Maple & Main

It had the potential to be a great day…

My wife and I arrived at the Minooka Dog Park early Sunday morning with donuts, hot coffee, and a dog in desperate need of exercise.

Eddie, our 5 year old Fox Terrier, had been cooped up in the house all week and was raring to go. He could barley contain himself in the car on the ride over.

Once inside the park, he paused to lighten his load a bit, and then tore down the hill toward the pond where he met up with a pack of muddy dogs.

It was absolute melee from there.

Muddy dogs were running in all directions and as Ed made his third pass through the pond, I swore I saw what seemed to be a huge smile on his furry little face.

As all seemed well in the world of Ed, I relaxed and sipped my coffee.

However, my contentment was soon disrupted when I heard cries from a dog in pain.

The pack had stopped running now, and they all had gathered around the wounded dog as if concerned over his well being. As we approached the group, I was devastated to see that it was Ed that was crying.

A brief inspection revealed a viscous bite on Eddie’s right side, just past his shoulder.

Someone in the pack didn’t know how to play well with others.

Ed winced in pain as I picked him up and carried him to the car. We wrapped him in a towel and took him to the 24 hour emergency vet.

One could now say that our beautiful Sunday morning had taken a horrible turn for the worse. After all, my best friend had a quarter size hole in his side and was trembling on my lap, complements of a dog that doesn’t belong at a dog park.

And believe me, I was less than pleased upon our arrival to the vet, knowing that someone else’s irresponsibility not only put my dog’s life at risk, but was also going to put a major dent in my wallet as well.

This was my third time at the Waukesha Emergency Vet in the four years we have lived here. It was Eddie’s first. And I have to say that they are the nicest people there- always friendly, always caring.

They saw to Ed’s wound quickly and we found ourselves a seat in the lobby.

A horrible Sunday?

Hardly.

As I looked around the waiting area, I didn’t see many happy faces.

Eventually the silence in the room was broken by a couple sitting across from us. They asked about Ed’s injury and then we briefly discussed their reasons for being at the vet.

Turns out their dog had lost use of his back legs.

Another woman came in with a little terrier who was acting lethargic (a lethargic terrier is a rare sight indeed). After a brief check up, it was determined he had eaten rat poison.

We then spoke with a lady whose dog may have contracted Lyme’s disease.

Following that, another couple came in to check on the status of their dog. While my wife and I were outside getting a breath of fresh air, we saw them leaving- without their dog.

Before entering their car, they broke down in tears.

Our Sunday morning was not nearly as tragic as these folk’s.

And after an agonizing hour in the waiting room, I heard the sound of Ed’s collar as he walked down the hallway.

It was music to my ears!

He had six stitches, a drain tube, and was a little woozy from the sedative, but he was going home with us, with a healthy prognosis from the doctor.

In seven to ten days, he should be as good as new.

We said our goodbyes to the others in the waiting room, and as we walked out, we passed a golden retriever on the way in.

He had a fishing line hanging out his mouth. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you where the fishing lure was.

It looked like it was going to be a busy Sunday at the Waukesha Emergency Vet.

I know we are all going to be inundated with flood photos and stories, but I really wanted to share these with you and my friends and family here and in California.

For the past 24 hours, downtown has been swarming with onlookers, police, reporters, and the like.

As a matter of fact, it has been so busy here that many of the store owners downtown are considering flooding the river at least once a month to help stimulate sales.

Don’t quote me on that.

So if you can’t get down here to see it for yourself, just sit back, relax, and enjoy the photos from the comfort of your home.

In the mean time, we will be gathering two of every animal down here and will be putting them in the ark I have Mrs. Otto building out behind the studio.

    The Bear Statues.

    The bridge behind Main Street Plaza.

   The dam is completely under water.

    The river at the West end of Main Street.   

 The corner of West Main Steet and West Avenue

  Looking down West Main.

  Couri Insurance is taking no chances.

I know, I know…I haven’t written a blog in a very long time- and I apologize.

However, I am not to blame for the lack of blogging this time around.

It’s the President’s fault. He sent me one of those economic stimulus checks the other day, suggesting that I spend it on whatever I wanted in hopes of giving the United States economy a little shot in arm.

Well folks, as of this morning, I fulfilled my duty to this fine country.

I am expecting the U.S. economy should rebound any minute now.

I started my stimulus right here in the great city of Waukesha. I mean really, why not give back to my own city first.

And for my very first economic stimulus venture, I paid my tab at Sprizzo Café.

Next, I was off to DadyOh’s for breakfast, then on to the Little Swiss Clock Shop for a quick watch band repair, down to Krumrich Jewelers for a necklace repair, and over to the new Allo Chcocolate to pick up snacks for later.

Stimulus was definitely in full swing.

Next, I headed to Rochester Deli for lunch, followed by a stop at Divino Gelato for dessert.

I popped my head into The Black Dragon for a tattoo consultation, and finished my stimulus with a latte from the Steaming Cup.

And with my Downtown stimulus complete, I headed for home.

Later, I had the urge to stimulus again, so, after class, I snuck down to Neighbors Social Club for a Peroni, then over to the Nice Ash for a Hacker Pschorr, and concluded my stimulus with a pint of Franziskaner at The House of Guinness.

I hope tips were supposed to come out of my economic stimulus as well.

But a day in downtown Waukesha hardly put a dent in my stimulus, and it really just wet my whistle for more stimulus. After all, the President of the United States of America did give me a job to do, and I wasn’t about to let him down!

As I stared at the left over stimulus dollars sitting in front of me, an idea of great magnitude filled my brain with a rush and sent a trickle of sweat down my forehead.

I was going to stimulate the ever loving goodness out of our economy-

And I was going to do it in Las Vegas.

Mr. Bush, if you are reading this, I just want you to know that if they are going to give out purple hearts to those almost killed in action while spending their stimulus checks, I will be waiting for mine in the mail.

And so will the blonde girl with the big sunglasses, wearing the “spring break 2008” t-shirt, and holding an almost empty “mug-o-rita” glass in her hand, sitting at the craps table that I strolled by on the way to the pool of the Tropicana Hotel while in Vegas.

Her last words (in a cute Georgia accent) as she rolled the dice- “c’mon stimulus, momma needs a new Cadillac for college.”

Judging from the reaction to her dice roll, looks like “momma” is taking the bus to college this year.

And after a long and late flight home, I woke up this morning, turned on the news, and expected Mr. Bush to announce that everything was going to be O.K. in America again.

However, that is not what I heard.

I heard the price of gas was going to be at $5 by summer’s end. I heard that the foreclosure market is doing fabulous. I heard that the Iraq war was still going strong, SUVs are losing their value, and that more U.S. auto workers were going to be out of work soon.

There was more, but I tuned it out. I figured I had heard enough.

I ate breakfast at home this morning and took my last 50 cents of stimulus down to the corner for a newspaper.

The machine took my money, but wouldn’t open.

Hey Mr. Bush, can I borrow 50 cents?

Pulling one over one you guys is not an easy task…although I did receive a share of phone calls, emails, and comments on the street from folks who were excited (and concerned) about the last blog.

But in truth, if you don’t know it by now, the fabled coffee empire I said was coming to our fair downtown was nothing more than a lot of hot air (for now).

However, I didn’t go through all that trouble just to dupe you. I was actually hoping to generate a little conversation among folks regarding the issue.

What everyone keeps telling us is that Harley Fest is going to be the greatest thing to happen to downtown Waukesha in the world ever.

And let’s face it, holding a sizeable event such as Harley Fest in our downtown is going to be something unlike we have ever seen before. It’s exciting and it’s groundbreaking.

In addition, having only six months to prepare for it makes the whole thing all that more interesting.

If 120,000 people come downtown over Labor Day weekend, many of the businesses here are going to have a great three days.

Coffee shops will burst at their seams. Bars will be pouring brews well into the evenings. Restaurants will serve thousands of dishes. And when it is all over, they will sit back, relax, and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Perhaps a few Harley riders will return in the future, with friends even, and enjoy Waukesha on a regular basis.

That’s a good thing too.

On the grand scale of things, Waukesha is going to finally get its “15 minutes” that weekend.

What I was trying to accomplish with that blog was to make people slow down and take a good, hard look past those 15 minutes.

What if Harley Fest spawns the rebirth of big business in downtown Waukesha?

Are the current downtown based businesses ready to compete with a Starbucks, or an Outback Steak House, or a Mo’s Irish Pub, or a Borders Bookstore?

What we have down here now is quaint. And with a little effort, it could become trendy.

But if it sways too far, it could quite possibly become another Bayshore. Soon after that, the little guys are gone and we are left with what will amount to nothing more than a mall.

I’ve always wanted to live in a mall. I hope they put in nice bathrooms.

If you don’t know it by now, downtown Waukesha is going to host what is rumored to be the biggest event of its history this summer- the “Weekend in Waukesha” (which is really nothing more than an upmarket name for Harley Fest).

And when asked how Harley Fest was going to benefit our beautiful little downtown, supporters of the event were quick to say that it will put the city in the limelight and grab national attention.

And I’ll be darned- it has done just that.

News of the event has traveled quite a ways already, and the excitement over the big bash has attracted the attention of one of this country’s largest businesses.

I’ve been gagged for the time being on saying the exact name of this business- but there are no restrictions on my delving out the details of what they do.

A certain rainy state based coffee house, known by most small coffee shops as the “Wal-Mart” of brew houses, has whispered to some that they are interested in finding a location in downtown Waukesha suitable for their world-famous brew.

It seems that all the recent press over Harley Fest has grabbed the attention of the coffee giant and now downtown Waukesha has been sighted for their next venture.

Still reeling from the wild success of their new Moreland Road location, sources for the espresso entrepreneurs say downtown seems like the next logical step.

Evidently, Main Street has been on and off the radar for some time, but with recent developments such as the boutique hotel, new restaurants and pubs, and the addition of more living spaces, the big-shot baristas now see downtown as the kind of market they seek.

It wasn’t until all the hype over this summer’s Hog Fest that they took a good second look at what is happening in the changing landscape of downtown Waukesha and decided it was the place to be.

When asked if they would take place in many of the exciting events that draw people to the downtown, such as The Art Crawl or Friday Night Live, officials for the java giant seemed rather uninterested.

They simply stated that their coffee alone is enough to attract people to their business.

“When you have a product as good as ours, people will come to you no matter where you put your business. We could put one of these on the moon and we would have a line out the door.”

Boy… brew a good cup of coffee and you get a little cocky I guess.

As for an opening date, officials say they are hoping to have a location locked in by May. They would not give a specific address yet; only that Main Street was a preference.

Supposedly a location along the Fox River walk was also a consideration, especially considering the parking crunch that Main Street might see should they decide to locate on the strip.

“The last thing we want to do is take parking spots away from the business owners who like to park in them.”

(Warning- too much caffeine evidently makes you arrogant.)

So it looks like the Harley Fest really is going to put Waukesha on the map.

And with the addition of this mochaccino mogul to the scene, there is no telling what could happen next.

Perhaps there will be a sudden push for the City of Waukesha to go smoke free before the big event so we can show the 120,000 Harley visitors that Waukesha is a progressive city with a bright future!

Aw, c’mon now. That’ll never happen.

If sitting in the dark for a couple of hours with no heat on a brutally cold winter night isn’t enough excitement for downtown Waukesha, then almost being blown to bits by a gas leak may do the trick.

Last Friday, around 5PM or so, a small section of downtown near Clinton and Main was evacuated for a short time until the fire department, along with help from WE Energies, was able to quell a hissing gas main.

I don’t exactly know which building on the 300 block of Main it was, but locals were saying you could smell gas for quite a distance.

I have included an artist’s rendering of what the scene could have looked like had the leak gone undetected too much longer.

On a lighter note, I have been sworn to secrecy about what is happening in the building across the street from our Art Academy- that is until I heard all about it this weekend from just about everybody else downtown.

However, I am not actually going to let the cat out of the bag just yet.

Since the veil of secrecy has not yet been officially lifted, I will just say this… one of downtown Waukesha’s favorite stores is going to reinvent itself this year- and they have chosen the building across from us to do it in.

We couldn’t be more excited.

With our new neighbor across the street and the soon-to-be-open Live Music Studio next door to us, the once quite end of West Main Street is suddenly becoming a very trendy destination.

Hope East Main doesn’t get jealous.

And if you are still trying to guess who is moving in across the street, I will give you this hint- but you will be sworn to secrecy as well…

Got it yet?

Looking East Looking West

The fire that raged through downtown Waukesha’s infamous bed and breakfast, the Wisconsin House, has ignited many a question regarding its future in our fair city.

And as we all try to sort through the ashes of information surrounding the incident, it seems as if more questions arise than answers.

New facts have come available in recent days regarding the events of that fateful evening and it is this one in particular that has grabbed my attention…

“Before he started the fire, (the suspect) spent two hours drinking 12 beers and a shot at a local bar.”

Two hours. Twelve beers. One shot. Local bar.

Nice job.

Let’s be sure to renew that liquor license this summer.

On a lighter note, rumor has it that Wisconsin House owner Ron Becker is planning on making a few upgrades to the property during its rehab.

I was able to get my hands on this rough draft of an idea- seems he may go for a design more befitting of the historic neighborhood.

I know I’m excited.

At 1:15 AM this morning, I was awaken by the sound of sirens descending on our downtown.

As I rushed to the window to see what was happening, a squad pulled up in front of our building and blocked off the street.

I leaned out the window to get a better look up the east end of Main Street and that’s when I heard the sound of breaking glass- to the west.

As I turned my gaze toward the far west end of Main my eyes began to focus and I couldn’t believe what I saw-

-the Wisconsin House on the 400 block of West Main was spewing heavy black smoke from the top floor.

I clambered onto our roof for a better perspective and as I looked on, the smoke began to increase.

By 1:25AM, the building looked like it was in serious trouble.

Fire trucks and ambulances littered the street, and by 1:45AM, it seemed as though things were under control.

For those of you not familiar with the Wisconsin House, it is the old, four-story, brick rooming house that sits at the end of West Main Street across from Veterans Memorial Park.

I am sure the papers will have an update on the cause of the blaze sometime today, as I saw Darryl Enriquez pass by my building only a moment ago.

More later…

art (art) n. 1. The quality, production, expression, or realm of what is beautiful or of more than ordinary significance.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

But put the word “public” in front of it, and it changes everything.

The words “public art” and “public debate” appear to go hand in hand more often than not.

It seems any time someone gets the idea to place a piece of art out in view of the general public, it spurs a swell of controversy.

Some might say that controversy is a benefit of public art- it gets people talking. Others would simply rather not have to deal with the issue.

Whatever your opinion on public art may be, there is one thing everyone may agree on- public art begets attention.

I was perusing one of my favorite local blogs the other day and my attention was captured by an article regarding the controversy surrounding the placement of an art piece outside of the Brookfield Public Library.

While stating he is a proponent of public art, Brookfield’s Mayor is not overly fond of placing it where everyone can see it.

Public art hidden from the view of the public?

Interesting.

Nevertheless, here we are once more in the stew of controversy over a piece of artwork.

Public art again lives up to its reputation.

So by now you may be asking yourself, “What’s the point here? Who cares that public art is such an attention getter?”

You know who cares…New York City cares.

They care to the tune of $15 million.

New York City is considering shelling out a $15 million check to Danish artist Olafur Eliasson to construct up to four waterfalls in various spots of the city as a display of public art.

You may be asking yourself why, because it sounds crazy, doesn’t it.  

On the contrary, the project could generate almost $55 million worth of tourism for the city.

$55 million for a $15 million investment.

Public art can do that? Who would of thought?

And before you go back to the “sounds crazy” statement, we need to look back at another public art project the City of New York supported a while back.

Artist Christo (I would like to wrap the planet in cellophane) and his wife Jeanne-Claude (I still love my husband even though he wants to wrap the planet in cellophane) erected a massive project in Central Park called “The Gates”.

The plan included a series of 7500 squared arches made of fabric that stood 16 feet high and lined 23 miles of footpaths in the park.

Weird, eh?

Here's what is not so weird, The project generated over $80 million for the city and created temporary work for many a jobless New Yorker.

So as I sit here reading "blog" after "Sound Off" after "letter to the editor" about how Waukesha's downtown needs more bar/restaurants to generate tourism dollars, I really begin to scratch my head.

Don't get me wrong, I think downtown could definitely benefit from the addition of more restaurants...

I said restaurants.

Not "restaurants" that are open until 2:30AM. That now takes on the characteristics of a bar.

And within a 1 mile radius of the center of downtown Waukesha, there are 27 bars- 8 of which I haunt on a regular basis because they are noble establishments.

But the 27 we have don't seem to be holding together the fabric of our downtown. They are not sustaining the economy down here in such a way that we need to litter the landscape with more. So what makes someone think we need more?

You know what's nice about public art?

It's quiet.

It sits where you set it and it doesn't make a sound. It respects its neighborhood and supports silence.

Put 27 pieces of public art down here and I'll bet it would catch a tourist's eye; maybe even make them meander the streets, stop for a bite to eat, perhaps wander into a store to shop, and possibly even pause in the end for a drink.

How about that.

Perhaps it is time we start looking at interesting alternatives for breathing some life into this downtown and embrace something unconventional.

You can say public art offends you and you can say you don't like it and you can say it's ugly. But there are plenty of things down here that do far worse.

And in the end, the art will do exactly what it is supposed to do; exactly what so many down here need it to do.

I think what Mr. Wigderson said in a blog response to Brookfield’s public art dilemma perfectly sums it up…

There haven’t been a whole lot of really exciting (or good) things happening downtown in the past few weeks.

We all know the hotel is underway. We all know new condos are being built on the river. We all know there are a multitude of renovation projects happening in the Business Improvement District.

So what’s a blogger to do when there is no real news happening for him to blog about?

He does this…

Say hello to Ed. Ed is my five year old Fox Terrier.

A few months ago, Ed was invited to a “dog birthday party”. Having little experience in this area, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, so Ed and I headed to the pet store for research.

I was surprised to find that dog birthday parties are not all that uncommon. It seems you can buy cards, gifts, outfits, and even dog cake and dog ice cream.

More on the dog cake later.

After a good hour of shopping at the pet store (Ed likes to look at the rats and guinea pigs), we returned home with all kinds of items designed to make Ed the hit of the party and my feelings toward the event were turning from apprehensive to borderline excitement.

Trouble was, Ed wasn’t sharing this feeling with me.

We began party preparations by wrapping the birthday dog’s gifts. Upon sight of these items, Ed went into a fury. He was convinced these toys were for him (try explaining to a dog why you are wrapping his toys in paper and bows) and was hell bent on shredding them, as he does to all his toys.

So out came the dreaded dog gate and Ed was confined to the living room while I continued wrapping.

Once everything was wrapped, it was time to dress Ed for the party.

This is where things got weird, and to appreciate just how weird, we need to reflect on the history of the Wire-Haired Fox Terrier for a moment…

The Wire-Haired Fox Terrier was developed in England by fox hunting enthusiasts and is believed descended from a now-extinct, rough-coated, black-and-tan working terrier of Wales, Derbyshire, and Durham. The breed was also believed to have been bred to chase foxes into their burrows underground, and their short, strong, usually docked, tails were used as handles by the hunter to pull them back out.

Oh my. What has happened here?

But I soon put the thoughts of shame behind me and carried on with the mission at task, we only had a few minutes before we had to be at the party.

Ed is really good about being handled. As I pulled the little hat over his ears and tied the bow around his neck, he sat patiently, a tribute to his blue-blooded showmanship.

Once Ed was dressed, I stepped back to take a look.

Ed is sensitive to laughter. He knows the difference between being laughed at and laughing with.

I tried to contain myself, and with a giggle in my throat, I quickly snapped this photo.

Ed was mortified- so mortified that he didn’t even move a muscle. I had to lift him off the couch and carry him to the car. All the way to the party, he sat in the back seat, still as a statue.

However, when we arrived at the party, I let Ed out of the car, he entered the house, and the mayhem began.

There were dogs everywhere and within minutes, Ed had shed his funny hat and fluffy bow. Lighter and more nimble without his accessories, he was now determined to get this party stirred into absolute anarchy.

That’s what I love about Ed.

Dogs were on furniture, dogs were running laps through the house, dogs were jumping on children- it was quite the scene.

And just when you thought there was no controlling the chaos, out came dog birthday cake...and silence fell over the room.

Dog birthday cake proved to be a godsend, however, dog birthday cake has one downfall- it looks a lot like real cake.

I had heard there would be cake for everyone, humans as well as dogs, and when I saw a slice of moist, golden, delicious cake sitting unguarded on the kitchen table, I took my chance at acquiring it to appease my sweet tooth.

Let me tell you, looks can be VERY deceiving. It’s been months since the event, and I still don’t think I have brushed that flavor from my mouth completely.

As the party wound down and exhausted dogs littered the living room, we said our goodbyes and took Ed home.

He curled into a tiny ball in the back seat of the car and slept all the way home; I had to carry him into the house and set him in his bed.

Overall, I would say he had a great time, minus the hat and bow. And as I brushed my teeth for the fourth time in fifteen minutes, I couldn’t help but think I had a pretty good time as well.

As strange as it sounds, dog birthday parties can be quite the social event.

Now let’s hope something blog-worthy happens downtown in the next few days, or else I am going to be forced to tell you all about the cat Bar Mitzvah I went to.

I may not be kidding.

I am unsure if this is already old news.

Rumors of what is going into the new Target development on Sunset Drive are swirling.

While it seems everyone knows of the 133,753 square foot Target retail store planned for the development, questions still loom about the other stores on the property, especially the 139,100 square foot “home improvement center” that has gone unnamed… until now.

During a review of the plans for signage at the last plan commission meeting, a certain design caught my eye…

Looks like Waukesha is finally going to get a Lowe’s.

The development includes a total of 20 retail spaces, some designed with the opportunity to be split in two. Seven of these 20 spaces are listed as retail/restaurant. The third largest of the spaces is slated for a grocery store.

While speaking with the developers after the meeting, the names of several popular restaurants, coffee shops, and a certain craft store, all made it into the discussion.

Nothing is set in stone however. They are still actively searching for leasers.

I told them about some of the stores that have left downtown recently and may be looking for new space… Diamonds and Blue Jeans, Twisted (the old head shop on Broadway), and the mattress store that used to be on Main Street, but they didn’t seem interested.

I just wanted to share the love.

On a final note, the landscape plan for this project is very substantial. It includes a heavy tree and plant berm along Sunset Drive, well landscaped entrances, a “pocket park” in the center of the plan, and a nature park on the corner of the development adjacent to the Fox River Parkway.

Another bit of information that caught my eye referred to the site maintenance schedule. It incorporates daily street sweeping of the property and weekly power washing of the sidewalks.

Nice.

All it needs now is a clock tower.

The second annual Otto's Fine Art Academy Christmas Card Contest was held last week. The contest gives our students the opportunity to design our company Christmas card.

Twenty designs were submitted, and these are the top four.

 This year's winning design was submitted by Emily Kassens, age 9.

 A close second was created by Abby Watson, age 9.

 Third place comes from Hannah Hakami, age 7.

 An honorable mention was awarded to Megan Christensen, age 11.

We want to thank all the students who submitted entries this year. Each entry was outstanding and choosing a winner was very challenging.

Special thanks go out to our esteem panel of judges who had the difficult task of choosing this year's winners.

Here it is… your first look (maybe) at the new public art piece that will be installed downtown in the next few weeks.

It’s a striking piece; perhaps a cross between a guitar and...umm... well... some metal and…uhh, did I mention that art is meant to be interpreted differently by everyone?

I leave the interpretation of this piece up to you.

It will be located just east of the corner of West Main Street and Barstow, across from Ace Hardware, on the property of the River’s Edge Apartments.

At 13’ high and 4’ wide, this piece will stand proudly among the many other works of public art that can be found all over downtown Waukesha.

Soon a map will be available that details the locations all of the public art available for viewing downtown.

A stroll through downtown on a beautiful evening, touring art galleries, eating Italian ice cream, drinking a warm latte, and viewing exquisite works of art can be quite enriching.

You should consider giving it try.

It became apparent again today that Downtown Waukesha is really changing.

While out walking the dog this morning, I noticed this through the trees.

 

It’s the Ogden Condo project- and this is the first, four-story unit. It will be situated along the Fox River near the west end of Main.

The development is said to occur in three phases, the first of which will include 11 units facing the river, and 10 row-houses facing St. Paul Avenue.

I am going to have a lot of new neighbors here soon.

However, I have a concern. Phase one of this project is being built on the property of the former Pic-a Bac bookstore, which has since been razed.

I heard rumor that the bookstore was haunted. Do ghosts relocate after their former homes are destroyed? Or do they sit dormant until the current construction is complete, and then return to haunt the new digs?

What does a brand new, haunted condominium go for these days?

Check Ogden’s website for more information.

Once again, the blog suffers due to the inconvenient interruption known as life, but today I have found myself with a leftover fifteen minutes, so it will be spent here, in blog land.

Pressure from the weather has consumed my attention for the past two weeks. As the fall-like conditions persist and the downtown Christmas parade looms ever closer (November 18^th at 4PM), the need to put up the holiday decorations weighs heavy.

So last week, I dragged all the boxes marked “Christmas” out of the cellar and began the tedious job of attaching thousands of tiny fire hazards to our building.

The recent balmy weather made for a rather enjoyable experience however, and I think I may have even gotten a little sunburn in the process.

It reminded me of Christmas in California. As a matter of fact, I still remember the huge turnout our local grocery store in Santa Margarita had when they decided to rent a snow-making machine and build a man-made sled hill in their parking lot.

It was pandemonium. Many of the kids had never seen snow before.

And there is something to be said for drinking ice cool lemonade in the shade after spending the day on a hot roof putting up plastic Santas and reindeer, or getting doused by your lawn sprinkler while running an extension cord through your back yard to power the Christmas lights in your palm trees.

However, if you really wanted a true taste of what a snowy day was all about, you could leave the warm confines of southern California and, in three hours, be shoulder deep in so much snow and ice it would make a Wisconsin blizzard look like a snow globe.

Thunder, lightning, white outs, chains on tires, and narrow mountain roads that could mean certain death with a wrong turn, these are the memories of a California winter that I will never forget.

I love Wisconsin.

But what was nice about the winter in California was that you had a choice in what kind of weather experience you wanted around the holidays.

Too hot- go to the mountains. Too cold- go to the desert. Too dry- go to the ocean. Too wet- stay at home and watch movies. What ever your fancy, it was always available.

On the other hand, Wisconsin winters definitely make you appreciate the beautiful weather we have in the spring, summer, and fall. And if it was nice here every day, then EVERYBODY would want to live here, and Wisconsin would become just like California.

And we wouldn’t want that- would we?

I guess we are no longer out of time.

Now, it appears that Downtown Waukesha is the happiest place on earth!