Historic Marker

Historic markers are common in Wisconsin. Sometimes I feel as if I should take the time to stop and read them when we travel. The state, according to AI, has somewhere between 609 and 650 such markers. I think it would be neat to view them. The wife would regard this as one of my particular peculiarities, "a waste of time", and in her mind akin to when we "stopped at that place with that marker in the ground." This last comment of course referred to the only one of four places, easily accessible, on earth where the 45th latitude and 90th longitude meet. Of those, four, two are in an ocean, and the other in a mountain range. That marker is located west of Wausau near Poniatowski, WI.  However, I am happy to say the state has just received its its 610th to 651st Historical Marker. The marker is in front of my house for an event that occurred on the evening of July 21, 2026

Historic Marker in front of my house

How you ask, was a historic marker able to be placed so quickly?  In just a month time? It is because an exceedingly rare occasion in humankind occurred on the evening of 21 July, that the State Historical Society was quick to act to recognize the event with the Historical marker. Given the bureaucracy of the state, this is quite an achievement. The event broke the two rules of marriage and male-female partnerships, the first rule being that the woman is always right, and the second rule being that even if the woman is wrong the first rule applies. I think this is more rare than the alignment of all eight planets, or the appearance of Haley's comet, hence the reason the state acted so quickly. 

First two rules of Male-Female Relationship

What occurred? For some reason we had a show on Netflix, which made me think of the PBS Barney children's show, Barney being that big purple dinosaur. I started singing that common song, which like many children songs you get in your head and it will not leave, a brain worm. The lyrics go: "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you...[Now the part I could not remember "love me too."]  I asked my wife if she recalled the last part, she did not know, but insisted that the lyrics did not say kiss. I insisted it did, and found it online with Barney singing that song. When I played it for her, her simple comment was, "That would not be allowed today." Barney stopped running in 2010 and all reruns ended in 2016. I am not sure why it ended, if it ran its course, or, if like other things in the nation it was canceled by those infected with what Bill Maher calls the "Woke virus." Even th queen of Woke has expressed that, what she termed Woke 1, was crazy. So while the wife was wrong on the lyrics, she well may be correct on why it was canceled, a male-voiced purple dinosaur may be seen as promoting something for children that is inappropriate, if not creepy. And even if she is not correct on the second part, rule 2 usually applies, except in this case because she did not really care, or because having rule 2 apply set aside for two consecutive events would be unheard of.

Part of the deal to make the historic marker happen was going through the all-female committee on domestic accuracy, which had to ascertain the facts that I was correct. I guess the body is comprised of all females, since women are always right, except for this one time, and as we know if they are not right, the are still right. The longest part of getting the sign installed was not the Historical Society, or even the Committee for Domestic Accuracy, much less getting the sign made. It was getting village approval and the concrete base installed. I like to think I am fairly knowledgeable about local and state government operations, but the Domestic Accuracy Committee was news to me. I wonder if I got extra points from the committee for being married to a redhead?

At book club a few weeks ago a couple was talking about the baptism of their grandchild, and how their daughter and son-in-law had given them a day-long couples retreat at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse. The woman made some comment and identified what she said was the first to two things the retreat master led with, the husband interjected and said, "You're wrong, it was the other way around and I will prove it to you when we get back to the car." I would hate to be him in that car as they drove home.

I proudly have the historical marker in front of the house, not for me, but for those rare occasions when a husband was actually correct and was able to avoid invoking rule 2. The committee for Domestic Accuracy was rather flabbergasted that my wife could not recall the full lyrics of the Barney PBS show. I defended my wife, I commented that she knows plenty of other children tunes, and I suggested that perhaps the John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt tune, or Wheels on the Bus, or Itsy Bitsy Spider (the latter two which she does with the grandchildren) are so ingrained in her head that the Barney song was replaced. Not to mention, the potential downside of Barney being canceled. As for now, the historical marker proudly stands in our front yard. The men who walk by realize there is hope, but all the women that walk by do my wife's favorite past time--shake their heads.

Top image, Gemini AI generated

Second image:  Google Images