Richland Center

Hasn't been a bad place to be stuck most of the summer. It's beautiful. My grandma's family is from here. Frank Lloyd Wright used to hang out on my great-grandpa's porch, and "he never wore shoes...". The novelty is wearing off though. The crews are downsized, we're sick of the (very few) restaurants, and the poison ivy is endless.

Here are some of the highlights of life on the road in Richland Center:

1). My friend Courtney lives here. We've reconnected. Her boyfriend rocks. We talk carpentry (or rather, I pick his brain because I WISH I could do carpentry). They've introduced me to Wii, and I love playing Mario Cart with my Mii as the driver. It's hilarious. They also have Izzie.

2). Izzie. She's a kitten I rescued from the highway in Gotham. All black and silent. She was less than 1lb and you could see her rib and hipbones. She walked the white line of the highway to curl up at my feet in my noon shadow as I was trying to dig a hole. She purrs more than any kitten I've ever seen and does the sweetest 'making biscuits in the air/doggie paddle' movement with her front paws when you hold her and pet her. I LOVE her, but can't take her home.

3). Marijuana Dan and his theories about Frank Lloyd Wright being a vampire. On second thought, this deserves it's own post.

4). Bogus Bluff Cave. This is an amazing hike, sometimes nearly straight up the bluffs, to a cave that's nearly on the top of the bluff. They say counterfeiters used the cave to make bogus money, then would send signal up and down the Wisconsin River. The cave, a series of short and narrow tunnels, really doesn't seem suitable for any printing operation, but it's cool nonetheless. We hiked up there twice, the first not knowing where it was (Marijuana Dan's directions weren't the best), and then again with headlamps. The hike, the view, the cave, and drinks at the Bat Cave afterwards made for some of the best days of the summer.



5). Local night and the piano parties. Local night in Spring Green is fabulous. Local food, local beer, local characters. If it manages to not get rained out, which happened pretty frequently this summer. The Bobs are great. Ponytail Bob has the best stories (Yeah, I often make up names for people -- especially if I don't know their last names). Once we realized that playing piano and slight OCD tendancies seemed to be a common denominator between Bob W. and Jeff, we plotted to get them together for an evening of piano playing at Sue's. It was the best, even though I don't know many Ben Folds or Billy Joel songs. Now Jeff is stuck at headquarters, so this Thursday night tradition faded fast. At least I managed to get into Bob's library and rearrange some books. He only figured out a couple of the switches.

6). We're finding stuff. That doesn't happen too often with our preliminary surveys, but the area along the Wisconsin River is loaded with cultural history. If it weren't for the poison ivy (which nearly all of us have had), the mosquitos, and the cranky property owners yelling at me, this would be one of the most ideal archaeological surveys.