Milwaukee Avenue Historical District

On my way to Coastal Seafoods for my 20% senior discount, paused to admire the lovely car-free Milwaukee Avenue Historical District. In the 1970s, the federal government planned to replace this neighborhood with apartment buildings, but clever local resistance forced the feds to back down.

A Taste of Summer

This is the best time of year for local green beans. Got these beauties at the farmers market. Tonight I’ll serve some of them with classic comfort food: baked mac and cheese.

Categorized as Cook

Variations on a Sunday Afternoon

Cycled over to Orchestra Hall for a late afternoon chamber music recital featuring members of the Minnesota Orchestra. The final piece, “Jazz Variations on a Theme by Paganini,” ensured that most of us went home in a good mood.

Categorized as Arts

Staring at a Bridge

Diagonal elements can be problematic in LEGO, so I’ve set myself the challenge of building a LEGO Technic model that includes a strong, minimal horizontal structure incorporating diagonal trusses. Today, on my cycle ride, I studied a 140-year-old bridge, looking for inspiration.

A Taste of History

Walked with a friend and gawked at one of the oldest (1905) school buildings in Minneapolis, now apartments. Recharged at Key West Bistro with, of course, key lime pie.

Appositives

Until today, as a native English speaker, I was familiar with the concept of an appositive, though I did not know the term. Discussed the concept of an appositive, a noun or noun phrase that follows a noun and further defines or identifies the first noun, just like in this sentence. Worked through examples with ESL learners without the assistance of Google.

REAL ID

Walked over to Hennepin County Government Center with a bundle of identifying documents to renew my REAL ID-compliant driver’s license. Many people are still opting for the cheaper standard licenses which will no longer be accepted by the TSA to board flights in 2025.

Air Quality

On our Sunday morning walk, the air quality seemed to be improving as we looked towards Downtown from Boom Island. Yesterday, we could smell, taste, and see the smoke pollution from the Canadian wildfires.

Passport Covers

Posted Passport Covers. Travel influencers urge us to buy unnecessary gear, such as a document organizer, a hotel room blacklight, or an in-flight clip-on cup holder. I add passport covers to that list.