Black Hills 4th of July

Our lives have been spiced up with the visit of our oldest son, his wife, and three of their five children. They arrived on the 22nd of June and the days and nights since then all run into each other with the blur of not paying much attention to the calendar. We bid one another goodbye at Jim and Jenny's Greek restaurant last night.

We left our five, sometimes six, houseguests during the family reunion in Spearfish, SD on the 4th of July. One of my cowboy brothers-in-law, with the help of his son, grandsons, and more brothers-in-law, cooked a hundred steaks on a pitchfork in boiling beef fat, the pitchfork fondue. The kettle he used over a propane fire could have boiled a missionary, it was so large.

The missionary pot came to my mind, as it was similar to the one in the historical museum in Auckland, New Zealand that was used for that very thing by the Maori natives once upon a time. I have a feeling that Angus beef tops a missionary; perhaps you have heard the saying about being as tough as a Lutheran.

The backyard pool is once more calm and serene. We are picking our first tomatoes, and are cheered by pots of blooming flowers. My heart quickens as I see my European Birch take off in the pot in the back yard.

I read a column in the paper the other day about Feng Shui yards. One thing about planting trees in tubs, you can move them where ever you want them when the mood strikes. I love moving trees around keeping the yin and yang correct so as to obtain a good chi.