Great Hike!

     Yesterday, we hiked the Wisconsin Nature Conservancy's Lulu Lake Preserve with the LIR hiking group. What a great time we had! The morning started out a little unpredictable - was rain coming, or would it just be cloudy? Lo and behold, the sun decided to come out and make a perfect day for the 3.8 mile hike.
     The Lulu Lake Preserve is a hidden treasure. It is the most pristine lake in Wisconsin. According to the website:
     "Surrounding the lake and along the river are various types of wetlands including fens, bogs and sedge meadows. On the higher ground, you will find prairie remnants and oak openings. In early summer, shooting stars and other wildflowers are abundant.
     The northern kittentail is this preserve's most endangered plant. In the spring, this plant produces foot-high flowering stems resembling — you guessed it — the tail of a young feline.
     Fish: Of the 150 fish species native to Wisconsin, 59 can be found in Lulu Lake and the Mukwonago River! The river is home to several rare fish species, including the longear sunfish. The clear, deep lake water provides habitat for glacial relict fish such as the blackchin shiner and the Iowa darter.
     Birds: Other significant species are Cooper's hawks, migrating ospreys and nesting pairs of sandhill cranes. Lulu Lake has yet to be thoroughly inventoried, so other rare species may be present. Several plant and animal inventories are currently underway."  
     A conservationist joined us part way through the hike and gave us the history of the area and the conservancy. Yes, it was an interesting learning experience, too. After the hike we all went to Barley's Malt & Hops Restaurant in Troy Center and enjoyed lunch. Exercise, great people, education and good food - who could ask for anything more!
   Here is a photo story video from this most enjoyable day.

                                    

Wisconsin Organ Historical Society Crawl - April 13, 2012

This year the Organ Historical Society's crawl began in Kenosha at Carthage College and ended up at Christ Community Church in Zion, Illinois. We saw a number of manual pipe organs of all sizes and heard extremely talented organists play each and every one of them. Here is a photo story video of the day!

Limburger Cheese

While in Monroe, WI, Corey and I stopped at Baumgartner's to sample their fresh Limburger cheese. Monroe is the only place in the United States that Limburger is produced.

Wow! The cheese was the best Limburger I have ever tasted. Soft, pungent, and creamy - that is the best way to describe it. According to the waiter, the Limburger was "fully ripe" right now. We started by splitting a sandwich and loved it so much we ordered another one!

Good Bye to a Dear Friend

An extraordinary woman and my dear high school friend, Nina (Tipps) Binkley passed away on March 21, 2012, at the age of 62. We celebrated her life and said good-bye to her on Sunday, March 25. Throngs of caring people came to pay their respects, some having to wait in line two and one-half hours. That just emphasizes how much Nina was loved and revered by all who knew her. Nina was loving, caring and sharing with all. She was a Master Gardener (as evidenced by her yard of beautiful, bountiful, blooms), an excellent cook, a huge animal lover, a wonderful mother and wife. My deepest sympathy and prayers go out to Lee, Matt and Erika as well as Nina's extended family.

Birthday Celebration

Wow! Time really does fly when you are having fun. It seems like a lifetime ago that I last posted to this blog. My life has taken a dramatic turn towards true happiness and complete fulfillment - and his name is Corey. We have been busy getting to know and love each other for the past 2 months. Thus, no blogs.

We celebrated Corey's birthday the other night at the Fireside theater. After a stroll through the gift shops (Yes, Corey actually shopped with me!), we enjoyed an extremely delicious buffet. The Fireside has the best sweet potatoes I have ever had (and I am not a big fan of sweet potatoes). My favorite main dish was the seafood and pasta. The sauce was so tasty that it made you feel like you were dining at a 5 star restaurant. My taste buds were dancing! The waitress was kind enough to put a birthday candle in Corey's dessert. The lady at the next table asked when the actual birthday was, and he said, "Today." She was also celebrating her birthday that day, so a conversation developed. She was actually one year older than Corey.

After making our bellies happy, we went into the theater for the Patsy Cline show. Our seats were in the center of the third row - great seats! With a well chosen cast of only 7 people, the life and songs of Patsy Cline unfolded before our eyes, interspersed with a variety of very funny slap-stick type jokes: "I slept like a log last night. In the morning, I found myself in the fireplace half lit!"

We both had an awesome time and hope to attend many more plays at the Fireside (right, Corey?). The 2012 season looks very promising!

Have you ever been to a Pipe Organ Crawl?

Friday, April 29, was a perfect day for a pipe organ crawl. On this sunny and comfortable day, organists and other members of the Wisconsin Chapter of the Organ Historical Society gathered at the unusual, saucer-shaped Mount Pleasant Lutheran Church in Racine to socialize and share their common interest in pipe organs.

So what do you actually do at an organ crawl? An organ crawl moves from one church to another. At each church, a presentation is made to introduce the instrument (the pipe organ) followed by a featured organist "putting the organ through its paces" by playing marvelous melodic music.  Beyond that, other organists may "experience" the organ if they so choose (and often do). Sometimes the chamber (I hope that is the proper term) which houses the pipes and other necessary equipment needed to create the glorious sound, is opened for inspection. Three churches in the morning, a break for lunch, three churches in the afternoon, a break for dinner, and a pipe organ concert presented by a Carthage senior, Mark Paisar, completed the astonishing day.

The world of pipe organs (as you would suspect) has its own jargon. Ranks, great, swell, solo, pedal, manual mechanical action instrument, electropneumatic action instrument, diapason, trumpets, etc. were among the terms bantered about amongst the experts attending the event. Due to the patience and willingness of my friend, Corey (a gifted organist in his own right), I was able to absorb some of this new information. Not only was I in awe of the talent surrounding me, but the beauty of the organs and churches took my breath away. Thank you, Corey, for a truly perfect day.

Here are a few pictures of the day:

Buzard organ Opus 34 at the Mount Pleasant Lutheran Chuch

Hutchings-Votey op 1518 organ at the Olympia Brown Unitarian-Universalist Church

 

Olympia Brown

Unitarian-Universalist Church

Stained glass window in this church

Organ console at the First Presbyterian Church

Despair

A glimmer of hope felt on a gentle breeze touched the thick, rotting Oak.
Alas, by sunset, the breeze moved on, leaving the Oak to die.