I don't have much to say today. The weather has been bad all day, and we only went out to go to Mass and recycle the plastic, and we took a walk around five but it was very windy. It has been raining or snowing almost all day, and everything tonight and tomorrow morning has been canceled. I am assuming I will be allowed to work from home tomorrow; Travalon already knows he has the day off because his workplace is closed. I meant to clean and do useful stuff around the house, the stuff I always say I have no time for, but instead I did Wordle and New York Times crossword puzzles. I suck.
I remember years ago, living in my single gal condo, when there was a snowstorm on a Sunday morning and I sat on the couch, listening to the early music show our community radio station plays every Sunday morning. The bishop actually said on the radio that we were all excused from Mass, so I sat back to relax and enjoy the music... and then there was a knock at my door. A friend decided to "help" me by showing up in a four-wheel drive vehicle to get me to Mass, even though the bishop said I didn't have to go. This is even more annoying because this friend routinely refuses to help me when I genuinely need help. So I had to go, but I have never gotten over the fact that I was allowed to skip Mass that day and had to go anyway. It's just like when I worked at the hospital, and the university was closed so nobody had to work... except me, because I was considered an essential worker. Now that I am not considered an essential worker, we never get days off at the university. I always miss out on the chance to slack off. Sigh...
One kind of cool thing is that I found the Belleek castle tower on eBay, just like the one in the gift basket I didn't win at the raffle yesterday. Due to giving blood, I had two gift cards I could choose from a variety of places, one for $20 and one for $10, so I got them from eBay and then got the castle tower for about half price. It's kind of shocking that someone gave one away when they're going for so much online... It should come within the next week, so I'm very excited about that. I needed to use the gift certificates anyway, or they were going to expire. I've sort of given up acquiring things for Lent, but on Sundays I can buy stuff because for whatever reason they don't count as part of Lent.
Here is something to cheer us all up as winter refuses to release its icy grip on us: my aunt in Colorado had these hyacinths blooming in her yard, and it got bad there too, so she dug them up and brought them in. Aren't they beautiful?
Her house must smell amazing right now. I also got a sticker from DuoLingo.
Wow, 97% accuracy in Portuguese! Know why? Because it's 3% different from Spanish.
Yesterday I worked from home, then I met my Irish teacher Famie at the Green Owl, a vegetarian restaurant, for dinner. I had the most delicious butternut squash and sweet potato soup, plus a tofu wrap that I took half home, while she had the bowl I'd been pondering, with sesame peanut sauce. We talked a little to the lady next to us, who had ordered the same thing as I had. Then we walked to the Bur Oak to see Lilies of the Midwest and Slipjig. We were almost there when the arms came down across the railroad tracks, and we saw a train coming toward us. I made a video for Travalon.
The red-headed flute player was already waiting for us at the venue, and we sat at a table up at the front. The Lilies of the Midwest are a trad band playing jigs and reels, and they do some songs. Slipjig did songs too, and we happily sang along, then the flute player joined a session, but Famie and I were tired and went home. We all agreed this morning it was incredibly great craic. The craziest thing is that the woman who'd been sitting next to us at the restaurant was there too.
Today Travalon and I grabbed pizza in Lake Mills for lunch and stopped at the Pine Cone Restaurant to get pie for Pi Day, but when we saw the pistachio cheesecake, we got that instead. Then we went to what used to be the Irish Cultural Center in Milwaukee, which has been reopened as the St. Brigid Center. It's an old church, and on the main stage dance schools performed. We went upstairs and found a smaller hall with the flags of all the Celtic nations hanging from the ceiling.
We sat right near a stage that had been set up for two performers, and I turned to a young guy at another table and asked when the performers would start. He said he was the performer, and he'd be playing the tin whistle and the bagpipes. I said, "No, que hora?" and he replied in Spanish that it would be at 2:30, so in about six minutes. I apologized and said I couldn't remember how to say it in Irish, and then he spoke Irish to me! I was beginning to wonder if he could speak in every language known to mankind. Soon he got up and began playing with the bodhran player I thought he'd said was his student, but it was in Irish so I'm not 100% sure I got everything right. Here's a short video.
A couple a bit older than us, but not much, asked if they could sit with us, so we got to chatting with them. It turned out they were from Austin, Texas and hadn't known about the parade but happened upon it by chance because it went right below the window of their AirBnB downtown. They were visiting a church in Green Bay, which is what brought them to Wisconsin, and I said, "I know that church! St. Willibrord's! Vince Lombardi went there!" but they lost me when they said it wasn't a Catholic church. Why is a guy named O'Something going to a non-Catholic church? They knew about the post-parade party we were all at because someone at a coffee shop had handed them a brochure yesterday morning. Eventually they left, and a big group wanted our table, and the musicians finished playing, so Travalon and I went downstairs to what had been the main sanctuary of the church to watch Scottish dancers and then the same Irish dancing school that performed at the Madison Shamrock Club party last weekend. (This was the Milwaukee Shamrock Club party.) I wore my new Shamrock Club pullover to show we were from a sister club, but nobody commented on it.
Of course they had a raffle, for 67 different gift baskets, but we had gotten $20 each in cash and Travalon had immediately spent most of his on Irish potato chips, so he could only afford one raffle ticket. I thought that was hilarious, since he could have used a credit card to buy the potato chips. I bought a number of raffle tickets and then put them on different baskets instead of putting them all in one to increase my odds, since one would have a Belleek castle tower I loved, and another would have a green hat I loved, so I couldn't decide. Of course this meant I won nothing. I also bought two 50/50 raffle tickets, and they weren't making any moves to announce the winner after the regular raffle, so Travalon and I left, since they had promised you didn't have to be present to win that raffle. (For the gift basket raffle, you did have to be present.) In that case, I wrote my name and phone number on the tickets, but I have yet to receive a call, so my (lack of) luck during raffles seems to be holding.
We headed home and stopped at Mo's Irish Pub in Wauwatosa to try to have dinner, but they had a long wait. As we were driving by Delafield, I mentioned that Killarney Blarney were playing at Revere's, so Travalon said we could check out how busy it was. We got a parking spot nearby and then were told it would be a ten-minute wait for a table, so we went to the bar, and I had a delicious infused drink that tasted like orange soda. Travalon got a mint martini that was also delicious. To our surprise, the moment we got our drinks, Travalon got a message that our table was ready, which was even more surprising because the bartenders had helped us out right away despite how busy the place was. The wonderful service continued during dinner, when Travalon had a shepherd's pie that was amazing, and I had salmon and mashed potatoes with seasonal vegetables, which really was what we ate almost every day in Ireland. My drink didn't kick in until we were well down the road, but it did hit with a bang, and I'm still feeling it now. Hopefully this blog post makes sense...
Back home, I looked for a knee-length black skirt I used to have, to make a sort of outfit for the upcoming St. Andrews Society ceilidh, but I must have gotten rid of it, so I wore shorts instead.
Wouldn't this be a perfect outfit for playing miniature golf? Maybe even under blacklight?
Check it out - even the orange on the Shamrock Club design glows! And so do the beads a bit, and so does a T-shirt I remembered getting years ago and hadn't seen in forever.
It's from Rock Island State Park. Travalon and I went there back when we were doing that Wisconsin Taverns book tour. Also, yesterday I got a new DuoLingo sticker for finishing the March Challenge.
It's a good thing I got St. Patrick's Day celebrations in yesterday and today, because it sounds like the weather will be too bad tomorrow. They have already canceled the flag-raising at the Capitol and the parade, and I'm wondering if we will really have the Slow Irish Session followed by the Irish Songs singalong. I was looking forward to being excused from Mass, but now they say the bad weather won't start until later on Sunday. Our band practice was also canceled, but guess what? I wasn't planning to go anyway. Of course, if the weather is bad Sunday night into Monday, maybe I can work from home. There was an Irish band at the Harmony Bar tonight, the one we see monthly at Alt Brew, and Famie and the red-headed flute player were planning to go, but I didn't get back to town on time. That's okay, I've already had enough Hibernian celebration today.
Today I worked on campus, and at lunchtime Hardingfele and I went on a walk and then went to see the two new robots in the newest building on campus. They can converse with you, in a manner of speaking. We asked them all sorts of dumb questions (me: "what's your sign?" robot: "I don't have a zodiac sign, but I'd like to think I'd be a fun one like Gemini." Gemini? Shudder! AI really is evil!), and at one point it sounded like it said something in German, so I asked if it spoke French. It said no, and when I said, "But you speak German?" it asked if I remembered what it said in German. I said "Nein," but it asked what I was counting, so Hardingfele said, "Specific gravity." It asked if this were for physics or engineering, so she said, "For pee," and I translated, "For urine composition," but the robot politely ignored that. Then I asked if the robot could sing. It said no, unfortunately, but what would I have wanted it to sing? For some odd reason the first thing that popped into my head was "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple, but before I could say anything, Hardingfele hollered, "Smoke on the Water!" and I said, "No f--king way! That's what I was going to say!" The robot completely ignored my swear and cheerily said that great minds think alike, so I added, "And dirty minds think aloud." Hardingfele said, "We have to get back to work now!" and the robot said, "Have a good day!" I hope nobody is making a transcription of our conversation with the robot...
Then I got a bill for a routine appointment I'd had online, and insurance covered nothing. I called to find out if that was because it was an online appointment, but they told me I don't have insurance. I said then who am I paying all these premiums to? Hopefully we can get this all figured out - I sent them a copy of my insurance card.
We had a Union meeting at six, and I usually get home about fifteen minutes before that, so I figured I'd have some time to change into play clothes and get settled before the meeting. Of course today the shuttle was really late picking me up, so I was already late for the meeting by the time I got home. I hadn't eaten yet, so I muted myself and turned off my camera to have a bite to eat, and just after I finished eating, there was a knock at the door. I almost ignored it, but I did get up and open it, and it was our downstairs neighbor with a Red Tasseled Hat for me and one for Travalon!
Here I am wearing Travalon's hat. He said I look like Dumb Donald from Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.
Here he is for reference.
Travalon will not be wearing his at the protest, but I'll wear mine. Maybe I'll take that grad student's idea and switch between this hat, my plaid tam with the Red Tasseled Hat pin, and the Contrarian hat. Keep the baddies on their toes!
This is a craft form I know nothing about. I know a lot of people who crochet, including my current boss and the woman who works with Hardingfele and goes to our church. Good thing I don't know how to knit or crochet, or I'd probably have even more hats than I do now.
This morning when I got to my office, I found Niko safely snuggled against his nameless girlfriend after two nights of bliss together, under the shade of a sunflower.
It was a bad day weatherwise, at least in the morning. I wore my warmest hat and warmest coat, and I walked outside in the driving snow at ten. Seabird and I walked under the overhang on the third floor at lunch, and she told me the postcard from Puerto Rico had just arrived. That was the one I sent to the FART 5 gang; the one I sent to our gang on the 8th floor came in just a few days. As we waited for the elevator, our boss appeared, and she said she thought someone had sent the postcard to her old department and that's why it took so long to get there. No word on how long the postcard took to get to Ma and Pa Hat...
In the afternoon a grad student I often chat with stopped by, and we talked politics as usual. I said how I have the Contrarian hat I wore today that I had gotten for the upcoming protest, but I also have the plaid tam with the red tasseled hat pin, and when I posted a photo of that on social media, my neighbor said her friend is making me an actual red tasseled hat. I said now I have three hats to wear to the protest, and the grad student said I could just keep switching them so Dear Leader's minions can't figure out who I am. That is not a bad idea... They are all soft, so I could easily put them in my pockets.
Travalon got home from work earlier than usual, so he went out to the dock and took more photos. The light was getting dim by then, so a lot of them didn't really turn out, but here are a few that did, of northern shovelers and cranes.
I can tell the others are of the two mallard couples (including Tux Duck), common mergansers, and ring-necked ducks, and there may have been a hooded merganser. Travalon also made two videos, of a muskrat swimming and what I'd call "duck porn," two mallards doing a mating dance, engaging in the act, and then the male has the zoomies afterwards while the female beats her wings. Those both need to be edited, but I may post them at some point, so watch for that.
Today I worked from home, and there isn't much to say about that, but I do have a new comment about my plaid tam, from Cecil Markovitch: "It looks like the top of a jellyfish." Of course, he was saying that about the photo under blacklight, not from seeing me actually wearing it.
Travalon got more photos of birds from our dock today, Tux Duck and his mate, and a pair of hooded mergansers.
I love this photo so much:
Here are the hooded mergansers. The male has the black and white head.
I saw an eagle fly into a nearby tree while Travalon was taking photos, but then we couldn't find it for him to get a photo. I ran into a neighbor who said on University Bay someone had reported seeing twelve types of ducks. Wow! Let's see how many we have seen off our dock:
9. Ring-Necked Ducks (Travalon took photos of these today, but they weren't clear)
So if they have seen red-breasted mergansers, goldeneyes, red-headed ducks, and scaups, all of which we have seen in the area but not from our dock (that I can recall), that would get you to a baker's dozen. And of course there was that pintail duck we saw at Cherokee Marsh, and we have seen other ducks at Horicon Marsh and Whalen Grade, like widgeons and gadwalls. Travalon has photographed all of these kinds of ducks. I'm pretty sure we even got photos of green-winged teals at Nine Springs. There sure are a lot of ducks migrating through right now! I love it.
Early this morning I had to get up to powder my nose, and when I got back into bed, Travalon's stuffed rhino Rodrigo had moved over to my side of the bed, so I snuggled him. Then I dreamed that I took him to work and lost him. Here is a photo of Rodrigo for reference.
I went back to sleep and woke up seven minutes after my alarm should have gone off. I could see that it was set, but later I realized that it was set an hour later because Friday I worked from home. At least I won't have to reset it for tomorrow...
Somehow I got to work on time, and at a quarter to noon two coworkers and I went down to get the pizza that was delivered for the grad student lunch. They were welcoming the candidates who are considering coming here for grad school. Then Hardingfele and I walked outside, since it was so beautiful out, and when we got back, we had leftover pizza. Then I had a very long meeting in the afternoon for the Academic Staff Assembly, not nearly as interesting as the University Staff Congress meetings. Maybe I just need to get to know people, because at first the Congress meetings were just a way to get out of work, but by the end I was really into it and knew a lot of people and sat on a lot of committees. It's a bummer to have to start all over again. Then when I got home, I realized Niko was still at work, snuggling against his girlfriend. She doesn't have a name that I can remember.
I was sure there is a picture of the two of them together, but I can't find it now. I've actually had her longer; she came into our house in February of 2022, while Niko arrived in June 2023. I brought her to work right away, and so Niko comes with me to work to see her. Now they get to spend the night together - ooh! Scandalous! It will actually be two nights, since I work from home tomorrow.
This morning I got another DuoLingo sticker:
Roddy is unimpressed.
Travalon took some photos off our dock this morning. Tux Duck is back!
The swans who were hiding yesterday were back today.
The flicker is still around.
This isn't the clearest shot, but I think the duck in front of all these common mergansers is a pintail.
Travalon found a spot with lots of scaups and ringed-neck ducks. They look almost identical, except that the ringed-neck ducks have designs on their bills.
This isn't the clearest photo, but their mating dances are so ridiculous that they're delightful.
Everything is migrating through right now. Soon we'll have to go to Patrick Marsh and Shoveler's Sink to see if we can find red-breasted mergansers, since there don't seem to be any (yet) at Cherokee Marsh. Once the ice has melted off the lake, the loons will migrate through. I don't know how long we have the swans with us, but we'll enjoy them while we've got them!
I am a third-hand gift, a straw hat with a wide brim. I used to have natural and navy stripes, but after much time in the sun, the navy ones have faded to a sort of chocolatey tone. The big blue flower around the brim was my wearer's own touch.
