The Beatles and the Bardo

 

Today was not a very eventful day; I worked on campus with my coworker who is the King of Dad Jokes. He told me this one: "What's the best thing about Switzerland? I'm not sure, but the flag is a big plus!" So I told him this one: "I hate elevator music. It's bad on so many levels." Then I went and wrote some puns on the speech bubble where all our puns used to be until another coworker erased them. I suppose she will erase them on Monday, when she comes to work in person.

Today I was in a weirdly Beatles sort of mood; first I listened to "#9 Dream" by John Lennon, and then I listened to the three sitar songs George did with the Beatles: "Within You, Without You," "The Inner Light," and "Love You To." That last one I listened to five times - it just sounded so good today. I had my Union meeting after work, then when Travalon came to pick me up, we listened to Revolver, because "Love You To" is on there. Tiffy's favorite Beatles song is "Tomorrow Never Knows," which is really a strange song but oddly compelling. I was reading about it, and the sounds like seagulls are actually a sped-up recording of Paul McCartney laughing. There's also sitar and mellotron, but the mellotron doesn't bug me like it does in the beginning of "Strawberry Fields Forever." And the lyrics are sort of from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, by way of Timothy Leary. The original book is supposed to guide people through the bardo, which is the state between incarnations. (During my bardo, I argued with God, and Rich and Kathbert said that sounded just like me: arguing with God.) In the case of Timothy Leary (and the Beatles), I think they were less interested in the state immediately after death and were more interested in inducing a similar state through using psychedelic drugs like LSD. As I have discussed recently on this blog, that is not something to be undertaken lightly, because it does seem like it opens people up to spiritual realities they might not be ready for. Maybe it is an actual glimpse of the afterlife, but if you aren't right with God so that you wouldn't want to meet Him tomorrow, maybe don't go looking for Him on an acid trip, is all I'm saying. 

I remember being a toddler, and being confused when my parents tried to describe where my departed great-grandmother had gone. I pictured her being stuck in a cloud from their description, which was nothing like what I remembered of my own bardo. My parents might not share my belief in reincarnation, but they taught me from my earliest days that there is something after this life, which is so important. So many people never think about the fact that eventually they will have to meet God. Not sure I'll ever be ready myself, but at least I've given it some thought, thanks to Ma and Pa Hat.

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Boz Scaggs and the Mallards

I forgot to mention that on Monday, when we went swimming in Crystal Lake, I was wearing a Lake Ripley bucket hat. Fortunately nobody said, "That's the wrong lake!" I don't know if there are Crystal Lake bucket hats; I do have a Crystal Lake hoodie. 

Yesterday when my neighbor and I went for a walk in the neighborhood, another neighbor greeted us with freshly baked peanut butter kiss cookies!

My neighbor said, "We lead a charmed life." We really do, because they changed the confession time at my church to just before my adoration hour, so it was very easy for me to go. Then after adoration, Travalon and I went to see Boz Scaggs. The last time we had seen him, he didn't do "Miss Sun," but he did it this time! However, about an hour into the concert, the sound level went up to a painful level, so I spent most of the rest of it out in the hall, where I could hear but it wasn't so loud. Oddly, nobody else seemed to notice - I was the only one plugging my ears. He did do his other big hits; my other favorites are "JoJo" and "Lowdown," and he also did "Lido Shuffle" and all his other songs that I know. I really liked a bluesy number with a slinky bassline called "Rock and Stick," which is a cover. 

Time for some DuoLingo bragging!

Today I worked on campus, then Travalon picked me up and we went to watch some Mallards baseball. It wasn't the greatest game - they lost 10-5 to the Rafters, who always seem to have their number - but they had just as many hits and no errors, so the problem was their fielding. The weather was perfect, and I saw this lovely sunset over the stands.

So you can't win them all, and at least we did see the Mallards win (quite decisively!) earlier in the season. They are leading the league, so it's very possible they will have a playoff game at the Duck Pond. Of course, if they are playing the Rafters, who are currently #2, then that might be the end of their playoff run. I don't think we've ever seen them beat the Rafters.

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Swimming in Crystal Lake

 

Today Travalon took the day off of work, because they turned his nephew's life support off and he just wanted to grieve quietly at home. They had originally been planning to do it last night, and his fiancee had asked us to be there, but then they changed the ceremony to 8 am this morning. Apparently all the doctors and nurses line the hallway while the person is being wheeled into the operating room to have their organs harvested as a sign of respect for their sacrifice. I had emailed my band that I couldn't come to practice and then had to email them that never mind, I would be there after all.

It was a productive day for me, working from home, and since Travalon was right there when I got done at five, I suggested we go to Crystal Lake to swim. Before the pandemic they charged $8 to swim at the campground, but during the pandemic it was only open to campers, not the public. Now it is $15 and only open to the public on weekdays. Usually Travalon gets home from work too late to get out there, but today was our big chance, and we took it. Swimming in the lake was so wonderful, and then we climbed on the inflatable obstacle course in the lake, and now my arms are quite sore. Climbing things is so much more fun than lifting weights! We decided to try the pool too, and that was so lovely that we stayed in there quite a while as well, shooting buckets with a Fighting Illini basketball that was just laying around and throwing each other a black and neon green football that was also just laying around. When it comes to sports, if there's a ball involved, I'm all about that! But not pucks so much - hockey is just not my thing. The hills around the lake were so beautiful, and I took this photo (that unfortunately isn't that in focus) of the sunset behind the hills from the car.

As we drove home on Highway Y, we could see beautiful glimpses of the sunset behind the hills, but it is a one-lane highway with nowhere to stop and take a photo. When we got home, we did take a walk in the neighborhood, and I took this photo of the sunset behind Mariner's Inn.

It looked like a painting. We thought how much fun it would be to stay at Crystal Lake Campground, where your big decision every day would be, "Should I swim in the lake or in the pool?" The pool was warm and surrounded by fake palm trees, and it really did feel tropical. Looking at the hills around us, we could pretend we were on St. Lucia or some other tropical island with mountains. What a wonderful evening!

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A Couple of Couples at Horicon Marsh

 

Today we went to Mass at the church closer to us, because afterwards we went to Horicon Marsh with a couple we had met there. That was a lot of fun! We saw a lot of egrets and some pelicans, but no yellow-headed blackbirds or black-necked stilts. We went on the boardwalk and then on Old Marsh Road. Here are some photos.

We saw three pelicans, so we got to see half of the Big White Birds today.

Here is a tern:

I think this is a red-tailed hawk:

The pied-billed grebe is so cute!

Look at all the swallows in this tree!

And here we are!

When I uploaded Travalon's photos to Boethius, I found this photo of the ferry from yesterday:

The other couple had to go to a meeting at three, so after lunch we hurried back to Madison. My FitBit's battery had died completely, so we went to three different places trying to find someone who could change it, but finally we gave up and bought a new FitBit. We also bought a pickleball set and got some bubble tea to reward ourselves for all that adulting. Travalon drove me to band practice, where I played the violin again, and he went to Leopold's and bought two books and had a pandan latte and that fancy drink in the cool glass again. As he was driving me to band practice, he asked if Bongo the Dog would be there, and I said I hadn't seen Bongo in ages. But when I got to the door, there was Bongo to greet me! Travalon got to see him when he came to pick me up. So that was a good way to end the day. Now my new FitBit is charged and synced and ready to go! I will have horrible stats for today, but tomorrow I should be back on track. 

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Heavenly Saturday

 

Sorry that I haven't blogged in so long. Thursday I worked on campus, and I saw this weird structure that looks like a climbing toy for kids that had appeared right outside the Killer Building.

I tested its strength, and it was pretty solid, so I climbed on it myself. Then I asked my coworkers what it was, and one said it was a sculpture, because someone asked to see it from our library. It looks like an airplane from the ground, but it really does from above.

Another one found out it is a piece of sculpture created by a Ho-Chunk artist, and it was displayed at the White House at one point, before the family gifted it to the university. It's the shape of a bird effigy mound, and it points at an actual effigy mound nearby. And I climbed on it? Oops! But I can guarantee that undergrads are going to as well, especially since there is no plaque saying what it is. Apparently there will be a dedication in September.

I was also unanimously elected Vice-Chair of the Central Committee again. I was in a pretty good mood when Travalon came to pick me up, but then he said we had to go say goodbye to his nephew, who had been the best man at our wedding. We drove to Wauwatosa and went to the hospital, which only allows four visitors per room and ends visiting hours at eight, but they waived both rules for us. Travalon's two oldest brothers and their wives were in the room with his nephew, who was braindead but being kept "alive" for organ donation. It was so sad. We met his fiancee, who had to fill out all the organ donation paperwork. Eventually we all headed out, and rain poured on us. Once we got back to Madison, we had trouble finding a restaurant open at that late hour, but TGI Friday's was, and Travalon got this beautiful (and tasty!) drink.

Yesterday I worked from home, then Tiffy and I had dinner at Amber Indian restaurant and drove out to the outdoor theater to see "Chekhov's Shorts," a number of very funny scenes by Chekhov that he apparently had not worked into a whole play. On the way home I really had to go to the bathroom, and wouldn't you know that I was stopped by not one but two trains? I tried to go around the second one and got very lost in Maple Bluff, ending up right behind the train again anyway.

I just want to note that the rosary Tiffy got for me years ago in Mexico and gave to me when she found it again in her house matches the color scheme of my portrait of Niko.

Today I walked with my neighbor while Travalon watched cartoons, then I said we could do whatever he wanted, since it had been such a rough week for him. He was close to his nephew - they used to go to Comic Con and geek out about stuff. Travalon wanted to go to Lake Wisconsin, so first we drove to Sauk and stopped at the antiques shop there, since they have a wide selection of comic books, and Travalon wanted to peruse them in honor of his nephew. I found a rosary - sorry, no photo yet. It's a beautiful Kelly green. Then we took the Merrimac ferry over the lake and went to Fitz's for lunch. Because of the way the shade was, I had to have my back to the lake, but I was looking at lots of beautiful flowers.

It was a beautiful day, and the weather was perfect, but it somehow felt even more blissful than that, like we were actually in Heaven. I mentioned it to Travalon, and he felt it too, so we wondered if it was a message from his nephew that he was doing well up there. After our haddock cake sandwiches we split a salted caramel shake, then we went for a walk on the path to Paradise Island. We went to Merrimac, since they were having a festival in their park, and Travalon took some photos of the lake.

Then we went to Devil's Lake and swam at the South Shore beach. Travalon took some photos of the bluffs that were all around us.

We went for a walk on the nearby boardwalk, and I took this photo looking back at the busy beach:

We also saw this intriguing inflatable in the water. My photo:

Travalon's photo of it:

I don't know what it is, but I want one! There were so many people at Devil's Lake, and most of them seemed to be grilling something, so I said I was jonesin' for a burger. When we got back to town, we went to Portillo's, because even though it's a chain, it has just about the best burgers I've ever tasted. They really taste like they were grilled at Devil's Lake just before you get them. Then we just came home and sat on our screened-in porch, because it had been such a perfect day that we were afraid anything more would possibly ruin it. It had really been heavenly, and we really think it was a gift from Travalon's nephew.

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Barbie and Ken and Niko

 

Today my neighbor picked me up from work, and we went to the Barbie movie. We ordered the "Out of the Box" shandy, which was supposed to be bright pink, but ours was pretty faded.

The theater was completely packed, and a number of people brought kids, although nothing about the marketing of this movie in any way implies that it is for children. However, I think the more adult jokes were subtle enough that they probably flew right over the kids' heads so no harm, no foul. I have to say that the movie was pretty hilarious, although it did have a lot of deeper moments touching on mortality, the meaning of life, and how men and women relate. Plus Rhea Perlman! Remember Carla from Cheers? I would recommend the movie, and I can see why people see it more than once. Unlike Oppenheimer, the three-hour epic I got through without having to pee once, I did have to leave in the middle of the Kens' dance number, so if I do see it again, maybe I can choose a different scene for my bathroom break. Niko watched the movie with me, as well as my neighbor, and he was pleased to see someone in the credits named Nico, even if they did spell it wrong.

Please pray for Travalon's nephew, who was the best man at our wedding. He was involved in an accident at work and has sustained a serious brain injury. They don't know if he will survive the night, and they say he will almost certainly never be the same even if he does survive. I guess we will know more tomorrow.

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Nikoheimer

 

Yesterday I worked from home, then my neighbor and I dressed in pink (and I wore Niko) to go to the Barbie movie. We wanted to go to the 6:00 showing, but it was sold out... and so was the 6:30 showing and the 7:00 showing. I think there was a really late showing, like 9:00, that we could have gotten into, but I had to work today. Instead, we went to Oppenheimer at 6:30, and that was so good. They even let us order off the children's menu, so I had a child-sized pizza, and it was perfect. Since I was wearing Niko, he got to watch the movie too, except when I had a napkin over him while I was eating. I don't want to get pizza sauce on my Niko! A lot of the other people in our theater were wearing pink, so they must also have been Barbie refugees. One woman said, "A lot of people are doing Barbenheimer, but we're doing Oppenbarbie because we watched Oppenheimer first." After the movie we bought tickets for Barbie for tomorrow.

I did take a couple of photos of lotuses blooming just off our dock.

Today I worked from home again, then I went to Adoration. While I was there, Travalon took photos of Squeaky the Hummingbird at our feeder.

After dinner I walked with my neighbor, and we saw this Barbie sunset. It was pinker in real life.

The other day I saw a faculty member who studies shamanism (he is Catholic himself), and I mentioned my thoughts about nonspiritual people having bad trips on psychedelic drugs. Not only did he tell me he thought I was totally right about that, he said at our university, if they are giving a person a dose of psychedelics and that person has no religious background, they are extra careful to guide their trip. I thought that was extraordinary: at a secular university, they tacitly acknowledge that a lack of religion in a person's life makes them vulnerable to having their mind blown by seeing the spiritual realm. Why is nobody talking about this?? I know I often mock people who want "instant enlightenment" without putting in the hard work, but if they try to take a pill to become enlightened without the knowledge first, it's not just cheating, it's downright dangerous for them! I have run into people now and then, usually from the hippie generation so about fifteen years older than I am, who scorn religion but seemed fascinated by me. I have often felt like I could sell them on some garbage to become "instantly enlightened," but of course I couldn't do that and live with myself, and when they hear the answer to my spiritual development is sooo boring (Mass and the Rosary), they tune out. But now I'm thinking I need to save these people from doing something that potentially blows their minds, and not in a good way.

Travalon wants me to note that he is "un-adulting" by listening to 80's music while making the stuffies dance. It's like their own little nightclub.

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