Campus Blossoms

Yesterday I went for a walk in the Allen Centennial Gardens, and I saw this lovely tulip.

Today was cold and blustery, so I went to the Botany greenhouse, where I used to work in my student days. The orchid room was full of blooms.

I thought this succulent had such an interesting bloom.

Look at all the fuchsias in bloom!
 

And this lovely orange lily.

The pitcher plants were also in bloom.

And plenty of plants were blooming in the desert area!

Then, just for fun, I strolled over to the Horticulture greenhouse. Lots was blooming there too!

There is also a magnolia tree blooming outside of a lab building.

This has nothing to do with flowers (although there are some visible in this picture), but I just thought this display for Divine Mercy Sunday at our church was so lovely.

Famous Hat

Beer and Beer and Beer and Chocolate

I hope my readers had a good weekend. Friday I had a very bad day, but in the evening Travalon and I went to Hi-Way Harry’s in Johnson Creek to meet his nephew (the best man at our wedding), and wow is that place ever swanky! It is totally worth the drive, with a waterfall inside and really good food at a reasonable price.

Saturday Travalon and I dove into Craft Beer Week, which is more like ten days long. We went to lunch at Athens Gyros with Rich Bonomo, and they are participating so I got a stamp in my beer passport. Travalon and I went to Bierock and tried several very tasty beers, as well as getting stamps in our passports. Tiffy was going to come up, but she had a cold, and it snowed, though not as hard as we had feared, so she stayed home. Travalon and Rich had colds too – I don’t know how I have managed to avoid one so far! Travalon dropped me off at a baroque concert featuring music of Telemann, Boismortier, Purcell’s kid brother Daniel, and a bunch of composers I had never heard of. (On Wednesday there was another free Just Bach concert, and when I saw the Orchestral Suite in B Minor on the program, I could immediately hear the ecstatic flute line of the second movement in my head.) Both the Just Bach concert and the one on Saturday night featured flutes. After the concert, I walked over to the Blue Moon to join Travalon for Sour Beer Night and another stamp. We got into a conversation with a couple of guys at the bar, so that was fun.

Yesterday Travalon went to the church close by for Mass, but I had to go to our usual parish to see the Married B-Boy’s and Mo-Girl’s daughter receive her first communion, and then some of us went to brunch at Rockhound because – you guessed it – I could get another stamp. In the early afternoon there was a party for the little girl, then Travalon and I went to Funk Factory for a five-course chocolate and beer pairing, and that was so delicious! We had a beer that tasted like jasmine, one that tasted like a Riesling, one that tasted like a fudgesicle, one that tasted like a gin and tonic, and one that tasted like a peach cobbler. It was a ticketed event, and I had thought it would be sold out, but during intermission of the concert the night before, I got a notice that tickets were still available. In fact, they only sold half as many as they had available, so I hope they don’t consider the event a failure. I thought it was a great success!

Famous Hat

Yet More Photos of Havana, Nassau, and Homosassa Springs

Here are some more pictures from our trip. First is a beautiful courtyard in Havana, where we encountered the little lizard featured previously on this blog.

Here is a royal palm, which is the national tree of Cuba:

This was, I believe, a famous poet. This building was right near the one that featured Che Guevara.

Here are some beautiful monuments from the Christopher Columbus Cemetery:

And really, who can get enough of those Cuban classic cars?

Moving on to Nassau, here is a shot of the waterfront at night:

The N on our ship's name had burned out, so we were on the "ORWEGIAN SKY."

There were lots of beautiful lights in Nassau. This is the bar where we had a Kalik beer with the natives.

This is a shot of the Atlantis resort.

And a shot of some beautifully colored buildings on our harbor tour.

Travalon in Nassau! This is near the Queen's Stairs.

This was a church we saw on the bus tour of Nassau. I think it's Presbyterian.

Now onto Homosassa Springs, and a shot of the manatees eating lettuce.

This is a really good shot of the tail of one of the manatees. Maybe I already posted this...?

And some beautiful birds at Homosassa Springs.

 egret

 white pelican

 spoonbills

 flamingos

And a gray fox! I don't really see those here in Madison, but we have plenty of red foxes.

This was a really intriguing building we could see in Birmingham from the Vulcan statue.

And here is a shot of the whole downtown all lit up, with the colorful building on the left.

Here is my cell phone's version of the same scene.

And finally, a shot of Ferne Clyff State Park in Illinois.

Famous Hat

Our Lives Post-Vacation, In Pictures

I have finally gotten all the photos off our real cameras and will post some more soon, but meanwhile here are some photos since we returned from the trip. This first one is the six-foot parlor palm Hardingfele told me about, which is now back in the corner.

Here are some photos from when Travalon and I went to Milwaukee. In front of City Hall there is a sculpture that looks like a big booger to me - and at night they light it up!

Then there were some koi on the sidewalk.

 Here is Travalon with a giant bobble-head of his childhood hero, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

And here is the view from our 14th row seats at the Bucks game.

This cool narwhal piñata is in a store on State Street, but it costs $150!

Here are some shots of the Tibetan monks performing sacred music and dance. The first is the Snow Lion dance.

This is the Rainbow Dance, with five dancers in different colors, only one couldn't get a visa so this rainbow only had four colors.

And I just thought this was a cool shot where you could see the monks' big hats, the giant drum that looks like a lollipop, and the things like alphorns.

Here Kathbert, Rich, and I are drowning underwater! This was before the show we went to, "Mr. B's Underwater Bubble Adventure." The photographer said Rich is the happiest-looking person he ever saw drowning.

Here is a photo of me holding my poem with the artwork that will accompany it on a bus someday.

Saturday was 4/20, so all the potheads were out celebrating. Check out this 420 balloon.

This little flower at Olbrich Gardens is so pretty.

And Travalon pointed out you could see the reflection of the Thai pavilion in the pool in front of it.

Today the Adoration Chapel was so full of flowers that I felt like I was in a greenhouse!

And finally, here is a short movie of the loud frogs at Holy Wisdom Monastery.

Famous Hat

Easter Triduum 2019

Blessed Easter! I hope my readers had a good Triduum. I started mine by getting a much-needed haircut before the Holy Thursday Mass at St. Patrick's. Friday I took the day off of work, and Travalon had the morning off, so we went for a hike at Jackson's Landing before I sang at the Good Friday service at my own church. It was a beautiful day, so I took walks at Tenney Park and on Governor's Island before Travalon and I went to Common Ground to see Common Chord. (Say that five times fast!) That is the Daughter of Denni's band, and they are always great.

Holy Saturday Travalon and I started the gorgeous day by spreading hay on our community garden plot, then we met Rich and OK Cap for coffee, and then we hung out on the Union Terrace, watching a loon diving in the lake. We went to Olbrich Gardens, where a few things are blooming, and then we had dinner at Bellitalia before Travalon watched the Bucks playoff game and I went to the Easter Vigil at St. Patrick's. (The one at my own church is in Spanish.) I might have gone to the Spanish Mass, but I had to go see my OTHER choir director welcomed into the Catholic church. Such a momentous occasion! I sat with my own sponsor from twenty-three years ago and her family during the Mass, and afterwards I went to the little reception for my OTHER choir director, a baritone from the Lutheran choir, and a former Moslem who spends holidays at Rich's house. Of course, in the middle of the Vigil Mass I suddenly remembered that I have a Notre Dame de Paris rosary (of course I do - why wouldn't I?) - and why hadn't I been praying with that all week? And then I was thinking about their choir, and if their choir director is anything like ours, he couldn't let all those weeks of practice for the Triduum go to waste. So did they pull rank on another church and sing there? "Sorry, Sacre Coeur, OUR choir is singing at this liturgy!" I did find out the next morning, amid the horrifying stories about the slaughter of Christians in Sri Lanka, that in fact the Notre Dame choir had sung at Saint Sulpice, so I wasn't off-base about that.

Yesterday I felt hung over during morning Mass, although I had only had three sips of champagne at that reception. It was probably dehydration - I didn't have to pee once during the whole three-hour Vigil Mass! So then I drank so much water that I had to pee in the middle of the one-hour Easter morning Mass. Pathetic... Travalon and I drove to Oconomowoc to see his mother, and it was a beautiful day so we took her out to sit in the sunshine. Two little kids came up to her and gave her a tiny pink stuffed bunny for Easter. So sweet! Two of the three new Catholics were at Rich's Easter dinner, along with a lot of members of the Usual Gang. My old boss Handy Woman was texting me as we were discussing something called the Guidonean Hand, a Medieval pre-notation system for showing choirs what notes to sing, so it was like she was part of the conversation. The person who makes wonderful desserts made an amazing pistachio cake, and of course Rich made his rosemary lamb, and there were a lot of delicious vegetables. The only bad thing was that on the way to Oconomowoc we saw a scary-looking car accident, and then on the way home from Rich's we saw another one. They must have looked worse than they were, because there was nothing in the news about them.

Famous Hat

My Bus Poem

Yesterday I went to a reception at the library for the winners of the Metro Bus Poetry Contest. There were a lot of kids, but some other adults also had poems chosen. We each had to read our poems aloud in front of the crowd - eek! Students at Edgewood made background art for our poems, and mine was a lovely depiction of a road curving around to the skyline of Madison, which is a literal interpretation of parts of my poem:

Curving around the loveliest of lakes,

Call it John Nolen, Willy Street, Atwood, Monona:

Full of colors and music and delicious flavors,

It’s the most wonderful street in the world.

It certainly got the curve part! Rich stopped by and took a picture of me holding the framed artwork, so I will post that at some point. (For some reason we didn’t get to keep the artwork.) The thing I didn’t think the art captured was the sense of festivity I associate with this street that keeps changing names. Certainly there are Willy Street Fest and Atwood Fest, when several blocks of the street are one big party, but on John Nolen there is also the Monona Terrace, where they have festivities like the Dane Dances. I would have liked something to capture how this street is one big party! The image that comes to my mind is the main drag in Aberdeen; when Travalon and I were there five years ago, they had tiny flags flying over the street for blocks and blocks. Was this because of a festival? No festival was going on at the time, so I’m not sure. But it looked very festive! Or maybe the artwork could have had music notes to reflect all the music you hear on the street? Anyway, Travalon and I are going to celebrate “Streetfest” at some point in the future, when things are warmer. We will go to an establishment on each differently-named section of the street, like the Monona Terrace on John Nolan, any number of places on Willy Street and Atwood, and end up at Travalon’s favorite, David’s Jamaican on Monona Drive. Partying around the lake! What better way to celebrate the fact that I will be published for the first time – on the side of a bus! If I ever see “my” bus around town (it won’t be decorated until August), I’ll try to take a picture of it and post it. How cool if I get to ride it!

Famous Hat

Tibetan Monks and a Children's Show

I am feeling very sad right now because Notre Dame in Paris is burning. Not only is this bringing back bad memories of our own diocesan cathedral burning in late Lent some years ago now, but it is personal for me because I have been to Notre Dame. Our parish priest scared the bejeebers out of me there many years ago. I am praying that something can be saved – the spire just collapsed.

I hope my readers had a good weekend. Mine was very good. Friday Travalon and I just went out for fish, since I had to get up early the next day. Saturday I went to a conference on Wisconsin labor history, then I immediately drove to Milwaukee to meet Tiffy. We went to a concert of Tibetan monks doing sacred music and dance at the iconic Tripoli Shriner center, and we never dreamed it would be sold out, but they just had standing room only tickets left, even though we got there half an hour early. I thought standing for two hours sounded awful, but it really wasn’t, and then we had a better view of the monks’ big hats, drums that looked like lollipops, and things like alphorns. Our favorite part was the Dance of the Snow Lion, which is much like the dragon dances they do for Chinese New Year. It was very cute. The throat singing, where they sing in harmony with themselves, is a very eerie sound, but I felt wrong to make a video of it. Afterwards Tiffy and I went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner.

Yesterday after the long Palm Sunday Mass, Travalon and I went to brunch with Rich and another bass from our choir. Then we went out to Sauk to see if any eagles were around, since it was a cold, miserable day. We saw one young eagle in a tree, and we saw lots of beautiful white pelicans, flying and diving into the water and bobbing on top of it. They were almost more impressive than the eagles! In the evening I was supposed to go to a show at Overture Center with Light Bright and her little boy, but he had a bad cold. I had won the tickets at the International Festival; it was for a show called “Mr. B’s Underwater Bubble Adventure,” marketed as an “all age” show, but with such short notice I couldn’t find anyone with kids who could use the tickets. Rich, Kathbert, and I ended up going. The show was a lot of fun, sort of Cirque de Soleil for kids meets the Muppets, only instead of puppets it was people in costume, and they did all sorts of tricks with soap bubbles, like many-layered bubbles. In one part, a woman drew sand pictures that were very cool, and one guy was so flexible that he put himself inside of a little box! There was no talking – it was all to music. We kids at heart enjoyed it thoroughly!

Please pray that they can save Notre Dame. It would be so heartbreaking to lose this beautiful icon.

Famous Hat