Tax Day with Tux Duck

 

Guess what? I found the small Belleek Castle! It's a replica of Blarney Castle.

It's also a Christmas tree ornament and a bell. As far as I know, the vase that is a castle tower is not based on any real castle. Here they are together; don't ask why they are leaning away from each other like they can't stand one another, because I don't know.

I got another sticker from DuoLingo:

"O meu nome e Chapeu Famoso." Back in college, I had a Portuguese TA who had us do a unit on travel where for some reason we learned the word for "hijack," and another unit on signs of the zodiac. It has always been a great comfort to me that I can still vaguely remember how to say in Portuguese, "Hello, my name is Famous Hat, I am a Capricorn, and I am hijacking this airplane." You just never know when that might come in handy.

Travalon suggested today's blog post title. We had our taxes done this morning, and our accountant is so cool that I wish I could hang out with her more often than just 45 minutes once a year. Then we stopped to get some bubble tea at Dreamy Teazy. They have a cool setup that seems to be for taking photos.

It's probably supposed to be for the couple, but Travalon took the photo because at the moment there was nobody else there to do it. Then I went back to work at home until lunchtime, when we took a walk down to the dock. It was so beautiful outside. For some reason I found it very moving to see large flocks of waterfowl flying north, maybe to Horicon Marsh. Spring is finally here! Travalon took some photos of our old friend Tux Duck (he has been hanging around our dock for years) and some other birds.

These are sandhill cranes, just like the first bird picture above.

There were northern shovelers in the distance.

Here is Tux Duck coming toward us.

And this is a mourning dove on the roof.

The couple we were sitting with at the Elks Club on Tuesday were telling us about a talk they went to on the strange ways animals die, and the one that shocked them most was a bald eagle that attacked a loon, and the loon pierced its chest with its sharp bill. I was not surprised; I said, "There's a lot of bird-on-bird violence. Keep in mind that they're just modern dinosaurs." Sometimes it does feel like birds live in their own world where they fight with other birds and eat other birds and really only interact with other birds, but then I remember the mink stealing an egg from the goose's nest last year, and I realize they do have to put up with us mammals quite a bit. When I went for a walk in the afternoon, the pair of cranes who always hang around our neighborhood were walking down the street, and we cautiously gave each other a wide berth. I have never had any issues with them, but I'm respectful. People have told me the cranes chased them back into their house, but what did they do to get that kind of response? It makes you wonder.

I get done with work at 5:00, and at 4:59 I heard the train coming so I logged out less than a minute early and hurried to the spot where I could see it, and it was just coming into view. If God is still speaking to me in Train, maybe He was saying that it was good we chose to stay home tonight. We were invited to a fish fry down in Verona, but Travalon wanted to watch March Madness games, and I wanted to talk to Tiffy, so we turned down the invitation. I felt slightly antisocial for doing so, but because we did, I saw the train. It does seem like lately whenever I make a decision and then wonder if it's the right one, I see a train because I'm in the right place at the right time. Of course, last night there were so many other things going on besides the ukulele strum - the Brazilian band was playing, an antiwar group was having a meeting, there was a Quebecois jam, and there was a free concert on campus of Israeli pop music - and while there are train tracks running by the Lone Girl, I never saw a train. So did I make the wrong choice? Or am I just putting too much importance on seeing a train?

Famous Hat

Belleek Castle Tower

 

Today I worked on campus, and at lunch I walked with Hardingfele. We didn't have any adventures today like the conversation with the robots, but after our walk she came to my office and we tried to figure out something about the new system without success. It was my coworker's birthday, so I sang him "Happy Birthday" in Basque, which is "Zorionak." Then I got an email that my Belleek castle was delivered, but I wasn't going straight home.

I drove to the Lone Girl for the monthly ukulele strum, and people were especially friendly this time. Maybe they are finally beginning to recognize me. One woman seemed particularly familiar, and then I realized she goes to Moldy Jam, but I never got a chance to ask her if she went Monday night. A family came who had lost their patriarch, father to some and grandpa to some, and they said afterwards that hearing us sing and play such cheerful songs really lifted their mood. So we played an extra song for them that hadn't been on the playlist, "Brand New Star," and they really appreciated that. Travalon didn't join me afterwards since he was watching the high school basketball tournament, so I didn't eat dinner there. I headed home to admire my new castle tower vase.

I'd been a bit sad not to win this in the raffle on Sunday, but then I realized it was a good use of the gift certificates that were going to expire soon. I'd been saving them to maybe buy another hat, but do I need another hat? Today I wore my red tasseled hat, and nobody has said they like it, but it's a snuggly hat that feels like a hug, and it was made just for me. I also still love the plaid tam, which feels like it found its way to me, the way it was listed completely wrong ("argyle beret") so I happened to see it on eBay, and the secret that some of it glows under blacklight. And then another thing is that we have a Christmas ornament of a smaller castle tower we got when visiting the Belleek factory twelve years ago, but I'm not sure what happened to it. If I find it, I'll take a photo.

Famous Hat

Zoom Oops

 

Today was sort of a meh day. I worked on campus and talked to Seabird a bit, but we didn't walk together at lunch because there was the monthly early music concert at the Lutheran church where I used to sing. This church just acquired a new organ, so there are pipes and things piled all over, meaning we all had to sit on one side. The concert was kind of meh, with a piece by Dietrich Becker, a piece by Dietrich Buxtehude that was far from his best, and a piece by Samuel Capricornus. I was kind of dozing off during the Buxtehude and kept thinking there was a secret code in the notes. I wondered if Capricornus was named Bock, because back then they liked to take their German last names and replace them with the Latin word (like Handl/Gallus, which are both "rooster"), so this guy was "Goat." I looked him up afterwards, and yeah, his last name was really Bockshorn. Also, was he actually a Capricorn to make this extra punny? Answer: kind of? He has the same birthday as Hardingfelde, the winter solstice, which is right on the cusp. However, maybe four hundred years ago it was solidly in Capricorn. I don't know enough about how things have shifted over time to say; I've heard that I am not a Capricorn myself because of the shift, but I don't feel like a Sagittarius. Travalon is the Sagittarius in this relationship.

As I was leaving the concert, I heard a train horn. The train was crossing University Avenue down by First Congo, so some ways off from me but totally visible. I didn't mention that yesterday as I headed to Adoration, I was slightly delayed by the tail end of a train. If God is still speaking to me in Train, then I was exactly where I was supposed to be while going to Adoration and while attending the concert. 

Another thing I didn't mention was that on Saturday, when the dancing schools were performing at the St. Patrick's Day party at the St. Brigid Center, one little girl stepped out to do her solo and kicked so high that her feet went flying upward and she landed right on her rump. Unfazed, she got back up and continued her dance, and the audience roared with approval. May we all have this little girl's confidence to get back up on our feet after a public failure!

This evening I did do something stupid. It started because Anna Banana II couldn't lead either the Rosary or Night Prayer tonight, so I volunteered to do both. Jilly Moose said she couldn't make it to the Rosary either, so I wasn't sure anyone could, but at eight I dutifully started the meeting and then did an online crossword puzzle while waiting to see if anyone joined, and my patience was rewarded when two people eventually joined the Rosary meeting. I meant to do the same thing with Night Prayer, but I kept doing Wordles and nobody was joining, so I looked more carefully... and I hadn't actually joined the meeting. I went into it, and three people were already waiting for me. Oops! Anyway, it all worked out, and both the Rosary and Night Prayer went off without any real hitches. Glad I looked more carefully, or I could have been playing Wordle all night while everyone else wondered when I was going to start Night Prayer.

Famous Hat

St. Patrick's Day at the Elks Club

 

Yesterday was very snowy most of the day, and then it got really cold, like late January cold, not what you'd expect in mid-March. The "feels like" temperature was in the negative numbers. I never left the house, not even to go to the Moldy Jam jam, and both Travalon and I were home all day because his work was closed and I worked from home. I had nothing to blog about, so I just did online crossword puzzles.

Check this out: Travalon's Red Tasseled Hat glows under blacklight!

Alas, mine does not, since it is made of different yarn. I should say that I assume it does not, since I neglected to actually test it, but after all this time I've got a pretty good handle on what will glow.

Today I worked from home again, and Travalon went into work. I was doing a very boring project, so when a coworker sent me an Irish tune for the day, it helped to listen to it as I worked. Then YouTube kept playing music, but not Irish music - Tallis, Buxtehude, Hammerschmidt, stuff like that. I guess that must be what I listen to most on YouTube. Anyway, it helped the project go more quickly. It was hard to focus on it because people kept messaging me, and our condo association president asked me to pay our handyman because he was out of town. But with a few minutes to spare, I did finish it today.

After Adoration I went to the Elks Club for the third time because they were having a St. Patrick's Day party. It was very crowded in there, and a bunch of Shamrock Club people and the red-headed flute player were all there. This picture was on social media, so I'm hoping it's okay to put it on this blog.

The band that always plays at Alt Brew performed, and the red-headed flute player joined them. The Jewish guy who is Irish Person of the Year danced enthusiastically, and the university Irish dance team also performed. It took us a while to get food, but other people gave us cheese curds and bought us a drink (I had Bailey's on ice), so that helped pass the time. As people left, we were able to consolidate into one table, and we shut the place down. So much fun! The fiddler in the band said he hoped this would be an annual tradition, and I agree! Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

Famous Hat

Winter Is Back

 

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.

Famous Hat

St. Patrick's Day Party in Milwaukee

 

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.

Famous Hat

Conversation with a Robot

 

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!

Jilly Moose sent me a photo of the moose she needle felted.

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.

Famous Hat