It's a Mad Mad City.

Stretch, roll, a quick check of the watch... it's morning. 6:04am. Sunday.
Time to get up and have a few moments to myself.

Dressed in my favorite stretchy capris with the lettering on the waist, a blue tank, and my kickin' race shoes, I was out the door and down the elevator with only a few sips of coffee (too hot) to spare.

I took a right out of the building, jogging past the men waiting for breakfast on the steps of the capital church.  Past capital square, with notes of, "Prosser is Choking the life out of Madison," and "Solidarity." -- remnants of the fight against Walker and the whole WI government for their passage of anti-labor laws...

As I passed the store with meat pies, I was on State Street- check my watch- 6 miles an hour... for me, not bad.  I continued down State St, noting the remnants of last night's parties.  popcorn spilled in nearly every shopfront door, no idea what would have warranted that.  Sleeping hobos, a few, "Hello, how you doin?"'s and a nice warm breeze greeted me.  The store fronts are sleepy at this time of morning.  Twisting owl heads, hip over-done outfits in the Ragstock windows.... So much to see. It's eerie to see such a lively street so empty.

Campus starts where State Street ends, and although I usually turn around- my heart rate said, "keep going." I was up the hill... the steep hill at campus' start.  Past the, what's that building? My heart skipped a beat.. E.D.U.C.A.T.I.O.N.  Nice. I slowed, but knew I had to keep going.  Up the hill to the right, the view of the water over the trees is amazing- a few schooners (boats really, I just wanted to use that word) were out on the water, but again, very few signs of life this early.

Passing Liz Waters, I always think of my mom.  Her first dorm here at Madison.  Sitting high on the hill, the architecture of this building puts many dorms to shame.  Calm yellowed brick with great detail- it oversees the lake, right below the observatory.

Current construction makes the hill and the way down treacherous.  Running down the other side of the campus hill, the greenhouses and athletic centers popped up like weeds.  The hill was not so daunting from the other side.  Back up, past the observatory bubble, through the construction... past... E.D.U.C.A.T.I.O.N. (This time I noticed its shiny underground parking lot and luxurious outdoor seating area- ah- the beauty). Down to Monona Terrace.  The cleaning crew was hard at work washing away yesterday's beer and stacking chairs.

After the terrace, it was back up State Street, past the popcorn and sleeping men, through a maze of closed stores and yesterday's weddings, ooogling sunglasses and note cards as I ran.  Into the Lorraine, down the stairs, in the elevator, and through the hallway to Chelsea's condo door.  Lukewarm coffee now ready for consumption.. computer on blogger, writing away.