Takin' the Blog for a Walk

My last remaining uncle has died.

His life in pictures.

Les Paul flips me off. Really flips  me  off! Have to forgive him though; I think at 93 he's entitled to be a little crotchety. After all, we deserved it. We were clapping too much and giving him standing ovations. I really don't think anyone took offense at his one-finger salute - anyone who knows Les understands his brand of humor. Besides, with badly arthritic hands, it hardly even qualified as a "bird".    

I could make this story short and just say, "heard some old guy play guitar and tell stories at the Pabst Theater last night", and direct you to read the concert review at jsonline. But that wouldn't be any fun.

I was thrilled when I heard Les Paul would be performing at the Pabst Theater for one sixth the price of last year's fundraising concert and dinner. As luck would have it, there were two tickets left in the cheap seats when I called. I ended up buying a ticket in the next price level anyway because it included a pass to the Les Paul exhibit at Discovery World. I wondered who I'd be sitting next to. 

I was directed to my seat in the 2nd floor balcony next to a man and his young son before the theater was half full. Bob's son Hayden has been taking classical guitar lessons for seven years. We speculated who the "friends" were mentioned in the billing; "an evening with Les Paul & Friends, His 93rd Birthday Celebration... in Music." Maybe it would be one of the many rock stars Les knows? But I doubted it. Would have been cool to see him play with Eric Clapton though.

As soon as friendshipships were sealed with Bob and Hayden they were redirected to the next section over when the seats' rightful occupants arrived. It's odd, because an usher had sat them there in the first place. Had a few things in common with the next couple. Paul and his wife were also from Waukesha. (What a great way to meet people; just sit there and let them come to me.) They recognized me from somewhere, probably WaukeshaNOW. He's retired from the Journal Sentinel so we talked about that and other things. We were enjoying our visit before the concert's start when I glanced at my ticket before putting it in my pocket. Now I don't know where "2 FLR-RGT CTR D" is, and I'm not sure the usher knew either, because I think I was seated by the same usher as Bob and Hayden and was in the wrong row!

Sitting next to the third couple in fifteen minutes, I'm wondering if I'll eventually meet everyone in the theater one musical chair at a time.

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****pause for blog intermission... to be continued...

The theater was packed - even the $500.00 seats appeared to be sold out. The Pabst is absolutely beautiful and, even though it's older than Les, he'd never played there before Saturday. The stage had a relaxed and comfortable feel to it. Several people sat at pub tables and chairs around the perimeter giving the setting a jazz club atmosphere. The tuxedoed gentlemen falling off his stool just added to the realism of the bar scene.

Les played many decent tunes accompanied by three other men, but he could have played tiddlywinks and we would have applauded. The three hour program was kept interesting with new introductions every few songs, and with stories about him and by him. One of the first introductions was quite auspicious because he represented the future to Les' past. An eight year old boy played guitar beautifully with Les and even sang a blues tune. By our tickets, we were all contributing to the new "House of Sound" educational exhibit, and by this young man we knew we were doing the right thing. It didn't take much imagination to think of this boy as young Les as he played beside the 93 year old. Les was eight when he began playing an instrument.

It's harder to imagine what Waukesha was like 93 years ago when Les was born. It had been 80 years since the area was first settled, and 20 years after Waukesha became an incorporated city. He was born around the same time the health resorts were dying in a little house that used to be where the downtown Walgreens is now. He entertained at Waukesha Beach on Pewaukee Lake and his first concert was at Marquette University. 

Several other friends performed with Les, mostly those he plays with Monday nights at the Iridium in New York. Besides the eight year old guitarist, a singer, a violinist, harmonica player and tap dancer all performed to much applause. Bob Reitman was the logical choice of MC as both gentlemen are legends.

After meeting Les last year and watching his biography I thought I knew him pretty well. I was pleasantly surprised last night that there is much, much more Les.

Happy birthday Les, and many more!

I guess I'm OK when it comes to predicting the future, but are we going to be the last ones to get the Economic Stimulus Payment? I predicted we'd see our cash at least a month ago. We filed taxes early and electronically. We've had so much time to think about how we're going to spend the money that we'll have to borrow to do half of it. (It's what the government is doing for the money anyway.)

As a matter of fact, I think we already spent the money and will just use the payment to pay on debt. Kind of sounds familiar; borrow to pay a debt.

The weather cleared in time for an enjoyable Father's Day though rain dampened Flag Day and graduation day celebrations Saturday. Congratulations to all grads and dads!

It's this blogs second blogiversary and I just want to say thanks. It's really been a pleasure. I am more active in the community now than ever before. One of the side benefits of writing is needing something to write about. I've volunteered, attended plays, concerts, festivals, services... enjoyed it all and enjoyed talking about it too.

I've posted 50% more blogs in this last year than I did in the first. The most popular post, Matzah and Messiah, was 2-1/2 times more popular than the next highest viewed blog. Not sure why.

Last year I mentioned my favorite post was my letter to Dad. My favorite post this year is This Is My Prayer.

I've met a lot of really interesting, fun and hard-working people in the last two years, more than I can count, but the one I'd like to recognize tonight is Les Paul. He's a genuine person full of humor and talent who is a real pleasure to write about. I'm looking forward to seeing him again next weekend.

Thanks for your interest, and keep reading and commenting.

I usually get the blame for things that go wrong around here. If something should leak or break ten years after I repair it, it's got to be my fault. Car not running right? Yep, it's me. Not enough snacks / bread / milk / money... you guessed it.

I don't always agree that I'm responsible indefinitely for something I may have fixed years ago, but with the sewer flooding our basement this morning for the fifth time in a week, I will accept most of the blame... this time.

I'm upset that tens if not hundreds of thousands of tax dollars were spent a year and a half ago replacing sewer pipe on my street. (We were informed it would fix the flooding problem)  And I'm upset that I didn't just plug up the floor drain before last night's rain. Last week plugging it worked OK, though water poured in through a different orifice anyway. I thought checking the basement throughout the night would be enough. I finally got some rest after the heavy rain let up. Unfortunately for us, the backup didn't happen until after the rain stopped. This morning I found the largest puddle yet; about a quarter of the basement, but still not as bad as many others in the area.

I'm mad at myself for not remembering other times when the backup started after the rain stopped. We could've prevented so much just by plugging the drain once we heard how bad the weather was going to be.

The entire city of Waukesha is under water! The normally high and dry bronze map of the city on the walk near the State Office Building is under about 6" of floodwater.

I had a wild ride yesterday as I tested the Schwinn for sea-worthiness. Many downtown streets were, and still are, closed and the bike was the best way for me to get around. Was able to keep it upright through a foot of water on Corrina, (what an experience!). Certainly great to see all the people downtown. Large crowds were seen along the river as well as at Allo! Chocolat and Divino Gelato. The flooding was something most of us have not seen before and it brought people together with a common curiosity. Waukesha seems rather pedestrian-friendly right now. There's a Norman Rockwell feeling of what it must have been like before autos took control of the city.

One can often see great sunsets after storms have passed through. The lingering clouds are a great palette for the setting sun's reflection of violets, purples and reds. It hasn't been easy to find a decent sunset lately because one rainy day has followed another. Finally saw a good one yesterday though!  

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Even though the weekend started happy it ended rather crappy. After pedalling over to WCTC to see Lance Armstrong and the start of the Trek 100 on Saturday morning, I drove to Eagle for a 5 mile hike on the Ice Age Trail. The hike was through the Scuppernong Prairie and we encountered dozens of runners taking part in the 13th Annual Kettle Moraine 100 endurance run. Some runners were doing either 100k or 100 miles. They started at 6:00 in the morning and would finish the next day.

The hike was nice for me because I did see and learn a lot about glaciers and such but the weather was a little warm and humid for the runners. Since I was so close to one of my favorite places, I stopped by Paradise Springs just outside Eagle after the hike for a cool refreshing sip.

Then the weather started. It rained. The sirens went off. Relatives living in a mobile home took shelter in our basement. And it happened... the basement flooded. Four times between Saturday night and Sunday night sewage came up. We were fortunate in that we caught it in time and fortunate it happened on a weekend. Because it's happened to us before, we were  more prepared. We were more fortunate than some of our neighbors whose whole basement's were under water. And much more fortunate than the poor souls who ran right through the the night in storms and mud during the Kettle 100.

Hours were spent either cleaning up or controlling the backup. Last weekend was Wisconsin free fishing weekend. I wonder if we can get a rain check on that?

Deer are generally pretty cool to observe in nature as long as they're not damaging crops... or windshields. Today's AP article appearing in the Journal Sentinel mentions June as being the first or second-worst month for deer crashes in the last four or five years. There were almost 18,000 deer / vehicle crashes reported last year in the state - 655 in Waukesha County.

One of the reasons deer crashes are so numerous in June is the yearlings are starting to wander away from their mothers. Didn't the mothers teach them to stop and look both ways when crossing streets before sending them out on their own?

I had to wonder who taught or didn't teach the young dear I saw crossing Moreland at Michigan against the light over the weekend. I wondered, if the 12 or 13 year old was allowed to ride his bike away from home, why wasn't he first taught the safest way to cross a street?

A short while later I saw another young dear on a bike by the Mobil station on Summit, not far from Moreland and Michigan. He was wearing the same kind of shirt as the first kid and I wondered if it could be him. When he crossed in front of my moving car, barely looking, I knew it must be the same one. 

Like many deer, this dear on a bike was now travelling with another. The second was even more careless and within about 15 feet of being run over. Like deer in the headlights, he froze when he realized how close I was. Not the safest.

Now that summer is starting and school is ending I urge everyone to not only watch out for deer but also for dear. It also  would be nice if parents taught their dears the correct way to cross busy intersections before they wander away from their mothers. 

****** 6/8 addition ******

Saw a young deer by Grandview Park early this morning. Lost sight of it as it headed up Easy Street. I see deer in the city on rare occasion, but have you ever seen a road-kill deer in the City of Waukesha? There was one about four or five years ago, an adult, just a block from the hospital's emergency department.

A Positively Patriotic Parade was yesterday at the VA Medical Center during their annual Reclaiming Our Heritage weekend. It was a chance to see hundreds of reenactors and veterans pre-Revolutionary to present, dignitaries, animals, lots of motorcycles and old vehicles. Close to an hour long, this parade offered the perfect oportunity to thank a vet.

Though I have doubts about the Dancing Granny's, I suspect most participants were veterans. Many spectators realized this and brought signs saying "thank you" and "God bless you". They obviously put a lot of thought into the signs and some even dressed up a bit for the occasion. I've always seen people applaud or salute at the sight of veterans in other parades, but really liked the sign idea and may use it at some point myself.

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