Japan 2022

I’m in high gear planning travel. Made the first reservation for a summer 2022 backpacking trip to Japan with our nephews (they’ll be 12 and 13) and their dad. We’ll explore less popular, more remote areas. On the way home, we’ll spend time in Hawaii where their mom will join us.

Large Timber Construction

Wandered around the Minneapolis North Loop with a friend, staring at repurposed industrial buildings. Many of the modern buildings draw upon the ethos of the area. When this building (T3 Building) opened in 2016, it was the largest mass (laminated) timber building in the country.

The Ministry

The campus in this photograph became the main offices for a British government ministry in 1948. You could be forgiven for wondering if it was a prisoner-of-war camp, repurposed as The Ministry of Truth, The Ministry of Plenty, or The Ministry of Peace. The campus was originally built as a wartime hospital for wounded servicemen… Continue reading The Ministry

School of Bartending

Walked as far as the Minnesota School of Bartending. Learned that in this time of Covid, it’s holding one-on-one classes. Rode the rails back.

What is an Eruv?

Wandered with a friend in an historically Jewish neighborhood, St. Paul’s Highland Park, with a map of their eruv. An eruv is a wire on posts to define an area where it’s OK to carry stuff on the Sabbath. It turned out most of the eruv consists of existin

Doing it Right

Walked across Interstate 35W on a new pedestrian bridge (5th St SE, Minneapolis). Unlike the bridge I crossed a couple days ago in St. Paul’s Union Park District, this is wide enough for pedestrians and cyclists, has lighting, and the bridge and approach

View from a Bridge

Appreciated the warmth in the sun as we walked with a friend. Couldn’t resist taking this standard shot of Stone Arch Bridge and Downtown.