You live in Wisconsin now...get used to the snow...

It's snowing.

It's November 9th and it's snowing.

When I bought my ruby red Sebring convertible, I was living in San Antonio, Texas, where snow was an anomaly.

Let's see how she holds up in this snow.

I live in Wisconsin now and so I must accept this fact that half of my year will be spent in a world of white.  This weekend I searched out different stores, shops, services that cater to winter snow time fun including:

*Snowshoeing
*Cross Country skiing
*Alpine skiing
*Sledding
*Ice Skating
*Dog sledding

As a special January treat, my boyfriend will be taking me to the great land of Houghton, Michigan located in the Upper Peninsula where we will be taking winter driving lessons.

Expect a whole lot of blogging about that experience.

Wish me luck!  After many winters trudging through the snowy, slushy streets of Manhattan, to a winter spent in 40 degree San Antonio weather to actually driving in it, I am requesting any nurturing words, advice, and the like to get me through this.  Help a city girl out!

Just what I needed

The tenth anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center was looming up on me.

I tried to ignore it, tried to turn off the radio, tried to ignore e-mails and Facebook posts about friends' memories of that dreadful day.

But then a friend suggested that I write my own account of that day.  And so I did: Ten Years Later.

It helped and was cathartic, but I still needed to fill my weekend with fun things to do so as not to linger on memories.

Saturday night, my friend and I checked out the Sun Prairie Blues Fest.  I gave him a tour of my home town; driving past my old house, my elementary school, my high school.  We headed down to the Angell Park Speedway to witness some of the finest Blues bands the country has to offer.  Sun Prairie may be a small town, but the big guns were out tonight: The Ken Saydak Band from Chicago, and W.C. Clark from Austin.

On Sunday morning, we had a Silent Remembrance Class at Dragonfly Hot Yoga.  During this time, I was able to grieve.  It was such a cathartic experience and freed me to enjoy the rest of the day.  I didn't know how I was going to react on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and so I kept my schedule relatively empty.  But after this class, I was ready to enjoy one of the last gorgeous days of summer.

We headed out to Bristol, Wisconsin to do some horse back riding.  One of my clients at the studio, Margie gives horse back riding lessons at Madison Horse Connection.  I haven't been on a horse for a long time, but I used to take horsemanship lessons when I was a little girl.  It's amazing how quickly it all comes back to you.  We stayed in the barn, as this was an introductory lesson.  But I soon got my giant white Arabian horse to trot and follow my steering commands.

There's something about being on top of such a powerful beast that keeps you right in the present moment.  And that's exactly what I needed.  Not lingering in the past, not worrying about the future.  Just enjoying the moment as it was happening.

And let Autumn Commence

Even though the calendar may disagree, that chill in the air, that crispness I feel around me can mean only one thing; autumn is here in the Mad City.

I really love this time of year, although the 46 degree mornings have found me whining a wee bit.  But once that sun is up, all I want to do is be outside as much as possible.

Labor Day weekend was quite the whirlwind for me.  I was awoken with a thunder clap and lighting storm at 3:30 AM on Saturday morning...the day of the much anticipated, much beloved Taste of Madison.  Oh no, I thought, please let the rain stop by evening.  And it did...just barely.  As a result, there were no lines when my friend and I embarked upon our culinary quest, and we made it around the Capital Square in less than an hour.  "We should have taken some pictures of the food we purchased," my friend mused.  Alas, we were too busy stuffing our mouths full of delectable morsels such as dumplings from an Indonesian restaurant, deep fried cheese curds from The Old Fashioned, and a mouthwatering chocolate chip cookie dough stuffed egg roll from Bluephies.  We needed to be rolled back to the car.

What I remember about the Taste is that even though I have always come with the best intentions to pace myself, I end up greedily stuffing my face from the first row of booths I encounter.  Unfortunately, that leaves little room for some of the tasty treats found at the end of my orbit.  This year was no different.

My friend Lauri was in town, and so we decided to check out a bluegrass band (my new favorite style of music, by the way), Oak Street Ramblers at a local watering hole called Alchemy.  I love Alchemy in general because of their many vegetarian options on the menu (not that I was looking to consume any more calories today) and their large assortment of non-alcoholic quaffs.  The fiddle player looked familiar to me, and later I realized that she and I had performed in the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra together.  I love Madison.

Sunday was all about outdoor theatre, American Players Theatre style.  The drive to Spring Green is quite lovely, many rolling hills (moraines-glacial deposits, I later learned).  We were treated to a production of Blithe Spirit, a witty three hour romp complete with British accents.  Although at times, the actors were difficult to hear, I have to commend a theatre that refuses to use body mics.

One of the challenging things about summer rep theatre in quaint communities is that after the Sunday matinee, there aren't many dining options open.  Lucky for us, we stumbled upon a brand new locally owned business which featured delicious vegetarian sandwiches, exquisite gelato and extremely pleasant folks running the place.  Being a part of a locally owned, brand new business, I have a soft spot for others.  So if you find yourself in Spring Green, Wisconsin, head on over to the Driftless Depot...you won't be disappointed.

I did labor a bit on Labor Day, but the rest of the day was lazily spent exploring Owen Park on the west side a Madison.  Perfection.

Time's a Tickin'

You can smell it in the air.  Autumn is right around the corner.  In fact, little hints are popping up everywhere:

With a fever pitch, I long to soak in as much of Madison's goodness before the cold keeps me indoors (although I have recently entertained the idea of snowshoeing).  A bike should make things easier:

I have named her Dragonfly in honor of the studio where I work.  She is an old school Nishiki 10 speed bicycle and after the fine folks at Dream Bikes fixed her up, I have been riding her to and from work.  One thing that did slip my mind after being away from Madison for over 12 years is just how hilly this city is.  Oof!

Summer concert series are slowly giving way to the fall season, so my friend and I made sure to experience the last Dane Dances event held at the infamous Monona Terrace this past Friday.

I remember when this structure was built, the controversy it caused.  A Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece, this behemoth reminds me of a cruise ship and my friend and I entertained ourselves by trying to convince ourselves that we were, in fact, moving, and not the boats on the lake.  You can't beat the view of the Capitol building.  And on one of the last sultry nights of August, grooving out to the featured band was exactly what I needed.

Amazing Arbors

I'm lying on the soft, spongy grass...greener than I could have imagined.  Above me looms a tree...not sure what kind of tree it is, but its branches cascade down as if plumes of water from a fountain.  I gaze up at the clear blue sky and start to see patterns in the clouds...not that there are many to focus on.  The air is warm, the breeze is gentle, and I'm in heaven.

"Ummm...you have bugs crawling all over you," my friend pointed out.  

Oh yeah, bugs also come with being in the great out of doors.  It's hard to be bothered by bugs when in the middle of the Lost City Forest in the Madison Arboretum.  I mean, we are in their territory now.  Everywhere I look is green.  Forests of pine trees give way to groves of fruit trees.  I feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland as I look at the stately majesties surrounding me.

Trees of all shapes and sizes.   Some tall:

Some short and squat:

Some with odd looking cones or nuts:

I wanted to stay here all day, but a rumbling stomach got the best of me and so we went to Monroe Street, on the south side of campus to partake of some tea at Ma'cha Tea House.

We came for the tea, as they say, and stayed for the pork buns and cupcakes.  Yowza!

Monroe Street is a lovely two blocks of Madison which is home to some good eatin' and some good shoppin'.  We wandered into Strictly Discs, a dangerous place where one could easily lose a few hours perusing old vinyl recordings of Big Mama Thornton and John Lennon.   I could see myself spending my entire salary at Art Gecko, an Asian influenced home decor store.  And if one gets hungry again (as we naturally did), there's amazing pizza at Pizza Brutta where they may mispronounce some Italian words, but they definitely get it right in the wood-fired ovens.

Did I mention that I'm falling back in love with Madison one sun dappled Sunday at a time?  I am.

Eating the Madison Way

Eating the Madison way...what does that mean?

Deep fried cheese curds and mugs of German beer?  Maybe.

But how about sauteed zucchini and summer squash paired with Meyer lemon-zested green beans, red cabbage and beets?  Or quinoa made with fennel and golden raisins?  Fresh corn on the cob anyone?

Madison prides itself on fresh, local produce.  There is a huge local food movement with its epicenter at the Saturday Farmer's Market around the capitol.  Unfortunately, my yoga teaching schedule does not allow me to partake in this grand Madison tradition.  What's a girl to do?  Luckily, there is someone in my life now who is as passionate about good, locally grown food as I am and he is a member of the local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  Every other week he gets a box of goodies with which he whips up some masterpiece like this:

Or this:

Or this:

With food co-ops like Willy Street Co-op and, specialty local groceries like Metcalf's and Brennan's, it's easy to supplement the goodies found in this CSA box with delicacies like heirloom tomatoes, locally made cheeses and fresh herbs.

Healthy eating complements a healthy lifestyle nicely.  However, one most always leave room for brats and cheese curds!

Picnic Point and Beyond!

I was awakened early morning Sunday by a thunder clap.

"Oh no," I groaned..."My only day off is a rainy one."  A travesty in a city like Madison, where summer is fleet and impermanent.

But the saying, "If you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes," has never been more right on the money than in the fair city of Madison, Wisconsin.  An hour later, while happily stuffing a Brittany bun into my mouth, I looked outside to see that there was not a cloud in the sky.  A great day for a long walk to Picnic Point on Lake Mendota.

The day was hot, not as hot as last weekend, but still hot.  Yet we were greeted by throngs of walkers, joggers, runners, cyclists making the most of one of the last weekends of summer.  Ducks greeted us on our path, lining up like soldiers on a tree branch jutting out into the lake, bobbing for treats beneath the surface of the water.

As we rounded the corner and got closer to our destination, we saw cattails.  "I thought cattails were only a southern thing," my friend declared.  Apparently there are such thing as lake cattails in Wisconsin.

When we got to Picnic Point, we waded in the water, dipping our feet in the cool water, taking care not to slip on the rocks.  We were not alone.  People walking their dogs, people swimming in the water, people climbing around on some of the larger rocks all greeted us as we found our own spot to perch on and enjoy our final destination.

It was time to get back, I had a yoga play date at my friend's pool.  And the hour trek to the car got us back just in time.  As the clouds started rolling in, the lake turned bright green and the red flag went up the flagpole warning boaters to return to shore...there be a storm comin' in.

Later that afternoon,  my friend Shari snapped a few pictures of me doing yoga during our Poolside Yoga fun.

Shari is quite the photographer, and just started a blog of her own.  I urge you to check it out: http://www.cameratherapy.blogspot.com/