Steel Drums at Olbrich Gardens

 

Today I worked from home, and it seemed quite warm, but I was determined not to turn the air conditioning on if it was under 90 F outside. What I didn't realize was that it was 92 F outside, so I was suffering for nothing, breaking my own arbitrary rule. I went for a walk in the woods across from the bluff during my lunch break, and the mosquitoes were so bad that I continuously swung my arms. This must have confused my FitBit, because it didn't say I got a workout - it must not have known how to categorize the exercise I was doing.

In the evening Travalon and I went to Olbrich Gardens to see Panchromatic Steel, the steel drum band, again. I wore my new Panchromatic Steel T-shirt, and we got there promptly at six... and then the band was setting up and sound checking for an hour. Some people seemed to know this and showed up at seven, but other people around us were complaining, "Wasn't this supposed to start at six?" "They must be on Caribbean time!" There was an Asian food truck, so Travalon got us Thai iced teas, and there was also a stand selling bougie popsicles, so I got a salted caramel one for Travalon and a blackberry ginger lemonade one for me. They were both delicious.

The band had said they were going to play different songs than they did on Sunday, but it seems like they just played a shorter set, ending well before 8:30. At least they did the same Earth, Wind and Fire and Steely Dan medleys. The concert was outside, on the big lawn area, and fortunately the weather had cooled down and a breeze had picked up. The vibe was very festive, with people playing with hula hoops that lit up as the evening grew darker. Right at the very end, during the Stevie Wonder medley, it began to rain a bit, so people were packing up and leaving. We stayed to the bitter end, and I said I was going to suggest that they do some Xavier Cugat, but Travalon said they wouldn't know who that was. He was right about that, at least with the person I talked to, but she did appreciate my shirt. I just think it would be fantastic if they did "Brazil."

As we were leaving, there were cotton candy clouds.

There were some people there handing out fans and bags to advertise their natural burial place. It's in Verona - I had no idea there was one so close by! I would love to have a natural burial, but as Catholics, do we have to be buried in a Catholic cemetery? I must find out more about this. Years ago I had a dream that sounds weird, but I woke up in such a good mood: I died and was buried in the side of a mountain, and my body went back into the soil because I wasn't embalmed and didn't have a casket. That was better than this morning's dream that I woke up from, where we were at Mass at some huge church we had never been to before, and they said Communion was going to be delayed so I went downstairs and wandered around to get my move hours, but then they announced Communion was going to start, so I kept trying to get back upstairs and got there just as they were about to finish... and then I woke up. Not the first time I've had a dream where somehow I missed Communion. I hate those dreams!

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