Well, if you insist...

"It is well to remember that there are five

reasons for drinking wine - the arrival of a friend;

one's present or future thirst; the

excellence of the wine;

or any other reason."

The Joy That is October

I feel superstitiously like I'm inviting disaster when I write this, but our October has been more beautiful than any I can remember. Mild, storm-free, and most importantly, nicely paced...no trees on the roof, no awful viruses...it has been a restful change from the swirly hazy blur that was August and most of September.

Today I drove to work (side note: two near-accidents made me realize how nice it is to take the bus) and took the Nine Springs route because I had time to. The happy surprise was that the cranes aren't all gone yet. There were about 20-30 gathered together, which tells me that they are certainly on their way south. But I was so happy I got to see them at least one more time.

Sunrise

Was truly spectacular today. I didn't take a picture because taking one from my house doesn't give the sunrise its due - too many trees in the way. But if you didn't see it, you can take my word for it - beautiful! And fleeting. I'm always taken aback at how quickly the gorgeous colors just wash out as the sun moves a little higher.

Yes, I know that the sun isn't moving. Earth is.

On another note, it's getting easier and easier to catch the sunrise since it happens later and later... :(

Wimp

Today I was walking between my building and Ingraham, where I'd gone in search of lunch. I happened to end up next to two Badger football players, which a) made me feel tiny, and I rather enjoyed that, and b) gave me a little sense of what it must be like to have 200+ pounds of muscle bearing down on you full force, with the intention to cause bodily harm and great pain. If that were happening to me, I'd be terrified.

And that's why I don't play football.

Shredding History

Months ago, I pulled apart all my old check carbons in anticipation of shredding them. They'd been sitting in a crumply brown Woodman's bag since then, gathering dust and dog hair, but with nothing pressing on the docket, today was their day to go.

I don't know if you've ever shredded old documents, but if you have, you probably know that it's a fairly dull, mindless activity, punctuated by moments of mild interest. Which is exactly how it all unfolded for me today. I'd grab a handful of carbons and deposit slips, and feed small stacks of them into the grinding blades. I'd pause every so often and read the faded blue words.
Woodmans.
Target.
Kohls. Ah...that was before they all became Copps.
Hong Kong Cafe.
East Crossing. And then, New Crossing. Oh yes. That was a bumpy year, or three.
UW Parking and Transportation. 'Nuff said.
Cuppa Jo. Another loss, in my little world. I wonder what Jo and Anne are up to these days.
Apparently, in lieu of a journal, I've recorded my life in checkbook carbons.
Then I found this one
9/10/01 - Brio's...I got my hair cut
Ordinary stuff. Going about life, like everyone else.
I wonder if there will ever be a time when I don't think about 2001 as two different eras...the leading-up-to, and the afterwards.
And speaking of afterwards...I wrote a check to Shopko on 9/12/01 for $61.03. As I remember those days, I didn't feel normal or ordinary or anything that would have led me to do some casual shopping, so we must have had a compelling need for ...what? I have no idea.

Eagles and Mice

We spent Sunday morning up at Sauk City and various roads between there, Spring Green and Madison. The main goal was eagle watching up at the dam on the Wisconsin River, but we weren't too successful on that score. Even so, if it was a pretty wonderful (though ridiculously cold) morning. This first picture is of a tree branch there by the river. The steam rising from the river coated everything with gorgeous crystals. This is possibly my favorite picture of the thousands that I've taken. Click on it, and look at the large version. Wow.

There were no eagles within sight at our usual spot by the dam, so we drove back into Prairie du Sac/Sauk, where we found a lone eagle sitting in a tree on a sandbar in the middle of the river. That was encouraging, so we drove into a park which we were familiar with, right along the river. Gunther was with us and he needed a break, too. The first picture is from our arrival at the park, as we headed down a path. As we lumbered towards the bridge, an eagle flew out of the trees and towards the river. That was wonderful! So close, so huge.

We poked around on the paths and along the river til my fingers were nearly frostbitten. If I hadn't been photographing, I would have lasted longer :) Back in the car, we took 60 towards Spring Green...found various interesting roads along the way...some were not actually roads...oh well. Found this lovely deer hiding behind the trees, very close to the road.

Finally decided to head back to Madison, and stop at a dog park so Gunther could have some exercise. The wind was so strong and it was bitterly cold. I had to keep my face completely covered, which made walking difficult. And that explains why I didn't notice Gunther lunging at the snow. Kevin saw, and realized he'd (Gunther) caught a mouse. If you know our dog, you know he doesn't like to give up his finds, so there were several hilarious and icky moments of Kev persuading Gunth to give up the mouse. Kev won, we distracted Gunther from running back to pick it up again, and we all came home.

And then I got in the shower for an hour. Hot, hot water, followed by hot chocolate...eventually I thawed. The hot chocolate was good but I was a little disappointed that the gourmet marshmallows weren't superdelicious...just regular-delicious. For the price, they should have rocked my world.

Heat wave coming!