New Year's Eve in Ak Park

 

This morning Travalon and I had a leisurely morning at our bed and breakfast, including taking a long walk in the neighborhood, then my uncle and aunt picked us up and drove us to the other side of Chicago, where we met another aunt and uncle, my cousin (their daughter), her husband, and her four kids for lunch. We had so much fun that we lingered there for hours. I was a bit confused when I first walked into the restaurant, since they don't take reservations and I was charged with finding us a large table, but the one that was the right size had a sign that said "reserved." However, a waitress saw my confusion and explained that it was reserved for any large group, and since we were exactly the right size group for the table, it was reserved for us. Perfect! Afterwards we drove back to Oak Park (or Ak Park, as the sign with the burned-out O said) with my uncle and aunt, and we hung out at their house for most of the evening. Travalon and I did take a twenty-minute walk in their neighborhood, since we had been sitting still so much today, and we passed a group of adults and little children counting down and then hollering, "Happy New Year!" I was confused, since it was a quarter to seven, so not even the New Year in another time zone. As we passed them, since they were standing right in the middle of the sidewalk, they wished us a Happy New Year so we replied in kind, and then they asked us if we wanted some mulled wine! Sure!! When we returned and told my uncle, he said, "I should have gone with you! I didn't know they were handing out drinks!" but neither did we. 

Here are some photos from around Ak Park. First is the living room at the bed and breakfast.

My uncle collects pigs. This one with a huge mouth just makes me laugh so much.

This fancy teak pig from Thailand looks like my Chinese zodiac sign.

Here are some photos of Christmas decorations in Ak Park.

When we got back to the neighborhood where our bed and breakfast is, I found this path of luminaries just down the sidewalk a couple of blocks away.

I also took a video of a cool Christmas decoration, but Blogspot is not letting me post it. Maybe I'll have more luck at home. Or maybe Blogspot just hates videos now. This one is five seconds long, so it can't be too large. 

I know people might think that we came to Chicago to have an exciting New Year's Eve downtown, and my uncle did say the 'L' runs for free tonight, but we are just watching the ball drop on TV and then going to bed. We want to get up early tomorrow and hopefully beat the storm home.

Famous Hat

Surviving the Stroads

 

This morning Travalon and I got in the car and drove to Rock Cut State Park in Illinois, where we took a snowy hike. We were almost to Chicago when I really needed a bio-break, so we stopped at a mall in Schaumburg. They had a food court with bathrooms, and also a stand that sold Mideastern food, which made me very happy because falafel is a little healthier than what you can get at most of those mall food stands. We got to our bed and breakfast, the Harvey House (named after the movie) in Oak Park, and my uncle came over. The three of us walked to downtown Oak Park and checked out an Irish shop (Travalon and I are always suckers for Irish shops), then we had dinner at a Moroccan restaurant called Grape Leaves. That was so good! Of course, it was similar to what I had for lunch: more hummus, more veggies, more pita bread. I also had baba ghanouj and these cigar-shaped things made of phyllo dough stuffed with chicken and dusted with powdered sugar - so messy but so good. Then we came back to the bed and breakfast, which has a wonderful sitting room with a fireplace, and my uncle regaled us with tales of his own adventures and stories about Hemingway and his relatives. 

Here are some photos from today. At the mall where we stopped, there was a Peppa Pig store, and they had this trolley with Miss Rabbit driving that kids could go into, but as far as I know it didn't move.

This train did move. I should have made a video - it's so cute! We had a good view of it from up above, where the food court in the mall is.

I loved these colorful lanterns in the Moroccan restaurant.

Now we are watching the Badgers play in the Las Vegas bowl. When I asked Travalon what I should call this blog post, he said "Surviving the Stroads," because in suburban Chicago there are a lot of ugly stroads with a ton of traffic on them. I told him how I had read an urban planning article about how roads are lovely pathways with rapid speeds and pretty scenery that go from one distant place to another, and streets are cute pathways with slow speeds and good sidewalks with houses and little shops along them, but a stroad is an unholy combination of the two, very wide and unsafe for pedestrians but with businesses (usually chains) along them. The speeds are higher than a street, but not quite as high as a road, and they are ugly and frustrating. Everyone hates them, and they shouldn't exist. The urban planner writing this article says pathways should either be getting you somewhere (road) or be the place you are going (street). There is no purpose to a stroad, so they should quit creating them.

Famous Hat

Eagles and Badgers

 

If this past Saturday was the most Sundayish Saturday we can remember, then this may have been the most Saturdayish Wednesday we've had in a long time. I almost told Travalon to turn on the salsa program at four, which is on every Saturday afternoon. We drove out to Sauk to see if there were eagles, and there were eagles! Here are some photos that Travalon took. 

I took this photo of two eagles wading in the river. Sorry that it's off-center, and the gull in the background is completely out of focus.

Somewhere in the VFW Park, an eyepiece fell off our binoculars, and by the time we found it in the middle of the road, it had been run over. We went to an outdoors store in downtown Sauk and bought another pair. We also had lunch at the new restaurant where the Blue Spoon used to be. Now it's called the Jaybird Cafe, but the menu is very similar. I would recommend it. The antiques shop we usually go to in Sauk was closed today, but another one was open, so Travalon bought two signs, and I bought a bracelet of angelfish made of abalone.

In the evening we went to the Badger Men's Basketball game. Davis had an excellent game and got a double-double, and a guy named Crowl also had an excellent game and was one rebound away from a double-double. They were playing Ma Hat's alma mater, and at first they were way ahead, but at the end they were only up by a few points, so it seemed very likely that the Redbirds could win. In the end the Badgers pulled it out and won by four points. When they were ahead by 25 earlier in the game, we didn't expect the ending to be so exciting!

On the way home we checked out some Christmas lights in a nearby neighborhood. For some reason inflatable creatures were big. This is one of two dragons we saw.

And here is a lizard with a Christmas tree.

And a polar bear with a penguin on top of it.

This is that house zoomed out, so you can see the whole thing.

Here I've zoomed in on the streetlamp.

And this is the same house from the side.

We thought what this house did with their windows was pretty cool.

But this house wins the prize in that neighborhood. 

Travalon wondered where they keep all those things the rest of the year. Do they have an enormous storage shed in their backyard? We did go up to Waunakee to see a really impressive house up there, but they had turned their lights off tonight, although we could see they were still up. Come on, it's only the fifth of twelve days of Christmas! Everyone should still have their Christmas lights on! But in the park in Waunakee, it looks like they have completely taken the display down. Good thing we went earlier in December! Haven't these people ever heard of Epiphany? Or at least leave things up this week. 

Famous Hat

White (Fourth Day of) Christmas

 

Today I had to run into my actual office to do a couple of things, so we went quickly before the snow started. Just as we were getting home it began, and it still hasn't let up as far as I know. I requested a sub for my adoration hour, since my car doesn't have four-wheel drive, and Travalon's does, but he was working (from home) until 6:30, and my hour starts at six. Once he got off of work, we walked over to Mariner's, since they were having a slow night, and we tipped them well. Here are some photos. First, the little Christmas tree in our neighborhood looks even cuter with some snow on it.

This photo shows you how hard the snow was falling.

Mariner's was decorated so beautifully for Christmas. You can see that we were practically the only people there besides the waitstaff. I think there were two other tables and a guy at the bar.

While Travalon was driving me to campus, he played the Paul Simon album Graceland for me in the car because he knows I love it. I was a young teen when it first came out, and I loved the South African rhythms, but now as I approach half a century, the spirituality of the words really gets to me. I can hardly listen to some of the songs without crying. Is Paul Simon a religious man? As far as I know, he was raised Jewish and isn't a practicing anything, but he must be deeply spiritual. The third verse of "You Can Call Me Al" always gets me, and the ending of "Graceland," and something about the whole song "Boy in the Bubble." I really think this album may be one of the greatest works of art ever.

Happy birthday to OK Cap!

Famous Hat

Duck Party

 

I don't have much to blog about today. I had a dentist appointment scheduled at 10:30 this morning, but they called and asked if I could come in at 9:40 and I said yes before thinking it through. Then I rushed to get ready and got there at exactly 9:40, but on the plus side I had a lot of time this morning to go for a walk with Travalon, since I wasn't scheduled to work until one. Travalon was also working from home and also not starting until one, so we walked to a spot in our neighborhood where we could see the tundra swans in the distance. I could hear them very clearly, and see them flying around, but they weren't close enough for Travalon to get a photo. He took a photo of this duck party instead.

Look who's coming to the party - two ducks that look like mallards, only they're black. There is a kind of duck called a black duck, so maybe that's what these are.

And this is a photo of the pond at Mill Bluff State Park that I didn't put on the post a few days ago. I'm not sure why - it's a good photo.

From the Lakeshore Path I have seen some buffleheads in the last couple of weeks, but none are in our neighborhood right now. Of course, the water in the river is mostly frozen over, so there's nowhere for them to swim right off our dock. We also saw some terns yesterday from Jackson's Landing, in the channel out to Lake Mendota, but they're hard to photograph. They never sit still.

Famous Hat

Tundra Swan Sunday

 

This morning Travalon and I had deja vu as we got up and went to Mass. Afterwards the woman who sometimes goes to brunch said, "You really have to get to know a person at a deeper level to understand them, but do you really give a sh-t?" I don't even know what inspired her to say that - it just seemed to come out of the blue - but Travalon and I thought it was hilarious. Later he said it sounded like something a character in a movie would say. 

Here is a photo of our church all decorated for Christmas.

The weather was almost as pleasant as yesterday, so we went for a hike on Governor's Island. The water level has really receded, and it exposed this beach made of small bivalve shells.

We walked along the crunchy beach, then we explored another trail we had never been on before, where we discovered this graffiti-covered structure.

As we continued along the island, we could see this view of the Capitol building.

This is a view of Warner Bay from Governor's Island.

Just as we were heading back to the parking lot, I thought I heard tundra swans. We drove over to Governor Nelson State Park and walked out onto the spit of land sticking out from the beach, and we could see a bunch of tundra swans in the distance. I thought they looked like they were near the trails on the other side of the road from the bluff near our neighborhood, but I thought we could get a clearer view of them from Jackson's Landing, so that's where we went next. When we went out to the viewing platform at the end of the boardwalk, we could see and hear the swans! Travalon took photos.

I could see the two dark birds in this next photo through the binoculars, but they puzzled me. Were they very large crows? But in the photo you can tell they are actually bald eagles. We did see a bald eagle flying along the highway on the way to Oconomowoc yesterday.

There were also some Canada geese among the swans.

This is a funny little island the swans were gathered around.

In the evening we watched the Packers game that had been on yesterday. Rich said he didn't think it was right that football was played on a holiday, so we didn't turn the game on at his house, but I did check the score now and then on my phone. With under two minutes left, Cleveland had narrowed the Packers' lead to two points, plus they were driving down the field, so I was terrified we would lose. Travalon found the game live on his phone, so we were covertly watching as everyone else chatted amiably around the dinner table... until Rasul Douglas got yet another interception (the man is a machine!), and I screamed, "Picked off!!!" I probably took two years off everyone's life, and five years off of Rich's life because he was sitting right next to me and heard it full force. Of course everyone stared at me, so I was kind of embarrassed, and then I heard that people felt Douglas should have been called for pass interference, so that makes me feel kind of bad. I want my team to win cleanly! When we watched the game today, I wasn't sure, because the receiver got handsy first, and last week when a similar thing happened, the refs called offensive pass interference on Adams (whose birthday was Friday), so maybe this time they just figured both guys were at fault, so why call anything? Or they could have called two penalties that offset each other. Also, I feel bad because the Browns desperately needed this win to stay in the playoff hunt, but the Packers didn't really need it. I guess it helps them have home field advantage. Anyway, the Packers got the ball back and won the game.

Famous Hat

Christmas 2021: A Play in Three Acts

 

(Thanks to Travalon for suggesting the format of this blog post)

Act I: Sunday on Saturday

Travalon and I woke up, poked around, and eventually headed to Mass, grumbling about how it felt like a Sunday morning even though it was a Saturday. Aren't Saturdays for sleeping in and watching cartoons in our pjs? And we'll just have to do it all again tomorrow. We realized we were going to be really late, but miraculously we arrived just before the reading of the Gospel, so Mass counted. For some reason Richard Bonomo, who usually sits up in the choir loft and doesn't see us slink in late every Sunday, was downstairs handing out programs, so he totally saw how late we were. Travalon said this was the most Sundayish Saturday we've ever had.

Act II: Oconomowoc (However You Pronounce That)

Travalon and I drove to Oconomowoc to see his mother. She is looking really good lately. She just glows. It's hard to believe she will be 96 in a couple of weeks. We gave her some fancy soap and a teddy bear that smells like lavender, both of which we got at a place in Rochester called 99 Giggles, which was under our hotel. Then we went to an Asian restaurant that is always open on Christmas, but this year it was takeout only due to COVID, so we ended up just getting sandwiches from Kwik Trip. Then we went to Lake Mills and hiked on the trails by the lake that are meant for mountain bikers. Lots of hills - I got the equivalent of five flights of stairs from climbing them. It was a beautiful day out, about 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Act III: Cartoons After All

Travalon and I went to Chez Bonomo with the cassata I had made at the appointed time, but we were clearly too early so we went on a walk with Kathbert, who we ran into outside. It was so nice out that we hated to go inside, but eventually dinner was ready, and about ten of us sat down to it. We had Rich's famous lasagna and eggplant parmesan made by someone else, garlic bread, salad, and broccoli. Then a family came with three boys, aged 11, 8, and 2, and suddenly things got a lot more fun. The two older boys sat across from Travalon and me and started regaling us with G-rated jokes and songs from Singing in the Rain. Somehow that led to Travalon and me telling them about "What's Opera, Doc?" and then we introduced them to the wonders of Chuck Jones' work. We watched "What's Opera, Doc?" and "Rabbit of Seville," then Travalon and the boys watched loads of Roadrunner and Coyote. My cassata was a big hit, as always, but children are always especially enthusiastic about it, and the three boys raved about it. (Years ago a child who is now thirty said that my cassata belonged in the Dessert Hall of Fame.) Then Kathbert and I talked about music until Rich gathered everyone to do Night Prayer, and Kathbert escaped. As soon as Night Prayer was over, everyone else went home too, and Travalon and I were the last ones at the party, so we headed home as well. We watched The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and Travalon is watching more cartoons, so his Saturday was salvaged after all.

Famous Hat

Christmas Eve on the Road

 

This morning Travalon and I got a free coffee and donut at Dunkin because we were staying at the Kahler Hotel. We chose Bismarcks with Christmas trees on them.

I don't spend much time at Dunkin, so I didn't realize they have donut-shaped lights.

Then we went to Ma and Pa Hat's house. A package came for Pa Hat, and he said it was a prize, but when I asked if it was a "major award," it turns out they have never seen A Christmas Story. What he actually won was a Russian nesting doll from an icon place. No leg lamp.

They have some... interesting shops in downtown Rochester.

And here's a building with train tracks running right through it!

We did stop at an antiques shop, then we took walks at a couple of very scenic rest stops. One overlooked a creek, but I cannot remember the name of the creek. It was a very foggy day, so we can only imagine the view on a clear day!

Another, right when we crossed back into Wisconsin, was on the banks of the Mississippi River.

It was a very foggy drive the whole way, but it got particularly bad just a few miles from home. We were so relieved to be back safe! We'd been planning to go to a Hawaiian party at a nearby tavern, but instead we walked in the neighborhood and looked at lights.

And of course we watched A Christmas Story. We also exchanged gifts. These are gifts to myself, a couple of rosaries I found at the antiques shop in Rochester. Travalon got himself a toy Sinclair oil truck.

I gave Travalon a book about the Beatles, a pub pass, and this stuffed snow leopard.

He gave me a book of Archie comics from the 40's, a sketchbook with a springhaas on the cover, and a springhaas stamp. He also gave me bluetooth headphones, which are great! I don't have to worry about getting tangled up in a cord while dancing around the house.

Here are some photos from our hike at Mill Bluff State Park yesterday. This first one is the "Christmas" tree on top of Bee Bluff.

This is Mill Bluff, the one we hiked around.

There is a cool stone shelter at the park.

And a cute little cabin - maybe you can rent this?

Here are a couple of shots of the pond in the park, where you can swim in warmer weather.

I love that round bluff you can see in the second photo. Apparently its official name is... wait for it... Round Bluff. Merry Christmas to all my readers!

Famous Hat