Category: USA

Lake Superior prep

Tomorrow we’re heading up the North Shore of Lake Superior, so today we’re laying out stuff for packing on the guest bed. No matter how long the trip (one week, four weeks, or indefinite), we’ve settled into a pattern: one set of clothing on, plus four changes. Having access to laundry facilities and modern fabrics make all the difference.

Healing the wound

As I was cycling down this path today, I remembered it was supposed to be a freeway. In the 1970s, a huge swath was cut through Northeast Minneapolis, leveling hundreds of homes and businesses and splitting the historic neighborhood in two. Outraged residents organized and fought back, successfully getting the project canceled. While the homes built in its place lack the character of the originals, they help heal the wound and reconnect the neighborhood.

Joe’s Auto Parts

​A friend and I made up a route as we went on a cycle ride through Nordeast Minneapolis. At Casket Arts, a former factory that once mass-produced caskets and other funeralia (a word I made up), we stopped to check out current sculptures by the artists who work there. In one piece, “Joe’s Auto Parts,” salvaged car doors arranged in a grid, capped by three vintage roof ventilators, become a sculpture.

Counterculture cuppa

On my walk to Seward Co-op to pick up veggies for a lamb braise, I stepped back in time to the counterculture 1970s for a cuppa in this worker-owned vegan cafe. The double-shot Americano with a full crema was near-perfect: $3, cash-only. Angry rock filled the air, though a surprisingly sedate rendering of the British national anthem added an unexpected layer of incongruity.

All about the gram

It had been raining, so I went for a walk downtown expecting to see hundreds of red T-shirts worn by Target Corporation employees flown in for their annual jamboree. Instead, I found workers setting up photo backdrops and staging visual elements across several blocks of Nicollet Mall for a photography conference this weekend. Instagram is going to be buzzing!

Walking in the rain

Plenty of empty bike racks today as I walked in the rain past Goldie Gopher on my way to yet another scan at the U. I had decided I didn’t want a wet stripe up my back.

Railroad Island

Cycled with a friend around Railroad Island, a St. Paul neighborhood hemmed in by train tracks. An Italian restaurant, an Italian market, and a supermercado highlighted its strong immigrant ties. Riding along mostly quiet residential streets, we passed the oldest brick house in St. Paul and stopped by an urban farm holding an open house.

Hallowed ground

Walked over to the farmers market. In the shade of the Guthrie, a painting class focused on a red food truck, its faint reflection visible in the windows behind them. This space is special to us. During COVID, we held our spontaneous wedding reception here, complete with lawn chairs, alongside the two friends who witnessed our vows in the judge’s chambers.