Last Post of 2020

 

Our neighbors told us that the tundra swans have moved over to Governor Nelson State Park, so this morning Travalon and I went over there with our good cameras, and we took some photos:

The gray swan is a young one. It's still a teenager. They don't become white until they are adults. Here is a photo of Maple Bluff all covered with snow:

Travalon sent me this photo of what he does at work - he helped kids make an obstacle course and then run through it. And he gets paid to do this!

A neighbor gave me this cookie, and I thought it was so cute that I had to take a picture. I thought it was store-bought, but it's homemade, so I did try it - I split it with Travalon. It was delicious!

Last night I was doing dishes too late at night, and I broke this tiny brandy snifter that we got at the Bunny Berrigan Jazz Jubilee. Since this festival no longer happens, I felt very bad, but then I realized the stem had broken but the bowl was still intact, so I glued it together with super glue. It's at a whacky angle, but it sort of still works...

Today I went to Fired Up and made a rosary fridge magnet to match my rosary suncatcher. Then I made a fridge magnet with an ancient Celtic design on it, and then I thought, "What would really complete the Irishness of this collection of magnets would be beer or whiskey." Then I spotted a piece of glass that would make a sort of convincing bottle of whiskey, although it looks more like a bottle of really expensive cognac. Anyway, I think it's cute.

Tonight Travalon and I were going to go to Mariner's for our New Year's Eve dinner, but I woke up this morning thinking that was a very bad idea. When I don't heed these feelings, it usually works out badly, so I talked to Travalon, who pointed out we could order our dinner to go. Great idea!... except that he sat there waiting for an hour, while our food sat there waiting for forty-five minutes because nobody told him it was ready. We were both very frustrated, but what a fitting end to 2020. Anyway, dinner was mostly still warm, and once we heated it briefly in the microwave, it was delicious. We had tenderloin and shrimp. After I finish this blog post, we will have the last of the cassata and maybe a shot to celebrate surviving this crazy year. Happy New Year!

Famous Hat

Really Random Post

 

Sorry for not blogging yesterday. (I meant to wish OK Cap a happy birthday.) I have the week off of work but did end up having to "go in" (from home) yesterday for a few hours, and Travalon's job has started back up, so it's not like we're having the big adventures I had envisioned. I've just been walking with my neighbor, watching Colbert, doing puzzles, and not cleaning. Yesterday I prayed with a rosary that only had four decades, but the last "decade" had twelve beads. Today I got a text that the adoration chapel was closed due to the snowstorm, so don't come in for my regular hour. I prayed at home with a rosary that had seven beads in the first "decade," ten in the second one, six in the third one, two (!) in the fourth one, and ten in the fifth one but one bead right in the middle of the decade was missing. It's like you have to be a mathematical genius to pray with some of these rosaries. In this case, I combined Decades Three and Four and prayed the third mystery on them, and then I prayed the fourth and fifth mysteries on the last decade. In case you were wondering.

Still not sure how I'm going to celebrate my birthday in this era of COVID. The only guest I am expecting that day is Aunt Flo, if you know what I mean. I'll probably just watch the Packers (hopefully!) defeat the Bears. It's not a big birthday; that is on the horizon, but I'm sure by then we'll all be vaccinated and I'll have no way to avoid some kind of Over the Hill party.

Yesterday I was dancing around to music while Travalon was at work, and it seemed like I could almost grasp a truth that the prophets and poets have been trying to tell us, about how all life is sacred. Then this morning I read a rather over-the-top article about how plants are just as intelligent as we are, but it did make me think that we wouldn't necessarily recognize sentience in another being if it's so different than what we're used to. People are always hoping to meet space aliens, but what if we found them and thought they were just slime mold because we didn't recognize their kind of intelligence? We don't deserve to meet space aliens anyway - I mean, look at how we treat non-space aliens! And other life forms on this planet! Christmas Eve I was very bummed to see a bunch of tropical plants left out to freeze because people just consider them decorations and not living things. I thought about trying to rescue them, but there were just too many, and they were probably already dead at that point. It had been below freezing for days.

I imagine tomorrow will be just as exciting, since we're going to be snowed in. At least Travalon will be snowed in with me, because his workplace is closed tomorrow due to the blizzard. I do have to say that this morning I woke up from a dream where I was at a wedding reception or something (clearly no COVID in my dreamworld), and someone stood up and said, "Do you have your instruments? Good - we're going to play 'Coleraine!'" Of course I had my ukulele with me, because who doesn't bring a ukulele to a wedding? But the person put the chords up on a screen for us to follow, and I said to Travalon, "This is all wrong! Those are major-key chords and 'Coleraine' is in A Minor!" Now that I am awake, I think this might have to do with a different Irish tune my band plays called "Gilderoy," because it's modal and we play it with minor-key chords, but someone was sitting in on one of our practices once, and he said, "I've never heard that song played in a minor key! I like it! I've always heard it with major-key chords!" No idea why I would have a dream about that now, but I do get annoyed with the chords they put in some songs, like "Old Joe Clark" is clearly in the Mixolydian but our version has chords like it's straight major key. 

OK, at this point I think I'm just babbling, and it's getting late, so time to shut up already. I will leave you with this thought, courtesy of social media: "Is anyone else alarmed that the name of the upcoming year is literally 2020 Won??"

Famous Hat

Third Day of Christmas (Second Day of Eagles)

 

This morning after Mass, as we were walking to brunch, Cecil Markovitch noticed this falcon just hanging out on State Street. She (I actually have no idea what its gender is) seemed very mellow about him, Rich, Travalon, and me staring at her, and Travalon and I took some photos. This one, from Travalon's cell phone, is the best one. Finally she got fed up with all of us staring at her, and she flew off. The waitress at Tutto Pasta could see us all looking at something with great interest from her vantage point inside the restaurant, but she couldn't see the falcon from where she was across the street, so we explained it once we got there.

Then Travalon and I went back out to Sauk; all the interesting ducks were gone, but we did see some mallard ducks.

We both forgot Travalon's new tripod yesterday, so he brought it today and eagerly tried it out. Here is the first photo he took using it, of that bluff across the river.

We didn't see any eagles at the VFW Park, but we did see two down by the dam.

It really started to snow. This photo of the dam shows you how hard it was snowing.

On the drive to Sauk, I prayed using the bracelet rosary in this photo. These are all rosaries I got at the Madison antiques mall. The small white one on the right is going to be the most challenging one of all to pray, because it has one decade missing a bead right in the middle, one "decade" with eight beads, one "decade" with six beads, and the fourth "decade" only has two beads! It clearly had a rough life.

On the way back from Sauk, I joined a Zoom call with my parents and my aunt and uncle who live in Colorado. I asked if they had seen the conjunction, and my uncle sent me this cool photo he took of a pink cloud pointing right at the "Christmas Star." It's like the finger of God saying: "Here!" The conjunction is on the left side of the photo.

After that, Travalon and I needed some more steps, so we took a walk in the new-fallen snow. It was very peaceful, and somewhat warmer than earlier today. Travalon took these photos of our neighbors' lights, which I have featured on this blog before, but now you can see them with snow.

Okay, I have to wrap this up because the Packers will be playing in a few minutes. They will also be playing next Sunday, on my birthday. If they beat the Bears, that will be an awesome birthday present.

Famous Hat

Photos of Christmas 2020

 

I'm sorry that I haven't blogged in two days. To make it up to you, I will now write a super ultra long blog post. First is a photo my neighbor's son took of the "Christmas Star" (conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn) on Tuesday evening. He took it from our dock. Isn't it stunning? 

Here are some photos I took back on Wednesday evening of Christmas lights in the neighborhood, when a possum walked in front of me. (I didn't get a picture of that - too dark.)

That evening Ma and Pa Hat finished putting the days on their Advent calendar. I think this is the same one we had my whole childhood. My brother and I would take turns putting up each day. It's made of felt, so the dates and pictures just stick to it.

And here is a montage Ma Hat sent of their decorations for Christmas.

Christmas Eve was a very, very cold day, and I slept late and walked outside a bit with my neighbor, but Travalon and I also walked in the house. When we do that, we often carry stuffed animals. Here I am carrying lots of little bears.

And here I am carrying two large Christmas bears and a Christmas tree.

We went to 5 pm Mass, which we were told was almost full so you needed reservations. We had them, and so they sat us up front with everyone else who also had them. Meanwhile, the back of the church was practically empty, so I should have just said we didn't have them. No choir, but there was a cantor and a trumpet player. Afterwards, Richard Bonomo, Travalon, and I had Indian food for dinner, and then Travalon and I drove around looking at Christmas lights in Maple Bluff and Waunakee.

This picture is the Governor's Mansion.

This house makes me laugh, because the way the garage is decorated, it looks like a face!

Then we came home and exchanged gifts. I gave Travalon this polar bear (one of those adopt-a-polar-bear things), and he named it Stanley after the Florida Panther mascot. I also gave him a tripod for his camera, so he could take even better photos of birds, and a Florida Panthers T-shirt, but neither of those photos really turned out so you'll just have to imagine them.

Travalon gave me a tiki bar ornament. Here it is on our little fake tree.

He also gave me bird socks, which I wore yesterday.

And he also gave me a book about the Wisconsin River.

 

And a teddy bear of the 1908 Chicago Cubs!

Ma and Pa Hat sent some towels for us.

Yesterday I meant to go to 9 am Mass, and I got up, but somehow we didn't get there. I am trying to "pray in" all my new rosaries, but I took a break Thursday and Friday and used the two rosaries below. The one on the left is the one I used Christmas Eve, because it has a Christmas Star crucifix and a nativity centerpiece, and I prayed the Luminous Mysteries except for the third one, when I prayed the Third Joyous Mystery - the Birth of Christ. Yesterday I prayed with the one on the right, and the centerpiece is a little present that reveals the Infant Jesus when you open it, so I prayed with it closed for the Annunciation and the Visitation and then opened it for the Birth and the Presentation... but then I closed it again for the Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple, because it was too distracting to look at a baby while meditating on a preteen Jesus.

Then I took them back up into the loft and put them back into the mandala of rosaries I am making. (See below.) It's a work in progress. I sat in the middle for a little bit yesterday. It's so peaceful there.

Then I went over to my neighbor's house, and we did some day drinking and some virtual reality games. One was riding a roller coaster, and the more fun one was slicing cubes that came at you in rhythm to a song. She has a new fountain, and I made a video:

Rich had a very small group over for dinner, and of course he, Kathbert, and I had a linguistic discussion, which always bores poor Travalon. I made my cassata with a Mexican poundcake this year, and with Cuban rum, but unfortunately we had long since used up the Cuban coffee, so I just used instant coffee.

Today we stopped by the pond in Waunakee where there was a bird party all November and December last year, but nothing this year. Today - yes! A bird party!! But it was only Canada geese.

Then we went to Sauk and saw plenty of eagles, both sitting in trees and flying.

I thought this was a loon with winter coloration when I saw it through the binoculars, but now as I look at Travalon's photos, I think it's a female merganser.

There were a number of black and white ducks, and I'm going to say the smaller ones with gray bills are buffleheads, but the larger ones with thin red bills are male mergansers.

I don't know what's going on here - is there a spring under the ice?

We drove to Lake Wisconsin and stopped by the island in Sunset Bay.

We walked on the path to Paradise Island, but didn't go that far because it was cold. Then we took a walk in a park in downtown Lodi. Their Catholic church is kind of odd looking.

We got back to town and took a walk at Jackson's Landing at sunset.

Then we drove to Pewaukee to look at lights in neighborhoods that Travalon used to visit.

We went to a really wealthy subdivision, but surprisingly, they didn't have much in the way of Christmas decorations. Then we went to Oconomowoc, and they had plenty.

Here is the side of the same house as taken by Travalon's cell phone, my good camera, and Travalon's good camera.

Our last stop was Deerfield to see the mega-decorated house. Here is another one in town.

And here is the one where they went all out.

And, anticlimactically, here is yet another one in Deerfield.

We also tried to go to the place that used to be Country Springs and is now called the Ingleside but still has a huge lights display that you drive through. There was quite a line, but the woman guiding people told us it wasn't a long wait, "only fifteen minutes." Plus another half hour to drive through the whole thing, plus you have to pay, so we skipped it. We may see if it's a little less crazy on a weeknight.

Famous Hat