Liberated Eagle and World War I Documentary

I hope my readers had a good weekend. Ours started off with a lot of snow, so Friday night we just walked to Mariner’s for fish, then we had a quiet evening at home. Saturday morning we didn’t have to leave the house until 10:30, and they still hadn’t plowed our driveway or shoveled our sidewalk. Fortunately Travalon has four-wheel drive, but we wondered why we pay condo fees if we are just going to have to do those things ourselves. We went to a memorial service for OK Cap’s father, and Jilly Moose, Kathbert, and Richard Bonomo were there as well. Then Travalon and I drove to Sauk in time to see a rehabilitated eagle get blessed by a member of the Menomonee tribe and then released back into the wild. I didn’t have the clearest view to make a video of any of this, but I was able to see the majestic eagle soaring into the sky. We saw lots of other eagles too, many of them standing on the frozen part of the river by the dam. Travalon wanted to see Three Dog Night, and he found a reasonable ticket, so I went over to Rich’s house to blat with him and Kathbert. I’m just not enough of a Three Dog Night fan to attend their concert.

Sunday Travalon and I went to Crema Café after brunch, then we did the perfect thing for a frigid yet sunny day: we went to the conservatory at Olbrich Gardens. I loved seeing all the cycads and ferns; for some reason the Mesozoic Garden on campus has really got me excited about ancient plants. And who is the biggest beneficiary of this newfound interest? That would be the huge, half-dead Boston fern I rescued from church years ago that has never died but never exactly recovered, either. Now that I’m all excited about it being a fern, I’ve started misting it, and lo and behold it is getting some new fronds. I guess it just needed a little TLC. Travalon and I watched the disappointing Saints game – I kind of feel like their loss isn’t legitimate, considering that non-call of pass interference probably cost them the game. We met some people for dinner at Lombardino’s, then we visited the married B-Boy and Mo-Girl and their adorable daughter. Travalon had a gift for a girl from his job (I guess they had some extras), and it was all sorts of wonderful toys and socks and hairbands. We enjoyed seeing the Super Blood Wolf Moon and tried photographing it with limited success, but it was too cold out to make a ton of effort.

Yesterday both Travalon and I had the day off for the Martin Luther King holiday. We went to Fired Up and made a tile of a red panda, then we went to the annual commemoration up at the Capitol, with gospel singers and speakers and three little kids reciting the “I Have a Dream” speech from memory. We went out to Sauk again and saw many eagles, including one flying parallel to our car. In the evening we went to a movie called They Never Grew Old, which was actual footage of World War I juxtaposed with recordings of veterans recalling the war. There was one snippet of a terrified-looking teen about to go on an offensive, and I just wanted to hug him and tell him it would be okay, but it probably wasn’t – the casualties in this offensive were horrific, so odds were he was killed or injured. I highly recommend this movie, and the short documentary after the credits about the making of it that almost everyone in the theater stayed for. This was British soldiers talking about the Western front, and they said the Bavarians were really nice, family-loving people and they hated killing them. Interestingly, that genetic test I took several years ago sent me a message today that they had updated my results, so I could see that I have ancestors from Bavaria. Also Nigeria, and they said they are working on that one to find out which tribe. I’d love to know if I am part Igbo, Hausa, or Yoruba. I still remain, however, mostly English and Irish, so I will never achieve a tan.

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The Second-Happiest Person in the World

At my birthday party I told a story from when I was young and working in the private sector: one of my coworkers had a book with hypothetical questions in it, and several of us were answering them. One was if you compared yourself to 99 other people your age, where would you rank in happiness? I immediately said the second happiest, since there could always be someone happier than I was, and my coworkers all scoffed at me: “YOU? You don’t have such a great life!” I countered that the book only said these other 99 people were my age, not where they lived, and I lived in a country with freedom and peace and plenty. Maybe they lived somewhere with war and famine and suppression. We were all in our mid-twenties, and they said, “Oh… I hadn’t thought of that.” So after I told this story, everyone at my birthday party kept joking about how I am the second happiest person in the world. Now it may even be true – I am much happier than when the original story took place. Even little things make me happy, like that every day on the bus I pass a street called Castle Place, where there used to be an actual castle, and then further down the route I pass a house constructed from the actual remnants of that castle. So you can imagine how happy big things make me, like having a fantastic husband like Travalon! And all my wonderful friends. I think I really am the second-happiest person in the world!

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Feeling Awed

I really like a song called “Wet Dreams” by J. Cole, about two teenagers having sex for the first time. I suppose one could listen to it and be offended that it is about sex outside of marriage, but what I do like about it is that it somehow captures the wonder of being initiated into this sacred act. Because while sex is a basic urge like eating and sleeping, it is also one of the most sacred things in the world because it can lead to the creation of new life, and somehow this song treats it with the awe it deserves. While I (sadly) will never get to participate in the creation of new life, I find there are many other occasions for awe in this world, and really, that to me is what separates people: those who are capable of feeling awe, and those who aren’t. Awe is the acknowledgement that there is something greater than you are, and it’s amazing how many hip hop songs can inspire that feeling; another example is “Tennessee,” by Arrested Development. When I am overcome by awe, I literally start crying, which is sort of embarrassing when it’s in the middle of Mass and I’m thinking about how grateful I am to God, but I’d rather be a person who could be moved by awe than one who can’t feel it. That would be worse than never experiencing joy! Really, for me they are the same thing because I am so happy that an infinite, perfect being exists who loves me.

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Sumo Hibachi Grill

I hope that my readers had a good weekend. I had a very quiet one, since I am still recovering from being sick. Friday evening Travalon went to the Badger basketball game while I sat at home and did word game puzzles while listening to the music on my phone. If you are wondering what that is, there is a lot of hip hop, old R&B, and 80’s sophisti-pop, which I didn’t even realize was a genre until a couple of months ago. It was the British stuff that had a jazzy sound to it, like “Diggin’ Your Scene” by the Blow Monkeys.

Saturday Travalon and I went to my favorite plant store, and I had so much credit that I was able to get a free discount fern and most of a cactus. The fern was 1/3 its original price because it had gotten a little dry and was a bit raggedy. Still, it is very cool – I have never seen anything like it. It looks a little like seaweed. I will try to post a picture soon. I have been on this kick about loving ancient plants, like the ones in the Mesozoic garden, so ferns and cycads are my particular obsession at the moment. Then Travalon went to visit his old high school buddy while I sat at home, doing word game puzzles and listening to music on my phone. I did talk to Rich a little both evenings, so thanks for that, Rich!

Yesterday we overslept and went to a later Mass, then we went out to Sauk and saw several eagles. We went to the Blue Spoon Diner for a late lunch, and they had closed off parts of the restaurant, but the main part was full so we had to beg them to let us use the upstairs. Then my water glass was dirty, and the waitress brought me a new clean glass but for some reason did not think to fill it with water, even though she passed right by the fountain and I would have to go back downstairs to fill it. That is the only time we have had weird service there, so unless it happens again, we’ll call it a bad day there and let it go. Then I hurriedly finished my MOOC (massive open online course) Irish 107 while watching the Saints (as my longtime readers know, my second favorite team) come from two touchdowns behind to beat the Eagles in a playoff game. For some reason the restaurant Sumo had sent me a gift certificate for $20 for my birthday (how they knew, I’m a little frightened to know!), so we went there for dinner and sat at the hibachi grill. The chef was so entertaining! And the food was delicious. Highly recommended!

I just have to give Travalon a shout-out for being such a kind husband while I have been sick. Thank you, my love!

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My Birthday Party 2019

Sorry for the long silence, but I have been sick with a cold that turned into a sinus infection. Now I am starting to feel human again. I never blogged about my weekend, so here goes: Tiffy came up on Saturday and took me to lunch at a Mideastern restaurant, then we walked down to the Union to enjoy the beautiful weather. In the evening Rich hosted a birthday party for me, and among the people there were Kathbert, Jilly Moose, OK Cap, Hockey Girl, the Single B-Boy, Cali, El Vegetariano, and of course Rich, Tiffy, and Travalon, as well as the woman whose consecration to perpetual virginity I attended back in February of 2017. It was a lovely party, and Jilly Moose and OK Cap gave me a Christmas cactus, and they gave both Travalon and me a book of 50 hikes in our state. Do they know us or what? Cali gave me really good chocolate, and the woman who doesn’t have a name on this blog gave me an absolutely gorgeous book of Irish folktales. That’s the upside of being predictable: people tend to get you presents you actually like. Years ago someone once told me I was the least mysterious person he had ever met, and at the time I took it as an insult, but now I wear the badge proudly. Who needs mystery? With me, you know what you are going to get.

Sunday after Mass, Rich, Tiffy, Travalon, and I went to brunch at the Crema Café, then we drove out to Sauk to eagle watch. We didn’t see any eagles sitting in the trees, but we did see a few flying overhead. In the evening, and all the evenings since then, Travalon and I have been watching the baseball documentary I got him for Christmas, which is excellent. If you really want to feel like you’re in the Twenties, watch the Fourth Inning. We also have been walking around the house to music, because his job does not require as much walking as his previous one did, so he needs to get more steps somehow. One song we like to walk to a lot is “Manga Dog” by Peter Tosh. The chorus goes: “Feel sorry for manga dog, him gone turn round bite you.” I think we can all relate! Who hasn’t been bitten by a "manga dog" at one time?

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Five Eagle Birthday

Welcome to 2019! I hope my readers had a good New Year. Travalon and I ventured out to the restaurant 400 feet away on New Year’s Eve, and they said they had some cancellations and could fit us in at 8:45. It was still quite packed there, and I’m sure not everyone walked there. New Year’s Day we went to Mass, then my OTHER choir director (who is no longer a choir director because he is retired) had a party at his new place. Since it is at the old Holy Name seminary, and there is an organ in the chapel, he led us in a hymn sing. The party continued after that, but we had to leave for my usual Tuesday evening adoration hour.

Yesterday I took my birthday off of work, and in the morning while Travalon had to work, I had a relaxing time listening to music and doing word game puzzles. We drove to Spring Green so I could have my free lunch at the general store, and I also got free coffee at a coffee shop in town and a discounted book at the local bookstore. Then we drove to Sauk and saw five eagles (one was flying over the road on the way to Spring Green). We took a walk along the riverside path, since it was such a gorgeous day for early January, and then we stopped into the Blue Spoon Diner, where I got a free scoop of gelato. We ended the day at Mariner’s, where I got a free dessert, but I let Travalon have most of it. It was chocolate decadence cake. Travalon actually gave me my present the night before: two blooming bromeliads. One is large with a golden bloom, and the other one is much smaller with a scarlet bloom. I will post photos soon.

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Skyway Adventures

Happy New Year's Eve! Usually Travalon and I go to visit his friends in Waupun for the holiday, but the weather is too lousy, so we are holed up at home and I am blogging. We did have a good weekend. Friday we drove up to Minneapolis and walked for miles and miles through the skyway system, ending with dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery. We stayed at a hotel on the university campus, then Saturday we went to St. Paul and took a tour of the Minnesota State Capitol. We went to the Como Park Conservatory again - for me, since I am geeking out on plants so much lately. They have a whole section there of just ferns! It's like what you would have seen back in the days of the dinosaurs. Travalon could not escape the gift shop without a new stuffed animal - in this case, a gazelle he named Gabrielle. He also bought me a little squishy giraffe. We went to Surly Brewery for lunch and delicious beers, and we had a very cool bartender named Justin, so I decided to call the little squishy giraffe Justin the Giraffe. Then we explored the skyway system in St. Paul, which is not as extensive as the Minneapolis one, but worth checking out if only for the old Union Depot. We got home pretty late and worn out from two days of walking about six miles.

Yesterday Travalon was having phone troubles, so he went to the phone store and they fixed it while I sat at home watching the first half of that atrocious Packers game. How could they lose 31-0 at Lambeau to the LIONS??? They are one of the worst teams in the league! Well, apparently so are the Packers. But I still love them because I don't know, I am a masochist or something. The one thing I'd been hoping for, that my favorite player Davante Adams would break the record for most receptions in a season, didn't happen because he was injured. So was Jones, and Rodgers got a concussion early in the game and had to leave. Argh! We taped the second half and went to Sauk to watch eagles and hike, and OK Cap joined us. The three of us went to Wollersheim, and we bought her a drink for her birthday, then we all met Jilly Moose at Oliva for dinner. Jilly Moose had to leave, and then Cali came, so we all invaded Rich's house and chatted with him and Kathbert. He made us all delicious hot cocoa from scratch, and I blathered to Kathbert about the wonder of tree ferns. They're trees! But they're ferns! How cool is that? However, I don't think I want one in my house. They must not be very easy plants to keep alive, since they are not a common sight at plant stores... and believe me, I know all the common sights at all the local plant stores!

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