Sorry about last week. Sorry about what? Ah, I'm sorry I didn't publish my weekly post. Oh, you didn't notice. Okay. Moving on.
The week before this, I attended the Annual Bud Wittwer / Mark de Young Memorial Golf Tournament. It has been a tradition of many years and is always held at Pine Hills Golf course in Gresham and hosted by Sue and Dave Lee. The gathering memorializes those members of the Royal Order of Toads who have received the Croak Award. They are awarded this distinction because they have passed on.
The day begins at Sue and Dave Lee's cabin on Pine Lake for breakfast, then eighteen holes of golf at Pine Hills, followed by a cookout and awards ceremony back at the cabin. The day was hot and humid. I played, or at least hit shots, on all eighteen holes for the first time this year.
I knew something was wrong when I found that I had to lay down and rest after we got back to the cabin. I took about a forty-five-minute nap, following which I was able to situp and participate in the fun.
With varying degrees of success, I dragged myself through the next five days. I suspect I suffered from heat stroke or dehydration or both. I do know Mother Nature kicked my ass and she found the sweet spot. I lost a lot of energy, slept a lot and drank enough water to float a good sized boat.
I feel fine now, but I have to say it was frightening for a couple of days. I was going through the list of things that could have been wrong with me and none of them were good nor life-affirming.
Rounding the final turn and heading to the finish of this summer. At which point, we will trot through fall and then trudge through winter. But enough about the depressed and dark days, let us peel back and talk about the Summer of 2018. The first descriptive word that comes to mind is drought. I can count the times I've had to mow the lawn this year. The weeds are hardier than the grass so we were in danger of losing the lawn to brown invaders. Our flower garden prospers only because we water it faithfully. It's a year where the car doesn't get dirty, it gets dusty.
The heat was notable, but on many occasions that it became uncomfortable enough to use air conditioning they were more than match by days where the humidity was low enough that we just opened the windows and let the breeze keep us comfortable enough.
I didn't bike long distances as much this year. However, I more than made up that with a number of trips around town. I have to say that old saying about knowing your neighborhood is true. You learn little by driving through it. You learn more if you bike through. You learn the most if you walk through them.
This adopted region I'm living in is waking up. In the collection of villages that make up the Fox Valley, each and every one of them is making an effort to move forward in this new world we are living in. I see streetscaping that is reclaiming room for pedestrians and bicycles. I see downtown renovation that reflect the reality of the confluence of retail, public space and residential.
The Fox Valley is unique in that there are a number cities and villages that make it up. It wraps around the flowage of the northbound Fox River and the western shoreline of Lake Winnebago, roughly from Oshkosh to Kaukauna. Besides all of the small and large entities that govern this conglomeration, it's located in three counties.
There is a natural competition between these villages, but there is a good deal of role-playing also. Neenah, regardless of the problems they might be having, is the neighborhood of the rich. Working folks reside in Menasha, Kimberly, Kaukauna, and Little Chute. The presence of Lawrence University gives Appleton all it needs to be the Queen City in a kingdom ruled by a Queen. Now, these observations are generalizations, however, perception is a reality to those that perceive.
What I'm seeing is a lot of forward movement, some sideways, and a little backward motion. Forward progress exhibits self with more highrise and downtown reconfiguration. Fox Crossing (formerly The Town Of Menasha) is trying to build a suburb which if it's successful is a step backward. I say this because the village is not seaming itself to the neighbors around it. Sideways has a lot to do with the Unversity of Wisconsin's system to rolling the two-year campuses into the four-year bigger brothers. At present, we have fully recovered party school in the UW Oshkosh absorbing a highly functioning UW Fox Valley. This might be very good or could be a setback. We wait.
That's my word and from my world, I wish you a good day, a good life and good friends.
Poppa Jeff
The week before this, I attended the Annual Bud Wittwer / Mark de Young Memorial Golf Tournament. It has been a tradition of many years and is always held at Pine Hills Golf course in Gresham and hosted by Sue and Dave Lee. The gathering memorializes those members of the Royal Order of Toads who have received the Croak Award. They are awarded this distinction because they have passed on.
The day begins at Sue and Dave Lee's cabin on Pine Lake for breakfast, then eighteen holes of golf at Pine Hills, followed by a cookout and awards ceremony back at the cabin. The day was hot and humid. I played, or at least hit shots, on all eighteen holes for the first time this year.
I knew something was wrong when I found that I had to lay down and rest after we got back to the cabin. I took about a forty-five-minute nap, following which I was able to situp and participate in the fun.
With varying degrees of success, I dragged myself through the next five days. I suspect I suffered from heat stroke or dehydration or both. I do know Mother Nature kicked my ass and she found the sweet spot. I lost a lot of energy, slept a lot and drank enough water to float a good sized boat.
I feel fine now, but I have to say it was frightening for a couple of days. I was going through the list of things that could have been wrong with me and none of them were good nor life-affirming.
Rounding the final turn and heading to the finish of this summer. At which point, we will trot through fall and then trudge through winter. But enough about the depressed and dark days, let us peel back and talk about the Summer of 2018. The first descriptive word that comes to mind is drought. I can count the times I've had to mow the lawn this year. The weeds are hardier than the grass so we were in danger of losing the lawn to brown invaders. Our flower garden prospers only because we water it faithfully. It's a year where the car doesn't get dirty, it gets dusty.
The heat was notable, but on many occasions that it became uncomfortable enough to use air conditioning they were more than match by days where the humidity was low enough that we just opened the windows and let the breeze keep us comfortable enough.
I didn't bike long distances as much this year. However, I more than made up that with a number of trips around town. I have to say that old saying about knowing your neighborhood is true. You learn little by driving through it. You learn more if you bike through. You learn the most if you walk through them.
This adopted region I'm living in is waking up. In the collection of villages that make up the Fox Valley, each and every one of them is making an effort to move forward in this new world we are living in. I see streetscaping that is reclaiming room for pedestrians and bicycles. I see downtown renovation that reflect the reality of the confluence of retail, public space and residential.
The Fox Valley is unique in that there are a number cities and villages that make it up. It wraps around the flowage of the northbound Fox River and the western shoreline of Lake Winnebago, roughly from Oshkosh to Kaukauna. Besides all of the small and large entities that govern this conglomeration, it's located in three counties.
There is a natural competition between these villages, but there is a good deal of role-playing also. Neenah, regardless of the problems they might be having, is the neighborhood of the rich. Working folks reside in Menasha, Kimberly, Kaukauna, and Little Chute. The presence of Lawrence University gives Appleton all it needs to be the Queen City in a kingdom ruled by a Queen. Now, these observations are generalizations, however, perception is a reality to those that perceive.
What I'm seeing is a lot of forward movement, some sideways, and a little backward motion. Forward progress exhibits self with more highrise and downtown reconfiguration. Fox Crossing (formerly The Town Of Menasha) is trying to build a suburb which if it's successful is a step backward. I say this because the village is not seaming itself to the neighbors around it. Sideways has a lot to do with the Unversity of Wisconsin's system to rolling the two-year campuses into the four-year bigger brothers. At present, we have fully recovered party school in the UW Oshkosh absorbing a highly functioning UW Fox Valley. This might be very good or could be a setback. We wait.
That's my word and from my world, I wish you a good day, a good life and good friends.
Poppa Jeff
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