Short of giving step-by-step workplace directions to any would-be stalkers (I had one once; long story), I will say that CheeseGov is located directly across from the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. This can be a real pain during certain events, like the World Dairy Expo, the Midwest Horse Show, and Brat Fest.
(The main problem is traffic and people, though during that last one, our parking lot smelled like hot dogs for three days. Whether this was a good or bad thing depended on how hungry you were at any given moment.)
This year, because Wisconsin is a swing state, there have been a lot of political rallies there. Just last evening, Kamala and a celebrity entourage that included Mumford & Sons and Gracie Abrams held an event. Earlier in the day, when I peeked out a sixth-floor window, I saw a rather peculiar sight.
“What’s with all the snowplows?” I asked a coworker. It’s not like there were any big storms in the forecast; in fact, our high the day before was 81°.
“That’s a barricade to prevent car bombs from getting too close to the arena,” he informed me.
“But wait,” I observed. “That’s right across the street from CheeseGov.”
“Yep,” he not-so-reassuringly replied. “We’re collateral damage.”
Look, I like my job just fine, but I’m not ready to die for it. Even if said death is in the name of democracy. Patrick Henry I am not. So, I basically worked through my lunch in order to leave before the rally started and any Buicks were detonated.
Never a dull moment, folks.
Sunday, I spent over three hours raking the leaves from my front yard and transporting them to my backyard via wheelbarrow so Tara could use them for garden mulch. I accumulated 10,000+ steps just doing this.
I didn’t take an “after” pic, but there was nothing but grass by the time I was finished. Green, glorious lawn once again.
The only problem? While our maple had lost all its leaves, our neighbor’s even taller trees (plural) had not. And the weather turned super windy on Monday.
You know where this is heading, right…?
I wouldn’t say my work was all for naught. Probably just 75% for naught. What can you do, other than bitch and moan?
“Quit bitching and moaning,” Tara said.
Alright, fine. Apparently, you can’t even do that!
In any case, once the neighbor’s trees are bare and the wind quits blowing, I’ll fire up the John Deere and mow the remaining leaves into itty bitty pieces. Last year I didn’t bother, and then it snowed, and five months later they were a soggy, rotting mess that had killed the underlying grass…by which point they were useless as mulch but still needed to be dealt with. Best to bitch and moan and get it done today, that’s my motto!
While I was out there raking and wheelbarrowing, kids were cruising through the neighborhood, trick-or-treating. Not a ton, but more than I expected. Well, shit, I thought. I’d better find something to hand out. Hidden in the bottom of a drawer was a random assortment of chocolate – a few mini KitKats, Snickers, and M&Ms – left over from last Halloween. I have no idea how those survived the year uneaten. In any case, I grabbed a handful, threw them into a bowl, and brought it outside with me.
Hours passed, and even though there were plenty of costumed kids stopping by the neighbors’ houses, not a single one came to our door. Finally, a black cat and a traffic cone (kudos for originality) approached tentatively, and I eagerly waved them over. Two trick-or-treaters is a huge improvement over last year’s turnout of zero. I learned later that the unofficial protocol is to turn on your porch lights to indicate you’re participating. I’ve always done this in the past, of course, but it was dark then. This just flies in the face of reason given the bright afternoon sunshine.
Okie doke, lesson learned. I’ll be better prepared next year. (And I’m tossing the rest of the old candy, because I tried a KitKat later, and it definitely was not fresh. Now I feel bad for flagging those kids over and practically forcing them to take candy.)
This whole weird schedule makes today, actual Halloween, feel anticlimactic. Short of watching It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, tonight is like any other random Thursday evening.
One last thing: I’ve decided not to participate in NaNoWriMo. This doesn’t mean I’m not going to work on Earth Fights Back; I’ve actually brainstormed some good ideas, formatted the manuscript document, and written five pages. I’d much rather do this on my own timeline without the pressure of an ambitious deadline looming over my head. There’s enough to worry about heading into the holidays as it is.
You guys can help keep me accountable, though. Feel free to pester me for word counts and hound me on my progress. What better motivation is there than the fear of letting down my tribe?
Mark My Words 
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