The Lake of the Devil

 

I'm visiting Madison. I have few friends left in Madison these days. I wandered down States Street yesterday, and enjoyed the trip down memory lane, but didn't want to do that again today.  So, I reserved a car at the airport (only $20!) and drove.  I took the familiar drive from downtown to the place where I lived in high school... past the farms (and new subdivisions where some farms used to be) and gloried in the oranges, yellows and reds of fall.  Went to the Shoe Box in Black Earth (for some reason, the world's best shoe store with a huge selection is in Black Earth, population around 1000) and bought two fabulous new pairs of shoes for prices way lower than they would be in Berkeley.  Then, I picked up a picnic lunch at Piggly Wiggly and drove up to Devil's Lake, where I would "hike" in high school and college.  After wandering around to find the familiar CCC trail, I started up.  Even going a slow pace, it only took 20 minutes to reach the top.  This was a real wilderness hike for me ten years ago! The top rewarded me for my effort (easy at it was) with fabulous views of the fall colors.  On the way down, it started to rain, and yellow oak leaves were drifting down around me.  It was serenely beautiful.   Then, I headed back to the modern world and met a friend at the newly redone Hilldale mall to eat at Pasqual's. We thought about seeing a movie at the new Sundance theatre, but were scared off by the $11.75 price, and decided instead to see Wall-E at Market Square for only $3.   All in all, a great day.

Dry Garden

You'd think that a dry garden wasn't something you'd desire. But, I spent the past couple weekends redoing some of our wine barrels to create a dry garden - a hardy garden that doesn't require very much water. We got some plants from a nursery up the street (aptly named "The Dry Garden"), then went to town. We have two great wine barrels in the back yard (on wheels, they roll around on our driveway), and a new wine barrel up front. (Well, not new... it was in the back yard and had strawberries growing in it, but the strawberries' irrigation got clogged and they died... Fitting to replant it with a dry garden.)

I'm really excited. The best part? We got all the plants (17 total) and soil (3 bags worth) back on our bike trailer. (Two trips, though...)