Tuesday, February 27, 2007
It sorta looks like this,
everywhere. 16+ inches over the weekend, and more on the way. I know this is kind of how some of you think of Wisconsin, but it's actually the biggest snow in Wisconsin in 17 years.
They just...don't...stop...
...bicycling here! Seriously... I love seeing the bicycle tracks everywhere between the feet-high banks of snow!
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
An eventful week
I told you about our busy weekend last week, and it followed through to the week. Monday was my birthday, and Susan baked me a cake (she says the picture had to be bad because the cake was... but you can't fault her for trying the organic cake and icing, right?). She made a fantastic Senegalese peanut soup for my birthday dinner, though!
The beautiful flowers and locally-made card to the right were from our neighbors across the street.
This weekend was equally eventful, but in a different way... my first Wisconsin blizzard. We had about 7 inches of snow on Friday, another 7-9 yesterday, another 1-2 inches today, and another 1-2 inches tomorrow... wherever will we put it all?! We can only know that Susan will capture lots of it in pictures. (I really loved pictures of the DC snow by friends Deb and Greg - check them out!)
The best part of the weekend was the reinforcement of everything I love about our neighborhood... Neighbors helped us clear the walk and the driveway... had us over for breakfast after shoveling... welcomed us for veggie chili and home-brewed beer... for hot cocoa and cookies. Yes, yes, this is my place.(Just for the record: Susan's chocolate chip blizzard cookies more than made up for the less successful birthday cake.)
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Music, dance, food and fun
Had a fun weekend... somehow managed to do lots of fun stuff without too much frenzy, always a challenge.
On Friday, we went to Himal-Chuli, one of 3 Nepali restaurants in Madison. It's tiny... 24 seats, and the tables are thisclose together. But the food! I had a sampler platter of dal, momochas, samosa, and roti... and the rice pudding with flax seed for dessert. Outstanding. Can't wait to go back, but Madison has a ridiculous number of restaurants, most of which we haven't been to yet. Poor us.
After the meal, we went to see Ron K. Brown's Evidence dance company at the Overture Center. I like strong, athletic dance styles, and really enjoyed Brown's African-influenced choreography. But there was one dancer -- Juel Lane from Atlanta -- I just couldn't take my eyes off of him. He made everything seem effortless. I kept thinking how incredible to stand out even among such incredibly talented people!
One of the songs in the show was Me'shell NdegeOcello's "When Did You Leave Heaven," a stunning jazz track sung by Lalah Hathaway on the album Dance of the Infidel. That'll be joining our collection for sure.
On Saturday we went to Cafe Monmartre to see Satchell Paige Mitchell open for Natalie Zukerman. We'd heard good things about Zukerman, and I was glad to finally get to see her, and to see more of Mitchell, who was great with Peter Mulvey in LaCrosse.
1500 Madisonians jumped into frozen Lake Monona on Saturday, raising more than $250,000 for Special Olympics. Having experienced the air temperature of late, and seen people walking and skating across the lake for days on end, I somehow have an even greater appreciation for how completely insane this activity is. Good for them!
Now, though, the temperature has seemed downright balmy, in the 40's. It's funny how I've acclimated. When it got above freezing I actually started contemplating whether I should bother to zip up my coat.
Photos of our LaCrosse trip are up (mine; Susan's) , go check out the bluffs, the Mississippi River, our B&B, Peter Mulvey, and other fun stuff!
On Friday, we went to Himal-Chuli, one of 3 Nepali restaurants in Madison. It's tiny... 24 seats, and the tables are thisclose together. But the food! I had a sampler platter of dal, momochas, samosa, and roti... and the rice pudding with flax seed for dessert. Outstanding. Can't wait to go back, but Madison has a ridiculous number of restaurants, most of which we haven't been to yet. Poor us.
After the meal, we went to see Ron K. Brown's Evidence dance company at the Overture Center. I like strong, athletic dance styles, and really enjoyed Brown's African-influenced choreography. But there was one dancer -- Juel Lane from Atlanta -- I just couldn't take my eyes off of him. He made everything seem effortless. I kept thinking how incredible to stand out even among such incredibly talented people!
One of the songs in the show was Me'shell NdegeOcello's "When Did You Leave Heaven," a stunning jazz track sung by Lalah Hathaway on the album Dance of the Infidel. That'll be joining our collection for sure.
On Saturday we went to Cafe Monmartre to see Satchell Paige Mitchell open for Natalie Zukerman. We'd heard good things about Zukerman, and I was glad to finally get to see her, and to see more of Mitchell, who was great with Peter Mulvey in LaCrosse.
1500 Madisonians jumped into frozen Lake Monona on Saturday, raising more than $250,000 for Special Olympics. Having experienced the air temperature of late, and seen people walking and skating across the lake for days on end, I somehow have an even greater appreciation for how completely insane this activity is. Good for them!
Now, though, the temperature has seemed downright balmy, in the 40's. It's funny how I've acclimated. When it got above freezing I actually started contemplating whether I should bother to zip up my coat.
Photos of our LaCrosse trip are up (mine; Susan's) , go check out the bluffs, the Mississippi River, our B&B, Peter Mulvey, and other fun stuff!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Ok.... NOW it's REALLY cold (LaCrosse, WI trip)
Susan caught this... possibly malfunctioning... temperature reading during our trip north to LaCrosse, Wisconsin. We had gone up to see Peter Mulvey at the Pump House regional arts center. We had seen the Saturday date on the tour schedule and thought, "hmm, that'll make a nice get-away weekend, and we can see more of our new home state!" Of course, it was the coldest weekend of the year. Still, there was not precipitation, so a few extra layers and we were good to go.
We stayed at a terrific B&B in the historic downtown. The proprietor was very nice and her daughter was adorable ("the guests! the guests!" she said as we came downstairs). The room had lots of light and was comfy -- I picked it specifically because it lacked all of the frilly antiques of most B&Bs.
On Saturday we dropped off our things and wandered around town. We found key resources for a good weekend vacation: good music (Deaf Ear Record Exchange), good food (Hackberry's Bistro over the People's Food Co-op), good coffeeshop (Jules' Coffee), good bookstore (Pearl Street Books, next door to Jules', great used and new book selection).
Saturday night was the concert; Peter had a cold but sounded good and exhibited his typical wit. Fellow Wisconsin singer-songwriter Satchell Paige Welch joined him on the trip and on stage. The audience was, I think, mostly patrons of the arts center unfamiliar with Peter, so it was a pretty low-key affair.
On Sunday, we enjoyed a fabulous breakfast at the B&B, and headed out to enjoy some of the places we'd spotted the day before (coffee, music, coffee, food, coffee, books).
We had a couple of suprise treats on our way out of town. First, we stopped at Grandad Bluff, a LaCrosse landmark that left us grateful that the roads were clear enough for us to drive up and get great shots like this.
From the top of the bluff, we could see into neighboring Iowa and Minnesota.
Next, we drove across the Mississippi River and up the Minnesota side from LaCrescent to Winona, as recommended by our neighbor, friend, and pet sitter, Kate. Even though the Mississippi is smaller up here, it is still impressive, and seeing it frozen over is rather amazing. And the bluffs all around, the ice clinging to them, a bald eagle... wonders everywhere.
Finally, on our way home, we accidentally found our way onto the scenic route home, and decided to stick with it - a fortuitous choice, it was a wonderful drive, and we'll likely go that way again next time.
In all, the weekend seemed to last for days -- we crammed a lot into it, but still came away relaxed.
Susan will have all of the pictures on Flickr soon... when she does, I'll post the link here.
We stayed at a terrific B&B in the historic downtown. The proprietor was very nice and her daughter was adorable ("the guests! the guests!" she said as we came downstairs). The room had lots of light and was comfy -- I picked it specifically because it lacked all of the frilly antiques of most B&Bs.
On Saturday we dropped off our things and wandered around town. We found key resources for a good weekend vacation: good music (Deaf Ear Record Exchange), good food (Hackberry's Bistro over the People's Food Co-op), good coffeeshop (Jules' Coffee), good bookstore (Pearl Street Books, next door to Jules', great used and new book selection).
Saturday night was the concert; Peter had a cold but sounded good and exhibited his typical wit. Fellow Wisconsin singer-songwriter Satchell Paige Welch joined him on the trip and on stage. The audience was, I think, mostly patrons of the arts center unfamiliar with Peter, so it was a pretty low-key affair.
On Sunday, we enjoyed a fabulous breakfast at the B&B, and headed out to enjoy some of the places we'd spotted the day before (coffee, music, coffee, food, coffee, books).
We had a couple of suprise treats on our way out of town. First, we stopped at Grandad Bluff, a LaCrosse landmark that left us grateful that the roads were clear enough for us to drive up and get great shots like this.
From the top of the bluff, we could see into neighboring Iowa and Minnesota.Next, we drove across the Mississippi River and up the Minnesota side from LaCrescent to Winona, as recommended by our neighbor, friend, and pet sitter, Kate. Even though the Mississippi is smaller up here, it is still impressive, and seeing it frozen over is rather amazing. And the bluffs all around, the ice clinging to them, a bald eagle... wonders everywhere.
Finally, on our way home, we accidentally found our way onto the scenic route home, and decided to stick with it - a fortuitous choice, it was a wonderful drive, and we'll likely go that way again next time.
In all, the weekend seemed to last for days -- we crammed a lot into it, but still came away relaxed.
Susan will have all of the pictures on Flickr soon... when she does, I'll post the link here.
Friday, February 09, 2007
unique feeder
This is awesome.... Susan snapped this in the neighborhood... part seasonal decoration, part animal feeder. Very cool.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Ok.... NOW it's cold
Today, the high was -3. No, that's not a smudge on your screen... today's high was 3 degrees below zero (yes, I understand that is not significantly better than 3 degrees above zero, but still). Wind chills below -30. It was so cold, schools were closed.Now, I know that a lot of people thought I was crazy for moving this far north, but I have been loving the weather, truly. The spring (what we were here for), summer, and fall were all fabulous. And winter has been fine. On the rare occasions that temperatures fell into the teens, I grimaced a bit, but it was bearable. But now... now it is some 25 degrees below normal. I am earning my midwest bona fides.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
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