Sometimes You Laugh.....

So it's day five post-Sunday-night-flood. A beautiful day in Port. Blue sky, not too hot....not too humid. Most of the big clean-up is done.....but there is still a mess in our parking area and no one can get their cars or belongings back into place just yet. But progress is being made! And, as often is the case during times of emergency, neighbors are helping neighbors....and that's nice to see.

I walked Fenway this morning around the water treatment plant....Lake Michigan was beautiful! On the way back to the condo I walked through our north parking lot and something caught my eye. Of course first there were the piles of things-to-be-still-cleaned....and things to toss.

And one decorative sign.

At first this made me smile....and of course none of this mess was the lake's "fault"! And then, for some reason it brought tears to my eyes....where did that emotion come from? Ah well....it's been a long five days and we still have to walk the stairs because the elevator is out. Life is better at the Lake....but I'm so thankful we live on the third floor instead of the eighth! And....I've lost three pounds.

Most of the Precious......

And so after a flooded garage the clean-up starts. Our car is pulled out and loaded on a flatbed truck.....a box with my neighbor's boots floated over and landed on top. Goodbye car.

We make our way down to look at our parking space and the storage shelves. The shelves collapsed, tupperware storage boxes leaning on their sides, golf clubs in four inches of mud on the pavement. Notice the "screaming" Halloween ghost......his face echoed the drama that occurred overnight.

I was thinking about the storage boxes full of our holiday decorations. I could see the ones labeled "Christmas" and they were near the bottom, on their sides. It didn't look good. Piece by piece we started to move what we could and brought things over to a flatbed truck parked in the middle of the garage waiting for the things residents wanted to save and clean. The throw-it-away pile grew over by the elevator. 

A few tears showed up when I opened the first Christmas box and found that our copy of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas was dead. This was the book Dave read to the kids every Christmas Eve until they graduated college and moved away. One year, up at Gramma and Grampa's house in Massachusetts Dave turned the reading into a rap song.....so we have lots of fun memories and thankfully photos of this annual tradition. But I wiped a few tears as I had to set it aside. The whole storage box was basically saturated......so most of the decor had to be dumped. 

Sloshing through the mud we went back and forth bringing things to the trash....goodbye golf clubs, goodbye shop vac, goodbye cans of paint. The next Christmas box came out and I took a breath before opening it. Dry! And right on top were the two doves that graced the top of our little Christmas tree every year since we were married in 1967! Dry! They were part of my mom's wreath on her front door to celebrate our marriage on December 29th.....so the fact that they made it through really made me "lose it" for a minute. All I could think was "this must be a full moon night....and mom was watching." 

We brought a box of to-be-washed decorations up to the condo kitchen and I began my efforts. Sudsy water, a hot rinse.....set to dry on the kitchen counter. Some of our favorites made it through their soggy adventure. I'll be forever grateful that the doves were fine....and the angel picture Megan created in third grade.....my cousin's Christmas card featuring a fat snowman.

Yes.....it's all just stuff....but some of our stuff seems more precious than other stuff.......

And It Turned On Us.......

I know I've said before that I love walking up the bike path with the small stream on my right. Sometimes it is very quiet and shallow. But when we get rain there is enough water that it burbles over rocks and branches creating a very relaxing background noise. The sound of a happy woodland stream.

We had some thunderstorms last night....not an unusual part of a Wisconsin summer. Lots of thunder and lightning. The power went off for a few minutes around 3:00 a.m. and suddenly someone was knocking hard at our front door. Fenway barking....middle-of-the-night disorientation but Dave answered to find that our lower level garage was flooding.

I got up and looked out the window and faced a complete moment of "Where am I?" There was no street, there was no park leading to the bandshell.....there was no parking lot....there was just brown water and an amazing current of water heading east toward Lake Michigan.

And then I looked down to the driveway leading down into our garage.....cars parked there and now underwater. You can see our white RV in the background...water creeping up over the tires.

Dave went down but no one could get into the garage. The firemen were here and reported the water was at least 6-8 feet deep and still coming in. Muddy water.....the creek overflowed when the pipe letting it flow to Lake Michigan was blocked with debris. This was a sight I never expected to see. We moved to the condo for the "easy life"....no yardwork etc.

Morning let us see the full extent of the exterior damage and just how high the water was at our garage level. (And this is after the water went down 2 feet.) We are still waiting to get inside. The water has to be pumped out, the dead cars towed away and then we can get to the personal belongings stored down there. Suitcases are toast....golf clubs may be too. I'm just hoping I can save at least some of my Santa Clause collection for the holidays.

So it will be a muddy mess to clean up.....but I keep reminding myself about Katrina....and Puerto Rico....and Houston....and Hawaii. We walk up to the third floor (the elevator is out) and walk into a comfortable condo where everything is AOK......we are fortunate and will just deal with the crap.

Inspiration.......

I usually don't have a problem coming up with an idea for a quilt. I don't use too many patterns, but sometimes it's nice to "fall back" on a pattern you've made before that pleases your eye. Still, recently, I was sort of "stuck" with choosing a color pallette....and deciding what to make.

Then I remembered visiting a friend, Karen, who had a beautiful area rug in her living room. I asked her to send me a picture and then I raided my stash. Her carpet had blues and beiges and some raspberry hues.....all of which popped out of my fabric cupboard.  I used a pattern that I've made three times before, just because I like it and it gives me a chance to do different patterns of free motion quilting in each area.  My quilting friends who are real perfectionists would be quick to say that some of my "points" disappear so I should be more precise while cutting and piecing.....but I'm a more go-for-it-and-get-it-done-to-enjoy kind of quilter.

So this lap quilt is a little narrower than most (because I ran out of stash!) but I like it and it's big enough to cuddle with this coming winter when it's time to find a good book.

Inspirations come from all kinds of places.....so I just keep my eyes open!

Picking Your Friends.....

Well yesterday was a big news day....in two separate courtrooms. One in NYC and one in Virginia.....two of 45's "good guys" were convicted of felonies. The story keeps unraveling....once again reminding me of Watergate.

I woke up this morning thinking about this and about our family. Dave and I have two "kids"....and they are good "kids"....now adults. I can remember one experience with each of them when they had a "friend" who just didn't seem to meet our parental standards. When this friend would come over, my worry genes would fire. They weren't really "bad" kids....but somehow, when they were involved our kids broke a few "rules".  Happily, from my point of view, these friendships ran their course and new friends replaced them. New friends that helped our kids find their best selves and enjoy school and their teen and young adult years in a positive way.

So I guess I do believe that if you surround yourself with good people, they help keep you "on the straight and narrow". People who have similar core ethics and beliefs, people who don't look for ways to beat the system or bend the rules, individuals who do not think they are above the law.

And now I ponder all the news that hit the headlines yesterday. And the silence emanating from the White House so far.....no tweet storm. I can imagine the West Wing trying to brain storm this one.

I don't think 45 "drained the swamp"....I think he brought the big-city-swamp down to DC with him.

My favorite comment from yesterday's events was Michael Avenatti's tweet to Rudy Guliani......."Buckle Up Buttercup!"

So....we wait for the spin.....

Breezes, Butterflies.....and Bandages

It's been a strange week. Dave and I are spending time "babysitting" and trying to do some of our own things on our "off" time. Fenway still needs to be watched so that he keeps his collar on, does not bite at his stitches or uncover his wound. Frankly it's getting a bit boring.

So yesterday was my time to take a before dinner walk up the bike path. It's not as much fun as when I'm watching his little legs trot in front of me....but I took my phone and walked up into the wooded area. A beautiful evening with a soft breeze....a welcome relief from a few days of heat and humidity.

I spotted lots of small white cabbage butterflies. Most of the monarchs have moved through but I spotted one and also a beautiful black swallowtail.

Turning for home I kept scanning both sides of the path hoping to spot "my" deer. My reward came just before reaching the condo. A flick of an ear and I spotted the doe....and about five feet away her twins.

She didn't move and watched me carefully....I think I was a bit too close to her youngsters and I was invading her motherly comfort zone.  So I took a couple quick out-of-focus phone pics and went on home.

Breezes, butterflies, bambi.....and back to the bandages....

A Hidden Gem.....

Milwaukee has a very special small museum on the east side. The Jewish Museum on Prospect Avenue has an exhibit right now that is well worth viewing. "Stitching Histories from the Holocaust" runs until September 16th......so if you live in the Milwaukee area I recommend the trip.


The special exhibit tells "the story of a Jewish dressmaker from Prague unable to join her relatives in Milwaukee because of immigration barriers". The story itself played out over and over as Jewish refugees, trying to flee Nazi occupation, were faced with national quota systems barring them from immigrating to other countries.

The exhibit features a story of Hedwig Strnad and her husband....trying to reach relatives in Milwaukee. To facilitate their request Hedwig's husband included sketches of some of the dresses she designed. She was well known and respected in Prague and the surrounding area. Letters asking for assistance and the colorful sketches. Letters and sketches found years later in a box in an attic.....letters and sketches that form the basis for this very interesting and impactful exhibit.

The dresses were fabricated by the Milwaukee Repertory Theater's cosume shop and they are displayed on eyeless white mannequins. They are both sad and beautiful. The fabrics, the colors, the styles. And all created from just one sketch.

The narrative explains the entire story much better than I can here. And it makes you stop and think about the loss of this one talented dress designer....and wonder about all the other victims of that terrible time and all of the talent lost.

This particular exhibit is very timely. With wars and conflicts in so many countries, and barriers to immigration all too common, I too wonder.....what art will never be created...what inventions will never see the light of day....what novels won't be written.....how many future doctors will never treat a patient.....how many future parents will never live to raise a family.

This was my third visit to the Jewish Museum....it won't be my last.....

....An Even Madder Dog

The adventure continues. Friday morning, after taking Fenway for a walk, we thought it looked like the stitches were pulling apart. So Dave took him back to the vet and came home an hour later. With a very unhappy dog.

Fenway now has a drainage tube running behind the stitches and is supposed to stay very quiet (hard to do). We are trying to confine him to the kitchen when I quilt and a smaller section of the family room where we've protected the carpet with drop cloths and old shower curtains.

After dinner it seems like his entire stomach was now covered with "bruises" or blood just under the skin.....it looked scary! So off to the emergency vet. She checked him out, all seems OK but wants him to wear a pad and bandage to catch the stuff draining and prevent infection. The huge "diaper" bandage they put on him at the vet lasted through the night....but by morning it had fallen off.

So we are now trying to do our best to keep it covered and clean........and Fenway quiet.

Aggghhhh.....this dog does need a job......

Mad Dog......

And a follow up on Fenway's recent surgical adventure. The mast cell tumor was removed and all looks good....except for the huge incision! It will take awhile for his coat to grow back and for Fenway to be back to his handsome self.

In the meantime he is getting three pills a day (hiding in cheese), shorter walks and lots of quiet loving. But I think he"s mad at us......

A Creature of Habit......

Wednesday morning.....7:00....time for my first walk mom.....are you awake???

OK.....up.....dressed, shoes on and out the door we go. It's usually a very quick "pee" break and Fenway wants to go home for breakfast. But today he just kept on walking and walking....and I let him go. Sniffing, peeing....sniffing.....peeing.  All the way around Rotary Park. And then home we went.

I made the coffee in the kitchen....while Fenway watched thinking "Haven't you forgotten something important that happens every morning right about now!?"

But today Fenway is having some minor surgery....so he can't have any breakfast. I keep saying "It's not time yet." But his eyes are saying "Oh yes it is!" He's having another one of those mast cell cysts removed....we've been through this before. No breakfast.....off to the vet and we will pick him up later this afternoon.

But no breakfast while I have my coffee.....I know he doesn't understand....and oh those eyes.....

It's Getting "Boring"......

Well not really.

Again yesterday we spotted the twins....just off the bike path. Grazing in the tall grass and eating leaves from the bushes. Ears flicked as we came into sight and that movement caught my eye. I approached slowly and they were completely unconcerned. These guys see so many people, dogs and bikes along this path they don't move unless you get just too close......

....plus, mom wasn't too far away.

I love our walk.....and deer spotting never gets old.....

We Missed the Shot.....

About ten days ago we were walking Fenway up the bike path after dinner. A beautiful evening. We stopped at a growth of milkweed on the west edge of the path and noticed the monarchs and bees and other smaller bugs moving through the blossoms.  And then there was something bigger and "buzzier"......it landed on one bloom and then quickly moved to another. Of course, this time, we didn't have our phones or camera....so we just saw it with our own eyeballs.

We've gone back over and over again....camera with close up lense in hand....but nada. We stand and look and see the monarchs and other insects.....but no mystery-flying-big-thing.

I googled to see what kind of butterflies and moths and insects are attracted to milkweed and there it was.....the clearwing hummingbird moth. Someone with a camera did get the shot and posted the photos on line!

The description says people confuse this moth with a hummingbird and I can see why. The size and movement......it's fascinating.

So I will go for a walk again today and see if I can see it once again. Keep your eyes open when you walk, you never know what you just might spot as you wander along........