We wanted to take a little trip. We drove to Madison with a reservation for two nights. By the afternoon of the second day, we started comparing further destinations. We considered the Lincoln library and the Dutch area on the shore of Lake Michigan. But home seemed better than either. So, we came home.
We are sensitive to the excitement of taking a trip. Driving away from town was a thrill. We checked into our hotel among a team of 10-12 year old hockey players. They are totally full of energy and can't stop moving, even running up and down the halls. They had long rides to get to the capital and long hours watching other teams play in the championships. They want to have hockey games in the hallways but were told play and noise needs to stop by 9:30 PM.
Naturally, since we are old enough to be the coaches' grandparents, we think of the stress and strain of shepherding young bundles of energy. We think of the sacrifice of time, the frustrations of young tempers and immature people skills, the jealousies, the egos that leap about, the training and discipline, the physical and strategic skills to be imparted. Not to mention interaction, negative judgments and occasional over-admiration from parents and others.
We had two good dinners and enjoyed both. The Olive Garden chain is a favorite and Otto's is fancier, more upscale and of course, more expensive. Both were fun and both offered a great feature: neither of us had to cook. Neither of us had to decide what to make for dinner. They have something called a menu, a large set of dishes, any one of which either of us could choose.
I spent a couple of hours inside a Barnes and Noble bookstore. Yes, it is a large chain and yes, there are smaller, individual bookstores in the city. I look at Amazon's pages very often and I am usually up on what is selling. Not totally of course, but basically. Still, looking at shelves and shelves of bargain priced books from "What the Bible Has Done for Me" to "Classic Pinups" (sitting beside each other) is fun and eye-opening. I can't help thinking of authors, illustrators, editors, printers, binders, truck drivers and sales people who put their time into books and books that don't get purchased or looked at.
We visited The Shoebox, the Black Earth, Wisconsin, shoe store. I mostly wandered around and spent some time listening in the car to the excellent recording of "Something Fresh", a 1915 book read by Jonathan Cecil, fabulous narrator with a magnetic English accent. The book was published in 1915, one hundred years ago and the language is deliciously old fashioned. Something Fresh was written by P.G. Wodehouse and is his first Blandings Castle story. "Blandings has impostors the way other country houses have mice." Meanwhile, shoes got bought.
Once home, we invited our daughter and son-in-law (builder, of our own house among other buildings) to Lynn's super-delicious turkey tetrazzini dinner.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
