Dairyman's Daughter's Birthday Party and Croatian Picnic

 

Yesterday I worked from home and had a lot of trouble walking. It seems like I hurt my foot during our drumming performance, but it's getting worse, not better. Dr. Google seemed to think it's plantar fasciitis. The heat was a little less intense, but the air quality was still bad, so I limped around the house. When Travalon came home, we went to my building to take care of my plants (and some other plants), and then we went to Rich's house for a birthday party for the Dairyman's Daughter. Her birthday was actually the Friday before, but everyone is so busy that this is when it happened, and it had to happen at six because some people had to leave for a program at seven, and I left to talk to Tiffy at eight. The party mostly consisted of Night Prayer people like Jilly Moose, Luxuli, and Prairie Man, as well as Cecil Markovitch and Kayhu. We had Black Magic cake with cookies and cream ice cream, and I commented that it wasn't really allowed on the Mediterranean Diet. Cecil said no alcohol is allowed anymore, and I said, "The thing I read said a little red wine is allowed," but Kayhu said now they're saying ALL alcohol is bad for you in any amount. When I commented that these people in the Mediterranean area who are so healthy drink wine every day and smoke a hookah now and then, she said, "We all smoked seven hookahs yesterday."

This morning I slept really late and woke up with a sore throat and a voice so hoarse that Travalon had to keep asking me to repeat things. I wasn't sure I was up for the Croatian picnic in the Milwaukee area, and Tiffy had said their air quality was even worse, but I sucked it up and went. Travalon gets "over-Celtic'd" by all my activities, so it's only fair that I go to a Croatian event now and then. Tiffy met us there, since the air quality was actually okay today, and I did start to feel better after spending time outside. Maybe being in air conditioning for days was what made me feel lousy, not the smoke itself. Or did I catch a virus? But how, when I haven't seen people in days? We had some delicious food at the picnic and then watched some tamburitza performers and dancers, and Travalon was so, so happy. We had some traditional Croatian desserts and some popsicles (I don't think those are traditional), so I went well over my sugar limit for today and will regret it tomorrow when my knees are stiff. Everything was so tasty there, and there was plenty of shade. Tiffy and I enjoyed it too, but Travalon was just basking in his heritage. I wish there was a tamburitza group in Madison, not just for his sake, but because then I could join it and play that little instrument he gave me which I really think is a treble tamburitza.

Tonight Travalon went to hang out with high school buddies, and I was planning to go to the monthly Irish session at the Lakeside Coffee House, but riding back home in the car I started to feel stuffy and scratchy-throated again, so I stayed home. No point in making every Irish fiddler in town sick. Or was it the air conditioning in the car? I did take a walk in the neighborhood and saw a gorgeous sunset. This is from the nearby bridge that is now closed, and I couldn't believe how many people drove toward it and had to turn around and go back. Is there not a sign warning that the bridge is closed? Here are photos.

My black calla lily now has six blossoms! You can't see all of them in this photo, but I thought I'd give you another angle besides looking straight down at them.

Another guy on social media posted a video of a train here in town, so here are some screenshots of the graffiti on it:

I see the "amor" and "stank" ones a lot, almost as much as "puck," and maybe even more than my old favorite "4AL," which apparently stands for "for a laugh." Couldn't we all use a laugh right now?

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Trapped Inside

 

Today was a very strange day. I didn't leave the house at all, which my regular readers will know is highly unusual. The heat is slightly less problematic, but the air quality was terrible and just got worse all day. I could smell smoke in the house and decided I needed to close off our our three-season porch, so I brought Keith the Dracaena in and set it next to Greg the Other Kind of Dracaena. They are both sitting in front of our east-facing living room windows, which stretch up so high that they are about the only thing taller than Greg in our house. Just going onto the porch, which was itself closed off, made me cough, and my throat is still a bit sore. I only have half my steps for the day, and I'm still sore from Saturday's forced march during the heat, so it's hard to make myself get them. 

Travalon did leave the house, to go to work. One of the kids drew this picture - he's not even sure which one. It's so pretty.

I heard the train go by around six, so I checked the social media page where that guy always posts, and it was a short train with only one car that had graffiti, but it's bright, cheery graffiti.

I was talking to Seabird when Travalon texted that he has caught the sickness that is going around, which means I will probably catch it too. It also meant we are not going swimming tonight, or even to my office building to take care of my plants, but that's probably for the best with the terrible air quality. Poor guy, he went to bed right after coming home from work, but he just got up so maybe he is feeling a little better. What an entirely strange day this has been.

PS - I did go outside in my N95 mask to water my outdoor plants, Lazarus the Dracaena and the ponytail palm and the black calla lily. It was like a post-apocalyptic hellscape, all dark from the smoke with little pieces of ashes falling on me. It hasn't rained in days, so the plants needed water, but they actually look fine. The calla lily is so pretty that I'm sad I don't get to see it regularly, like I usually do when working from home and going on my walks. I hope they, and everything else outside, are okay. 

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Homegrown Cactus Fruit

 

Today I worked from home and felt a bit stir-crazy. My phone said it felt like 100 F out, and there was not only a heat advisory but an air quality warning as well due to the now annual wildfires in Canada. People always used to say up north you are stuck inside in the winter, but at least you can go out in the summer, unlike down south, where it's reversed. However, it's becoming so the only time you can be outdoors around here is May and October.

One kind of cool thing did happen today: I ate the fruit from my rick rack cactus. It was tart and delicious, light green and full of seeds like a kiwi fruit. (Longtime readers may remember that over twenty years ago I grew a tiny pineapple and ate that, so this isn't my first homegrown fruit.) I did manage to save a few seeds and have planted them, but I don't have high hopes. The cactus itself is kind of struggling now, and AI said it might have been getting too much light in the southern-facing window, so I have moved it to the plant room with eastern-facing windows and plant lights on the ceiling. I'm not sure how much I trust AI, after trying to find a song from sixteen years ago. The only thing I remembered about the singer was that he was a big fan of Michael Jackson and that he was a Virgo, so I put those two facts into AI and got a lot of garbage results of famous singers (this guy is kind of obscure) who I know are, say, a Taurus or a Libra. Regardless of what you think of astrology, it is just a fact that someone either is or isn't a particular sign, so if AI can't get that right, how can I trust it with plant questions? Am I overwatering or underwatering? Giving it too much or too little light? Does it need more room in the pot or should it be rootbound? Now I don't know if I can trust AI with any questions about plant care. My poor Norfolk pine is slowly dying, and I have no idea what to do. I feel so bad.

In case you haven't had enough of train graffiti, here are some screen shots from the videos that guy always posts on social media of the train that goes through our neighborhood. These are older ones I forgot to post before. How did I miss this one?

Lots of "Puck" in that bunch. Here are the photos from the train I saw yesterday. Alas, the awesome graffiti I saw was on the other side of the train, but there's plenty of good stuff from this side.

These may be in reverse order, but does it really matter? They're beautiful in any order.

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God the Punster

Today was my usual Tuesday: work from home, go to Adoration, lead Night Prayer. I felt like I should leave for Adoration a bit early, and then I saw a train. It had some beautiful graffiti, but it was too quick and I didn't get to take a photo of it. I saw the arms coming down and thought it was coming from the north, so I pulled into a parking lot to take photos, but it was coming from the south and was almost past by the time I got parked. Still, I feel like God sends me trains to say I'm doing the right thing, and as I was writing in my prayer journal, it occurred to me that He sends me trains to say I'm... on the right track. God is a punster! Who knew?

Speaking of trains, here are screenshots from the five-minute video Travalon took in Duplainville on Friday. 

Here are some non-train photos. First, sunset photos Travalon took by our tennis court on Friday.

Now my black calla lily has four blossoms!

You learn something new every day. For example, today at work Travalon learned that Grover from Sesame Street is Jewish. Who knew? I sure didn't, but now I do.

Also at work, Travalon made a Loch Ness monster out of wire, pipe cleaner, and Play-Doh.

It's a 3-D blog monster! I have no idea where this monster is now; he didn't bring it home.

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