Waunakee

I love Waunakee. I live in the town of Westport on the edge of Waunakee on the southern part of Woodland drive. I love all the wildlife I can see from my house. This summer I rescued several snakes from my dogs, as well as a turtle and a large number of frogs; there was even a toad living under the grill cover for most of the summer. I can hear the cranes with their very distinctive calls even when I can’t see them.

The restaurants and local businesses are great as well. I’ve ordered a lot of takeout recently from Lone Girl, Athens Grill, and Octopi Brewing. When SPL gave all the employees a gift card for the holidays, I promptly spent mine at Lone Girl. I’ve purchased candles from Wisconsin Candle Company and a map of Lake Mendota from Red Barn.

Hobbies

I spend a lot of my summer gardening. I grow roses along with several other plants that require less care. I’m working on a backyard orchard, but I think I picked the wrong location. Oh well, there’s always next year. I also play way too many video games on my phone.

The Pandemic

The best thing to come out of the pandemic is that I’ve been able to spend a lot of time with my son. This year he learned how to ride his tricycle and how to shoot a basketball (although he preferred kicking it).

The thing I miss most during the pandemic is Kids in the Rotunda, a free program at the Overture Center for young kids. Not only was it an excellent way to distract my son for a morning, but he also learned how to be a good audience member and how to watch a performance. It cannot come back soon enough.

Political Experience

I’ve never run for public office before. I did win a seat on Student Senate back when in college at UW-Eau Claire. My proudest accomplishment in office was convincing the History department not to restrict the choices of juniors and seniors. The History department wanted to keep the 100 level classes for freshmen and sophomores. I opposed this because I knew that I had almost no world history and would have been lost in a 300 level class on a subject like the causes of World War II. Without a good background so much of the History classes would have been over my head. The History department saw my point and relented before the change even got out of committee.