I can see your Kiku

I wish the owners of the Kiku restaurant downtown would not have named it something so obscene.
It's kind of like this. But maybe I'm the only one that thinks so.

Snakes, bats, and rodents

Super cute! The area we were traveling in is salamander central. This little guy posed nicely for me, don't you think?

Here's the sign on the ladies' restroom door at the first campground we stayed in at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

We saw plenty of each. There were lots of bats at night, which were eating mosquitos and making the campground more pleasant. I love their evening flutters.

Above is a copperhead about to go into the water. Other people on the Abram's Falls trail were afraid of snakes. Some even turned back. Snakes are pretty cool, I think. We did run into a black bear on a different trail, though;I was unable to get a good shot of that even though it was close (150 feet or so), as my hands were shaking a bit. It was getting toward dusk too...no more late afternoon hiking, I think.

Of course rodents abounded as well.

You are here, love is here

This weekend I went hiking with a longtime friend in the Kettle Moraine (Southern Unit). This was carved into a bench on a scenic overlook.

This weekend brought three rainbows- actually, four, since the one above was a double arc- the photos I got of both weren't as bright. It was indeed amazing though.

And here's a spider chillaxin'. Neither of us could identify the plant, but I wonder if it was an invasive. As it was, I personally exterminated several Emerald Ash Borers.

"Change."

This pin cost me 50 cents at a rummage we stopped at on our vacation. I'll have to figure out a way not to get stabbed when I wear it. It'll look nice next to my Nader/LaDuke pin, right?

Was change a theme of the 1976 Jimmy Carter presidential campaign? I don't really remember. If so, some things never do change, right? It was one of Obama's themes last year, too.

I do remember the 1980 election, though. I was six years old and I really wanted Carter to win. The day after election day was like Christmas. I ran downstairs to get the Sentinel and cried when I saw Reagan's name. Who was this Reagan guy? He didn't seem nice. He wasn't going to invite me over to play on the White House lawn with Amy on what I imagined was a lavish Presidential swing set. I still like Carter. He is a good man: a humanitarian, a peacekeeper, a writer, a proponent of alternative energy. I deeply respect him. Below is a photo from 2009. These are wind machines near Fond du Lac now, in 2009, when finally we are realizing that Carter had the right idea after all.

Moet packs cans

Moet champagne- real champagne from France, not the cheap imitation stuff poured at weddings- is some kind of expensive status beverage. I thoroughly enjoyed this juxtaposition. Corner of Atkinson and Teutonia, Milwaukee.

The food was good, too.

Yesterday I had lunch at Mayura on Farwell with my brother. We love Indian buffets! They had a glorious Bollywood musical playing the whole time. This sign was posted on the inside of the ladies' bathroom door- so a person would only see it on the way out after all bathroom duties were already completed:

You know I love "almost English" but #5 was like, what universe are we in? And, where's MY time machine?

Graffiti wars

I saw this today on 2nd street, just north of National Avenue. Nice rebuttal! Rather than paint over it with an almost-matching color, the building's owner chose to affix a permanent sign.It's all the more awesome when you see this (below) just across the street.

Dam signs!

Cleaner than the Chicago...much, much cleaner

Peter Horgan does water testing on our reach of the Milwaukee River, above the Estabrook Dam. He, at one of our Milwaukee River Preservation Association meetings, addressed the cleanliness of the river- he did 75 water tests in 2008; 50 tests were “swimmable.” Transparency was also measured and transparency of up to a meter was noted in 2008. He extrapolates that in a few years the River may be consistently swimmable.

Compare that to this sign that I photographed on the banks of the Chicago River in October, 2007- on a nice, deep stretch, perfect for paddling, except...