Croatia Is Full of Life

 

I was so sick yesterday that I didn't even work from home. I just sat at home reading a book I'd bought from the author at the Celtic Christmas Boutique that I already had at home, because it was one the Shamrock Club book study read and discussed some time ago. Now I have two copies, a signed one and a not-signed one, and I'm ready to discuss the book. Anyone need a book about a guy in Ireland who inherits a border collie?

Today I did at least work from home, but I'm still sick. However, I have some photos. My Shamrock Club buddy sent me some from the ceilidh on Saturday.

According to the label, the poncho I am wearing is "Style: Poncho" and "Color: 3." I wonder what the first two colors are, and if there are others after that?

This morning Travalon drove me to my boob-squishing appointment. (It feels like I have one every three months, but they insist it's only once a year.) I had a cold during the original one and forgot to go to the rescheduled one because somehow I neglected to put it on my calendar, so I didn't want to call in sick with another cold for the re-rescheduled one. In the parking lot we saw this bumper sticker.

It says: "Croatia is full of life." What are the odds that Travalon would see a Croation bumper sticker? His mother's parents were from Croatia. There's a lot going on in Milwaukee, but we don't know of any Croatian community here in town.

Today when we walked on Governor's Island, there was a lot of foam on the shore.

You can tell I'm sick. Don't I look miserable?

But it was the last warmish day - now the temperature is supposed to drop. We had to get out and walk, no matter how sick I was.

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Fellowship of the Hibernophiles

 

Today I worked from home, and Travalon and I walked on Governor's Island at lunchtime. I liked this little rock stacked on a big rock.

I also completed the monthly challenge on DuoLingo.

I left work a bit early to go see the rheumatologist again, since she had said to come back if I had more issues. On the way in, I passed a car with the Crane Foundation license plate, and I stopped to admire it and wish once again that I had gotten this beautiful plate. It was a personalized one that said: "Woooop." Then, as I was going into the clinic, I passed a very outdoorsy-looking young guy wearing a sweatshirt with whooping cranes on it, and I had to ask if that was his car. Of course it was. As far as my knee, the doctor said she didn't think it was that big an issue, but she could draw some liquid out of it to test, which I think was her way of saying, "This is not a flare-up! Don't come back again until you have something REAL going on!" I decided against the liquid withdrawal and said I'd just keep an eye on things. 

In the evening I went to Alt Brew to see the Currach, the Irish group that plays there once a month. They took time off in the summer, and Travalon and I were busy in September and October, so this was the first time I'd seen them in a while. I met the red-headed flute player there, and Famie my Irish teacher and her student who usually comes with her soon joined us, and then my Shamrock Club buddy joined us too. The flute player took a photo of all us Shamrock Club types with the band in the background.

Travalon joined us once he got off of work. Our Shamrock Club buddy is named Dee, and she had stopped by his work to drop off some donations, so when I said she was at Alt Brew, he said, "I guess it's Dee Day!" She is a huge supporter of the Shamrock Club and had brought little business cards to give to everyone there to encourage them to join. The local St. Andrews Club is having a ceili later this month, and she said she is going, and that she joined that club too. I am seriously thinking about doing both - that is the local Scottish interest club. 

The band had some guests, like the concertina player's two preteen sons playing the fiddle, including a tune the older one wrote when he was only six called "The Pouncing Cat," and the red-headed flute player, and an older couple who sang a Scottish drinking song. They were pretty good! The wife sang harmony. I sang a little harmony myself, on "The Wild Rover." Apparently there was a guy at the Irish bar that used to be in town who was a bit of a wild rover himself, speaking with a fake Irish accent and stealing from the till. Our Shamrock Club buddy was telling us how the local Irish restaurant said they would sponsor our ceili for $500, then changed it to $250, and they still haven't paid. She said they really haven't had much interest in working with the Shamrock Club. I wonder why? 

The Slainte Irish Dancers performed again tonight, and they asked people to join them for one dance. All the other ladies went up, but I stayed behind to keep Travalon company. The two young fiddlers danced too. What I'd really love to do is that Scottish Highland dancing so I could wear the knee-high argyle socks, but nobody would want to see my legs at my advanced age, even if they were covered in argyle. Plus there is no way I could be that energetic. I guess it's called the Highland Fling. Back when I was a teenager who bounced around all the time doing aerobics, I would have loved doing these moves, not to mention the sexy little tartan skirt. Now I'm just about the argyle socks.

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Autumn at Stricker Pond and on Campus

 

Today before work Travalon took a walk around Stricker Pond, and he sent me some photos:

He also sent me a photo of a pair of sandhill cranes at Governor Nelson State Park.

And this is his version of the same view on Governor's Island that I posted yesterday.

Meanwhile, I worked on campus and took two walks with Seabird, during our morning break and again on our lunch break. I took more photos of the trees there, and these pink daisies in the Allen Centennial Garden.

Here is the oak outside our department library window again.

And the maples.

After work I caught the bus to the music club for the Wednesday singalong. I always forget how crowded public buses are after being spoiled with the private buses for our park and ride. We did plenty of songs I didn't know at the singalong, but we also did "Dire Wolf" by the Grateful Dead and "Mrs. Robinson" by Simon and Garfunkel and others I cannot think of now. The people there are so friendly! Travalon came and picked me up, and then I wasn't feeling very well and took a nap when we got home. I never ate a real dinner, just some berries, but now I'm feeling better and might try having some real food. To top it all off, I got a spasm in my side... the other side, not the one where I pulled a muscle so hard from vomiting that there's an actual bruise, and it hurts to cough and sneeze. I am not sure why people want to be on these weight loss drugs so badly; I am miserable, but I'm losing a pound a week, so the doctor thinks the side effects are worth it. Maybe if it makes me lose thirty pounds, then I'll think it was worth it. So far I've lost ten, and nobody notices... not even me. 

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No Longer Moon-Dependent

 

Today is Kathbert's birthday. It is also a huge, momentous day for me because as of today I am officially postmenopausal. How did I celebrate this milestone? First I went to the dermatologist so he could complain that my psoriasis hasn't improved, and it must be because I eat too much junk food. I said, "I don't really eat junk food," and he just gave me That Look. Now I will admit that I eat too much bougie chocolate and too many bougie pastries, but they are all quality food, just maybe the wrong kind. I don't eat Doritos and Twinkies and fake food like that. In fact, at the Moldy Jam jam last night, someone brought in cake pops, and people were saying they were that artificially sweet flavor, so I steered clear and ate cheese and crackers instead. Cheese and crackers might make you fat, but it's not "junk food." 

Hardingfele was at some kind of all-day conference, so I walked alone at lunch. It was cold and drizzly out, but there were a number of beautiful maples on campus. Here are a couple of them.

After work I went to Adoration and then came home and led Night Prayer. Travalon went to a Beatles vs. Rolling Stones concert at the Barrymore, and when I asked him who won, he said, "The Stones." He has been asking me to post something he wrote about what the band Rush meant to him over the years, as he ponders whether he will spend the money to see them in Chicago next summer, so look for that soon. Usually Tuesdays I have nothing to say, so I thought I might post his writeup tonight, but I didn't want this momentous occasion to pass by without noting it. Guess what I don't miss? Having a monthly cycle! The moon doesn't control me anymore, no, I've broken free! Whee!

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I Survived Surgery

 

I didn't do too much today, partly because I was fasting and partly because I had to scrub myself last night and then again this morning, so it seemed ill-advised to take a hike at Governor's Island, which is so dirty that I always have to wash my feet afterwards. Or maybe it didn't matter, because they still made me scrub myself down AGAIN when I got to the surgical suite. Anyway, the surgery went smoothly, I don't remember anything about it, and now I'm struggling to stay awake. Yes, I did skip the Moldy Jam jam tonight.

I do have big DuoLingo news, as promised yesterday:

Wow! That's a long time I've been doing this app every day! 

I don't have much to say about today, but people are sending me photos. My drumming buddy sent me this cool photo from harvesting wild rice yesterday.

That's in Rhinelander. Seabird sent me a couple of photos of musical instruments in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

I want to play them all! But not, you know, tonight. Think I'm going to crawl into bed without showering, since I've already scrubbed every germ possible off myself in the last 24 hours.

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Afternoon at Olbrich

 

Today I got to have a "sick day" from work because I had to take Travalon to a medical procedure. He was supposed to have a "responsible adult" to talk to the doctor and drive him home, but I was the only one available. The procedure went smoothly, and I got some DuoLingo done while it was going on. Duo the Owl thinks I'm faster doing Spanish lessons than he is rollerblading.

Since he hadn't been able to eat before the procedure, Travalon was ravenous, so we went to Silk Road, a Tajikistani restaurant near the hospital. I had this amazing thing that was tubes of grilled eggplant stuffed with lamb, in tomato sauce and some soft cheese like ricotta, so it seemed like Italian food. Travalon had a delectable chicken wing kebab. We also had a tea that was like warm lemonade with ginger and mint in it, which may sound weird but it was delicious, and for dessert we had cheese wrapped in phyllo dough served with pistachio ice cream. I highly recommend all of it.

We took a walk in Olbrich Gardens, which is gearing up for GLEAM, their annual light sculpture show, so the Thai Pavilion was not accessible. We saw these silver globes in the Sunken Garden.

We saw three colors of hibiscus, but the pale pink one was too far away to take a photo.

In the gift shop we bought a stuffed toucan.

Then we took a second walk on Governor's Island, and then we came home. It was unseasonably cool today, like a day in autumn, and really good for walking outside.

As promised, here are some photos from Travalon's visit to Horicon Marsh. I may post more tomorrow, but this is a sampling. He saw two of the three white birds: egrets, pelicans, and swans.

As usual, the pelicans were with cormorants.

The swans had teenage offspring.

They also saw pie-billed grebes.

What is this egret looking at?

And there were lots of these sandpipers.

Some of them were hanging out with ducks.

Then they saw a beautiful sunset over the lake in Pardeeville.

I may post more photos from his trip tomorrow.

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