Goodness, how the time has flown!
The last few months have been a bit hectic for me. In May, I had a medical issue that was causing some pretty intense pain. After two different trips to Urgent Care (a week apart) and a trip to my primary doctor, I wound up at the ER and was admitted to the hospital for a few days. The rest of May was, more or less, spent recovering, so there wasn’t a lot of walking or park visits happening that month.
June is always the craziest month for me, and this year was no exception. I did get some walking in (including a 3-mile hike at Lapham Peak, another trip to the zoo, and multiple lunch walks); unfortunately, I just haven’t had much time to reflect on it (or edit the photos I took).
But fear not! I’m here now, and while this may not be the longest (or most relevant) post, I hope to use it to get back into the swing of things, so look for more to come. 🙂
In February, I wrote about a day around town in the Madison area, during which I hit up three different spots to photograph the capitol building. It just so happens that I was in Madison this past weekend and found myself back at Schluter Park in Monona exactly six months later! (Alright, technically I was across the street grabbing ice cream at Monona Bait & Ice Cream, but we did walk around the park whilst eating.)
I was, sadly, without my camera(s), but I snapped a few shots with ye olde smartphone.
So, was anything new or different since my visit in January? Did I learn anything or take away something that I hadn’t from my previous trip? Of course!
- The colors, Duke! The colors! Not that the Adirondack chairs weren’t striking against the white of the snow, but the greenery was in fine form this lovely summer day. I’ll admit that isn’t a ton of color, but toss in the beautiful blues of the sky and lake and the look was entirely different from my last trip. (Also, if you don’t understand the Duke reference, odds are good I’m just showing my age.)
- If you want to see a badger, just come along with me! As part of a summer event known as Bucky On Parade, there are 85 different Bucky Badger statues around Dane County, and one just happens to be hanging out at Schluter Park. These handsome fellas have been dolled up by local artists and will be out on display through the middle of September. I, for one, look forward to spotting as many as possible before the event ends!
- Boating is the new walking. In my last post, I mentioned that all kinds of people were walking on the lake and that I, of course, joined them. Well, walking on the lake isn’t really an option at this point, but boating sure is! There were a number of boaters taking advantage of the perfect weather and I can hardly blame them. In fact, I’m a little jealous; you really can’t see the capitol and skyline from shore, so they had a fun ride and a great view.
- What’s in a name? On my last trip, I somehow missed the sign that explained how Schluter Park got its name. (I’m going to blame it on the crazy cold temperature. Seems legit.) The park sign says, “This park is named in honor of George Schluter, the first Monona casualty in World War II.”
It really wasn’t as busy as I had expected it to be on such a gorgeous day (a Saturday in July in the upper 70s, with sunny skies and a nice breeze… what more do people want?!). We witnessed a few people reading (maybe they got their books from the tiny library!), a couple of kids on the playground, some bikers stopping by to refill their water, and one young gentleman who was trying to fish, but was lamenting to his family that he needed more bait because they (the fish, not his family) kept stealing what he was offering.
It’s not the most happening place around. But if you’re looking for a nice, relaxing spot to enjoy a book or a place to wander as you make quick work of some delicious Babcock ice cream (the orange custard with chocolate chips is my personal favorite), I’d definitely suggest you check out Schluter Park.
Walking in Wisco 