Summer in Madison. I need to retire so that my time off isn't just summer, because it's so terribly hard to leave Madison in the summer.
June 19, 2016
Last night, after brats and conversation on The Terrace, we walked home along the lake path.
Summer in Madison. I need to retire so that my time off isn't just summer, because it's so terribly hard to leave Madison in the summer.
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46 comments:
Whaaaat? Leave Madison? Like.....travel??? Who are you?
Best wishes! You have a lot to offer in whatever chapter you create next for yourselves. Thanks for many years of insight and coolness.
Oh, and beautiful photo by the way. A picture of a beautiful life.
Yes, Wisconsin summers are lovely.
The only problem is they're about 3 weeks long.
Wait, you mean retire as a Prof, not retire the Blog. Right?
"Whaaaat? Leave Madison? Like.....travel??? Who are you?"
We are free spirits who like to preserve our freedom by traveling by car, when we are actually in the mood, and when we see that the weather is going to be bad here and good somewhere else.
Made up the aphorism Nothing is a high standard. Applied to travel, it means that the proposed trip should be better than spending the same time period at home. When the time period is any given week in the summer, it's very hard to beat Madison. In the summer: Madison is a high standard.
"Wait, you mean retire as a Prof, not retire the Blog. Right?"
The blog would probably get better if I retired as a professor, but, of course, I would retire the blog. I still haven't even skipped a day.
Damn beautiful photo.....
- CI
"Yes, Wisconsin summers are lovely. The only problem is they're about 3 weeks long."
It seems as though these very long daylight hours have been going on for weeks and we're still not even halfway through. By the calendar, summer only begins at the halfway point of what I call "light month."
I'm guessing your idea of summer is heat and you want a lot of heat for some reason. That's not us. We like the coolness in the summer. I've sweltered in New York City and even had the experience of spending a bit of time in Austin, Texas and Orlando, Florida in the summer. That's the basis of my belief that Madison is great in the summer. It's cool, and when it isn't, you can usually drive straight north and get somewhere cool before long. Or... actually, we usually don't leave Madison, we just get up at dawn and get out before it heats up. Even on the hottest days, there are likely to be a couple cool hours in the morning -- below 70°, which is what we like.
"The blog would probably get better if I retired as a professor, but, of course, I would retire the blog. I still haven't even skipped a day."
By "would," I believe she means "wouldn't."
I retired last year on my 69th birthday. Now every week has six Saturdays and a Sunday, but it can be boring at times.
"...it's so terribly hard to leave Madison in the summer."
It's not. It's really not.
Texas summer nights can be very pleasant, when it cools down to around 80 degrees around midnight. But It would be stupid to move to Texas for the summer nights.
"By "would," I believe she means "wouldn't.""
Thanks.
Should have proofread.
Thanks, Meade:
"By "would," I believe she means "wouldn't."
Heart skipped a beat.
I am Laslo.
""The blog would probably get better if I retired as a professor..."
As Meade is saying to me now, and I agree, the blog would probably stay exactly the same.
Do you think the blog is different during the semester and when there are no classes? Have you even noticed? That's the difference you would see.
But the one thing is that if I didn't have a current connection to the school, I might speak more freely about some things. And yet, the things I feel unfree to speak about relate to experiences I wouldn't have if I retired.. For example, I never criticize or make fun of students.
"By "would," I believe she means "wouldn't."" Phew. I was about to suggest implementing a blogbot, some kind of AI-AA, to keep the conversation going. The trolls ("Miriam" etc.) have already done it, so why not?
"But the one thing is that if I didn't have a current connection to the school, I might speak more freely about some things."
So when Althouse retires the Dirt of Academia will come out!
I am Laslo.
"Texas summer nights can be very pleasant, when it cools down to around 80 degrees around midnight."
My idea of hell. Even Madison is too hot in the summer.
There probably will me one bad day in the future where circumstances will get in the way of any blogging. If/when such a day comes, you don't want to fret about your self-imposed requirement that you blog every day.
The solution is to take a day off now.
I never regretted retiring.
With respect to retirement, I'm loving it. I'm traveling (I know, I know), building the garden, and reading the stuff I want to read. I miss the intellectual stimulation of solving difficult problems and I do miss some aspects of teaching, but the cost of that was that my time was not my own. Given that I don't have all that much time left (none of us do), I have no desire to go back.
When I saw the post title, I thought "brats" referred to unruly children. I was startled and concerned because that seemed so un-Althousian.
Then I realized this was Midwesternese.
"Even on the hottest days, there are likely to be a couple cool hours in the morning -- below 70°, which is what we like."
I hate hot weather. Which is odd since I've mostly lived in the valleys of SoCal, where it's hot and rarely cool.
So, when we moved to Sacramento last August I was bracing myself for yet another always hot place to live. But like you note about Madison, Sacramento has cool mornings. It gets quite hot here during the summer, but we have very refreshing mornings. The hottest time of day is around 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Even when it gets to 107, it is the mid-60s in the morning. Can have a very pleasant time outdoors before noon. In SoCal valleys, it's hot in the morning, in the afternoon, at night. Near the coast the weather is idyllic, but the coasts are now far too crowded and expensive.
Best summers in the world happen in Alaska. Of course winter is a different story.
"Made up the aphorism Nothing is a high standard."
Whoa! I misstated my own aphorism!
Should be:
Better than nothing is a high standard.
"I'm guessing your idea of summer is heat and you want a lot of heat for some reason."
Not really. I was referring to the fact that you can still be wearing sweaters well into May. By the time May rolls around, I want to burn all of my winter clothes, I am so tired of them.
Actually, I think we are of one mind regarding the sort of summer temps we prefer. I suffered through many sweltering East Coast summers also and don't miss weeks of 95 degree temps with 100 percent humidity. I hated not being able to sit outside and I prefer to keep my windows open rather than cranking up the AC. I live very close to Lake Michigan so I get the benefit of the "Lake Effect." I just wish we got more of a spring.
Blogger David53 said...
Best summers in the world happen in Alaska. Of course winter is a different story.
I've heard they are beautiful but that the deer flies can be very bad.
"The hottest time of day is around 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Even when it gets to 107, it is the mid-60s in the morning. "
That's true of southern California, as well. I am now in Chicago where we have to run the A/C at night. At home it is over 100 but I'm sure it is cooler at night, not a given here.
"Best summers in the world happen in Alaska. Of course winter is a different story.
I've heard they are beautiful but that the deer flies can be very bad."
You have a bottle of "Skin so soft" lotion and it keeps them away. I think they are worse up by Fairbanks but I like Homer.
Following the GOP Nat'l Convention in Cleveland, hubby and I are visiting our nephew and wife in Madison. Due to the Professor's frequent photos and description of the Terrace and Lake, they are on our Must Do list. Was planning on the ice cream, but the brats sure sound tasty.
Althouse, change we can believe in!
Remember the faux "excitement" when she was gonna change the blog's platform from blogger ...
and then
and then
and then she changed her mind.
>
As mentioned shortly after arriving here in 2010 ~ Althouse will still be blogging on her death bed!
Of course Hillary winning is the best scenario ie (4) more years of her 95/5 con majority being pissed.
Continuity trumps change.
Shill -o,
Are you capable of enjoying a lovely photo and light banter about summer weather or do you have to inject politics into everything?
If you do, what a joyless and narrow existence.
exile, Althouse and her minions, like yourself, started the blog discussion and whether she might retire the blog.
As always, reading comprehension is the key!
Shillo that is not a political discussion and has nothing to do with Hillary There is nothing in your life except politics, I take it? Well, that's sad.
On the contrary exile, Althouse and her con majority's daily nonsense always brings a smile to my face. Quite enjoyable!
But everything in moderation as I took a 3 year 3 mo. vacation from not just this blog but all political blogs before returning a couple months ago.
Indeed, three constants: death, taxes, Althouse kowtowing to her con majority.
ok, ok, a minor 4th constant ie exile not liking Hillary and anyone who mentions her name.
RE: off in summer.
I always thought that was ass-backwards in our modern times - do your students need summers off to help with the harvest?
I'd rather have WINTER off. The long days of summer bring maximum energy - its much easier to handle work/school and what else have you. Long days = maximum productivity. The winter is when I want to curl under a blanket and sleep for 10 hours. Shitty rainy weather (Pacific NW) making the roads a mess, short days that mean dark when you get up and dark when you get home. The various holidays already cut into work/school time - can we just all hole up and hibernate for a season?
I think citizens of Sweden, Norway, Finland are into such a thing - don't they hole up in cabins in the woods and drink for a month every winter?
"I need to retire so that my time off isn't just summer, because it's so terribly hard to leave Madison in the summer."
It is 19 years since I retired. Another 19 is unlikely (and likely to be unpleasant as it unfolds if I beat the odds) so I am glad I did it.
There is no problem keeping busy, for sure.
These new pics are really, really good. Did you say you have a new camera? If so, what is it and how is it helping you get these shots?
"I took a 3 year 3 mo. vacation from not just this blog but all political blogs before returning a couple months ago."
Sorry, I hadn't noticed.
Your superior intellect must add something but, for the life of me, I hadn't found it.
In 10 years or so, when I retire, I'll stay in Madison but try to leave as much as I can in between January and March. That's what my neighbors do -- they've both retired now. It is a lifestyle to envy at my age.
But you have to stay in Madison in the Summer. It's just beautiful here then.
Too hot tonight. I'll be sleeping in the basement.
"and then she changed her mind."
It was not me changing my mind, it was a technical problem that couldn't be solved to my liking.
Look everybody, I found shiloh!
Precisely ONE person retired from my institution this year - and it was for health reasons. TIAA/CREF is not giving professors the feeling that retirement is necessarily a good thing.
(oh - and *I* took BRATS to have something to do with Madison Leftists, given that earlier post about crying children in restaurants)
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