Rainy Sunday at Olbrich and Garver Mill

 

This morning Travalon and I went to Mass in a tiny town just west of us. It's further away than where we usually go, but it's also straight down Highway K, so it takes the same amount of time as going to Mass in the gym. Someone told me last night at the party about what a pretty church it is, and they also use some Latin and sing hymns that I know, not this newer stuff I'm not as familiar with. Here's a photo:

It rained all day today, so Travalon and I went to Olbrich Gardens to walk inside. We saw lots of interesting plants and cute birds... and a dead butterfly. Here are some photos (not the butterfly). The first few photos were taken by me.

This is an orchid - I forget the variety, but it starts with a V.

More orchids.

This is actually a plant that is related to pineapple, a bromeliad, with strange flowers.

These were all taken by Travalon using his phone. First, a plumeria.

I think this next one is called a chenille plant.

This is another bromeliad in bloom.

Some little birds.

More birds - finches in the feeder, and quail on the ground.

I think this is a type of ginger...?

Pitcher plants! They're carnivorous.

This is a fake waterfall.

More bromeliads in bloom.

I forget what they call these flowers, but it's clearly an arum.

Despite the wet weather, we decided to go outside too. Not too many people were out there. Here are some photos. Travalon took these first few. The Thai Pavilion was recently renovated.

These are hollow stems for bees to hibernate in,

I took the next batch. Some fall colors to start.

Interesting fungi on a stump.

Look, a pomegranate bush!

I think this is eucalyptus. I love the silvery color.

There was a collection of wooden sculptures from a show earlier this year.

We walked over to Garver Mill, where they were having a vintage flea market, but the tam-o-shanter I fell in love with was too small for even my head (must be for a child), and the guy selling rosaries wanted way too much. There was a cheap plastic one with a cool centerpiece, a cheap metal one from the Vatican he really wanted a lot for, a crystal one that was almost a reasonable price, and the most expensive one had a very basic crucifix and centerpiece but beautiful black glass beads. I thought it was overpriced, but as my regular readers know, I work more on intuition than logic, so after handling all the rosaries, that was the one that really called to me, so I got it. At Garver Mill they had another wooden sculpture that looked like it was part of the same exhibition. 

We hurried home so I could go to Irish class, which unfortunately started at the same time as the Packer game, but I've missed several lately so I felt bad not to attend. It was very interesting - we talked about travel, and one person had been in Chile during some sort of uprising, and another one had gone to Cape Breton to either play or listen to music (my Irish isn't quite perfect), and he used his knowledge of Irish Gaelic to try to speak Scottish Gaelic with them. 

The other thing is that I didn't have a good feeling about the Packer game, although if this is the Lions' year, that is fine with me because they've never had a year. The Bears had their year, back in 1985. I did turn the game on as soon as class was done, and it had been a close game, but right then Jordan Love threw the ball right to a Lions defender like twelve yards from the goal line, so no kidding it was a pick six. The defense seemed pretty lousy too, and they quickly gave up another touchdown. Travalon had been watching at a nearby bar called The Willows, but he came back at halftime, and we decided to watch the rest of the game at Bierock. The Packers really looked bad - I guess they hated playing in all that rain, but they always play outdoors, and the Lions play in a dome and weren't fazed by the rain, so what the heck.

I was too tired to go to band practice, so we sat at home and watched the movie Coco, which is the only Day of the Dead movie I know of. And wouldn't you know, as soon as we finished it, we saw they were showing it on TV, so maybe it is a thing, like all the Christmas movies at Christmastime. I just hope I have the energy to get through a whole day of work on campus tomorrow.

Famous Hat