I was enjoying a quiet walk in the woods at Retzer Nature Center today. It felt good to slow down and notice things that were buried under snow not that long ago. So many shades of green... It would have been a lot quieter had it not been for the howling wind and squeeks of bending trees rubbing against one another. I had stopped to listen to all the sounds and moments later heard something unexpected. A dead pine tree came crashing down in the area I had just come from.

It was the Earth Day Extravaganza at Retzer, one of my very favorite times to be there. The weather had been nicer other years and it kept the crowd down, but plenty of people still enjoyed the day's free activities.

After lounging in the comfortable planetarium chairs for the "Journey to the Stars" show, I joined many others for Ken Lonnquist's concert. Ken is not only a good singer, songwriter and musician, but he also involves and interacts with the audience in a unique way. He had whale songs and earth songs. Recycling, ridiculous and rhyming songs. After he sang a song about photosynthesis, one of the kids, who happened to be dressed in a "caped crusader" outfit, became "Photosynthesis Boy" for the rest of the concert.    

Every performer has stage presence, but with Ken half the entertainment was watching him interact with the kids. He ad-libbed unique rhyming songs for the kids and not only made funny animal sounds but made us repeat them. Ken seemed to really be in his element -- comfortable around crowds and nature. I'd recommend seeing him if ever there's another chance.

Before stopping for a couple toasted marshmallows I wandered the woods. I guess I never realized that the headwaters of Brandy Brook is in Retzer. Brandy Brook runs to Pebble Creek which joins the Fox River. The Fox River begins near Menomonee Falls and joins the Illinois river before heading to the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico.

I also never realized what an odd feeling it is to look up at swaying 100 foot tall pines while stumbling forward through the woods. Try it sometime.       

An hour long laser light show set to clasic rock music for $4.00? At Retzer Nature Center? In the Planetarium? I couldn't believe it either. I heard about it after I picked up the Horwitz Planetarium event schedule while at Apple Harvest Fest. They made it sound good. "The Legends of Rock and Roll" Special Event. "Join us for a sound and laser light show experience featuring Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Van Halen, ZZ Top, Pink Floyd & more."

I didn't know what to expect because it was so unlike a planetarium. I've never known the facility to be used for anything other than stargazing. My feeling was they were going to sneak some stars in there somewhere and there probably wasn't a real laser. Wrong! This was the most exciting laser light show since Blue Oyster Cult. Only there wasn't one laser - there were two.

We must have listened to and watched 20 songs, almost every one by a different band. The digital sound was great and the colors and choreography wonderful. The comfortable chairs relaxing.

The planetarium doesn't own the laser, it was renting it for shows during Apple Fest this last weekend. The laser rock show tonight was the last time it will be used before going back, but may be rented in the future.

The next real planetarium show is Thurs. Oct. 4th at 7:00 p.m. The program marks the 50th anniversary of Sputnik and, like the excellent movie I saw Sunday "In the Shadow of the Moon," reviews the history of the space program and the space race with the Russians to the moon. The program will be followed by an outdoor public skywatch. There's about 11 different programs and 6 public skywatches listed in the latest planetarium brochure, all of them interesting, but none as unique as tonight's laser show.