Morning Hues

Callie would happily go along on Meetup hikes.  Unfortunately, she does not play well with others, and I knew that one of the hikers was bringing a large dog.  

As a compromise (yes, Callie negotiates), we got up early and hiked 2.5 miles in the dark before the sun came up.  

 

This is the intersection of Columbus and Main Street in Lodi.  It's a strange place.  Highway 113 (Main Street) northbound is to the right, while southbound is to the left.  Main Street has the right-of-way and has no stop signs.  Columbus Street ends at Main Street and has a stop sign. There is a slight bend to the left as one moves northbound on Main Street.  

Without explanation, northbound drivers often stop even though there is no stop sign.  This confuses the the drivers on Columbus Street who sometimes then pull out from the stop sign without having the right-of-way.  

To make matters even more confusing, there was a long time tradition in Lodi for southbound drivers to do a U-turn in the middle of the intersection in order to pull around and park on the east side of Main Street.  My coffeeshop customers often did this.  At least one police chief tried to stop the practice, but that did not go over well, so the custom continued.  

Despite all of the confusion, I've never seen an accident here.  People are moving at less than 25 mph, so  traffic manages to sort itself out.

That little pink blast of colors from the sunrise was gone in just a few minutes.  The rest of the day was cold and overcast.  Eight people ventured out for the Meetup hike in Middleton, Wisconsin.  I usually like to hike alone, but I've been forcing myself to get out into more social situations, as it's clear that some of my social skills have deteriorated during the pandemic.  

It was a good small group of mostly older people like myself.  We put in six miles on the paved trail running along Pleasant Branch Creek in Middleton.  Temps were in the low 30's, and the hike took about two hours, including a break at the half-way point.  Rain and Snow is expected for the next three days.

Frozen Trail

I started the morning by baking the sourdough loaf that proofed in the refrigerator overnight.

 

The cold temperatures helped to firm up the muddy area trails.  Gibraltar Rock Natural Area was a good candidate for today's hike.  All of those muddy footprints were frozen in place when I arrived.  I didn't see anyone or any dogs on the hike.  

Callie enjoys the solitude too.

I was going to split wood this afternoon, but I decided to move wood instead to make room for the wood that would "eventually" get split.  

The pallet of wood behind the wheelbarrow has to come out to start the new row.  The row of gray wood to the right also needs to go into the pole shed for final seasoning.  That was my project for this afternoon.  I finished about half.  I'm not sure how much more I will get done this week.  Tomorrow, I'm hiking with the Madison Meetup hiking group, and then we have a few days of rain/snow again.

More Parks Along the Creek

The clouds vacated overnight to leave cold, blue, sunny skies.  Yes, that's an improvement.

After getting Justin up and going, Callie and I walked to town with a mission to take a photo of Veteran's Park, the third of Lodi's parks along Spring Creek.  As I walked down Main Street, I saw a fourth park that I forgot about.  Kinda obvious, really.

It's easy to miss between the Spring Creek restaurant and the Chamber of Commerce's small block building.  This time of year, Spring Creek Park is  barred off to prevent public access.  No, that's not a pandemic thing.  The park only gets used during late spring,summer and early fall.  In the winter, the city doesn't shovel or salt the steps or the platform, so the park is closed. 

For a quarter, a dispenser gives you a handful of shelled corn to feed the ducks.  On the far left center, close to the building, you can see some art created and installed by my friend Dean.  The City wanted something loosely representing cranes.  Sandhill cranes have made a big comeback in this area, although they are more likely seen and heard in the marshes outside of Lodi.  

The final park along Spring Creek is Veteran's Memorial Park.  Before going back to college for his MFA degree, Dean was an Air Force master sergeant.  He designed and installed the Veteran's Memorial Park sign.

Veteran's Park doesn't get much use (except on holidays), but it is the only park in Lodi that has the Ice Age Trail going through it.  Lodi is one of the few Ice Age Trail towns.  The trail runs straight down Main Street.  The Ice Age Trail is a national trail.  Others include the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail.    Because it passes through lots of private land, many segments of the Ice Age Trail have yet to be completed.

 

This afternoon, I spent a few hours driving Justin back to college and then returning home.  He wanted to watch the NCAA basketball tournament, and his sports cable package in the dorms is much better than our cable package (Hint:  we don't have a cable package). 

Parks Along the Creek

Today was a work day.  I was up early, making coffee and getting the wood stove going.  Justin is at home and doesn't sleep well in his home bed.  At school, he has a special hospital bed with a mattress that moves the pressure around so that he doesn't get bedsores.

Normally, he is a late sleeper, but he wasn't sleeping so I went through the process to get him up as soon as the wood stove fire was stable.  Julia got him showered, and then I got him dressed and transferred to the power chair.  

Callie is carefully tuned into the process.  She jumps up on Justin's bed and lays next to Justin like Justin's service dog used to do.  She knows to stay out of the way of the Hoyer lift and jumps down from the bed just before we finish.  

The sun didn't bother to fight the clouds this morning.  It was overcast and actively snowing during our walk.  Most of the early snow melted last night because the ground was warmer than freezing, but the temps dropped enough overnight that snow was starting to collect at the edges of the road and sidewalks.

Lodi has three city parks along Spring Creek.  Today, I took pictures at Haberman Park and Goeres Park which are next to each other and separated by Fair Street.  

I rarely see anyone at Haberman, except during the summer month(s).  The shelter is used for family outings and for free music concerts.  There are grills and an outdoor fireplace along the creek, but they literally overlook the gas station.  I've never seen anyone using those.  

Across the street is Goeres Park, which is heavily utilized during the summer.  There is a free swimming pool, baseball/softball fields, a playground, and walking paths. In the winter, there is an ice skating and separate outdoor hockey area on the other side of the park.

This afternoon, despite the chilly conditions, I'll be grilling teriyaki chicken breasts and asparagus.  Julia, Justin and Gretchen (Julia's step-mom) are playing cards.  Julia baked brownies for dessert.

Sun Tease

 

At 7 a.m., the sun fought valiantly against the overcast sky which has dominated for four days.  Unfortunately, the clouds won, and we had another day of cold temperatures, drizzle and sleet.  Snow squalls are a possibility tonight, along with wind gusts of up to 50 mph.  You would think that the wind would blow the clouds away, but there seems to be an unlimited supply this week in south-central Wisconsin.

Julia went to early morning boot camp while I slept in and then made spelt berry porridge for her return.  We source the spelt berries from a local farm/grain mill.  Preparation is about 45 minutes, but I much prefer the taste and texture of the spelt over oatmeal.

 

Callie badgered me into a five mile town walk immediately after breakfast.  Our route is getting a little old, so I detoured to the back side of Lodi's Main Street.

The structure over Spring Creek is currently a wine bar but was a popular restaurant when I owned the coffee business. The cooks would regularly come over for quad shots of espresso on their breaks. 

The wine bar owners put in a couple of glass floor tiles that allow customers to see the creek below through the floor.  The owners are getting old, and the building is for sale.  I would imagine it's a bit tricky because no land comes with the building.  No one that I know is quite sure how the original building permit was obtained.   One of my regulars at the coffee shop used to vaguely explain, "It's easier to apologize than to ask for permission." 

Truckin'

 Today, it didn't rain all day.  It rained and then it sleeted for awhile and then it rained.  

Julia and I played pickleball this morning at the Poynette Village Hall.  At 4 o'clock I had a short window of opportunity when it was not raining.  Callie was not amused about having to wait so long for her walk.  How do I know?  She told me in her own way.  She does this "yip, yip, yip" thing when she is impatient.  It started raining about a half mile from the end of the five mile walk, but I didn't get soaked.

 

This photo of me was taken in 2004 as a candid shot by the local newspaper photographer.  I usually ordered eight bags of coffee beans at a time.  Bags weighed in the 130-152 lb range.  The truck driver would double park in front of the shop and hand me the bags which I would run through the coffeeshop to the roasting room in the back.  The first time I tried to carry them over my shoulder.  I got smart and bought that little cart.