Picked up a coffee at Open Book, with its welcoming marquee, before catching a bus to school. The route passed the second marquee in Cedar-Riverside (“Little Mogadishu”). In my first class, I worked with Somali-American women studying to be Certified Nursing Assistants. In the final class, students marked the end of the semester by bringing an abundance of delicious Somali food, including, of course, the obligatory sambusas.
Category: Twin Cities
We like it here*
A cyclist, unperturbed by the chill, overtook me as I walked home after wandering around the university with a friend. (*Slogan once used to promote tourism to Minneapolis. To me, it comes over as defensive, even though I do like it here, provided we can shorten the winter by retreating to warmer climes.)
You’re gonna make it after all!*
Went on a Target run, or rather a walk, to the downtown store. En route, I passed Mary Tyler Moore/Mary Richards eternally throwing her tam in the air in front of the Dayton’s building, oblivious to the traces of yesterday’s snow on her head and shoulders. Back in the 1980s, her thirty-year-old character had moved to Minneapolis and was making a fresh start, as had I. (*Line from the show’s theme song.)
Life in a cold climate
Waiting for friends at a light rail station, I pushed a timer button to run this ceiling-mounted infrared heater. I used to view these as wasteful, but given this cold snap, I’ve come to appreciate anything that takes the chill off my bones.
From Gold to Cold
The season’s first winter storm hit overnight, leaving three inches of snow. The hard wind brought windchill temperatures into the teens. Took this photo at Gold Medal Park, then back home I retreated under my blankie and asked AI to turn the G into a C.
Graveyard grazing
Yesterday at the National Cemetery, I was impressed by the work it must take to keep the grass short around tens of thousands of grave markers. This morning, across the road from the school where I volunteer, I spotted these deer, grazing in the oldest cemetery in Minneapolis, the Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery. Some of those headstones mark the graves of Civil War soldiers.
Transformers, circuit breakers, switches, busbars, and insulators
Today I walked past this substation. It distributes power from a hydroelectric plant powered by the Mississippi at St. Anthony Falls. The plant was built in 1908 to power the streetcar system, and the same generators are still running today. It always intrigues me that the substation’s footprint is larger than the actual power plant.
Where we’ll spend our evening
Taken from the Stone Arch Bridge today, the Guthrie Theater’s architecture nods to the area’s industrial past. Its prominent “chimneys” are actually scrolling marquees. The building houses three theaters, and this evening we’ll be seeing the new play, Primary Trust, in the proscenium theater.
Reservoir Woods Park via Roselawn Cemetery
It was the day for the annual cycle to Reservoir Woods Park, where a 30-million-gallon water tank that supplies St. Paul stands atop a hill. My friend rarely misses a chance to cycle through a cemetery, and today was no exception. Here we’re looking out over the Hmong section of Roselawn Cemetery.
Discovering Fawkes Alley Cafe
Discovered Fawkes Alley Cafe, hiding at the end of an alley. I learned it’s located in a building that originally housed the Fawkes Auto Company car salesroom when it opened in 1911. The cafe is a nonprofit that supports the community by mentoring its employees and funding youth soccer for underrepresented communities. My Americano, served in a ceramic cup, was near-enough perfect.