Yesterday I worked from home, and on my morning break Travalon and I went down to the dock to see birds, then he went to Cherokee Marsh to see more birds. Here are photos. First, some pelicans flew overhead as we were heading to the dock.
This mourning dove was hanging out on the dock.
Travalon did get a photo of the wood ducks, but it's hard to see. They always take off flying before we even know they're there.
And the pelicans landed on the water and then flew away again.
I just like how green this mallard's head looks.
Here are a pair of blue-winged teals.
These photos are by the island in Cherokee Marsh. The pelicans like to hang out there.
Zoomed out so you can see the island.
And of course, some northern shovelers.
At lunch we went out again and saw Tux Duck striding along our neighbor's dock.
In the evening Travalon and I went to Flix Brewhouse, because I had free vouchers for the Wisconsin Film Festival, and we wanted to see The Christophers, starring Ian McKellen. Last year we had no problem getting into the film we wanted to see, but this time we had to wait in a long line, just behind a Union peep of mine and a couple of film students who could get in free with a valid student ID. Finally they let us in to sit right up in the front row, which was a weird perspective, but Ian McKellen was excellent as a famous artist well past his prime whose offspring hire an art restorer to forge some paintings of his. I really enjoyed the movie, but we did get home late. Then, as we were getting ready for bed, I heard a strange noise outside, like a huge vehicle was going by. I realized it was the wind and decided I'd better unplug my phone charger so it didn't explode or something if lightning hit our building... and then I saw on my phone that there was a tornado warning until one a.m. We never heard any sirens... We don't have a basement in our building, and our condo is on the second floor, so we went downstairs and huddled in the hallway around a corner from all the windows until one. Then I fell into bed and went right to sleep.
Today I worked from home again, and during my break I went with Travalon down to the dock. There was a single male ring-necked duck. Usually they hang out in groups of at least three.
There were a couple of geese honking away on our dock.
I hope they aren't still hanging around right in front of our boat slip once boating season starts!
There was a tornado watch in the late afternoon, so I emailed the guy who runs the adoration chapel, and he said it would be the safest place to be during a tornado. I'm not disputing that, but it's the getting there and back that concerned me. Toward the end of my work day it grew very dark out, and I was sitting out on our porch until some lightning struck very close by, then I went in. It began to rain, and then it began to hail, and then, not long after I got done with work, my phone shrieked at me so I picked it up and saw there was a tornado warning until six. That is when my adoration hour starts, but I was hiding in the downstairs hall again, praying a rosary down there, and then I could hear tornado sirens in the distance.
Meanwhile, Travalon got to go home early due to the bad weather, but then he got a flat tire, so he made it to a garage just before the hail started. (My car is in the garage, so it was fine.) Around six things cleared up, and he took an Uber home. I heard a very long train go by, and I went outside for a walk. There were so many birds singing, but there was still thunder in the distance. My phone said there was a flash flood warning, and still a tornado watch, but things stayed relatively quiet while I led Night Prayer tonight. Most people were talking about the loud wind last night, and how scary it was, but several people slept right through it. Some people are in other states, so of course they didn't hear the storm. There was a little Catholic church in a town near here that sustained a lot of damage, but this morning when I walked around our neighborhood, all I saw were twigs all over the ground, no big branches, and then a big wasp nest on the ground, which I really didn't feel bad about. I do hope Tux Duck and the other birds are okay. When I went for a walk this evening, there were piles of marble-sized hail all over, and other people said they had even bigger hail in their yards. Just now it sounds like another thunderstorm is starting, so hopefully we don't have to go hide out in the hallway tonight. I have to work on campus tomorrow so I need my sleep.
Famous Hat
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