together, continued

Up early, I pull out my hoodie and step out into the gravel path that swoops by the front door of the Brisbane House. Diane, Barbara and I are here for a long weekend and though we explored the surroundings yesterday afternoon, I know all too well that each place has a special vibe at different hours of the day. What does this old estate feel like on a cloudy and a somewhat cooler early May morning?

I noted earlier that the house was built by a man who moved here with his family because he could not tolerate the slavery of his southern home state. I had seen a picture of a card he wrote on my night stand upstairs (the card was sent by Brisbane along with a donation to the Armistad cause -- read about the famous case of the slaves dramatic mutiny here). He ended his message with "yours in the cause of human rights." The Brisbane House has been restored to reflect this first owner's commitment to equality. 

(plaque at the entrance to the house)

Outside, the grass is wet. We had some rain. We may well have some more this afternoon or evening. We'd heard from one of the daughters (would you believe it -- Barbara, Diane and I all have daughters and only daughters. Given that my closest Polish friend Bee also has only daughters, you'd think I pick my friends this way on purpose. Or in the alternative that women my age only gave birth do daughters. Neither of which of course is true) -- she wrote that this is morel season and that we should keep an eye out for these delicious mushrooms that tend to grow by the roots of oak or elm trees. I have already spotted asparagus in the farmette fields and indeed, Barbara picked some spears here as well, but morels are a whole step up in the culinary world of local spring wonders. 

I keep my eye out for morels. And, I listen to the birds!

In one early morning minute, I record on my Merlin bird App: a Gray Catbird, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, American Robin, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Brown-Headed Cowbird, House Wren, Blue Jay, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Towhee, Black-capped Chickadee, Mourning Dove!

Eventually my two friends join me downstairs and once again I sit back as they fix a breakfast. The Brisbane hosts have left us a raspberry Racine Kringle (such a Wisconsin pastry treat!). We've brought with us berries and granola. We're set.

And now for an outing: it's a cloudy Saturday, with a slight threat of rain. Weather that requires a hoodie, though not anything much warmer than that. We know that there's a farmers market in downtown Spring Green, though the calendar tells us that they are still on a "winter market." Spring Green, by the way, is the next town over from Arena, With a population of under 2000, it's not a bustling place. Nonetheless, it has the amenities of a much larger place (several bakeries, several spots to get good coffee, a bookstore, a dry goods store called Nina's (!), and a few other places we may check out), likely because of the area's in season attractions (the Frank Lloyd Wright stuff, the theater, the River).

The market is indeed small. In a parking lot, it must have no more than half a dozen vendors, a handful of shoppers and a lonely guitarist playing music to, well, probably the vendors. The scale of operations is well exemplified by this stand: 

As we walk along the main drag, we pass Nina's -- a store that has a little of everything. One of us is on the lookout for a short sleeved shirt (it's going to be hot tomorrow!), but it seems that most stuff here is very large and still seasonally inappropriate. Perhaps they were expecting a cooler Spring.

I ask the clerk if she is the Nina of the store. She tells us that Nina was the grandmother of her husband. She had opened the store back in 1916. It's been in the family ever since. "We dont have any children" -- she tells me -- "so I dont know what will happen to Nina's after we're done with it!"

I tell her I am a Nina, though not quite interested in purchasing the property. She answers -- "A Nina? well then you get a free postcard of our store!"

Do all Ninas brag about their names in this way? I sheepishly take it. It may be the only postcard I'll ever see with a Nina store on it.

The bookstore is next on our list. It's a nice one!

There's a cafe inside, but we dont pause quite yet. Instead, we look at books about birds, because I have this new found lightbulb that I can now be a bird person!

(a Rose-breasted Grosbeak!)

Next is Convivia -- a store whose theme I cant quite figure out. Some tableware, a few wines with beautiful labels, pasta and spaghetti sauces, beautiful doormats and... coffee.

This is where we decide to change our evening dinner plans. We were going to come back to Spring Green to try one of its recommended restaurants, but here's the thing: it's supposed to maybe possibly rain/storm tonight and, more importantly, we are all of an age where staying home and eating food there is actually fun and (arguably) more fun than going out. So, I buy this -- almost everything we need for a supper!

And now we retreat and seek out one of the cross streets. More coffee shops! And places that (rather randomly) also sell Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese (a Wisconsin cheese of great repute) and Potters Crackers (another local favorite). We stock up.

Next -- the Spring Green General Store. It too has a coffee shop! What's a person to do?!

Actually, a favorite place for a pause over caffeine turns out to be at the tiniest place of them all. Nectar Batch-made Bakery. We must have spent a solid two hours there, sampling this cookie, that aronia berry fruit crumble... And lots of coffee!

(And lots of very cute stickers!)

On the walk back to the car: look what's blooming in Spring Green: crabs and lilac!

And now we are home, reviewing our joys in life. Seriously. I brought it up.

Afternoon bird watch (again, from a one minute recording): Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Baltimore Oriole, Easter Towhee, Brown-headed Cowbird, Black-capped Chickadee, Song Sparrow.

Dinner? You know what it is! The pasta, the wine, leftover salad. Deliciously prepared, served and cleaned up by my two friends. Tell me I'm not on a vacation!!

And again we talk birds. Do you know that you can track what birds are migrating over your county on this very night? We found this for Iowa County (where we are) -- click here. So much information out there on birds! Perhaps we are helping gather data with our bird apps! How utterly fascinating!

A quiet night. Lots of birds, high up in the sky and no storms thus far. And a very warm day tomorrow, as our getaway continues.

with love...

together, continued

So to catch up those who hadn't been following along: I have a new knee. My friends Barbara and Diane are in town (indeed Diane is with me at the farmhouse). The three of us are heading out to spend three days together in Arena, Wisconsin.

We rented (through AirBnB) the Brisbane House -- built in 1868 by an abolitionist from South Carolina. To say that Bruce and Samantha (the owners) have painstakingly renovated this historic landmark has to be the understatement of the year. The place is beautiful in photos we'd seen and even more beautiful in real time.

So let's get going!

But first, Diane and I have breakfast. 

And I take a farmette walk, surveying what's growing out there...

We'd put together a list last night -- foods to take, that kind of thing. We pack the car and head out, stopping for Barbara along the way.

The drive to Arena is a very familiar one to any Madisonian who likes Shakespeare. The American Players Theater stages productions in an outdoor space here all summer long and I remember many a late night snaking my way back to Madison after a performance. Too, this is where you go if you want to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin -- the estate that includes his home and studio in the time he lived and worked here. Finally, this is the road you might take if you want to swing down the Wisconsin River, say in a kayak, maybe with a tent, aiming for where it meets the Mississippi.

For us, none of these landmarks matter much (this time around). A historic but extremely comfortable home, a beautiful landscape, perhaps some hiking for those with knees fit for the occasion, a nearby coffee shop -- those are the essentials for our few days together. 

Our first stop though is in Mazomanie -- the village just before Arena. Here we find the 1855 Coffee House (named after the year Mazomanie became a village in the state of Wisconsin).

Avocado on cream cheese and toast. Great coffee. We linger, because there is no hurry now. We're just ten minutes from "home."

The Brisbane House is just far enough from the road that you can't hear civilization, even from outside the door. At all. Samantha, one of the owners, is finishing up some garden maintenance. Of course she is! The weather is fantastic! 76F (nearly 25C). We pause to chat, though not for long. I'm anxious to see the inside. So many people helped work on its restoration! So much talent and artistry was needed for the effort. I asked Samantha what were the bigger challenges and she said, without hesitation, getting the hundreds of bats and other wildlife to leave the attic and the (now attached) Summer Kitchen house (see below). They all needed to be relocated. 

The house now stands proud and ready for visitors.

Three bedrooms are spread over two upper floors. If you want to go all out, you can add the Summer Kitchen (now an added bedroom) to your rental. For us, the basic house is just fine. 

Barbara and Diane unpack the car and put away foods. I'm keeping my leg up to make up for the hobbling and driving of the morning. But eventually, at our own pace, we all set out to explore the forests and ridges that surround us. And here's the thing: Barbara teaches me how to use Apps to identify birds and plant life. I've know you could do that, but I never bothered to explore this smart phone feature. As I set out with my cane and my still slow moving left leg, I feel a whole new world has opened up for me. Suddenly I know what it is I hear and see in the forest!

A Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Blue-winged Warbler, White-throated Sparrow.  Plants, too, suddenly have names. Funny how much closer you feel to nature when it has identifiable flora and fauna.

(Selfie on a timed release because I'm just too slow to walk with anybody! Note my very attractive, post surgical white support stockings, which really do give the impression that I'm sporting some special hiking garb!)

In the house again, we read the various books the owners have left with stories of the house, the renovation, the original owner...  

Some of us, the obsessive bird listening types, go out on the screened porch to see if we can hear or even see more birds. Baltimore Orioles!  I cant wait to set this app on the population of farmette feathered friends. Diane brings out cheese and crackers. We open a bottle of wine. The knee is forgotten. Life feels extraordinarily beautiful out here, on the outskirts of Arena, Wisconsin.

My two friends fix supper -- a "taco salad." Simple and very good! And they clean up, as I recline on the couch, leg up on multiple pillows. Hey, I did volunteer to push forward our escape once I realized it would be so close after my surgery. In the end, we stuck with this date and I surely am the victorious one here as I can do nothing of substance, but throw out an occasional encouraging word over my shoulder.

A beautiful May evening. I hope it's that for you as well!

with love...

come together now

I can't even remember when my two friends of some forty plus years and I have gone somewhere together. I've seen each, of course. Not as much as I'd like to -- Diane lives in Florida, Barbara -- New Mexico, but still, we make an effort to meetup when we can. But as a band of three? Oh, it's been a while!

We all remember the very first trip where we spent time together with our wee kids across the ocean. So, now, our once wee kids have wee ones of their own and we haven't the constraints of those young parent years. And still, it's hard to coordinate dates. And here's the big question: where should we go together?

Would you believe it -- we choose Wisconsin. It's a question of convenience and sentimental attachment. We all lived here once! And some of us still live here, and we all have some family in the neighborhood and so it really is a good place to reunite. And it's fortuitous that we should have chosen a destination not far from my home, since I'm not allowed to travel far or sit in airplanes just yet. We're going to spend a weekend together a mere 45 minute drive from the farmette. Just about perfect!

We decided on a house rental (through AirBnB) and it took a while to find the most perfect place. We'll drive up there tomorrow and I'll say more about it then, but today we are all meeting up (finally) at the farmhouse. For a take out dinner and strategic planning! 

That's in the afternoon. The morning is devoted to knee contemplation. First, at sunrise, I give a lot of thought to why it is so hard to get this body part moving again.  Ten steps back, just by staying in bed most of the night! 

I then do the usual: move it, ice it, nap.

And then it's rather a rushed (but delicious!) breakfast.

Why rushed? Because I have my date with the PT assistant to David. Whereas David was modestly positive, this guy is full of peppy upbeat messaging: Way ahead of others! Now it's a rollercoaster, but in a couple of weeks, it will settle down! Doing this well! Doing that well! A one person cheerleading squad. Done in ten minutes. 

Since scheduling pick ups are complicated with the coming and going of so many people, Snowdrop is with her family after school today. Me, I learn how to plant replacement flowers without twisting my new knee into weird (and therefore painful) positions. And I water the pots. And admire all that the farmette now delivers.

(Animal watering station -- looking good with that burst of pink!)

(A welcoming entrance to the courtyard --which really is the heart of the farmette)

And then Diane comes and eventually Barbara is here too and it is almost like old times, except that we are older than we were in old times. We are all in our 70s. Amazing to remember that we met when I was just 28!

(dinner on the porch -- it's that warm outside...)

Alright: the goal is to feel rested as we set out on our adventure, tame as it may seem! A good night to all!

With love...

May 3rd

The third day of the month delivers! It's that kind of day that gives strength to the claim that May really is the most beautiful month of the year. (Yes, yes, all are beautiful in their own way, but honestly, May has so much going for it that it has to take the lead.) I mean, the colors! Especially when seen against a blue sky. The garden doesn't produce much yet, here in south central Wisconsin, but it hardly matters. The stage is set. The explosion is coming. 

It's been a week since my knee swap, though honestly, it feels like I've been hooked up to machines and wrapped up in bandages and tight stockings forever! I'm still slow at getting a day started. The effort to get dressed is so great that I always nap afterwards! And then it's time for breakfast.

We discuss our morning plans. I am now able to do laundry, so long as Ed carries the basket up and down the stairs to the basement. So I have that exciting adventure before me. Too, we caught an opossum trying to get into the chicken coop and we have to deal with that. And I suggest that we make one more trip to Koepke's Greenhouse. I need just a few plant replacements for the handful ruined by the chickens or the poor weather or both. This is a joyful excursion, because the night temperatures will have finally stabilized going forward. None of this dipping to near frost! Done with that! 

(on the way to the greenhouse, your quintessentially beautiful spring vignette!)

(at the greenhouse...)

As I manipulate my cart around Koepke's, I'm struck by how warm and friendly the world of garden shoppers is. People who plant have inner goodness, don't you think? Or maybe it's that on a day like this, they're all buoyant! One very senior gardener in front of me says again and again -- I cannot believe this day has finally come! It's just so incredible! I've waited so long!

I share his enthusiasm.

(One more basket of color added to the farmette landscape...)

In the afternoon I pick up Snowdrop. The rule about driving is that you shouldn't do it if you're popping opioids. I rarely need them and certainly not during the day, so I'm back in the saddle again with child care, one week after surgery. Not bad!

(violets and pear blossoms...)

Snowdrop does recognize my slow pace and she offers to escort me to the farmhouse door. I smile at her gentle helpfulness. Working to be a nurse? -- I ask her. No, gaga, you know I'm going to be an astronomy teacher. Well then, it's settled!

In the evening Ed resumes his weekly bike rides. I never could keep up with him in cycling, but I do think back to what my PT person asked -- what physical activity goals do you want to set for yourself? I was stumped. He pushed me on this -- were you not able to do something before the surgery that you would like to be able to do after recovery? I had to laugh: get up off the floor with ease! Or, is that aiming too high?!

Ed comes home, we eat supper, he puts away... six chickens. We lost the seventh, Henny today. Good old green egg laying Henny. She's been with us for years, so you could say she lived a good, long life. But still, we're left wondering who went after her and when. You dont want this to be the first in a string of chicken raids. We remind ourselves that we'll have to be still more vigilant in the coming days, even though right now, we are feeling tired to the bone -- Ed from the reintroduction of bike riding, me from the introduction of new bones, or joints, or whatever it is that I have in that sore left leg of mine.

With love...

positive reinforcement

Why has it so gone out of fashion to encourage progress through praise? Why have we veered off course, preferring to tell the world what's wrong with products, people, places, instead of what's great about them? 

I'm at fault too: I dont write snappish comments, but when I travel, I devour all the trashy stuff others post on places where I want to overnight, excursions I think of taking. I tell myself -- I want to weed out the losers! But this morning I had a thought: maybe I shouldn't? Maybe behind the occasional moldy bathroom and creaky floorboards, there lies something special? Maybe by aiming high, I miss out on the fun of arriving in a spooky guest house with colorful characters sipping cold tea from chipped cups? 

I get it: we have so little time and so we want to spend it wisely. Why take an excursion to an underrated museum or village, why eat a poorly prepared meal, when we can easily find something that hasn't these obvious flaws? 

Still, I have to wonder -- who is helped by the endless nose wrinkling commentary, written or spoken? Wouldn't it be more useful to suggest ways in which tweaks could be made to improve something, noting all the good stuff that's already there?  It's the generous and encouraging words of others that make us want to get better in life, no? I'll give you an example straight from this day:

I wake up early, because that is my fate this May -- to get up and move ASAP so that the darn knee has a chance to wiggle and bend before it totally freezes over from lying still most of the night. Ed is still sleeping so I am determined to get showered and dressed on my own. The only tough job is to get the white support stocking on the cut up leg. Impossible! Well, as it turns out, not impossible. After sweating it out for a good many minutes (I can't believe Ed slept through so many grunts and groans!), I'm ready for the day -- which, of course, begins with exercises, followed by ... a nap.

And then I check my email and I find a lovely message from one of my former colleagues, noting a review of Like a Swallow that appeared in this month's Wisconsin Lawyer (you can read it here).

Of course, everyone likes good reviews of their work, so there's that. But what really moved me about this one is that the author of it exactly set out the map of my life as how I want to live it. I aspire to all those things she writes about! And my immediate reaction to it was -- I want to do even better at meeting those goals! Double down and make a huge effort. Don't slack off. Stay focused. Observe with gentility, write with care, speak without malice.

You see the point -- a kind word is like a nudge to keep going, to do well by others, to stay on course.

And now, about this second of May which happens to be a significant improvement over the first of May!  Outside -- more sunshine, slightly warmer temperatures. Inside -- the knee is gaining strength!  [Though my Physical Therapist corrected me on this: your knee is perfect right now. Good to go. It's the other stuff, the tissue, the nerves, muscles etc that are saying -- what just happened here?!] But, I am not yet able to do the Tuesday shuffle with my granddaughter. I take a day's break and let the parents do the pick up/dance class routines. 

(Breakfast, with cinnamon rolls, held over from pre-operative days...)

I concentrate on loving the feel of early May.

(Do you see him? Our resident cardinal, in the soon to bloom crab apple...)

(These are tulip weeks; a special thanks to the groundhog for leaving these alone!)

(The much neglected front road facing bed does put on a great display of late season jonquils!)

(Old orchard pears and apples even make Ed's '86 Ford pick-up look great!)

(Young orchard cherries, with the willow dancing in the wind!)

And in the afternoon, Ed again nudges me out for a walk, this time by Lake Waubesa.

I swear, there's never been a walk that I have taken that I haven't loved, even this one, still at a snail's pace, though Ed assures me that it's looking a lot more "normal!" Fantastic! Tomorrow I'll strive to do even better!

May 1st

It's the start of my new normal: for the next two months (so, all of May, all of June), I can expect to be uncomfortable and less mobile than at any other time in my life. I can pay great attention to my exercise program (which consumes too many hours to allow for any meaningful time for less boring stuff) or blow it off and suffer the consequences.  I have so many visits with the PT guy that I expect we'll be on first name basis by the end of the season. Oh, we already are? Well now, there you have it. My spring in a nutshell.

But it's a great season nonetheless! I mean, aside from the weather yesterday today and tomorrow. Really, May -- you're starting us off with March temperatures!

I haven't yet figured out a good way to sleep at night so I begin the day with getting up, getting dressed and taking a nap! This is a ridiculous routine, but I rather like it!  Eventually Ed and I sit down to breakfast.

And afterwards, I start on my Physical Therapy visits. David, my PT person, has been doing this for 37 years. I say to Ed -- he's so experienced! Ed replies -- he must be so bored with it by now! But I think that's not the case. Every patient is different, right? And indeed, David offer a lot of comments on where I am at on this fifth day after surgery, as compared to other similarly situated patients. Here are some of his words: That leg is just two degrees off! That's amazing! Incredible! ... No, you're doing that all wrong ... You have to use your cane even if you dont think you need your cane ... Dont skimp on the Tylenol! ... All nicely black and blue, just as it should be! 

I like him. He's very... realistic and just slightly more upbeat than Ed!

At home, I force myself to do some of the hoists and wiggles and shuffles. And in the afternoon, Snowdrop comes over. I wasn't sure I could drive, so a parent picked her up at school and brought her to the farmhouse. Once here, the girl is totally self sufficient. My big effort requires nothing more than to cut up some fruit and find a comfortable position in which to read with her.  

(trying out my ice pack machine)

And after she goes home, I return to light cooking. I'm supposed to challenge myself to a big(ish) walk every day, but of course the weather sucks to high heaven so I'm not going anywhere. But at least I can shuffle around the kitchen and throw together a veggie soup. This of course proves to be exhausting -- sort of like hiking the Grand Canyon only without the hiking or the Grand Canyon. 

May 1st -- it's a holiday in so many countries! For me, the day marks the beginning of intense blooms in the farmette gardens. I cant say that they are exceptional yet. The buds on the crab haven't opened up. The tulips are holding their heads tightly shut. 

But it is lovely out there. Tentative, but so full of potential! May is the stubbornly pretty month. You could not ask for more delicate and lovely colors! Pastels and pinks, yellows and blues, all wrapped in the subtle greens of spring.

Heaven...

birthday celebrations, completed

That was some weekend! Horribly cold weather, sore knee, exceptionally beautiful everything else! This morning, my older girl served brunch to the whole lot of us -- with an added friend and her two children. So now there were seven little ones, all well under 8, doing what kids that age do best -- scattering toys, dressing up, dancing, eating big fat bagels with or without all the bagel stuff us grownups love.

Here's our day then. Or, a sampling of all the wonderfulness that was heaped upon it! (Well, except for the weather. And the knee.)

(Heading out: the cane got very muddy.)

(At my daughter's home: a welcoming committee!)

(Another day of birthday presents! the boys help me with this one!)

(I join the kids' table. I'm only 70 after all!)

(Dress up time! My cane enters the act...)

(Can you do housework in a long gown? yes you can!)

(there are four moms in the room; here's the youngest one!)

(Cousin dance!)

(And more of cousin dance!)

(Tired, but happy -- that probably describes us all! Sad to say good bye to Juniper and Primrose...)

("We'll block the door and not let anyone leave!")

(Back to the farmette... The pears are blooming... We're looking forward to a warmup this week!)

Evening quiet. Ed sleeps, I run through knee exercises. For dinner, he and I fill up on leftover steaks frites from yesterday's meal. We dont ourselves cook or load our plates with beef, but we make an exception when kids leave us reasonable portions of their tasty restaurant beef dishes!

And so ends a fantastic April of celebrations! It could not have been a finer birthday. I'm left with a computer full of photos and a heart spilling over with love.

Time to rally and make the next month a good one!