Yesterday morning we had a condo board meeting, which is a strange time for such a thing, and one of the people at it was the type who complains about the colors of lights that other people have inside their units, but surprisingly it went pretty well. Then Travalon and I headed to Milwaukee, where we met Tiffy at the Park and Ride. I was trying to text her about how close we were, and my phone added a very passive-aggressive "okay" onto the end of one text and tried to change words in other texts, like it thought for some reason that instead of telling her we were "ten minutes away" it would make more sense to say we were "ten millennia away." We did get there, and then we went to a Greek restaurant where Giannis has been known to make an appearance, but alas, we didn't see him. It was down on Brady Street, and there were lots of twenty-somethings wearing green T-shirts and shamrock accoutrements, so we assumed there was some sort of (early) St. Patrick's Day pub crawl going on. We decided to get out of there and headed to the lakeshore, where huge waves were crashing against the shore. We saw goldeneyes and maybe some other kinds of ducks riding the waves. Here is a photo Travalon took.
After our long walk, we needed a bathroom, so we walked to the coffeehouse near the beach and had pistachio matcha lattes. I had the following micro-convo with our barista, who was wearing a necklace that looked like an M with a tail:
Me: "Does your name start with M, or are you a Scorpio?"
Barista: "My name starts with M."
Me: "I see. Your necklace kind of looks like a Scorpio symbol."
Barista: "I know, but I'm a Capricorn."
Me: "Me too!" and we smiled at each other.
It was crazy busy in there when we got there, but right after we ordered there was no line. We sat outside since it was so warm, and after finishing our lattes, Travalon dropped Tiffy and me off at an early music concert. Now people who go to early music concerts generally want to hear early music, and this concert featured female Baroque composers, but there was one modern composer who was "informed by the Baroque." I'm not sure what that meant, since her piece didn't sound Baroque, and I wouldn't even have called it "music." It was a bunch of discordant sounds with no rhythm or shape to them. After the concert, Travalon picked us back up, and we went to the Irish pub we had gone to for his birthday lunch. I got the same grilled cheese and tomato soup, since it had been so amazing the first time, and check it out! They drew a shamrock in my soup!
Travalon and I did get caught in a vicious thunderstorm on the way home, but we made it back alive.
Today Travalon went to visit his mother and brothers while I went to Mass and then brunch with the usual crowd. When Rich got his usual "extra large, extra strong, maximum fat" hot chocolate, the waitress told him that he could have free refills since he's such a regular, so I said, "You've leveled up!"
It was a lot cooler today, so I was thawing out after a rosary walk when Travalon came home. We were driving along Highway M when we saw two big white birds, so we pulled over in a park, and Travalon took some photos. They were swans.
We went to the little pond in Waunakee where there are huge bird parties in December, but we just saw a pair of mallards. There is a path at the end of the road, so we followed it, but it just went back to this drainage thing.
There were also some beehives along the path. Who do they belong to?
A sign said the path was part of Dane County Parks, but what a strange park! Then we drove to Okee, where we saw an eagle sitting on the ice! Travalon took lots of photos of it, some better than others, but this one is perfect.
We also saw other eagles, both mature and immature, and lots of gulls flying around. We went to Fitz's and had this decadent adult shake with peanut butter and caramel, then we went to the mall and walked there. I never did get my five miles today (I'm at about four and a third), and at this late hour I'm not inclined to bother. Then Travalon left for Mass at St. Paul's. Here's the mosaic on the outside of the church.
I went to band practice and was relieved that my hand didn't hurt from playing, since it has been hurting all day from other stuff, like unlocking the front door. We have some gigs coming up, and I was afraid that if my hand hurt from playing, I would have to drop out of the band. Apparently the motion from picking the mandolin doesn't even bother me as much as typing this blog post, which I find slightly painful. It's been almost three months - I thought by now it would have gone away on its own. I did find a brace I had from a previous bout of hand issues, but of course it's for the left hand, so that's no help. I guess it's time to buy one.
Famous Hat
No comments:
Post a Comment