Journeys 3.1

Artists were setting up displays for a weekend art show in the former Pillsbury A Mill. The front door was unlocked, so I wandered in and headed down into subterranean levels. Eventually I was caught, but they were pleasant about it. The building has been thoughtfully repurposed to a high standard as affordable artist lofts. Here, a mural and a control panel for the former mill face off.

Compared notes about our day over tonkotsu ramen at the bar counter at Zen Box Izakaya. They do serve Asahi Super Dry and Sapporo on draft, but I prefer a local Minneapolis brew, Surly Furious. In Japan, interesting local craft brews are starting to appear, displacing national brands.

Tried something new as I went about my day today: rode the Orange Line bus rapid transit, mainly along HOV lanes on Interstate 35W. You can just make out the Downtown skyline in the distance. Getting from there to here was, indeed, rapid.

I swore up and down we were still early for our annual tree blossom cycle ride today. It was slim pickings: if there were petals, they were usually on the ground. Over lunch at Longfellow Grill, a quick photo search for last year’s blossom cycle ride showed us to be about five days too late.

Cycled through the newest park in Minneapolis, Graco Park. This building, The River Hub, is net-zero with rooftop solar panels and geothermal heating and cooling. It houses high-tech equipment for a variety of activities including media arts and makers. I wanted to poke around, but it’s not open on Mondays. The area in front is for storm water runoff.

I’ve often posted about the Shikoku 88 pilgrimage, a 700-mile circular route around Shikoku, one of Japan’s main islands. Over the years, I’ve hiked to 31 of its 88 temples, some multiple times. Today I continued my tradition of posting one photo of a purification station from each temple I visited this year. Click through for the post.

Dwight’s in Fargo for Mother’s Day, so while he’s gone, it’s my job to hand-mist his orchids. We have misters on this rack, but it has currently been rolled away from the water supply and high-pressure pump.