Catch Up: A Visit to Wisconsin

Mom decorating the Christmas tree.

Since I wasn't going to be able to go home for Christmas, I decided that I would visit in early December. I flew out to Milwaukee on a Wednesday night (I think...) and mom picked me up from the airport. We spent a bit of time in Delavan and set up her Christmas tree. It killed me to not tell her that I had purchased tickets to come to Wisconsin for Christmas (it was decided Thanksgiving weekend) - the whole time I had to say "well if I can't be here to celebrate christmas with you and mariam and grace, I'll just have to help decorate the tree...". She didn't suspect a thing.

We had a nice time decorating the tree, it's always fun to go through the ornaments and remembering the years of seeing them adorn the tree. Here's my first ornament :)


Before we left delavan, mom wanted to stop at school for a quick moment, and so I got to see her classroom for the first time. I thought it would be nice to get a photo of mom at her desk.


While in Madison we visited with my great uncle Marty, I always look forward to my visits with him. He's the grandfather I never had. Uncle Marty's health has been up and down in the last year (to be expected when you are 99 years old!), and so I am grateful for any time that I have with him. I think he was happy to see us as well.


We also had a very nice visit with my aunt Miriam. She's a must visit when I'm in town...and lucky for me this busy lady always makes time to see me!


It was a short visit - only a long weekend, but a cherished weekend for sure. It's nice to have a bit of one on one mom time, and I do love my visits to Wisconsin. It gives a good respite from the city life here in Manhattan. Mom enjoyed it too - although she had no idea what was to come!...look for that in the next post.

Rosie - Crestwood's Favorite Crossing Guard

Photo by KYLE McDANIEL (State Journal archives)

A great figure from my childhood has passed away - Rosie the crossing guard at Crestwood Elementary died of cancer on Saturday. This amazing woman was the crossing guard at Crestwood for 47 years! How many of us she protected and cared for, she always had a smile for us. I can't imagine anyone that would be more fondly remembered than her.

From the State Journal article about her:

Decked in a blaze orange vest with a stop sign in one hand and a cheery demeanor, Hiestand crossed nearly 10,000 children during her career, according to Madison police crossing guard supervisor Patti Knoche.

In 8,500 days of work over five decades, she likely missed fewer than 12 for illness. She never had a driver's license and walked twice each day up the hill on Old Sauk Road.

Everytime I ever drove by Crestwood, I would always look for Rosie and if she was there would honk and wave. A couple of times that I had been back to Madison for a visit I would stop and say hi. Last November when I was home visiting I made sure to pull over and say hi when I saw her, and take a photo with her. I had the opportunity to thank her for how well she took care of me when I was in elementary school, and how much she meant to me and countless others.


Thank you Rosie for being such a wonderful caretaker of so many kids over the last half century. You will surely be missed by many former students, parents and teachers among countless others.

A Day at the Lake and Michael's Frozen...

The other day felipe and I went over to Lake Wingra and rented a pedal boat for a little while. It was a little cloudy, but the weather was nice none the less. We spent a bit of time on the lake, and enjoyed the peaceful quietness.

Afterward we stopped by Michael's Frozen Custard and picked up a couple of shakes - Felipe got vanilla and I got my new/old favorite - Chocolate and Peanut Butter (yummy!).

Must stop here...Oakcrest Tavern

This is another one of those must stop places for when I come back to Madison for a visit. It's a tiny one room tavern in my old neighborhood that has barely changed since I can remember it back in the 80's and 90's and for probably much longer than that!


Felipe and I stopped in for lunch on Monday and had the typical tavern fare that almost feels like a necessity to order. Their burgers are great and Felipe enjoyed a brat. The burgers are made from meat at Knoche's - a butcher from across the street (I used to stop in this little grocery store on my way to school to pick up bazooka gum!). We shared an order of fries, and of course - the cheese curds! yum!





Now if only I could figure out how to get the bars in New York City to serve fried cheese curds....or alternately how to get the Oakcrest to open a location there - then I would be set!

Owen Park, Madison WI

On Monday, Felipe and I took a stop in Owen Park here in Madison. It's a really peaceful little park off of Old Sauk Road in the neighborhood where I grew up. We were there only briefly, but took a nice walk around the prairie land they have there, and I snapped a few photos with my iPhone.


Here if you look closely you can see this itty bitty bunny that we encountered on the path...super cute!








There were all sorts of flowers in bloom and the plants were beautiful. I used to walk here from our house when I was a kid - sometimes after school. I remember one year too we took a field trip there from my elementary school across the street and my dad came along. What a wonderful park, a real gem in the city.

Devil's Lake

This is some of the Quartzite at Devil's lake - it had a fantastic purple-lavender color to it.

Felipe and mom and I took a short trip over to Devil's Lake State park last week. We spent a bit of time walking around the lake on the quartzite trail.