Takin' the Blog for a Walk

Spent several hours at Pewaukee Lake yesterday. With the no wake law still in force it's unusually quiet, and if my canoe didn't still have gaping holes in it... So we fish from shore. Very peaceful watching the regatta of around 50 sailboats. Later in the day was Taste of Lake Country and fireworks, but that's another story.

Making every cent of my weekend dollars count I went to Milwaukee today to do several things. I parked under the Hoan Bridge by the river, saving $10.00. I attended a very nice Lutheran service in the Marcus Amphitheater and was allowed into German Fest free, saving $13.00.

German Fest is one of the few festivals I missed last year, (Pride Fest will still have to wait) and I wanted to get there for the food and music. I haven't been to this one before. I wasn't into the music and dancing all that much, but the scents, tastes and sights were overwhelming. Got my first look at the new Harley Stage also. Very cool.

Wandered over to Discovery World next door to use the pass I obtained with the purchase of my Les Paul concert ticket, saving $17.00. I spent the next couple hours in my first tour of the Technology and Aquarium Buildings and the Les Paul House of Sound exhibit!  The Les Paul exhibit, indeed all of Discovery World, was way more than I could've imagined. I enjoyed handling everything, trying it out, playing with things, discovering at my own pace.

Discovery World has to be seen to be believed. When I thought nothing could possibly top the Les Paul exhibit, I had doubts while touring the rest of the building. The bed of nails was one very interesting interactive feature of the Technology Building. Fun to try. The Great Lakes are to scale in the Aquarium complete with interactive locks, rain and storms, and bluegills (not to scale). Also had fun touching the rays and lake sturgeon.

The schooner in the Aquarium Building is a fun play thing. Lots of things to touch, turn and see with many things identified with labels. I played with as many things as I could today and the best thing is I only got yelled at once - at the German Fest Splash Pad for not taking my shoes off!  

Was glad to hear I might be crewing this weekend. Weather's been less than ideal lately. Summer's half over and I've only helped a few times. First possibility was Saturday morning, but was too windy. Saturday night was better, but still iffy.

While waiting for the breeze to calm, I asked the other crew members if they knew which balloon landed and stopped traffic on Hwy. 16 in Hartland Wednesday night. I read an In Brief article in the Freeman regarding it and had cut it out. Talking with someone who went out Wednesday, and talking with other crew on the field, came to find out it was one of the three balloons waiting, like me, for the wind to die down. They told of the police coming, a nurse offering help. While it's fairly common to take down the envelope on or near quiet residential streets it's an FAA violation to land on Hwy. 16. The pilot in question actually landed a distance from 16 on a frontage road... and no one was hurt.  

All hot air balloons have names. It just makes it easier to communicate by radio. Names are usually descriptive of the color or shape, have something to do with freedom, floating... things like that. I have no idea where the name came from for the balloon I was crewing for, but I crewed for Gilbert... twice. Early this morning and last night.

We waited for the last possible minute to fly last night and still get a decent flight in. Flights last about an hour, and they have to be down by sunset. The wind just wouldn't die down. The three balloons finally took off and the passengers in Gilbert had a good flight. Father and daughter were both born on the same date and were given the flight for their birthday.

Gilbert landed at the driving range of a golf course northwest of here after 8:00 p.m. A nice slow decent after a rather fast-moving flight. A few people around thinking it was pretty cool we were there. The envelope was down and the air squeezed out when all Caddyshack broke loose. The sprinklers turned on! You've never seen us move so fast or get so wet. It's not nice to ride Gilbert hard and put him away wet.

So the passengers had a good flight, crew got a funny story to tell, and because Gilbert was taken out again this morning, he's all dry now.

I blogged about a similar topic in November, but this week's event promised to benefit the earth and fellow man. I was able to catch the last half hour of a pedal-powered concert in Wales on calm Tuesday night. Because the event was affiliated with the MS150 bike tour, it raised both awareness of wasteful energy practices and funds to help battle multiple sclerosis.

I was already in the Wales area for a dinner meeting in the beautiful Hills of Delafield, so Hazie and ScorpGirl can relax. I did not drive all the way out there wasting gas. I probably would have, though, had I known how cool the warm evening on Main Street in Wales would be.

About ten stationary bikes littered the lawn of an 1887 Queen Anne Victorian lovingly restored into the Pedal'rs Inn B & B. The Inn's claim to fame is that it was the location of George Webb's first restaurant. Because I arrived late, I found out about the house tours too late to see if there were two clocks side-by-side in the dining room. 

The stage was lit by energy-conserving LED spotlights powered by bike riders, many of whom wore colorful riding jerseys. It was mostly dark where the riders were, but even though I could see at least one biker going wild to the music, I saw no helmets.

This night was quite different from November's barn dance. It was outdoors, a lot warmer and a lot less crowded. But still I wondered if I'd get my first chance at pedalling. Is it hard? If I did get on, would I tire before someone relieved me. I asked someone if it was difficult and she said since she does spinning it wasn't too bad. That was no help because I don't even knit.

A bike did finally free up and I realized several things. People are more friendly to you on a bike. Either because bike riders are generally friendly toward one another, or because I was helping power a really good concert, either way people just seemed more open and friendly. The pedalling wasn't too difficult but was sweaty because there's no wind on these stationary bikes. I felt much more absorbed by music I helped power - felt connected to the musicians. The musicians felt connected to us - if they still had people willing to pedal, they'd be motivated to continue playing. The concert volume wasn't too loud, it was adequate. With each of the 9 amps I was putting out being put to use, low volume was just fine. And finally, outdoors on a summer night is the perfect venue for a concert like this.

Even with a little rain and without Skyfest at the county fair it's still a good weekend. Anytime there's more fun things to do than time to do them it's a good thing.

Friday was a wonderful night to be out for Freeman Friday Night Live downtown. The foot traffic was as good as the music. It's always nice to see Downtown alive. Chad James was sounding especially fine outside Steaming Cup as was the 12 year old guitar player keeping artist Chuck Weber company outside Almont Gallery as he painted.

I popped into Plowshares' new Mainstreet location and was pleasantly surprised. Even though the space is smaller than the old Grand Ave. location, it's much brighter with a full wall of windows and higher ceilings. I saw many new items and the prices are still too low to believe.

I returned Downtown Saturday, by bike of course, to see racers from around the world compete in the Carl Zach Cycling Classic - the 15th time the Classic has come to Waukesha. The rain had stopped by the time the 100k men's professional race began and the temperature was quite nice. There could have been more people watching but it was nice to be so close to the action. The wind generated by a peloton of 40 or so riders pedalling at 30 mph felt more like a high-speed Acela Express than a freight train passing by. A three time Junior World Champion, past and present Olympians, Australians, Columbian riders... it was great to see them all. Thanks to Couri Insurance for their continued sponsorship, Alderman Randy Radish, Race Director, and all who make this possible.

Later Saturday I joined my ballooning friends for an Un-fair Skyfest get-together to break in a new grill. I've never had so much fun catching fireflies! We also roasted marshmallows, kicked the soccer ball, told stories, played games... Almost as much fun as ballooning.

We'll be leaving for the fair and it's tractor and truck pulls in a couple minutes. What didn't I have time for? Festa Italiana and the WEAL highway clean up in Eagle on rainy Saturday morning.

Now that the County Fair is here I'm looking forward to some hot air balloon competition at the annual Skyfest rally. Maybe crew with someone new. Maybe run into friends from out of town. Or so I thought.

Pay no attention to the cover page of today's edition of WaukeshaNOW paper. It was wrong. "THURSDAY  The sky will be adorned with color during the SKY FEST HOT AIR BALLOON COMPETITION at the Waukesha County Expo Center." I wish! Fourteen years of ballooning at the fair was put on hold this year as no corporate sponsors were located.

Before learning of it's fate, I wondered how the weather would affect Skyfest this year. The weather's been pretty poor for ballooning lately, and this week's forecast looked like it had a lot of possible thunderstorms. Indeed, the first day of the fair saw a severe storm. Might not have had a lot of flight time anyway.

So we made the best of opening day at the fair by watching the tractor pulls - the lawn tractor pulls - for a few hours. The rain cooled things off but it also made a mess of the track. The competition got a late start because the mud had to be scraped off and the track smoothed out. I've never seen the competition before and was pretty amazed at some of the machines. Was surprised to see 8 year olds steer modified 10 hp, 900 lb machines 130 or more feet while dragging a weighted sled.

Stayed long enough, and when the expensive-looking dragster style tractors still hadn't run by 10:30 we knew it was time to leave. We got our dollar's worth.

I hope there will always be somewhere to go where they know your name, and I'm not talking about an automated voice reading it off your frequent shopper card. There are few places left where you can pick up your cup where you left it the day before and share conversation and coffee with the butcher behind the meat counter every day at the small mom and pop grocery like my dad used to do in Mercer. Doesn't really matter how big the place is.

Even though Pick 'N Save takes way too much of our money we still like shopping there. Prices are comparatively low, people know us there and we run into people we know there. It's like the small town post office, where conversation is free-flowing and eventually, it seems, you'll bump into everyone. 

P & S does what it can to cut down on aisle clogging conversation. They make narrow aisles (the most popular ones of course) even narrower with free-standing displays. The end result is there isn't room anywhere to even park a cart out of the way. On busy Saturdays you have to wait for traffic to pass before reaching for some things (if they're going to make aisles that narrow they need to make them one-way or have narrower carts).

Even though P & S has installed some self-serve check outs for smaller orders, it's still nice to talk to live checkers who know you. We've know some of the checkers going back 15 years and more. They want to know how everyone is, where my wife is when she's not with me, and they comment on how big the kids are getting (I blame that on them). When we went shopping there yesterday we didn't go to the shortest line, we went to Linda's line. I love kidding with Linda. When she gave us our whopping total I told her to catch this one and I'll get the next. I love her laugh.

They tell Linda and Sally and others not to talk so much, that their lines are too long. But I say their lines are long because people want to wait for checkers that know their names. We did.

Pick 'N Save is running a promo of a $25.00 gift card if we transfer a prescription to their new pharmacy. Don't want it. Walgreens has usually treated us fairly. Went there Friday and the pharmacist called me by name as I approached. There was no waiting. The order was ready and he was efficient and friendly. He could have been extra nice for the survey I could take for a chance to win $3000.00, but maybe the new competition in town is forcing it. Either way, as long as Walgreens continues to take care of us and acts like they know us we'll continue to do business there. 

Inspector FEMA stopped by early Saturday morning to stumble through our cluttered basement. I debated asking for the visit because there was very little damage from the Flood of 2008. Even though sewer backups are covered under our homeowner's, we didn't even apply. But it's extremely rare (thankfully) that FEMA is in town, we have a $500.00 deductible, and the sewer backed up not once, not twice, but five times within one week last month.

Didn't really want to ask for help because there were far more families and businesses worse off than us. But this flooding shouldn't have happened and I wanted someone other than the city to know. We've had sewer backups in our neighborhood for years, for whatever reasons, and was told by the director of public works two years ago that the replacement of pipe in our street would solve the problem. They did smoke testing to find illegal hookups and added more storm drains. The city seemed to do everything it could, short of increasing capacity or redesigning our connection to the main line, and for a while it worked. June's rain was the first big test since the new pipe was laid. 

I wish it wouldn't have happened, because now it means we still have to worry about basement flooding every time it rains hard. What if we're away when it rains? We have a new, very expensive furnace / a/c down there among many other things. The only storm water allowed in the sanitary sewer should be through the floor drains of flooded basements. I have a feeling more basements were flooded through floor drains than were saved by them. I have a feeling leaking pipe, manhole openings and illegal hookups are allowing too much stormwater in. 

By getting FEMA involved there will be a clearer picture of what happened and what needs to be done. When all monetary damages from the storm are added up the state will be given a percentage of that in a federal grant for infrastructure improvements to be distributed to counties according to need. I can see a need in our area for larger capacity pumps.

FEMA for Waukesha is currently set up at the County Highway Department off Grandview Blvd. between Northview and Silvernail from 10:00 to 7:00 every day except Sunday. Representatives from local, state and federal agencies are there to offer any assistance they can. Of the three times I visited there was never a crowd. Besides the free clean up kits offered, there is plenty of useful literature. One of the more interesting things offered is a U.S. Small Business Admin. Disaster Home Loan. If we apply and qualify we could get a loan at less than 3%, which would make it our lowest rate. (I can think of a few needed car repairs with that money.)

We didn't really need help but since FEMA is there... I picked up some ideas and made others aware of the problem in our area. If you don't need help but know of someone who might, be sure to suggest they stop in. FEMA won't be there forever.

Takin the blog for a walk in the neighborhood of Wealthy Street we often see sidewalk art. Last Sunday was a rather elaborate affair; A heart with angel wings, the word "Hope" written in the middle, and sunflower seeds set in a little pile in the middle of it. There was a little angel statue and a pinwheel next to it.

Was the artwork done by a child who lost a young brother or sister? Was it some kind of memorial to a soldier? I wondered if the angel had a connection to the bird seed.  What was the thought? That the birds would be taking the blessings of the angel or the young artist up to heaven? We were curious, but not enough to knock at 5:30 a.m.

I meant to come back for a picture later on but forgot and rain washed it away. The artwork was just unusual enough that I felt a connection. Remember, I had just lost my uncle, an artist, two days earlier and was leaving later that day for the memorial service. Like life, the artwork was temporary. 

A day or two after my return from Omaha I determined to find answers to the art even if it meant rapping on the door. Fortunately someone was outside when we passed by and was willing to talk. The person we saw was the artist and, without disclosing her age, lets just say she's no child.

Throughout the next couple hours she proceded to tell us about herself, ask about me, show us pictures and a painting. I told her about my trip to Omaha and what my uncle meant to me while she got me a chair and Sir Fido a bowl of water.

She was going to replace the washed out artwork while we were there but not until she was sure we were comfortable. She brought out bottled water, a couple beers and, when it started to get cold and dark, sweatshirts.

She's been doing sidewalk art for quite some time but doesn't consider herself an artist. The one piece I saw was the first time she added angel wings. So what did it all mean? Nothing really. She just likes to be creative and she likes feeding birds. I suppose it's like any other art and means different things to different people. (It could've been a trap for curious individuals. Anyone who bothers to ask will have to meet a most interesting individual.)

A fellow blogger passed away a week ago today. He was born and died in June... with eighty years in between. He led a very interesting and full life, spoke many languages and had friends around the world. 

He began blogging three years ago this month and, while I've read them in the past, the posts have new meaning for me now. He was a somewhat eccentric character, and his writing certainly helps to demystify his complexity.

I travelled 600 miles to Omaha by Greyhound Sunday night for the Monday memorial service. I had wanted to visit while he was still alive but something always came up. The last time I saw him was by way of a Skype video connection. He knew he was dying.

The memorial service was a fitting send off for an extraordinary man. It was the perfect mass with stories and testimony from many of his friends and colleagues. It celebrated his long, fruitful life and quirky nature. There was read a long poem about him, songs and readings he would've enjoyed, tears of joy and sadness... and plenty of humor. If I live to be a hundred, I will not again witness such a wondrous mass for as unique an individual.

I was to return to Waukesha the following day, so while there I had to explore the Iowa dish antenna farm known as SCOLA started by him. It's an imposing sight in the middle of an unimposing cornfield. Huge dishes sprout from the fertile soil like trees in Arthur C. Clarke's imagination. The bowls in the corn stand ready to accept flakes of information. The studio digests programming from around the world and spoon feeds it to subscribers via a regular schedule. (SCOLA used to be seen on cable in the Waukesha area several years ago. It was the channel with the foreign news broadcasts.)

Before I left Tuesday, I wanted to sign the guestbook for the room on the Creighton campus I was staying. It was started in the late 1980's, and as I paged through it I wondered if I'd see him mentioned -- he had taught at Creighton for many years. Right there on the second page, a note from a Frenchman visiting SCOLA, thanking Father Lubbers, SJ, my uncle, for the hospitality.    

My Uncle Lee was uncommon and we had a lot in common. He loved to book shop, more than he'd ever have time to read, it seemed. He gave me a enormous "The Last Whole Earth Catalog" and "The Zen of Running" years ago. He left me his well-used "Roget's International Thesaurus" which I will use in blogging and used for this one.

He took the nieces and nephews skiing many times, and these are favorite memories. It took Lee's enthusiasm to get teenagers out of bed before dawn on a freezing winter vacation day, cook us a hot breakfast of grits, drive for miles to the ski hills on snow-covered roads, and ski all day even when it was coldest. Three times he took us skiing out West and you will see skiing and mountains prominent in his art from that period.

After Uncle Lee's brother died in the 1960s his sister, my mother, began an Easter egg hunt tradition. It was the first big holiday after the plane crash and she wanted to do something to help the five orphaned kids get through it. Again my uncle's enthusiasm took over and he really, really, enjoyed hunting for his own colored eggs well into his 60s.

It was always fun seeing my uncle for holidays. He'd share stories and ideas from his travels and get us to try foods and drink we were unfamiliar with. He liked strong, black coffee and liked sweets and French foods, especially cheeses.

I could go on and on about his art, his marrying us and baptizing our baby. About a trip to Missouri for an antenna. About sailing ... Maybe later. 

My uncle began the art department at Creighton University and is still instructing even in death. His body was donated to science.