This Hit The Nail On The Head

Never ever,  not once,  have I been at a live event and not wanted it to end. No matter how much I was enjoying it,  no matter how good the performance, no matter how thrilling the game,  part of me always wishes to be done and on my way home. 

Day Four

Lookin' Good

Day 2. 

The Stranding of the Deep Thought

When I was a very young child, a merchant ship got stuck in the mud off the shores of Milwaukee's lakefront, and remained there long enough to become a sightseeing landmark for many, including my family. That was the Photinia, and many decades later I wrote about it here on Slapinions. 

History may not repeat, but it does sometimes rhyme, and on October 13th a private boat "Deep Thought"  ran out of gas and was abandoned along the lakefront between McKinley Marina and a custard stand called Moosaburger. 

43 days later it remains in place, and has been the focus of news stories, sightseeing, and t-shirts here in Milwaukee. 

Naturally, we went to see it too. "We" in this case being YaYa and her fiancé. 

Despite my knee injury earlier in the day - or perhaps to spite it - I climbed along the rocks to get a better view. 

It's kind of sad seeing it just sit there, but majestic in its own right. It did bring back many memories of seeing the Photinia and I'm glad I got to see her before it's eventually removed. 

The USS Beloit

At 3:20 YaYa and her fiancé picked me up to go take some pictures with a stranded boat along the lake. Along the way we stopped and went to see the USS Beloit (LCS 29), a new Freedom class warship that was christened here in Milwaukee on Saturday.  We actually had tickets for the christening ceremony, but YaYa had a last minute conflict and we had to skip it. 

 

It's probably been forty years since I've been that close to a surface warship.  My Dad took my sisters and I on a tour of one that docked in Milwaukee when I was a kid, and too young to even remember what class of vessel it was that day. 

My impression of the Beloit? 

It seemed, to me, to be pretty darn big, and resembled an ironclad right out of the Civil War. 

Best of luck to the ship, and prayers for the safety of the crew.

Backyard Cleanup

After my nasty fall, the three youngest were sent out to finish winterizing and cleaning the backyard. I must admit, I was both happy and a little surprised that without any instructions from me (well, none that they followed) they did a formidable job. 

Thank you!

Ouch!

 

This morning Lisa challenged me to a contest to see who could lie flat on their back and rise to their feet, unaided, the fastest. She tried cheating, of course, and seeing my victory in doubt I sped up - and slipped on vinyl flooring. I went headfirst into the edge of our formidable dining room table, scraped my left shoulder, and skinned and bruised my knee. 

While the knot on my forehead was the immediate concern, the knee swelled quickly. But after some ice, rest, and then some activity, it felt okay. 

Not the best way to greet the noon hour, I can tell you that. But I was lucky. I don't think I'm concussed, and there's no serious damage.