Op Zop To Wisconsin

Midnight Masses

Holding out my drivers license and boarding pass for the security person to examine, after waiting in a long security line, and having nearly reached the front. "Sir, you need to go to that line over there, and they're going to take a closer look at you," the tired and outnumbered security woman said to me as she turned, and pointed over her right shoulder to a "special" security inspection line. "Ok, what's up?" I asked. "Your drivers license is expired, that's why you have this special stamp on your boarding pass. I looked down to find four letters S at the bottom right hand corner of my 3X8 ticket. I left my kids in line with the masses and proceeded to a line of only three "special" people... like me. "We'll meet you on the other side," Kirsten said. It was only about a thirty foot walk to the new line, and as I strolled along, I thought about what SSSS could possibly stand for. My first thought was, "Security! Security! Security! Security!... Danger Will Robinson," I laughed to myself. The old double SS had me wondering, when suddenly, I realized, "Expired drivers license... I'm not going to be able to rent a car when we get to Chicago." We had an automobile reserved at Hertz, and were planning to drive it to the Hilton where Mighty Mo was staying. I proceeded to remove my shoes, belt, glasses, wallet, keys, coins, lint balls, and etc. into the tubs provided for my convenience. My carry-on consisted of a video camera, a digital camera, and lots of cords, and cables. "That'll look cool on the X-ray," I thought to myself, as I prepared to be padded down, or "frisked," as they say on the streets on TV. After a scrutinizing search, I was allowed to pass, and arrived at our rendezvous point ahead of my family. We boarded our aeroplane, and disembarked Oakland at midnight... right on schedule.
Cosmique Aeroplane*

The red eye flight from Oakland to Chicago was crowded. Either I've become much more of a mass of Humanity than I suspected, or the seats are getting smaller every time I fly. As I looked around, I could see that others seemed more uncomfortable than myself. Some were bulging over and around their arm rests, creating impressions in their plump flesh that will probably last a goodly long time. I was in the middle seat, sitting next to strangers, so sleeping would be difficult at best. I watched the images provided for my distraction and tried to rest as much as possible. I thought about the terrorists who flew into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and wondered if I would have been able to stop them. Would I have tried? "Probably," I thought to myself half asleep. Maybe I'd concoct a scheme where I'd claim to have a bomb, and if the terrorists didn't yield control of the aeroplane, they'd die as failures. "That's stupid" I scolded myself, motionless in my crowded seat. "I wish I could sleep." I thought about the fourth September 11 flight that went down in Pennsylvania... supposedly brought down by passengers who wrested control of the aeroplane from the terrorists and I considered that it was actually shot down to protect real estate, and heads of state, and the hero story was created to make us feel good about bringing one of our own down. "The first casualty in war is the truth", I thought to myself. "If I would shut up, I could get some sleep." I started counting sheep, and began analyzing why that would help a person fall asleep. I considered that even though the eyes are closed, they still respond in motion to the little sheep jumping over a fence. The motion of the eye watching the sheep jump is similar to REM... "Are we there yet?"

Chicago Automobile Adventure

It was already muggy when the doors opened. "Chicago" I thought to myself as I tasted the air. The corridor was cool and refreshing, and provided needed space that I had missed the previous four hours cooped up in a pressurized cylinder. We proceeded to turnstile number one to wait for our luggage. When the conveyor belt started up, our luggage was the first to appear. Perhaps another side effect of the SSSS stamp. Perhaps it pays to be suspicious. Cabs were lined up waiting for customers. We must have been the first, and our cabby drove as if he was still asleep... or something. After a somewhat terrifying ride from the aeroport, we arrived at the Hilton where we met up with Mighty Mo,** had a joyous reunion, ordered breakfast from room service, then napped for an hour or so. As we slumbered, Mighty Mo rented a car for us to use, and she would be doing all the driving on our trip.

Das Booten

Lunch was next on the agenda, and we only had a few minutes to get there. We had reservations on a large luxury liner called the Odyssey, and arrived just in time - they were already pulling back the walkway. Had we been even seconds later, we would have missed our boat, and lunch which was already paid for. We set sail, had a wonderful lunch whilst we listened to some great live jazz, Chicago style, and cruised around Lake Michigan, enjoying a boat's eye view of the windy city. Very cool! We docked, and set out for our next destination, the Museum of Science and Industry. There was one reason I was going there. Leviathan! The museum was home to U-505, one of the only surviving German U-Boats... and I was going to board her. We found the museum, paid another twelve dollars for parking, paid for admittance, and began exploring. Finally, there it was, large and looming and bigger than I had imagined. "Oh, my goodness," I said, imitating Chief Wompem Stompem. A descending walkway continued around the boat until we arrived at the guided tour portion of our experience. As we entered the boat, I was astonished by the quantity of valves, gauges, switches, knobs, and levers. Our guide was informative and theatrical. Sound effects enhanced her presentation. At one point, the lights were turned off, and a subtle dim red glow illuminated the interior of the sub. As I stood there in partial darkness, like Jonah in the belly of the whale pondering the fate of Nineva, my mind began putting things into perspective. I was inside a German U-Boat... a ship built with slave labour, designed to sink ships, and kill people. I thought of all the suffering this ship, and others like it had caused. From work conditions in the labour camps to the hundreds of sunken ships, the needless loss of life, and lingering pollution of our oceans. So much energy going into a vehicle of destruction... what a waste... what a shame.***

Lake Geneva Luncheon

After a good night sleep in Schaumburg, IL, we were off again. Our destination, Madison Wisconsin. The Illinois landscape is flat, predictable, and pretty much uninteresting for the most part. No surprises, lots of suburban sprawl, which fades into farmland as we get further from the city. Toward the northern border of Illinois, the landscape begins to change. As we traveled, we began see beautiful rolling green hills with farms scattered across the landscape. An official sign welcomed us to Wisconsin, as we listened to Op Zop Too Wah all the way to Lake Geneva where we stopped for lunch. It had been sixteen years since I had last rolled through these streets. Lake Geneva seemed like someplace I had never been, and to think that at one time, I knew the town fairly well. The water looked refreshing as children jumped off the end of the dock. None of us were accustomed to heat or humidity, and even though it was cool for the locals, it was warm for surf town softies like us. Across the street I spied a guy wearing a red Discipline t-shirt. "Hey, look at that shirt," I said pointing to the fellow walking by the lake. "Maybe he'll sell it to you," Mason said. Maybe he'll trade me for this one," referring to my by now somewhat smelly Bonny Doon Vineyard T. We watched out the large front window of the restaurant as a variety of characters strolled by. Nice entertainment.

Grain Silos and Missile Silos

We decided that rather than taking the interstate highway, we'd wind our way through the quaint farming communities instead. I found great pleasure observing all of the different grain silos, and remembered that I had always wanted to live in one. It reminded me of a program that had been shown on the flight,**** which featured a couple of people who now live in a decommissioned missile silo. "Lucky bastards," I laughed to myself as we rolled down the road. All of the little towns were so different from how I remembered them. Again surprised how much had changed, and how little I recognized. Before we knew it, we were in Madison, and again, everything was different. Immediately, we drove to where we had lived, and took a photo of Mason standing in front of his first home. He had been born in Madison seventeen years ago, and we moved away when he was still very young. None of us had been there for many years, and now we were back for family vacation. Across Lake Monona, we could see the capitol building towering above everything around it. "I've missed you, Madison," I said out loud. I had tuned the radio to my old favorite station, 89.9, listener supported, WORT Madison, who immediately played one of my old favorite songs, "Totally Wired" by the Fall. We all sang, "T-t-t-totally wired" as we passed beneath the new Frank Lloyd Wright designed, Monona Terrace, bouncing to the beat in our seats, making our way through the streets. I felt like I was home.

Fireflies, Flying Discs, and Bicycles

Next day, I was off to meet my friend Rami for a round of Disc Golf. We arranged to meet at the course, and he showed up right on time. It was a bit windy, and I wasn't familiar with the course, but had a fairly good round anyway, and it was good to see Rami who had moved from Santa Cruz to Madison several years prior. Later Mason and I rented bicycles, and set out for a long adventure. We rode all the way around Lake Monona, through once-familiar neighborhoods, and back to State Street for some good Nepali food. Before we knew it, darkness had fallen upon us, and Mason said, "Hey, fireflies." I had forgotten all about these beautiful little creatures of the night, and even though Mason had no memory of ever seeing one, he immediately recognized them. What a pleasant surprise to see them dance and sparkle so magically in the thick, dark air. We arrived back at the hotel tired and exhausted. Everyone was too tired to go anyplace, or do anything, so after a refreshing shower it was TV time. Turn on - tune in - veg out... crash out...

Bus Adventure

The bus was late... at least as far as we could tell. Beginning to question if a bus would come to such a remote location on a Sunday Morning, I spotted an older woman approaching. "Ill bet she's coming to the bus stop," I said to myself. And just as I had predicted, she stopped and confirmed that "Honey, a bus will be arriving soon." A few more minutes passed, and the bus rounded the corner, pulled up next to us, and with a loud release of air, stopped. We loaded our rented bicycles on the front of the bus, boarded, paid the driver three bucks, and took our seats. Riding the bus is always such an interesting experience. Before long, we arrived downtown, signaled the driver to stop at the next opportunity. He pulled over near the state capitol building... we exited, grabbed our bikes and whisked down the hill to the rental shop to return the bikes.

Epilogue

Before I knew it, we were leaving with so many things undone.***** I was finally becoming familiar with the city again, and now it was time to go. "Good bye, Madison," I said sadly as the city disappeared behind a shroud of green canopy. "I'll be back."

* Or Cosmic Aeroplane, also, El Cosmico Aero-plano, as spoken by Brad Collins of KRCL infamy

** Mighty Mo had been in Chicago on business a few days already when we arrived.

*** I had a similar experience at an aircraft museum a couple of years ago.

****I watched it without sound. They showed the same program on our return flight.

***** Pancho Steinberg's Fine Mexican Cuisine in Platteville, the Dickyville Grotto, Indian Mounds, lead mines the mighty Mississippi and etc... I can't wait to return.