This picture was taken outside about 2 weeks ago, looking towards the fire pit on our deck out back. As you can see, there are barely any leaves on the trees.
Here is what it looks like this morning.
Ahhhh.....now that's more like it.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Spring Green
Finally! After what seemed like a never-ending winter, outside it's becoming verdant.
This picture was taken outside about 2 weeks ago, looking towards the fire pit on our deck out back. As you can see, there are barely any leaves on the trees.
Here is what it looks like this morning.
Ahhhh.....now that's more like it.
This picture was taken outside about 2 weeks ago, looking towards the fire pit on our deck out back. As you can see, there are barely any leaves on the trees.
Here is what it looks like this morning.
Ahhhh.....now that's more like it.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Syttende Mai
This weekend is the annual Syttende Mai celebration here in Stoughton. Syttende Mai means 17th of May, which is the day the constitution was signed in Norway declaring it an independent nation. Apparently Stoughton has the biggest Syttende Mai celebration in the U.S., which includes parades, a canoe race, an art show, and a 20-mile run from Madison to Stoughton. They celebrate Syttende Mai on the weekend closest to May 17. It's not surprising they have a big Syttende Mai celebration here. This is a predominantly Norwegian/Scandinavian area. Scott and I, with our dark hair and brown eyes, clearly don't look like the natives.
As I mentioned in the previous post, Scott and I intended to go down and watch the canoe race Friday night but the weather was extraordinarily unpleasant (rainy and cold). Yesterday, even though the weather wasn't much better, we ventured downtown to the Syttende Mai celebration. It was so windy, overcast, and cold that I wore jeans, boots, a down vest and a stocking cap (pictured below, and a very cute stocking cap if I don't say so myself.) Not my preferred attire for a spring day but, unfortunately, necessary in order to tolerate the elements.
We got downtown mid-morning. It wasn't too crowded at that time but the runners/walkers in the 20-mile trek from Madison were making their way through town. Below is a shot as we approached downtown.
After we got parked and started to walk around, this is the first place we went in. Montage.
Montage needs to get some new letters for their sign. The "C. Cream" actually means "Ice Cream". Yesterday was not a good day for ice cream (too cold out), but they do have a little, old fashioned parlor in the Montage where you can get hand-dipped ice cream.
Montage also has a small section of novelties and gifts. Kind of cute.
Lucky for me, Montage had funky sock sets for sale. I have to admit: I was lazy when I got dressed in morning. I put my boots on with athletic footies. Not a good plan. As I walked, the footies kept sliding down off my heel. Not good conditions for walking around a festival. I ended up buying socks at Montage and going into the bathroom and putting them on. The socks were actually sold in 3's, with the intention that the wearer would have on mix-matched socks. I bought a set of black/white ones. As I put them on in the bathroom, I came to realize these are some of the most comfortable socks ever. I ended up buying a multi-color set, too, which I think I'm going to send to a friend as a little gift.
Montage sits a bit back off of the main strip downtown and is in an old house, pictured below.
After Montage, we ventured back up to the strip. Next stop was a shop named "Cheesers", which I have been wanting to go in for a long time. Below is a shot I took right before we walked across the street to Cheesers. Gives you a bit more of a sense of downtown Stoughton, which I think is charming.
At the entrance to Cheesers was a booth with a friendly woman wearing a cow suit. Had to get a picture of that. Here she is with Scott. Nice udder.
Cheesers is endearing; I just love these little shops in old houses and old buildings. Of course Cheesers had a respectable selection of Wisconsin cheeses, just as one would expect. The woman we talked to in the shop said she travels to Monroe every Thursday for fresh cheese curds. Only in Wisconsin.
Here are a few pictures inside Cheesers.
As I mentioned in the previous post, Scott and I intended to go down and watch the canoe race Friday night but the weather was extraordinarily unpleasant (rainy and cold). Yesterday, even though the weather wasn't much better, we ventured downtown to the Syttende Mai celebration. It was so windy, overcast, and cold that I wore jeans, boots, a down vest and a stocking cap (pictured below, and a very cute stocking cap if I don't say so myself.) Not my preferred attire for a spring day but, unfortunately, necessary in order to tolerate the elements.
We got downtown mid-morning. It wasn't too crowded at that time but the runners/walkers in the 20-mile trek from Madison were making their way through town. Below is a shot as we approached downtown.
After we got parked and started to walk around, this is the first place we went in. Montage.
Montage needs to get some new letters for their sign. The "C. Cream" actually means "Ice Cream". Yesterday was not a good day for ice cream (too cold out), but they do have a little, old fashioned parlor in the Montage where you can get hand-dipped ice cream.
Montage also has a small section of novelties and gifts. Kind of cute.
Lucky for me, Montage had funky sock sets for sale. I have to admit: I was lazy when I got dressed in morning. I put my boots on with athletic footies. Not a good plan. As I walked, the footies kept sliding down off my heel. Not good conditions for walking around a festival. I ended up buying socks at Montage and going into the bathroom and putting them on. The socks were actually sold in 3's, with the intention that the wearer would have on mix-matched socks. I bought a set of black/white ones. As I put them on in the bathroom, I came to realize these are some of the most comfortable socks ever. I ended up buying a multi-color set, too, which I think I'm going to send to a friend as a little gift.
Montage sits a bit back off of the main strip downtown and is in an old house, pictured below.
After Montage, we ventured back up to the strip. Next stop was a shop named "Cheesers", which I have been wanting to go in for a long time. Below is a shot I took right before we walked across the street to Cheesers. Gives you a bit more of a sense of downtown Stoughton, which I think is charming.
At the entrance to Cheesers was a booth with a friendly woman wearing a cow suit. Had to get a picture of that. Here she is with Scott. Nice udder.
Cheesers is endearing; I just love these little shops in old houses and old buildings. Of course Cheesers had a respectable selection of Wisconsin cheeses, just as one would expect. The woman we talked to in the shop said she travels to Monroe every Thursday for fresh cheese curds. Only in Wisconsin.
Here are a few pictures inside Cheesers.
Cheesers had a cheese head hat for sale (of course). Scott tried it on. He is such a cute boy, he even looks cute as a cheese head.
Last picture from Cheesers. On the same table as the cheese head hat was this bumper sticker.
I do love Wisconsin cheese....... but not enough to put a bumper sticker on my car about it.
Scott was really into hats for the Syttende Mai celebration. After Cheesers, we stopped in the Pour House for a beer. Here is Scott in a Viking hat.
As cute as he is, he ain't cute enough to pull off the Viking hat with blonde braids. He is a good sport, though, for putting it on and letting me take his picture.
We continued to roam around a bit and then eventually ended up in this place, Cully's, for another beer.
Walk around a bit. Shop a bit. Drink a beer./Walk around a bit. Shop a bit. Drink a beer./Walk around a bit. Shop a bit. Drink a beer. That's pretty much how Scott and I worked the Syttende Mai celebration.
Cully's was actually a disappointment. From the outside, Culley's looked like a typical small town pub, but we had the impression it would be a bit more "grown up" than it actually ended up looking on the inside. Inside it looked like a campus bar.
While we weren't impressed with the inside, we had a beer in Cully's anyways. We were the only customers, except a young girl who wandered in and out a couple times while we were there to talk to the bar tender. We ended up chatting with the bar tender, too. She was a tiny little young thing who said she moved to Stoughton from southern California 2 1/2 years ago. What would make a person do that?? She didn't say and we didn't ask. She said she lives right here in Stoughton. I asked her what young people do for fun in the small town of Stoughton. She answered: Drink.
Here is a shot of the interior (which is kind of actually also the exterior-- since it's right out there in the open for God and everyone to see). Is there anyplace in there to plug in my iPod?? OK. No iPod connection. How about a cassette? Not that either?? *Sigh* Will it at least play an 8-track?
As with most festivals, there were food booths set up, like this one.
One difference, though, is the type of fare for sale. Of all the festivals I went to in Columbus, I don't ever recall these being sold at a food booth.
Yep. Cheese Curds. 4 bucks.
Scott and I did stop in a parking lot set up with food booths so we could get a bite to eat. After shopping and bar hopping, we were hungry. This fella was posted up in the parking lot making things out of balloons. He was surrounded by fascinated children.
One of the food booths we went to was selling sweet corn on the cob. Before they hand it to you, they dip it straight down in a big vat of melted butter. I don't even know where one gets sweet corn this early in the season but, damn, it was good.
We also split an Italian beef sandwich. I was a bit surprised they had Italian beef at a Norwegian festival, but it was actually really tasty. Seasoned well. Meat was moist.
In addition to purchasing the socks, I made a purchase in one other store. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of it. I got this cute bamboo bowl and dishtowels.
Did I need these things? No. But I've been into cute dish towels recently. I don't know why. And that bowl? Bamboo. Purple on the outside. And the perfect shape and size for putting out chips or tortilla chips at a party. Now, how could I pass that up?
So, that about sums up our first trip to the Syttende Mai celebration in Stoughton. As you can see, Scott and I continue to live like rock stars in Wisconsin.
a Birthday and a Funeral
My Mom's 68th birthday is today. She will be spending the day attending her mother's funeral.
My Grandmother passed away this past Thursday morning. She would have been 89 years old next month.
I was not a good granddaughter. I rarely visited or communicated with my Grandmother. I think I saw her maybe three times in the past decade. There are a lot of reasons for that, but none of them are very good ones.
Fortunately, my Grandmother was surrounded by family, including other grandchildren (I was one of 29) who were an active part of her life. I noticed when I read her obituary that she had 42 great-grandchildren. That's a lot of progeny.
My Grandmother was Appalachian, and I never gave her enough credit for the remarkable things about her. She was a woman of tremendous resilience. She raised 8 children in extreme poverty. They were poor, but they made it. Somehow, even in the absence of working utilities, indoor plumbing, and food, she brought her kids up. She was married to a man, my Grandfather, who was a decent enough guy when he wasn't drunk. The problem is, he was drunk all the time. And when he was drunk, he was a mean you-know-what. But, my Grandmother stayed with him until the day he died.
Even when times were hard, my Grandmother maintained a sense of humor and was optimistic. She had a devout "come what may..." attitude. She never seemed to get too ruffled by anything. Whatever happened, she just rolled with it. She was probably the most easy-going person I ever met. I never heard her raise her voice. I never heard her complain.
Most of her life, she struggled to make ends meet. After my Grandfather died, things did get better for her. She moved into a little apartment in a retirement-type community and she lived there for a lot of years. She enjoyed her life during that time and got to do things she never had the opportunity to do before, including doing a little bit of traveling. Financially things were easier for her and she led a pretty happy and content life there. I'm glad she had that time. She certainly earned it after all the years upon years upon years of just barely surviving day-to-day.
My Grandmother was a creative and talented woman. She had mastered what I consider the dying art of crochet. In addition to crocheting some magnificent things, she could knit, sew, cross-stitch and do a whole host of other crafty things.
She was also one terrific cook. She could peel a potato so that nothing came off but the skin. When I peel a potato, it ends up being about 1/3 smaller than it was before. I just don't have the patience, which is kind of a requirement in many forms of cooking. For example: roasts. My Grandmother could make a pot roast that melted in your mouth. She cooked it nice and slow in a big cast iron skillet right on her stove top.
Patience is also a requirement for baking. I'm a decent cook, but a terrible baker. Again, I just don't have the patience. My Grandmother, though, was known for her delectable baking. I remember one Christmas many, many, many years ago, she made 3 meringue pies: chocolate, lemon, and butterscotch. I had a piece of each and a second of the chocolate. That's right. I ate 4 pieces of pie in one day-- that's how good they were. Fortunately I was skinny enough back then to pull it off.
One other thing that I'll always remember about my Grandmother is having Kool Aid out of little red Tupperware cups in the trailer she lived in with my Grandfather when I was a kid. Grandma's Kool Aid was much better than my Mom's. Grandma used extra sugar.
Of all the wonderful things about my Grandmother, to me the most wonderful thing is that she gave birth to my Mother, who I love and adore deeply. My Mom is an amazing person and an angel on earth. My heart is breaking that she is spending her birthday attending her mother's funeral. On top of that, I feel a sense of shame for being such a bad granddaughter and an even deeper sense of shame that I'm not able to attend my Grandmother's funeral to pay homage and to support my Mom.
Today hurts. It's one of those days that I'm regretting moving away from home and the people I love and care about.
My Grandmother passed away this past Thursday morning. She would have been 89 years old next month.
I was not a good granddaughter. I rarely visited or communicated with my Grandmother. I think I saw her maybe three times in the past decade. There are a lot of reasons for that, but none of them are very good ones.
Fortunately, my Grandmother was surrounded by family, including other grandchildren (I was one of 29) who were an active part of her life. I noticed when I read her obituary that she had 42 great-grandchildren. That's a lot of progeny.
My Grandmother was Appalachian, and I never gave her enough credit for the remarkable things about her. She was a woman of tremendous resilience. She raised 8 children in extreme poverty. They were poor, but they made it. Somehow, even in the absence of working utilities, indoor plumbing, and food, she brought her kids up. She was married to a man, my Grandfather, who was a decent enough guy when he wasn't drunk. The problem is, he was drunk all the time. And when he was drunk, he was a mean you-know-what. But, my Grandmother stayed with him until the day he died.
Even when times were hard, my Grandmother maintained a sense of humor and was optimistic. She had a devout "come what may..." attitude. She never seemed to get too ruffled by anything. Whatever happened, she just rolled with it. She was probably the most easy-going person I ever met. I never heard her raise her voice. I never heard her complain.
Most of her life, she struggled to make ends meet. After my Grandfather died, things did get better for her. She moved into a little apartment in a retirement-type community and she lived there for a lot of years. She enjoyed her life during that time and got to do things she never had the opportunity to do before, including doing a little bit of traveling. Financially things were easier for her and she led a pretty happy and content life there. I'm glad she had that time. She certainly earned it after all the years upon years upon years of just barely surviving day-to-day.
My Grandmother was a creative and talented woman. She had mastered what I consider the dying art of crochet. In addition to crocheting some magnificent things, she could knit, sew, cross-stitch and do a whole host of other crafty things.
She was also one terrific cook. She could peel a potato so that nothing came off but the skin. When I peel a potato, it ends up being about 1/3 smaller than it was before. I just don't have the patience, which is kind of a requirement in many forms of cooking. For example: roasts. My Grandmother could make a pot roast that melted in your mouth. She cooked it nice and slow in a big cast iron skillet right on her stove top.
Patience is also a requirement for baking. I'm a decent cook, but a terrible baker. Again, I just don't have the patience. My Grandmother, though, was known for her delectable baking. I remember one Christmas many, many, many years ago, she made 3 meringue pies: chocolate, lemon, and butterscotch. I had a piece of each and a second of the chocolate. That's right. I ate 4 pieces of pie in one day-- that's how good they were. Fortunately I was skinny enough back then to pull it off.
One other thing that I'll always remember about my Grandmother is having Kool Aid out of little red Tupperware cups in the trailer she lived in with my Grandfather when I was a kid. Grandma's Kool Aid was much better than my Mom's. Grandma used extra sugar.
Of all the wonderful things about my Grandmother, to me the most wonderful thing is that she gave birth to my Mother, who I love and adore deeply. My Mom is an amazing person and an angel on earth. My heart is breaking that she is spending her birthday attending her mother's funeral. On top of that, I feel a sense of shame for being such a bad granddaughter and an even deeper sense of shame that I'm not able to attend my Grandmother's funeral to pay homage and to support my Mom.
Today hurts. It's one of those days that I'm regretting moving away from home and the people I love and care about.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Pizza in Milton
A few months back, I read or heard some place that one of the ten top pizza places in the country is in nearby Milton, Wisconsin. A joint named "Georgio's".
Milton, Wisconsin. A small town about 25 minutes southeast from where we live in Stoughton. If I had to pick one word to describe Milton, it would be this: common.
Scott and I had planned to go to downtown Stoughton tonight to watch the canoe race that's part of the Syttende Mai celebration going on this weekend (a story for another time). The weather didn't cooperate. It has been extremely rainy (and cold!) today. They still had the canoe race; we just didn't go down to watch it. Instead, we decided to finally drive over to Milton and see what all the hype is about with the pizza at Georgio's.
As I mentioned, Milton is common. Looking at Georgio's on the outside, it's pretty darn common too.
And it's located in a pretty darn common area.
If I didn't know a little something ahead of time about Giorgio's, it's not the kind of place I would have just ventured into. (Hell, for that matter Milton isn't the kind of place I would have just ventured into.) In the absence of some knowledge about Georgio's, it wouldn't be nearly appealing enough on the outside to entice me to go in on a whim.
But, I did know something about it. I knew I read or heard somewhere that it's one of the top ten best pizza places in the country. And I knew reservations were recommended. If I read or heard about it somewhere and it's popular enough that reservations are recommended, that was enough for us to go ahead and go in.
Once inside, we realized at least part of the reason reservations are recommended is because the place is tiny. I think there were only a total of about 10 tables. We found it to be quaint and cozy, in spite of the fishing decor.
In the picture above, that fish looks like it's swimming right through the air in Georgio's. I'm not sure I get the Italian restaurant-fish decor concept, but whatever.
Scott and I had followed the recommendation and made a reservation. No fancy system here. The way your table is reserved is via your name and the time you'll arrive being written on an order form and set out on the table.
Scott and I each ordered a beer, which was kept in a cooler right out in the restaurant. Nothing like a good beer cooler. Of course this one also has "Green Bay Blvd" sign on it. It is Packer Country after all.
After ordering a couple brews, we perused the menu.
You'll notice on the top of the menu that Georgio's is voted the best pizza in Wisconsin. I could have sworn I read or heard somewhere that it was named one of the top ten pizza joints in the country. Oh well. Best in the country. Best in Wisconsin. Whatever. We were in Milton at Georgio's so we were going to see what it's all about.
We ordered a large, thin crust with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms and easy on the black olives. It looked damn good when it arrived to the table.
The toppings weren't too heavy, which was good. I don't really care for pizzas that are overly loaded down with toppings. In this case, however, "easy on the black olives" apparently was interpreted as about 5 black olive slices on the whole pie. The other thing that we didn't like about the toppings was the fact that the mushrooms came from a can. We definitely prefer fresh mushrooms on our pizza.
Overall, we liked the pizza well enough, but neither Scott nor I would call it the "best" of anything. Good, for sure. But not the "best" of anything. Honestly, there are a number of places in Columbus that I think have much better pizza. Planks. Rotolo's. Sparano's. Iacono's. To name a few.
I remember my friend, Stefanie, said that after she left Columbus and moved to Florida she could no longer find good wings or pizza; she had to come back to Columbus for that. Since moving to Wisconsin, I've come to understand what she meant.
But, back to the subject at hand: Georgio's. Apparently there is a main dude in the back who makes the pies. I sneaked a shot of him.
Could that be Georgio? My guess is that it's George. AKA Georgio, because that sounds more Italian.
Our server pointed out that Georgio's is known for their cheesecake. They have a different variety every week made by the owner, who she pointed to as one of the women in the restaurant waiting tables. A neon Bud Light sign in the restaurant highlighted this weeks selection. $6.50 of a slice of classic New York style cheesecake with strawberries.
Sounded too good to pass up, so we ordered a slice to share.
We weren't impressed. It was uninspiring at best. Not much flavor. Downright bland. Nothing special at all. Of course that didn't stop us from eating it. All of it.
So that was our big Friday night out in Milton, Wisconsin at Georgio's pizza. Was it more grand and more exciting than watching the canoe race for the Syttende Mai celebration? Hard to say. Pizza in Milton. Canoe racein Stoughton. Either way, we're really livin' on the edge here.
Milton, Wisconsin. A small town about 25 minutes southeast from where we live in Stoughton. If I had to pick one word to describe Milton, it would be this: common.
Scott and I had planned to go to downtown Stoughton tonight to watch the canoe race that's part of the Syttende Mai celebration going on this weekend (a story for another time). The weather didn't cooperate. It has been extremely rainy (and cold!) today. They still had the canoe race; we just didn't go down to watch it. Instead, we decided to finally drive over to Milton and see what all the hype is about with the pizza at Georgio's.
As I mentioned, Milton is common. Looking at Georgio's on the outside, it's pretty darn common too.
And it's located in a pretty darn common area.
If I didn't know a little something ahead of time about Giorgio's, it's not the kind of place I would have just ventured into. (Hell, for that matter Milton isn't the kind of place I would have just ventured into.) In the absence of some knowledge about Georgio's, it wouldn't be nearly appealing enough on the outside to entice me to go in on a whim.
But, I did know something about it. I knew I read or heard somewhere that it's one of the top ten best pizza places in the country. And I knew reservations were recommended. If I read or heard about it somewhere and it's popular enough that reservations are recommended, that was enough for us to go ahead and go in.
Once inside, we realized at least part of the reason reservations are recommended is because the place is tiny. I think there were only a total of about 10 tables. We found it to be quaint and cozy, in spite of the fishing decor.
In the picture above, that fish looks like it's swimming right through the air in Georgio's. I'm not sure I get the Italian restaurant-fish decor concept, but whatever.
Scott and I had followed the recommendation and made a reservation. No fancy system here. The way your table is reserved is via your name and the time you'll arrive being written on an order form and set out on the table.
Scott and I each ordered a beer, which was kept in a cooler right out in the restaurant. Nothing like a good beer cooler. Of course this one also has "Green Bay Blvd" sign on it. It is Packer Country after all.
After ordering a couple brews, we perused the menu.
You'll notice on the top of the menu that Georgio's is voted the best pizza in Wisconsin. I could have sworn I read or heard somewhere that it was named one of the top ten pizza joints in the country. Oh well. Best in the country. Best in Wisconsin. Whatever. We were in Milton at Georgio's so we were going to see what it's all about.
We ordered a large, thin crust with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms and easy on the black olives. It looked damn good when it arrived to the table.
The toppings weren't too heavy, which was good. I don't really care for pizzas that are overly loaded down with toppings. In this case, however, "easy on the black olives" apparently was interpreted as about 5 black olive slices on the whole pie. The other thing that we didn't like about the toppings was the fact that the mushrooms came from a can. We definitely prefer fresh mushrooms on our pizza.
Overall, we liked the pizza well enough, but neither Scott nor I would call it the "best" of anything. Good, for sure. But not the "best" of anything. Honestly, there are a number of places in Columbus that I think have much better pizza. Planks. Rotolo's. Sparano's. Iacono's. To name a few.
I remember my friend, Stefanie, said that after she left Columbus and moved to Florida she could no longer find good wings or pizza; she had to come back to Columbus for that. Since moving to Wisconsin, I've come to understand what she meant.
But, back to the subject at hand: Georgio's. Apparently there is a main dude in the back who makes the pies. I sneaked a shot of him.
Could that be Georgio? My guess is that it's George. AKA Georgio, because that sounds more Italian.
Our server pointed out that Georgio's is known for their cheesecake. They have a different variety every week made by the owner, who she pointed to as one of the women in the restaurant waiting tables. A neon Bud Light sign in the restaurant highlighted this weeks selection. $6.50 of a slice of classic New York style cheesecake with strawberries.
Sounded too good to pass up, so we ordered a slice to share.
We weren't impressed. It was uninspiring at best. Not much flavor. Downright bland. Nothing special at all. Of course that didn't stop us from eating it. All of it.
So that was our big Friday night out in Milton, Wisconsin at Georgio's pizza. Was it more grand and more exciting than watching the canoe race for the Syttende Mai celebration? Hard to say. Pizza in Milton. Canoe racein Stoughton. Either way, we're really livin' on the edge here.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Pet Peeve
Here is a pet peeve of mine: the trend of churches putting little cutesy messages on signs out in their church yards for passers-by to read. I'm sure you've seen them. Seems they are all over the place these days. When I see these little stupid cutesy messages, I get immediately annoyed. Today on my drive over to Milwaukee, I saw what may be the stupidest, most annoying sign yet. It read:
God answers
Knee-mail
That is so flipping stupid. I think God probably even thinks that's stupid.
God answers
Knee-mail
That is so flipping stupid. I think God probably even thinks that's stupid.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Say What?
Most of Wisconsin is rural. No big surprise there. The only area in the entire state that I would describe as urban is Milwaukee. There are other decent size cities, such as Madison and Green Bay, but I would not characterize those cities as urban. The state as a whole is mostly comprised of farm land and small towns.
Just as one would expect, in small towns there are some small town........shall we say.......mentalities. Case in point: a recent news story (link) involving the Sauk County supervisor, Virgil Hartje. In a meeting with the county board, ol' Virgil said the following when asked to describe dealings with a contractor:
"We jewed 'em down some."
Yep. That's what ol' Virgil is on the record as saying to the county board. "We jewed 'em down some."
Needless to say, there has been public outcry (probably from all the liberals in Madison) regarding his comment. But ol' Virgil refuses to apologize. Ol' Virgil says "jewed" is different than other derogatory slurs. Ol' Virgil says "jewed" is a business term.
Say what?
(P.S. After reading this post, Scott Googled ol' Virgil. Click on this link to see what ol' Virgil looks like. Uh....yeah. Kind of what I expected.)
Just as one would expect, in small towns there are some small town........shall we say.......mentalities. Case in point: a recent news story (link) involving the Sauk County supervisor, Virgil Hartje. In a meeting with the county board, ol' Virgil said the following when asked to describe dealings with a contractor:
"We jewed 'em down some."
Yep. That's what ol' Virgil is on the record as saying to the county board. "We jewed 'em down some."
Needless to say, there has been public outcry (probably from all the liberals in Madison) regarding his comment. But ol' Virgil refuses to apologize. Ol' Virgil says "jewed" is different than other derogatory slurs. Ol' Virgil says "jewed" is a business term.
Say what?
(P.S. After reading this post, Scott Googled ol' Virgil. Click on this link to see what ol' Virgil looks like. Uh....yeah. Kind of what I expected.)
Is It Spring Yet??
I can hardly believe it's May 7 and it is still barren around here. Barren and cold. In my life experience, I have never known spring to be so tardy. Is it ever going to arrive??
We are just barely starting to see the first signs. A few leaves are starting to appear on the trees.
And a couple plants are popping up out of the ground.
These are certainly welcome signs, but overall it still looks more like winter than spring-- as you can see in the picture below recently taken looking out from our deck.
Seriously. Is winter ever going to end? At this point, it looks like it may end in just enough time to start next winter.
We are just barely starting to see the first signs. A few leaves are starting to appear on the trees.
And a couple plants are popping up out of the ground.
These are certainly welcome signs, but overall it still looks more like winter than spring-- as you can see in the picture below recently taken looking out from our deck.
Seriously. Is winter ever going to end? At this point, it looks like it may end in just enough time to start next winter.
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