The Week in Review – 6/13/10

Zachary is now a licensed driver.  He’s 18, so if any of you have children that do not have their license and think they’re the only one not to have it at this great age, you can tell them about my son.  🙂  Zachary was good about it and never complained but we just waited since insurance is so high and funds weren’t.

Seth arrived home without all the hoopla I was wanting.  As a matter-of-fact we were 30 minutes late picking him up from the airport.  His plane was supposed to be later but than they arrived sooner than they had announced.  Otherwise, we wouldn’t be late.  Not us.  No sirree.  We are the on-time family.  NOT! 🙂  I’m sure Seth wasn’t too surprised by our tardiness.  I think it would have been more of a shock if we’d been on time. 🙂

He had a grand 6-week stay there in Manitoba.  He did a great variety of construction work with his Uncle Tim (metal roofing, shingles, siding, concrete, plenty of shoveling and lots of wood splitting 🙂 )

This is Tim who married…

Seth’s Aunt Meda.

Seth’s cousin, Amy (Aunt Meda’s niece, although they are about the same age)  moved to Manitoba after she married.  Her husband is a guide and one of the most interesting fellows you could talk to. He loves nature.  His family lived out in the sticks where they made their own power as well as heated their water manually for showers.  I’m not sure about laundry.  Maybe they had a washing machine but then again I guess I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that they used a wringer washer. 🙂  His sisters are multi-talented, too.  They make the most beautiful baskets they have woven from things they find in the woods.  Amy has adjusted beautifully to her life with Nathan.  She eats whatever he brings in.  Beaver, deer heart and who knows what else.  I’m afraid to ask. 🙂  Not really but I do find her pretty amazing.

Here’s their little boy looking for bugs.  Notice his bug net behind him.  Oh, he found something alright.  Three leeches that he put into his little yellow bowl.  Ack!  I love it though.  This little boy is going to be a naturalist just like his daddy, someone you can ride the river with because you have confidence in their skills and abilities in tough situations.

One day Amy and Meda went and picked wild morel mushrooms.  I love that they found their own wild mushrooms.  They then made a mushroom soup.  Doesn’t it look delicious?

My wilderness loving, woodsman son.  🙂

Every now and then he actually would get hot.  I don’t know if I believe that.  Canada is frigid 11 months of the year, isn’t it?? 🙂  Here he just had to run and take a quick swim in Lake Manitoba.

And when it’s not frigid you’re battling millions and millions of bugs.  When I saw this picture I told Seth his camera lens was dirty and that’s why it had all those spots.  He then informed me it was BUGS!  Seriously, can you imagine?  I live in Arizona where there is a mosquito about every 400 miles.  Maybe.  (Coming to my remembrance as I think about it, I remember we do have these pesky no-see-ums that will drive a person crazy in the spring time. )

Seth and some boys went on a camping trip taking their  kayaks and canoe.

They fished for their supper…

and cooked it over the fire.

Then for a little fun they shimmied up these trees that have no limbs so you just have to wrap your legs around and pull yourself upwards.

We don’t see much of these in Arizona.  Red fox

And finally, one day while fishing he caught this big one.  It made it into the Master Angler book where the minimum size is 24″ long.  This one was 27″ long.

We’re all together again for the week and then we head for Ohio to a youth camp.  Seth will stay on in Ohio and work for the same family he did last year, putting on metal roofs and miscellaneous jobs.  We’re enjoying our time but on the other hand we’re pretty swamped with the book business right now.