Two pedicabs passed me on the Stone Arch Bridge. Beyond, two young people were creating content, presumably for social media, while one filmed as the other leapt across the path. Fundraisers had set up a table and were trying to attract the attention of passersby as I pressed down harder on the pedals. Off the end of the bridge, the usual Jehovah’s Witness stand was set up with two in attendance. We didn’t make eye contact, so I didn’t give my usual cheery greeting.
Category: Twin Cities
Powering the future
Cycled along a hydroelectric plant service road just below where we live, an area I’ve rarely visited. The 1903 red brick building across the river was originally a power plant for the Minneapolis streetcar system, but today it serves as the University of Minnesota’s Southeast Steam Plant. It heats nearly every building on the Minneapolis campuses and generates 20% of their electricity.
East African roots
On my steamy cycle ride, I noticed a newcomer to South Minneapolis: the Debre Selam Medhanealem Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. While I work with Muslim Somali adult learners who lived in refugee camps in Ethiopia, I don’t recall ever meeting Ethiopian Christians. Because they first arrived in the Twin Cities in the 1960s, they are generally more established and dispersed than the Somali community, which first arrived in the 1990s.
Still there
With angry rock pounding and the vague smell of fried chicken, I reacquainted myself with a St. Paul, Midway institution, Ax-Man Surplus. Nothing had changed over the decades from the iron lung to the snarky signs. As I walked out, empty-handed, the gnarly guy at the counter asked me if I’d ever thought of buying something I didn’t want. I said they now had mindshare, which seemed to be a sufficient response.
Prairie in the city
Postponed our usual Sunday morning walk because of lightning and rain. On our now-afternoon walk, a block from home, this native planting meadow was flourishing with help from the morning’s rain. Until a couple years ago, this section of city park land was weedy, cut grass. Now, it delights pollinators and passers-by.
Up and down the river
Cycled up one side of the Mississippi and down the other. Here below the Lowry Avenue Bridge, two people are fishing, with downtown Minneapolis straight ahead at a bend in the river.
A shout-out for downtown living
It’s raining on-and-off all day, so I’m staying close to home. My morning consisted of three loads of laundry intertwined with an exercycle downstairs in the workout room, Open Book for an Americano and a donut, and Trader Joe’s for dinner provisions: just a few reasons we love living in ZIP 55415, the fastest-growing urban core in the country. (The infographic is AI-generated. Maxwell’s in an 1894 building, is our usual Thursday night dinner destination.)
Pit stop at Holman Field
The objective of today’s adventure with a friend was Holman Field, a general aviation airport across the Mississippi from downtown St. Paul. It’s named after Northwest Airlines’ first pilot, who died performing stunts. The top picture shows the 1939 terminal where we popped in for a cold beer on a steamy hot day; the staff were incredibly welcoming of two grungy cyclists. The lower picture shows a gate area, where the stairs lead up to a U.S. Customs office.
Party like it’s 2026
Pushed my bike past preparations for a Prince singalong celebration later today; he would’ve been 68 this weekend. First Avenue is right nearby, the venue where he often performed and which he made famous in Purple Rain.
Building a pot of joy
Coastal Seafoods is probably the best seafood store in the Twin Cities, and it was conveniently on my walk home from my gig at the library this morning. Tonight’s menu: seafood stew with cod, halibut, peppers, onion, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, saffron, coconut milk, squeezes of lime, and anything else I can think of to round it out.