Afro-Cuban Jazz at the North Side Cabaret

 

Yesterday Travalon colored another picture at work.

This morning he watched the Wolverhampton match with Rodrigo, Wolfie, and Wendy.

The Wolves won 1-0, and Crystal Palace won 2-0, so it was a happy Premier League day for Travalon. Unfortunately, the Badger men lost in basketball, which is surprising because they were ahead by 17 points at halftime. They lost by 4 in overtime.

Once the Wolves game was over, we drove to Spring Green for my gig at the General Store. Richard Bonomo and the Dairyman's Daughter came to hear us, and so did a lot of friends of other bandmates. We had a good crowd and got $19 each in tips. I thought I did pretty well, and Travalon actually recorded a lot of our songs, so it sounded like I wasn't imagining it. I could hear myself, and the fiddles (the bass couldn't make it), but I couldn't hear the guitar, which makes sense because she was cutting out a lot. It was like halfway through the gig she just, as Hardingfele would say, "de-plushed." On some songs I usually play melody or harmony, but today I played chords even on songs I'd never done it on before, just to make sure we had chords going on. 

During the gig, Travalon went to a dive bar in Spring Green, and he saw this in the bathroom:

Who can explain people? It's like a video I saw yesterday of three people dressed as chickens playing the saxophone. Right now I cannot remember what song they were playing, but I found it hilarious. So random!

After the gig, Travalon and I went to Sauk to see eagles. We saw one flying around, and a bunch of ducks that I think were goldeneyes. He took photos, but it got too late - I'll get them off his camera tomorrow. Then we took a short walk at Indian Lake County Park, and when we got home the sun was starting to set, so we went to watch it. The temperature was dropping, so Travalon went inside, but I stubbornly waited to see if the sunset would get more glorious. It did, but behind the trees, so we should have watched it from Warner Beach. However, I was rewarded for my patience because I saw a bald eagle fly over our dock and land in a tree across the river from us.

We relaxed at home for a little bit and ate at home, then we went to the North Side Cabaret to see an Afro-Cuban Jazz concert. It was the bass player's doctoral performance, and he was joined by a trombone, an alto sax, a tenor sax, a trumpet, a guitarist, a drummer, and now and then a cellist. To my surprise, I saw another cello player in the audience, one of the performers in a local early music group. Travalon and I got there just before the band started playing, so we had nowhere to sit and had to stand through the first half, but that's okay because I danced a little, and then it didn't feel like just standing there. Some kind people let us sit on their seats during the intermission, and then we were back to standing for the second half. The band did a couple of weirder, modern jazz pieces in the second half, and I didn't feel the beat so I just stood there and started to get tired of standing... and then they went back to the more salsa-flavored songs, and I was dancing again and thought, "I could do this all night!" It was a fantastic show, and Travalon enjoyed it too.

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Bachata Lesson at the Monona Terrace

 

This morning when I got on the shuttle to work, my shuttle buddy that I usually talk to wasn't there. I wondered if she took an earlier one to avoid me because she is sick of talking to me, but then I thought maybe she was sick or something. Everyone else is lately. We pass this artsy van every time I ride the shuttle, and this time we stopped where I had a perfect view of it... but by the time I pulled my phone out, the shuttle had started moving again so the photo isn't that great.

At lunch I walked with my colleague, and we must have walked really vigorously because I got a lot of active time and already had my steps for the day even before we charged up Bascom Hill. I am a little concerned for her, because she is going to China to visit family, and will they even let her back in the country? She's been a citizen for years, and her kids were born here, but I'm imagining the customs people stopping everyone but her white daughter-in-law. Everyone says no chance that would happen, and I hope they're right. 

I took the 4:40 shuttle back to my car (I usually catch the 5:00 or 5:20 shuttle), and my shuttle buddy got on at a later stop, so then I wondered if she did in fact take an earlier shuttle to avoid me. She waved warmly but didn't sit by me. I took the early shuttle in order to get to the Monona Terrace in time for a bachata lesson. This is a type of Latin dance that is very beautiful to watch, at least if it is being done by girls in their twenties wearing cute, flirty skirts and high heels while dancing with slender guys in white shirts and black pants. However, I have always found the music for bachata kind of boring compared to other Latin music. It comes from the Dominican Republic, and that is about as much as I know about it. The invitation said you didn't need a partner, and that was true - this was like a big Zumba class, and only a few people had come with someone they knew. Most of us were alone, and the younger people ignored me, but the postmenopausal ladies were very friendly and welcoming to me. A Peruvian guy taught the class, and I didn't need any exercise after my vigorous lunchtime walk, but I got it anyway. The class was so much fun; apparently they have these once a month, and next month is Irish dancing. They're totally free. I believe I know what I'll be doing the Thursday before St. Patrick's Day! Travalon didn't go tonight because he was at a girl's basketball game, and I don't imagine he'll go in March either. Dancing isn't really his thing.

My FitBit is going to have a cow - it has been telling me for over a week that I am not training hard enough, because I should be getting a cardio load of 60-75 (again, no idea what the units are), but I've been getting 30 lately. However, today I had three and a half hours of active time and a cardio load of like 112, so now it's going to yell at me that I am over-training. There is no pleasing that thing.

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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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Latin Band on the Monona Terrace Rooftop

 

Yesterday I worked on campus, and I brought my new "Woke" mug:

I'm not ashamed to be woke. Know who else was, according to evangelicals? Jesus! Apparently a lot of pastors have gotten pushback from people in the congregation who think they're preaching too woke an agenda with this "Turn the other cheek," "Blessed are the meek" stuff. Worse, when the pastors point out that these are the actual words of Christ, the people complaining say, "That stuff's not relevant anymore!" And these are the "Christian" Taliban who want to take over this country - they aren't even Christian anymore! So what exactly will they be imposing on us? The mind boggles... or shudders.

Yesterday I was planning to go to Ladies' Night at Klein's Greenhouse with Jilly Moose and OK Cap, but the traffic was terrible, and then there was a train. I thought the event ended at 6:30 and I'd get there just as it was ending, but Jilly Moose said it went until 7:00. However, the wind really picked up, and the sky darkened, so I just wanted to get home... and then I just sat and didn't move for like an hour. I was so tired! I also forgot about the extremely slow Irish jam last night. Oops!

Today I worked from home, then my monthly meeting was canceled, so after Travalon came home, we went to the Monona Terrace to hear a Latin band. We ate at the rooftop cafe, then we took the chairs they had given us when we checked in, and we found a shady place to sit. There was a salsa dancing lesson beforehand, but we just watched. However, once the band started to play, Travalon did want to dance to a couple of songs. There were all ages and colors of people there, and some very colorful ones.

To our surprise, our downstairs neighbor was there with a bunch of other people. At one point they were comparing their feet. I always seem to run into someone I know on the Monona Terrace rooftop. And why not? It's such a beautiful venue. Here are a couple of pictures of pink clouds in either direction around sunset.

It has been many years that I have been dancing to salsa on the Monona Terrace rooftop, but it never gets old. I remember fondly going with A-Fooze back when I was something closer to young and sexy, because she loved salsa dancing as much as I do, if not more. Travalon doesn't love it, but he'll tolerate it, especially on a gorgeous night like tonight. The weather was perfect. I hope we can dance there for many more years to come.

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Friday at Cafe Coda and Saturday in the Marshes

 

Thursday I worked on campus, and yesterday I worked from home; both days I went out on my breaks and smelled the wonderful blooming trees, mostly crabapples and lilacs, but there is a magnolia in our neighborhood with its own distinctive scent. Friday night I used the money they had paid me for the study on Wednesday (they paid in cash) for the cover charge to get into Cafe Coda to see Grupo Candela, a local salsa band. There was a short dance lesson beforehand, covering basic steps: salsa, merengue, bachata, and cha-cha. Then the group came on and played for a couple of hours. I loved the music, and also the decor at Cafe Coda. Here are some photos.

This morning we cleaned for about half an hour, then we were going to go to Black Earth to get me some new sandals, but it was overcast and I thought possibly an ideal day for birdwatching at Horicon Marsh. We started at the boardwalk, as usual, and we saw some lovely flowers there, some sort of currants and trilliums and yellow violets, among other things.

Some years the trilliums are more pink, but this year they are pure white. A google search seems to indicate this has to do with the age of the flowers; we saw them newly opened this year, but as they age, they become pinker. We also saw birds along the boardwalk, mostly barn swallows, tree swallows, and of course the ubiquitous red-winged blackbirds.

We are not allowed to go on the trail where we see the yellow-headed blackbirds until June, and then only through August. We continued along the drive and saw an egret and some baby geese.

We saw a pair of gadwalls, two red-headed ducks, and a lot of pelicans who were cooperatively fishing.

We stopped by the center with the pagoda-like part, where we have often seen a whooping crane hanging out. No sign of him today, but they told us his name is Grasshopper, because while he is living as a wild crane now, he was born and bred at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo. Apparently he has hooked up with a sandhill crane, so the ICF will probably seize any offspring they have, like they did years ago when this happened with another mixed pair who had a "whoophill" baby that survived to adulthood. I thought they didn't want to interfere in nature, except apparently sometimes they do.

As usual, we had lunch at the Subway in Mayville, then for the first time we went to their resale shop. No rosaries; I only saw one thing that intrigued me, but we didn't get it. It was a pot of four fake flowers, and it had a button on the side, so I pressed it. It played Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" as the flowers spun. It made me think of Travalon's mom, because she loved that song, so I almost got it for that reason. If it's still there the next time we go there, maybe I'll get it.

We went to Theresa Marsh, where we didn't see much but some coots.

There were some killdeer loudly crying as they flew around.

We heard a lot of thunder in the distance, and it started to sprinkle, so we decided to return to the car. On the way back to Mayville we hit some heavy rain, but it cleared up by the time we got back to the area where we often see the white-headed goose. Someone posted a photo of him this spring on the birdwatching page, asking, "What kind of goose is this??" so he is clearly still alive, but we didn't see him today. We did see more baby geese.

We did see several cormorants fly by and land in the water. They were pretty far from us, but Travalon did get photos.

We came back home and debated about going to a dance at Folklore Village, but we were both tired and rested a bit before heading to the health club to swim. Only... they close earlier than their posted hours on Saturday. What?? If there was ever a night you'd expect them to be open late, it would be Saturday. We got there four minutes before they closed, thinking we had a whole hour to swim and shower. I got very grumpy, not just about that but about how life in general is skewed toward the morning people, and how people used to complain about having a 9-5 job but I've NEVER had the luxury of starting as late as 9, so things are just getting worse and worse for us non-morning types. Recently I saw a social media video of a British guy saying he learned that kids in the US start school at 7:30 am when they don't start in the UK until 9 am. Why does this country think early mornings are so virtuous?? Witness the constant attempts to make Daylight Saving Time the yearlong reality as it creeps ever earlier in the spring and later in the fall. When I was young, it started in April and ended in October, but this year it started earlier than ever in March, and it's not going to end until late November. People wonder why we have so many issues in this country, and there may be a very simple answer: constant sleep deprivation! I remember in Ireland when we toured a farm, and they were horrified that farmers in the US wake up at like four - they said, "We get up at seven! Why would they need to get up that early?" A valid question indeed.

So I was grumpy, and I still needed active minutes, but the bass line in "Hurt You So" by Jonny L always makes everything right. I ran around the house for about a quarter hour, and now I feel so much happier. But will I be able to sleep after all that vigorous exercise? We'll see...

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Latin Music in the Conservatory

 

Sorry that I didn't blog yesterday. It was a very unremarkable day except for being Leap Day. Last Leap Day, we were at the International Festival, but this one was a work day, so I worked. Today I worked from home, and that was all travel arrangements, one of my least favorite tasks. At least the weather was a little warmer when I took my walks.

In the evening Tiffy went to dinner with a friend, so we didn't talk. I was going to go to a free concert at the Lutheran church where I used to sing, but then I heard there would be a Latin music concert at Olbrich. I thought it would be in the meeting room where they often have live music, but it was actually in the conservatory itself. Look how pretty it is on the outside!

And this is what it's like being inside.

This almost looks like a grinning face.

At first I sat on a bench, and I was reluctant to get up, since I had brought my big purse. Eventually the bench got too uncomfortable, so I got up and found a spot overlooking the band where I could stash my purse next to a wall. I danced and danced, and my FitBit called it a workout, but it said it was a "brisk walk." Guess my moves aren't that smooth... It was very warm in there, so I was glad I'd dressed in layers. When I got too tired and thirsty, I took a walk around the conservatory and found a bartender in a back corner. I got a grapefruit soda and sat on another bench, watching in surprise as the leaves on a lot of the plants seemed to be dancing along with the music. Was there a breeze in there?

It's always the right time for some DuoLingo bragging!

When Travalon and I went to the bakery in Sauk on Wednesday, they had one of those codes you scan and it takes you to a website, labeled, "This will brighten your day." I scanned it with some trepidation, since they are very, very, very far Right (but still make amazing shortbread), and just as I'd suspected, it took me to the video for some country song about how everyone is offended. The singer felt they should have a beer and have it out, and while I'm in favor of people with different views having a discussion over a beer, I don't think they should have a fight. The video was very un-PC, and it made me wonder if this guy would then not be sensitive if someone made fun of him as a straight, white, Christian male who clearly falls into the MAGA category. It continuously amuses me how people who say everyone else is a sensitive snowflake suddenly turn into one themselves when they are insulted. It's like they want the right to insult everyone else, but how dare anyone insult them? And the comments on this video! One actually said, "I'm a racist, and there's nothing wrong with that," and a bunch of people had upvoted it. There was a lot of racist and sexist imagery in this video. I am wondering why we can't just NOT insult each other? Why are people longing for the days of being able to depict minorities as cartoon characters? Why do they find the need to mock women? But I guess if we're mocking everyone, can we mock this country music singer? Or is that somehow not okay?

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