Niko's Buddy and More Christmas Photos

 

Today I had to go into the office because a grad student had left me a big mailing to prepare, and I had to water the plants and get something a faculty member had ordered that needs to be returned to Home Depot. It has been so mild and dry this December, so of course this morning it was snowing... hard. Travalon kindly took me in anyway, then he was going to hang out at the Union while I did my work, but it was closed. He went over to the bookstore, where they have a little coffee shop, and got us both coffees. When he gave me mine, the little sticker over the opening stuck to my glove, and the picture on it was a mitten, so that seemed kind of meta. 

We ran an errand at Walgreens, and I got a buddy for Niko:

It's actually a furry monster slap bracelet.

The rest of the day was uneventful for me, but I did take an hourlong walk in the falling snow, so that was kind of fun. Just in our neighborhood, and as I was talking to a neighbor, we saw a black sedan with flashing amber lights inside of it, so we wondered if it were some kind of official vehicle. Was it checking out the snow situation on our street?

Since my photos seem to be loading faster now, here are some more I took of the light display in Stoughton.

This was a pretty Christmas tree at the place where Travalon's mother lives.

Here are some photos Travalon took of the Zoo Lights in Chicago:

Check out the sketchy character in this photo!

These look like the same parakeets that talked at China Lights in Milwaukee, but there was no indication that they could talk.

A better photo than mine of the city skyline.

Mardi Gras colors! But why? It's Christmas, not just before Lent.

I forgot to mention that we popped into the cafe at the Lincoln Park Zoo to use the restroom, and there was a live jazz band playing. It was great, but we only stayed a few minutes because we wanted to see all the lights... and I think we still missed some. It's a big zoo!

And here are Travalon's photos of the lights in Stoughton.

These are some photos he took of the house on Lacy Road.

Both he and I made videos of the lights in Stoughton, so I'll try to make an iMovie of that at some point and post it to YouTube with a link here. Something to look forward to, anyway.

Famous Hat

Giant Inflatable Santa Street

 

This morning we went to Cherokee Marsh again, and Travalon took some more photos of the swans. This first photo isn't so great, but the goose to the right in the front row appears to be a greylag goose rather than a Canada goose. Apparently someone saw a hybrid Canada x snow goose in town yesterday, but they didn't say exactly where, and we couldn't figure it out from the photo.

This is a juvenile swan. Notice its grey plumage and pink bill.

This swan has a lot of yellow in front of its eye - is it a different type? An internet search seems to imply it could be a subspecies called a Bewick's Swan.

We had some lunch at Jiffy Lube, then we drove by the East Side Club to see if the open jam would be happening tonight, and it was listed on the marquee. Then we took care of Mao the Cat before Travalon had to leave for work. I worked all afternoon and got a lot done.

In the evening I went to the house of one of the Night Prayer regulars because another regular who lives on the West Coast was in town, so there was a party. Everyone was supposed to bring a snack, and a lot of the snacks were sugary, but I brought muenster cheese curds, and people loved them so much that they ate them all and wondered what kind of cheese they were. A bunch of people who knew the West Coast guy and his wife from a prayer group back in the 70's were there, as well as us Night Prayer regulars. We had just gone around the room introducing ourselves when there was a knock at the door, and there was Travalon! He had gone to the East Side Club, and it was totally dark. They had also removed the open jam from the marquee. We wondered if it were just canceled for tonight due to the holidays, but unfortunately when I went on the leader's calendar, there are no more jams listed after the one last week. Bummer!

On the way home, I drove down Monroe Street because everyone keeps talking about all the giant inflatable Santas on the street - there was even a newspaper article about it! Indeed, many houses had a giant, lit-up inflatable Santa in the front yard. Here is a photo of one, with a particularly lovely tree.

Now imagine one of these in front of practically every house for several blocks. You get the idea.

Famous Hat