Fall in WIsconsin

So pretty
to see the fall colors...this is a Garden Tea Room in Shorewood and nieta Evie browsing the upstairs sitting area. I love how this comes together, with all the plantings, the vines, sculptures, and the greenhouse...I wonder if I could do something like this on my rooftop?  well, maybe in Mexico?  That would of course be more doable...though, those gorgeous fall colors...probably not gonna happen there...
why don't people do more with their roofs?  It's such good real estate! I think rooftop gardens are gaining ground, esp. in cities...

Here is Nat with the Davauer crew, pre-baby...not sure they could all fit in a lineup now...but, I guess they could with Olivia strapped on in a front carrier...


Evie and Violet on their sidewalk...

the leaves everywhere are were just the perfect colors in late October

Evie is dressed in her 'Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz' costume, complete with wig, and ruby slippers.
Ever the drama queen, she is singing one of her many show tunes...
 and quite well, I must say...
for someone who is only 4 yrs old!



(she was Pocohontas this year; the Dorothy outfit was from last year)


Fall in Wisconsin...
Even in the city, it's lovely.
In the country, it's great too.
Had more photos, but having a problem with the camera, so maybe I'll add them later...but, wanted to post something final for Nov...and cannot believe it is the last day of Nov...a normally dreary and cloudy month here.
The photos from October capture the brilliance of that month & it's still worth being in the North for.
Nov....  not so much... and we will just pretend Dec is not here yet...(because I'm still here!!!) 

Deer Hunting...

This is a tradition which is just growing stronger, not dying, with 33% more women and 30% more young people, signed up with licenses to hunt this year (acc'd to what I heard on the news, at least). 
So...there have been gunshots around...and today I saw 3 deer in the back of a truck, a sight which always repulses me.  It is enough to make one think of going vegetarian. 

But... at least there will be an end to the shooting I hear around, by tomorrow... thank heavens. 

Above is a display in a local supermarket...the beer section, of course...
turkeys, deer heads...and...more mounted heads featuring antlers...Of course, being Wisconsin, the requisite Packer stuff...

 












 The following photos are from a junk/antique? shop in Brooklyn, NY...from a recent foray there...Hunting stuff is always in fashion I guess...or at least, there must be a market for it....or is it that it has become so cliche and folksy that it is used for interpreting stereotypes?   From what I gather, one is raised in a hunting tradition....or not....

 

Wild Turkeys

Yes, there still are wild turkeys, out and about, believe it or not.
See for yourself....

Why did the turkey cross the road?  
     (the road is just up from me...)  


maybe to get away from Pocohantas?
   (granddaughter, Evie...) 

hopefully, they were pardoned and escaped the hunters out and about...

The other hunters out & about for 'Black Friday' did not include myself.  I shopped nowhere, boycotting this new tradition I care nothing for.

As someone on Facebook posted:  Only in America do people spend Thanksgiving celebrating all they are thankful for; and then rush out early the next day to buy more stuff they feel they are lacking....

Indeed....

New Granddaughter... La Nueva Nieta

Well, she is here, and here she is!       Olivia Starling...  I think she may be a star some day...
     She joins sisters Evie Valentine & Violet Seraphina            

Enter the biggest littlest sister... (at 9# 2oz)

http://davauer.com/olivia/

 

 

Grandpa S and Sofia with the as yet, unnamed baby on her birthday, 11-13-12.

                       

Great Grandma Sauer 

with her newest great- granddaughter... 6 girls in 6 years: 

Sofia    2007  *

Evelyn  2008 

Astrid   2009 

Violet   2010 

Frances 2011

Olivia   2012 

* Orion Cupid Davauer
our first grandchild, a boy...born too early, spent his short life in his parents' loving arms.  Remembered  now, lovingly, in the celestial realm.

Papa Nat (or as Evie calls him, Dadah...)  (the photographer of the professional photos in the link above :-)

Olivia at home with Violet and Evie...  a new chiquitita to love!

NYC whirlwind trip

Well....still no baby news to report, but can't be long now...I'm pacing with anxiety, just as I was running up to the election. That had a good result, in my eyes... My state came through..and is now identified as a purple state. Purple, because they went for Democrats on the national scene, but went Repub. on the local level... be prepared for more teacher & union bashing, & diminishing benefits from the statehouse...But, anyway, I am happy with the overwhelming support for Obama, as well as electing the country's first openly gay senator, Tammy Baldwin. Really put some people in their place...So...since I'm awaiting news of the next arrival, will fill in with a trip we took to NYC in October to celebrate my aunt's 80th birthday....What fun...Kind of on a whim, but it came together in a good way.  It was a whirlwind trip...an appropriate adjective, esp as we beat the winds and rain of frankinstorm Sandy just by a few days. Whew... but sorry for the New Yorkers who had to suffer through it, and are still coping with the fallout.

Here are some highlights from that NYC trip in mid to late October.

My Aunt Joyce, and myself, sitting on steps on the upper West Side, awaiting a Metro Bus. Joyce got the senior rate! 

Here we are at our hostel. Hey, I give Joyce credit for doing a hostel with us. As she said, I can well afford a hotel...I know...I know...but, come on...you gotta push the envelope. It was really fine. Equity Hostel, owned by a Barcelona group, well situated near Times Square.  Mostly all Europeans & a young vibe there.  We did okay. Good rates. We had to take a  female dorm room for 4, but lucked out with two Australian girls, over our 3 days, both of whom we liked.   This awesome creamy yellow leather sofa was the one really good piece of furniture in the place (don't forget...we had bunks...pretty minimal in the sleeping spaces...)  Anyway, we tried to get a space on this sofa whenever we could...esp. during Happy Hour.  We appreciated the touch of luxury.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the birthday girl, on her actual birthday, Oct 16, being served a special cake by the wonderful servers we got to know well at this Japanese restaurant my brother found in Korea town, where he stayed.  The owner, Mai, is Korean. 

 

 

 

Joye and Carole outside our hostel...as we prepare to go to see the Broadway play, Evita.

During our stay, we made it out to my nephew Adam's loft, in Brooklyn.  It is very spacious. And he is an artist, and somewhat of a minimalist... My son had shared this apt with him, after living on the lower East Side, which I got to know better by visiting him there.  Brooklyn seems so spacious compared to anywhere else, esp lower E side, in Manhattan.

Adam also teaches grad students at the NY School of Visual Arts...something about computers, graphics, art, etc. You notice he is wearing camouflage. He has developed something which maintains one's privacy by carefully placing obstructions around a face/visual which block a camera from identifying a subject...a bit complex...but...very cool. 

 

My Aunt Joyce, & sister, Carole...regrouping, or looking for next subway fare?  sitting in Adam's loft.  Adam scored that cool vintage sofa from my sister, Dawn.  He is very opposed to buying new stuff. He absolutely rejects 'Black Fri' & any other day devoted to shopping.

This was an odd place to eat, and very cutting edge in Brooklyn, Fette Sou.  All about pork cuts.  See the 'Wall of Meat' behind sister Carole & brother, Bruce.  You get your tray, go to grill station, get your meat, & then your beer. and dig in!

 

I see they also had this cool drawing on the cement wall --
'no goat left behind'
maybe on some special days, they also served goat?   do not know....
as with many things in NY...we just tried to go with the flow, and not ask too many questions...

Here we are on the NYC subway...always a treat. I find it fascinating.  It was my sister's first time; My brother did a great job getting us around.  I love the feeling of being in the mix of the energy of the largest city in the US...and what is cool is that New Yorkers on the subway are always reading stuff... often, the classics.  It's like no other city.  Strangely, this is a photo without other passengers. On one trip, there was a guy singing darn good opera.stuff... for tips, of course, later...one never knows what one will see or hear.  On the subway, or in the underground terminals... it's unique.

 Ground zero.  well, I suppose a 'must do' and of course it was packed.  Personally, I liked it better when they projected 2 beams of light, up into the sky, after the towers were gone.
Now there is this new glassy, reflecting tower, which doubles itself in a reflecting pool below.  It's okay I guess.
Not to my liking;   But, I'm not a 'monument' person.  The other photo, The Fraunces Tavern on Pearl St. near the Battery, is much more authentic...it's where Gen Washington signed famous documents, and there were secret meetings, and slaves hiding about... the upstairs has a museum, and it is an operating Irish pub now. The reason I knew about the place, is that I had to help 5th graders read a novel, some years back, in which this place figures big into the history of the Revolution....an awesome place...and very Dutch architecture.

And here we are having NY cheesecake...yum...the best!
and then going to the Broadway play, Evita....
with Ricky Martin.
WOW.... it was fabulous.
Great storytelling & music on stage.

so...  a fun week... and I didn't even mention the weekend in PA... so...there's more!  But, it's hard to go to NYC and not be awed. 

How to Talk to Your Kids About Republicans

 It's election day in the USA.   Feeling anxiety, kind of like expecting a newborn, which in fact, we ARE!  Our next grandchild, #6 in 6 years, is due today or the 9th.  (Kind of weird, yes, but there are 2 due dates...Nov 6 and 9.  Would be cool if it were today...but, we'll take him, or her, whenever!
Stay tuned!

But, meanwhile, like one pacing in a delivery room, I feel that urge to do something; post something.
Haven't gotten back to getting more travel posts together; sometimes it's just easier to go travel, than to gather up thoughts, find & organize photos, and reminisce about those various places...now history.  But, they are always in my thoughts, yes.  I will get to it soon.  We are an amalgam of our travels, experiences & interpersonal connections, I do believe;  back to that later.
---------------
So, for today, an election day political piece.  A fun thing my son wrote for Scooter magazine, out of NY.  And, I'm loving anything out of NYC lately, as I was so recently there; love that vibe, and it's been so in the news lately.  My son is still in Shanghai of course, but still very connected to NYC as he lived there for some time, so think he has a good feel for their politics, & this apparently ran well there, knowing how they lean.  My own state, WI...is one of the borderline red/blue states which both candidates are vying for. On Moday  my son in Milwaukee saw Obama with Katie Perry, who his daughter was eager to see, and yesterday, friends saw Obama in Madison with Bruce Springsteen--wish I'd gone to that myself!  (Am sure Romney was somewhere, but I didn't pay attention...)  Anyway, it feels good to get press, even though much of it is the 'make fun of the cheeseheads' type.
That's okay.  All press is good press, right?
---------------------------------------------------

The New York Observer

Scooter

Explaining Campaign 2012: How To Talk To Your Kids About Republicans

Because sooner than later, they are going to form their own opinion

By Abe Sauer 9/20 4:50pm

Julia Ewan/The Washington Post/Getty Images

Truth is, your kids may be experimenting with it long before you as a parent are ready to have ”the talk.”  Four years ago, maybe the only thing you associated with “hope” was the hope of three hours of uninterrupted sleep. “Change” was most commonly followed by “diapers.” But it’s 2012, and your children are older and dangerously vulnerable: science has demonstrated that children begin toying with Republicanism far earlier than previously thought.
Thanks to technology, cable news, and a trend toward increasingly uninhibited (if not unhinged) political expression, children are regularly exposed to the kind of extreme views once associated only with Thanksgiving dinners and ”that uncle.” Fortunately, parents can use a number of early strategies to ensure their children are politically balanced and do not fall victim to the simple-minded seduction of the far right.
Just as Joe Camel once enticed children into tobacco addiction, the two parties’ cartoon mascots are an early gateway. With its kid-friendly (if lumbering) elephant, the GOP has the edge over the Democrats’ donkey. Your kids will view Republicans as the party of Babar and Dumbo: joyous orphans who faced the hardships of life on their own, without assistance from any central authority.
Meanwhile, the only donkey in most kids’ lives is Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh’s compatriot who never stops whining about his lot in life. While Eeyore does exhibit a glum, enjoyable humor, it is of the sort most associated with adult characters like Woody Allen. And there is only one child in the world who has ever loved Woody Allen.
To level the playing field, well-known nursery rhymes can be adapted to deliver basic messaging to inoculate your kids from what they’re sure to overhear this overheated fall campaign season. Whether it’s the telltale red rings of scarlet fever or early substandard bridge construction capabilities of London engineers, children have always learned well through these simple verses.
Here’s a helpful example:
Head, shoulders, knees and toes (Knees and toes!)
Head, shoulders, knees and toes (Knees and toes!)
And eyes and ears and mouth and nose,
Head, shoulder, knee and toe injuries are all now covered by Obamacare!
Or:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
And all the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again or pay off his student loan.
Or:
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are but will never know because the Tea Party cut funding to NASA.
Of course, some critics will find these rhymes lacking in policy specifics, much like certain convention speeches. So we’ve prepared a few talking points to help your little pundit master the hot-button issues they’re sure to hear about between now and November 6.
What is Medicare? When mommies and daddies get very old, even older than now, they sometimes get sick and need help. Medicare helps old mommy and daddy stay alive.
What is a super PAC? Well, when a very, very rich man and a candidate love each other very, very much, they touch each other in a special place called a 501c(4) while gazing deeply into each other’s eyes because they are forbidden by law to communicate. Not long after, a big fat independent-expenditure-only committee is born.
What are family values? Well, sweetie, that’s a term a mommy or daddy uses when one of them married the wrong person.
If you paid lower taxes, wouldn’t you have more money to spend on toys? Years of data now prove that the Laffer Curve theory supported by supply-siders is little more than voodoo economics, with no measurable impact on workers’ incentive to maximize potential output or save that can be tied to cuts in marginal tax rates or capital gains. Also, did you know Ronald Reagan smelled like Bubbe? He did.
What is abortion? Hey, who wants some ice cream?!
Above all, adults should be sure to speak to kids about politics in the same patient, positive and reasonable manner they use when talking about politics with other adults.
Remember, Republicans are not born. They are made, after being born. As a parent, you have the power to shut that whole thing down.

topics: DUMBO, Politalks, Ronald Reagan, Woody Allen, abe sauer, babar, campaign 2012, democrat, donkey, eeyore, elephant, nursery rhymes, obamacare, republican, tea party