The Glad Game

I almost cannot believe I didn't mention the weather in yesterday's post. Don't worry...back to regular programming. It's cat on a hot tin roof scorching. It's supposed to be. It's almost July. I'm not a heat seeker, but I'm going to Windmill Beach this weekend and Lake Michigan is still in the refreshing 50's so a little hot air is all good to tease the cold plunge swimming will be. I'm feeling extra patriotic this 250th birthday. And while we are still a baby nation, we should be mostly proud of what we have achieved in our infancy. We're on a precarious precipice without doubt, but this is not the time to cut down and divide...it's a time to celebrate, lift up and look ahead with a shared resolve to mend and grow. And to notice that we are better than this dumpster fire we can't seem to extinguish.

This morning when I opened the blind, I was greeted by the best sign of hope. Our resident bluebird was perched on the telephone wire seemingly looking right at me. I decided then and there that I was going to channel my inner Polyanna all day and maybe all week. I'm playing the Glad Game.

By the time I made it downstairs to make my mug of hot lemon water, which I have neglected lately for my new iced coffee obsession, the cranes were in the yard at their watering hole. They are the coolest creatures. The other day I went to put some seed down for them and they started to approach me from the middle of the yard. I was a couple feet from them, which was surreal. Mike and I laugh that we are are now those people who fuss over the birds in the yard.

It was a short day in the office for me. I'm not feeling work much this week. It's a good thing the rest of the world seems to share that sentiment. If it were up to me, there would be shut-downs the weeks of the 4th, Thanksgiving and Christmas through New Years. Luckily I have the flexibility now to make that happen, but for the better part of my working years, if the stock market was trading, I was working. Life is so much better now.

I came home early to snuggle Hazel and start Anne Patchet's new novel, Whistler. My parents brought it as a hostess gift on Father's Day and I have to say that is my new favorite treat for having a party. I was in after just a couple pages. I'm going to have to show restraint so that I can bring it to the beach this weekend along with our new beach towels, my sour cherry tart, and the ingredients for refreshing transfusions, my summer drink.

 

 

Answers

What brings me here? Nothing in particular and everything. Capisce? 

I was one of those English major geeks who decorated my mortar board with a literary quote. It was fitting because what I did not know thirty-five years ago was how often Zora Neale Hurston's words would give me comfort, pause, purpose. She wrote, "There are years that ask questions and years that answer." These words have stood the test of time.

Saturday I reunited with an old friend who was like a sister to me after what we agreed was a fifteen year hiatus. I wasn't apprehensive because I was sure that we'd pick up as if no time has passed. I didn't just know her. I understood her. She got me too...the good, the bad and the ugly. I had faith that that kind of knowing remains. I was right.

Over the past decade and a half, I thought about her now and then (usually when I was cooking) and had an idea of how she was from her cousin who I would see periodically. I often thought, I should reach out, but I didn't. I didn't until a couple months ago when I saw something on Instagram and decided it was silly to be living on the periphery. I'm grateful I got over my ego. Ego was never a thing with us so why was I making it a thing? It was time to stop asking but, what if and just act. This past weekend...my question was answered.

That's the real beauty of this well done middle spot I'm in. Time is a commodity and knowing this and also finally myself, well...what can I say...I'm answering questions with a clarity and certainty that was elusive when I was younger and definitely not wiser. 

The other beauty of age is that instead of ruing and regretting the lost time, I'm jazzed we reconnected and buoyed by the fact I think we'll not pick up where we left off, but anew.

Something tells me this is going to be a year of answers because I'm ready for and open to them. That's a good place to be.

Grateful Friday

Today I give thanks for... 

A short week of work and a beautiful week of windows open weather.

 

Lily made it through her first week...only 4 days...of work. She already got a holiday, a bonus and a paycheck. 

A full house of girls getting ready for Don Toliver tonight.

A Tuesday night date for pizza and a movie with my guys. Obsession did not disappoint. 

Lily planned, shopped for and made dinner for us this week just because she wanted to. She made a mean chimichurri sauce for her steak and potatoes. 

A girl's day last Saturday. We saw And Juliet and then had an early tapas dinner. The performance had amazing energy. I literally smiled through the show. Meryl and I loved. The grandmas liked it. 

 

Dinner on the patio, cold sangria, hot potatas bravas, juicy barbacoa tacos and churros y choocolate.

 

Project Hail Mary. We rented and very much enjoyed this sweet little movie last night. Not to mention Ryan Gossling is a class act. Eva Mendes too. They are committed to raising their daughters out of the media spotlight. 

A couple new skirts. This is going to be the summer of the skirt for me.

 

A new cat tree from our neighbor. Her furbaby was not a fan. Hazel and Gus are loving it never mind that our living room looks like a cat cafe. Anything for the kit kats.

  

 

My very own patio cranes. 

 

Grateful Friday

Today I give thanks for...

Lily is home and...drum roll please...she's unpacked! She's happy to be home after a month on the move. She's been spending lots of time with Michael, but they hung out with us old folks last Saturday night. We made homemade pizzas at her request followed by Wizard and wine. That's my favorite kind of night.

 

The cranes have been hanging in our yard all week. If they stay much longer, I'm getting them a kiddie pool. We all love watching them.

 

 

 

Buds.

 

Blooms.

 

Reading with my book buddies after work and before bed.

 

 

The first juicy watermelon of the season.

Our Arizona trip is booked for November.

When crossword puzzles are a family affair.

A friend is on the road to recovery after major surgery.

A delivery of July 4th swag. Seems like a good year to go a little overboard with red, white and blue.

Gus fancies himself an outdoor cat. Except now he's a relentless beggar when we leave him in the house.

 

 

 

  

New patio furniture and happy hour with Brashley.

  

Eric Church's commencement address to the UNC class of 2026.

This sweet little lady taking her afternoon snooze.

 

 

What is True?

 Do the things in your story really happen?

 Isn't that the question when it comes to life? 

Did this really happen to me?

~Lidia Yuknavitch  

I got home yesterday right before the skies opened up and the rain came down. That was the perfect invitation to lay down and pick up my book. The Chronology of Water is as heavy as the sodden air, and I'm okay with that. I like an afternoon storm and a broody read especially together. Memory is at the center of this memoir...the things we remember, the unreliability of our memories, the hold they have on us and the way we can harness their power. And then, of course, there is the whole discussion about what does it matter how or what exactly happened if it makes us feel a certain way.

This is the kind of story that must be taken in small doses. It's raw and painful, and provocative. I closed my eyes after a while and confronted a far away memory I know is incomplete. It's a pivotal part of who I am so many years later. Some missing parts came to me. These pieces brought with them a welcome wave of peace even as I still have holes. We are the sum of so many parts plenty unknown to us. We take what we can get.

I often ask myself what do I know to be absolutely true. This is an existential question that is worth exploring but almost impossible to answer...at least for me. Truth is absolute and so little in this life is unadulterated, pure, outright. 

  

weekending

 

Today is the first day of June. It's a glorious, sun shiny, almost summer day. This week will deliver more of the same and so we begin the whirlwind that is June, July and August. The windows are open, the morning doves are coo-OOO-oooing from the telephone line and the kit kats are on watch at the patio door. Mike said they slept the day away, which is no surprise. Manny and Murphy came for a sleepover so there was plenty of enrichment for Hazel and angst for Gus. They are tiring in equal measure. 

The kids had no water so an invitation for Saturday night supper turned into an overnight stay much to my delight. Ted requested bbq chicken and mac and cheese, and so that's what we had. I was disappointed in my sauce...it was not as creamy or sharp as I was going for. I realize that I always use the random cheese orphans in the frig so I'm never making it the same way twice. It's my mission to perfect the recipe and stick to it. It was just a little too chilly to finally enjoy the new patio furniture. Before long we'll be saying it's too hot. We had thoughts about games and movies, but we ended up comfy in the family room just chatting and that was perfect.

Friday was a little later, but also a stellar night too. Pete and Sue invited us to dinner at the Capital Grille and we had a fabulous meal followed by drinks at Casa Wags. We never go out on Fridays, but we may have to rethink that ala how you start the weekend sets the tone for what's to come. It was fun to dress up a little and head downtown for rare steaks and red wine and time with good friends.

Sunday was a long overdue work day. We purged the garage and it was beyond gratifying. I'm pretty sure we could continue to cull, but it was a valiant start. I made a stop at the nursery for some flowers. I was loading up my car when a little old man approached to tell me that I was as joyful as my flowers. It made me smile and laugh to which he said, "See...I knew it." His kindness stayed with me for the afternoon. It takes so little to make a lasting impact. I got down on my hands and knees to weed my beds, which is always more gratifying than grueling. At the end of the day, I was too exhausted to cook dinner so we put in a frozen pizza...a pizza I was too tired to eat when it was done. We fell asleep watching our current show...Mayor of Kingstown and it's not a sleeper.

I wasn't ready for Monday when my alarm rang this morning, yet I resisted the snooze button because Alan proposed summer hours...9-1 o'clock. Not just on Friday...every day! Linda and I lobbied for 10-2. She's slow going in the a.m. and I've become a night owl. I'm working on my late night tendencies, but this certainly is motivation to get to bed earlier. I was in at 9:30 today and out by 4:00. We're busy so I'm good with that, and technically it's not summer yet.

June is so far so good.

Thankful Lately

Today I give thanks for...

Check-ins with Lils as she travels across Europe. I'd be a wreck if I couldn't text with her daily, and chat with...literally see her face...often. Today they're on the train to Prague. Last stop was Poland. Yesterday they toured Auschwitz. She said it was heavy and draining, but she was glad she chose to go.

 

 

The travel the kids are doing has my dad waxing on about seeing his roots. I don't see them taking on a trip like this on their own and I said as much to Mike. My sweet man suggested we take them. We pitched it to them on Sunday. By Monday night, they informed me that their passports are good until 2030. I've already been researching and hope to make it happen before year-end.

The brevity of life has been slapping me in the face lately. Instead of curling up in the fetal position, I want to do and say all the things that matter. The things that matter to me. Not so much lofty or worldly. Closer to home. And things are really people...the people in my orbit.

James Patterson. He was the 2026 keynote speaker. He delivered. His speech was funny, self-deprecating, honest and insightful. It wasn't hawkish, preachy or full of too many cliches, but let's be honest - cliches are cliches for a reason. He told a story of five balls...one rubber, the others glass. Work you can drop, but family, friends, health and spirit are more fragile and require the most care. I'm keeping this one.

 

Elizabeth Strout's Oh William! I finally picked it up and am reminded how I love the way she gets into the nitty gritty of her characters. I know them. They are me...flawed, but mostly good, surrounded by people, yet often marooned.

 

The girls hired a photographer to follow them around campus one afternoon. It was a brilliant idea to get the iconic shots. It certainly took the pressure off me on the day off. In fact, I didn't take many photos over the weekend. I was in the moment instead of capturing it for later, and as much as I cherish pictures, it was the right place to be.

 

 

I wanted one decent family photo of the four of us. Lily was kind enough to put her dress back on since she changed the minute she got home. We're all a little weathered from the wind and the thirty minute walk from Camp Randall to West Washington, but this is us. And the rest of us too.

Cin, Cin! The Friday before we had dinner at Lily's favorite restaurant just off State Street. Three courses, all delicious, in three hours. I'm going back for that octopus deliciousness. My rack of lamb was just as good. As is tradition, we went next door to the piano bar to sing until our hearts content.

 

Badger spirit, red and white, Go Bucky, Jump Around, Lake Mendota and Lake Monona...the isthmus, Memorial Union, Bascom Hill, State Street Brats, and so many other things that make Madison special, as well as the shared pride we have in being a family of UW-WI alumni. 

The birds are back. We have a couple bluebirds nesting in the yard. Daily sightings remind me of my mom in the best way. We also have a pair of sand hill cranes who are visiting often. We all love to watch them including Hazel and Gus.

 

This goofy, lovable little guy.

 

 

This sweet, sassy little girl.