Dad Joke!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been beautiful here with daily temperatures hovering around 25°, but they're threatening us with some 30° days next week—that will keep me in the air conditioned comfort of my house. Apparently, the titles of the last two weeks' blurbs have left some folks confused—I guess they qualify as a "Dad Joke"! Nicely timed, too, as we have arrived at Father's Day! It's always a bad thing when you have to explain your jokes—must qualify as misjudging your audience! Anyway, two weeks ago, I titled it, "And what is so rare...?", an easy reference to the old query, "And what is so rare as a day in June?" a snippet from James Russell Lowell's epic poem, "The Vision of Sir Launfal", and reliably the best known part of it! However, when last week arrived, and we had seen nothing but June days in recent weeks, I, unfortunately, decided to title my entry, "It's not that rare!" leaving some of you (not for the first time) wondering whether I'd taken leave of my senses. But, it allows me to contribute what truly is a dad joke: Q-What is more rare than a day in June? A-A day in February! Don't make me explain this one! I have been re-siding the garage this week, and I must say it is looking much better. I took the backboard off the front, and will be contributing that to a young family at church. I should finish that project next week if the heat doesn't drive me away from it.

Adding vinyl siding

Wendy has held a few followup events to the chorus gala celebration. They're heading into a quieter schedule over the summer. The markets have continued to push forward, although the TSX is not doing nearly as well as the USA indices. S&P-500 and Nasdaq are up 15% and 30%, respectively, already this year, while TSX and the DOW are only up about 3%. Anyway, I had another good week, and June is going well so far. There was a big time event in sports last weekend as Nick Taylor won the Canadian Open in a playoff! Great entertainment—great win! First win by a Canadian of our national open golf tournament since 1944! Jays continue to play inconsistently, and are sitting in 4th place currently. Riders had a win in the season opener in Edmonton, but lost to Winnipeg last night. They are showing signs of improvement over last season, so we have hope! 

Erica writes, "Last weekend, we enjoyed a motorcycle ride out to Waskesiu with our niece Marina. She returned to BC for surgery this week so it was her last ride for a while. We also enjoyed a couple of Rattler games and made sure to get some gear to look the part. It’s been a very busy week at work and at home. Eric saw the doctor which led to a series of tests and more tests to come. He hasn’t been sleeping well, so we are trying to figure out why. This weekend, Erica (and by extension, Eric) are involved in the Rotary Lobsterfest. This is a fundraiser to help pay for improvements to one of the local parks. It means a full day of set up, entertaining and take down at the end. As a result, we’ve decided to enjoy a day of rest on Sunday, and, maybe take a motorcycle ride!"

Erin's garden project is going well. Kristian is munching on strawberries each day. The peas are not producing yet, but the cherry tomatoes look close to ready for eating! We consulted over some adjustments to the irrigation system via FaceTime this week. We also regularly consult over the Blue Jays! Kristian did not get a counsellor position at camp, and hasn't decided whether he'll take the junior counsellor job which he held last summer. 

Travis and Joanna joined us for pizza and cards last night, and have made plans to share Joanna's birthday celebration tomorrow with us as well. The dogs have been bad dogs as they've begun destroying one of the living room chairs! 

And that's enough for this week.