Heather

Hello everyone. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

Saturday I was at a Kaleva meeting that lasted many hours. It was enjoyable, but I get recruited to do things that are outside of my comfort level, i.e. reading a poem in front of a large group of people, etc. Overall, it was very enjoyable. If anyone wants to join the Ladies of Kaleva, you're more than welcome to do so. Also, if any of the Kuoppala grandchildren want to apply for a Kaleva scholarship, remember, that they can as their grandmother and aunts are members. If you are interested, let me know.

Fall is here and it is beautiful. I was able to go biking yesterday with Kate and Annie. We went from Giant's Ridge to Aurora down different trails. We did a total of 17 miles. Much of the area was trail in the woods and the trail would be covered with colorful leaves or pine needles. It was absolutely a beautiful bike ride. This weekend was supposed to be the peak colors, but maybe next weekend will still be beautiful if anyone wants to come up and visit.

My obsession with deer hunting has begun. I've seen a doe and her 2 fawns pretty consistently. We also have 2 bucks in the neighborhood. I saw a buck 2 times the other day, but am not sure if it was the same one or a different one. They don't stay on our land, but travel through. I'm hoping they will be traveling through when deer hunting comes (preferably when I'm in my stand and not at night). I get so excited and then when hunting comes, no deer left around here. If only I knew where they go. I wish Shawn and I could buy a lot more land just to hunt on. See, I'm obsessed.

Shawn has been tilling up our land and is going to be planting some rye grass or something. I don't know what it is, but thought that sounded good. The sad part is that the deer no longer have a lot of brush cover, so probably won't be back to our house in the same pattern that they had been coming. However, if the grass grows, they may come to feast. We'll see what happens.

In case anyone doesn't know this, Julia had colon cancer and completed her chemo. She was going in to the doctor to get an "all clear" and once that happened, she was buying herself and Shawn a ticket to Alaska so she could go on vacation. So, with eagerness she went to the doctor. However, rather than an "all clear" she found out she has cancer in her liver. She is now back on chemo and it's more intensive. The doctor told her it's aggressive cancer. She is feeling miserable. Stays home a lot, sleeps a lot, eats little and generally just feels miserable. So, if anyone wished to send her a card, it may brighten up her otherwise very dreary days.

I hope everyone has a good week and I look forward to reading something from each and everyone of you.