The Native Iowan

Been 9 days since I posted… There has been a bunch going on.

In chronological order:

A week ago last Monday I was cleaning my dog kennels when I got my hands caught on my dog, Bella’s, mouth. Not a good situation. Lots of blood. A big slice on my left hand, fingers on both Hands lacerated. Not a good situation.

Dog bites are never good.

As I was moving inside, aiming to clean the wounds, stop the bleeding, I stumbled and fell and stuck my ribs into a sturdy wooden stool.

So I end up with both hands impaired, a really sore, bruised area on my rib cage, and one of my longest serving Amigos showing up for a visit… and a Hemmer Girl party on the weekend.

Willis arriving for a visit is an event. A big event. The Hemmer Girl party, planned for months, is a huge event.

A lot to do. A lot to get done…

I first met Willis in the mid 80s. He and his wife, MsEllie, have been part of our big, glorious family ever since. They were around when our last child, Paul, was born. We were around when their daughter, Talia, was born. I last saw Willis in 2018 in the USA.

Also, if hands n ribs n old compadres aint enough to keep and ol fart bizzy… son, Don’s, wife and 3 daughters flew in from the Solomons for a long weekend of family fun. We’d planned this weekend for a months. The three Hemmer girls in the Solomons were coming to enjoy the Hemmer girls here in Aus. And, my brother’s 18yr old daughter is here going to Uni. So it was a week of Hemmer girl fun n games…

We had: Andromeda, Nova, Vera, Dawnie, Gigi, and Elora. Plus moms and grandma.

Plus Willis…

So, the plan had been to have a HillBilly vroom BBQ on the Saturday, and the Hemmer Girls had a date together on Sunday. Cyclone Alfie got us a week previous. The ground was still real wet so a big Vroom BBQ was not to be. A smaller “family” BBQ was more sensible.

Willis flew in 10pm Thursday, The Solo-Girls flew in Friday eve, Saturday we had Vrooom…

Also, icing on the cake, we had Angelo’s son, Andre come visit. He’s almost 1yr old.

Above we have: Angelo, Andromeda in the orange shirt, Angelo’s mother and sister in law, Vera, Andre, Ash, Maria, Lizza, and Elora. Joan is in the back ground. Dawnie sitting in the shadows.

It was a great day. Our tribe had four generations represented. A first for us, Andre is our first Great-Granny.

So we got wheels turning and fuel burning. Our youngest rider, Nova, 6, frightens her 10yr old cousins. Nove is a born rider, a born hell raiser.

Angelo’s in-laws are not versed in Vroom. This means that the Moms of their family worry and fret, all the noise, all the danger, all the smiles… not what Moms approve of… until that is, they get a good ride in the Beast. The Beast is fast and fun and noisy and flies high and long. Once you get a ride in the Beast you yearn for more, and more, and more…

About Willis: Life is filled with mysteries and occurrences both large and small that effect one’s trajectory one’s trajectory in life, like a magnetic pull on a compass certain meetings, mishaps, misunderstandings and events have life long, lasting, forever influence. Compatibilities, differences, shared interests and more are needed to make lasting relationships.

Willis and I have been gigging together for almost 40 years. I have worked for him. He has worked for me. We were partners in one business venture. We once had a gig where we attempted to get the Japanese government to fund a mini-nuclear plant on Guadalcanal. (I note here that this was a great, smart idea that simply went nowhere, but it should have and if it had, GCanal would be different, better, energy secure.)

In one incarnation, Willis was the boss of an engineering/ ship yard/ fabrication operation on the Island of Liapari. We decided to see if we could build a ground-effect-craft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-effect_vehicle It was very cool but not a great success.

In the past decade or so (I retired in 2023) we both are slower, less entrepreneurial, more involved with families and such than spreadsheets and bottom-lines. From 2013-2019 I was in there USA riding a fair bit, and saw Willis sorta regularly. He and MsEllie joined us for there notorious “Granny Does Vegas” trip in 2015. I rode up for an overnight to see Willis and Ellie in 2018. Last time we were face to face.

Somewhere in the last 10years or so my Big Boer Buddy, Gerhardus, got to know Willis. When covid struck BigG stored his bike with Willis. Saturday gave the three of us a good chance to catch up on quite a few years of billshitting…

Very good time had by all…

More later