Friday

So who is coming to Madison? Who deserves so much attention and has us taking apart drains and dusting off corners that have remained, well, dusty for a while? Long time Ocean readers may recall her -- she is my Polish architect whom I hired to gut and remodel my Warsaw apartment. (I no longer own this apartment. In my life, things change rapidly and head in interesting directions.) Over the course of our work together on that project, she became a very good friend. And this year, she, along with her architect husband and two awesome kids decided to come visit the US (not her first time, though certainly her first trip to the Midwest!) and to drive up to see me in Madison.

These guys are powerhouse architects. They do big stuff back home. And what strikes me as remarkable is that they truly live and breathe their craft. The efforts that they went to in order to inspect architectural gems in and around Chicago were... impressive! So my thinking is that I need to wow them with our own Madisonian gems, which is, on the one hand, not that hard because both of them have a deep interest in the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright wasn't born in Madison, but he spent his childhood very near us and indeed, his young adulthood was right here, in the place we call home. (On the other hand, the weather is not cooperating this weekend! Man oh man, couldn't we do the storms another time??)

Wright moved a little here and there but eventually he returned to his childhood haunts and Madison is the richer for it. Not only do we have a sprinkling of his Usonian and prairie style homes here, but of course, we have Monona Terrace and the Unitarian Meeting House. All his designs. But today isn't the day for this. Before the rain sets in, I have things that I must accomplish and that we, all five of us must accomplish.

For me, there's garden cleaning.

And a trip to the bakery, and breakfast with Ed.

And then I finally get to greet the traveling foursome as they drive up to Madison.

We take a stroll down State Street, heading toward the university campus and the Union Terrace.

Is there a better way to introduce the city and its unique youthful vibe?

We come back to the farmhouse for dinner (after a walk across farmette lands)

I made a simple shrimp version of a salad nicoise. With lots of spritz's and many desserts (including a Madison Sourdough cherry-blueberry-peach pie).

(Though I have to think it's the corn that will steal the show. I mean, day old, from Stoneman's -- you can't improve on that.)

Only the son is comfortable with the English language, so Ed stays to the sidelines, which is a shame because these people are full of info and ideas about construction and design. (When I first started hanging out with Ed I once saw him fill out a form where you had to state your profession. Without hesitation he put down "design" which surprised me then, but which I fully understand now as I've watched him work over the years.)

Still, it is a lovely evening and especially because I haven't seen these people since before the pandemic. Too, they are terrific travelers, beautiful guests and great story tellers.  

Tomorrow, we hit Madisonian gems. In the rain. What are you going to do...

With love...