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Street Prophets Friday: Traveling Through Time (photo diary) [1]

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Date: 2023-07-28

Hello there, did anyone miss me? I've been gone a very long time. Been traveling, for decades, talk about your jet lag …

Despite my theatrics, it's just another Fuzzy Friday open thread. This time I'm sprinkling in a few photos from a week of travel.

On Monday the 17th I flew from Prague to Chicago via Zurich. Then, after a flight delay, missed the first bus north to Madison, Wisconsin and, after some really confusing signage, missed the second bus— finally catching the third thanks to some friendly and helpful airport staff. I mean, WTF is a MMF? — and why do the signs on the airport train stations and the trains themselves fail to mention it? Rentals, look for rentals, my friends. Turns out the buses at O'Hare have their own new, little island in the middle of all the rental car lots.

My brother had died in hospice care the previous Friday— missed him by a few days, still missing him. What should have been a 6-8 month slide into oblivion, turned out to be about 6 weeks. Pancreatic cancer seasoned with a series of strokes. I've been told by a couple of the doctors I see regularly that the good folks at the big clinic on Charles Square are developing a blood test for pancreatic cancer. Sign me up for the trials please.

My brother's wife was putting together a collection of photos and mementos.

Sunset over Monona Bay

Even though I'd missed seeing my brother one last time, there were still several reasons for me being there. Perhaps most important was lending a hand with the mess my sister-in-law was dealing with, but I didn't spend the whole trip sorting through the piles. Without my brother around, I finally got a chance to talk to my sister-in-law and get to know her better. I'm grateful for that chance, she's quite remarkable.

As if one death in the family wasn't enough, my step-sister had died less than a week before my brother and I wanted to see her son. She’d essentially regained her Czech citizenship and moved to Prague just to die there. She said she was home. There was also a wonderful group of her mother’s (my step-mother's) friends who had watched her grow up and had even been special friends of mine since the first time I met them. We all needed a chance to talk about my step-sister and her death. No visit to Madison is complete without meeting up at least once with the ladies. The three of them, that I’m closest to, took me out for a couple of beers and a lot of hugging.

And it was great to see my step-nephew. His last visit he was a 12 year-old wild thing racing down a trail on the Czech Republic's little Black Mountain on a scooter. Now he's a remarkably wise and gentle young man. I took him out to breakfast and we talked for over three hours. I had him drop me off on his way to work and I explored some old haunts. Managed to swing past three houses that I'd lived in.

Most of elementary, all of middle through my first year of high school and this house was home.

I haven’t lived in Madison for over 30 years, it just gets stranger and stranger. I suppose I'm the stranger. So tempting to ring doorbells and ask to see how the houses had changed on the inside.

I think my old friend Brad's house was gone and the Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall at the end of his street was now a mosque. I struck up a conversation in the parking lot with a student at the university and he invited me in. But I felt awkward, tempted, but awkward about sticking my sweaty, godless nose into their prayer meeting when I was frankly just there to take a nostalgic tour of an old neighborhood. I trudged on. Next time though, I will give in to temptation.

Chipmunk, don't see those in Prague.

The Duck Pond, part of the University's Arboretum and lots of memories.

I took quite a few of photos of little spots and businesses that I recognized.

At one end of Monroe Street is Percy’s Garage where Percy was practically a friend of the family we gave him so much business over the years— what with my brothers learning to drive and us living just a couple blocks away.

Had to at least get one shot of the exterior of this place. The restaurant where my award-winning nephew works his magic. And yes, his mom, my sister-in-law and i went there for dinner one night. Amazing food.

Simpler culinary magic. A root beer float and Lake Wingra, both refreshing on a long walk.

A long walk made even longer with a romp with my brother's dog, Munchkin.

Yeah, Munchkin made the whole trip both easier and harder. I miss having a dog in my life and Munchkin was missing my brother. The second night I was there, Munchkin came downstairs and jumped up into my bed and gave me a good sniff from toe to head. She then hopped back down and went back upstairs. She'd been used to sleeping in that bed with my brother. I didn't pass the sniff test. After taking her out for a few walks and romps in the dog park though, I'd wake up next to her every morning. My sister-in-law told me that the night after I left that Munchkin had gone downstairs to check to see if I was there.

Bernie’s Beach was looking weedy, but otherwise clean. When we’d visit when our kids were little, this was a popular spot for a dip.

An obligatory visit to the Capitol Building

An even more obligatory shot of the domed ceiling in the Rotunda.

I almost cried when I saw that the horrid, massive, dark wood info panels had been removed. This gorgeous space, a traditional meeting place, the hub of the entire city, had been blocked and cluttered by ridiculously monumental information panels that provided glowing praise for the gubernatorial achievements of one Scott Walker. Good riddance to bad rubbish. The people have retaken their house!

Thanks for stopping by.

This is an open thread.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/28/2183767/-Street-Prophets-Friday-Traveling-Through-Time-photo-diary

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