...Ice. The beautiful, black glass has been defiled.
Light snow overnight, not much, but enough to derail iceboating plans. And now, freezing rain, making walking treacherous. Got some trailer work done though, so hope springs eternal.
While it’s true that the goose is still getting fat, it has seemed that Xmas here has already been dealt with.
But no. Yes, the gifts have been given and a party had, but it’s still the season. And today Mimi put the decks up (in addition to cleaning the basement). Great merriment yet awaits.
And, all I did is work on the trailer, walk the dog, and cook dinner.
...it could need work.
Actually, the new trailer is a bit on the old side, and the back panel of the accessory box has proved to be rotten. Along with that, the metal frame needed wire brushing followed by Rustoleumizing. And, as always, a new wiring harness is required. What could be more fun than projects like these?
Report from Oconomowoc says that Lac La Belle is absolutely flat, smooth, and black — perfect ice, thick enough to support shanties. Bri said it reminded him of the time on Crystal Lake when we skated on a newly formed, clear sheet while watching a muskrat swim below. Ice like this doesn’t come along every day, and it needs to be taken advantage of.
Also of note, I experienced a “eureka moment” regarding the old Keurig coffeemaker, and by gum the eureka was right. The clog was just where eureka said it would be, and was easily removed. So…the good, old, well-used coffee machine is going back into service tomorrow. Which means the new one (rather a lightweight) is going to be placed on the redundant list and assigned to the position of “standby.” Good place for it. Can/t forget that the Kagawong Keurig suffered a malfunction last summer and almost ended up at the Mall.
Gotta schlep when there’s 4 boats. And sailable ice.
So now the boats, sails, booms, planks, masts, horses, toolkits, and the like, are pretty much organized and on the right trailers. Bri and I did this at the storage unit west of O’wock. Meanwhile, Sue spent a good part of the day in hospital in Madison, sitting with our across-the-street neighbor who recently had surgery. Odd yes, but who else would you want at your bedside?
Here are a few more photos of yesterday’s Xmas extravaganza. Photos by Renee.
And below that is a link to a great choral rendition of “White Christmas” brought to my attention by John.
U.S. Navy Band and Chorus…”White Christmas”
A notable party at the Janowiec’s in Fox Point. (More photos to follow.)
Tent city. Five tents made from scratch by Mimi.
New chair for Ben. James has one that’s identical.
New theatre curtains in the basement…so of course a show!
Very festive decor, very tasty fare—king crab, steak, twice-baked potatoes, etc.
More twins.
Four iceboats? Among three sailors?
Nite 300 recently came on the market at a very attractive price. The boat has a successful racing record, appears to be in perfect condition, is very well equipped, and looks nice. Bri and I spent an hour trying to find something wrong with it, but were unsuccessful.
So that makes four boats in the Nies/Janowiec consortium. However, good old Number 10, Wombat, is now up for sale. While none of us is claiming that Wombat was the brightest purchase, we did our part in bringing her back from the brink of extinction. And, while not the fastest steed in the stable, she is a fine craft, and will make someone very happy.
Also, it will be fun to see Nite 300 and Nite 351 side by side on the ice, and to speculate on which will win more races.
Featuring Ellie singing and telling jokes. “It was so cold that when I turned on the shower I got hail on the head.”
...thanks to liquid nitrogen.
Courtesy of the dermatologist. Then, later in the afternoon, sorting through boxes of scrambled, thirty-something-year-old Lego Dacta Technic pieces and parts to see if a workable kit could be reconstituted. Some of the batteries were corroded, somewhat resembling my face.
With Christmas coming in 3 days, the pressure is on.
Democracy be damned.
With the Republican party having lost Governor, Attorney General, and other state-wide offices, the losers are now pushing an anti-democratic, lame-duck power grab. Nothing subtle about it. Very Stalinesque. Because of extreme gerrymandering, vast sums of Koch money, Fox news and talk radio support, the Repubs still control the Wisconsin legislature. They are addicted to power, and a continuous supply of puppet-master money, and they are now ready and willing to turn Wisconsin into a totalitarian oligarchy. Who cares what the voters want?
“Of, by, and for the people,” said President Lincoln. Screw that, say Vos and Fitzgerald.
I wonder if Gerry and Mander, and all the other rural Wisconsin rednecks, are going to like living in a totalitarian oligarchy. Maybe. There will be no need to vote. Also no need to think. The benevolent overlords will do that for them and then tell them what to put on their yard signs.
Way out in right field it's all about hierarchy, patriarchy, and privilege, slinging guns and thumping bibles. And if the Repubs can keep them folks resentful and scared it might be time to move to Moscow.
One of those days when…… Big blocks of time spent wrassling the old Keurig coffeemaker, trying to convince it that it was not yet deceased. Unfortunately, in spite of my many ministrations, mortality proved to be the case. Of course, replacing it is such sweet sorrow, seeing as Keurig has as many slightly differentiated models as Garmin does GPS units.
On the up side, I made a batch of Wild Rice Casserole from the recipe (slightly enhanced) from the good old Family Tree Cookbook (compiled in 2005 by Ruthie and Niki.) The casserole just came out of the oven, and it looks delightful, and smells ever better.
One in particular. Katy gave a standout performance in an elaborate production of the Nutcracker. Bri brought Becca, Maddie, and Ellie to be part of the fun.
Great day for ducks. But at times, almost a duck drownder. Wild winds and sheets of driven rain, which, at, least, cleared any remnant snow off the small, already frozen lakes.
On the way home from groceries Pax and I were dropped off on the far side of the prairie, for a good long walk home. He had not been out much previous, so it seemed like a good idea. But it wasn’t. We got drenched and blown sideways, but worst of all, noise from the University stadium (where a football game was in progress {some people don’t have the brains they were born with}) spooked him and then all he wanted to do was get home in the shortest amount of time possible. Oh, well.
Not a big fan of George H.W. who passed today, but I do admire him for some things. I especially agree with these statements: “There can be no definition of a successful life that does not include service to others.” And, “I have found happiness. I no longer pursue it, for it is mine.”
Well, not exactly a spree. But we did go to Mayfair mall (Pax loved it), got a few things, but mostly realized that non-online-shopping is not-all-that-great. Of course, it’s hard to beat lunch at the food court.
Pax and I got in a late afternoon walk, and on it saw waves of geese heading south.
Christmas is coming.
Christmas is coming early this year.
So a little prep work necessary today.
Pax and I got in a big loop and a prairie loop today, and although it was cold, it didn’t seem cold.
Beautiful ice, possibly strong enough to walk on
With lots of sun, little wind, and the right attitude, cold doesn’t have to be cold.
Meanwhile, I made another attempt at writing an early-reader Pax story:
On our walk today Pax went hunting.
“Oh, no, Pax! Don’t do that!” I shouted. But it was too late.
***
Pax was born to hunt. He has good eyes, good ears, and a really good nose. If I hide in the park when he’s not looking he can always find me just by sniffing. He also has sharp teeth, and he can run really fast. He has everything he needs to catch prey.
When Pax was young, squirrels were his prey. If I let him off his lead in the park he would stand still and stare at a squirrel near us. Then he would slowly lift one paw and slowly take a step. He would stand still again, and then take another quiet step. He was sneaking up on the squirrel.
Closer and closer. The squirrel would look around, but then Pax would stand still. Slowly, quietly, closer and closer…
Then, JUMP! Pax would jump at the squirrel and the squirrel would jump away and start running toward a tree.
Lucky for squirrels, our park has lots of trees. Pax would get close, but end up with only a mouthful of tail fur.
When Pax got older he stopped chasing squirrels. He knew he couldn’t catch them.
***
But on our walk today it was snowing. It had been snowing all night so the snow was deep. Pax loves snow. He likes to jump in it, roll in it, and when he is thirsty, eat some of it.
Today Pax raced to the top of the big hill in the park. He beat me to the top. When he got there he saw a squirrel, and the squirrel was not near a tree.
“Oh, no, Pax! Don’t do that!” I shouted.
Pax did not hear me. He was hunting!
Pax did not wait and try to sneak up on this squirrel. He knows about snow. He knows that with his long legs he can go fast.
The squirrel did not know about snow. It didn’t know that for animals with short legs snow means slow. It got too far away from a safe tree.
Pax was quick. He caught the squirrel before it got close to a tree. With his sharp teeth he grabbed the squirrel by the neck and gave it a big shake.
“Oh, no, Pax! Don’t do that!” I shouted. But it was too late.
Yes, Ellie’s riding helmet.
We spent some time adjusting the helmet before departing for the riding stable. Then some futzing with booster seats in the crew section of the truck (Becca coming with). Then off to the riding lesson, about 20 minutes away. It was only when we were puling into the parking lot that it dawned on us that the helmet never made it into the truck. With no loaner helmets available, our only choice was returning home.
Ellie and I thought it might be good to kick ourselves, while Becca offered up the idea of a punch in the stomach.
Disappointment all around, but at least there is small likelihood the auld helmet will be forgot again and never brought to mind.
Winter storm and blizzard warnings amounted to a light dusting overnight. Snow south, apparently, but we were bypassed.
Mowed leaves, modified ice boat trailer, cut away invasive mulberry, walked with Pax—all completely snow-free in spite of an original 9 am snow warning. And still nothing as of 6 pm.
More concrete
And some nice stone work dating from 1870
...simmering now on the stove. Not a bad kind of soul food for a damp and dreary day.
Willows
Willows lose their lanceolate leaves
Late, but at long last.
When williwaws whip leaf away from limb
Folioles whirl aloft, then lapse in lazy loops
To lie, belatedly, in loveliness layered on the land.
—JBN
Perfectly fine Friday here today. Clean-up, yes (mostly Sue), but then a walk around campus, and for me, a bike ride. No BF shopping. Advantage taken of the fine weather to fire up the big snowblower—in anticipation (winter storm advisory for Sunday)(better now than in the thick of it)(started on the second pull).
Thought experiment below the photo.
More concrete
Assume you will someday be reincarnated. You know you will be human (not an eagle or a frog) but you don’t know anything else. You don’t know what sex, what color, what physical appearance, what intelligence, what handicaps, what country you’ll be born in, whether rich or poor, whether orphan or royal scion. You could be anything!
In his book A Theory of Justice, the political philosopher John Rawls describes a thought experiment along these lines.
In this experiment, you are part of a group of people gathered to design their own future society, gathered behind “a veil of ignorance.” (No one has any idea about the next incarnation.) None of you knows his or her next place in society, class position or social status, fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, intelligence and strength and the like.
So, given this setup, what kind of society will your group design?
As Rawls puts it, if you know you will be wealthy you might find it rational to advance the principle that various taxes for welfare measures be counted unjust. If you know you were going to be poor, you would most likely propose the contrary principle. Etcetera.
If denied basic information about one’s circumstances, Rawls predicts that important social goods, such as rights and liberties, power and opportunities, income and wealth, and conditions for self-respect would be “distributed equally unless an unequal distribution of any or all of these values is to everyone’s advantage.”
Seems reasonable to me, but far from the actual situation. Certainly at this time of thankfulness, we can be thankful that we, as a family, did very well in the incarnation lottery this time around. But we can also think about those who didn’t, and perhaps work toward a worldwide society that doesn’t assign most of its people to a very unfortunate starting position.