How Is Rodgers Working Out for You, Jets Fans?

 

Today I worked on campus, and to my surprise, my colleague asked if I wanted to walk at noon. I said, "Aren't you in New York?" and she told me her flight got canceled. On our walk she told me that she was supposed to fly out on Saturday, but they canceled the flight at the last minute, so they rebooked the flight for yesterday. Then that flight was also canceled, so they are currently rebooked for tomorrow. We'll see... This is why I hate air travel, and it's only going to get worse with global warming. More turbulence, and more bad weather forcing cancellations. In Phoenix it got so hot that planes couldn't even take off.

This evening we had a condo board meeting, and when I returned from it, Travalon asked, "Did you hear what happened to Rodgers?" He had been watching Rodgers play his first regular season game as a Jet. I said no, I was in a meeting, how could I have heard anything? He said on his first drive, Rodgers got sacked so hard that he left the game with an ankle injury. I feel some satisfaction that Love did so well in his first game starting for the Packers, and Rodgers got his comeuppance for leaving us. It worked out for the Jets anyway, because they returned a punt for a touchdown in overtime and beat the Bills. Which is fine - I have nothing against the Jets, just against Rodgers for being so arrogant and weird the last few years. He was really a distraction, and Tiffy's brother-in-law said toward the end he was playing to preserve his legacy, not to help the team win. So he would throw away the ball to save his quarterback rating instead of trying to pass to someone to make a play, even if that risked an interception. It's true, he wasn't much of a team player at the end. He blamed all his failures on his receivers.

Here is a photo of the pen wiper kalanchoe I got at the Farmers' Market. 

I have mixed luck with kalanchoes; I had a Mother of Thousands that was very happy, but then it died, and someone gave me a blooming one that I killed right away. However, my copper spoon kalanchoe seems to still be doing okay since I got it in January. Sorry, no rosary photos. Soon, I promise.

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Jordan Love's First Regular Season Game

 

Today Travalon and I went to Oconomowoc to see his mother and two oldest brothers. The oldest one sails a lot, and he said what I should do is volunteer to be a crew member on a racing team, since I know a little about sailing, and then I'd get to be on a boat with the spinnaker up. His mother taught us how to say "I love you" in Croatian. Then we went to Mass at Holy Hill, which was very lovely, and of course afterwards I bought a rosary in the gift shop. I wasn't going to, but then I thought, "If they have a sea foam green one..." Which they didn't, but they had a hunter green one with Our Lady of Guadalupe medals for the Our Father beads that somehow really spoke to me. The cafe there was open, so we had a simple, late lunch and then headed back to Madison.

We got home just after the Packer game started, so we listened to the first few minutes in the car. I really wanted Jordan Love to have a good game for his first regular season game. The first half was brutal, and the Pack were up, but only by a point at halftime. We took a vigorous walk on Governor's Island, since we hadn't had much exercise all day, and in that time the Packers managed to get two touchdowns. I understand Aaron Jones got both of them. We taped the game, so I can go back and watch them. (Travalon already did.) Then as we watched, Quay Walker got a beautiful interception and ran it way down the field for a pick six. Also, their kicker got another field goal that was over 50 yards. Wait, maybe that was just before halftime, so then they were up 10-6. Anyway, they ended up beating the Bears 38-20. In Soldiers Field. As the Packers announcer, Wayne Larivee, said, "Aaron Rodgers still owns the Bears, but he seems to have subletted them to Jordan Love." A fantastic win!!

On the way to band practice, I ran into some road blockages because of the Ironman Triathlon, so I called Hardingfele to say I'd be late. She wasn't even bothering to go to band practice, so I played melody on my mandolin, since there was only one fiddle there. We practiced the Ukrainian music from our last gig, then we practiced klezmer music, and then we did rags, but those are hard so we were struggling with them late in the practice. We should have done them right away. On the way home I was exhausted... and then I kept running into road blockages because of the triathlon. The French apparently invented triathlons, but they also called them "the race of those sick in the head." Sounds about right.

Here are a couple of photos from yesterday. This gourd at the Farmers' Market looked like a green swan.

This is Tiffy's chocolate mousse. She blew the candle out before I could take the photo.

And it's always a good time for Duolingo bragging!

Sorry, no photo of the rosary yet. I will try to take a photo of it, and the other green one I got a few weeks back at the Sauk antiques shop, soon. Maybe tomorrow?

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Apple Oatmeal Chicken Espresso at Inshallah Supper Club

 

Yesterday I worked from home and took off at three, because Tiffy, Richard Bonomo, and I were going to take a Betty Lou Cruise. However, they had canceled it the day before so instead I played pickleball with my neighbor, and we saw people leaving a Betty Lou Cruise. I highly suspect they canceled our regularly scheduled Friday Fish Fry Cruise (they said due to low registration numbers) because they got a more lucrative offer from a private charter, and that was what we saw the people leaving. Then Tiffy and Rich came over, and we went to Mariner's for fish fry. When Travalon got done with work, he joined us too.

Today was Tiffy's birthday. This morning Travalon and I met Tiffy, Rich, Jilly Moose, and the woman with the fabulous porch at Fair Trade for coffee, then Tiffy, Travalon, Jilly Moose, and I went up to the Farmers' Market around the Square, where I bought what I really need: another plant. It's a kalanchoe with purple smudges on its leaves. Travalon went to the Union Terrace, since it was such a beautiful day, while we ladies went to the Globe for lunch and sat outside. Tiffy said she needed to get her free medium bubble tea from Sencha, and I said, "They're only giving you a medium because you're a Virgo. If you were a Libra, they'd let you get a large." She said, "That made me think of something - I can get a free bubble tea for a week after my birthday, but I have to get my free Starbucks drink on my actual birthday." So we went to Starbucks, where I abstained but Tiffy got her birthday drink, and Jilly Moose ordered an apple oat milk shaken espresso. However, when the barista announced it, both Tiffy and I heard "apple oatmeal chicken espresso," and we thought, Dang, Starbucks really is getting adventurous! I said, "That would make an excellent blog post title." Then Jilly Moose headed home, while Tiffy and I went to the roof of her sister's building. In the elevator there was a sign that said if you gave blood at an upcoming blood drive, you would get a T-shirt (supplies limited) and a coupon for a haircut by email. We were surprised to learn that you can get haircuts by email these days, but I guess you can do everything on the computer.

In the evening, Rich drove Travalon, Tiffy, Jilly Moose, and me to Ishnala, the famous supper club where "the only thing they overlook is Mirror Lake." Rich and Tiffy both had trouble remembering what it was called, and they were thinking it was Inshallah, but when Tiffy googled that to find the menu, she discovered it was an Arabic saying. I said, "Just remember that it's Fishnala, but you gotta get the F outta there," and Rich thought that was a good mnemonic, even if he didn't appreciate the naughty part. Ishnala is in an incredibly beautiful location, in the woods around Mirror Lake, and they told us there would be a four-hour wait (they don't take reservations), but we enjoyed going for walks as we waited. There was also live music down on the beach, a guy singing Jimmy Buffet songs (RIP!) and other stuff. There were so many people there that we couldn't find a real seat in any of the five bars or the many seats and tables scattered around the place, so we sat on two rocks by the path, and a waitress kept coming by and bringing us brandy old-fashioneds and duck tenders. (We did have to pay for them.) There was a free wine-tasting that I did not try, but Travalon and Jilly Moose did. I went to the gift shop and ended up buying a sea foam green Ishnala hoodie that says: "I'm so old-fashioned" and has a drawing of the drink on it. That was partly practical, because I was wearing a light dress, and we weren't sure how cool it would get as we waited outside.  

What joy! Our buzzer went off after only three hours! As we were heading into the restaurant, a guy joked, "How much can I pay you for that buzzer?" The restaurant was just as beautiful inside, and it was like being in a tree house. And the food! It did not disappoint. I've read that Ishnala is the best supper club in the state, and I believe it. The filet mignon was so good! The ice cream drinks and the chocolate mousse were so beautiful that Tiffy and I had trouble choosing. We did get the mousse but then could only eat half - I guess we could have split one? Maybe I should have made it a real supper club experience and gotten the grasshopper. Travalon got the special Ishnala ice cream drink, caramel with Rumchata, and he said it was the best ice cream drink he'd ever had. (I tasted it, and it was really good.) I have been wanting to go to Ishnala for years, since we always see it when we hike at Mirror Lake State Park, and it did not disappoint at all. Too bad it's not open in the winter, because Rich, Travalon, and I can't go for our birthdays.

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New Capybara

 

Travalon went to the zoo today, and they have a new capybara! Yay! The old one died a few months ago.

Today I had to take the bus straight home from work, and the bus website recommended the D2 instead of the B. That was fine with me, because it comes to a much closer stop, and also I wouldn't have to cross the street when I got off of it. The D2 goes to the airport, so I settled in for a long ride... but it went basically the same route as the old 28 that used to get me to my car in the old days. Confusingly enough, there is still a 28 bus, and it goes north, but not far enough north for my purposes. Now I'm wondering why I couldn't take the D2 to work as well, since it would drop me off much closer than the B bus does. Oddly, the website says I have to take the B bus to campus, yet I could see the D2 bus picking people up not far from where I parked. I would have to cross a street to catch it, but that seems worth it for the blocks of distance it would shave off once I got to campus.

Speaking of campus, it's kind of embarrassing that our university is becoming known for disasters. Not one, but two very recent bad news stories have made national news: a pier collapsed at the Union because too many students were on it; and a girl was attacked, raped, and beaten by some rando. The first story is more dramatic than serious; nobody was badly hurt, although one person did go to the hospital for what turned out to be minor injuries. The second story is far scarier, but now they have caught the guy. He was pulled over earlier in the evening, so they had the cop's body cam footage to match up with the footage from security cameras in the area of the attack. One creepy detail is that someone arrived on the scene, attracted by the commotion, and the perpetrator pretended to be someone who had just come across the girl himself, but then he took off before police arrived. The girl had life-threatening injuries (judging by the charges against the guy, he strangled her), but now they say that she will survive. I certainly hope she makes a full recovery! And I am so relieved that they caught him! His bail is set at a million dollars - frankly, I'm surprised that they would even consider bail. Lock him up and throw away the key!

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Photos from Travalon's Trip

 

Today I had to take the bus using the new system for the first time, plus I was getting a haircut, so it wasn't the usual bus on my way home. I looked it up, and the C bus would get me to the hair salon well before my appointment... but that was assuming it came on time. As I waited at the bus stop fifteen minutes past the time it was supposed to come, several of us started wondering where it was, and one guy said, "The C bus before this one never came either." Finally it came, and I sent messages to my hairdresser to let her know I was running late. I got there about ten minutes late, which didn't seem so bad - the bus driver must have made up some time. To my surprise, the place was locked and dark - had my hairdresser already left? I knocked on the door, and she opened it and said, "I forgot you were coming! I was just about to leave!" Man, what a bummer if I hadn't gotten a haircut after all that! Afterwards I walked up to the Square to catch the B bus back to the park and ride where my car was waiting, but I was tempted to stay and listen to a Latin jazz band playing at the top of State Street. I could just hear them from the other side of the Square. However, it was starting to rain, and I had stuff to do at home, so I got on the next B bus that came by.

Here are some photos I never got around to posting. These first couple are from that "secret club" I'm in. I had to create a tableau with the two rubber duckies they sent me and a third creature. Here they are with the Pizzasaurus in front of a waterfall.

Here they are in front of the Monona Terrace.

And these are the two rosaries I got a couple of weeks ago in Sauk.

And these are Wolfie and Wendy, the mascots of the Wolverhampton Team from the English Premier League. Travalon is really into British soccer right now, and he wants you to know that Wolverhampton is just outside of Birmingham. (In the UK, not the place in Alabama where I lost a fight with a statue.)

As promised, here are some photos from Travalon's trip up north. First, photos of Chute Pond.

Next are some photos from Cathedral of the Pines, some of the oldest pine trees in the state.

Travalon's college buddy is a literal treehugger!

And here is Travalon.

Here are photos of Long Lake.

Here are photos of Knowles Creek.

And finally, some old Mobile memorabilia, since Travalon loves old gas station signs.

Travalon and I hope that you enjoyed these photos. He says there is a story behind the Cathedral of the Pines: "It is a magnificent stand of over 200-year-old pines. The Connor Lumber Company would clear cut the trees, but Mrs. Connor taught her children to read by taking them to this section of the woods and teaching them to read the Bible. She thought of the place as a spiritual place and begged her husband to let it stand. To please her, he did just that, and it stands to this day. This area of the forest is beautiful any time of the year. In the spring, it's home to a rookery of blue herons. They build their nests at the top of the pine trees, nearly 200 feet in the air. As the little birds hatch and grow, one can hear a virtual concert in the forest as they make many complex sounds." 

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No Beands on the Menu?

 

Saturday I drove to Racine to visit Tiffy, and we went to lunch at a place called Sooshi Bay that was so much fun. You sit in a booth next to a conveyer belt, and pieces of sushi come by on candy-colored plates so that you can choose what you want to eat. The colors denote the price of each plate of food; there are light blue, light green, yellow, pink, and confusingly, two shades of orange. Better yet, those are the cheapest and most expensive colors, so easy to confuse. Why didn't they use lavender or something? We tried all sorts of sushi and three kinds of dessert, and I had a seaweed salad. 

We weren't far from the Mars Cheese Castle, and I had always wanted to visit it, since I love the Schultz Cheese House on the way to Horicon Marsh. That is where you can get the platonic ideal of a peanut butter cup - you'll never want Reese's again! I imagined the Mars Cheese Castle was a bigger version of the same thing, but Tiffy said it was just a tourist trap. I thought some friends had said there was homemade ice cream there. Here is a shot of the outside.

Inside it smells wonderful, probably because of the fresh-baked cinnamon bread, but we were full after all that sushi. The ice cream was just some brand, not homemade. I did get a T-shirt that I may model for my readers if there is any demand.

Then Tiffy and I went to the beach in Racine and waded along the shore.

We went back to her place and swam in her wonderful pool, then we showered and got dressed up to go to a foodie restaurant downtown called Vero. It features small plates for sharing, and we tried mushroom toast, duck wontons, coconut shrimp, scallops, pistachio-encrusted lamb lollipops (our favorite), and almond cake with horchata ice cream for dessert. On the way there, we had seen a taco truck with a scrolling sign announcing, among other things, quezadillaz and beands. On the way back, Tiffy noted that the truck was gone, but I pointed out that it had just moved. I said, "Maybe making more beands," but "beands" doesn't sound that different than "beans," so I had to exaggerate it: "beandzdzdz." For some reason that made us laugh all the way back to her house, then it had finally cooled off so we sat out on her balcony and talked.

Yesterday morning I got up and went to Mass at a nearby church, where the priest apologized for the lack of air conditioning, but I was perfectly comfortable. We had enjoyed Sooshi Bay so much that we went back for lunch again, and our waiter said, "Welcome back." I was hoping we would go back to the beach, but it was even hotter than the day before, so we walked at the mall. We swam in Tiffy's pool again, then we went to a supper club (Hob Nob, which I have blogged about before), but we didn't have reservations, and they said there would be a long wait. We went to a Mexican restaurant, but they didn't have quesadillas spelled like Godzilla, or beands. I had seafood enchiladas with beans (not beandzdzdz) and rice, then back at her house, after a walk in her neighborhood, we had smoothies she made with strawberries, bananas, almond milk, and Malibu rum. We sat out on the balcony and talked again, because once the weather had cooled off after the sun set, it was beautiful out.

Meanwhile, Travalon was hanging out with his buddy who lives in Japan. This is where they stayed:

He took a lot more photos of the North Woods, which I will try to post tomorrow. They went tubing in the Peshtigo River and went swimming in Lake Metonga and went to a drive-in with amazing burgers and pistachio shakes. So he had a wonderful weekend.

This morning Tiffy and I were going to go out for brunch, but I called the restaurant and there was a 45-minute wait, so she made vegetable scrambles for us. They were so good! Then I drove back to Madison, and Travalon and I went to Labor Fest. We had never been, since we are usually out of town until the last possible minute on Labor Day, but he had actually gotten back late last night. Labor Fest was very lively, with horchata and corn on the cob and lots of other food and drink, and local disco cover band V05 were playing. They are always so good. Appropriately enough, one of the songs they did was "September." I saw a number of my union peeps, and the chair from the committee where I'm vice-chair. After Labor Fest wrapped up, Travalon and I went for a hike on Governor's Island, then we went to the splash pad at Lakeview Park, but it had turned off at 7:00 for the season, so when we got there at 7:01, there were just little dribbles of water coming out of it. Then we went to Marshall Park, and Travalon swam a bit, but I was too lazy to get into my swimsuit (especially since there are no dressing rooms or showers, just a bathroom), so I just waded. It's sad that everything is shutting down for the season. Summer isn't quite over, but everyone acts like it is. Tiffy said they might be shutting down her pool too.

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Happy Ex-Prodigies

 

I had a quiet day working from home, then in the evening I went to a fish fry with two neighbors. We sat outside, and one neighbor asked what we had wanted to be when we were little. She had wanted to be a marine biologist, and I had wanted to be a lepidopterist. Our other neighbor claimed she couldn't remember, and she couldn't remember her favorite Halloween costume either. My one neighbor and I were puzzled by that; she is a little older than we are, so is that what happens when you reach four score years of age? You can't remember anything from your childhood? 

This got me thinking about a conversation I had with someone (Kathbert?) about being child prodigies, and this person said I must have been a bit of one. I said come on, I'm nothing but a low-level public servant, and the other person said child prodigies rarely go on to set the world on fire. I remember reading about someone who had one of the highest IQs ever recorded, and he floundered for a while, but now he's apparently very happy being a nightclub bouncer, and living with his wife on a hobby farm, raising all sorts of animals. I thought, yeah, me too - not a worldly success, but very happy. So tonight it hit me: if you were a child who read very early and used big words, adults were always dumping more on you. "Here, read this book you have no interest in just to prove how smart you are!" "Here, solve this puzzle to prove how smart you are!" "Here, take this class way above your grade level to prove how smart you are!" You start to feel like a trained monkey in the circus. Then one day you realize you don't have to do everything people tell you to, and so maybe you're not wildly successful, but you're so happy - you're a wild monkey, swinging on a vine and eating a banana you picked yourself. Maybe you don't know where your next banana is coming from, unlike in the circus, but half the fun is finding it.

This made me laugh way too hard:

Perhaps this is because I spend too much time reading those "Am I the A**hole?" stories, but whoever thought to apply it to The Lord of the Rings is, in my opinion, a genius. Perhaps they were a child prodigy themselves.

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