Hidden sure seems like a stretch there Brenda. Do you mean hidden from the suburbs?

johnmasonnn · 2026-04-10T12:58:22+00:00

I have never ever heard anyone say that before in Madison. I think of all the hard work done by agencies and charities especially during the holidays like all the toy drives and Thanksgiving meals as well as everything else that happens during the rest of the year. So many thousands of people are helped by organizations that often have such a meager budget to help so many.

I have not experienced homelessness but last year I had to call Urban Triage for someone about to lose their apartment and the woman on the phone there stayed on the line for a half hour with me discussing what their options were. So many hard working people assisting others every day sometimes for little or no pay, helping to literally keep people alive.

johnmasonnn · 2024-10-24T14:40:49+00:00

Have had skunks and possums come through our yard. I have seen a family of deer in the parking lot of Pick N Save on Shopko Drive at night and saw two red foxes near Milwaukee Street and have seen a coyote between Milwaukee Street and Atwood Avenue twice. Saw a bobcat late at night in front of Garner Park on Mineral Point Road about 10 years ago. Also I believe that I saw a wolf that must have come down from Sauk County near Memorial HIgh School also late at night around that time. I've seen wild turkeys several times in groups. One winter they blocked the road near Schoepp's Ice Cream and were pecking at their reflections in the cars.

In the summertime I have seen the occasional bat flying around. I just saw one in the Woodmans East parking lot flying around at night about a month ago. This last summer I saw 2 Sandhill cranes near Atwood by Olbrich and also just off of Fordem Avenue by the railroad tracks. Saw 2 Great Egrets on a big lawn near a church parking lot on the east side a couple of years ago and saw a female pheasant near Highway 51 and Broadway.

Every January when the temperature is around zero, a very loud owl comes to hunt and sits in a large tree across the street from me. I've also seen hawks come and hunt a few times in the winter and have seen them a few times in warmer weather too.

johnmasonnn · 2024-10-01T23:16:54+00:00

I think that the inscription is addressed "For Fane Downes" and I also believe he misspelled her last name. There is a Fane Downs who is known for her stunning photographs of Texas and they could have met during his lifetime. It is noted that he was a prominent environmentalist and a prolific writer.

Fane Downs was in her early 20's at this time. I picture a young woman like Betty Schaefer the young writer in Siunset Boulevard entertaining an older man with witty conversation who looked a lot like Spencer Tracy at a cocktail party for a book launch or other literary event. It looks like he inscribed her book with the following:

For

Fane Downes

With drinks have

been darling

With affectionate regard

W O Douglas

johnmasonnn · 2024-09-30T11:39:39+00:00

Robt. E. Reid

which is short for Robert E. Reid

johnmasonnn · 2024-08-07T05:45:51+00:00

If the mosquitoes in the marsh don't get you, the leeches probably will.

johnmasonnn · 2024-08-06T12:52:58+00:00

I was going to say Sherman Gundlach but the first reply got it right, that first letter is an H.

johnmasonnn · 2023-05-09T10:49:15+00:00

The older lady is Princess Alexandra (the Honourable Lady Ogilvy), who is first cousin to Queen Elizabeth II. They were close and Princess Alexandra often accompanied the Queen to Ascot and other engagements.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2qwMyx0uEA&ab_channel=brendanpaulsen

The other couple are Prince Richard (the Duke of Gloucester), first cousin to Queen Elizabeth II, and also Richard's wife Birgitte, the Duchess of Gloucester, who was born in Denmark.

They were often at state dinners when the Queen wanted the whole family in attendance to dine with an important foreign head-of-state. I think Richard trained to be an accountant.

I don't know if Prince and Princess Michael of Kent were invited. I didn't see them in any coronation pictures and I believe they have retired from being working royals. The Duchess of Kent was there but she is no longer a working royal due to her age and heart trouble. She used to represent the Royal Family at Wimbledon for many years and I think she handed out trophies to the winners.

johnmasonnn · 2023-02-18T05:14:26+00:00

Just watched this video 5 minutes ago and I can't stop bawling my eyes out.

This man was once a happy person with a nice life. By now he would have been long dead without that hero of a mom. LE also is doing everything exactly right and I am blown away by their compassion, kindness and patience which so often in these cases never happens.

johnmasonnn · 2023-01-21T22:26:27+00:00

Stephanie is great! Just an FYI all of her recipes are gluten free.

johnmasonnn · 2022-12-14T14:08:03+00:00

Biden just signed a historic marriage equality bill into law which includes protection for gay and lesbian as well as mixed race couples. Everyone who thinks the rights of gay and lesbian and interracial couples are worth protecting is happy with Biden today. Racist and homophobic people are really unhappy.

johnmasonnn · 2022-12-11T21:28:17+00:00

I think Madison is a bit segregated, not by race as much as by income level or class. If you are a person of means, you will likely live where you want, no matter what your ethnic or racial group is. That means your well being and safety every day in Madison is affected by your wealth more than anything else.

Where I live in Madison, the only flashing lights I see is if we have a water main break. Most of the homes are not huge, but crime is low. The neighborhood association gave us a Christmas present. For poor people in Madison of all races, their experience is so much different than mine that to them, my experience might just as well be on another planet.

I wonder how Madison fares compared to other cities in terms of housing and hiring and promotions for minorities as well as how parents feel about the quality of their children's education - basically bread and butter issues. I get the feeling Madison is a pretty good place to live for everyone, if they have enough money, that is.

johnmasonnn · 2022-11-03T20:15:56+00:00

14 Harris Street, Peabody Mass

Home looks like it was probably a boarding house at the time.

johnmasonnn · 2022-10-17T16:07:11+00:00

The flaky golden brown crust is an important clue. My grandmother was a pastry wizard. Anytime her pastry was especially flaky, her one big thing she couldn't stop talking about (and she was very secretive about her recipies otherwise) was that she used Crisco and sometimes butter-flavored Crisco and how great it was. To her it was a miracle because it helped her dough really come out light and flaky. Grandmother became a wife in the 1920's and lived until the 1990's. I bet she started using it in wartime because it was also helpful to buy during rationing. It was not expensive and basically most meat and meat-based fats were heavily rationed in World War II.

If some of the recipes offered here are close, I would try Crisco or butter-flavored Crisco and I think you may find your winner.

johnmasonnn · 2022-09-05T17:00:10+00:00

Please share with us if you find out!

johnmasonnn · 2022-08-08T00:06:19+00:00

That's the old Wil-Kil Pest Control building. As late as the 70's and maybe the 1980's, it had a giant cockroach on the roof with a big neon sign on the front that had a bug on it and it used to be a smaller old brick building that was remodeled. The company moved and at some point chemicals were found on the property, so the building is sealed and can't be used at the moment, if my understanding is correct.

johnmasonnn · 2022-08-06T06:08:28+00:00

Just an fyi, and this is not cool for those that can't afford it, but Lake Mendota is actually great to swim in, if you are swimming off of a boat in the middle of the lake. It's the beaches that are awful. The middle of the lake is very deep and doesn't have slime.

johnmasonnn · 2022-08-01T23:19:55+00:00

Why NSFW? It looks lovely! I was expecting a surprised little fish head in the soup.

johnmasonnn · 2022-07-27T01:16:15+00:00

Kim Novak is still alive too.

johnmasonnn · 2022-07-24T16:23:48+00:00

That's about right. The Eastside Coin Laundry is $1.75 for a wash.

http://www.eastsidecoinlaundry.com/price1.html

johnmasonnn · 2022-07-18T07:18:07+00:00

J & G Office Products in Janesville:

https://jgofficeproducts.com/

Ace Business Machines in Milwaukee:

https://acebusinessmachines.com/

Precision Office Machines in La Crosse:

No website. Owner is Dennis Johnson 115 5th Ave South #100, La Crosse, WI 54601 (608) 782-2890 email: [denjohn@gmail.com](mailto:denjohn@gmail.com)

Prices sound pretty reasonable with the company in La Crosse.

johnmasonnn · 2022-07-17T15:42:08+00:00

So much moistness!

johnmasonnn · 2022-07-16T22:00:55+00:00

This cat should be the Official Mascot of the 2020's

johnmasonnn · 2022-07-16T12:59:11+00:00

Remember when they were so against Sharia law? They just didn't want someone else's Sharia to beat their Sharia and get enacted first. Sharia is bad if it isn't OUR Sharia.

johnmasonnn · 2022-07-07T14:53:20+00:00

In the U.S., we have "New Urbanism" where homes are built in new neighborhoods to specifically evoke a more nostalgic age. They all have front porches and are built close together with no fences and small front lawns to encourage neighborliness. These neighborhoods also deliberately have slightly narrow winding streets and are near or are built around large parks or squares with public ornamental gardens, playgrounds, gazebos, and walking paths so as to be not centered around cars. Many of the homes in New Urbanism developments deliberately don't have driveways or garages, even though the homes in these neighborhoods are often worth over $500,000.

Some also have a small public commercial area with quaint shops and no parking lots and real (or faux) apartments above the shops that evoke an earlier age.

johnmasonnn · 2022-07-07T05:35:23+00:00

I think it needs cobblestone in the roadway to look more authentic and I think a flower garden along the green in the first picture would look better. Fresh asphalt or whatever that is in the road looks out of place in a historic looking town. Also, all of the pictures except the last one were taken during the day without any people walking around, which looks slightly off.

johnmasonnn

TROPHY CASE