My Week that Was - September 7

Saturday morning at the Westside Cmty Market. 8/31/24 dwm

 The week started with a trip to Madison's Westside Community Market which features a mix of farm stands and booths from other businesses, most of them selling food or flowers.

 It had grown since the first time we visited, probably before Covid. There were three rows with booths on both sides of each row.

 

 We came home with some fresh farm-raised corn on the cob, tomatoes, and eggplant.

 

  There was even music as a group of musicians played and encouraged kids to join in on percussion.

We dropped off a car at Farm & Fleet to repair a punctured tire. If you can get a tire repaired and have it still in good shape it's a nice development because repairing is a lot less expensive than purchasing new tires.

A cicada shell. 8/31/24 dwm

Earlier this summer there was a lot of news about cicadas, millions, if not billions would emerge to make a racket and mate so in 17 more years more cicadas can emerge. 

 

Madison was north of those hatches. It's only over the last few weeks that I've heard them calling in the trees and Saturday was the first time this year I saw an empty shell clinging to a wall.

Sunday after church I rode south on the Badger trail to check its condition. If you missed it, check out Tuesday's blog.

 

The Black Crowned crane at ICF.. 9/2/2024 dwm

 Monday, we drove to Baraboo for breakfast then went to the International Crane Foundation (ICF). 

 I've been there a number of times. The 15 species of crane are on display in beautiful enclosures that give them a lot of room to roam and provide a perfect backdrop for pictures.

 

 In another section of the grounds, they work on ways to protect these majestic birds and the environments where they live.

 

 We should save these birds and in the process, we'll develop better places for people to live.

After the morning in Baraboo, we stopped at Ski-Hi (pronounced sky) Orchard where we picked up a few treats, including an apple cider doughnut. After lunch, I took a quick 25-mile ride, the 27th this year and the shortest of the bunch. 

The bridge in Tuesday's blog. 9/2/24

This ride didn't cover new ground but it's nice to have a collection of routes that cover different distances (32, 40, 60, and 25). I was home in an hour and thirty-six minutes.

 

The Monday holiday made this a short 4-day work week. There was plenty to do. Grant applications continued coming in, there are quite a few great ideas and projects that will excite donors and residents alike.

 

Tuesday and Wednesday flew past and it was Thursday before you knew it. The weather's been comfortable all week, so office windows were open to let the fresh air in. I was in the larger part of our office, which was a living room back when the space was an apartment, and right next to the patio door was a groundhog. 

 

I think he was enjoying the breeze coming through the screen. He didn't notice me, after a minute he slowly walked into the grass. Life seemed to be good for the groundhog, he looked prosperous.

 

Friday we had our annual Oak Tree Circle Cookout. It's more of a picnic than a cookout because anything that was cooked came from the kitchen. Cookout sounds better. It's a thank you event for donors who give automatically every month. 

The Packers opened their season in Sao Paulo, Brazil last night. The game started with the Packers intercepting a Philadelphia pass and then recovering a botched Eagles snap. Despite the opportunities near the Eagles goal line, the Packers could only get two field goals. There were a lot of penalties against Green Bay and neither team made much headway. Both teams got things moving in the second quarter, the Packers led 19 - 14 at the half.

 

The Eagles picked off a Jordan Love pass near the end of the third quarter and scored their second touchdown of the quarter for a 31 - 26 lead. It looked like Philly was going to pull away when they stopped the Packers and marched downfield until Jaire Alexander intercepted Jalen Hurts in the end zone. Green Bay moved down field before stalling at the 15, they kicked a field goal to pull within 2 points of the Eagles with under 8 minutes to play. The Eagles didn't give it back, making a field goal to go up five with 27-seconds left.

Green Bay received the ball on the ensuing kickoff and Love connected with Jayden Reed to reach midfield with a few seconds to play. On the next play, Love was spun around, tossed it back to Jacobs who ran it out of bounds to stop the clock. Love was hurt on the play and had to be helped from the field. 

On the final play, Philadelphia sacked backup QB Malik Willis to end the game with a 34 - 29 win. There was no news immediately after the game, Packer nation is praying Jordan Love isn't seriously hurt. 

 

The season hangs in the balance with all the hope and high expectations waiting to hear if and when Jordan Love will play again.  Go Pack and have a good week!