Hidden Talents Revealed

Hello there!  Just a small post to give an update on my first ever attempt at gardening!  Milwaukee, like the rest of the Midwest, has been in the grip of a fairly severe drought, which has meant putting in some serious time with the garden hose, and dragging gallon jogs of water to the plants in the front.  This is good think time if nothing else, and given that the fact that the Rosebud Reservation, my former home of three years, has lost over 40,000 acres to wildfires this week, is not really anything to complain about, on my end.

Questions that occur to me whilst watering: “Why do we use potable water to irrigate crops, lawns, and ornamentals?” Isn’t there a way we could use “grey” water, and reduce the burden on treatment centers/municipal infrastructure?”  Also, “If I didn’t have access to running water from a spigot attached to my building, would I bother with this? The artisan well is like four blocks away. Seems like a lot of effort. And “Why doesn’t Wisconsin have any irrigators?” Seems like every other field in South Dakota has one. (turns out, soil composition matters).  Not particularly profound think time, but good meditative space.

The ornamentals in front seem to enjoy the watering routine the most – they are taking off!

 

This has certainly been an experience!  Back in May, I planted two varieties of tomatoes, three types of bell pepper, cucumbers, sweet peas, sunflowers, basil, snap dragons, and evening primrose.  Some were shocking failures – the pepper plants were consumed practically overnight by evil looking little grubs. What eats peppers? The cucumbers were eaten to the ground shortly after sprouting. I saved one, and kept it covered, only to have it eaten anyway when the cover blew off. The sweet peas succumbed over night to an unnamed malady (green to dead in less than 24 hours – it was like plant cholera). And my poor, long suffering sunflowers…

Seriously, these poor things have been hit by lawnmowers twice (I hate renting), but are still preparing to bloom!

On the brighter side, the containers have been doing quite well!

Perfect little snapdragons – with another plant developing buds. These are some of my favorite flowers!

After six weeks of waiting, the little basil plants are taking off! I’ll be ready to snip some leaves in time to enjoy with the first fresh tomatoes!

Brightest of all – these tomatoes are out. of. control. I was planning on taking up canning this summer, but now it seems like more of a self defense move. I can’t wait for them to start turning red!

Roma tomatoes coming in strong! I’m looking forward to a winter filled with soups and sauces with the taste of summer.

The little snack tomatoes are going absolutely crazy – I’m going to have to take time of work just to get the harvest in!

Absolutely love these deep purple pansies. I never thought they’d live after I rescued them from a sunbaked mark down table in early July.

 

So, what we’ve learned this year so far is that easy to grow/un-kill-able plants are the best bet for a beginner. Anything hardy, invasive, weed-like, or prone to growing in sewers is amazing. Anything delicate, or likely to be run over by crazy landscapers is best left to the veteran. Thanks for looking! I’m going outside again now to see if the tomatoes are ready.

The Way

So…it happened. I turned 30 (cue all relevant fanfare) one week ago today.

Bring. It.

Entering my third decade has me reflecting on a number of things, including the title of this blog.  The original title was to be “Exit 29”, but that was taken. Now, I feel as though I should call it “Highway 30” or some such thing. Which led to further rumination on why I am so stuck on the highway references (my friends have blogs on everything from running, to politics, to food and cooking)…and then it occurred to me – the entire span of my twenties involved traveling, and the vast majority of said travel was on highways. Highways, and everything they symbolize, form the frame of those years.

If I start with how I learned to drive, I find a recurring theme.  My dad’s method of teaching me to drive involved 3 things – learning to put gas in the car, then how to get on and off the highway safely, and then how to navigate the endless milk roads of rural Wisconsin. This was awesome – except for the fact that most driver’s tests are conducted within city limits, and I am kind of bad at red lights.

There seem to be a lot of them here – but minus the speed cameras, which I appreciate.

Driving to college on 151 – at that time, a sleepy two lane highway that ran through 3 towns, including Belmont, site of my first ever speeding ticket. I learned to drive in the dark in those years – the real dark, no streetlights or spillover light. Dark like driving in a mineshaft. I also learned about snow – to ride with the slide and to remember that the car is designed to stay upright. This parallels the lessons of those college years – trust yourself to navigate unfamiliar territory; don’t try to control every situation; things mostly work out the way you’d hoped, providing you put in the work.

The years I lived in Madison, and the months in London, my driving habits shifted down to almost nil. During those years I learned to lean on my friends when I needed to – and to survive in a world where the rules were unexpectedly reversed.

When I moved to South Dakota as a part of Teach For America, the road shifted again. I used to joke that from my mom’s apartment, to my house out to He Dog, it was “10 hours and 4 turns”. Which is actually more or less true – right to get on 90, left to get on 18, right to get on 44, and right to get on the ranch road.  What that doesn’t reveal are the details and pitfalls of the miles between.  The dead flat calm of Minnesota that makes you call someone, anyone, and beg them to talk to you until you get across. The winding road south of Murdo where I saw everything from a semi on fire, to a herd of antelope, to a kid with a skateboard, just walking along. The “limited maintenance” ranch road with it’s mud holes, wandering cattle, and tumbleweeds.

This is actually the Lakeview road, which is similar, but better maintained. Seriously.

The lessons of those years were similar – teaching kindergarten? Sounds like a cakewalk! (wrong). Two year resume builder? Cool! (about the farthest thing from the truth – I am forever changed by those years) South Dakota? Sounds…boring. (no.) I learned to persevere. I learned to find the joy in small moments every day. I learned to listen to the world – from owls, to coyotes, to wacipi drums, to ranch road music. I acquired all kinds of skills – how to use a 4 wheel drive, how to not spin out of wash board ruts, how to hook my truck up to a bulldozer with a chain to break it out of an ice block. How to teach reading, how to keep my voice gentle, and how to balance work and play.

Living here helps you focus.

In my later 20s, New Orleans provided new roads to explore, and new challenges to endure. 94 to 39 (stop for gas in Normal); 39 to 55 (last Culver’s is in Missouri, and it’s not good); 55 to 10 (don’t spend the night in Mississippi if you can help it); then past the Superdome, off on the Tchoupitoulas exit, right at the Whole Foods, and park next to the banana trees – a world away from my lonely trek across the Sandhills. The drive was longer, with more intense challenges (seriously, if the Jackson, MS interchange doesn’t get you, the Memphis, TN one will). Life was different too – starting over in my third state, my fifth or sixth city. Working hard, without the saving grace of small people to teach. Heat, rain, storms, bugs, carnival, oysters, music, and color. A confusing welter which left me inspired and exhausted in equal measure. This was a time to accept. To experience and to strive to stay open to possibilities. And to see just how far I can push my comfort zone before fault lines start to give way.

In 2011 I packed up my things one more time – and reversed my steps back to 94. A midwesterner after all – you can take the girl out, and so on. Now my highway rambles are confined to the 94 corridor, and 43 up to schools and back again. It’s strange to me that after all this long time, most of what I need is close at hand. It’ll be interesting to see what the total of those miles comes up to – in distance and in heart.

The scene of the four hour drive of terror in Morocco. If nothing else, I leave my twenties with a sense of adventure!

Sweet Summer Time

I always go into summer thinking it’s going to be quiet and chill. I am not actually sure WHY I think that – I think the only quiet and chill summer I had was the summer of 2006, when I interned 4 hours per day and slept the rest (no joke, coming out of my first year of teaching, I was catching up on ten months of exhaustion) Otherwise I spend my summers working at TFA Institute, or moving across the country. This summer, I have done neither, but work and life have certainly cooperated to fill every spare moment!

Lots of gardening is happening, despite the miserable drought Wisconsin has suffered. Seriously, it rained for about 45 seconds yesterday, and I couldn’t even continue the conversation I was having. The peppers did not survive (something ate them to the ground, but the tomatoes and petunias are doing nicely. I have 9 tomato plants, divided between slicing and paste, and I think I will take up canning as a new hobby this fall – can’t stand to see a single one go to waste!

These little guys are hanging out in the shade and doing ok despite the heat and the dry. I have been informed that they are usually houseplants, so I’ll bring some in in the winter.

Family time has been amazing this summer – it’s so nice to be a short drive away from so many people.  Birthday parties to baseball games, it’s been wonderful to reconnect with my people!

I love this picture – the tiniest person and the bestest Papa 🙂

Cousins bonding over sunglasses – two handsome guys!

Cory keeping his eye on the ball.

Outfield is somewhat boring, however 😉

Brunch is on a summer hiatus – my little window a/c can’t really cope with the epic production heat, or the crowds, but the last one I threw, in May was a lot of fun – pancakes on the porch, enjoying the early summer breezes. Until the end of my days, I will live somewhere that allows me to sit outside.

The result! Chocolate chip, blueberry, and “plain” pancakes, bacon, eggs, and the requisite bowl of berries. Yum!

Using the last of my eggs from the Tinants – well traveled, and completely delicious 🙂

Best of all, Milwaukee has proven itself to be a truly excellent city to explore this summer! From custard, to Summerfest, to farmer’s markets, to the South Shore Frolics (this weekend!) there is always something great to do, something amazing to eat, and some excellent music playing.  In Wisconsin, we never quite forget that a long, hard winter is right around the corner, so we get out there and soak up every sunny moment!

Rarely the winner, but always our favorite – wearing number 5 – Chorizo!

We managed to get photos with every racing sausage that day, a minor miracle on a Saturday afternoon!

Taken inside the Northern Chocolate Co – right before I got yelled at for taking pictures…oops!

Lake Michigan in the morning

City Hall is amazing inside! This was also the tallest building in North America at one time.

Going here now! Kopp’s has nothing on this classic 🙂

Winter Hiatus

Sooo- despite my initial interest in the 365 day photo project, I simply could not maintain interest. We were visited with an extremely mild winter here in the Brew City – which, as a recent return from 3 years in New Orleans, I appreciated. I had been looking forward to long, cozy snow days, and pictures of the frost patterns on my windows, but it was not to be. We basically had a six month November, featuring gray skies, mud, rain, frost, sleet, and a few handfuls of snow thrown in. It was the perfect impetus to keep my head down, stay in the office, and pray for warmer days. In February, I finally took the plunge and bought myself a MacBook Air (yes, this is the first computer that I have ever owned!) and a Nikon 4300 Psi. Owning the proper tools makes my hobbies so much more enjoyable. So, I return to the blogosphere – hopefully to stay awhile!

Here is the recap of the interesting things that happened since January 1, 2012.

February is a blur – it was my mom’s birthday though! I have the distinct impression I spent a lot of that time trapped in a hotel in Dallas. No photographic evidence survives, which is probably for the best.

March, however…

Bought my camera! Celebrated by taking random pictures of things in my house!

Flowers from a friend- tulips were early this year!

Bought some new toys – and threw out (recycled) the vintage microwave!

If my house was burning down, and my dog was safe, this is the first thing I would grab. No question.

Spent time with family, celebrating my Uncle’s birthday! It feels so great to be in proximity to these events again!

Surrounded by family. :

Went to New York to visit family – and enjoy the early spring!

Marcus Garvey Park in full bloom

Little cousin

Battery Park and Liberty Island. “Give me your poor…”

Went to Morocco with my best friend, and stayed at a resort for the first time. I would have liked more local color, and less sitting around, but all new experiences are good ones, right?

The infinity pool at the resort

Nearby homes…a little contrast

Trekking up into the Atlas mountains!

April –

Went to Alabama for the single most influential experience of my Teach For America staff career!

The scene of Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, and the March to Montgomery. Selma, AL

Pie Lab breakfast – proceeds going to the Hero Project. Greensboro, AL

Catfish Capital of the World! Catfish plants provide most of the non-agricultural employment. Also, it’s delicious.

Started having monthly brunches for our teachers and staff!

Breakfast burritos!

Coffee and mimosas!

Followed my mom’s lead and started gardening!

Mom’s been gardening for over a decade now…amazing.

I planted bulbs last fall – my first gardening success!

May –

Celebrated Leo’s 2nd Birthday! (Don’t judge me – look at that face!)

Yes, he got a cake. One of us should be able to eat cake!

It was met with approval.

Went back to South Dakota!

Yes, this is what it looks like. No, it was the best part of my adult life.

Core values.

My school home, always a He Dog Bulldog

Buffalo on the side of the highway. Since I can, I took a u-turn and drove into the grass…

Wide open spaces

And celebrated my brother’s amazing achievement!

The winner!

Scenes from the wacipi

It’s been an incredible five months – looking forward to what the summer will bring!

365 Day Photo Challenge!

So…I know it’s cliched, but I’ve wanted to do this for the last two years, and as one of many resolutions, I am going to begin taking and posting photos daily. This is threefold – one, the shameless narcissism of blogging; two, to rebuild my terribly rusty photography skills; and three, to earn the right to buy a fabulous new digital camera before my trip to Morocco.  This is not to say that there will be a long and rambling post with every picture, but there should be a picture (or 2…or several…) each day of 2012!  So, without further ado…

Welcome, 2012

I made this lighthouse out of salt dough when I was a kid.  In March of 2011 I took the view of a lighthouse out my hotel window as a sign that Milwaukee should be my next home. Welcome, 2012 – I can’t wait to see where the light leads!

2011: Recap and Resolutions

Phew!  2011 has about 13.5 hours left on the clock – what a crazy year!

Recap:

January: Decided to apply for a new job/transfer – applied to 3 regions and 2 charter networks

February: Withdrew charter applications, BFF visited NOLA one more time

March: Travelled for job interviews to Milwaukee and Chicago, got first sunburn of the year at “The Fly” with Audrey and Heidi.

April: Waiting Game…waiting for job offers…went to Phoenix for a conference, said good bye to SPD team.

May: Job offers in Newark and Milwaukee – took Milwaukee!

The View from Bayview!

June: Rampant packing, good bye pool party thrown by TFA friends, deathly ill but packing, cleaning, and driving

July: First summer since 2005 without TFA Institute!  Move to Milwaukee, travel to Philadelphia, spent b-day eating chicken wings in Philly airport due to epic storm system, travel to Chicago, welcome new 2011 Milwaukee Corps Members.

Inside the Milwaukee Train Station. I love that I can take the train so often now!

August: New job craziness, met Darko and Indira, went to festivals, farmer’s markets, and started new hobbies, went to my first two Brewer’s games, reconnected with college friends.

September: Continued acclimation to Milwaukee, mom visits, me, discovered Sven’s, Indian Summer, reconnected with old SoDak friend.

October: Traveled to Detroit, Sandusky (Cedar Point!), BFF visits Milwaukee, mom visits, Cory’s birthday, Halloween decorations.

November: Traveled to Madison for Thanksgiving, had tumultuous experience with National Managers, but survived and grew from the experience. TFA Thanksgiving at Mitzi’s house.

December: Winter Break in Madison, team dinners, fudge, Darko broke a vase at TJ Maxx, spent last 2 days of 2011 in comatose state.

Heralding the New Year!

My absolute favorite part of the end of the year is resolutions and plans for the new year!  I know some great things will be in store! Last year, I made several resolutions, but the two that stayed with me were to: 1) Stop buying books for myself and use the local library instead, and 2) Go to yoga 3 times per week.

I did great with the first one – I’ve paid about 7.00 in overdue charges over the year, but that balanced against the potential cost if I had purchased every book I read last year seems like a step in a positive direction. I still give books as gifts to the young people in the family, but I work hard to buy from local book shops or companies and be a better steward of the dollars I do spend.

The yoga resolution went well initially. I was going 3 times per week when in town to Life NOLA yoga studio, which I just loved. I decided that I wasn’t going to buy anything to support this hobby – I already own yoga pants and T shirts, and the studio had mats to use. Everything was perfect.  It all fell apart when I moved though, I was really sick and missed my last week of classes in New Orleans, and then it took about 6 weeks to feel settled enough to even look around. Also, yoga is pretty expensive in Milwaukee, and I haven’t been successful in finding a studio that quite fits me. I’m going with Yama Yoga in the 3rd ward now, though I don’t love it – but I am not feeling as strong and healthy anymore, so I know I need something! Got an awesome new mat for Christmas, and bought a new membership yesterday, so I’ll be back on the health train come 1-3!

Thinking about the resolutions I will make for 2012 – some long term, some immediate changes. One will probably be about blogging more!

Leo made a resolution to make new friends. He may need a lesson on avoiding awkwardness.

Fall Cooking

So, it’s November – which means it’s finally cold enough for me to feel good about heating up the house with cooking.  I will be going to Morocco in March with 2 of my best friends, so I am really trying to get on the frugal train between now and then.  We got a great Groupon deal for the hotel, but it doesn’t cover airfare, transportation to the hotel, or food – so not the greatest deal of the century.  One goal I set for myself after this “broke summer” was eliminate credit card use for anything but emergencies – so this trip all has to be paid for with “real money”. Yikes.  All this to say, I am looking for ways to live well within my budget over the next four months.

I love eating, but I tend to fall into really bad habits during the week when I am tired and stressed after work, still need to walk the dog, and have a few more hours of email and planning ahead of me. So, I made a meal plan – and actually stuck to it!  Part of the meal plan was to cook at least a weeks worth of meals in advance – using good quality, organic ingredients, so I can feel good about just heating stuff up all week.

So here’s my photo journal of the first experiment in frugal living (PS – my grocery budget (100 per check) translates into about 5.88 per day – I did spend most of it up front – but I had enough left over to restock consumables like eggs, milk, and coffee later on. Here are all of my groceries (representing Willy Street Co-op, Whole Foods, and Piggly Wiggly!

The raw ingredients - I am a little daunted at this point!

Project 1 – Dinner (Pork Chili Verde)

So – this was almost my first fail – as the key ingredient here is 3 pounds of tomatillos – which I totally forgot until my mom asked where I finally found some – thanks mom!  (Piggly Wiggly, .50 per pound!)

First, I husked and washed all three pounds of tomatillos –

Husked, washed and ready to be roasted! I only had to cut off two little bits - no unpleasant surprises!

The starting point - these are not organic, but the price was great, and I love exploring the produce section in my neighborhood!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I could not figure our how to put these bulbous fruits into my kind scary, dirty, and small broiler.  I have only seen my dad use a gas broiler before – once – to make steaks.  And that was scary too. (Not because of anything he did, but because open flames seem wildly unsafe to me.)  I could use a tutorial, if anyone in the blogosphere has tips!

So, I improvised –

Improvised broiler - cookie sheet on two gas burners - what? I also have some hot peppers, garlic, and shallots roasting. This was a fun part!

I put all the roasted things into the food processor, though the recipe said blender.  They probably aren’t roasted enough – but the tomatillos started swelling up and making these crazy sounds, and I thought they were going to explode everywhere. The garlic, shallots, and peppers did a good job though.  PS – the recipe said blender because this makes a LOT of liquid.  But I like my FP more!

Ish got even crazier when I added the chicken stock. The recipe wanted me to put corn tortillas in there too - I don't like buying tortillas, so I added corn meal instead. Probably not enough, though.

Roasted up and ready to go! I had to do this in batches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I added 2 pound of cut up pork tenderloin to this mix and threw it all in the crock pot.  I love my crock pot – I have a very limited attention span when it comes to cooking, so having a gadget that does the boring part for me is an epic win. Here it is, ready to go! (I think it cooked for eight hours – too lazy to go look it up again).

Done! For now anyway...now I wait for the house to fill with yummy smells.

Project 2 – (Lunch) Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

 

Now that it is cold, I can;t really get into my warm weather lunch of cheese, fruit, and yogurt.  In order to avoid spending 7 dollars a day at Culvers for french fries and custard, I decided to start eating soup.  Wild rice and mushroom soup is my favorite thing, but the canned variety a) costs like 3.00 a can for organic, and b) usually contains wheat flour as a thickener. So, I found a gluten free recipe.  This was much more like “real cooking” – and fun, too!

Porcini Mushrooms - no sulfates!

Phase one - converting dry ingredients into not dry. (wet seemed gross)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Porcinis reconstituting in boiling water. Yum.

Locally sourced, organic wild rice. Menominee means "wild rice".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were a lot of steps to this, but they were all pretty easy.  I did learn that I have to read the directions carefully, or I miss key things that complicate the eating process a lot.

I did remember to cut up the creminis at least. See the porcinis hanging out back there? It's almost time!

For example, I was supposed to finely chop the pancetta - not leave it in big loopy slices that would make eating neatly quite a challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rice is ready!

Sautee with white wine - finally found a use for that bottle!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mixed all the stuff together, plus some whole milk (recipe calls for heavy cream, but part of the point of this is using what I have on hand) and you have a thing of beauty, and a joy for at least a week 😉

So much win. So much yum.

Oh yeah, I also made gluten free, organic, apple cinnamon muffins.  Which were so, so good, and were breakfast for almost a week. I didn’t take pictures, but there took about 45 seconds to mix up, plus the time spent grating the apple.  Which was surprisingly hard, and makes me think that next time I’ll test out the grating attachment on the good ol’ FP.  Here is the finished product.

Local, organic apples. Penzey's cinnamon. Rice Flour. Happiness in a Halloween wrapper.

In total, including clean up – this took about four hours on a Sunday. I had food for over a week (there were two work-provided meals in there) and everything was wonderful each day. I ended up freezing the last two portions of chili – it had been in the fridge for a week, and I was a tiny bit sick of it. Once the chili was gone, I made french provincial beef stew in the crock pot, but didn’t document because it was 11 at night, and I was using cooking as a cure for insomnia.  It is great to wake up in the morning and know that dinner for the week is sorted!

I am enjoying this project, and I’ll enjoy the saved up spending money for the Marrakech Souk even more!

 

BFF Bookends Part 1

Sorry for the long hiatus!  Work has been a blur of professional development, learning, meetings, phone calls, and falling into bed absolutely too tired to write.  I spent a lovely weekend with my mom – the highlight of which was lunch at Ironworks Cafe. If you happen to be in the Madison area, I highly recommend stopping by for a meal.  Totally amazing causes to support all around.  We also hit up the Dane County Farmers’ Market, where I added a hunk of Kickin’ Colby from Hook’s Cheese to my already overstuffed cheese drawer.  So yummy!  But this pictures I took were sub par, and I forgot to bring my own camera.  So blogging was a challenge. I have two other posts in the works, but until I figure out how to embed YouTube videos, they’ll stay unpublished.

I went to Michigan!

Anyway – this past weekend has been an excellent kickoff to my favorite month of the year. I went out to Detroit, where my best friend A lives.  She works for the same organization I do, and last year bought a house just outside the city.  This is the first time I have been back to visit in a year.  We did so much great stuff! I find Detroit fascinating from a historical perspective – in terms of the causes and impacts of urban decline in this country. I will say thought, that since the crumbling of Detroit is rooted in man-made financial causes, the visual result is somewhat different than the decline I witnessed in New Orleans.  Less rot and decay, and more like grandeur is a distant memory. You also get some great preservation of monuments (hurricanes are less selective, typically).

Take for example, the Guardian Building.

Some of this Art Deco awesomeness is said to be "Aztec Inspired". Probably some latent colonialism, but it still looks cool.

Of course, I managed to leave my camera battery in the charger, so the pics are liberally stolen from the internet.  I intend to fix this in Part 2.

This building is amazing. This is seriously what it looks like inside.

Rounding out the rest of a super fun weekend were Saturday night at a new piano bar, and two different meals at National Coney Island,

Pie...coffee..and coney dogs. Win.

and an amazing Sunday at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio.  I love roller coasters, and so does A – it’s actually a big part of how we became friends in the first place.  It was also “Halloweekends” at the park, which meant that there was a Halloween parade and lots of haunted houses and pumpkins around. The weather was kind of grey and cold, but the rain held off until we were pretty worn out. Then, after a quick dinner of chili and root beer floats, we headed home through the Ohio rain.

This is the Maverick. It is the most fun coaster I have ever been on.

The thing that looks like goal posts is a coaster called Wicked Twister. It makes you feel like you are going to be flung headlong into Lake Erie. Amazing!

This was really scary. I went on it twice since I couldn't open my eyes the first time. It earned two pictures.

We’ll be in Newark this week for a conference, then headed back to Milwaukee on Friday for one more weekend of BFF time!

Indian Summer – in every sense

Hello!  Sorry for the delay (no one reads this except spammers, and I still feel obliged to apologize – Midwestern, much?).  What did I do last weekend? It had it’s ups and downs for sure.  Including a highly questionable live music act at Frank’s Power Plant near my house. That link does not come close to representing the true scope of the sketch. A dive bar habitue I am not. And the music was deafening.  Anyway.

Saturday – I got up late (because I expended the wakeful years of my twenties in the bars and cornfields of rural Nebraska, and need at least 8 hours of sleep every night now) at around 9.  Yes, that’s late. I was supposed to meet some team members for a brewery tour here, but spent far too much time watching cartoons and working on a craft project. (What? I’m only in my twenties for like ten more months. I can do crafts if I feel like it!). When I finally did get ready to go, and let Leo out – the fool did what he’s been trying to do for the last month – run hell for leather after a squirrel. And refuse to come back.  By the time he did come back, I was already 10 minutes past the start time of the tour.  Fail. Baddog.

A re-enactment of an actual case. Leo appears to be mocking me, and carefully staying out of reach

So, I packed up my thoroughly grouchy, overdressed for the weather, self and got in the car.  As I was driving away, I remembered that the Indian Summer Festival was happening at the summer fest grounds!  The most transformative part of my twenties was spent in the three years I lived, and taught on the Rosebud Reservation at He Dog Elementary School.  One of the many aspects of  my education at that time was loving the Lakota culture that my students and their families live and walk within every day. In the last three years, I have collectively spent about 12 days on the Rez, which is shameful – I am contemplating a return visit next month, now that I am only a day’s drive away.

The Indian Summer Festival was really interesting, since it was primarily a showcase of WI Indian cultures – Oneida, Menominee, Ho Chunk, Pottawatomie, and  Mohican nations, though clearly attended by many others. I have a clear memory of being interviewed for my job by Deb Boyd, and Patrice Burnett, who asked me – “what work have you done with the native communities in Wisconsin?” To which I replied (as to so many of their questions), with a confused smile…um, none…I am still amazed that they hired me. Though we had gone through all of the obligatory “westward expansion” units in school, and I even took a course in college around indigenous law, none of it stuck with me.  So, it was as if I was attending this festival as a total outsider.  It was awesome.

I stayed for eight hours.  I ate a brat wrapped in frybread.  I watched some amazing dancing. I reconnected with an old friend from SoDak days. I sat by the lake for a long time and thought about the long road that brought me to this moment, and how much of it has been driven by chance, coincidence, luck, and – a little grace.

Here is my photo essay. I am so grateful for this experience, the amazing weather, and the memories that don’t fade.

My swag. Sage, barrettes, and the map and schedule for the day. There are two barrettes, but I was wearing one.

The artisan was kind enough to let me take a picture without making a purchase.

 

Less than 200 years ago, the area now known as Bay View was a large trading center with a diverse native population base. The region was also home to more than 250 effigy mounds, since destroyed to make room for cornfields. This is where I sat to think about the arc of my life.

Female Oneida Dancers

Oneida Dancers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Traditional regalia, tipi, and...iphone (not clearly pictured). Yet more evidence that this world is a deeply strange place.

Kiddos enjoying the only real "ride" in the place.

Peruvian musicians, as seen from the skyride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grand Entry/Retiring the Colors/Many Eagle Staffs

 

Photographing amazingly skilled fancy dancers, in rapidly fading light, with my worse -for-wear cheap camera is somewhat less than successful.

 

The last shot before it got too dark, and i decide to just enjoy watching.

Labor Day Staycation Take 2!

Too many great things happened this weekend! Great Frozen Custard at Leon’s! Great weather for picture taking! Great talking and wandering! Great (ok, awful) movie! Great (ok, good) Indian food! Great wine!  I leave you with more pictures to celebrate my mom’s first visit to Milwaukee in the 2000s! And she leaves her earrings…with me. 🙂

Imposing North Point light house. I love the clouds in this pic.

St Luke's in Bay View seen in September Sunset

Repeating arches in sepia tone

This guy was getting ready for the parade, he did a little smile and dance for the camera. And then it got awkward.

Spiral staircase and fountain in Plankinton Arcade, Hard to capture the depth, but I like the angles!

Fresh fruit cart in the largely abandoned mall. The main source of color.

Ceiling of the Grand Avenue/Plankinton Arcades