TerMaat Road

These pictures of Dad and Aunt Hattie were taken on TerMaat Road, not too far from Oostburg. Here is a Google Maps link. The pictures are from 1989.

Wren House

Here we present the wacky wren house and its occupants. The picture on the left shows the door knob "perch" slightly better, but obviously the wrens prefer the top of the shepherd's crook for singing their morning serenades. Feeding activity continues.

Wren's Egg

Mom has shared how a pair of wrens has moved into a crazy birdhouse visible from the deck (I'll try to get a picture of that some time when the light is on it). While doing a little yardwork in the vicinity, I noticed what I first took to be a berry but later verified was a wren's egg. The parents are still tending the nest and we can't figure any way an egg could have fallen out, so we speculate this one's fall is the result of some maternal miscalculation when out for a spritz in the nearby birdbath. Hard to believe an actual bird can hatch out of something this tiny!

Go Ginkgo!

All that ginkgo talk last fall and here's what started it! As you may recall, when Mom first described its installation, it had only a Charlie Brown leaf or two. It's been doing well even with the drought. I took some close-ups so you could appreciate the delicate fan-like leaves. Looking forward to its golden splendor in the fall.

Go Westside!

I'm reading Greg Mortenson's book, Three Cups of Tea, an account of how he came to devote his life to building schools in the remote regions of Pakistan. There's a local angle in that the first check for the first school in Pakistan came from pennies collected by students from Westside Elementary School in River Falls (where Greg's mother was principal). Westside is a few blocks from the TerMaat homestead and has some Distinguished Student and Staff Alums. (Remember to click on images for a better view).

I didn't attend Westside, which wasn't built until after I was elementary age. Instead, I stood on a corner a block from the site of the future school, knocking my knobby knees together in subzero weather, waiting for the bus to take me to the illustrious Greenwood Elementary across town.

(Above) Mom compresses herself into a kid-sized desk to enjoy breakfast with Westside second graders. The date on this is unclear.

Below, Mom with Vietnamese refugees in 1983. Not sure what happened to the other two kids, but Mom had a motherly relationship with Khiem for a few years and one of these days I will dredge up a picture of Khiem visiting Deer Lake. I believe there may even be some artwork of Khiem's on a wall in our basement which may need to be scanned at some point.

Below, Pete's spelling bee triumph. As best as I can recall, the first and second place winners aren't depicted because they were actually junior high school students, making Pete's achievement especially impressive. Or maybe first and second went to the superior Greenwood team, which would not surprise me, of course. Westside does seem to have good p.r., though.




I will have to dig up a full-color slide of Peter in the glossy psychedelic shirt depicted here. (I had a similar Mom-made blouse). Gotta love those '70s!!!