I completely forgot to mention that last night I parked a little further from the Lakeside Cafe than was strictly necessary, but I figured a short walk couldn't hurt, even if I'd walked five miles already that day. When we left the Irish session, it was pouring rain and flashing lightning, so you can bet that I regretted that longer walk! And what the heck? That hadn't been in the forecast! This is what happens when the government defunds NOAA. If they're going to defund things we need, it would be really nice if they stopped charging us (as opposed to filthy rich people) taxes, instead of using our money to build a ballroom nobody asked for...
This morning as Travalon and I walked along the church parking lot, we saw a basketball by the edge of the parking lot, so Travalon grabbed it and put it in the kiddie area. Then we saw a tiny basketball, like it was for ferrets to play HORSE or something, and he put that in the kiddie area too. I found a stamper in the grass and stamped my hand with a jack-o-lantern; I quickly regretted it, but it easily came off with soap and water. After Mass we went to Far Breton for cheese croissants and some other savory pastry. So delicious! We wanted to take a boat ride, and it was sunny and not too cold out, but the wind was way too strong, so we gave up and walked on Governor's Island instead. We also took another drive through Maple Bluff on our way home, because this colorful time only lasts for a short while, so why not make the most of it?
At my Brazilian drum lesson, we were supposed to march in place while playing, which was a major challenge for me because my huge drum (they said to use the same one as last week) kept banging into my leg. I was hoping someone would take mercy on me and say, "You need a smaller drum," but they just kept telling me to shorten my strap, which didn't really help. Most of the way through the lesson I figured out a way to hold the drum where that didn't happen, and then afterwards one of the experienced drummers asked some of us if we had any questions. I said, "How do you keep the drum from banging into your leg?" and he said, "You don't. I have marks on my white pants from that." Oh man. They also gave us drumsticks to practice at home, and when I asked what if we didn't have a drum to practice on, they suggested using any available surface. I'm sure Travalon would love that... I did let him use the sticks when we got home, and he happily banged on the easy chair arm for a little bit and then lost interest.
When Travalon picked me up, we went to get a lavender French soda for me at the nearby coffee shop where I had one before, but they don't have them anymore. I was annoyed, and then I was more annoyed to find there was a lavender canned drink in the cooler that the barista hadn't mentioned. I feel like that's a lack of imagination on her part, but she probably just thinks I'm a pushy, middle-aged broad. The Packers were actually losing to the Cardinals at the start of halftime, so that was disappointing too.
There was hardly anyone at the Slow Irish Session today: just the guitarist and mandolin player who lead it, a young fiddler who's really good but kind of pretentious, our former bassist on her fiddle, Famie, me, and the grad student from last night showed up a few minutes later. Was it because of the Packer game, which Travalon was watching at the East Side Club? (During my drum lesson, he went fishing.) (They did end up coming from behind to win, yay!) Despite the small size of the group, we played and even sang with great gusto, so hopefully the grad student will come back.
Here are the photos Travalon took yesterday on the segment of the Ice Age Trail that goes through a golf course.
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