Last week was odd, to say the least. Thanks to my self-imposed COVID isolation, I barely left the house. And when I did step outside, I nearly got swept away by a tornado.
We’re not in Kansas anymore (nor were we ever), but we are most definitely in Wisconsin.
Wednesday morning, I was working away in my office, when the sky grew suddenly dark. The wind kicked up something fierce and it started pouring rain. I thought it was pretty cool how the leaves were swirling through the sky, so I stepped outside and shot a quick video, which I posted to Instagram.
A few minutes later, our town’s tornado sirens began wailing. I assumed at first this was just a test, but it did seem like an oddly random day and time for that. Plus, it went off for a long time. And come to think of it, the weather was acting kinda funny that day. I’d been awakened by lightning and thunder in the predawn hours.
Then, this alert popped up.
That’s us, right there in Jefferson County. Neat, huh?
Maybe “neat” isn’t the best word. There was at least one confirmed tornado in Milwaukee, with several others suspected near Waukesha. And there I am, standing out in the middle of the maelstrom, oblivious to the danger. In my defense, there was no warning about October tornadoes in the official Wisconsin New Resident handbook.
Not that such a thing exists. (But if it did, it should also warn you not to order a pound of cheese from your friendly neighborhood cheddar vendor. Do you have any idea how big 1 lb. of cheese is?! Neither did I. It’s about the size of a brick, FYI.)
Near-weather-miss aside, it was also weird working from home every day. I’m the type of guy who likes a hybrid schedule: a few days in the office, a couple at home. Mixes things up and gives you that social interaction with coworkers. I haven’t set foot in the Gray Goose in almost two weeks (!) and am looking forward to getting back to the office tomorrow.
Once my five-day post-symptom quarantine expired on Friday, we wasted no time heading out. We had a favorite Irish pub in Washington and a favorite Irish pub in South Dakota, so we figured it was time to add a favorite Irish pub in Wisconsin. Paddy Coughlin’s in Fort Atkinson did not disappoint. We hung out for a few hours enjoying drinks and the Friday fish fry.
With fall foliage nearing its peak, we decided to take a drive up to Baraboo yesterday, with a detour in Devil’s Lake State Park for a little hike through the woods.
While in Baraboo, we stopped at AL. Ringling Brewery for a beer and a bite to eat. The brewery is attached to the home of the founder of the Ringling Bros. Circus, which still has a big presence in Baraboo to this day. We plan to check out the Circus World Museum on a future visit. There’s a vintage calliope there and, if you’re wondering whether it still works, the answer is a resounding yes. I still have “When the Saints Come Marching In” stuck in my head 20 hours later.
Cool place though, and both the food and beers were good.
All in all it was a great day, if a tad crisp. The weather has been downright cold here lately, dipping close to or below freezing at night, only in the 40s during the day. Tomorrow might not even make it out of the 30s and there’s a slight chance we could see a few snow showers.
And in other news, Tara got a job…and it’s all thanks to Jon, the TobacCo owner. While I was interviewing with them in August, he asked what my wife did, and I said she was a loan processor. Then, I jokingly asked whether TobacCo needed a loan processor. Well, no – of course they don’t – but, he said if I sent him Tara’s resume, he’d reach out to his contacts in the banking industry.
I did, and within a couple of days, she’d heard back from four different banks. One thing led to another, and Friday, she accepted an offer from a local bank not all that far from where I work. Her first day will be Halloween. For Jon’s troubles, we’ll be giving him a bottle of whatever he likes to drink. Just gotta do some sleuthin’ to figure out what that might be.
Now, we can officially start looking for a house. Yay! Though realistically, we’ll probably be in the apartment until February or March at least. But that’s okay. We’re not in a hurry.
All good things, guys!
Mark My Words 
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