Peaceful Evening on the Dock

 

This morning I woke up all sniffly and sneezy, and Travalon said, "Maybe you shouldn't go into work." I did go into work, but at lunchtime I caught the shuttle home and was surprised to have four companions on it. Once at home, I logged back in and did more work, then at five I logged off and went outside for a walk to make up for the lack of one at lunchtime. In the distance I heard a train horn, so I went to the bridge from which you can see the train bridge, and down in the water below me I saw a pied-billed grebe swimming around. Two people were walking casually along the track, so I figured they knew something I didn't about the train not coming, but then we could all hear the telltale rumbling, and one said, "The train's coming! We have to get off the track!" They just stepped off and stood there as the train passed by incredibly close to them. I wouldn't want to be that close - trains are very loud, even when they aren't sounding their horns. 

After that I went down to the dock to see if Thirsty Thursday might be happening; nobody was there, but it was beautiful out, so I sat watching a pair of pied-billed grebes diving and a pair of mallards dabbling. I heard lots of red-winged blackbirds and saw lots of gulls and one tern hovering over the water and diving into it now and then. I watched them all until the sun set, and while it doesn't sound very exciting, it was a wonderful evening. 

Something weird has happened to the Previous Mistakes section in DuoLingo: it only has one mistake, over and over again. I took full advantage of this yesterday, because DuoLingo arbitrarily assigns me challenges, and this one was to have forty perfect lessons. That's easy to do when you can just correct the same mistake forty times! Then this morning it was still glitching like that, when I didn't need it to. I can see there are other mistakes in there, but every time I go to do them, it just gives the same one over and over. At least this glitch came in handy this time.

Some advisor to Dear Leader said recently that Antifa is an old problem and that they had Antifa in 1930's Germany. Isn't that admitting that Dear Leader's people are the Nazis? Because who else would Antifa have been fighting in 1930's Germany? But then they're always saying the quiet part out loud these days - it's rather frightening how they think there will never be consequences for their horrendous actions. Should this surprise anyone? If you are anti-Antifa, then by definition you are Profa, i.e., Fascist. It's amazing to me how they have made fighting fascism a dirty word.

Here is a photo of the mug we got at Voodoo Brewing on Saturday:

Part of the cost of this mug goes to the Ice Age Trail Alliance. Speaking of which, the Crane Foundation sent an email a few days ago that now you can get a Crane Foundation license plate, and I needed to renew my registration anyway, so I looked into getting a specialized license plate. But then the choice became difficult because they also have an Ice Age Trail one. I ended up ordering an Ice Age Trail one, and personalized to boot. They asked for three choices, so I'll let you know which one they give me when the license plate comes.

On a sadder note, our little balloon panda bear is getting small and wrinkly, just like an aging person.

Reminder: this is what he looked like when he was freshly made.

But he is still very cute. It's funny how his ears are huge and his limbs are teeny now.

Here is my Cubs Bear, celebrating the Cubs win:

What will happen in Game Five? Will the Brewers prevail at home? Will the Cubs do that thing they did in 2016 (when, as I may remind you, they won the World Series) where they fall behind and things look dire, but then they come to life and win the series? They were on fiah tonight, winning 6-0.

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Song Circle and Moon Cakes

 

Yesterday I worked on campus, but it was still an uneventful day. I walked with Seabird at lunch and was mad at a colleague because I'd asked a question and this person replied to my boss and like three other people... but not me. What the hey? Then I went to Adoration, led Night Prayer, and completely forgot to water my plants.

Today I worked on campus and walked alone at lunch because Seabird was working from home and Hardingfele was busy. We had our department meeting, and that's about as exciting as it got. But after work I went to the Song Circle at the music club we belong to, and to my surprise I found parking very close. That never happens! It gets better, because as I was parking I heard a low rumble, and sure enough the train went by about thirty feet in front of me. The song circle had started at five, but that's when I get done with work, so I was pretty late. It looked like a lot of old hippies, but there was a woman around my age who had an open chair next to her, so I sat beside her. We sang from the Rise Up Singing songbook, which I know well from all my protesting. It has the words to folk songs, no notes, but it does have chords for the guitars (and whatever) to play along. Several people had kazoos (you don't need the chords for those), and one woman was playing a piano accordion. Not long after I got there, it was break time, so we had seven different kinds of cheese and also moon cakes for the Autumn Festival. If you have never had one, there is a weird, dried-out egg yolk in the center, but the cake itself and especially the lotus seed paste filling are delicious. I may have indulged in two pieces since a lot of people were not brave enough to try it. The cheeses were wonderful, including one with blood orange and one with sriracha sauce, but my favorite is still the Kerrygold Dubliner from Monday evening. Who brings all this cheese? It's one of the best parts of the music club - there are always snacks. 

When the break finished, it was my turn to choose a song. I had checked and was ready for them with the page number for "Hold On," the old spiritual. Later I saw the second edition (we were using both, the "classic" blue and the "sequel" red) has "Whistling Gypsy Rover," one version of a very popular Irish folk song about a gypsy who entrances a woman so she runs off with him. This version is tamer; her father comes looking for her, and it turns out the "gypsy" is a powerful lord, so then the father is okay with it. A lot of versions have her husband come looking for her, and the gypsy sometimes meets a violent end. The woman next to me said she is leading another singalong called "Folking Around" on Tuesday, but sadly I'm busy with Adoration then. Everyone seemed very welcoming, and they said they hoped I'd come back, even if I will always be late. It's like Moldy Jam in that they go around the circle so everyone gets to suggest a song, and I have to say that there were some I'd never heard before, but plenty of them were familiar. I said I'd have to bring my kazoo next time, but right now it's at home in my ukulele bag, and they said, "Bring the ukulele too!" Of course, I could have just taken one off the wall at the music club, but for my first time out, I preferred to just sing. Maybe I'll bring the ukulele next time... and of course, the kazoo too.

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Three Catholics at the Jam Session

 

Today I worked from home because I switched days on campus with a coworker. It wasn't a very exciting day, and Travalon didn't have time to walk on Governor's Island so we just walked around the neighborhood. It's finally getting cold at night, so I brought my houseplants in: Lazarus the Dracaena, the ponytail palm, and the purple tradescantia that had shed pieces that had rooted, so I had to dig up all those too. They were so happy that one even bloomed.

Not sure they'll be so happy now that I've dug them up and stuck them back in the pot... Speaking of plants growing in odd places, near the music club I found these marigolds growing out of a crack in the sidewalk.

I took this photo yesterday before the Slow Irish Session, but tonight I was back for the Moldy Jam jam. To my surprise, our bass player was there too, although maybe that's not so surprising since she seems to know people there. To my greater surprise, there was another bass player there that I know from the Care for Creation team at the church we go to now, and another guy was there (that I didn't recognize) who is on the team at the church closer to us. People say Madison is a big small town, and sometimes it sure feels that way, like sooner or later I will know everyone in town. I didn't know most of the tunes tonight, but there were a few I knew, and when it was my turn to request a song, I asked for "Swallowtail" the first go-around and "Butterfly" the second time. Not only is there a lepidopterist theme, but they're both jigs (though "Butterfly" is a slip jig) in E Dorian. I'm a simple creature.

Speaking of Irish, when I sent that photo of my Irish Fest Summer School T-shirt glowing under blacklight to my buddies, one said, "Tá se sin go h-awesome," which I found hilarious, and you would too, if you knew Irish. It basically means "That's awesome."

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Trail Magic and China Lights

 

Yesterday Travalon and I had a relaxed morning, and I finished the novena to St. Francis that I'd been doing (the final prayers). I put on my Tau cross rosary necklace, and we took our boat out for a long ride into the marsh and out into the lake far enough to see the Capitol building. Then we headed to Delafield to have lunch at a pizza place that gives Trail Magic for the Mammoth Hike Challenge, which in this case was a discount. We got our photos taken in the big yellow chairs, but I'm having trouble finding where exactly I'm supposed to post this photo.

We also went to Blue Collar Coffee and got Trail Magic (a discount) on drinks - I had a cranberry orange matcha latte, iced - so good! Then we went to Voodoo Brewing because they were having an event. We got our photo taken with the Mammoth!

I bought a commemorative shirt, and Travalon bought a hat, and we got a commemorative mug from Voodoo that has a clip for a handle, so you could put it on your belt buckle. You got one free pour with the purchase of the mug (sorry, no photo yet), so we had a very tasty sour beer. Delafield really wants you to shop there - check out this sign.

On the way to the Ice Age Trail segment we were going to hike on, we passed Merton Millpond and saw one egret kind of close and two on the far side of the pond, but while Travalon had his good camera with him, the photos didn't really turn out. Then we hiked on the Loew Lake Segment, along the Oconomowoc River. It was an unseasonably hot day, but that segment is very shady, so we were fine. Here is a photo of me along the path.

Then we went to a Franciscan Convent in the town of St. Francis, but it was not open. We had dinner at a place called Pho Ever - I had the seafood pho, and it tasted as wonderful as it smelled. In the evening we went to China Lights at the Boerner Botanical Gardens, as we do every year. This year's theme was Prehistoric Sea Creatures. Here are some photos. 

This little beaver popped up from the flower it was hiding in.

This room was full of fiberoptic jellyfish. It was so beautiful!

It makes me laugh how Travalon's perspective was so different, since he's so much taller.

The floor was a mirror so they seemed to be beneath our feet too.

My favorite thing about this was the toddler whose dad was holding her up to the jellyfish. I've never seen such a happy human in my entire life!

This butterfly pavilion was constantly changing colors.

Our Chinese Zodiac signs: I'm a Pig.

Travalon is a Snake.

They always have the huge dragon every year.

There are lots more photos, so I may do another post on a slow day.

Today after Mass Travalon and I went out to Cross Plains to have lunch at the coffee shop there (Trail Magic = discount), and we walked a bit on the trails outside the coffee shop. Here is Black Earth Creek.

Then we went on a hike with Rich and Kathbert at the Cross Plains State Park. Rich took this photo of Travalon and me in front of Blue Mound.

Then we took a hike on the trail in a direction we hadn't taken before, and we saw some cool rock formations.

That was more hiking than we meant to do today, after walking over six and a half miles yesterday, but now we are a quarter of the way done with the Mammoth Challenge just counting actual hiking. Of course, one fun thing about this challenge is that you can get bonus points for attending events and using Trail Magic, and if we add all those in, we're almost done. But we'll still probably try to get all the miles from hiking anyway because that's how we roll.

In the evening I went to the Slow Irish Session, and about half my bandmates were there, as well as Famie my Irish teacher. I completely forgot to tell her that my Irish Fest Summer School T-shirt has a pattern that glows under blacklight! Our bass player brought her fiddle, and she asked where my fiddle was. I should bring it to the session, since it needs some love too - Mandy shouldn't get all the love - but I was tired after hiking so much, and the mandolin is like an old friend. I should bring her to band practice and the fiddle to the Irish session. Tomorrow there is a Moldy Jam jam, and I'll bring the mandolin because she is quieter, so people can't hear as much when I make a mistake on these tunes I am just learning.

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All Saturned Out

 

Yesterday I worked on campus and walked with Hardingfele at lunch. Upon returning home, I went out on the dock to join some neighbors for Thirsty Thursday, which was a lot of fun. The friendly little dog Lucy was there and climbing all over me, just like when she was a puppy. She is a Havanese and very small.

Today I worked from home, and at lunch Travalon and I walked on Governor's Island. We didn't see any strange watercraft, but the other day on the way to work we did, one boat that looked like a grandstand and the boat used to install lifts, and my coworker said he went on a boat ride with a buddy in Bishop's Bay last weekend, and they saw an ice fishing shanty motoring along, and a raft with a tent on it. 

In the evening Travalon and I went to the Edgewater Oktoberfest, which was more lightly attended than last year. They still had kasespaetzle at that late hour, and the proprietor said, "I made twice as much as last year (because they ran out so early), and there are half as many people this year." We had the spaetzle, and Travalon had some chicken schnitzel, but we were unable to finish the spaetzle so we took it back to the car. (Guess we could have split one order.) The band was not an oompah band but some country band that played a couple of good songs (we think one was a Bob Wills song), but then they played some sappy waltzes, so we left.

Our next stop was the Monona Terrace for Moon Over Monona.  I was dressed all appropriately in my glow-in-the-dark T-shirt with stars in the pattern of a loon, my planetary Hawaiian shirt, my planetary socks, and my star earrings. (Sorry, didn't take a photo.) Last year we attended this free event and nobody had a telescope pointing at Saturn. This year, every line we waited in ended up at a telescope pointed at... Saturn. It's my favorite planet, partly because it rules Capricorn but mostly just because it has rings, but it started to feel like a joke by the fourth time we looked at it. People would say they thought the line was for Neptune, or the Andromeda Galaxy, or the Moon, but it was always just Saturn. Even the ones I didn't wait in were all pointed at Saturn. Finally we found one that was pointed at the bright, shiny moon. I was chatting with the couple behind us in line, and the woman said, "You have a lot of interest in astronomy! Or is it astrology?" I said, "Both, really," but I don't think she knew enough about either for me to bother asking her sign. I did tell them about the solar system along the bike path, starting with the Sun at the Monona Terrace, and the woman behind them in line chimed in to talk about it too. I will say that we saw several moons around Saturn tonight, so that was kind of cool. What a change from last year.

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Blacklisted Band

 

Today I worked on campus, and both during my morning break and at lunch I walked with Seabird. She sent me some photos of birds from the Bronx Zoo, since she knows I love birds.

I walked with Hardingfele during my afternoon break, and she said she had some gossip for me. I asked what, and she said, "You were right." I'm thinking, am I not always right? but I said, "Do go on." So she said during the band practice I couldn't attend because of Anna Banana II's farewell party and the quasi-ELO concert, the bass player "gleefully" (Hardingfele's words) told the rest of the band that our band has been blacklisted, and that nobody will work with us, because of that gig in the high school gym. I said, "But didn't you say you worked with the caller on a gig after that?" and she said she must have been mistaken. So I am wondering how extensive this blacklisting is: are the gigs we used to have regularly, like the Mackenzie Center in the spring and the orchard in the fall, also casualties of this shunning? They told us they didn't want us anymore right after that. They both said they don't do live music anymore, but Hardingfele says they do; they just don't want us. This happened two months before the pandemic, so it wasn't obvious at first because of course we got no gigs during the pandemic, but I did notice things did not pick up for us afterwards. I chalked it up to several of our members being well over eighty and just not playing at the same level we used to play at, though I'm not sure we were ever all that good. I do remember a wedding years ago where it felt like we were really unprofessional with not having our music ready to go easily from tune to tune... and really, why do we still need music for these tunes we have done for years? Neither Hardingfele nor I could remember if we were part of the problem during that disastrous gig, because the big argument was whether or not we should be miked, and apparently the band said no and prevailed, but the caller felt the kids lost interest in dancing because they couldn't hear us. This was in January of 2020 but it feels like a million years ago, and I remember some tension but can't say if I contributed to it or if it was all between our leader and the caller. One fiddler had a broken leg during the gig. All I remember is the caller being short with us, but I wasn't sure why. Now that I go to the Moldy Jam jams, she is in those, and at first she glared at me but I wasn't sure why. She seems to have softened towards me, since I follow all the Moldy Jam rules, so I might try to ask her if I contributed to whatever misunderstanding we all had that fateful evening.

On a lighter note, a piece of that mysterious tradescantia that started growing in the pot with the fuchsia (which has since died) broke off and started growing on the ground, and it's so happy that it's blooming.

Speaking of flowers, I had my post-operative appointment yesterday, and I loved this painting in the exam room.

The surgeon said I have "graduated," and unless I have more issues, she won't need to see me again. She said everything looked good, and I asked if there were anything to explain why I could never get pregnant, and she said nope, no obvious issues, sometimes it's just a mystery. I know I was a little older, but I've known plenty of people who had a kid or two in their forties, so it's not that strange to think I could have too. Guess I was just never meant to be a mother.

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Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl

 

I don't have much to say about my life the last couple of days; yesterday I worked on campus, and today I worked from home, and I had quiet evenings both days. But today social media is abuzz with something that makes me very happy: Bad Bunny will be the Super Bowl halftime performer this coming year. Now I am not a particular fan of Bad Bunny - I think he performs reggaeton, which is not my jam; anyway, it's not classic salsa. But ever since people got all weird and racist about Jennifer Lopez and Shakira performing in, I think, 2019, I have just despised all these racist bigots who carp about the Super Bowl halftime show when it's not one of their ancient white male rock idols. Last year they were complaining nonstop about Kendrick Lamar, and how they hated his show. You know what? You don't have to watch it. You can just turn off the TV. There's this contingent of old white guys who only want old white guys performing in the Super Bowl halftime show because apparently they aren't aware that most people watching the Super Bowl aren't as old or as white as they are. It reminds me of when Travalon and I were in Door County and took a boat ride out to Pilot Island, and the captain said he was going to play classic rock because "everyone" likes it. Since the people who like classic rock are overwhelmingly white and male (and older), I don't know what he means by "everyone" unless he means "everyone who matters." When I used to read the magazine Rolling Stone back in college, I couldn't help noticing the critics thought music that appeals to white men is the best music, and anything that appeals to women or people of color just isn't as serious. Any woman can tell you how anything that appeals to women more than men is always denigrated in our culture. Romance novels? Not serious. Dance music? Not serious. Bright colors? Not serious. But if it's about war or anything that interests white men, then it's serious art. One of the funniest things I ever read was a man being interviewed about Kamala Harris and saying he didn't want her for president because he wanted someone who could represent "everyone," and people were piling on him: "Oh, so only white men can represent the rest of us?" This is the sound of all of us who are not white males laughing at your pathetic horror about Bad Bunny performing at the Super Bowl: HAHA HAHA HAHA HAHA!!! And yes, he is a US citizen - he's from Puerto Rico. If you only want US citizens performing, then why weren't you bitching about the Rolling Stones performing? Hmm? I somehow think that's not actually what you're complaining about, you racist freaks. Sit down and SHUT UP!!

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Lasagna Party and ELO Tribute Band

 

This morning Travalon and I went to Mass and then got coffee on North Street, as has become our habit, and then since it was such a nice day, we took a long walk at Pheasant Branch. In the evening we went to Rich's house for his famous lasagna as a farewell dinner for Anna Banana II, who heads back to North Dakota tomorrow. Jilly Moose, OK Cap, Kathbert, Cecil Markovitch, the Single B-Boy, R Van the Terrible, some of the Night Prayer regulars, and the guy who makes amazing desserts and his son were also there, and Prairie Man came for dessert. People brought all sorts of salads, and I brought chocolate cherry wine from Door County that I had purchased at Schultz's Cheese Haus during our recent visit there on the way back from Horicon Marsh. We were planning to leave before dessert, but the baker's son brought us each a piece of the eclair pie (or whatever it was called) that he had made - so delicious!

Travalon and I had to leave the party early because we were going to a concert tonight. It was halfway between a tribute band and the remnants of the Electric Light Orchestra, and we desperately hoped there wouldn't be an opening act, but a guy came out with a guitar and sang songs about his failed relationships, which is my least favorite type of performer. However, he only sang about four songs, and then the band started immediately with my favorite song, "Evil Woman." Oddly, Travalon had gotten us very bad seats by the wall, where the sound wasn't so good, because he said it was almost sold out, but there were a lot of empty seats - did people buy tickets and then remember there was a Packer game tonight? The band also did another favorite of mine, "Last Train to London," during the first half, then they took a short break and we grabbed way better seats. So mysterious! It wasn't a huge crowd, but it was enthusiastic. During the second half they did "Shine a Little Love," another favorite of mine, but really I like most of their songs, except the ones where they try to do rockabilly. However, even those were better live. Travalon's favorite is "Strange Magic," and they did that one in the second half.

The concert got done at a merciful hour, and we listened to what was left of the Packers game in the car, but they were ahead by four with a minute and some change to go and couldn't stop Dallas, who scored and were ahead by three, and then somehow in just a few seconds the Pack got back down to make a field goal and tie it up. "Oh great," I groaned, "overtime!" They held Dallas to a field goal in overtime and then got down into the red zone but couldn't score, so they kicked a field goal to tie 40-40, the second highest tie in NFL history, or so the announcers said. So now it's late and I have to get up early for the first time in days tomorrow, so I'll wrap this post up now.

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True North Festival: Livin' on Lizard Time

 

This morning Travalon was watching British soccer, and the condo board president needed me to sign off on the bylaw amendments that were recently passed, so I went to his house and then ran into my neighbor with the friendly little dog. We took a walk around the neighborhood, but I didn't get credit for a workout because we kept stopping. Then Travalon took me downtown and dropped me off at Grace Episcopal to see the local harpsichord player in a free concert of Baroque keyboard music. (He was apparently a replacement for someone who was originally supposed to perform, so I didn't have time to notify Tiffy.) We were meeting back at our old church after the concert, and I walked along looking at the vendors selling jewelry and art down State Street. Then I saw Blacklight Sputnik.

Isn't it adorable? I couldn't resist. When I met Travalon, he had a party hat and a little cupcake for me because it had been Bucky Badger's 85th birthday down on the Union Terrace.

Here it is on me.

Here it is on Blacklight Sputnik.

Travalon and I went for a walk on Governor's Island, then we relaxed at home for a bit before heading to the True North Festival. We missed the first act because I thought it was a singer-songwriter, but it was a jazz musician doing a New Orleans tribute. Oops! We got there in time to hear the second band, but they were kind of weird, almost rhythm and blues but not quite right. We split orders of Sichuan dumplings (now that the deal has been done) (that's a Steely Dan reference), lamb kebabs, a grilled cheese sandwich, an ice cream sandwich, and a frittatina full of cheese and peas, and to drink infused lemonade and an antioxidant drink that tasted like a piña colada. Splitting everything meant we got to try a lot more.

Mama Digdown's Brass Band played a very New Orleans-style set, and we enjoyed them a lot. Here's a brief sample:

They said they have a new album coming out in the next few months, "depending on if you're talking about human time, dog time, or lizard time." We thought that was so funny that Travalon said it had to be my blog post title. We stayed for the next band, an R&B outfit that must write their own music, since we didn't recognize any of the songs they did. They ranged in quality from "Will this song never end?" to "I'd really like to get this song on my phone!" They were certainly competent musicians. We had to check out the weird automated alien that seemed to belong to the first band we'd seen.

The main act was a guy named Pokey LaFarge, and we listened to a few songs but didn't really like them. We debated about taking a ride on the Ferris Wheel but decided to just go home, since by then it was getting quite late. We did see the balloon art stand, so we asked what they could make, and for $5 they made us a panda.

How cute is that?? Then when we came home, I checked out Blacklight Sputnik under the blacklight.

I had suspected that some elements of my Irish Fest Summer School T-shirt would glow under blacklight, and in fact it appears that the whole design glows!

That was an unexpected surprise! I also discovered that a tiny part of that rugged cord rosary I pray with outside glows (the pink part), but I didn't take a photo of that. Maybe sometime soon, so look for that.

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