Water in Crystal and Liquid Forms

Yes, winter is winding down and summer seems to be on its way... That's the definition of spring isn't it? Around here (at least on the "Wet Side") it starts in February and continues... more or less through May.

April was a very interesting month for outdoor activities in the Merrifield household. On the first, Trevor and Mike went downhill skiing. They took a friend of Trevor's and his brother and Dad. The four of them had taken snowboarding lessons earlier in the winter. Seemed a little strange to be skiing on April Fool's Day but the joke was definitely not on us. We had a great day.

Then sailing started the following week for Mike. All are happy and thankful to have our local lake back again. The original earthen dam was build in the 40's and the drainage system was failing. (Earthen dams actually leak but it's supposed to be a controlled leak...). Somehow the Army Corp. of Engineers prioritized the repair project higher and found the money to fix it last summer. We were potentially looking at years without a lake and the vital flood control it provides... and recreation! Now, they will likely focus on Mississippi levee system.

The following weekend the Merrifields were all back in the mountains for cross country skiing (Mike, Trevor and Hannah) and snowshoeing (Jolyn and four friends of ours). Lido and Chico went barefoot... They trekked in a couple miles and had lunch. Then it was time to build their accomodations for the night. It seems that no matter where people go they have to improve things. Several people started working on the snow cave while others gathered wood for the fire. The Merrifield's friend John proceed to build a combination sleeping shelter, kitchen and living room complete with fire pit. Actually the fire creates its own pit as it burns and melts through many feet of snow. The girls headed home around dusk and the guys prepared to spend the night in their snow cave. After breakfast the next morning, they headed off for a wooden shelter another mile or so away and then headed home.

Returning to the valley it was back to baseball and sailing... Trevor's team has had a rough season... winless so far. However, he enjoys it and does pretty well despite the teams results. He's been catching quite a bit as well as pitching and playing infield (around 2nd base). The season continues through the middle of June so there's still time for the team to improve.

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Sailing in the Nude?

In May, Mike sailed in the NOOD (not nude, however) for the first time. Oh, that's the Sperry Top-Sider National Offshore One Design. The Seattle event provided three days of racing in Puget Sound for over 200 boats in 24 classes. Whew! In addition, the Santana 20 Class Championships were hosted by the Eugene Yacht Club over the summer. The Santanarama 2008 was great week of fun and competitive racing. Mike's frightful-looking boat finished 6 th out of 39. Apparently, ugly is fast. On a smaller scale, but no less enjoyable, Mike loves racing our 14' Lido with Trevor. They make a pretty good team and managed to take 2 nd and 3 rd place in the Summer and Fall Wednesday Night Series respectively. Trevor was recognized as the “Junior All-Star” in the Lido fleet . After Trevor masters the Zuma, Mike hopes he's ready to take the helm on the Lido.

Summer Travel

It felt a bit like Planes, Trains and Automobiles in July as the family flew to Detroit, rented a car and drove to Ithaca. It was great to spend a week with Mike’s sister Merri. They are doing well and the kids are growing out of hockey equipment before you can say, “Keep your stick on the ice.” Mike’s mom struggles with dementia so visits were short but frequent. Celebrating the 4th in Fair Haven with family and friends was fantastic even if it wasn’t beach weather. Other leg 1 highlights included a Cornell campus tour, a Borg Warner tour with John (Thank you!), a quick trip to Baldwinsville to visit more family (Hi, Sharon and Phil) and a stop at Niagara Falls on the way back to Detroit! Leg 2 was spent in Michigan with Jolyn’s sister Rhonda and family. It was good to spend time together and enjoy each other’s company. Rhonda was in the middle of treatment for breast cancer so no adventurous plan. The cousins spent lots of time together at the pool (it was HOT... hottest July EVE...

Fourth of July Celebration

It's been a while but we made the trip back to New York over the fourth. It was largely a spontaneous decision to go on our part. Mike learned from his sister that Uncle Gus and his neighbors would be throwing a big (~70 people) 4th of July party and all the cousins and their families would be there. We also wanted to surprise Mike's mom who is doing ok but recovering from hernia surgery. After traveling on the fourth and arriving at my sister's quite late, we managed to get over to Longview just before lunch time. The four of us wandered into the cafeteria and found mom patiently waiting for her meal. Unfortunately, we were not early enough to take her out for lunch but the surprise was worth the trip. For many reasons, it was a good trip. We caught up with family and friends, visited old haunts, made a trip to Cooperstown , did a little hiking and just had a fairly relaxing time together. New York weather didn't disappoint us either... There was no shortage of ...

Merrifield Times

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