Decidedly Picky

There are so many freaking bugs around here! Seriously, I've never seen so many in my life. There are cobwebs on every single one of my stairs; every 100 feet there is a swarm of gnats; and the ants are definitely invading.

Last week, Lewis was gone on a business trip so I became the sole bug killer in the house. It was awful. There was a spider hanging out on the ceiling right above the doorway into the livingroom that was so big there is no way it would fit in a tape box. It was about the size of a coaster. And it just kept lurking there and the baby kept trying to play under it. So I had to deal with this invader myself.  I psyched myself up and with a mighty swing of my boot, it fell to the ground, dead. But not before I heard all of its legs break. Sickest sound ever.

This morning when I was taking my bath, a little spider (one of those jumpy ones) comes crawling down the wall towards the tub. I grabbed a shampoo bottle and tried to kill it but I didn't get it and it ran behind the rest of the bottles. I tried to forget it but in a few minutes, I see it floating around in my bath! So I spent forever fishing it out with my son's bath toy (don't worry, I'll wash the toy before I give it back to him).

Just a few minutes ago, I took my laundry down to the basement and before I even got in the door, I walked into a spider web. I look up and there are five quarter-size nasties above my head. I tried to stay cool but I lost it and ran back upstairs. I tell you what, I better get some seriously thick skin soon because these spiders are ruling my life!

Then again, maybe I just need a flame thrower...

Have you ever made a float? Neither had I, until this Sunday! We were participants in The Fools Flotilla, a free spirited, merry floating parade. A fleet of kayaks and canoes, adorned with outlandish decorations and ridiculously dressed people, start at Tenney Park ( two blocks from our house) and parade up river to the Marquette Waterfront Festival.

Unsure of how to begin building a float, we brainstormed for a while and decided that a canopy would be most befitting our ideals of a flotilla. So we started by pulling out our kayak, a tent, our bedroom curtains, some mirrors, and the most important ingredient... a bubble machine! Here's what we came up with:

At the river, we were greeted by a marching band, a giant fish, and about a dozen canoes and kayaks occupied by wildly costumed, grinning people. The parade had no clear beginning and no front or back. We all just piled into the river and eventually everyone seemed to feel the need to get going all at the same time. So we all started rowing and by the time we went under the first bridge we all seemed to be in a comfortable order. That's when the real fun began.

 The two bands started playing and everyone started singing. We wove in and out of the crew exchanging pleasantries. We received many compliments on our decorations, which, surprisingly, were among the most extravagant. One kind fellow even said they should make an award just to give us since our canopy was so great. (I thought that was sweet but a bit much.) Everyone seemed to be having a great time. I've never had such a pleasant time with so many strangers. There were kids and old people and young people and even one dog. Everyone had something interesting to wear and several of them had bubbles too. As one fellow said, "You can never have too many bubbles!"  Well, any place where people think you can never have enough bubbles is the place for me!

There was a surprising amount of support on the shore. This was no Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade but we had many onlookers, one of which took this video that you can find on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldj488r7Nnc (We float by at two and a half minutes in) And our local news also covered the event in the Wisconsin State Journal's article "Around Town: Flotilla of Fools".


I would have liked to have taken lots more pictures (one of me would have been nice) and a really great video of everyone singing "Yellow Submarine", however,  my camera battery died just after we got started. But I did get these:







All of the pictures and videos can't capture how much fun it truly was. It was amazing being surrounded by fun, interesting, and kindhearted people all participating in a flight of fancy. This was definitely the high light of my month and possibly the whole summer.

I can't believe this is now an edition of Mad Town Wednesday! Everything is still all shook up from the holiday last week. I haven't even gotten all the dishes done from our big party. I have had a sick and teething baby though, so I guess I have some excuse. Does it take anyone else 10 days to recover from a holiday?!

Mad Town Mondays VII: Trash Day

Here in the quirky town of Madison, people just throw their large trash items onto the curb. In half the google street view images you'll see of this town have junk in the front yard. Theoretically,  the city will eventually come pick them up.  However, sometimes they just sit there FOREVER. For instance, our handyman came and butchered trimmed our trees in late April and again at the beginning of May. The pile in front of our house got so high, that you couldn't see our car parked on the other side of the pile (Why didn't I take a picture of that?!) and he had to stop and wait for it to get picked up before he could do anymore trimming. Well, we waited and waited and waited but they never came. It was still there when my family came to visit for Memorial Day. Finally this week the handyman hauled half of it away.We'll see how long it takes the other half to disappear...

Although this does nothing for the beautification of the city, it is quite neat in several ways. For one, nobody has to worry about those obnoxious items they would otherwise have to haul to the dump. So it saves people from being sick jerks who dump stuff in inappropriate places like the river. But what is really neat about it is that it harbors a feeling of cooperation and community. People throw things on the curb not expecting the city to pick it up but for people who actually want it to come pick it up.

Yesterday, I picked up the desk I am writing this at, a car seat, and a rocking chair from the side of the road.The desk was just too cute to pass up and it's nice to have an extra work station but the rocking chair I sorely needed, since we haven't had one since we moved from California. The car seat I almost didn't pick up because it's purple and poor Indy doesn't need to be in another girly car seat but how can you pass up a perfectly functional item that saves you $50-$100 just for the sake of vanity?!

All of Madison seems to have a desire to share things. And although this might simply be due to them not wanting anything put into a landfill for the sake of the environment, I still find it delightful and refreshing. A few weeks ago, our stake did a clothing/whatever-you-don't-want swap. Everyone just brought their unwanted stuff to the stake center and picked up whatever they wanted. It was amazing! The entire gym was full and I found so many great things that I had been looking for. I picked up a Jeep stroller, a baby gate, a filing cabinet, a doorway jumper, several gospel books, a statue of Christ, some wall decor, a baby walker/tricycle, a baby carrier for my bike, a laundry basket, some clothes for Indy, a pack & play, and a blue glass vase from Poland. I had to play Tetris to fit it all into my car! I almost felt guilty taking so many great things for free but you know what I heard people say the most? I'm so glad to have that cleaned out of my house! Now don't bring anything home! For them it was a chance to simplify and for me it was a chance to get some needed things. For me it felt nice to get those things for free, but it felt even better seeing a community come together like that. It renewed my hope for the future and reminded me that even if we aren't living the full United Order right now, we can still fulfill the spirit of the Law of Consecration and prepare to live it right now.

I'm grateful to live in a town that can put aside appearances for a moment for the good of its citizens and the growth of a sense of community.