Sit a bit, type a few words, stare at the screen, type a little more. That pretty much sums it up for today, although Pax and I got in a couple of decent outings. Sue and I also got in a little pruning, and hoisted a hefty number of leaves into the trailer in anticipation of tomorrow’s trip to the compost site.
Load two of three.
BTW, a new big thing on social media is taking a photo of yourself voting. We missed out but think it is a great idea, if not illegal.
Oh, right, it is.
Low gray clouds over a penetrating chill. Sue down south doing her guardian work. Pax and I navigating the sidewalks around here, and grocery shopping.
More on that in a minute.
The new backyard apple tree. Can’t seem to resist planting trees.
So, gongoozling is the odd habit of watching English narrowboats as they ply the canals of the UK. Narrowboats are odd things in themselves, typically 50 to 55 feet long but only about 6.5 feet wide—with saloon, galley, head, bedroom, etc., all stretched out like a long hallway. The boats have to be narrow to navigate the narrow canals and the many, many locks on the English canal system. At present, there are about 30,000 of these not-inexpensive craft floating in ditches and trenches
Anyway, we were introduced to a vlog (video blog) by John (way back when we were on Island time) produced by a semi-retired, middle-aged English bloke who seems to have made cruising the canals a big part of his life’s work. And, as you can see from the screen shot above, I am up to episode 113 (which is I think only a small fraction of the sum total).
So let’s think about this. The typical vlog is, I would guess, about 12 minutes long. Using some form of higher math—12 times 113 equals 1,356 (minutes) which when converted, equals about 22 and a half hours. WHAT AN INCREDIBLE WASTE OF TIME!
And the sad thing is, every night, after dinner, when we think it might be fun to watch something but can’t come up with anything watchable, we watch another two episodes, and that is very much like watching grass grow. Narrowboats cruise along the canals at the breakneck speed of 2 to 3 miles per hour. This relaxed pace becomes obvious when, in the vlog, you see a jogger whip past on the towpath, in a blur.
One episode was devoted to opening up the day’s mail (a few packages potentially useful to cruising). Another focused on changing the engine oil. But perhaps most memorable of all was the episode on marine toilets.
Why do we continue to watch this!? Well, let’s think about it.
It’s mindless. It’s calm. It comes at you in clever and cultured English. It’s more watchable than just about anything else. It’s the perfect antidote to all the spirit-crushing news.
So, recommendation for anyone getting tired of watching paint dry: cruisingthecut.co.uk
And now I’m concerned that when the last trick-or-treater has left, we are going to be left with nothing to watch but episodes 114 and 115.
Got the heavy load of back-yard oak leaves concentrated into 3 piles, awaiting trailer for removal to compost site. Nice, warm day, until about 4 p.m., which is the start time of the Whitewater City Market, at which I was planning to pick up something suitable for supper. Then thunderstorms, which not only rattled Pax but washed out the market.
See today’s earlier blog, below, for a moving letter from Captain Sullenberger.
Moving op-ed in the Washington Post.
Fine day for yard work and two-wheeled vehicles.
Just hoping that enough Americans are awake enough and concerned enough to vote to save our country from its slide into totalitarianism. The future hangs in the balance.
We need to bring our thoughts and prayers to the voting booth.
Not a nice day. Luckily, the seven little tricksters went out in costume last night in Oconomowoc.
And here is the sacrilegious older trickster:
And, here is the whole team.
Last Saturday breakfast, and today lunch—pulled beef sandwiches, various salads, and chips. Calling potential voters and knocking on doors is not all that fun, so good food is essential.
Tempted to stay and chow down, but instead went for a walk along a Kettle Moraine esker.
I highly recommend watching the speech Obama gave today in Milwaukee.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-obama-to-campaign-for-wisconsin-democrats
We also helped out with costuming in Fox Point. Mimi made the Lego Joker costume from scratch.
Actually, out to dinner with the Russo’s, long time Batavia friends, whom we haven’t seen in a long time.
Chilly, cloudy day. Got the garden tilled, and tanked up on 10 gallons of the world’s finest water at the Kettle Moraine ever-flowing well south of town. Can’t have good coffee without good water.
Homegrown, with onion, garlic, one apple, and lentils.
Here’s hoping it tastes good.
UPDATE: Chicken broth, of course, and half a cup of sherry—overall very high YUM factor.
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Extremely important election just days away.
Affordable healthcare, decent support for public schools, respect for the environment, protection of Medicare; also facts, science, truth, honesty, decency, fairness—all are on the ballot.
Here in Wisconsin:
Sentate: Tammy Baldwin
Governor: Tony Evers
Attorney General: Josh Kaul
Secretary of State: Doug LaFollette
State Treasurer: Sarah Godlewski
Each office is important in bringing our state back to health.
AND…there is the need to vote for the right person in each U.S. congressional district! (Here in Wisconsin’s 5th district, hope springs eternal that the ancient Republican toad will be put out to pasture.)
In Wisconsin, why not vote early? Just go to the Municipal Clerk’s office. Early voting lets you vote when it is convenient for you, and insures you won’t miss out if schedule difficulties arise on Election Day.
Early voting has started in Wisconsin and continues until November 2. Actual election day is November 6
If not registered, you can, in Wisconsin, register to vote in person up until Election Day. You can register to vote in person at the Municipal Clerk's office up until 5:00 p.m. or close of business (whichever is later) the Friday before Election Day (in this case, November 2). You also can register to vote in person at your polling place on Election Day.
Please talk with everyone you know, and make sure they are going to vote.
I just wish I could vote for Beto in Texas.
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As Thomas Friedman says in the New York Times:
So, this year: No third party, no Green Party, no throwing up our hands and saying, “They’re all bad.” All of that’s for another day. For today, in these midterm elections, vote for a Democrat, canvass for a Democrat, raise money for a Democrat, drive someone else to a voting station to vote for a Democrat. It’s the only hope to make America America again.
Nothing else matters. Pass it on.
Day after perfect day.
The Rock River, above, is still out of its banks, but rapidly returning to its normal fall state.
Pax and I, having business in Fort, walked some of it and just a little of the Glacial River Trail.
And this evening I had the opportunity of talking Ellie to riding lessons where she rode like a champ, including one stretch bare back.
Bright and chilly for an hour-long big loop walk in the morning; then sunny and warm for a bike/run to the prairie in the late afternoon. (Some chores interleaved between the two.)
The willow holds on to its green.
Rather liked this poem, and it is interesting to note that thanks to people like George Church this lost species is being brought back into existence.
When glaciers trapped a third of Earth’s water and drained the Bering Strait, humans
journeyed to this land where wind swept the steppes of snow, exposing grass
that would be plucked by mammoth trunks and ground by washboard teeth.
Up to thirteen feet, their tusks curved helically and would intertwine if they went on
a little longer. The beasts’ dense hair—brown, blonde, or ginger—swung like a skirt
about their flanks. I want to rest my head against that shaggy coat, to crane
my ears, to be protected from the giant short-faced bear. I want to be
their baby, wrap my trunk around my mother’s, watch the wild horses of Beringia
canter across the steppes in tawny, fine-boned movements. The thick fat
under my hair keeps me warm when the sun goes low, and I grow into
an eight-ton bull, pierce the ice with my tusks and drink from glacial pools.
The wind is bitter, but my strongest features have grown bigger than my father’s.
When summer comes I must find a mate, and it only takes a few tusk locks to show
my strength. After our calf is born, I see upright creatures eyeing him from the mesa.
I will fling them against the icy mountains. They wear our hair as if it were
their skin. Still, I will live through many winters, through each warm season’s
hardheaded matches. I know the range that slopes like the hump on my back, sunsets
redder than the long-toothed cat’s gorging mouth, how musk oxen form a wall of horns
and still fall prey to the blade thrown. I know how many herds have fled, and the curves
of carcasses stripped to bone by men, wind, and time. I do not know that I am gone.With the big 5 at Busy Barns. Perfect day for it.
Good fun. Thanks to Mimi for some of the photos.
Fierce north wind, with ice pellets and a little snow.
But Ellie, Maddie, and Becca over for some afternoon fun, and then a sleep-over.
Mimi did pretty well, too.
...which actually are a good thing when you are a retired teacher, and today resulted in Katy and Will visiting us in Whitewater for some bike riding and lots of ping-pong. (Ping-pong is the thing these days.)
Everyone was so busy that no one took any photos. Therefore this one from a few days ago:
A dark and damp day, but not so bad as to preclude biking and some time at the playground.
Actually, there is one photo. Thanks to Abby.
Storm windows to be exact.
...flowers in the fall.
Fascinating shrub. Flowers are little filaments of yellow. Oddly enough, the plant has both this year’s flowers and last year’s maturing fruit on board at the same time. And the fruit capsule is explosive and can eject the seed up to thirty feet. (Note: none of us here have been struck by flying seeds.) The leaves and bark can be macerated and distilled into an astringent decoction. Maybe, someday, the bottle in the bathroom will be replaced by a bit of home-brew.
Perfect for yard work and computer work, including a bit of writing.
Perfect also for a good long sit on the back patio as the sun was sliding down in the west.
On an outing, Pax and I visited the lovely, volunteer built Haumerson’s Pond ice skating warming house in Fort, which is only a year old. Halloween festivities have been cancelled, and it looks like some dry weather will be necessary before freeze-up.
Rather quiet, rather slow.
Niki headed back towards St. Paul (after a fun visit), and Sue down helping Irene after her hip surgery. Pax and I took our first big loop walk since arriving back here from Kagawong, and we both enjoyed it. Then in the afternoon we followed the old routine of a bike ride/run to and around the prairie.
Chilly and breezy, and now a fire in the breezeway stove.