Random Sightings.

Heading to Madison one day, Eric and I came up behind this vintage cutie. How irresistible is this? Wasn't the Krauty vision of the future grand? While we were watching the Jetson's and dreaming of flying cars, the Germans were being ever more practical. Recycling the engineering of a Schwimwagen into a stylish amphibious pleasure craft was pure genius. Space, schmase! Let's go picnicing and boating simultaneously!


On another trip to Madison, we went out to dinner with our nephew. Fortunately, he was driving. Our our way back from the restaurant, where we stuffed ourselves on excellent Tex-Mex, we were in traffic and slowed to a stop just as we were clearing an intersection. Eric and I both went "Ooh, that's in nice shape!" when we spotted this early-late bus apron laying in the road, just off the curb. We recognized it for the nearly pristine gem it is and Eric jumped out of the car and grabbed it. Ah, there's nothing like capping off dinner with a good garbage score. On the way home that night, I spotted this 60's auto on the highway sporting a hand-drawn L.A.F. sign. I think that is allowable for a car of this vintage.


If you were to take Highway 14 out of Madison heading towards LaCrosse, you would pass through through Richland Center on the west side of town. In Richland Center, one side of the roadway is lined with hand painted bovine cutouts mounted to the light poles. I don't know if this is a 4-H project, or what. But, our favorite by far is the one we lovingly refer to as "Prince Cow". I can not imagine what would possess a kid to idolize the musician-formerly-known-as-and-now-again-known-as-Prince in bovine form. Perhaps they have envisioned him in his last incarnation before becoming human. Whatever the reason, we think the results are spectacular.


Even further north, above Bosstown, we encountered this red-headed woodpecker lying dead in the road. We thought this was pretty tragic and decided to remove him from the road and photograph him on the grass. So, Eric pulled into a church parking lot and got out with my poaching spade to retrieve the bird. Oddly enough, a bunch of red-winged blackbirds gathered and started making a racket. When Eric got near the woodpecker, they started dive bombing him. He had to scoop him up quickly and run out of the road with him, with the blackbirds heckling him. Once he laid the bird in the grass, they sorta calmed down until Eric returned with the camera. As soon as Eric would lean in to take a photo, they would dive bomb him again. We aren't sure if they mistook the woodpecker as one of their own due to his coloration or if they were defending the Messenger.


Eric told me one night that a building he passed every night on the way home from work was being torn down and revealed this beautiful sign. So, I took a trip into Rockford to check it out. I love this graphic. I wonder if anyone does hand painted billboards anymore? If they did, they probably wouldn't last like this one. I'm sure it's lead paint. Eric then proceeded to tell me he and some friends used to peel paint off of a building and lick the chips. As a kid, I remember seeing those PSAs for lead paint, telling children not to eat paint chips. I always wondered; who would eat paint chips? Now, I guess I know.


Have you ever seen A Boy And His Dog? Do you remember there are all of those crazy people who live underground, recreating some semblance of an agrarian society? At some point, the Don Johnson character is trying to escape from the sperm bank and he is chased by these robots in overalls and suspenders weilding pitchforks? Yep, that's what I thought of when I saw this. Believe it or not, this is the mascot that represents a shopping plaza in Rockford. Scary automatons in lederhosen and white-face don't make me say: "Hey, let's go shopping and spend some cash!". Maybe they really do it for someone else.


I think this is how you know that you've really arrived. As a kid, you start out with a tricycle, just like everyone else. Perhaps your father is a gun-toting maniac who packs his own loads and your neighbor rides a motorcycle. So, from your vantage point on the tricycle, you imagine the feeling of freedom and power as you gaze longingly at your neighbor who makes a big show of cruising in and out of the driveway twenty times a day on the weekend and dream of the day that your dad teaches you to shoot and then presents you with your own gun for Christmas. Somehow, over time, the two fantasies merge and you find yourself actualizing a lifestyle that was germinated in your four year old mind. You've come a long way, baby!


Eric is really becoming one with his camera. This summer he has turned out some really great photos. When I saw this one, I was stunned. Insect portraiture is a sub-category usually reserved for National Geographic level photographers. I love how he has captured this dude's sentience. He looks like a crochety old man, contemplating his checkers move.


If you know me at all, you know how much I love dogs. I have been bugging Eric about getting a dog for a couple of years now. Yep, I have been without a dog for two whole years. A few weeks ago, he finally relented. He stated that we could get a dog, but he didn't want me to get a giant dog, like I normally would. He said he would like a small dog, like a dachshund. I told him that when I went on vacation at the end of August, I'd be looking for a dog. I like getting a dog settled in when I have time to see how things are going and can come and go with no other purpose than to see how the new buddy deals with separation.

The week before I went on vacation, our neighbor distributed a flier for a found dog. Someone had ditched an older miniature dachshund at their home, you could clearly see where his collar had been. She placed an ad in the paper that went unanswered. After meeting the dog, I told her Eric and I would be interested. We both thought he was very charming. We went and bought a bunch of tiny dog stuff; everything I already owned was for big dogs. We got a baby gate so that we could keep him in the kitchen until we figured out his house breaking routine and brought him home. We promptly set about the task of trying to find a German name that he would respond to.

We hadn't had him for but a few hours when the neighbor called me and told me that three girls had been by, looking for their lost dog. They said that their parents were divorced and that the dad had gotten the pets in the settlement. But, they lived with their mom, so they didn't know that the pets had gone missing until they showed up for their weekend visit. Apparently, dad told them that the animals (two cats and the dog) had ran away. They said the dog's name was Sammy and that he was 14. They also said they had found one of the cats up the road in the culvert. How did they know to look on our road? Apparently, they'd run into one of dad's friends at Walmart (maybe he was driving the bike with the cannon, above) and after some pressing, he'd told them where they'd been ditched. Nice.

So, what to do? It's not like I want to deprive these girls of the dog, but I don't want to return the dog to the sort of person who would claim that the cats and the dog all somehow managed to run miles away, to the same location. It's like a Disney film plot, with some serious white trash thrown in. The neighbors had declined to tell them where the dog had gone. They told them they'd run and ad in the paper, contacted rescue and distributed fliers. When there was no response, they'd given the dog to a good home. Since we live on the same road, it seemed inevitable that they would wind up at my house, eventually. They did.

Oddly, they didn't ask me for the dog. They asked if I had him, then asked if they could say goodbye to him. I told them that I wasn't trying to be mean, but I was trying to get him settled into the house and I didn't think it would be good for him to see them and then be left, again. So, they left, crying. I didn't think I'd seen the last of them and I hadn't.

A few hours later, The boyfriend of the oldest girl showed up, called the cops and told the officer that I had the girl's dog and was refusing to give it back. The cop then came up the drive and I filled him in on what was really going on. Over the next hour and a half, more people kept arriving, including the kids and I suppose some of their friends. The officer was really great and kept everyone down at the road while he went back and forth, negotiating. At some point, he had the dad on the phone, which convinced him that the guy was not exactly a responsible person.

Finally, it was proposed that the mom would take the dog. I told the officer that if the mom came out there, told me she could and would keep the dog, that I would give him to her. So, I finally handed the dog over, after a conversation with the mom. The officer did do his best, in writing the police report to reflect that the dad had abandoned the dog, so that if he attempted to take her to court, a judge wouldn't be likely to award the dog to him.

So, we still don't have a dog, but we plan on getting one soon. I mean, look at that blur of a tail; it's dog joy!

More photos are here!