Local Geology Museum

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A few weeks ago, I went to the local geology museum. A+ had been before with his sister, but I and my visiting friend had not, so we thought it would be interesting to go see it. A+ likes looking at rocks and minerals anyways, so visiting again would still be nice ^_^

It's quite a small museum, but they manage to cover a good range of geology artifacts within the small collection. They even had a nice UV/blacklight viewing room, where you could go in and see a a wall display of rocks and minerals under normal lighting, and then press a button that would darken the entire room and cycle the display lighting through different wavelengths so you could watch different materials glow with each lighting change. I wish I had a camera that was able to really capture the display, because it's quite cool, but alas, the photos I took didn't really turn out.

The front part of the museum was full of rock and crystal displays, and was probably my favorite part. They had all sorts of shapes and colors, although the room was a bit dark so the colors were hard to capture accurately with the camera I had. My favorite were definitely the rose-form gypsum crystals.

They had a short section on geological processes and Earth's composition at various points in the geological timeline. They even had a lift-and-smell section, which was fun but a bit gross ~_~ Their fossil section featured a rather sizable cephalopod collection. They also had a small viewing window where you could watch people actually working on artifacts in their lab/office area (if you went on a day when people were in). Nobody was there because it was the weekend, but it's a cool idea to have for visiting school children!

The final exhibit in the museum was the mandatory bones and skeletons section. The collection is modest, but it's very nicely arranged and certainly nice to wander through. They had a T-Rex skull on display, although my favorite was the Glyptodon skeleton. It's so round and cute!

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Turkey Parade

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Back at the end of autumn or beginning of  winter, I was headed on my way to run some errands when I saw a small flock of turkeys walking across the road. I know they lived around my area, and I had frequently heard them making gobbling noises during the day, but this was the first time I actually saw them in person.

I was surprised how close the birds let me get to them. I guess they are pretty accustomed to people and cars passing by them. They were actually rather quiet while I was taking photos of them, just making slight half-gobbles and peeps. I do know they can make quite a racket when they want to though!

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Flavors of Sri Lanka

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We've been getting coupon packets in the mail, and decided to use one of them to explore a new restaurant in Madison. We thought it would be interesting to try out a Sri Lankan restaurant, KJ's Curry Bowl.

Most of their menu items seem to be Asian fusion cuisine type items, but I decided to try out a couple of things that they advertised as being iconic Sri Lankan dishes, because after all that's why we went there!

For a beverage, I ordered a Faluda, which is a sweet (and very pink) drink with rose syrup, jelly, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This one came with some soursop as well.

It was delicious, but very intense. I'd probably consider it a standalone dessert rather than an accompanying beverage for a meal. It was soooo good though, and was almost too pretty to drink.

As my main course, I tried the "string hopper" dish which was a mound of white rice noodles with two different curries (a dhal and a chicken curry) as well as some chutney. The noodles themselves did not taste strongly of anything other than plain rice, but they are definitely an interesting way to add bulk to a meal. The whole thing was quite delicious, and the noodles did a great job of soaking up the curries and adding a smooth starchy texture to each bite. Yummy!

The decor in the restaurant was fairly sparse, but they did have some nice wall hangings like this one.

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Fairy Lights

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While walking in the woods after sunset, I found a circle of fairy lights on a path by the lake.

Flickering, flitting in the distance

The beguiling fairy lights

Draw near and you may see

Dancing fairies

Gossamer wings

Golden pearls of dew

But draw too close

And those glimmers may hold you

Forever

Artfully arranged candles are perfect for setting a pretty atmosphere, even out in the woods. Just make sure to watch them carefully!

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Duck Duck... Duck

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The lake is often full of ducks, anytime other than winter, and the area near the Terrace is no exception. Ducks often share the water with people wading in the shallow areas or just dipping their toes into the lake.

This little flock was particularly bold, as there were several children splashing around in the water nearby. I guess they've gotten used to people and maybe even approach them hoping for free food!

For brief little outings like this, I tend to keep my outfits simple, especially if I'm going to be riding my bicycle to get there.

Shirt ~ Target

Skirt ~ Bodyline

Shoes ~ Converse

And yes, I do bike in skirts and dresses! I'm always wearing shorts or bloomers underneath, so gusts of wind don't particularly worry me. Besides, who goes around watching people bike in skirts anyways... that's just weird :-P

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Reminders of Summer

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As much as I adore winter, it is still cheering to see the bright colors of summer in pictures. I took these photos while wandering the farmer's market in August, and they certainly capture the feel of summer in Madison for me.

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Moonrise

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Sunset is beautiful to watch over the lake, but I think I actually like seeing the moonrise even more. It's especially lovely when the moon is full (or nearly full) because it's more prominent in the sky.  When photographing the moon, I am always surprised by how small it actually is. The moon illusion is an amazing thing indeed.

The child's wonder
At the old moon
Comes back nightly.
She points her finger
To the far silent yellow thing
Shining through the branches
Filtering on the leaves a golden sand,
Crying with her little tongue, “See the moon!”
And in her bed fading to sleep
With babblings of the moon on her little mouth. 


"Child Moon" ~ Carl Sandburg

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A Loony Lake

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During the autumn as birds start migrating south, many flocks of loons and geese make pit stops in the various lakes near Madison. The one near my apartment particularly tends to fill with loons from early autumn even into winter when it's partially frozen.

A+ and I took a short jaunt to go loon-watching, when the first little flocks started to arrive. They look a bit more sparse in the photo somehow than they did in real life, but there's still quite a high density of loons!

My favorite part about them is the hilarious sounds they make. If you've never heard a loon, at least these particular ones, they sound to me kind of like plugged ducks. It sounds like are trying to quack, but they get stuffed up halfway, so it comes out as a super short, high-pitched, slightly quacky peep. "Peep peep peep." And they constantly make sounds, so it's just a chorus of hilarious peeping anytime you get close to a bunch of loons.

Unlike ducks, the loons are definitely not accustomed to people approaching, so as soon as you walk near the waterline, they all turn around and frantically paddle away. Come back loons, I just want to get a picture!

These ducks, though, are definitely ruling the roost. That branch is theirs and they're not moving for anybody. I actually didn't notice the female duck when I was taking the photos. It was only afterwards when A+ said something about two ducks that I realized there was a second one. I guess camouflage works on me ^_^

We also encountered a woolly bear caterpillar on the walking path next to the lake. This one had made its way mostly across the path by the time we saw it, but there were a lot of other ones trying to cross the road. They look so cuddly and cute!

On the way back, I noticed this beautiful tree that had turned completely red. It's such a lovely symbol of autumn! On a follow-up note, this same tree was completely bald the next time I saw it (about a week later). I found that surprising and a bit hilarious, but so it goes.

The view of autumn trees from across the lake makes such a nice landscape. It's almost like being inside a Bob Ross painting.

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Autumn Woods

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With all of the leaves turning pretty colors, autumn is one of my favorite times of the year to walk through the woods. The mosquitoes and gnats are no longer around to be a nuisance, and there's just so much pretty scenery to look at and enjoy.

A+ and I took a bit of a wander together out on the lake outcropping near our apartment. It's a really lovely area with a lot of little paths going through all the trees interspersed with fields of flowers. I think the carpet of fallen leaves makes them especially nice to walk through.

The past week or so has quite a few windy days, and along with the general rotting season, there were a lot of fallen trees in the area. This particular tree fell in a very interesting manner, and is now precariously perched.

The main path goes through the middle of the peninsula area, but the side paths go much closer to the lake. It's quite pretty seeing it glimmering through the trees as you're walking.

The tree colors seem to vary in patches, with some areas being very orange, while others are very red. This area was particularly yellow, as far as the eye can see.

We took our walk just in time for sunset, which is always pretty to watch over the lake in any season.

It's also about the time when people start showing up to make use of the various firepit areas in the area. This one is particularly large and finished, which is nice, but I think I prefer the smaller ones that just have simple logs for seating. Those just feel a bit more rustic and woodsy to me.

On our way back, I spotted a brave patch of flowers still blooming in the mostly-withered fields. Don't they look so bright and cheery?

A lot of the trees that turned earlier are now bare, so the pretty colors will probably be gone in another couple of weeks as winter approaches. But winter has its own sort of beauty too! It's my favorite season, after all <3

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Hot Noodle Soup for a Chilly Day

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A sudden chill has crept in lately, accompanied with nighttime rain showers and wind gusts during the daytime. There's plenty of summer still left, I'm sure, but this dip in temperatures has my mind turning towards thoughts of autumn.

I spent the better part of this morning making various adjustments to my bike to better fit me and how I ride. After having accomplished that, I decided to finally set up my mirror and an area where I can easily take casual outfit snaps. While I would love to be able to take my big camera and tripod outside all the time, that's not always practical and some days I'm just not wearing anything special enough to warrant that much effort. Luckily, I found a nicely-sized mirror that is nice in its simple form and that I can spruce up when I find the right inspiration and materials.

I then went out to meet with A+ to look in various bicycle shops near his work. As it turns out, they're all part of the same shop, just with four different buildings serving different purposes. We found a new, hopefully more comfortable, saddle for my bike, as well as a small canister of chain oil, which both our bikes need badly.

To finish off our jaunt, we wandered to a lovely little Asian fusion noodle shop for dinner. I had a deliciously creamy avocado bubble tea and a pho with beef brisket, tripe, and tendons. I don't eat meat often, so I try to pick special things when I do. I was very happily not disappointed at all with my choice, as it was very flavorful and delicious!

To top the evening off, A+ and I took a nice walk back to the other side of the bus route loop. We passed a courtyard area with a lot of currently blooming flowers. I'd very much like to go back there at some point to take some photos of the plants.

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