Moominmama in Wisconsin

Wherein Moominmama pays her first visit to Wisconsin, enjoying the isthmus that is Madison before heading north into the woods...

The Wisconsin State Capitol is smack dab in the center of Madison, a city with lakes on either side. The land between the two forms an isthmus, a word that, until now, Moominmama had no experience with beyond a spelling challenge.

The dome is made of Vermont granite, the only one of its kind in the U.S. and the largest such dome by volume. It was built in 1917 to replace an older building that burned down, and the city spreads out at its feet with roads that extend like rays from its center. State Street is a mainly pedestrian walkway that extends for many blocks with shops and restaurants on either side, connecting to the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. 

From the Capitol, it's also easy to walk to either of the two lakes and to view them from terraces, a big one on Lake Monona which also serves as the city's main conference center, and on the opposite side, a smaller terrace that looks out from the college campus over Lake Mendota.

Wisconsin appears to be a land of water. It has been falling from the sky a lot, but in general, I find myself driving and hiking around wetlands and waterbodies, like this boardwalk near my campground.

I did get some sun in Madison and took the opportunity to visit the Olbrich Botannical Gardens.

This arrangement of specialized gardens includes one that features plants common the Madison area's Hmong immigrants. Another features plants and decorative elements from Thailand, with a golden pavilion at the center. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the pavilion as it was under repair.

But, it got me thinking how interesting it would be to create a community garden with different sections featuring the plants American immigrant groups have introduced to our diets and windowsills.

The Olbrich gardens also include fun features such as this stone tower wrapped in roses, looking like something out of a fairytale.

There were small waterfalls and pools too numerous to count, a moonlight garden of white blooms, a garden with plants used to create different dyes, an herb garden and a "touch and smell" garden. Fresh views and new discoveries could be found with every twist along the paths. 

And that doesn't include the indoor greenhouse for exotic plants that can't weather a Wisconsin winter -- another feature closed for repair. But overall, the visiting experience was curated like an art show.

One set of pieces I particularly enjoyed were little homes created for native pollinators. These were built to attract local bees, not the big honeybees, but little bees who look for stalks and small holes in which to make their homes. When it comes to attracting them, this box is surely practical, but it's also visually interesting and beautiful. 

My other Madison outing involved a visit to the University of Wisconsin Arboretum, where, among other things, they are researching how to stop invasive plants from taking root and spreading. As they successfully clear an area, they are replanting native species like prairie grasses to restore ecological diversity. 

They are also monitoring the natural springs in the arboretum, now polluted by runoff, that were holy to the Ho-chunk people for hundreds of years. 

Here I found, wild turkey walking in the woods and a pair of barn swallows that made a nest above the doors to the visitor center. Brave birds! This was a messy, lively set of woods and fields that many creatures obviously called home.

It was overcast again the day that I left Madison, heading north into the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest where I'll be staying on Namekagon Lake. Unfortunately it's been raining ever since I got here and the one brief walk I took left me with more than half a dozen hitchhiking ticks. I will have to be careful out here.

For now, I am visiting the cozy public library to write this post as I have zero connectivity anywhere near my campsite. But hopefully the rain will clear and I can head out on my kayak!