Two Boat Rides, Dane Dance, and Badger Watch Party

 

I am writing this first thing Saturday morning; my blogging the next few days might be sporadic. Yesterday was such a good day! I had a meeting first thing in the morning that was amazingly productive. This is at least the third meeting in a row I have been to that hasn't been anything like a waste of time - can this pattern keep up?? I only worked half a day, then I went down to Alumni place and was a bit puzzled, looking at the white caps on the lake and the lack of other boats out there, and the boat we took last week wasn't at the dock. I met Travalon and apparently walked right past my colleague, who came inside to find me, for another free boat ride on Mendota from the Alumni Association. The boat did arrive, and we went out toward Picnic Point, where the captain (the one who really reminds me of Tiffy's dad) talked about the ancient canoes they found in the lake three years ago. Then we went back to Alumni Place and had lemonade and cookies, and someone said the next boat ride only had two people signed up, so we decided to take a second boat ride. My colleague had to go back to work, but Travalon and I got on the boat, and Travalon asked if we could go the other direction this time, so we went to the Tenney Locks. It was an overcast day, and very breezy, so maybe that's why the boat rides weren't so popular. (There were only two other people on our first boat ride too.) Wow, going from fearing I wouldn't get a boat ride to getting TWO boat rides! What an upgrade! The gulls were sitting on the top of the Pyle Center with such exact spacing that they looked like decorations.

We sat on the Union Terrace for a bit, enjoying an adult beverage (I had a lime beer - so good!), then we went to the East Side Club to renew our membership, and while there we went down to the Tiki Bar for a bit. The Legionnaires were there, and we had (don't read this part Rich, but hey, it's not Lent) the most delicious cheeseburgers that they grill. Then we headed home, and Jilly Moose came over, so that we could go to the last Dane Dance of the season. As usual, this August was so crazy that I missed every one before this (they are every Friday in August, and I think the last Friday in July), but I just love being on the roof of the Monona Terrace. We went to the cafe first, and Jilly Moose got dinner while Travalon and I split an order of fries to go with our burger. We could hear the first band from there, an R&B band from Chicago, and I enjoyed them because I knew almost all the songs they did. When the DJ played between sets, Jilly Moose and I got up and danced, but he didn't play "Cupid Shuffle" like I thought he always did in the past. I love that song! The second band was a Latin band, and I had very high hopes, but they played a lot of bachata, which I find boring. They played some cumbia too, which I like better, but I didn't know any of the songs. They only played maybe three actual salsa songs, and I did know one of them, or maybe two. Anyway, it was a beautiful evening, but I never saw the moon - it must be on the late-night schedule right now. I love watching it rise over Lake Monona. Here is a photo of the sky earlier in the evening.

As if we hadn't done enough yesterday, we went back to the East Side Club to join their watch party for the Badgers, who were playing Western Michigan. That is what Travalon calls a "cupcake team," and I hate when the Badgers play non-conference teams that they defeat with no effort. However, the Broncos put up quite a fight and were even ahead briefly, so while the Badgers won, the hardcore fans are not happy. If they looked that bad against the Broncos, imagine what will happen when Alabama comes to town in a couple of weeks! The Tide will totally roll the Badgers! I have to admit that I am beyond caring because with all this nonsense going on in college football like the transfer portal; Name, Image, and Likeness; and the dissolution of the PAC 12 and those West Coast teams joining the Big 10 so that now we have eighteen members, it's all a bunch of hooey. Travalon only cares about the Premier League now (English soccer), and I mostly only care about the Mallards and the Night Mares, because there's little to no corruption in such low-level sports. But we did have fun watching some of the game last night over popcorn and pizza. Surprisingly, after all that, when I weighed myself this morning, I had only gained a few ounces. Maybe there's a delay and I'll get the bad shock next week...

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First Boat Ride in Our Boat of 2024

 

Today I worked from home in the morning, and I went to another very productive meeting. If this keeps up, I won't hate meetings anymore! I have another one tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes... As soon as I got off of work, our neighbor who took me sailing on Sunday helped Travalon and me to get our boat on the water. We took a ride back into the marsh, and it is surprisingly clear of lotuses, so the weed-clearing boats I saw some weeks ago must have gone back there. I know this is very late to get our boat in the water - the sun is already in Virgo - but it's technically still summer, and some of our best boating has been in October, so there's plenty of time for some great boat rides. It's just that we kept having problems, first with the plug not fitting and then with the trailer hitch, but everything's working right now. We saw a couple of belted kingfishers, or maybe the same one twice, and lots of mallards. Sorry, no photos from our boat ride.

Then we took a hike on trails alongside the marsh, looking at the same scene from the land that we had just seen from the boat. We saw this cute bench.

Travalon had not brought his good camera, but he took some photos of the lotuses with his phone.

They smelled really good. There was a ton of goldenrod blooming, and it had a pleasant scent as well. We also saw these cute purple flowers, which my phone says are speedwell but I'm not totally convinced.

Tomorrow I am working on campus again, then my colleague, her coworker, Travalon, and I will try to get a free boat ride on the Alumni Association pontoon like we did last week. I thought tomorrow was the last day, even though last year it went until mid-September, but sure enough, they sent an email saying now the boat rides are going until the 13th, so hopefully there will not be a big rush of people tomorrow thinking it's their last chance. I'll let my readers know how it goes.

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Noelle the Honda Civic Gets Repaired

 

This morning Travalon drove me to work in my suddenly very loud car Noelle, then he took her to the dealership to get fixed, and they gave him a free ride to work. Usually he works right near the dealership, but of course today was the day they were in a building nowhere near that. However, he discovered that Tiffy's sister and brother-in-law were big donors to this building. It's some sort of community arts center. Noelle's exhaust pipe had rusted out, so $500 later she is all better. We had won $40 worth of taxi coupons seven and a half years ago, so Travalon finally used them for getting from work all the way back to the dealership, and he came and picked me up from work in a newly quiet Noelle.

I had two meetings at work today, and this is when being perimenopausal comes in handy, because one meeting that usually lasts about twenty minutes was running way over an hour, and I was going to miss my move hours, but nobody questioned why a lady of my age would pick up some paper and fan herself vigorously. And it worked! I got my move hours! There was a fan running behind me, so people must have thought, "That must really be a bad hot flash!" but I was more concerned that my funk was getting blown at them, since my colleague and I had walked at lunch, and I'd gotten kind of sweaty. I was so thirsty after that, I wanted something more than water. I never drink soda, but there had been some leftover cans of Sprite and Coke after our grad student welcome lunch on Friday, so I hoped something would still be left. I really wanted a Sprite, but I would have even settled for a Coke. When I got back to our building and looked in the fridge in the break room - what joy! There was a single can of soda left, and it was a Sprite! Just for me!

The really annoying thing is that I am still using the loaner laptop. I thought my new computer was supposed to get set up today, but nobody ever contacted me about it. I was also supposed to learn if I'd gotten parking at the new university parking lot here on the North Side, complete with shuttle service, but again... crickets. If this doesn't pan out, I'll either have to get up really early to take the bus, or else Travalon will have to drive me to work every day. I'm afraid that the option wasn't popular enough so that they might have decided to scrap it. Hopefully I'm wrong. It was perfect for me!

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Vaguely Annoying Day

 

Today was sort of an annoying day. First thing in the morning I had to get an eye exam, and I forgot about all the annoying things they do, like blow air in your eyes and dilate your pupils. I couldn't read, but they told me I'd be safe to drive home. So I carefully headed down the road and wondered who around me had such a loud car... and then I realized it was MY car! It hadn't been that loud on the way to the appointment. Tomorrow we will get it checked out.

Work was annoying, because besides having dilated pupils, I was using a loaner laptop that took three times as long to do anything on as my old work computer, which is being replaced. It seemed fine to me, but they are supposed to be replaced every five years, and it has been six years. There seemed to be complications with everything I tried to do, but somehow it was a very productive day anyway. Then Travalon came home and drove me to adoration, so that I wouldn't have to use my loud little car. On the way home we ordered take-out Chinese, and the ice cream place is right next door, so Travalon got his beloved scotcharoo. I wasn't sure I'd have anything, but they had a new flavor, rhubarb crumble, which was wonderfully tangy and full of little pie crust pieces. So good! 

We could see a beautiful sunset on our drive home, but by the time we got there and Travalon could grab his camera, it was mostly over. He did get a few lovely photos.

Another thing I am vaguely annoyed about is that my sponsor child Nicolas, who lives in Bolivia, just moved out of the area so he is out of the program. This keeps happening to me: I had a girl in India, two different boys in Haiti, and a girl in Uganda, and they kept getting kicked out of the program for various reasons, like parental noncompliance or not progressing in school. (Are they calling my sponsor child stupid?) Nicolas has been around for a number of years, so I thought I'd finally have one age out of the program, but no. I have until September 12 to pick a new sponsor child, or they'll assign one to me. I'm wondering if I should just quit the program. It's disheartening to keep losing your kids. And Nicolas seemed so happy where he was, playing soccer and joining a band, that I can't understand why his family would move him away from all that. And there's no way to stay in touch once they leave the program - they just disappear into the world. Do they ever think of me? Who knows?

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More Photos of Travalon's Trip Up North

 

Today wasn't a terribly exciting day, but I did have one of the most productive meetings I've ever attended. It was very hot, so when my colleague and I walked, we stayed in the shade and moved at a glacial pace. Then Travalon picked me up and we went to the health club; the outdoor pool was full of children, but the inside pool that isn't the warm pool or the lap pool was full of a class, so we braved the children. Several times they did leap off the edge and almost land on us - do they not look where they're going?? We tried to take up a very small space, but they kept invading us, and I got kicked several times. If you think you like children, just go to a pool full of them, and you will quickly realize that you were mistaken.

As promised, here are more photos from Travalon's trip up North. Again, since I have no idea what I'm looking at, this will be pure speculation. First, some lovely scenery.

Then the photos take a more maritime turn.

Apparently they toured a ship called the "William A. Irvin." I guessed this was in Duluth, and Google seems to back that up.

And these must be photos of Duluth from the ship.

Travalon has promised to write descriptions of what we are actually looking at in the comments, so watch for that. Or just enjoy the photos as is - there are no rules here on the Famous Hat blog, other than the #1 Rule that I will be more random than a rabbit on a B-17. And I think I've lived up to that promise.

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Sunday Funday: Sailing and Steel Drums

 

Today Travalon and I were going to finally get our boat on the water, but his leg has been bothering him for a few days, and he didn't think he could bend it to get in the boat. Of course I had immediately thought maybe he had deep vein thrombosis, but Tiffy and I both thought his symptoms sounded much more like bursitis, which isn't nearly as serious. After Mass we came home and were going to rest for a bit, but our neighbor asked if we wanted to go sailing. Travalon couldn't with his leg, so I went, and it was wonderful. I manned (womaned?) the tiller almost the whole time, and the weather was perfect for it. Our neighbor is a doctor, so after sailing he came and talked to Travalon, and his conclusion was that I was most likely right, it is bursitis, so he gave Travalon a pain relief cream to use.

Travalon said the cream did help, so he and I went on a walk on the trails behind Country Day School. We started on Tuggle Road, because I thought it was all in shade after that point, but alas, there was a long stretch in the blazing sun. We did get to the shady part and admired the small pond deep in the woods. We could see little fish swimming around in it, but how did they get there? It doesn't seem to be connected to another water source. 

Later in the afternoon we met Jilly Moose at the East Side Club to hear steel drums. It seemed to be a couple of members of Panchromatic Steel with a marimba player. You know that wherever steel drums are being played, I'll be there. It was quite hot out, but bearable in the shade. Then we went to Mr. Brews in Monona to hear Banana Wind, a Jimmy Buffet cover band. I was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and singing along with great gusto, so some women asked if I were a member of the fan club. No? Would I like to be a member? Travalon was not as enthused, since he said we can barely keep up with the other clubs we are members of. I suppose he is right, but what could be more low-key than a Jimmy Buffet fan club? By definition it has to be laid back.

At one point during that concert, Jilly Moose told me that she dreamed of making Cecil Markovitch a dirty martini, but it was very loud in there, so what I heard her say was, "I dreamed of making myself into a German martini," and I thought that sounded like a strange dream, but maybe not the strangest. I've had some really out-there ones myself. She said I should blog about this, so here it is.

I forgot to mention that yesterday at the picnic they gave me a "Support Ukraine" bumper sticker, but I don't want to put it on my car in case any Russians out there are driving around, see me, and ram into my car. Instead, I put it on my mandolin case, so now Mandy supports Ukraine. She really is the best friend a girl can have - she's never made me a lot of money, but she has helped me have some amazing adventures over the last three decades. I just can't imagine life without her.

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Ukrainian Picnic 2024

 

Sorry for the delay in blogging. Thursday I got home just before Night Prayer, and then I was leading it, so afterwards I was too tired to blog. Friday I had to work on campus, but my colleague and I did get a free boat ride. We each took selfies, but hers is way better, more of an action shot.

We also made dried flower bouquets under the tutelage of someone from Allen Centennial Gardens.

Mine is the one on the left. We also saw a gull pretending to be a duck, paddling around with all the mallards, but that photo didn't really turn out.

My band had an emergency practice right after work, so Travalon picked up Hardingfele and me and drove us over to our bandmate's house. I thought we were just practicing one song we hadn't really nailed, but they wanted to make it a regular practice. After an hour and a half, I was too exhausted after a long week on campus, so Travalon picked me up (he'd been hanging out at Leopold's), and I went home and chatted with Tiffy.

This morning I had a very relaxed morning. Travalon had been planning to go to the funeral of a brother of an old high school friend, but he has something going on with his left leg, so he didn't think he could drive that far. (It was all the way in Sheboygan.) He watched some Premier League games, then we went for a gentle walk on Governor's Island to stretch out his leg, and after lunch we went for another walk at Cherokee Marsh. 

We met Jilly Moose at the annual Ukrainian Picnic, which this year was at the park in Middleton with the splash pad. This was a huge improvement, because the shelter was vast and shady, and there was an inside part for the vendors. I bought a necklace. (Photos to come.) Travalon got this dog he named Dmytro; he's Dieter's Ukrainian cousin.

The decorations were beautiful.

The musical act right before us was a pair of bandura players up from Chicago.

I thought we did terribly, but Travalon made a video of one song, and it sounds great! So clearly I am not the best judge of these things. Jilly Moose and Hardingfele's coworker also both said we sounded good. Still, we did not sound as good as Kommuna Lux, the band Hardingfele, Travalon, and I saw at the North Side Cabaret a few weeks ago. Can you believe they were there? They had a different drummer, not the guy who was like seven feet tall but a normal-sized guy. They had everyone on their feet and dancing, and our bass player (who wore a flapper-style dress rather than the band T-shirt) was particularly good. She taught me some Balkan-style steps. The general happiness even seemed to affect Hardingfele's husband, who actually had a conversation with Travalon. He can often be standoffish. 

Our band got food tickets (everyone else had to buy them), but two people didn't want them, so we got even more. Of course, by the time we played they were out of a lot of stuff, so they gave me borscht, a chicken sandwich I split with Travalon, and two piroshkis stuffed with cabbage, so Travalon didn't want the other one. I gave it to Jilly Moose, and Hardingfele said they may have been the ones she made. I also had some buns stuffed with onion and eggs, and a dessert that was cream between wafers. It was all pretty tasty. Oh yeah, and some fancy lemonade drink.

After all that food, I wanted to go swim it off. Travalon went to the warm pool to help his leg, which was feeling better already after our gentle walks, while I went to the outdoor pool. Nobody else was in it at that late hour, so I swam very hard and luxuriated in having a whole pool to myself. Oddly, my FitBit didn't think I had swum as hard as usual, when I was sure I'd swum much harder than usual, but sometimes it has a day delay before the actual effort for swimming shows up. 

I did get another DuoLingo badge this morning:

I texted it to Travalon, who texted back: "This bear wants to break your streak!"

This is a sign he saw on his trip up north. I will post more photos from his trip soon.

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Travalon's Photos from His Trip Up North

 

Yesterday I had to work on campus, which is unusual for a Tuesday, but we have so much to do to prepare for the upcoming semester. (Though it hasn't escaped my attention that I'm the only one on the team who has to be on campus every day this week...) Then my Irish teacher picked me up from the Killer Building, and we met another woman from the Shamrock Club in the parking lot of a big box store. We were running a little behind because of the rush hour traffic, but it didn't matter because the picnic was in full swing when we got to the outdoor theater, with lots of other Shamrock Club members and some of the actors from the play. There was an acoustic band playing Crosby, Stills, and Nash, which didn't seem to have anything to do with the play, the story of five spinster sisters in Ireland in the 30's. The narrator was the illegitimate child of the youngest sister, and parts of the story were hilarious, but ultimately things did not go too smoothly for the sisters, or their brother, a priest who had worked in Uganda for years until he started "going native." We certainly had a beautiful evening for an outdoor play, complete with a full "super moon" shining above. Here is a photo of the stage.

Travalon is back from his sojourn up north with his buddy who lives in Japan. He took a lot of photos, but I'm not sure what I'm looking at, so I'll just make up a story, and he can correct me in the comments. The first thing he did (again, I'm just making this all up) is look out over Lake Superior.

I already know that's a lie, because the first thing he did was meet with a Wolverhampton Wanderers fan club in Minneapolis to watch the match (the Wolves lost), but he didn't give me any photos of that. Then he heard a little bird singing in a fir tree.

The fir tree was by the lake.

And there were lots of wildflowers!

The lake was still visible in the distance.

Then they crossed a stream.

Suddenly they saw... a lighthouse!

And also, an island.

Whose throne is this? Did Travalon usurp it?

They saw their first waterfall of the trip.

It flowed into a beautiful stream.

Later, they came upon a rocky beach.

The water was very clear.

Then they saw their second waterfall.

I think that's out of order - this river came first.

And these whimsical giant lollipops of animals in two languages. (Ojibwa?)

I am too tired to post all these photos tonight. Watch for Part Two tomorrow night.

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