Posts Tagged ‘local flavor’

Busy weekend. Lots of work on Saturday.

Sunday was Father’s Day and the whole gang came over to my place (mom, dad, Michelle, Link, and uncle Dick) for potluck with a yummy Culver’s cake for dessert.

Then it was off to the Stone Arch Festival in Minneapolis to work the Textile Center tent for a little bit. Michelle and Link came by on a walk and tried their hands at weaving:

Thursday night was gorgeous. It was warm but breezy. Just about perfect.

I drove out to Gayle’s place, and since I was early I stopped at a roadside lake (I believe it’s called Parker’s Lake).

There were people fishing and boating, walking and jogging. And that lakey smell (Curiously the same smell as the water out of my pipes in my apartment–mom says St. Paul water is drawn from lakes). I saw a red-winged blackbird.

Then after I got my cat fix at Gayle’s…meet Esmeralda:

…we were off to watch her nephew Zach’s soccer game. He did really well and no goals scored on him whilst he was goalie (I just like that word “whilst”).

It was cute to see all the 6- or 7-year-olds playing.

Michelle Teel (friend from college) came up to MN for a work conference yesterday and we got together for a little sightseeing and dinner. YAY! First stop: Mall of America. Here she is in Lego Land.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Mall of America, it’s a really big mall. It even has an amusement park inside:

We left the mall for a short driving tour of Minneapolis, some lakes, and the surrounding area (due to the fact that I got lost). Then to Ichiban for dinner (Japanese-slice-and-dice-at-the-table restaurant).

After working most of Saturday on the &*%$#@*! dropdown menus for the new butterfly site, I called Gayle up to go for a walk.

We walked in the woods behind her house picking wildflowers as we went.

Then we came upon this…Kinda makes you go hmmmmmm.

Is there such a thing as a Cinco de Mayo Tree?

As unto the bow the cord is,
So unto the man is woman;
Though she bends him, she obeys him,
Though she draws him, yet she follows;
Useless each without the other!”
Thus the youthful Hiawatha
Said within himself and pondered,
Much perplexed by various feelings,
Listless, longing, hoping, fearing,
Dreaming still of Minnehaha,
Of the lovely Laughing Water,
In the land of the Dacotahs.

I doubt anyone remembers Longfellow’s poem The Song of Hiawatha. Completed in 1855, the poem is a long one, and it seems that noone studies poetry anymore.

I went today (of course after my requisite 5.36 hours of work) to Minnehaha falls in Minneapolis, named for Hiawatha’s wife in the poem. The park is lovely with many old trees.

I met Gayle, Joe (her husband), and Zach and Alex (his sons) for a picnic. But first we walked to see the falls. Here’s the view from the top:

Then we walked down, down, down. Here’s what they look like from below + me:

Here’s Joe just hanging out…

Then if you follow Minnehaha Creek down farther it feeds into the mighty Mississippi. The Mississippi looks a lot purer up here than in St. Louis. Here’s a shot up the Mississippi, including a lock and dam, taken from the confluence:

Some amazing old trees too (with Zach and Alex):

Today my mom and sister and I decorated Easter Cookies. It was fun!

Yesterday I went to the Como Zoo with Gayle. Here’s me on the ole tortoise. No, I’m not mad, just squinting into the sun.

All in all, an excellent weekend!