Day 312
Today was 12/12/12 … one of those rare phenomena that happen in one’s lifetime. Today is my 312th post and I’m posting it around midnight. Go figure. I love these happenstance coincidences.
Every once in a while you’ll hear that a baby was born at 06:07:08 on 9/10/11 … or something like that. I always think that’s pretty neat.
On average there are roughly 11,000 babies born EVERY DAY here in the United States – a number which sounds ridiculously large (enormous) to me. And, as one might hope for or expect … one of those babies, a boy in Wisconsin, was born today at 12:12 (pm) … something for the record books … 12/12/12 at 12:12. I’m just hoping they didn’t name him Dodici, Doce, Dwanascie or Tolv. Although Tolv (twelve in Swedish) is pretty cool!
And speaking of Wisconsin … land of cheese and dairy farms and babies born on special days … I was up there today. It sounds weird, even to me, to say … “Oh, I was in Wisconsin for the day.” because in my head I’m still in Colorado and Wisconsin is rather far from there! But actually I am only about 45 minutes from the Wisconsin/Illinois border. Who knew?
I spent the day walking around the first town I researched to move to … a darling town north of Milwaukee … Cedarburg. It’s quaint, it’s charming, it’s darling. It’s also brutally cold in the winter and I for one am not as hearty as I may once have been. Colorado thinned my blood and being in that dry climate for so many years anything more than 17% humidity has me grabbing for an extra layer and another pair of socks! Despite the cuteness of the town, the area was nixed for a few reasons … one being I would be a human Popsicle up there for sure from November until May!
In any case, today I spent browsing the shops and having lunch and chatting with a dear sorority sister. And I found myself doing something that no one really seems to do much of in these parts … LAUGH. So, we chatted and reminisced and caught up and laughed (a lot) and it was really fun and good to get out and exceptional for my soul.
We strolled the Woolen Mill with its many and varied shops … stopping in the winery in the basement for local wines. I picked up a blush with a hint of cranberry (the world’s largest cranberry grower/packer being not too far away). We had lunch at the local diner (yum – Reuben!) – where, according to the old menu on display, at one time a person could get a full breakfast for 40 cents.
We went into half a dozen stores that had 10-20 foot pressed tin ceilings … all filled with holiday decorations and garlands and birch branches and grape vines adorned with twinkle lights. It was so festive and just so lovely. It gave me just the right infusion of holiday spirit that I was needing … and the area even had a little snow on the grassy areas!
There was the cookie cutter store … Downtown Dough. One could spend hours in that little shop alone as they have over 2000 different shapes of cookie cutters. You want a rooster? They’ve got it. A golfer? Yep. A dump truck? Yessiree Bob. Amazing … 2000 different ones!
There were garden shops and antique stores, boutiques and toy shops and candy stores … jewelry stores, holiday shops, a paperie, a pottery/artisan store … three blocks of wares, eateries and establishments.
We stopped into Amy’s Gourmet Apple shop … HUGE caramel apples in the windows and gorgeous chocolates in the display cases. It was beautiful and SMELLED SO GOOD!
We stopped in at the Cedarburg Coffee Roastery (one of four or five coffee houses in the historic area) and sat at “the bar” (if a coffee house has a bar, this was a bar) which was a seating area configured around their coffee roaster. The roaster was huge and ancient and so very cool looking! No roasting going on today but the aroma of coffee permeated the quaint one room shop. We had hot chocolate and coffee … that alone was worth the trip!
Today was special for many reasons … good ol’ 12/12/12 … but what I’ll remember most of my lovely day is that I spent it with a dear friend … one whom I’ve been a “sister” with for 36 years. Hmmm … gives added meaning to … 12+12+12.