Today I did something really fun: I took a Native campus tour! Hardingfele's department had organized this tour, which is one that they regularly do on campus, and I just tagged along with her and her coworker who goes to the same church we've been going to. Of course the Madison area, called Tee Jope (Four Lakes), is Ho-Chunk land, but our guide spoke Ojibwa, and I know how to say "Thanks!" in that language. (It's something like miigwich.) Also, hello is "Boo Zhoo." I know this from a TikTok guy who does the Ojibwa Word of the Day, but I don't know a word of Ho-Chunk. We spent a lot of time at the Union talking about Native languages and stuff, and then we walked really fast up Bascom Hill to talk about how the land used to look, and then we walked really fast up Observatory Hill to talk about effigy mounds and the lakes. The guide said if all the effigy mounds were still around and we hadn't built all the campus buildings right on top of them, this area would be a Unesco World Heritage Site. Hardingfele said to me as we were walking that this guide was taking too much time, why couldn't he get to the point? and I said, "You haven't spent much time around Native people, have you?" She said, "Not really." I figure the culture of storytelling and having a relaxed sense of time is part of the tour, along with the history. But then I had to leave when the tour ran long, and I remembered I was chairing a meeting at two.
The Chair of the Central Committee is on vacation, and as the Vice Chair, I had to, you know, chair the meeting. I had a script to follow, but I still felt like when I was a kid and was second chair violin in the orchestra, and one day the first chair violin was sick and had to miss a concert, so I had to step in to replace her as concert mistress. Yikes! Being Number Two has always kind of been my schtick. The other committee members commended me on running a tight meeting, since the Chair tends to ramble a bit. We had a high-up guy give a report, and we all asked him some good questions, but the Chair would have asked some really pointed ones, so he seemed surprised that we were more lowkey. Maybe that's just my vibe - I was a really hyper kid, and then I must have used up all that energy, and now I'm lowkey most of the time, unless something is really unjust.
In between all that, I processed a ton of scholarships, and after getting home, I just sat on the porch, watching birds, until Travalon came home. I saw a big flock of cormorants flying north, and a redstart, and a nuthatch, among other things. We went to Lola's for dinner because Thursday is their World Music Night, and the DJ played a lot of cumbia, some salsa, and some other stuff. I enjoy cumbia but don't love it as passionately as salsa. It's from Colombia, and the beat always makes me think of a horse clopping along. Another reason we went to Lola's was because they have sticky toffee pudding on their spring menu, and to my surprise they also have Sichuan dumplings. I wonder if the owner is a Steely Dan fan? That's a line from "The Glamour Profession": "Sichuan dumplings, now that the deal has been done..." Since I am a Steely Dan fan, I had to get that. The sticky toffee pudding was delicious too, but a word of warning: the little skillet it comes in is VERY hot, don't touch it like some stupid Famous Hats might have done. Luckily I have an aloe plant at home.
In case you were wondering, this is what DuoLingo thinks parties look like.
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