Cardinal Stritch University

 

It's been several days since I've written, and I forgot to mention that on Thursday Travalon picked me up from work, then we took a walk on Picnic Point, and then we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. On Friday we decided to get fish fry at Brothers 3, and it was such a beautiful evening that we sat outside. Their bluegill was so tasty! It was a good way to end the week, especially since that was the first day that I felt like the fog lifted from my COVID brain, so I worked really hard to get caught up at work.

Saturday morning Travalon woke me up, saying, "It's 10:30! We need to get going soon!" I must have really worn myself out working so hard on Friday, because I slept for ten hours!! We got going and drove to Milwaukee, where we met Tiffy and went to a burger joint for lunch. Unlike the two previous days that were so beautiful, it was cold and blustery, so we decided not to take a walk by the lakefront. Instead, we went to Cardinal Stritch University, a small Franciscan school that is closing at the end of the month. This is very sad; it is 86 years old, and also I feel like Franciscan spirituality is not appreciated by a lot of Catholics these days. I was raised by Franciscan sisters; well, not literally, but they were the ones who taught me all about religion, and they presented Catholicism as a welcoming, kind religion. All these traditional schools are closing, like Travalon's old grade school, but these new Catholic academies are popping up that have a "bunker" mentality, that they want to be shut away from the evil world instead of working to convert it through love. The campus itself is not that old, just dating from the 60's, and the buildings are not lovely, but there were some stained glass windows. I took pictures, because who knows what will happen to them once the buildings are sold?

Then Travalon dropped Tiffy and me off at St. Paul's Episcopal Church for an Early Music Now concert. This one was called "Angels and Devils," and it featured music by Vivaldi and Corelli, as well as other Baroque composers. Of course it featured Tartini's famous "Devil's Trill." It was a wonderful concert, but the church has very few bathrooms. At intermission Tiffy and I wound our way through the basement and found some little kiddie toilets, but it turns out those belong to the daycare and not the church, so we weren't supposed to use them. Tiffy said it felt like one of those weird dreams where you're looking for a bathroom in your old school, but everything has changed. It had been very hot in the sanctuary, so we stepped outside, and we saw fritillaries.

 

I love them because they are checkered flowers. We also saw this stunning tulip.

After the concert, Travalon returned from visiting little local bookstores, and the three of us walked to County Clare, an Irish restaurant, for dinner. By the time we got home, it was too late to blog - we just went to bed. I slept my normal seven hours that night, but we still couldn't get going in time to go to the usual place for Mass, so off to St. Peter's we went. They had a bunch of kids receiving First Communion, so that was fun to see. I wish I could have worn a pretty white dress like that for my First Communion, but mine was in the Episcopal Church, and I guess they don't do that...? I remember mine being very anticlimactic - I just went up to the communion rail like I always did, but instead of getting a blessing, I got a communion wafer. Nobody made any kind of deal of it at all. Can you blame me for crossing the Tiber?

It was another cold, rainy day, so Travalon, Jilly Moose, and I took a walk at the East Towne Mall. After that we went to the Asian supermarket nearby, and we got bubble tea. I also had to get something called "watermelon cake," because I am terminally curious. It was more of a pastry than a cake; it kind of looked like a danish, but it was not that sweet so I really liked it. It seemed to have some sort of bean or lotus seed paste inside, but it didn't really taste like watermelon. Then I had to head home for Irish class, and after that I went to band practice. Hardingfele decided not to show up for some reason - she didn't say why not - so we only had one fiddle. I ended up playing melody, which is something I don't do much anymore. I said I should have brought my violin, and the fiddler said I could use her grandson's violin, but then she couldn't find it, so I just played the melodies on the mandolin. I was feeling very brain-addled, but to my surprise our bass player said I was doing so well mentally for having just gotten over COVID. It's no joke - COVID brain is real. But it seemed to clear up like the sun breaking through the clouds on Friday, so at that point I was just experiencing normal brain drain from doing something out of the ordinary. It's good to keep our brains nimble at my age!

Today was cold and very windy, with some drizzle in the morning. I was very disappointed to spend the first day of my favorite month wearing my winter coat. I went for a walk at lunch, as usual, but it was too windy to go by the lake, so I ducked into a nearby greenhouse. Check it out - their monstera deliciosa is blooming! As a botany nerd, I find even these non-showy blooms very cool.

I have a monstera delicious up in the loft. Will it ever bloom?

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Travalon's New Camera

 

I've been thinking more about this Nefarious movie, and one of the most disturbing lines is when the demon strongly implies that racism is not from the devil but just created by man. I was curious about what other people said, so I read some reviews, and one of them pointed out that basically the only woman in the movie, and only one of two black people, is portrayed as possessed by the demon. That is some hardcore symbolism: white man good, black woman evil. The people who recommended this movie said don't watch the previews, they're awful, but they were just the basic crap I wouldn't watch anyway. The only truly awful one was for something called The Last Patriot or some overblown name like that, which seems to be about how guns are the only thing that will save us. That is what fascinates me about all these right-wingers: they say Jesus is their savior, but they act like only guns are their saviors. Funny that such a death cult then makes a movie about a different death cult without facing up to their own heinousness.

Travalon got a new camera in the mail today. It's the same kind as his previous camera that died. Here are some photos he took with it. First, some guys in a fishing boat in front of Rock Island:

Mallard butts!

I believe this is an osprey.

I took this photo on campus on Wednesday - a huge turkey vulture landed right near me!

I think these are called heliotropes.

And a couple of cheery orange tulips in our neighborhood.

I took all those with my cell phone. As you can see, Travalon's new camera takes photos very similar to the ones his old camera took.

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Flight of Lights and Movie Review

 

Yesterday I went to an awards ceremony for our college; I was invited because I'm on the committee that chose the winners. People have to nominate you for these awards, and nobody has ever nominated me. Oh well, I get to enjoy all the hors d'oeuvres and camaraderie with my committee members, and I don't have to stand in front of people and make a speech, though the cash bonus would be nice. We committee members really had a good time. 

Then in the evening, Travalon and I went to a movie called Nefarious. This had been recommended by not one, not two, but three different people. It's about a psychiatrist interviewing a man condemned to die for multiple murders to determine if he is insane, but actually he's possessed. At first I thought I'd give the movie a B-, because while it did a good job discussing the evils of the Left, it never mentioned the evils more associated with the Right - for example, if you watched this movie, you would never be told that greed is a deadly sin. Rich told us we had to stay after the credits for a "surprise," which was a super lame part where the demon says something in Latin. That was so worth staying for - NOT. Then, as I thought about it, I decided this movie gets a C-. While I had at first thought it was a missed opportunity to talk about all sins, I have come to realize it was probably made this way by design. It's not an oversight - the makers want to assure right-wingers that they are as holier than thou as they think they are, and that all the Leftists are going to Hell. Sure, people who deny the existence of evil are easy targets for a movie about evil, but if they had any guts at all, they would also go after the people who are committing grave sin while also bragging about what great Christians they are. If this movie was made to try to convince Leftists to examine their evil ways, it might have actually succeeded if it had also highlighted right-wing sin; but now it's just preaching to the self-righteous choir. It's not going to win anyone over. Remember when being a Christian used to mean examining your own conscience, not other people's? 

As promised, here is the movie of the Flight of Lights at the Dane County Regional Airport:

I hope it was worth the wait!

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More Photos of Olbrich Gardens

 

Today was almost like being in the pandemic again, because I worked from home and Travalon didn't have to work. Right after work and before my adoration hour, I went on a walk, and then I heard a train coming so I hurried to where I could see it... and suddenly there was Travalon! I had asked him if he wanted to go on a walk with me, and at first he said no thanks, but he must have changed his mind. The train had two engines, so I expected it to be really long, but it only had about nine cars. 

After adoration I took another walk in the gloaming. I love the gloaming, or the twilight, or whatever you want to call the not-light, not-dark time after the sun has set but before darkness has truly fallen. Our neighbor who winters down in Florida told us when we were down there that they don't have a gloaming - when the sun sets, then it's dark. And she was right! I wonder why that is? Does it have something to do with the angle of the sun at northern latitudes? There was a very long gloaming in Alaska, for example.

Here are some photos that Travalon took at Olbrich Gardens when we went there a couple of weekends ago.

One thing that makes me sad about Olbrich Gardens is that they don't really have a cactus area. That is my favorite Dome of the three Domes in Milwaukee.

Tomorrow I am back on campus, but I have to wear a mask all day. Then one more day of mask-wearing, and Friday I work from home again. After that I should be fine.

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Northern Lights

 

Last night, after I blogged, Travalon and I went out onto the dock and watched the Northern Lights that we had heard were going on. They were amazing, like waves of magical fairy dust billowing over us, almost seeming as if they were raining down blessings on us. Once in a while, a beam would shoot out of the north like a searchlight piercing those endless waves of sparkling unicorn dust. They were kind of greenish, shot through now and then with pink. I tried to make a video with my phone, but you can't see anything - you can just hear Travalon gasping, "Oh, wow!" I told him we should have brought his good camera and tried to take a long exposure photo, but he said, "Let's just enjoy them in person." It was very late, and we both thought we had to work today.

Yesterday I took a new COVID test, and unlike the dud I'd taken last week that had no lines, this one had two: the blue control line and a very faint red line. I wasn't surprised, because I'd lost my sense of smell. And what a time to lose it, when the hyacinths are in full bloom and the loveliest trees will soon be blooming! I comforted myself by thinking that, if it never came back, at least I have smelled a lot of crabapples and lilacs in my time. Then last night, as I was getting into bed, I smelled lavender! It was Travalon's red panda Ming, who is stuffed with lavender. Travalon heats him up every night just before bed. My sense of smell hasn't come back completely, but I smelled a hint of evergreen as I walked by a fir tree this afternoon, and tonight we had pizza for dinner, and when I held it right up to my nose, I could catch a faint whiff of that heavenly scent.

I had to work from home today, and was it crazy, like BAM! BAM! BAM! Every three minutes I got an email. My boss said I can come into the office after that (tomorrow is my work from home day anyway), but I'll have to wear a mask for the rest of the week. This morning Travalon took a COVID test at the behest of his employers, because someone there had COVID. Sure enough, he had a strong red line, which makes sense, since he is sicker than I am. He has to stay home from work for the rest of the week. It wasn't that warm out today, but it was better than yesterday, and mostly sunny. In the evening we saw four large white birds out in the channel. I was surprised, thinking the swans had migrated further north by now, but Travalon took a photo, and you can see they are pelicans. It's a little blurry, between the rain that started once we got outside and the twilight that was falling.

Earlier in the day we saw blue-winged teals, mallards, and coots.

Our neighbor says he saw a pair of canvasbacks one day, but I never saw them. We have yet to see any wood ducks (there were two pairs one spring), and the buffleheads and other ducks have moved on. Why they don't stay here and breed is beyond me. I think we have an excellent marsh right here. I have seen a great blue heron fly overhead the last two days, so maybe soon we'll have a photo of that to share.

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Skunk Cabbage Sunday, or Mass at a Million Degrees

 

This morning I woke up too late to go to my usual Mass downtown, or even St. Peter's at 10. I was aiming for Waunakee at 10:30 but realized I wouldn't even make that, so I went to St. Patrick's at 11. Now technically that is still my parish, since both churches were merged into one parish years ago, but it feels a little like a rival, like I couldn't go to a Packers game so I went to a Bears one. Maybe it's more like I had to go to a football game for whatever reason, and I already missed the Packers, so I went to the Bears. Anyway, St. Patrick's felt like a million degrees (Fahrenheit or Celsius? does it matter?), and I wondered if I was having a hot flash. During the homily I went out into the hall, which was much cooler, and another woman was there too. I assume she is too young for hot flashes, and she also said it was way too hot in there, so maybe it was the church and not me. 

Travalon and I did go for a walk on the boardwalk in DeForest, and we left the paved path to walk in the woods. To my surprise, toward the end of the path we passed some skunk cabbage. I only knew about the patch of the stuff in the Arboretum, which we often go to see when it's in full bloom, but that's in early March when there's still snow on the ground. Most of this looked like cabbage, but we did see a couple of plants that still had the little band shells, now very dry. Here is a photo.

And here are the plants after blooming, when they just look like cabbage.

In the woods we saw a bluejay.

Travalon took lots of photos of the Yahara River, which up there looks like a cute little creek.

As we walked along the path, we saw this little thing running by itself on a lawn across the river. Was it a lawn Roomba? We couldn't tell if it was mowing the lawn or just patrolling. It sure was cute, though.

Here is a movie of it in action.

Does anyone have any idea what this is? We couldn't tell if it was remote-controlled or self-propelled. A Google search for "orange self-driving lawn thing" seems to indicate that it is a Worx Landroid robotic lawn mower. We just couldn't tell if it was doing anything, but that was our guess.

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First Post on Boethius II with Photos

 

Yesterday, since I had a working computer, I was able to work from home and talk to Tiffy. Honestly, it was probably for the best that I had no way to log into work on Thursday, since I really wasn't functional. I just lay on the couch and watched a documentary about the making of the album Graceland in the morning, and I watched episodes of Colbert in the afternoon.

This morning I was feeling better, so I went to a talk on whether we can explain consciousness using physics at Blessed Sacrament. Lots of people were there; I sat with Jilly Moose and the woman who has parties at her house with the fabulous porch. Travalon had no interest on a talk about science and faith, but he had seemed fine when I left him at home. However, he texted me that he was feeling worse and was at Urgent Care. They said he has a touch of pneumonia and bad allergies. Since he was at Urgent Care, I stayed for lunch (ribs!) and some post-talk discussion, then I headed home. Travalon and I took a gentle walk at Cherokee Marsh and another one in the woods across from the bluff near our house, then he took a nap. Hopefully some easy exercise and some sleep will help him kick this thing.

Using Boethius II is taking some getting used to. He doesn't play well with Blogspot for inserting photos; I can't scroll through my photos, but I can search by date. Here are some recent photos Travalon took. First a pair of blue-winged teals we saw off our dock.

Here is the "tuxedo" duck with his mate. I love the reflections!

Here is a photo Travalon took last Saturday of me in the field of pasqueflowers.

And here's a closeup of the flowers.

I'll have to try posting photos on social media to see if this problem is unique to Blogspot, or if it's something weird with Boethius II.

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