Trolls

I know where the best troll in America lives. At the risk of alienating my home state's Department of Tourism, the place is not Wisconsin.

We do, however, have a fine troll population here in Wisconsin. Our trolls reside in Mount Horeb, a quaint town a short distance from Madison. Their main street is appropriately named "The Trollway". Whimsical, charming and kitschy would all characterize Wisconsin trolls. They are good Midwesterners and, like us, are non-threatening. Unlike us, they are wooden. My personal favorite is the troll taking pictures with his camera. Only curmudgeons can resist posing for pictures in front of him. The ice cream eating troll isn't bad either.

The best troll in the USA is 1,983 miles from Wisconsin in Seattle, Washington. He resides, alone, under the Fremont Bridge. This troll is definitely not a Midwesterner; he has a big attitude sort of like that other Seattle area resident, Bill Gates. Parents beware; if trolls were rated, the Fremont troll would get an "R" for excessive violence. See Seattle's troll at RoadsideAmerica.com and note that his diet consists of VWs!

Trolls

I know where the best troll in America lives. At the risk of alienating my home state's Department of Tourism, the place is not Wisconsin.

We do, however, have a fine troll population here in Wisconsin. Our trolls reside in Mount Horeb, a quaint town a short distance from Madison. Their main street is appropriately named "The Trollway". Whimsical, charming and kitschy would all characterize Wisconsin trolls. They are good Midwesterners and, like us, are non-threatening. Unlike us, they are wooden. My personal favorite is the troll taking pictures with his camera. Only curmudgeons can resist posing for pictures in front of him. The ice cream eating troll isn't bad either.

The best troll in the USA is 1,983 miles from Wisconsin in Seattle, Washington. He resides, alone, under the Fremont Bridge. This troll is definitely not a Midwesterner; he has a big attitude sort of like that other Seattle area resident, Bill Gates. Parents beware; if trolls were rated, the Fremont troll would get an "R" for excessive violence. See Seattle's troll at RoadsideAmerica.com and note that his diet consists of VWs!

Spring

Thank goodness people have an infinite capacity for self deception. Every year I'm hopeful that a season called "Spring" will come.

You have heard the phrase, the promise of spring. I am starting to have a sinking feeling that we northerners should take this phrase more literally. After all, no one is saying that this particular promise will be kept. All frogs don't turn into princes. For that matter, most tadpoles don't turn into frogs.

And then there's the groundhog. I think we should let the guy sleep in. His predictions have the accuracy of a Ouija board.

Here are the cold, hard facts. It is March. The air is freezing; the wind is cutting. The ground is hard as in frozen solid. Ice balls are falling from the leaden sky. The operative adjective is bleak not springlike.

But there is hope! April is coming. I will follow the advice of the poet, A. E. Housman. "About the woodlands I will go / To see the cherry hung with snow."

I will completely forget that for most of my springs the snow on the cherries was the real thing.

(The complete A. E. Housman poem is here.)

Spring

Thank goodness people have an infinite capacity for self deception. Every year I'm hopeful that a season called "Spring" will come.

You have heard the phrase, the promise of spring. I am starting to have a sinking feeling that we northerners should take this phrase more literally. After all, no one is saying that this particular promise will be kept. All frogs don't turn into princes. For that matter, most tadpoles don't turn into frogs.

And then there's the groundhog. I think we should let the guy sleep in. His predictions have the accuracy of a Ouija board.

Here are the cold, hard facts. It is March. The air is freezing; the wind is cutting. The ground is hard as in frozen solid. Ice balls are falling from the leaden sky. The operative adjective is bleak not springlike.

But there is hope! April is coming. I will follow the advice of the poet, A. E. Housman. "About the woodlands I will go / To see the cherry hung with snow."

I will completely forget that for most of my springs the snow on the cherries was the real thing.

(The complete A. E. Housman poem is here.)

Pi

One week last November when I was feeling particularly unloved by the world at large, I suggested the obvious cure to my husband. "Let's get a kitten." Face it, pet lovers, we have our animals for the unconditional love they give us.

The following Sunday we visited our animal shelter's mobile pet adoption site and gravitated to the scrawniest bit of grey fluff they had. He was six months old, the runt of his litter and a mere four pounds. Obviously, this tiny guy needed lots of T.L.C. We took him home.


Unwilling to burden such a small creature with a long name, we christened him "Pi".


Our plan was to introduce Pi to our five resident cats slowly. So we put him alone in our screened "cat safe" room. This lasted exactly two minutes when he commenced yowling at the top of his little kitty lungs. We opened the door, and Pi instantly became a member of the Tooley cat clan.

A few days later our 26 pound cat, Gato, was eating his cat kibble. I might note that every attempt to restrict Gato's food intake has gone down in flames. Pi marched up to him, quickly stuck his paw in Gato's dish and pulled the dish to himself. That was the end of Gato's lunch and the start of Gato's diet!

Pi has gained one pound each month he has lived with us. He is our new alpha cat. Unconditional love is not his thing. We love him dearly, but we probably should be thinking about getting a dog.

Pi

One week last November when I was feeling particularly unloved by the world at large, I suggested the obvious cure to my husband. "Let's get a kitten." Face it, pet lovers, we have our animals for the unconditional love they give us.

The following Sunday we visited our animal shelter's mobile pet adoption site and gravitated to the scrawniest bit of grey fluff they had. He was six months old, the runt of his litter and a mere four pounds. Obviously, this tiny guy needed lots of T.L.C. We took him home.


Unwilling to burden such a small creature with a long name, we christened him "Pi".


Our plan was to introduce Pi to our five resident cats slowly. So we put him alone in our screened "cat safe" room. This lasted exactly two minutes when he commenced yowling at the top of his little kitty lungs. We opened the door, and Pi instantly became a member of the Tooley cat clan.

A few days later our 26 pound cat, Gato, was eating his cat kibble. I might note that every attempt to restrict Gato's food intake has gone down in flames. Pi marched up to him, quickly stuck his paw in Gato's dish and pulled the dish to himself. That was the end of Gato's lunch and the start of Gato's diet!

Pi has gained one pound each month he has lived with us. He is our new alpha cat. Unconditional love is not his thing. We love him dearly, but we probably should be thinking about getting a dog.

Hizzoner

The people of Chicago have spoken, or more accurately, 30% of them have. The reign of the Daleys will continue.

Last week Chicago re-elected Richard M. Daley for a 6th term with over 70% of the vote. I laughed out loud when hearing the election results, but I'm thrilled, too. Chicago without a Daley is like a St. Patrick's Day parade without the Irish.

Political pundits had predicted that this time around hizzoner was in serious trouble. But scandals, indictments and shady deals have always swirled around the Daley clan. The smoke rises, and they remain standing.

The simple truth is that Chicago has never looked better. It is one of the most exciting, forward-looking and award winning cities in America. The voters knew who to thank.

Who but a Daley could have pulled off the urban miracle called Millennium Park? And then there are the flowers. The entire town is resplendent with cascades of seasonal flowers and grasses.

I recently saw a map which ranked American cities by the quantity of their green architecture, i.e., grass roofs, sustainable building materials, etc. Little green pin head or pea sized dots indicated the cities' greenness. Chicago's green dot was the size of a ping pong ball. Thanks to Mayor Daley, Chicago has 2 million square feet of green roofs.

As the kids would say, "Chicago rocks". Mayor Daley is one urban legend who's the real thing.

Hizzoner

The people of Chicago have spoken, or more accurately, 30% of them have. The reign of the Daleys will continue.

Last week Chicago re-elected Richard M. Daley for a 6th term with over 70% of the vote. I laughed out loud when hearing the election results, but I'm thrilled, too. Chicago without a Daley is like a St. Patrick's Day parade without the Irish.

Political pundits had predicted that this time around hizzoner was in serious trouble. But scandals, indictments and shady deals have always swirled around the Daley clan. The smoke rises, and they remain standing.

The simple truth is that Chicago has never looked better. It is one of the most exciting, forward-looking and award winning cities in America. The voters knew who to thank.

Who but a Daley could have pulled off the urban miracle called Millennium Park? And then there are the flowers. The entire town is resplendent with cascades of seasonal flowers and grasses.

I recently saw a map which ranked American cities by the quantity of their green architecture, i.e., grass roofs, sustainable building materials, etc. Little green pin head or pea sized dots indicated the cities' greenness. Chicago's green dot was the size of a ping pong ball. Thanks to Mayor Daley, Chicago has 2 million square feet of green roofs.

As the kids would say, "Chicago rocks". Mayor Daley is one urban legend who's the real thing.