I love walking into buildings to satisfy my curiosity and to take a break from the cold. Today, on the University of Minnesota East Bank campus, I walked past these students studying medical history. Later I was offered a free donut.
Category: Japanese Concepts
Iterative Travel
I don’t do bucket lists. If a place intriques me, I want to return. I reduce the pressure to do and see everything on a trip by telling myself it’s only a prototype. It’s sufficient to experience enough to whet my appetite for the next iteration, er, I mean visit. Just as well I held… Continue reading Iterative Travel
Mexican Calories
Cycled with a friend through South St. Paul intending to refuel with Mexican ice cream. The store was closed although we were there during posted hours. Fresh pastries at a nearby Mexican bakery saved the day.
Wet Walk, Lucky Brides
On my drippy walk, “spose bagnate, spose fortunate”—wet brides, lucky brides. On Stone Arch Bridge a wedding party assembled under umbrellas. Later, a different bride leapt out of a car, dashed past me, and disappeared into the Guthrie, presumably abandoning outdoor photography.
Vacation Rentals: Embracing Imperfection
We’re in Tucson, hiking wonderful trails, with trailheads just minutes from where we’re staying. Our legs aren’t quite as supple as they once were, so we’re having a rest day. We’re relaxing in a rental apartment and contemplating a short walk out to lunch. Vacation rentals are great value, especially now, with hotel room prices… Continue reading Vacation Rentals: Embracing Imperfection
The Last Incandescent Bulb
With a high of -4°F, stayed in, continued my home energy review. All our lights are LED… except this holdout in the clothes dryer. Decided to keep the 10 watt incandescent bulb because it’s only on for a few minutes per week. Besides, it lets me healthily embrace imperfection.
Learning in a Time of Covid
In these days of Covid, travel is not an option. Instead, learning new stuff has been fueling our ikigai (getting us out of bed in the morning), and giving us plenty to talk about over dinner. Until one of our dinnertime conversations, I thought grow lights were pretty straightforward. Apparently the cognoscente measure “photosynthetically active… Continue reading Learning in a Time of Covid
Wrong Tom Wilson
Sometimes I receive emails meant for other Tom Wilsons. Today, received a $100 Amazon digital gift from a complete stranger. Thinking it was a scam, pasted the code into my Amazon account: it worked. It took several emails to convince the sender she might want her money back.
A Week in Honolulu
The snow was piling up as we waited to ride the light rail to the airport. At Minneapolis/St. Paul MSP, snow-clearing crews were keeping ahead of the snow: across four departure boards, I saw only two cancellations, probably due to inbound cancellations. The weather delayed our departure. An engineer arrived to deal with a frozen… Continue reading A Week in Honolulu
Change of Plan
Airside at MSP. Learned our connecting flight was delayed, and wouldn’t arrive at our destination until almost midnight Pacific. Changed the flights at no cost via the Delta app to tomorrow morning, then rode the LRT back home.