Monday, February 29, 2016

Fritz Hasler Photo Autobio


Arthur Frederick (Fritz) Hasler 
1940-Living - Photo Autobiography


Figure 1: Fritz, Salt Lake City, 2012


Fritz Hasler: Biographical Synopsis

Arthur Frederick (Fritz) Hasler was born August 21, 1940 in Madison WI. He married Mary Huebner, June 19, 1965 in Madison WI, his lifelong companion of 51+ years. Mary and Fritz were thrilled to have and raise four children, Anneliese (Married to Bradley McDonald), Marta Fleur (Married to Adam DeBellis), Katherine Etta (Married to Darrel Jett), and Matthew Frederick Hasler (Married to Amy Warwick). They also got great pleasure helping to raise 11+ grand children: Megan, Rachel, Aaron, and Elizabeth McDonald, Calvin, Thea, and Eliana DeBellis, Chloe and Kaden Hasler, as well as Lilia, and Ailsa Jett. Mary and Fritz were also extremely pleased to be able to live in Madison Wisconsin, Boulder Colorado, The Washington DC/Annapolis MD area, Paris France, and to spend their retirement years splitting their time between their lake house in Northern Wisconsin (Three Lakes) in the summer and winters near nine of their grand children and great snow skiing in Lindon Utah. Seven of Fritz’s ancestors, including his mother Hanna Prusse joined the Mormon Church in Europe and immigrated to Utah. Fritz was a life long member of the LDS Church and served numerous positions including: Home Teacher, Sunday School Teacher, Ward Executive Secretary, Ward Mission Leader, Ward Clerk, and Scout Master. Fritz’s father Arthur Davis Hasler was an eminent scientist and Professor of Zoology, Limnology, & Ecology at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Fritz earned his B.S in Applied Math and Engineering Physics (1963) and his PhD in Meteorology (1970) from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. For 31 years he worked at the Goddard Space Flight Center where he became  a famous scientist (1974-2005). He has over 45 peer-reviewed papers on his research using data from weather satellites. His images, like his famous Blue Marble and hurricane images were published in and on the covers of magazines including Time, Life & National Geographic, on over a billion iPhones & iPads and they appeared in the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. His movies were shown on National TV and his NASA movie animations were shown in the opening & closing ceremonies of the 2002 Olympic Games on the Jumbotron in the Rice Eccles stadium in Salt Lake City. Fritz loved sports: he was a competitive water skier for over 49 years (1967-2016+). He was the many time Eastern Regional trick champion and record holder, He won numerous national medals and won the gold medal in USA Water Ski Nationals tricks in 2000 in his age group.  He taught his kids, grand kids, and many others how to water-ski, slalom, and trick. Fritz was also a lifelong snow skier, he taught skiing professionally 2007-2016+ at Snowbird and Brighton resorts in Utah and became certified as a Level 2 Professional Alpine Instructor at age 74.  He taught his kids, grand kids and many others how to snow ski. Fritz lettered on his high school football, hockey & volleyball teams. He loved to play basketball, touch football, and volleyball when he was younger, but rode many miles/day on his human and electric assisted road bikes, snow-skied and water-skied through his 70s. He was a Boy Scout and lifetime adult Scouter: achieving the rank of Eagle Scout, and serving as Scout Master for three years in Annapolis and councilor for numerous merit badges over the years. He enjoyed learning and speaking foreign languages and was somewhat of a linguist: He spoke German fluently from living in Germany for two years. He spoke French passably from living in Paris for 6 months, He knew quite a bit of Spanish vocabulary, and could come up with a sentence when needed, but couldn’t understand the response. He started learning Spanish in 2007 and never stopped. Fritz was an avid photographer and cinematographer. He made a fantastic record of family events through photos and spent countless hours editing and organizing his photos, making photo books, putting them on the web, and making sophisticated family film and video movies. Fritz loved hiking, biking, canoeing and kayaking and old growth forests. He climbed 11,749 ft Mt Timpanogos at age 14 and age 66. He loved Zion National Park, Arches National Park, the San Rafael Swell in Utah and Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks in California. Fritz loved to travel. He traveled to every state including Hawaii and Alaska as well as Canada in North America and to 25 foreign countries in the Caribbean, Europe, South Africa, Pacific Islands, the Far East including India, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand and he circumnavigated the globe. His wife Mary also enjoyed traveling immensely and accompanied him on many trips, including to Barbados, all over Europe, South Africa, SE Asia, and Australia.  He was a lifelong Democrat. He believed that Global Warming is a serious problem and is caused by humans. To address this problem in a small personal way, he purchased 100% electric Nissan Leafs in 2013 and 2016, which he drives on the sunshine from his rooftop solar panels purchased in 2015.


Fritz Hasler: Photo Autobiography



Figure 1.5 Fritzi, Madison, 1940

The 4 x 8 print that this was scanned from says:
        

Written in ink in Hanna's handwriting on the back



Figure 2: Hanna, Fritz, Door County Wisconsin, 1941

The first color picture of me with my mother, Hanna, was taken in Door County by my father Arthur, an early user of Kodak color slide film.



Figure 2.5: Fritz, Lake Geneva, 1941

What boy wouldn't like a toy like this.


Figure 3: Sylvia, Fritz, Madison, 1941

I have a sister, Sylvia (born October 4, 1936), who is four years older than me.


Figure 4: Arthur, Fritz, Hanna, Sylvia, Lake Geneva, 1942

The fish professor had to make sure that all his kids knew how to swim.


Figure 5: Fritz, Sylvia, Elaine Prusse, Madison, 1943

This is me, with my sister and my Aunt Elaine (mom's sister-in-law) on Lake Mendota in Madison on a boat outing. This picture was scanned from the original negative that my uncle Bill shot.

Bill was going to Harvard business school in Boston and stopped by in Madison with Elaine on the way back to Utah.


Figure 6: Haslers, Madison, 1943.

1942 brought my brother Bruce Davis (born June 3, 1942) for me to play with and sometimes to fight.


Figure 7: Fritz, Randall School, Madison, 1945

I got to play Pinocchio in the school play in Kindergarten, probably, because I was the only kid with lederhosen (leather shorts) and the right hat.



Figure 7.5: Fritz, Randall School, Madison, 1945

Here I am with the entire cast of the play. Of course the star is standing in the front row. My dad Gepetto is on the far right


Figure 8: Fritz, Granny, Galen, Mark, Sylvia, Madison, 1945

Dad was off to the war in Germany so Granny came from Utah to help with two new brothers, Galen Rolf and Mark Rudolf (born January 24 1945). I look pretty happy. I didn't realize how much competition twins could be.


Figure 9: Fritz, Hanna, Mark, Galen, Bruce, Madison 1945

Mom holds the twins while Bruce & I pose for the camera in our sailor hats. This was scanned from a tiny 1" square print in Bill & Elaine's photo album.


Haslers_Madison_1945

Just before Art left for the Strategic Bombing Survey in Germany, leaving Hanna at home with 5 kids including twins 3 months old. I'm sitting on the step on the right.



Figure 46: Art, Sylvia, Fritz, Madison, 25August1945
(Arthur Hasler Photo)

Just after Art returned from the Strategic Bombing Survey in Germany.

It looks like dad brought me back a concentration camp outfit.


Figure 10: Karl, Galen, Mark, Bruce, Fritz, Sylvia, Madison, 1949

1947 brought baby, Karl Gregory (born July 19, 1947), and now we were six. I'm the only one that knows you are supposed smile for the picture.


Figure 11: Bruce, Fritz, Mt. Timpanogos, 1948

August 1948: Mom and Dad took the whole clan West to Utah from Wisconsin every summer. Here Bruce and I sit on a split rail fence looking at Mount Timpanogos, from American Fork. not far from where we spend the winters since 2005. I think Utah County has been built up a little since then.


Hanna&Kids_MammothSpringsYellowstone_Wyoming_1949


Figure 12: Fritz, Madison, 1950

Me showing off my double dimples.


Figure 13: Karl, Galen, Mark, Bruce, Fritz, St Joseph's Island, 1950

Five boys in a boat. This was before the days that 5 hp, 15 hp 25 hp, 50 hp, 90 hp and 325 hp motors powered our boats.


Figure 14: Fritz, Mark, Bruce, Galen, Karl, Madison, 1951

Lionel trains were my great love as a kid, and there was always a new engine or car under the tree at Christmas. Dad installed a permanent track layout on an 8x10 sheet of plywood. I am at the controls of the top-of-the-line double handle Lionel Multi-Control TRAINmaster transformer. The lighted passenger cars are being pulled by my favorite diesel switcher locomotive.


Figure 15: Fritz, St Joseph's Island, 1952

From an adventure in Canada where we cleared a lot for our future cabin. It turned out that we cleared the wrong lot and we never went back. Note: we are up to 2 1/2 horsepower on the motor.


Figure 16: Galen, Mark, Bobby, Bruce, Fritz - London, 1954

Note: a Bobby is what they call a policeman in London.

August1954 took the family to Munich Germany for the year. Here we are en route from Lands End England where the ocean liner, the SS Flandre took six days to cross the Atlantic and drop off us and our 1954 Nash Ambassador automobile. Then a flying boxcar took us and the Nash across the English Channel to Calais where we drove on to Munich.



Figure 76: Haslers and Detig's at Fischbachau, 1955


Figure 77: Hanna & Boys, Aachen Krumbein, Europe 1955


Figure 17: Jürgen Detig, Fritz, Munich, 1955

January 1955: This is me, in drag, dancing at a Fashing Party (German version of Carnival/Mardi Gras) with Sylvia's German boyfriend.  I don't think he ever got over the fact that she went home and married Gilbert shortly after our return to the U.S.


Figure 18: Galen, Willie Sachs, Sylvia, Fritz, Spitzingsee, 1955

Spring 1955: This was my first real experience with skiing which would become one of my great loves later in life. Spitzingsee was a little ski resort in Bavaria (Southern Germany) in the foothills of the Alps. However, it had a real chairlift that took us some distance up the mountain. I had no idea how to ski, so I spent some hours falling my way back down the hill.  Willie was an ex-competition ski racer that we knew from the Mormon congregation in Munich.


Figure 18.5: Nash Ambassador, Dinkelsbühl, 1955

Hasler's stopping for a stay at a hotel in the mediaeval town of Dinkelsbühl Germany on the Romantishestraße (Romantic Highway) between Nordlingen and Rotenburg northwest of Munich.

Just has the 1948 Hudson Commodore had carried the eight strong Hasler clan numerous times the 1500 miles from Madison Wisconsin to Provo Utah, the new 1954 Nash Ambassador carried eight Haslers all over Europe in 1954 and 1955.  The Europeans who were still digging out from WWII and driving little VW bugs and GM Opals were astonished to see the whole clan climbing out of the big Nash.



Figure 18.7: Hanna, Nash, Germany, 1955

Hanna, speaking German to the farmer's wife by a farmhouse in Germany.  Notice that the house and barn are attached (You don't have to go outside for milking) and the farmer is holding bessie with cowbells hanging on the wall.


Figure 18.9: Mark, Fritz, Galen, Germany, 1955

Here I am in my Lederhosen, with Mark and Galen looking at cow bells. Those Lederhosen were amply big for me at age 15.  I tried to put them on for a costume party at age 75...... not even close.



Figure 19: Haslers, Leaving Munich, 1955

August 1955: Karl, Mark, Galen, Bruce, Fritz, Sylvia, Hanna, Art. This is taken in the backyard of our Munich home just before we returned from Germany. Note that Bruce, Karl and I are wearing lederhosen (the leather shorts). I think Karl's are the same ones that I wore as Pinocchio for the Randall School play when I was five. Also note that each of us (except Galen) is wearing a giant pretzel on a lanyard around our necks.



Figure 19.5: Fritz, Ray, Willys Jeepster, 1956

At age 15, I am about to embark alone on a 2400 mile adventure to Philmont National Scout Camp in Cimarron New Mexico with my 16 year old neighbor Ray Hamel in a cheap Jeep.

On a short detour into Texas, at a gas war, we bought gas for 17 cents per gallon.



Figure 19.7: Fritz, Ray, other Scouts, Philmont, 1956.

We divided up into four patrols and hiked and camped for 400 miles and 30 nights across the plains and mountains of the desert Southwest. I was entrusted with my Patrol's axe and the only two matches we had make a fire on the 36 hour survival ordeal portion of the adventure.  I was a Life Scout, but most of the other boys from all over the country were Eagle Scouts. I got my hiking merit badge when we hiked 50 miles one day and night. I also earned most of the other merit badges I needed for the Eagle rank.


Figure 101 Art's son Fritz,  Liming Peter Lake, 1956
(Arthur Hasler Photo)

Classic Limnology Lab picture on how to change the chemistry of a lake. Identical Paul lake was left untouched as a control.



Figure 102: Fritz, Liming Peter Lake, 1956
(Arthur Hasler Photo)

That's me above  (Art's eldest son Fritz) emptying a 50 lb bag of lime into a basin, I'm about 16 so this is actually about 1956. In Figure 92 on the left, Art with Hugo Baum building lime floats at Trout Lake in 1933. I'm thinking that both methods have the same goal, but obviously doing it with a high volume motorized pump will get dissolved lime into the water a whole lot quicker.



Figure 103: Fritz, Liming Peter Lake, 1956
(Arthur Hasler Photo)

In this picture you can see a tub outside the boat where Fritz is dumping the lime. A big white hose carries the limey water to the pump that shoots it out the back of the boat

The driver is operating a 5 hp outboard motor to move the boat.



Figure 20: Hanna, Art, Karl, Mark, Galen, Bruce, Fritz, Madison, 1957

Note that Sylvia is gone. She was married in 1956. I am wearing a whistle, swim suit, and pith helmet for my first job as a life guard. The brand new pool where I was working was finished late, so I worked for a grand total of three weeks that summer.


Figure 21: Grosspapa, Granny, and 25 grandchildren, Provo, 1957

August 1957: Wilhelm and Johanne Prusse's 50th wedding anniversary. I am top right, next to Dean, Bruce, and Sylvia.

Mom and dad made sure that we got back to Provo Utah every summer to see their parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews (Our cousins). Sylvia, married to Gilbert Thatcher, was living in Utah at the time so she is in the picture.


Figure 21.5, Fritz, Snapping Turtles, Notre Dame Estate, Michigan, 1958

A picture of myself with two dead giant snapping turtles, that had drowned in one of the fike nets seen in the background. This photo was emailed to me in 2016 by James Gammon who was one of dad's graduate students.


Figure 22, Bruce, Fritz, Madison, 1958

Spring 1958: In my graduation gown, I graduated from Madison West High School Spring 1958.


Figure 23: Bruce, Fritz, Galen, Mark, Karl, Madison, 1960

Gilbert shot this one of the Hasler boys in the backyard from the porch of our 205 Lathrop house with his Leica and 90 mm portrait lens.


Figure 23.2: Fritz, Munich, 1960

This was my exciting residence on the Arcisstraße near the University in Munich during my Junior Year Abroad 1960-61.

 My travels were more interesting though. I spent a over three months during the year traveling through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, France, and Spain.



Figure 23.5: Fritz's Bike, Munich, 1960

Siegestor Munich: My primary means of transportation in Munich during my Junior Year until I bought the red 1961 VW bug for touring Europe the last month of the year and to bring home to the U.S. for the family.



Figure 23.7: Fritz and Junior Year Colleagues, Munich, 1960



Figure 23.8 Fritz, Zugspitze, 1960

December 1950 on top of the Zugspitze in Southern Germany: My first of 60 days of skiing in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland the winter of 1960-61. This is right next to Hitler's Adler's Nest




23.82: Fritz, VW Fording Stream, Yugoslavia, 1961

On my 60th day of skiing in Austria and Switzerland I broke my leg at the Swiss resort of Arosa.

It was a complete spiral fracture of the tibia and fibula. The Swiss doctors opened me up with a 10" cut requiring 21 stitches and set the bone with four screws in the tibia.

I woke up the next morning with no cast on my leg. After three days they had me walking on "American" crutches. Then they fitted me with what they called a Gehapperat (walking apparatus) as you can see above. It was very painful to even lower my leg to walking position (it wasn't too bad if kept elevated). And the Getappaerat was almost useless for walking because it hurt too much.

After a week they sent me home to Munich where our friends, the Detigs. put me up for a week while my leg healed a little more.

Then I was on a train to Brindisi Italy where I caught up with my JYM colleagues and friends, Hüby and Cindy Küter in their VW bug for the ferry to Greece for a two week tour of the country..  We returned to Germany through Yugoslavia and Austria.

In the picture above you can see the VW bug as we forded a stream on a back road in Yugoslavia.








Figure 23.83: Fritz, Cindy Küter, Camping Mycenae Greece, 1961

Hüby and Cindy slept on the reclining seats of the VW and I camped out for the whole trip. In this location I slept under the teetering rocks of a 3000 year old Mycenaean structure. I figured if those rocks had been stable for 3000 years they probably would be stable for one more night.





Figure 23.84: Fritz, Air Mattress, Greece, 1961 

I had a lot of fun with the crutches. At Olympia I devised a new game for the Olympics: The Hop, Crutch, and Jump. Here I am simulating Olympic Kayak Racing using an air mattress for the canoe, and my crutches with swim fins for the paddle.



Figure 23.85: Hüby, Cindy, Fritz, Greece, 1961

This was probably a delayed time exposure as I doubt we got someone to take the picture for us.


Figure 23.86:  Cindy, Fritz, Greece, 1961

Here you can get a good look at my "American" crutches. Since I could put no weight on my leg and the Gehapparat was useful only to protect my un-casted leg, I saw all of Greece and Yugoslavia on crutches.





Figure 23.87:  Fritz, Athens, 1961

Yes, I climbed the Acropolis on crutches.!

Fast forward 54 years and see Mary with me back at the Parthenon in 2015 (in Figure 120).



Figure 24: Haslers, Madison 1961

Late Fall 1961: Karl, Hanna, Art, Fritz, Bruce, Galen, Mark

I had just returned from my college Junior Year in Munich with goodies for me and the family. I am holding my Kneisl Riesen Slalom (Giant Slalom) skis, Karl is holding the new Holzner GS skis I had brought for him, Mark & Galen. Behind us was the new red VW bug with skis on the rack that I had bought for the family in Germany. The Marker safety bindings on my Kneisls weren't so safe as I totally broke my lower left leg while skiing in Switzerland.

Figure 24.5: Fritz, Eagle Ceremony, Madison, 1961

Fritz receiving his Eagle Badge at age 21.

Scouting wasn't offered in my Mormon Branch (small congregation) so I joined Madison Troop 1 when I was 12. We did a lot of camping including winter camping in 20 below zero weather, but the big outings were, 10 day canoe trips to the Boundary Waters between Minnesota and Canada near Ely MN. In order to go on the trips it was required that you advance one rank in scouting. On the first trip I advanced to Star, on the second to Life. When I was 15, I went with my next door Ray Hamel, 16.  1200 miles across the country in his Willy's Jeepster (small Jeep) to Philmont  National Scout Camp in Cimeron NM. for 30 days. At Philmont I passed off most of the remaining 21 merit badges for the Eagle Rank.  As the 21 year age limit (in those days) approached, I realized I only needed one or two more badges, which I quickly passed. There was no Eagle project required at that time.


Figure 24.7:Art, Hanna, Fritz, Graduation, Madison, 1961

Professor, Wife, Professor's son.

This was the year I graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a B.S. degree in Applied Math and Engineering Physics.


Figure 25: Haslers, Madison, 1964

Art, Karl, Fritz, Bruce, Hanna, Galen, Mark 

This was the year I graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a B.S. degree in Applied Math and Engineering Physics.


Figure 26: Mary, Fritz, June 19, 1965

Well I met this girl see, and before I knew it, we were married.


Figure 27:  Huebners, Madison, 1965.

19June1965: Alice, Fred, Mary Laura, Anne, Ellen

She had a very nice family. It was with considerable reluctance that they let me take their daughter.


Figure 28: Anneliese, Madison, December 1967

Then the next thing I knew, we had this little girl born December 4, 1967.


Figure 29: Art, Fritz, Fred, Anneliese, Madison 1968

January 1968: Soon it was time to have her blessed.



Figure 30: Anneliese, Mary, Madison 1968

If there was any question, why I married Mary, this should clear it up.


Figure 31: Mary, Madison, 1968.

If there was still any doubt.


Figure 32: Mary, Fritz, Anneliese, Madison, 1968.

The proud parents with their first born daughter.


Figure 33: Fritz, Anneliese, Madison, 1968

The first of many "hand stands".

It turns out that if a baby will stiffen it's knees you can balance it like this. You just have to have the coordination and nerve to do it.  Over the water like this you don't worry much about hurting the child. When the child gets a little older, it is afraid you will drop it and it doesn't work anymore.


Fritz, Anneliese, Madison, 1968

Here's the PG rated version



Fritz, Anneliese, Madison, 1968


Figure 34: Fritz, Anneliese, Trout Lake, 1969

Taking a stroll with dad on the Trout Lake beach!


Figure 35: Fritz, Marta, Madison, 1970

In the delivery room with Marta Fleur born March 20, 1970.


Figure 36: Mary, Liese, Fritz, Madison, 1970

Suspended animation!


Figure 37: Haslers Thatchers, Madison, 1971

Sylvia, Gilbert, Laurel, Blaine, Sabina Thatcher - Fritz, Mary. Liese, Marta - Bruce - Galen & Grace - Mark & Renee - Karl,

Haslers & Thatchers Hanging Out at Mary & Fritz's House on the Lake, 15 Lake Shore Court, Madison

Figure 38: Fritz, Marta, Madison, 1971

Another handstand!


Figure 39: Haslers, Madison, 1971

Fritz, Mary, Marta, Liese

Two little girls, I've got my PhD in Meteorology from the University of Wisconsin. We're done with Madison, and off to Colorado


Figure 40: Fritz, Mary. Liese, Marta, Boulder, 1972

A growing family in Boulder Colorado!


Figure 41: Fritz, Mary. Liese, Marta, Boulder, 1972

Our Afghan, Sheila Amahari, Mary, Liese, Fritz, Marta

This was our backyard in Boulder, in Table Mesa, with the FlatIrons behind us.

I received my PhD in Meteorology from the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1971.

After I graduated, I took a postdoc as a Senior Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) up in the Flatirons in Boulder Colorado (background of the picture above) where I worked for three years.

My next job would be at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland (on the Washington DC Beltway) where I would work for the next 31 years.


Figure 42:, Mary. Liese, Marta, Paris, 1975

We lived for six wonderful months only a 15 min walk from the Notre Dame in Paris.

For 30 days that summer, every weekend, and 10 days at Christmas we traveled all over France, Germany and Switzerland, visited London, and poked across the border into Spain.

I had been at NASA for one year and when I took a six month work assignment at the Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique in Paris France.


Figure 43: Liese, Mary, Marta Fritz, Zug, 1975

Swimming at Zug Switzerland on our 30 day tour of Europe the summer of 1975.

When we arrived in Paris in June of  '75 my supervisor informed us that the French all take the whole month of July on vacation.  We spent a couple of weeks finding an apartment and buying a car and we off touring France, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland for the next 30 days.


Figure 44: Fritz. Liese, Marta, Zermatt, 1975

We spent a few days in Zermatt, the summer of 1975 and liked it so much we came back to ski there at Christmas.


Figure 45: Marta, Liese,  Zermatt, 1975

December 1975: The girls learning to ski in the shadow of the Matterhorn.

We put them in ski school during the day. The instructors weren't quick enough getting them out of their ski gear, so we had to dry out the pee in their pants every night.


Figure 46: Fritz, Marta, France, 1975


Katherine just born, Fritz, Annapolis, 06August1977

Not quite as happy in dad's arms


Katherine Etta was born, August 6 1977 and then we were five. No longer the family with two kids that we had promised Paul Erlich, author of the book, the population bomb.





Figure 48: Haslers, Annapolis, 1978

Fritz, Katherine, Mary, Marta, Liese.



Katherine, Fritz, Appalachians, 1978

Another Handstander



Figure 47: Fritz, Marta, Liese,  Aspen, 1978


When we left Colorado for NASA and Maryland, we promised ourselves that we would use the extra money to take a Western ski trip every year. This is one year it actually happened. The girls ski passes were $3.00/day at Aspen Mountain


Figure 49: Haslers, Trout Lake, 1980

Marta, Mary, Liese, Fritz, Katherine.

The Haslers have been going to a wonderful beach on South Trout Lake in Northern Wisconsin since my dad, Arthur, joined a research station there in the 30s. It's been a reunion spot for Haslers and Thatchers ever since. See me walking on the Trout Lake beach with baby Liese in Figure 34.


Figure 50: Haslers, South River, 1981

Marta, Fritz, Liese, Mary, Katherine on the back of our Ski Supreme competition ski boat tournament demonstrator.

I had earned a couple of silver medals at the National Water Ski Tournament in trick skiing at this point.

I managed to talk the Ski Warm Wet Suit Company into giving us five custom made wetsuits for our family. Katherine looks pretty happy considering getting her into that suit was harder than putting toothpaste back in the tube.



Figure 50.5: Liese, Fritz, Marta, Hop Dock, Edgewater 1981


Newborn Matt, Fritz, Edgewater 02July1982

And a very proud papa!

Everyone wanted to hold him!


Figure 51: Fritz, Matthew, Massanutten, 1983

Another "handstander"!

Matthew Frederick was born July 1 1982.

We had three girls, so when Mary suggested we adopt a child, I said that would be fine as long as it was a boy. We picked up Matt on July 2nd at the hospital in Cheverly MD and brought him home.


Figure 52: Fritz, Matt, Edgewater, 1985

What man wouldn't want to have a son.


Figure 53: Haslers, Annapolis , 1985

Marta, Fritz, Anneliese, Mary, Matt, Katherine

Now our family is complete.



Figure 53.5: Fritz, Annapolis, 1985

Fritz on the South River showing off on his trick skiing for the Annapolis Evening Capitol photographer. The picture made the front page of the newspaper. I had just won a silver medal in the Nationals and had one of my NASA images on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. (see Figure 69)


Figure 54: Haslers, Annapolis, 1987

Marta, Liese, Fritz, Mary, Katherine, Matt.

Our youngest are five and ten, and our oldest are 18, and 20 and off at college at UW Madison and BYU.


Figure 55: Haslers, Trout Lake 1989

Katherine, Mary, Fritz, Matt, Liese.

Back at Trout Lake again with our family growing up. Marta not present.


Figure 56: Liese, Brad Wedding, Bountiful, 1990

Brad, Liese, Katherine, Marta, Fritz, Mary

December 20, 1990, Anneliese and Bradley McDonald were married in the Salt Lake City Temple. The reception was at Brad's family LDS Ward in Bountiful Utah. We had a new son in the family and grandkids soon to come.



Figure 57: Haslers, Annapolis, 1992

Matt, Katherine, Fritz, Mary

Matt now 10, Katherine, 15, and the older girls at college, and married.


Figure 58: Haslers, McDonalds, 1993

Fritz, Matt, Megan, Mary, Liese, Brad, Marta, Katherine.

Our first grand child, Megan Katherine McDonald, was born on halloween October 30, 1993. It was great to have a little ghoul in the family.

It took a photo mosaic to put our far flung family together for the Christmas card in that year.


Figure 59: Marta, Adam, Wedding, Sequoia National Park, 2000

10June2000: Ten years after the wedding of Liese and Brad, Megan and Rachel were flower girls and Aaron was the baby when Adam and Marta got married in Sequoia National Park. These were some of the first pictures taken with my new Nikon D1 professional digital SLR camera. That year for $5000 you got a camera with 2.4 Mega Pixel Resolution.


Figure 60: Fritz, Rappahannock River, 2000

Me doing a hand-to-hand Reverse Wake Line 360 water ski trick while practicing in Virginia.


Figure 61: Fritz, National Championships, Bakersfield, 2000

After 30 years of competition in the USA Waterski Nationals and winning numerous bronze and silver medals, I finally came home with the Gold August 15, 2000, in the Mens Tricks 55-60 age division in Bakersfield California.

My Nationals Gold performance was 3250 points and my best tournament score ever was 4780 points in 1986. I set Eastern Regionals record four different times.


Figure 61.5 Fritz, Water Ski Nationals Medals 2000

USA Water Ski Nationals: Bronze, Silver, and Gold Medals

I won a total a 15 Medals at the USA Water Ski Nationals, including one Gold, five Silvers and nine bronze (for 3rd, 4th, or 5th) through 2007. As I write this at age 75 in 2016 I would win a medal just by showing up at the Nationals, but it's usually a long expensive trip and its hard to be consistent enough at this age to be confident of a good performance.



Figure 62: Fritz, Slalom, Utah Lake

This is me running slalom on the wonderful course in Provo Bay on Utah lake. Unfortunately this course can only be used in high-water years. This picture was taken in 2014.

Although I have had my most success with tricks, I have always been a pretty good slalom skier. I have qualified for the Nationals in slalom at least seven times and have finished as well as 2nd and 3rd the Regionals and ~10th in the Nationals at my best. My best tournament score was 4 buoys at 32 off at 34mph in the Regionals in 1982. However, I don't have a good course for regular practice near us in Wisconsin so my slalom has been going downhill fast.


Figure 62.5: Art, Fritz, Matt, Trout Lake, 2000

20July2000: Three generations of Eagles

Arthur Davis Hasler, Arthur Frederick  (Fritz) Hasler, Matthew Frederick Hasler. This may be have been the first time Art had worn his Eagle Bandoleer in 77 years (see 1924 photo when he became an Eagle at 16). Art would be dead in seven months.


Figure 62.7: Eagle Sashes, Trout Lake, 2000.

Three generations of Eagle Sashes. Art: 1924, Fritz 1961, Matt 2000

The silver buffalo skull badge on my sash is the LDS Duty to God Award for faithful service in both Scouts and the Mormon Priesthood.


Figure 63: NASA Etheater, Boulder, 2002

Odyssey opening ceremony kids, ready to watch my NASA Earth Science Etheater on a 30 ft screen at the University of Colorado Coors Event Center.

22May2002: When I developed the concept of the NASA/NOAA Earth Science Electronic Theater it required the help of Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI) to supply us with a 200 lb super computer and the rental of a special 200 lb video projector. Later, projector technology had advanced to the point that we were using our three 15 lb projector images merged together to show Super Computer images on a 50 ft wide screen. At our peak we were presenting to audiences in the thousands, all over the US and many foreign countries. In the Frank Loyd Wright convention center in Madison, they brought 2000 school kids-at-a-time right into the auditorium in busses. Today I can make a very impressive Etheater presentation with a 15 lb projector on a 20 ft screen using my iPhone.
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Figure 64: Etheater Kruger National Park, September 2002

29September2002: One of the most exotic locations where I presented my NASA Theater.

These are African kids attending my NASA Electronic Theater Lecture in Kruger National Park South Africa. It is one of the oldest and most famous national parks in the world and is visited by tourists from all over the world. The events coordinator bussed poor kids from neighboring townships into the Park to see my Etheater. Most of the kids had never seen the inside of the park before.


Figure 65: Mary, Ranger, Kids, Kruger, 2002

Mary, Park Ranger Raymond Legoale, and the children of the Events Coordinator of my Etheater Lectures at Kruger National Park, South Africa September 2002. The Events Coordinator was killed after she fell asleep at the wheel returning to the Park late one evening shortly after we left. Mary corresponded with the young boy for years after our trip.


Figure 66: Big Five, Kruger National Park, September 2002

As part of our Electronic Theater tour of South Africa. Mary and I got to tour Kruger National Park and see the big five: Lion, Elephant, Leopard, African Buffalo, and Rhino in their natural habitat. We drove by ourselves in our rental SUV through the park with express instructions not to get out of the car. We heard stories about careless tourists and park employees who were attacked and killed by lions and leopards. These are pictures that I took with my Nikon D1 professional SLR camera and a 28-300 mm zoom lens.
















Figure 67, 68, 69, 70, 71 NASA images made by my Laboratory at Goddard Space Flight Center

The second picture of the full Earth Western Hemisphere was rendered by a member of my lab, Reto Stockli, who contacted me from his University in Switzerland and asked to join us. After seeing some of the examples of his work, I agreed bring him to Goddard and the rest is history. He produced some of the most famous images ever to come out of NASA. The full Earth Western Hemisphere image was used as the default background on the original iPhone and has been a background image option for over one billion Apple iOS devices.

The third picture, a 3D rendering of Hurricane Hugo was displayed as a 10 ft wide poster board  at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History on the Mall in Washington DC for several months

The fourth is of a hurricane image we did, used on the cover of National Geographic Magazine.

The fifth image appeared in Time and Life magazines and in the Britannica Encyclopedia. One of our images also made Life Magazine's collection of the greatest images of the 20th Century

In the last picture you can see me posing with Tonight Show host, Jay Leno, with one of our images after we attended his show in Burbank California.


Figure 72: Fritz, NASA Administrator, Washington DC, 2005

In this picture I am receiving the Barry Goldwater Educator Award, from the head of NASA, Administrator Michael Griffen, awarded by the American Institute for Astronautics and Aeronautics 09June2005, just after I had retired from NASA. The previous awardee, was Senator and Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain.


Figure 73: Haslers, McDonalds, DeBellises, Lehi, 2005

12February2005: Katherine, Marta, Calvin, Adam, Brad, Matt, Mary, Fritz, Liese, Megan, Aaron, Rachel, Elizabeth.

I retired from NASA and we moved to Lindon Utah in 2005. By this time Liese and Brad had their four children and Marta and Adam had their first.


Figure 74 Matt & Amy Wedding, Draper, 2005

17June2005: Haslers, McDonalds, DeBellises, at the Wedding of Matt & Amy at Celestial Falls Event Center, Draper Utah.

By this time my Nikon D90 digital SLR camera had the resolution and dynamic range to rival color film


Figure 75: Top of Timp, 2005

01October2005: Fritz, Liese, Megan, Rachel, Sadie. We are at the very top of 11,752 ft Mount Timpanogos. We started at daybreak, at the Aspen Grove trailhead and got back down well after dark on the Timpooneke American Fork side after a grueling 19 hour hike.

I climbed to the top of Timp alone, except for my 12-year-old brother, in 1954 when I was fourteen. I hiked it again 51 years later when I was 66 with my daughter, two granddaughters and our dog. It was a breeze for the dog. Writing this at age 75, there is no way I could make it now. Well maybe with extensive training and a helicopter pickup at the top. My knees don't let me hike downhill very well now. You can see Utah lake where we water ski in the background. Our house is hidden by foothill Mount Baldy in the foreground.


Figure 76: Fritz, NASA Eheater, Hanoi, 2005

04November2005: I'm giving my NASA Electronic Theater in the midst of a rapt audience at the Hanoi University of Science. This was part of my NASA lecture tour of Bangkok Thailand and Vietnam when Marta was working for Intel in Bangkok. I have continued to give my Etheater presentations a couple of times per year for the 11 years since I retired


Figure 77: Lab Naming, Madison. 2006

08Mary2006: Fritz, Hathaway, Sylvia, Karl, Mark, Fritz

Arthur's widow, his second wife, Hatheway, and five of his six children along with 100s attend the naming ceremony for the A. D Hasler Laboratory of Limnology which he built on the campus of the University of Wisconsin.


Figure 78: Boat Crew, Whitefish Lake, 2007

02August2007: Rachel, Sadie, Fritz, Friend, Mary, Kelly in our 15ft Alumacraft boat.

Sadie thinks she should be starring in the movie Titanic. We are on a boat trip to Whitefish Lake from our cabin in Three Lakes Wisconsin. By this time even our fishing boats have 15 hp motors.


Figure 79: Fritz, Ski Nautique, Camp Hasler 2008

Fritz driving with Aaron and a friend skiing behind the Nautique, only 100 yards from Camp Hasler (our cabin) on Laurel Lake in Three Lakes Wisconsin.

For many years our boat for skiing has been a 325 hp professional competition ski boat. This is needed for my competition practice and is ideal for teaching kids how to ski using a barefoot boom.


Figure 80: Triple Trick Sisters, Three Lakes, 2009

10July2009: One of the advantages of a professional ski boat with a 325 HP V8 is that you can pull a lot of skiers at one time. Granddaughters Megan and Rachel are on the left with sister pair friends on the right.


Figure 81: No-Hands Elizabeth, Three Lakes, 2007

Elizabeth McDonald, age three, showing us that you don't really need to hold onto the handle to ski.

We are experts at teaching water skiing for all ages. If a small child is willing, we can usually get them skiing on the first try.  Rachel McDonald holds the record for the youngest at 2 years 2 months.


Figure 82: Elizabeth, Calvin, Pyramid, Three Lakes, 2015

27June2015: My grandkids, Elizabeth McDonald and Calvin DeBellis, climb to the top of the pyramids, Aqua Devils Ski Show, Three Lakes Wisconsin.

If you train at the Fritz Hasler ski school and apply yourself you can achieve great things.


Figure 83: Elizabeth, Aqua Devils Ballet, Three Lakes, 2015

20June2015: You can see that, at 12, she has grown up, but she is still the littlest by far on the Aqua Devils Ballet Line.


Figure 84:  Elizabeth, Aqua Devils Ballet, Three Lakes, 2015

15July2015: Elizabeth is the first one off the dock. She was the only one in the ballet line that never missed a start all summer.


Figure 85:  Elizabeth, Aqua Devils Ballet, Three Lakes, 2015

15July2015: It looks like a great Rockettes Kickline to me


Figure 86:  Elizabeth, Aqua Devils Ballet, Three Lakes, 2015

Elizabeth is in perfect sync with the other girls. Elizabeth and Aaron call this croching when they practice behind my boat.


Figure 87: Max, Sadie, Camp Hasler, 2007

This is what our house in Three Lakes looks like from the water. The Ski Nautique ski boat is on the hoist, and the dogs are patiently waiting for someone to take them on a boat ride.


Figure 88: Hasler Reunion, Camp Hasler, Three Lakes. 2009

Marta, Thea, Katherine, Liese Brad, Megan, Eliana, Elizabeth, Chloe, Calvin, Rachel, Matt, Amy, Mary, Fritz

For the last 20 years we have been gathering at Mary's cabin (Lake House) in Three Lakes Wisconsin

Marta and Adam have added twin girls, Eliana & Thea , and Matt & Amy have their first child,
Chloe. Katherine's children are yet to come.


Figure 89: Hasler Home, Three Lakes, 2008

08October2008: This is the roadside entrance and new section of our Camp Hasler cabin in Three Lakes.

In 1995 Mary used some inheritance from her father to purchase the "last" great waterfront lot & cabin on the Chain of Lakes. The cabin had a pump at the sink, no heat, and a two-hole outhouse. For the first five years we used it pretty much as is except for an electric pump, five gallon water heater, and outdoor shower. In 2000 we built on the roadside section you see here with living room, bathroom, two bedrooms, running water, and furnace. In 2010 we built a two car garage with upstairs bedroom. In 2014 we enlarged our very small A-frame-like master bedroom into a good sized bedroom with bay windows and porch overlooking the lake. In 2013 we started on the small 8' x 8' 1st-class-home-quality tree house that is finished inside-and-out but still needs work on the lakeside porch. (See figure 114)


Figure 90 : Camp Hasler from the air, Three Lakes, 2011

Our cabin is 5 miles from Three Lakes Wisconsin, on Laurel Lake, on the Chain of 29 Lakes that run from Three Lakes to Eagle River. If you look closely in the center of the photo you can see our yellow raft, pier, and boat hoist. Big Stone Lake is to our lower left and Medicine Lake is at the top of the picture.



Figure 91: Fritz, Road Bike, Three Lakes, 2011

30May2011: I'm out for a 15 to 30 mile nearly daily ride on the beautiful uncrowded roads around Three Lakes Wisconsin.

Since my first 1-speed Schwinn when I was 10 years old, I've been using bikes for transportation and exercise. My bike was my only transportation in Munich in 1961.  For years it was a 10-speed Schwinn and then a 10 speed Peugeot PX10 in grad-school.

30 years in Maryland was pretty much a black hole for bikes since the road to our house was too narrow and dangerous for biking.

Nor-Wis is perfect for biking so I rode our mountain bikes up & down our neighborhood streets.

When a going-out-of business sale in Eagle River tempted me into buying a great 20 speed Specialized road bike (see above) , I was off to the races. I found myself out on the main (but uncrowded) road and other roads around Three Lakes. In Utah I found myself riding up the Provo Canyon Parkway bike trail that had seemed impossible before.

The 17-mile canal in our Utah back yard was buried in a 10ft pipe and converted into a marvelous bike trail..............   more riding.

I upgraded to a great carbon fiber road bike with electric shift to stretch my rides even a little farther.

Then came the electric bikes: see Figure 114!


Figure 92: Fritz, Angel's Landing, Zion, 2009

I'm looking at Zion Canyon from the pinnacle of Angel's Landing.

Since we moved to Utah in 2005, we have made regular trips South, to the San Rafael Swell, Arches, National Park, Bryce National Park, Capital Reef National Monument, and Zion National Park. We have also traveled to Yosemite National Park in California.  But of all these, our favorite thing is to stay at the Desert Pearl Hotel in Springdale, just outside of Zion and sit in the hot tub when we are not driving, hiking or biking in the park. Of all the hikes at Zion, my favorite is Angels Landing.


Figure 93 : Fritz, Angel's Landing, Razor's Edge, Zion, 2011

17April2011: You have to be willing to hike four miles round trip and hang on to a chain with a 1000 ft drop on both sides for quite aways. I am the tiny figure in the center, in the red coat, hanging tightly onto the chain. The reward is, I maintain, the most spectacular short hike in the world.


Figure 94: Calvin, Rachel, Megan, Chenonceau, June 2010

Visiting one of the most famous of the Chateaus de la Loire, in France


Figure 95: Mary & Fritz Jump for Joy, Chenonceau, 2010

The grand kids always liked me to take their picture when jumping.  They challenged us to do the same. Five years later at age 75 I'm not sure I could do this jump.

23June2010: When Marta informed us that she had rented a farm house for two weeks in Central France and was taking her family along with Megan and Rachel McDonald to help with her little twin girls.... and asked us to join them, we didn't have to be asked twice. We got a chance to introduce the McDonald girls to the Paris we had grown to love in 1975, and visit the spectacular Dordogne region of France that we had skipped 35 years earlier. At this point we are on our way back to Paris for the flight home.


Figure 96: Fritz, Sadie, Laurel Lake, 2010

05October2010: It's a beautiful calm "Fall Colors" day on Laurel Lake at our Camp Hasler cabin in Three Lakes Wisconsin. I am paddling our kevlar canoe with our Black Lab, Sadie riding in the middle.  Nearly every year we take the very lightweight (40 lbs) canoe up to the Sylvania Wilderness about one hour north near Watersmeet in the UP of Michigan.


Figure 97: Fritz, Calvin, Rachel, Sylvania Wilderness, 2011

21July2011: Here we are in the kevlar canoe, on Mountain, Lake in the Sylvania Wilderness, loaded to the gills with all our gear for two nights of camping at the Lynx campsite in the gorgeous old growth forest, with a beach where we swim 1/4 mile out to an island.


Figure 98: Fritz, Giant pine, Sylvania Wilderness, 2011

20June2011: Here I am standing in front of one of the giant old-growth white pines on the isthmus between Mountain Lake and Linus Lake in the Sylvania.



Figure 99: Fritz & Student, Brighton, 2011

My student and I are standing/kneeling in two feet of fresh powder at the top of Brighton with Mt Timpanogos in the background 20January2011. We live in Lindon directly on the far side of Mt Timpanogos.

After moving to Utah in 2005 and enjoying powder skiing at Alta for a couple of years, I went to work as a ski instructor at Snowbird and Brighton for 8+ years. After six years of intensive study and training I passed my certification for a Level 2 Professional Alpine Ski Instructor at the age of 75.


Figure100: Fritz, Skiing, Brighton, 2011

09April2011: Here I'm wallowing in 20" of fresh champaign powder on my huge Pontoon powder skis where I teach skiing at Brighton Utah.


Figure 101: Fritz, Brighton, 2011

23April2011: Here I'm showing proper instructor form on a groomer run at Brighton Ski Resort in Utah.



 Figure 102: Dash9 Diesel Loc, Lindon 2006

I have always been a big fan of model and real railways. Go back to Figure 14 and see me at age 11 playing with my 027 Lionel Train. As a 15 year old I switched to the more realistic HO gauge and we came back from Germany with a whole set of Fleischmann HO gauge trains. After Matt was born in 1982. I started with the large G scale LGB trains that even a two year old could master.

One favorite is my huge  G Scale Dash 9 Diesel locomotive pulling 20 cars on a layout that ran 40 feet around the rec room, down the hall, under the bed in the bedroom and back on the carpet of our house in Lindon. We would follow it with a remote control to vary the speed and activate the horn and whistle. The Dash9 has about 20 LED lights.


Figure 103: Garage Railway, Camp Hasler, 2011

My LGB big G scale train running on an elevated cantilever  track around the wall of our garage at our Three Lakes house. My Colorado and Southern Steam locomotive has lights, smoke, and a great sound system with chuff, whistle and bell.


Figure 104: Mergansers, Sylvania Wilderness, 2011

June 20, 2011: I fancy myself a something of a nature photographer.

To get this one I was sitting in a kayak on High Lake in the Sylvania Wilderness on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan shooting with my Nikon D7000 and a 18-200 mm zoom. This shot made the Three Lakes newspaper.


Figure 105: Lioness, near Johannesburg, 2002

01September2002: For this one I am sitting in my rental car with the window open not 20 feet from a pride of lions in the Lion and Rhino Nature Preserve 50 miles east of Johannesburg South Africa. I'm shooting with the first professional Nikon digital camera the D1 (2.4 MP) and a 28-300 mm zoom.


106: Come along Junior, Kruger, 2002

23September2002: For this one, Mary and I are sitting in our rental SUV on a bridge in Kruger National Park, 5 hours East of Johannesburg South Africa. We are watching while a herd of seven elephants cross the river. The mother is trying to encourage her baby to come into the water which is up to the neck of the little one.


107: Grizzly, Rescue Center, Bozeman, 2015

20May2015: One of two grizzlies wrestling in the water of the Grizzly Bear Rescue Center between Bozeman and Livingston Montana.

This was cropped from a 24.3 Mega Pixel 6016 x 4016 image from my latest, and first full frame, Nikon 750 digital SLR using my 15 year-old 28-300 mm Tamron zoom lens.

When my dad shot the color pictures, at the beginning of this blog, he was using the famous German Leica camera with Kodak 25 ASA color transparency (slide) film. Now my digital sensor is the same size as those old color slides and the ASA (now called ISO) rating is 128,000 and the color is so good and the noise is so small that I can shoot at that speed all the time. This means the camera is 9 F stops faster than the old film. Another way to look at it is: My dad was having to hold the camera steady and ask everyone hold still for a 1/30 of a second exposure even on a bright sunny day. I could get a perfectly sharp picture of baseball bat swinging because I would be shooting at 1/16000 of a second. Actually my shutter only goes to 1/4000 of a second, but I could still shoot handheld on a dark cloudy day. Where a tripod was necessary for low light photography in those days, I can shoot in almost pitch darkness and still shoot handheld and get no blur from camera shake. With my modern 10 to 1 zoom and the high ISO rating I can shoot from wide angle to telephoto and use the built-in flash anytime I need it for fill, with basically one piece of equipment. To do the same, it would have taken a whole camera bag of lenses and a separate flash in the old days. ...... and I can shoot 7-10 frames per second for action shots that could only be done by professionals with a motor drive and big film magazine in the old days.


Figure 108: Mary, Fritz, Grandkids, Lindon, 2011

Calvin, Aaron, Megan, Rachel, Elizabeth, Fritz, Mary, Kaden, Thea, Chloe, Eliana.

In front of our best next door neighbor's house, in Lindon Utah with our now nine grandchildren. Matt and Amy's son Kaden is the youngest.


Figure 109: Chip Jett and Katherine Married, Highpoint, 2012

On November 17, 2012 in High Point NC we got a third son-in-law and now all our kids are married.


Figure 110: Fritz, Aaron, Rachel, Mary, Elizabeth, Segovia, 2013

I have been studying Spanish on my own for the last several years and wanted to spend some time in Spain where I could practice the language.  We decided that it would be a good chance to introduce Aaron and Elizabeth McDonald to Europe. Rachel was lucky to go along as well. We landed in Madrid, visited two famous art museums and drove an hour North to Segovia, a marvelous medieval city with a Cathedral, an Alcåzar (Castle) and a Roman Aqueduct. After two nights we drove on to Granada, the Mediterranean Beaches, then across the straights of Gibraltar, to Tangier Morocco, and back to Madrid through Cordoba, and Toledo. Total trip duration: 10 days.



Figure 111: Hasler Reunion, Maui, December 2013

Mary treated the whole family to Thanksgiving in Hawaii


Figure 112: Fritz, Lilia, Lindon, March 2014

Lilia Eva Jett, born 27 March 2013 to Katherine and Chip in, Highpoint North Carolina.

Another hand stander! Note Grandpa Fritz is barely strong enough to hold Lilia away from his body.



FritzMaryTux_CenterForTheArts_AnnualBall_ThreeLakesWI_15August2014

The only other time I have worn a Tux is for the White House Correspondents' Dinner In Washington DC when I worked for NASA.




Figure 113: Fritz, Timpanogos, 2014

20May2014: I'm standing behind my electric bike, and in front of my electric car about to ride up the closed road to 8000 ft elevation behind Mount Timpanogos. This Ebike does great going up the steep mountain roads. I frequently run into deer, moose, and Elk on the trail since cars cannot drive around the barrier at this time of year.

31January2014, We purchased a 100% electric Nissan Leaf Automobile. A full size compact car, smooth as silk with jackrabbit starts it has become a favorite with everyone who drives it. However, its 84 mile maximum range limits it to local Utah County and South Salt Lake County unless you stop for a free charge for 30 min at one of several Nissan dealerships. See Figure 124, to see how we run it on solar power! In March of 2016 we upgraded to the 107 mile range version of the Leaf. Now we can make the SLC Airport and run the heater on longer trips with no problem

In the background of this picture you see Mt Timpanogos. We live on the opposite side of the mountain. On the electric bike, using two batteries, I have easily made the 40 mile trip around the mountain several times. Purists like my son, Matt, scoff at these bikes, but at 75 I can do rides on my E-bikes that normally only the pros can do. I did do the 40 mile loop in 5 hours once last Fall on my human powered bike, but I nearly died on the steepest stretch going up to the Sundance ski resort.

My other Ebike, that I bought for Mary, doesn't do as well on the steep climbs, but it goes farther and faster (up to 28mph) and has big tires that are great on rougher roads. On that bike I can keep up with Matt on his pro road bike.


Figure 115: Fritz, Brighton, January 2015

After moving to Utah in 2005 and enjoying powder skiing at Alta for a couple of years, I went to work as a ski instructor at Snowbird for one year and and Brighton for 8 years. After six years of intensive study and training I passed my certification for a Level 2 Professional Alpine Ski Instructor at the age of 75. Relatively few of my instructor colleagues at Brighton have earned the silver pin.


Figure 114: Treehouse, Camp Hasler, 2014

After much pleading by grandson Aaron McDonald, Aaron and Fritz, with help from many others, have built a small but very fancy treehouse on our property on Laurel Lake, in Three Lakes WI. So far it is a three year and many $$$$$ project with no end in sight.



Figure 115: Marta, Calvin, Mary, Paris, 2014.

Marta had a work trip for Adobe in Munich and London. Mary and I went along to babysit Calvin while Marta was working.

We spent three days doing the sights in Paris.

We took the 250 mph TGV  train to Munich where I had lived for two years in 1955 and 1961. Did the Munich sights and went down to the Neuschwanstein Castle (Model for the Disneyland castle) in the Bavarian Alps.

Then we flew to London to see the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye and the British Museum. Calvin and I saw the Elgin Marbles that were taken from the Parthenon in Greece.

Then off to Cornwall and Port Isaacs that is the actual location of the fictional Port Wen and Doc Martin's Surgery of the PBS TV series. On the way back to London we visited Stone Henge and the great Salisbury Cathedral.


Figure 116: Mary, Fritz, 10 Grandkids, Lindon, April 2015

Megan is back from her mission so we have all 10 grand kids in the picture.


Figure 117: Mary, Fritz, & Family, 50th Anniversary, Three Lakes, June 2015

Fritz & Mary celebrate their 50 wedding Anniversary (June 15, 1965) with the McDonalds, DeBellises, Matt Haslers and 50 good friends thanks to Marta, in Three Lakes Wisconsin. Katherine and newborn Ailsa were not ready to travel.



Figure 118: Three Generation of Trickers, Three Lakes 2015

03July2015: Megan, Elizabeth, Fritz, Liese, Marta, Calvin ready to hop off the dock (hop-dock) on a single trick ski at Camp Hasler behind the Ski Nautique. We can all do a hop-dock individually, However six-at-a-time is another story. We did get all six up on a deep water start after this start ended in disaster.


Figure 119: Ailsa Jett, Three Lakes, August 2015

Ailsa and Katherine visit us at Camp Hasler in August

Now we have 11 grand kids with a 12th, a grandson, the third child of Matt & Amy, due in August of 2016


Figure 120: Mary, Fritz, Athens, 2015

I had climbed the Acropolis in 1961 (see Figure 23.87) on crutches after a skiing accident in Switzerland. In 2014, my grandson Calvin DeBellis, and I saw the statues carted off the Parthenon by the French and Brits, in the Louvre, and the British Museum. So I had to go see it one more time while I my legs would still allow me climb up the Mount. The Acropolis is unforgettable and the new Parthenon Museum is marvelous. The Greeks have made limited progress with the restoration of the  Parthenon in the intervening 54 years. When you consider that the Parthenon was originally built in nine years starting in 447 BC the reconstruction is proceeding at a snail's pace.


Figure 121: Mary, Fritz, Santorini, 2015

What better place to spend your 50th anniversary trip than on Santorini Island in Greece. We were practically the only couple on the island that wasn't on their honeymoon. October 8, 2015



Figure 122: Fritz, Mary, Calvin, Eliana, Thea, Sydney, Dec 2015

Fritz & Mary with the grandkids at the Opera House in Sydney, Australia where we are listening to Handel's Messiah performed by the Sydney Orchestra and Chorus.

We were barely back from Greece a month and we were on a plane with Marta, Eliana & Thea to Australia.  It's a tough life, but someone has to do it.

This was one of the last days of our 6-week baby sitting assignment with Eliana, Thea & Marta for her new job with Adobe in Sydney Australia.  Adam and Calvin joined us for the last two weeks.


Figure 123: Fritz, Max, Kaden, Pleasant Grove, 2015

07May2015: What could be more fun than going on a hike up the creek in Battle Creek Canyon in Utah with your grandson and dog . A few days later, we were on our way to Wisconsin for the summer.


Figure 124: Solar Panels, Camp Hasler West, Lindon, 2016

 02April2016: See the solar panels, we had installed July 2015, on the roof of our house.

You can see that our Lindon home lies just at the foot of Mount Timpanogos, here still clad in it's winter coat of snow at high elevations.



Figure 125: Fritz, 2016 Nissan Leaf, Lindon 2016

On March 15 2016, we upgraded to from a 2013 to a 2016 model Nissan Leaf.

The range of this 100% Electric Car went from 84 miles to 107 miles.

It may not sound like much, but it puts the SLC International Airport, University of Utah Hospital, Park City, and my work at Brighton Ski Resort within easy range. A much improved heater, cruise control, and built in GPS Navigation, added to the super smooth power and jackrabbit starts make it a real joy to drive. I still have Tesla envy, but I will be driving electric for the next three years while the people with Tesla Model III deposits are still waiting for their cars.

See our house with the solar panels in the background.  It's hard to believe, but we are driving this car on sunshine.

TO BE CONTINUED when life goes on!