Another weird day in my life

I'm in Madison staying at the hotel we are having a conference at for work. I started out from home at 6:30 and didn't get to the hotel until 8:15 this morning. Construction, rain, commuters, trucks, closed roads....it was like a war zone. The conference speaker is excellent. The food here is not. When you are on state rate, you don't get much of a choice. For some reason I decided it would be fun to go to the mall after the conference today. So I went and looked at clearance stuff, bought a pair of sandals, looked at mother of the bride dresses. I have a year to go so I have plenty of time to look. Man, there are some butt ugly dresses out there! I am not going to be the "elderly" looking mother of the bride -- no sequins and jacket dresses for me, no way! But I do need to keep the girls covered and contained and I need something that won't make me look like a potato sack with lumps and bumps. I will need all year to find this creation, I just know it. So I bought a pair of sandals. I was trying them on and looked up and realized that there was a transgender person with better legs than mine, and a regular looking guy fingering some high heels. This kind of thing always happens to me when I am out and about by myself.
So then, I go get something to eat and it is very noisy all of a sudden. They have announcements going all the time, stay in the mall, away from the windows, get away from the sky lights....I felt like it was an indoor war zone. It was pouring rain, lightning, thunder, it was awful. And where exactly does one go when there is a tornado warning and you are at the mall? No one seems to know. I waited as long as I could but it was deafening and I was way over my toleration point so I ran for the car. Had to get gas of course. Then it took 40 min to get back downtown. Unreal. I have to get back home and be glad I don't live in Madison. What has happened to this place? People are judgmental and rude, it is crowded and loud, and quite frankly, it doesn't smell so good.
It is also my granddaughter's birthday, number 8, and she is a wonderful blessing. I tried to get her on the phone, but they aren't home. She spent the night with me the other day so we could have our quiet time together. I like those days. It is special. I'm in bed already, watching tv, listening to another storm roll through. Where do you go when there is a tornado warning and you are on the 5th floor of a hotel? No one seems to know.

A view from the bluff trail on Sunday. Eye to eye with the turkey vultures!

Mother's Day Weekend

On Saturday, I took my daughter, her daughter, and her two "stepchildren" (although I don't like that term, I don't know what else to call it. They are her boyfriend's 2 sons) and we all got in the "Party Bus" and went to Cuba City to see my mother and stepfather. Everyone had a great time! Today, I hiked the bluffs at Devil's Lake and met my husband on the north shore and did some fishing. My knees are very sorry. Halfway up I decided I was old, at the top I decided I was old and FAT. It had been about 13 years since I had done that walk. It was a good weekend.

Historical mistakes

I watched a documentary last night on the My-Lai massacre. This morning, I was struck by the similarities of the results of legal action in that case with the results of the Columbia County OWI case of Rep. Jeff Wood, as was reported on the radio today, albeit on a much, much smaller and less horrific scale.

Please note that this is not a commentary on the massacre or the legal proceedings which followed it. This is also not to reflect my feelings about the massacre -- personally, I was horrified as I watched the program. I was too young to know anything about the incident when it occurred. I cried through the program and didn't sleep last night. My heart goes out to those who were part of that horror.

I merely want to comment on the irony of the repeated historical mistake as I see it. And maybe be a fortune teller while I'm at it.

The first person put on trial after news of the massacre had prompted an investigation (about two years later) was Lt. Calley. He was convicted of four charges of premeditated murder and sentenced to life. This created a great backlash of public opinion and eventually, the case was picked up for review by The Greatest Crook of The Time, Tricky Dick. In the end, Calley served four months in Leavenworth and was released to house arrest. The other defendants then were either acquitted or charges were quietly dropped. Case closed.

Today, Rep. Jeff Wood began serving a sentence of 45 days in one of his cases of OWI or driving under the influence (there are actually five I believe, past and present). Instead of stepping down and recognizing he has a disease which needs to be treated, Wood has consistently defended his position to remain in the Legislature (and the paycheck that goes with it) and refused to gracefully exit stage right. His fellow legislators made a lot of noise about expelling him.

But the Grand Political Machine picked up once again and Wood accepted a deal for 45 days in jail on Huber while his colleagues then voted to merely censure him instead of expelling him. the hot air in the chambers that day must have been enough to float the capitol building right out of the ground. Because that's all that was being made that day -- hot air.

If history repeats itself, this means that everyone else within the "Machine" is now safe as well. Our politicans are free to careen from one side of the road to the other in their overpriced, oversized SUVs and luxury vehicles without fear of retribution. God help the rest of us as we try to stay out of their way. And don't forget, they will still be pulling in their paychecks from all of us ordinary folks while they briefly sit in jail waiting for their compadres in the Machine to bail them out.

And Tricky Dick wasn't even here to supervise. Good job.

And I was too young to understand what President Nixon was up to at the time. Lesson learned.

Today's field trip: to find the heron nests at Devils Lake. I found them by their noise - lots of clicking, hooting, howling, and grumbling. Then I found the poo - white splatters on the ground. Then I looked up and there they all were. I also found some egg shells on the ground - maybe from last year's nests? I think they use the same nests again with some cleaning and additions. I don't think they had babies yet but it looked like they were all taking turns sitting in the nests. I laid on the ground underneath the nests and just watched them for about 30 minutes. I am SO glad I didn't get pooped on! The top picture is remnants of an old nest at the base of a tree.

Today I went to the Real Women Real Life conference in the Dells with my friend Cindy. The workshops we went to really spoke to us and I was so glad I was able to share this time with her. She and her husband are raising their little grandson. Life is hard for them right now and I was so happy to be able to hear her laugh and to share stories. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar were speakers. The workshop I went to was about depression and the negative self talk that we all tend to listen to and how to combat it by studying the Bible and memorizing verses that remind us of God's plan for us. Cindy was a little surprised when they all started Amening and shouting -- oops Cindy, maybe I should have told you it was Pentecostal! She really enjoyed the day too!
When I got home, I took some pictures of my friendly flowers as I document their seasons.

Nesting sandhill cranes

Well, I was so blessed today to see a pair of nesting cranes in a marsh between Reedsburg and Lake Delton. They had at least two big eggs and turned them while I was watching. The frogs were singing and the cranes were talking to each other. I'll post some pictures.

Collector's Showcase - Saturday August 14th Are you a passionate collector? Do you have a shelf display or maybe even an entire room devoted to your collection? We are looking for you! On Saturday, August 14 in Baraboo, Wisconsin at the Elks Club, we will be hosting the very first Collector's Showcase.

We would like to invite anyone who collects to show their collections and if you are interested, share information about it and how you value it, etc.Exhibiting is free; we are charging a small admission fee and a fee for workshops. All of the money raised will benefit an event close to my heart -- a backpack give away for needy students. My dream... See More is to not only provide a backpack full of supplies, but also basic hair cuts, school clothes, immunizations, and a light soup supper. I want this day to benefit not only the children, but by providing a wrap around service, building a community of people who care about each other. The backpack giveaway will be taking place just shortly before school begins.If you are interested in exhibiting, holding a workshop, helping in any way, or helping with the backpack day, please contact me!
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Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010

What a beautiful day! Happy Easter everyone!

After church and brunch, I went to work uncovering flowers and trimming bushes and raking, and then Jim came out and helped me get it all to the curb. Thank goodness he helped -- I am so sore now I don't know what I would have done without him. I'll put up pictures of some of the old friends I found under the leaves.

Better get posting!

I am employed now! I have things to blog about finally. I work with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Outreach program of Wisconsin. I spent last Thursday and Friday at their conference in Madison and met a lot of people. It was a good experience and I enjoyed it. Except I couldn't converse with everyone -- by next year I want to know some sign language. It is a beautiful language! I was definitely a minority member for 2 days. I really like it here and enjoy the people I work with. Plus, they all have a wonderful sense of humor and I feel like I fit in. Right now, I am building the database which means putting in school district information. I broke my pull out tray for my keyboard already too so as you can see, I am right at home already.