'There are some days I think I'm going to die from an overdose of satisfaction.' --Salvador Dali
These next few days on the road are going to be a whirlwind: I'll be hitting a city (I use that term loosely) a day until I hit Phoenix in five days. Yesterday was Wisconsin to Peoria, Illinois. Destination: the planetarium. In the summer, Peoria is home to the largest solar system model in the world, with the Lakeview Museum acting as the sun, and planets placed to scale, reaching as far as 60 miles away. While I didn't get to see that, I WAS lucky enough to catch a show on black holes that was so realistic that the room appeared to bend and dip and spin and fly through space; I was frequently dizzy and not a little nauseated. Light speed is FAST, you guys. Don't do it. But DO go to your nearest planetarium as soon as possible and discover how awesome it's gotten since you were a kid. It is SO much more than little white stars on a black canvas. It's an effing ADVENTURE. Oh, and just so you know, I learned the sun is going to flip out in about FIVE BILLION YEARS. So get started on organizing that airing cupboard, because time is TICKING. You are NOT going to like the way it starts behaving when it turns into a red giant or a white dwarf. NOT NICE, SUN. NOT NICE.
Before it gets too late, let me share with you a little Wisconsin-in-Pictures. This first sequence I call 'Trying to Photo a Barn and Making a Friend, Instead.'
The next two collages are a montage of Ixonia, Watertown, and Oconomowoc, sweet little Germanic Wisconsonian villages:
What I think I love best about these towns are their mottos: Oconomowoc: 'A Public Power Community.' I don't know about you, but I find this to be really stirring. I personally feel publicly powerful on a regular basis. And Watertown's is even better: 'It's Our...Water.' I feel like the ellipses mark really packs the punch here. It's like Watertown is thinking about it: 'It's Our...wait, wait, it's coming to me...come on, Watertown, what have we got?...Oh, hey! Water! It's Our...Water!'
A few things about Wisconsin that make it Special and Unique and so very, very German: its affinity toward bratwurst, beer, and deep-fried cheese curds, its weekly Friday Fish Fry, and the celebration of St. Nick's Day. I don't know why the rest of America isn't celebrating these latter traditions, but I'm personally gonna BRING it.
Now if you'll excuse me, my Kansas City hotel room is calling...along with a bed so fluffy I'm going to drown in the pillows with joy.
How was the fluffy bed? (now that was a personal question!)
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting about WISCONSIN. Never heard of it but it looks like a cute little place. Did you spend your time there making that elaborate gingerbread house/town?
If you'll pardon me, I must go boil some brats in beer and munch on some cheese curds.
YES! Wisconsin misses you :)
ReplyDeletei like the word oconomowoc. is there a town song? great barn filmstrip by the way, it looks like a love story.
ReplyDeleteNow, I've got to find me a planetarium. Love the pics, really cool! So glad to read about something besides food; don't get me wrong, I adore your food descriptions but it just makes me hungry and I'm trying to diet here!
ReplyDeleteLove the barn strip with your new friend! I must say I don't think the photos would have been complete without him.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is the dreary day bottom left of the first collage.
ReplyDeleteI wish there was a town song.
ReplyDeleteAlissa, if you don't want to hear about food, don't read my Kansas City post coming up soon!! HOLY BARBEQUE, BATMAN!
ReplyDeletePeter, I'm really glad that photo stood out to you. I took it because to me it embodied the expression 'the sky was heavy' (in this case with snow). I felt like I could reach up and touch it.
Anna, the responsibility of a town song now rests upon your shoulders. START WRITING!!
ReplyDeleteI had a conversation today, actually, with our IT guy (who is from Wisconsin) about the fact that the Wisconsin Tourism Fund (aka W.T.F.) had to recently change its name...because of the aforementioned unfortunate WTF, which in the parlance of OUR times, has come to mean something other than...Wisconsin Tourism Fund. (I believe it is now the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, in case you're wondering. I know you are.)
ReplyDeletewhat are these ...deep fried cheese curds of which you speak?
ReplyDeleteAlso, love the horse pictures. love love love.