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We had a great hike a few weeks ago in the National Forest behind our house, and this morning Kyra and I decided to do it again. We left from our house and bushwhacked a bit before we found the logging trails. It was chilly, but you should always start your hike cold anyway, and we warmed up by the time we arrived at the overlook high above Flathead Lake. The view was, again, spectacular.

Oh, and we saw a wolf.

It was about fifty feet ahead of us, walking along the logging trail. When it saw us, it bolted. Kyra was a little freaked out, but also excited because it meant she could check off a square on her Wildlife Bingo card. A few days ago, she and Greta were talking about all the wildlife they’d been seeing around our property: deer and turkeys and squirrels and so on. Most of them were fairly commonplace to us, but pretty exciting to the ladies. I jokingly suggested they should have a friendly competition to see who spots the most animals, maybe as a bingo card. They loved the idea and went to work listing twenty-five animals they’re hoping to see during the year they’re living here. Wolf was one of them, and Kyra nailed it on day one! (In our five years here, I’ve never seen a wolf in person, so this was definitely a rare thing.)

Although I hope they don’t run into many more wolves on the trails, I’m also excited to hear how the bingo game progresses…

Since Kyra and Greta are taking responsibility for our house while we’re serving a mission, we’ve had to show them all the stuff they need to know. We toured the boiler room, talked about the solar panels, tested the generator, installed the “smart home” apps, looked at the irrigation system, planned for the orchard, and on and on. One of the things on our (long) list was to de-winterize the jet skis. It served a dual purpose: not only would it get them ready to go out on the lake, but they’ll need to winterize them in the fall anyway, so they’ll reverse the process.

We took off the tarps, installed the batteries, checked the oil, and then loaded up the trailer. Off to Yellow Bay!

Although it was a chilly 55 or so, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful spring day.

Kyra practiced backing down the boat ramp– not an easy thing to do, although much easier without anyone else waiting in line! We put the jet skis in the water and gave them a test run.

Wetsuits were a must, because the water temperature was probably less than 50 degrees. We had a good time putting the jet skis through their paces, and then came back in to the dock.

Now all’s ready for a summer of fun!

We had dinner at our friends’ home tonight, and their kids were really excited to show us their baby goats.

This is Babybel. Their two other babies are Parmesan and Nacho. You can see the theme.

Sadly, we learned that Pepper died last fall. A couple years ago, they named two of their baby goats Cosmo and Pepper. Cosmo is still going strong, though. It was fun to hold and pet these little guys, and even more fun to see how much the kids (who are 10 and 12) love having them. Thanks, Cora and Coston!

A few weeks ago Pepper and I bought our fancy mission wardrobes. Today we wore some of our new threads to church, and Greta wanted to take a picture of us afterward.

I just hope they’re cool enough for El Centro. And by “cool” I mean in temperature. I already know I’m cool in style.

It’s spring, which means the dandelions are back. I’ve been working in the yard to kill the buggers before they spread too much (why are they always in the grass and never in the forest?). Years ago I gave up fighting them in the orchard, and sure enough, they’re back there with a vengeance.

Interestingly, in addition to a gazillion dandelions, our smaller orchard also has a gazillion little purple flowers. You can see a blanket of them in the photo above. There aren’t any in the larger orchard, which is literally twenty feet away. Odd.

Pepper says I need to stop worrying about the Yellow Menace and let Kyra and Greta take care of them once we’ve moved away. It’s hard to do when I see those little yellow petals sprouting all over our lawn… argh…

When you are exasperated by interruptions, try to remember that their very frequency may indicate the valuableness of your life. Only the people who are full of help and strength are burdened by other people’s needs. The interruptions which we chafe at are the credentials of our indispensability. The greatest condemnation that anybody could incur– and it is a danger to guard against– is to be so independent, so unhelpful, that nobody ever interrupts us and we are left comfortably alone.

Motto of Residence Life, NMSU

Today we went on a hike with our friends Jon and Jean. They live a little north of us and have a similar view of Flathead Lake from their home. And they also have some hiking trails they’ve made from their house to a network of logging trails that crisscross the Flathead National Forest east of us. They’re avid hikers, and they’ve lived here for a while, so they know a lot about these unmarked trails. (And when I say “a while”, Jon was telling us as we hiked about the logging activity in the area back in the 1970’s. He’s been here that long!)

We wound through the forest, at times following overgrown logging roads, at other times bushwhacking through brush and over fallen trees. Eventually we reached a rocky ridge that stretches along the Swan Range east of our house, and were rewarded with a magnificent view of the lake.

We weren’t sure whether we could see our house from up here, but after a while we spotted it in the distant forest. It was probably a little less than a mile away.

The air felt cool (it’s still April, after all) but the hike was invigorating and we all loved the bright sunlight and the beautiful blue water beneath us. We snapped a picture before heading back down.

Open burn season ends in about a week, so it was time to gather up all the branches that had been pruned from our orchard and burn them. As usual, we had to move them from the orchard up to our neighbors’ land, where we’ve traditionally burned our yard and garden trimmings. We’ve been waiting for a (relatively) warm day with no wind, and today was it.

We borrowed a friend’s truck to haul the massive pile of branches. It only took two loads, which was nice.

Then we broke out the propane tank and flamethrower so we could show the ladies how to take care of the pile in the fall, when we’re gone. Plus, who doesn’t love using a flamethrower on a huge pile of branches? Kyra lit it up.

But… nothing.

We all took turns torching the lower branches, even turning up the gas until it was a roaring flame. They blackened, but didn’t burn. Not to be outdone by a bunch of cherry wood, I took out our gallon bottle of lighter fluid and sprayed it on the branches. Flames whooshed where the lighter fluid hit, but quickly faded. Growing more frustrated, I grabbed a canister of gasoline we use for the lawnmower and tossed a couple gallons onto the branches. The bursts of flame were more impressive, but unfortunately they vanished as quickly as they’d come. The branches simply wouldn’t burn!

Obviously the problem was our lack of any grass or brush; in past burns we’ve had massive piles of trimmings from the lawnmower and the garden plants. This time it was only the cherry prunings, and they’re remarkably resistant to fire. I guess the ladies will just need to look at this pile every time they come up the driveway, and take care of it in the fall when they’ve had a few seasons to add grass to it…

For the last three days, I’ve played Utu!

Thursday night is my local board game group, and Ryan (on the right) has been asking to play it for a few weeks. He was part of my original playtesting group, back when it was just a bunch of sticky notes on plain hexes. Now he wanted to see the “finished product”. Shaun and Kirra were playing for the first time, and when I pulled out the box Kirra was flabbergasted. “You designed this?” She said it looked like a professional game (hey, I am a professional!) and was pretty impressed.

Shaun squeaked out a victory over me, winning by the tiebreaker. Well done, sir.

Yesterday I met up with Brian, Marie, and Brandon for some pizza at Rosa’s. They’d been with us the night before, but couldn’t play Utu because it’s limited to four people. They asked if they could give it a go. Like Ryan, they’d been playtesters early on (also at Rosa’s, as it happened) so they were excited to see the final product. Board games are always better after a hearty helping of pizza.

In this one, Brandon crushed all of us with a massive final turn where he launched all kinds of boats and settled a gaggle of islands. It was a masterful victory.

And today I introduced it to Greta. Kyra already knew how to play, of course, and says of the games I’ve designed, this is her favorite. After a quick review of the rules, we got to work exploring the Pacific.

Greta’s typical beginner’s luck didn’t bring her a victory; I took the crown here.

Next up: we’re going to play again in the next few days to test the expansion I developed. Interestingly, I created the expansion from ideas that various people suggested after playing… but I’ve never actually played it! We’ll see how it goes. Even if it’s a failure, I’ve really enjoyed introducing Utu to so many people.