glaciers and falcons and picnics, oh my

Last week I wrote about the joy and fun of seeing one of my oldest and dearest friends, Laura Reiley. Part of the magic of that visit was experiencing the comfort of spending time with someone who knew me as a  teenager.  I don't get that often, living 850 miles from where I grew up and 750 miles from my college town.

Doug grew up about an hour from Evanston, in Wheaton.  Wheaton is lovely, but we knew we wanted to live closer to the lake and to the city. And most of Doug's high school friends who have stayed in the area have also moved to Chicago or its north shore.  So we get to see them, and we do, because they are FUN.

This weekend we got together and we had ourselves a time biking and picnicking in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

Let's start with some geology today, shall we?  I love geology.  (Doug reminded me that when we got back from Glacier National Park a couple years ago I announced I was going to become a geologist.  Perhaps a touch unrealistic,  but I find this stuff fascinating.)  Anyway,  let's talk about glaciers.    Glaciers are hard to fathom.  They are gigantic ice fields that  sloooowwwwwly move, carving out giant potholes in their wake.

A glacier is made of thick layers of compressed ice formed from accumulating snowfalls that has the ability to move. It flows like a slow river of putty and changes the shape of the land in the process. Glacier size can vary from as small as a football field to hundreds of kilometers. As a glacier moves, it carves away land by erosion and also sculpts and deposits new landforms such as moraines, kettles, drumlins, and eskers. The glacial melt water is a key factor in the creation of depositional features, and can also create rivers and lakes.

So while the whole of the midwest was once covered in glaciers, their remnants produced distinctly different flavors in Illinois vs in Wisconsin.   Here in Chicago it is super flat but we have Lake Michigan - a tremendous, gorgeous natural resource whose size is hard to articulate to someone who's never seen a great lake.  (Where I come from, lakes are small and picturesque.  Great lakes are fresh water oceans.)  In Wisconsin, especially around Madison, the topography is totally different.  It is hilly and lush and filled with craggy rock formations and rolling farmlands.  It's beautiful.  And about 45 minutes west of Madison sits Spring Green.

Spring Green, Wisconsin, home of Taliesen,  the former house and studio of Frank Lloyd Wright and the heart of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, where artists still live in residence.  It is a cool place and its influence is keenly felt in the town that surrounds it.  Right on the banks of the Wisconsin river, Spring Green is a sophisticated slice of bucolic heaven right in the middle of midwestern farm country.

Our friends Dan and Jean Thompson have a place in Spring Green, right on the Wisconsin River.  In fact, this spot has been in Jean's family since the 1850's, when her grandmother, Genevieve Schuberth, purchased a parcel along the river from her aunt, Leone Peterson.

from Jean:
My grandmother's family immigrated from Germany and settled there early.  My grandmother summered up there from Chicago all her life, working the farms for her Aunts and Uncles.  When she brought my Grandfather up he fell in love with the river and would go fishing every chance he could.  There was an abandoned prohibition hut by the river that my grandfather begged to make over for my grandmother and kids.  We have been going there ever since.   My grandparents had 4 daughters and these 4 families share it today.  We call it Schwilharlindoh, it is the first 3 letters of my Grandma’s name and all 4 girls' married names.

Great story, right?  So we, as lucky friends, we have been able to visit and enjoy Spring Green many times over the years.  Two years ago, Dan and Jean had the brilliant idea to plan a couples' bike trip up there, and we got to experience 2.0 this past weekend.   The weather was phenomenal - it was 82 on Saturday - and the leaves had just started to turn, and this summer was super rainy so the farmlands are still lush and green.  In a word?  Perfect.

Doug and I headed up early Saturday and joined the other three couples in attendance:  Dave and Celeste Lee, Dan and Jean Thompson, and Barb Stewart and Peter Bowie.   These guys go wayyyy back:  Doug, Dave, Jean and Barb all went to high school together!  Wheaton North Class of 1981 - GO FALCONS!  Here they are in 1980/81.  (pictures c/o Nancy Cederquist, one of the key '81 falcons who could not make it this weekend.)

Barb Stewart

Jean Doherty Thompson

young Doug Holt

Dave Lee

Here they are now, with a few non-falcon interlopers.

me, Doug, Dan, Jean, Dave, Celeste, Barb & Peter

It was an idyllic day.  We drove the DDK truck to the end site, about 12 miles from the cottage, then a few of us rode back and others drove back to the starting line.

 From there, all 8 of us biked over hill and dale, up and down some badass hills, past Taliesen, picturesque churches and farmland, to our destination, a chapel from the 1850's that's listed on the national historic registry.

Hyde mill and Chapel.  Our picnic spot.

We opened up the van and pulled out a picnic table, tablecloth, two vases for wildflowers, six bottles of wine for the tasting that ensued, and loads and loads of delicious snacks.   Jean had packed texas caviar & chips, cheese and crackers and sausage and fruit, a fruit tart and nuts.  It. Was. Spectacular. We ate.  We drank.  We laughed and laughed and laughed, the way you only do with your sisters or very old friends.

Afterwards, a couple of us were crazy enough to take that hill one more time, 

That night, back at the cottage, we had a feast with the windows open, watching the river go by then ended the night sitting by the fire pit for hours.

As Jean said when we were heading home on Sunday, "this will tide us over for a while."  Amen, sister. Thank God for Genevieve Schuberth and the '81 Falcons!

"Texas Caviar" dip
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can whole kernel corn, rinsed and drained
1 large avocado, peeled and chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

dress with: 4 Tbsp fresh limes nice
2 T olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
salt & pepper

let sit for a while and serve with tortilla chips

Dinner:  Marinated skirt steak, salad, roasted potatoes & bread

Steak Marinade:
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon sugar
Freshly ground pepper

grill a couple minutes per side, rest, slice and serve

Oven Roasted Rosemary Potatoes:
3lb red potatoes, quartered.  Toss with several tablespoons olive oil, 3-4TBSP fresh rosemary, chopped, 1-2 tsp kosher salt, lots of fresh pepper.  Spread onto cookie sheets, cook at 400 for about 30 minutes, turning often, until outside is brown and a little crunchy & potatoes are tender,