Cacti and Pelicans and Jamming, Oh My!

 

Yesterday Travalon and I picked up my aunt and uncle, and we drove to Spring Green. My aunt is a geologist, so she really appreciated all the bluffs along Highway 60. We had lunch at the little general store, where we didn't have to deal with a crowd for Mother's Day. We sat on the back porch, enjoying the beautiful day, then we took a hike at the Nature Conservancy land full of prickly pear cacti. Travalon took some photos. In this first one, the cactus looks like a bowling pin.

This is blue-eyed grass.

There is a bluff behind the cacti with really cool rock formations.

Then we went to the dam in Sauk, where there were lots of pelicans.

They were letting water out of the dam. It was very impressive!

It suddenly got very overcast, so we got into the car. We got caught in a torrential rainstorm in Sauk and pulled over into a parking lot until it passed over us, then we headed back to Madison and could see it heading east before us. Alas, we did not see a rainbow. This isn't a very good photo, but it looked like a waterfall in the sky to the east.

We went back to my aunt and uncle's hotel room and talked awhile before getting dinner at a nearby Japanese restaurant, then we jammed on their balcony again. I don't remember all the songs we did, but they were classic rock songs, and Travalon sang along. My aunt said she thought I had improved a lot, and I agree and think it was from the classic rock jam that used to happen at the East Side Club. She did make a video of us doing "Lucky Man," one of my go-to songs from the jam. We also did another one, "Norwegian Wood," and both "Maggie May" by Rod Stewart (which has a mandolin solo at the end) and the completely different tune "Maggie Mae" by the Beatles. It was so much fun that I hated to say goodbye, but we did have to work today, and they were leaving for Chicago in the morning.

The morning came way too early. I worked on campus, and my colleague was busy at lunch, plus it was drizzling, so I walked by myself under the overhang on the third floor. In the evening Travalon and I went swimming at the health club, and on the way we saw this lovely sunset.

Speaking of beauty in the sky, on Friday night as Travalon and I were coming home, I was sure I saw northern lights, but it was a bit cloudy, and I was too tired to check it out. The next day everyone had amazing photos on social media, so we should have checked it out. Saturday we stopped by Cherokee Marsh on our way home but didn't see much, just some shimmery lines in the sky. Sunday I saw nothing as I took a very late walk to get my steps for the day. This evening after swimming we saw the shimmery lines again. Would it look like a lot more if we went somewhere darker? Hard to say. Hardingfele said she went out Friday night and didn't see anything, yet people saw them in Arizona and Florida, as well as all over this state.

My brother gave Ma Hat this pretty glass flower for Mother's Day.

I forgot to even send a text. Too busy looking at cacti and pelicans and jamming to classic rock, I guess. So Ma Hat, if you're reading this, I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Famous Hat