eat and cross fingers we'd win one of the "big" raffle prizes – with an obvious 2,000 to 1 odds. I did not win.

But in Robyn's world, getting free ice cream is the same as winning. Just not the same dollar value as say a 4-some golf round at SentryWorld or a PS5. I crossed my fingers so hard! To no avail.

Then this evening the fun continued at the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters game. The church in Rudolph where Jim sings in the guitar choir had the Rat Trap upper deck platform reserved.

Nice view of the game, but mostly just chit-chatting with friends and eating for a few hours. The scoreboard was not working so I don't know if our hometown team won. Based on the lack of cheering, I don't think we did.

Still it was a fun evening after a fun afternoon. I'd take a "work" day like this anytime!

Enjoy your weekend!

Life's a Picnic, Right?

When you have a company picnic on your calendar for the day, REAL work sort of takes a back seat. I mean, I mean I gave it a pretty good 3 hours (kinda) of work from home so I could head up to Stevens Point for the fun.

Just me never missing an opportunity to do a PURPLE selfie!

Last year they had the picnic when I was having my Sister Weekend (well, Week) in the Smoky Mountains so I forgot how large-scale this was. As you can see by the way-finder sign, there was a lot 0going on!

One of my team mates and I hunkered down at the very entertaining BINGO area. It didn't take me long to win and, of course, I chose some golf balls as my prize. 

There was also a ton of stuff for kids – from inflatables/bounce houses to a petting zoo and pony rides. At some point, it began to rain so we were all inside the Fieldhouse. 

I got home, knowing that I also was going to race against rain clouds to take a few senior pictures. We did get sprinkled on.

Then we got poured on and raced to our cars. I might have to Photoshop out some raindrops on clothes, but I think we made it work!

I guess life is a picnic only when Mother Nature allows it. Good thing I'm on her side once in awhile!

Shoot the Moon

This is what I do when I'm waiting for a wardrobe change during a photo shoot. I look up and shoot the moon! A blue one at that. It was only 6 p.m. so the skies were still blue, but I could see a faint moon. Worth capturing, I thought.

I also shot some cats, but I hated typing that since people might not think I meant with a camera! 

Was doing some family pictures tonight – an extension of my senior session with the twins last night. Found a lovely lovely spot in the village of Rudolph. Yup, the locals know that right now the Grotto Gardens are in full bloom and looking fabulous for the church picnic Sunday!

It's a great setting, isn't it?. Too bad I only have a handful of girls left on my senior portrait schedule – not that guys can't appreciate flowers. Nice place for family pictures, too, if anyone's looking. 

Also a great place for hot burgers and cold beer – but only at Sunday's picnic. I might have to pack my camera in case there are any spontaneous bookings! Or if the moon is feeling blue again.

Sunday Fun-Day

There's a host of us who could have used a day of rest today – or some recovery time to chill out anyway. But we didn't.

Hubby's schedule was full from church to a church picnic to golfing to fantasy football draft, so I haven't seen him since 9 a.m. My neighbor texted me during my first cup of coffee to see if I wanted to go walk around the lake. So as soon as my online church was done, I got those first 4 miles out of the way! 

Then it was chore time – a few things I neglected yesterday like laundry and dishes. I didn't overdo it or anything. Oh and whipping together a salad for MY church picnic. Hint: A Lutheran salad involves Cool Whip as the main ingredient, of course.

Went to Lake Wazeecha at 3:30 p.m. and had an interesting time trying to play the kids games while waiting for more adults to show up.

It didn't matter how many times this kid demonstrated how easy it is to hit the Velcro soccer ball and stick it to the inflatable dart board, I couldn't do it. It went left, right, and even under it. But it took about 43 tries, then...

Bam! It stuck!! Can you imagine how long it would take to play a game of "301" or "Cricket" with my skill set? Like forever, is the answer.

At least I was smart and didn't hop inside the ball for the human bowling game. If I didn't break a toe in dart soccer, I certainly would be due for major chiropractic needs if I tried that . So I settled down and enjoyed picnic food and seeing quite a few people I haven't seen in person in ages. Very nice!

Had to skip out early to go do a senior photo shoot down at Sand Valley golf course. Nice background, nice lighting, and great kid! 

Now I'm going to sit in my recliner and relax like it's Sunday!

Church Music

What starts with a polka and ends with beer, burgers, and bingo? A good old-fashioned church picnic, of course. Make that Catholic church picnic. We Lutherans haven't ventured too far beyond our Jell-O salad potlucks yet. But I see potential.

This afternoon we ventured up to Rudolph for their 100th anniversary church picnic. Since it also served as a fundraiser, there was not only the toe-tapping live music of not one, but two different polka bands, but also a beer tent, bingo and other games, burgers, pie and ice cream, and raffles. With the sun out and the weather in the mid-70s, it was a perfectly pleasant day for a picnic. 

We saw plenty of people we knew so our stay extended into a few hours. That's fine. It was relaxing and fun and I will now have polka and waltzes running through my head for at least the next 48 hours!

On a side note, I did get back to my own church this morning in person for the first Sunday in over a year. Great to sit in "my pew" and see everyone again! We've had services online this entire pandemic period, but nothing beats those in-person hugs!

They might not make me dance like a polka, but I do smile a lot and kind of skip a little! 

Hope we all have good things to carry us through the week – or at least Monday!

R Family Reunion

For the first time since our December of 2019 family Christmas celebration my mom and her 8 R's and their families got together. Stupid pandemic.

It was a really fun day yesterday and so great to see just about everyone in our clan. We met at a park in Siren and had absolutely perfect weather – high 70s, a little breeze, and no mosquitoes! My nephew and family from South Dakota came – haven't seen them in a few years – and there were lots of littles running around. 

Lots of yard games. Even my mom got into it with a game of "Jarts" or whatever they call it now.  And lots and lots of laughs.

It was my brother-in-law Ken's 60th birthday so he had to show the little kids he could still climb the monkey bars. They should have been much more impressed!

Can you tell they're sisters?! Sit up straight and stick your chest out. And whatever you do, don't laugh, Ro and Romey!

My nephew Tim was very proud of his t-shirt. I knew I should've worn purple!

My niece Beth towering over her mom and Aunt Rayna (home from Arizona this week).

Nothing says cool like my favorite cowboy – nephew Zach.

My nephew Travis and his girlfriend and my niece-in-law.

So happy to see Tim again, except...

For that ugly shirt!

Rayna and Ron, who pointed out there's only 2 of the 8 kids with "unprocessed" hair. Ha.

Pretty true. We all look good being together and healthy and happy!

Eight out of the 11 grandkids. Matthew had left and Tony and Carter couldn't make it.

Grandma joined the grandkids but the sun was so bright, she put on Caryn's sunglasses. Then Zach did a rock-n-roll sign and Caryn couldn't stop laughing. And I love this photo. And I love these kids!

And then throw in their families. So blessed! And so grateful we could celebrate everything we've missed in the past 18 months.

We had the pavilion for the day, so Jim and I stayed in Luck instead of driving back late. Today, we got up, grabbed a breakfast sandwich at the Luck gas station, then headed over the Luck Golf Course

Got on right away and played 18 hilly holes. Beautiful weather. Nice course – it's been about 15 years since we last played it. And I had a nice score on the back 9. Two pars and drum roll, please... my first birdie of 2021!

At the bottom of this picturesque hole lies a Callaway golf ball. It used to live with me.

Pretty, though!

There were some narrow fairways. This one reminded us of golfing in the Dells with its drop off right off the tee box.

Jim bought me a golf ball. Good thing I didn't play with it and lose it in the tiny lake!

On the way home, we had a picnic lunch in Cumberland – Burger King at a picnic table by some church – and got home by late afternoon. 

I don't think the cat missed us. For real. She had tons of fresh air instead of a closed up, air-conditioned house. So she's content and sleepy. I had lots of fresh air this weekend, too. I think this "good sleeping weather" will be perfect for us all.