Easter with Michaela

 

Sorry for the silence the last few days. I was busy Triduuming and then partying for Easter. Also, we had our houseguest visiting again from Thursday to yesterday. Friday I took the day off of work, and in the morning Travalon, Michaela, and I went for a walk on Governor's Island. We saw a pair of mallards and a pair of wood ducks, but Travalon didn't have a new card for his good camera yet, so no photos. Then I went to the Good Friday service at the nearby church, since our church wasn't having one in English, and I was a bit perturbed that during the prayers, the reader prayed for "our Pope, Benedict." Hopefully that was a slip of the tongue; I don't think too highly of people who refuse to acknowledge Francis as the Pope. The priest saved face by praying for both Benedict and Francis, but then he seems like a really good priest. He also has a beautiful chanting voice. In the evening I went to a wonderful concert where they performed two of my favorite pieces of all time, Pergolesi's Stabat Mater (perfect for the day) and Bach's cantata "Christ Lag in Todesbande," which was a little premature. Tiffy couldn't go, and Travalon of course would rather stay home with the dog, so I sat alone but got into a conversation with two women sitting by me. They were surprised by how much I know about a random assortment of topics, so I don't know if I look like someone who would not know anything, and hopefully I didn't come across as a know-it-all. They were a sort that is typical in Madison, youngish Baby Boomers who are spiritually thirsty but not interested in drinking at the fountain of Christianity. I think it's a combination of running into sexist Christian leaders when they were younger and just spiritual laziness - they want instant enlightenment, not the kind you get from the hard work of actually living the Christian faith. (Which, admittedly, a lot of professed Christians are not doing any better at either.)

Saturday Travalon got a new card for his camera, and we went to Patrick Marsh, where we saw pelicans, blue herons, and several types of ducks, then we went to Okee, where we saw lots of pelicans. We also went to the causeway to Tipperary Road and saw northern shovelers and coots there, but when we got home, the photos from the new card didn't automatically upload to Boethius like they usually do. I will have to go through and individually pick out photos to put on this blog, maybe tomorrow. We also took a walk on the boardwalk in DeForest. Then we went to the Vigil Mass at St. Patrick's, since the one at our church is in Spanish. The bishop celebrated, and he chanted the "Exsultet," while a deacon chanted the Gospel. One of the guys we always go to brunch with after Mass was received into the Church, along with four other people, plus a woman being baptized and four people being confirmed as adults. That did make for a long Mass, and they used a lot of incense so it was very smoky, which may be why they left the front doors open even though it was far from warm that day. One nice touch with that was we could hear gulls calling until the sun went down. It made it feel maritime, which isn't such a stretch since Lake Monona is like a block away. There was a beautiful moon after the Vigil Mass:

Yesterday we didn't go to Mass, since we had gone last night. We went to Oconomowoc to see Travalon's mother and brothers, and we brought Michaela, who was a big hit. Here's a photo of her so you can see why:

We took her to Lapham Peak, but just like with the Ice Age Trail, she steadfastly refused to follow the path that went uphill. Instead, we went around a really cute little pond with an island in it. I think Travalon took a photo, but he hasn't sent it to me yet, so maybe later I'll post that. Later that afternoon, after Michaela had gone home, Travalon and I walked by Brittingham Bay and saw a huge flock of coots and a loon. Then in the evening we went to Rich's house for his usual large Easter dinner. As usual, there were three desserts, so I had too much sugar and am in some sort of sugar crash funk now, and have been all day. When my boss saw me first thing this morning, she asked what was wrong, and I was surprised because nothing was wrong, but I must have looked really tired. Then we had a meeting that couldn't happen because not enough people showed up for a quorum. Mondays! At least on my lunchtime walk, I saw another army of coots and a loon, this time on Lake Mendota. It was a terrible weather day - can you believe it snowed this late in April? Yuck! Maybe that was what caused my funk, not excessive sugar intake. Though I'm sure neither helped...

Famous Hat