Missing My Old Stuffies

In my accidental quest to be the World’s Worst Catholic, I caused one of those pearl-clutching moments on Sunday. The priest said he was going to bless everyone who proclaimed the Word of God at Mass, and he called up all the readers, but not the cantors who sing the Psalms. Afterwards I said to Rich that it was “bulls—t” that the cantors didn’t get recognized too, not super loudly but very emphatically, and an old man walking by stared at me, his eyes bulging out, then he clutched his chest and kind of fell against the wall. Guess I should refrain from swearing in the sanctuary…

Speaking of bulls—t, I have never made a movie of the delivery robots actually rolling around, and I thought of that when Travalon picked me up one day and we saw one rolling by. Monday on my lunchtime walk I saw one coming toward me, but I forgot to film it, so when I saw a second one coming toward me, I got my phone ready to record a video. But do you know what that a—hole robot did? It stopped dead in its tracks, and then it turned its headlights off!! Could it see I wanted to make a movie, and it was like, “Nope!”? What the heck??

When I was moving out of my bachelorette pad, I downsized a lot of stuff, including a bunch of stuffed animals that had sat in a box for years. I thought it would be better to donate them to St. Vinny’s, and then maybe some kid would play with them. Now that I am married to a man who doesn’t mind stuffed animals in our bed, I wish I still had Sara Swan, Winnie Whale, and Anthony Antelope. Why did I get rid of those three? Although Travalon did buy Gabrielle the Gazelle the last time we were at the Como Park Zoo, and she does look a lot like Anthony. I was also sad that I got rid of the stuffed herpes virus, because it looks like a little sunshine. I mentioned this to Hardingfele, and then I ordered one online while she picked one up for me at the hospital gift shop. So now I have two, but the one I ordered online looks more like a reverse egg because the inner round part is lighter than the surrounding membrane thingy. I also got rid of most of my e-Plush animals, and then it turns out Travalon wanted the black poodle, so I ended up buying one of those online for him. See? You just never know when you will want stuff again – that’s why I have such a tough time getting rid of stuff!

Famous Hat

Famous Black Lives Matter Too

A couple of weeks ago, the drummer from the band Rush, Neil Peart, died of cancer. This is very sad, and on social media everyone was saying how sad it was. Nobody posted anything like, “These other non-famous people died of cancer the same day, so if you’re a good person, you’ll share this to remember them,” and you would think a person was nuts if they did. Because of course it is also sad that other people you don’t know died of cancer, but you are mourning the person you do know (or at least know of, in the case of a celebrity). It feels like minimizing people’s grief and Neil Peart's life to bring up other deaths.

So then, why is it that when Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash this weekend, my social media feed was full of pictures of white people who had also died that day, saying if I was a good person I would share their photos to show they had died too? It was maybe a little bit understandable when it was the other people in the helicopter with him, but a cop who died the same day on duty? Come on! The people who post this probably figure you aren’t going to say, “What are you doing?” because all these deaths are tragic, but it seems just as wildly inappropriate as if they had been doing it regarding Neil Peart. I don’t know the people who died in the crash, or the cop, but I know of Kobe. I also noticed that nobody said, “Remember his daughter who died too!” Because she’s also black. It just seemed extremely noticeable that they were basically saying, “Instead of remembering some rich black guy, focus on the deaths that matter – white people!” It felt like they were minimizing Kobe’s death, and that to me is racism. This is exactly the kind of thing that makes people have to remind us all that black deaths matter as much as white ones.

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Happy Year of the Rat!

I hope my readers had a good weekend. Travalon and I didn't go anywhere on Friday because of the snow; he fried some tilapia in a pan (he is the BEST at cooking fish!), and then we danced around to the Soul Train playlist on Spotify. Saturday morning it was still snowy, so we spent the morning at home. When the weather had cleared up somewhat, we went downtown to a Chinese restaurant for lunch to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Happy Year of the Rat, everyone! We shopped a little on State Street and walked up to the Capitol, then we went to Matcha Tea for Lunar New Year treats, and the owner gave us a free chai.

In the afternoon Travalon went to visit his mother and then hang out with his old buddy, while I hung out with Hardingfele before our gig. We worked on the puzzle a little, but without a big piece of cardboard to put it on, it doesn't line up right. We went to Athens Gyros for a bite to eat before our gig, which was a dance at Waunakee High School. It was a fundraiser for the school orchestra, because they are going to Scotland. The teenagers danced enthusiastically for a little over an hour, then they lost interest or energy, it was hard to say which. We were supposed to play for two hours, but the organizer decided to cut things short so we got to go home early. I was sound asleep when Travalon came home and didn't hear him come in.

This morning a bunch of us went to brunch at Inn on the Park, and I was the only woman. Afterwards Rich gave us a big piece of cardboard to do our puzzle on. While Travalon caught up on sleep, I prayed with Rosie the Rosary, which is what he has dubbed the big cuddly rosary Ma Hat made. It's fun to have a rosary you can snuggle while you pray it! Then we went out to Sauk, where we saw one eagle flying around and two sitting in a tree down at the dam. We went to Wollersheim for Travalon's favorite drink, and we asked if they still had the blue cheese we got at Christmas as part of the gift box for Ma and Pa Hat, since Ma Hat said several times that it was the best blue cheese they had ever tried. They didn't have any blue cheese, and the place that makes it was about to close, but we can get it at the co-op. Then we came home and had more fish that Travalon fried in the pan - he cooks it to perfection! We watched Keeping Up Appearances, which we had taped yesterday, and it was the first episode ever. We just love that show. So it was a quiet, relaxing weekend for the two of us.

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Against Theocracies

Yesterday I read a rather terrifying article in which the writer stated that the reason people wanted to impeach Trump is to keep him from setting up a theocracy, and here’s the thing – the writer was hoping for the theocracy! He was a member of my own denomination, which makes me wonder if he has learned anything from history, since Catholics have often been suppressed in this country. Of course, lately so many Catholics seem to be in bed with the Evangelicals, even denouncing the Pope, that maybe they think these Evangelicals won’t turn on them if they win control of the government. Perhaps they are right, but the graver sin is in thinking that worldly powers will save us. We are supposed to put our hope in God alone, not in a theocratic government. Also, I wonder how this will go over with other members of the Trump coalition, like my brother-in-law and my nephew who both hate organized religion, and surely they are not the only MAGA types who do. The writer of this article said that the Civil War was God’s vengeance on our country for the Founders having set it up as a secular republic, which seems odd because I would say it was more likely God’s vengeance for the sin of slavery. Sometimes I wonder if in fact it is racial animosity that is holding this odd group of bedfellows together, because it sure isn’t shared faith if one group wants a totalitarian Christian regime and another group hates everything to do with religion. I never thought impeachment had anything to do with preventing the setup of Christian sharia law, but I am certainly in favor of anything that keeps that from happening! After all, as someone from Iran told me who has firsthand knowledge of such things, wherever the government dictates the religion, the regular people cease to believe in that religion.

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Provoking and Gaslighting

A few posts back, I commented on how a young relative would post things to provoke other people on social media, and then he would act bewildered that they were angry. He was doing this again, and I saw that he was gaslighting the other people, lying and saying he had never said things that you could clearly see he did say further up the conversation, and telling them they were the ones with the problem. I told him he should knock it off, and then he began gaslighting me, so I defriended him. Then I had a blinding insight: this is exactly how his father acts, and his mother before him. It’s so pervasive in our family that I had grown up thinking it was normal until seeing it done to other people on social media. Is this a mental illness of some sort? It seems maladaptive, because people don’t like being intentionally provoked, and so most people avoid these relatives of mine. Family might feel like they have to stick by their side (and as a minor child, I had no choice but to take the abuse), but friends do not like being belittled, told they’re too sensitive, or that they can’t take a joke. These people all complain about how they have no friends, and they really haven’t been too successful in the workaday world either. So why do they do it? It may work for the rare person (see: the current occupant of the White House), but most bosses and coworkers would not put up with this nonsense. I cut off a person who wanted to be my friend when she started showing this behavior. It does not seem like a path to success, so why would people indulge in this behavior? Is it genetic? Or is it learned? And is there any cure for it? And the biggest question of all: why are so many of these people on social media? They even have a name for them: “trolls.” I’m sure there’s a more scientific name for the problem. But how do we solve it?

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Memories I Never Lived

For the last few years, I have spent Martin Luther King Day at the State Capitol, usually with Rich or Travalon, attending a presentation to commemorate Dr. King. Yesterday, however, I was at a birthday party for OK Cap (whose actual birthday was at the end of December) with Travalon and Jilly Moose. We met for lunch at La Brioche, and I gave OK Cap a little stuffed narwhal, since I have always been into narwhals and lately everyone else seems to be too. The weather was sunny and pleasant, so afterwards Travalon and I went to the zoo to watch the animals that actually like winter, like the polar bears. The flamingos and giraffes were inside, but we could see them too. I was surprised that the lions were out in the cold, and that they were two males – wouldn’t they fight to the death? Something seems really wrong there…

In the evening, we went to Flix Brewhouse, the movie theater where you can get craft beer and dinner delivered to your seat, and we watched 1917. It was a really good movie about two young soldiers in World War I trying to get a message to another battalion on the far side of No Man’s Land. For some reason I always feel like I was there when watching movies about the Western Front, at least when they were in the trenches and out in No Man’s Land. A scene where they encounter a trap in the abandoned German trench didn’t feel familiar, but an eerie scene at night in a blazing village sure did. Where does this familiarity come from? It can’t be reincarnation, since if there really is such a thing, then I was definitely a female leopard in my previous life. I always wonder if somehow I can “remember” the memories of ancestors, and I’m quite sure some of my ancestors fought in the Great War. I also have a memory of being a girl on a spring morning in the South, somewhere on a plantation, and I am quite clearly a slave. When Travalon and I were traveling through northern Florida and into Alabama, I felt like that memory was getting so close I could touch it… and then we turned west, and it immediately subsided. And when I was in Siena, I could remember being there at seven years old, and inside the Town Hall I remembered walking along holding my father’s hand… and yet I had never been to Italy before going at the age of twenty-one. Can memories actually be encoded into DNA? Or is there some other explanation? Feel free to leave your own memories that are not from your immediate life in the comments section.

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Quiet Midwinter Weekend

Sorry that I haven't blogged in awhile. We had a houseguest for a few days, but she was a delight: very sweet and well-mannered. Also, she is adorable. As you probably guessed, she is not human but a Pomeranian. Then Friday I was at the hospital all day with Travalon, who had to have a medical procedure, and emergencies kept coming in so they kept pushing us back. They did give us two free coupons for the cafeteria, so I got free lunch and dinner, and Travalon got free dinner with room service (I would have had to pay for it) - he wasn't allowed to eat before this procedure, so he was pretty ravenous once everything was over. The good news is that they found nothing wrong with his heart, and the bad news is that I had to drive his car home in a snowstorm because he wasn't allowed to drive or make important decisions for 24 hours. At least his car is much easier to drive in the snow than mine, because it has four-wheel drive and some extra snow button that makes it grip the road even better. Anyway, we got home nearly fourteen hours after we had left home, and then we just had a relaxed weekend.

Yesterday we stayed home in the morning due to more snow, then we ventured out once it stopped, going to Matcha Tea House and then out to Sauk to see eagles. We saw one on the island and some flying by the dam and sitting on the ice, then we went to the Blue Spoon Diner for a late lunch, and an eagle landed in a tree right outside the window! We took pictures of it, but only with our cell phones because we had forgotten our good cameras at home. One guy had a camera with a super long lens, and he got some amazing shots of the eagle - he showed everyone in the restaurant! It started to snow again, so we just headed home and had a quiet evening.

Today after Mass we went to brunch with Rich and another bass from our choir, right across the street at Tutto Pasta. Then we went back out to Sauk, this time with our good cameras. It was a beautiful, sunny day but very cold, perfect for watching eagles. We saw six flying by the dam, but we couldn't get a good shot of any of them. Then we went to Wollersheim for Travalon's favorite cocktail, made of their apple brandy and cream soda. We drove to the big island on Lake Wisconsin, and I said it looked like the ice was solid enough to walk out to it, but Travalon convinced me that it would be more fun to go to the bar where you can see the two islands. We did, and we had hot cocoa with peanut butter whiskey in it - so good! On one island, we could see an eagle and its nest. We came home and watched the disappointing Packers game, where they did that thing they often do of not showing up to play for the first half. Then in the second half they did start playing, but it was too late - San Francisco was too far ahead, so they are going to the Super Bowl. I am disappointed but not surprised. Hey, it was still a great season. Maybe next year they will play during all four quarters.

Here are some recent photos. First is our houseguest, Michaela. (Travalon took this photo, and his camera has been really blurry lately.)

This is the rosary Tiffy gave me for my birthday. She got it in 2012 in Mexico and was going to give it to me back then, but she lost it somewhere in her house and didn't find it again until recently getting her carpeting replaced. I love it because it looks like it's made out of candy, and I really dig the teal crucifix.

This is the rosary I use during the Christmas season. Some monks sent it to me for Christmas years ago to thank me for buying so many other rosaries from them that year.

And this is what is inside the center piece that looks like a present!

We bought some more stuffed animals: a unicorn dragon (!) that we found in a gas station on the way to visit my relatives in Chicago, and a turtle made of recycled materials that we found at a gas station in Richland Center. Since we got the unicorn dragon on the solstice, we named her Solstice. The turtle doesn't have a name yet. I am open to suggestions.

And this is Shippy. We got her on the cruise to Cuba.

The Allen Centennial Garden near my office is beautiful even in the depths of winter.

Here is the eagle we saw from the window of the Blue Spoon. My shot is not so good. The guy with a fancy camera had a close-up of her face where you could see her eyes and every feather in detail.

Finally, some sunsets. This first one is from a couple of weeks ago; my office window faces east, and suddenly I could see the buildings across from me gilded with this amazing golden light, so I knew there was a spectacular sunset. I ran outside and took this photo.

And this is the glorious sunset we saw tonight just as we got home.

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Why Is "Great" Art Masculine?

People have been complaining about how the Oscar nominations again ignored women and people of color, and yesterday I read an article in the Washington Post about how it wasn’t just particular classes of people being shunned by the awards, but particular genres of movies. This is not news to me: you only have to look around to see that any art form that appeals more to women or minorities is considered less “serious” than those that appeal to straight white males. Take music, for example. Critics love classic rock, but they tend to consider dance music “frivolous,” and who usually likes dance music? As far as I can tell, everyone besides straight white males: women, people of color, and gay men. Or books – the “classic” authors like Ernest Hemingway write very masculine literature, while literature that appeals to women is often mocked. Why is this? Is it because critics have historically been straight white males? Who decides what is “serious” art worthy of consideration and what is “silly”? Being a woman with typical feminine tastes along with some masculine ones (I enjoy war movies), I long ago learned to tune out critics. Who cares if what you like is deemed great art or not? Go ahead and enjoy it.

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Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Enemy?

One odd thing I’ve noticed about our deep political divide these days is the cognitive dissonance: if you continually try to “make snowflakes cry” and “trigger the libs,” then why would you be deeply wounded that your friends and relations of a different political stripe avoid you? You can’t antagonize people constantly and then turn around and say, “But we shouldn’t let our differences separate us!” If you are speaking of reasoned discussion, then yes, people with different perspectives can get along. But if you are openly hostile to all people who disagree with you, then you can’t be surprised that the individuals you know who disagree with you will want to avoid you. I ran into this with a relative who posts a lot of inflammatory stuff on social media but then said he wanted to meet some very liberal relatives, who only knew him through his posts. When I pointed out rather bluntly that it was strange that he would want to meet people he disagreed with so vehemently, he seemed shocked. In his defense, he is young and maybe doesn’t realize how he comes across, and they did end up meeting. But he is far from alone – I see a lot of people on social media who go on and on about how people who don’t agree with them are horrible sub-humans, and then they wonder why I avoid them or unfriend them. What, am I supposed to just listen to you go on about how you think I am the vilest of the vile? Rich pointed out that I sort of did the same thing when I wrote an email to Sirius XM telling them they were a “cog in the patriarchy” for only having stations named after white males instead of sending them a carefully worded email about how they should rethink their practices. He is right, of course, but at least I am not saying to Sirius XM: “Why don’t you want to hang out with me? Why can’t we still be friends?” It would behoove all of us to stop telling those we disagree with how they are terrible people and instead try to explain why our point of view differs from theirs. There – I have a New Year’s resolution! Besides eating more vegetables and letting people end conversations instead of continuing to talk at them.

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New Washing Machine

I hope my readers had a good weekend. Friday I went to the grocery co-op to buy the salmon that was on sale that day only, and the place was packed because a huge storm was predicted. Travalon cooked the salmon to perfection, and then we holed up for the evening, doing a jigsaw puzzle in our loft. (I am definitely Ma Hat’s daughter – she is a jigsaw puzzle addict!) We figured that was the safest place for it, but we are doing it on the carpet, so it’s getting kind of janky about lining up right. Travalon bought it at the Sinclair Travel Station gift shop; it’s a painting of a bunch of old gas pumps, including at least eight Dino the Dinosaurs of varying sizes. It’s a fun puzzle, because no two pieces are the same.

Saturday the weather was bad, and I felt a little like I was coming down with a cold, so we didn’t go to Oconomowoc for Travalon’s mother’s 94^th birthday. We thought we were going to just hang out at home, but then someone said on social media that she was giving away a washing machine, and ours died a few months back, so I rounded up Rich and Kathbert, and we rented a truck from U-Haul. Of course as soon as we signed the truck contract, the snow began to fall, but then we were committed. It actually all went pretty smoothly, and Travalon successfully did a load of laundry in it today. We tried to treat Rich and Kathbert to dinner to thank them for their help, but they took a rain check so Travalon and I went over to the Naughtigal ourselves. We were the only ones there, and I felt sorry for our waiter, so I said to Travalon that we should tip him $20.20, since I saw online that people are doing that for the New Year. So we did it – we left our server a tip almost as big as our bill. I had been wanting to do it, and it was the perfect opportunity.

Yesterday I didn’t feel well enough to sing, so we went to Mass at the church near our house. Then Travalon went to see his mother for her birthday, but we figured I shouldn’t come along. I just read and worked on the puzzle. When Travalon came back, we went out to Sauk to do some eagle-watching, and we saw one on the island and possibly some by the dam – some birds were flying around, but we couldn’t tell what they were. We did look at the one on the island through the telescope they have set up for that purpose, and we could see her scratching her head and then turning to look at us. What do the eagles think of us? Probably not much. We came home and watched the Packer playoff game, and at first we were way ahead of the Seahawks, but then their quarterback Russell Wilson (who used to be a Badger) decided to take apart our defense single-handedly, while our offense stalled. But then the Pack got back on track, and when they needed a big third-down conversion, Jimmy Graham (“the slow white man”) came through. I am going to have to rethink my opinion of him. I know Tiffy will too, and judging by the comments on social media, a lot of people thought he was useless until his three big catches last night. Hey, if you’re finally going to come to life, the playoffs is the time to do it. Also, Tiffy tells me he is not totally white, so for all these reasons I am going to have to retire my nickname for him.

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Cuddly Sailboats

Now that I’m back to the workaday world, I don’t have so much to blog about. This morning I did wake up briefly because Shippy my cuddly cruise ship fell on the floor – I heard it, but then I looked and couldn’t see it, so I fell back asleep. Then when I really had to get up, there was Shippy – it had rolled a little under the bed, which is why I couldn’t see it while lying in bed. Then this afternoon I met up briefly with Travalon, and we saw a sailboat docked for the season called Boaty McBoatface, which is sort of what Shippy is named after, and that made me wonder if there are any cuddly sailboats. Of course there are, but they are all made by women in Australia, so while the prices aren’t bad, I’m sure the shipping costs would be horrendous. I did find a pattern, so I emailed Ma Hat to ask if she could make it. One thing I’m sure of is that I couldn’t do it myself! Also, while these cuddly sailboats are adorable, I have to wonder if they would really be as fun to snuggle with as Shippy, because their shape isn’t as conducive to hugging. Too bad Christmas and my birthday just passed, because now I would have to wait a whole year to ask anyone for a cuddly sailboat when they wonder what I’d like for a present.

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Birthday Adventure Photos

Here are some photos from my birthday adventures. First is the awesome house in Deerfield that was super decorated for Christmas.

And here is a movie of it, so you can see the lights dancing.

And this is another house in Deerfield that is almost as decorated.

Here is the teal beer I had at Funk Factory.

And here are the "memojis" that Tiffy created. This one is me, Tiffy, and Travalon.

And this is Rich. The bottom one, with the orange eyes, is really true to life.

This is the pretty rock I bought at the crystal store, that supposedly gives you self-confidence for public speaking. I just think it is pretty!

And this is the sunset we saw in Bellville on Sunday.

And finally, here is the short (3 minute) movie I promised of the Christmas lights in Richland Center:

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Birthday Adventures

Happy Epiphany! I hope that my readers had a good first weekend of 2020. For New Year's Eve, Travalon and I went to his old high school buddy’s house, as usual, and we met up with a third couple at a supper club in Fond du Lac, as we always do. We went to the third couple’s house to play games, as usual, but the fourth couple who always joins us couldn’t make it this year so maybe that’s why things seemed a bit tamer. One thing that was kind of funny (warning: PG humor ahead!) was when Travalon talked about how people “tweet and twat” on Twitter, and I thought that was hilarious, so I wrote a tweet: “Last deep thought of 1999: Trump doesn’t tweet, he twats!” And then I couldn't figure out how to edit it! Sigh. Maybe people will think I was drunk, but that’s if anyone sees it – nobody really follows me on Twitter.

New Year’s Day Travalon and I managed to get to 11 am Mass and even find a parking spot in the tiny lot they have at St. Patrick’s. I went for a walk while Travalon watched a bowl game, then we went to my OTHER choir director’s annual New Year’s Day open house, with all the desserts he makes. He led a hymn sing in the middle of the party, and then things moved from the community room to his apartment. Travalon happily talked to Cecil Markovitch while I was completely enthralled by a woman’s story about visiting Antarctica. It all sounded very exciting, especially seeing an albatross with a fourteen-foot wingspan fly overhead. This was during the Rose Bowl, so we taped it and then went home and watched it. Sigh… how can you win a game if you turn the ball over FOUR TIMES? I’m amazed that they only lost by one point. I ran in place while watching it, so maybe that is why I couldn’t get to sleep until 3 am.

Thursday Tiffy didn’t have to work, but I had to do one task at work, so I went in for half a day. We tried a couple of places for lunch that were closed, so we ended up at Crema Café, then we took a walk at Olbrich, and then we had golden milk at the vegan café in Garver Mill, Surya. In the evening we met Travalon and Rich for dinner at the Tornado Grill, since Tiffy always wanted to try it so she had asked Rich eons ago if sometime we could do a steak night where women were allowed. We sat in a cozy back room, and the food was amazing. I had the smallest steak and still couldn’t finish it.

Friday was my actual birthday. Travalon had to get up for work, so I woke up a little, saw my cuddly cruise ship Shippy had fallen on the floor, and the next thing I knew it was an hour later so I must have just fallen back asleep without rescuing Shippy. I blogged of course, and then when Travalon got back from his morning run (the only thing he had to do that day), we met Tiffy for coffee downtown and then did some shopping on State Street. We drove out to Sauk but only saw one eagle flying away from us, so we went to the Mixing Bowl, where I got a free cookie. We drove to Spring Green so I could get free lunch, then we went to the crystal store, the tea store, and the soap store so I could get free stuff. Travalon got a bit sick of such girly pursuits, so he went out to the car and drove to meet us at the opal store, where I bought myself a pair of earrings. We drove back to Lake Wisconsin and checked out the Christmas lights on Paradise Island, then we went to Fitz’s so I could have my half-price dinner. Because Travalon is a prince among men, he then drove us to Deerfield to see an incredibly lit-up house that his high school buddy’s wife had told me about. Fortunately it was still lit up! We came back to town and went to Funk Factory, where I had a teal sour beer that tasted like coconut and pineapple. It was called a Blue Hawaiian. Tiffy showed us how her phone can make emojis that look like a particular person, so she made one for me, one for herself, one for Travalon, and one for Rich. Then we went through the Olin-Turville lights one last time before dropping Tiffy off, and then Travalon and I went to the East Side Club for Latin dancing. It started at 10 pm, so I promised we would only stay an hour. When we first got there, only a few other people were there, including a neighbor and her friend. The four of us danced happily for a while, then we got tired and sat watching other, better dancers. By the time we left, a lot more people were arriving, and they were dressed way sharper than we were, so it felt like exactly the right time to leave.

Saturday I met Tiffy and Rich and some other people for coffee, then Tiffy and I went up to the Capitol, but they had already taken down the State Christmas Tree. Why? Christmas ends today! We went to a plant store because I had a birthday coupon, but it is actually good until the beginning of March, and the only plants I wanted were ones I either already have or recently killed, so I decided it was a sign not to get yet another plant. We had lunch at the vegan café in Garver Mill, then we took a walk at Tenney Park, and then we went over to Rich’s house to help him prepare for my birthday party. We made eggnog, and then people started arriving, including Travalon, who had spent the day going to a Marquette basketball game and visiting his mother. It was a lot of fun to see how people who didn’t know each other got along, like Miss Heartsong and Handy Woman seemed to hit it off, and Light Bright and the former Lute Player both gamely sang from the Peter and Lou Berryman songbook that Cecil Markovitch gave me while Lute Player’s husband played the piano. My OTHER choir director brought a gingerbread house for us to make, but we were too busy all conversing to get around to putting it together. Somehow I ended up at the Kiddie Table with Tiffy, Travalon, OK Cap, and Cali. The Single B-Boy gave me a funny card, something like, “If you guess the number inside this card, you’ll win a million dollars. Hint: it’s between 3 and 5,” and then you open it up and it said something like, “It’s 4.5682435861247. Did you guess it?” Afterwards Kathbert and I stuck around to help Rich clean up, and we both felt oddly drugged. Could it have been Handy Woman’s delicious lavender bread? Or maybe just the combination of so many desserts? Rich also made black magic cake and chocolate mousse. I have to say, it will be tough to top that birthday party! The funniest part might have been that there were two people with the same birthday, and three sets of two people with the same name.

Yesterday I had to sing a two-line solo at Mass, which I had forgotten about. My new crystal is supposed to help with confidence in public speaking; I actually only got it because it’s so pretty, but maybe it did help me overcome my stage fright. Who knows? Then Travalon and I joined Kathbert at Rich’s house for leftovers of the eggplant and chicken parmesan Rich had made for dinner the night before, and of course leftover eggnog and desserts. I needed a nap after all that birthday fun, while Travalon watched the Vikings beat the Saints. (Boo!) We went for a walk in Bellville, and I felt way too sorry for a tundra swan that was all alone, and the Canadian geese wouldn’t let him hang out with them. He kept screeching plaintively for his own tribe, but they weren’t around. I wonder what happened there? Then we drove to New Glarus to check out their lovely Christmas lights, and we also saw some stunning houses with their lights still up, and the beautiful lights in downtown Verona, but for some reason the Epic campus was not decorated for Christmas. I wonder if they already took them down? It’s sad but true – we have come to the end of that magical time when Christmas lights are everywhere. I wish people would leave them up for the rest of this month – it would make the long, dark evenings so much better.

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Photos of Christmas and New Years Eve

Happy 2020! I am taking the day off of work for my birthday, and soon Travalon, Tiffy, and I will have a grand adventure. First here are some pictures from recent adventures. This is a video of the swans on Lake Mendota. Sorry that it isn't better.

My one plant at work (the "mystery plant" that is a bean peperomia) is doing something odd. Look at the top of it.

Here are some photos from the Third Day of Christmas Carol Sing. I don't get to see Darth Luther much these days!

And here is the inside of the Lutheran church.

The organist who hosted the party afterwards has the most beautiful collection of small glass Christmas trees.

Here are photos of our trip to Rochester. Travalon is with his favorite icon!

Here is the flight of beers that we had at the brewpub in Rochester. They were all delicious!

This is the pool at the Kahler Grand Hotel, with the dome over it.

Here are some shots from the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in La Crosse:

I will try to make a movie of the lights in Richland Center soon; here are a couple of photos to whet your appetites.

This is a really beautiful jewelry shop window in Spring Green:

And here is my family when I was sixteen! I don't remember ever looking this good.

This is a screenshot of a text Richard Bonomo sent me in reply to my question of how a fundraising dinner had gone. You can ignore the people's names, since Siri messed those up anyway, but I love his description of the dinner! I tried to read it to Kathbert but almost choked, I was laughing so hard, so Rich tried to read it, but he also was laughing too hard, and so Kathbert had to read it herself - and then she started to laugh really hard. Travalon was dozing on the couch, but when he heard us all laughing, he laughed in his sleep.

Here I am with the people we went out with on New Year's Eve. Not looking quite as good as at sixteen!

And finally, this is a short movie of the Christmas House in town.

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