Microblog

Installed VPN on the TV so we can ring in the New Year with TVE 1 (Spanish TV) at 5:00 pm Central Time, which is midnight in Spain. New this year: optional/necessary automatically generated English subtitles. Our home is filled with the wonderful aroma of sofrito, the base of the paella I’ll finish cooking once it’s midnight in Madrid.

A friend and I embarked on a quest to check out public art on the University of Minnesota’s east bank campus. At the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, we peered through windows, eventually finding doors to a fancy lobby housing a sculpture called Humanaissance. Noticing us testing doors, a receptionist kindly buzzed us in. I suppose our age made us look harmless enough.

Completed Himeji Castle today. It was a team effort, with Dwight building the top three floors. There’s a surprising amount of detail, including ancillary buildings and a walled courtyard. It can be opened to reveal an interior. I’ve taken this low-angle photo to highlight how the vertical tapering of the main building creates an illusion of extra height. Click through to see how tapered it is.

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned this impressive light fixture, but didn’t include a photo. Today, I happened to walk past our post office and snapped this picture. This 365-foot-long fixture was installed when the lobby was built in 1933, and it was reportedly the longest in the world at the time. I’m a big fan of indirect lighting, so I really appreciate this fixture.

Walked in a general northeast direction until rain started, as forecast. Took a bus back.

Back in April the cherry blossom (sakura) would be late at Himeji Castle, providing an opportunity to check out the most visited castle in Japan before the crowds of sakura season. I arrived early in the day, my hunch was correct, I was able to walk straight in and explore without the usual crowds. Afterward, I ordered the LEGO model. It’s an engaging alternative to our usual fall-back at this time of year: a jigsaw puzzle.

Mr. Têdé politely declined a gift of dinner for two at Owamni by the Sioux Chef, a restaurant with a national reputation and the first in the nation serving dishes made from ingredients known to the original Americans. Although it’s a short walk from our home, we’ve never been, deterred by sometimes challenging-to-secure reservations. Mr. Têdé expressed concern about the possibility of bear being on the menu.

The two of us are cooking up a storm just for ourselves. Santa’s received the “please, no gifts” notice. “I do not want what I haven’t got,” as sung by Bettye Lavette, sums it up. Grateful and contented, I am.

My walk took me to three supermarkets: Seward Co-op, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s. Along the way, caught a glimpse of these unique buildings. On the left, built in 1965 for Northwestern National Life, the building is sheathed with beautifully matched-up marble. On the right, built in 1972 for the Federal Reserve, the building hangs from 24 cables connecting two concrete towers, much like a suspension bridge.

LEGO Snow Village designed by Dwight. 4-seasons lamp made by a former colleague of Dwight’s. My grandma’s 1940’s radio; after she passed, it was in constant use by my bedside when I was a child. Model of the family’s second farmhouse, built by Dwight’s uncle; the first house was a dugout in the earth to establish homestead rights. The small stocking belongs to my snooty teddy bear, Mr. Têdé.

Today, I’m feeling lazy, so I took a shortcut with my pot of beans. I used half a container of mirepoix from Trader’s, saving me from chopping carrots, onions, and celery. I don’t know of any other store selling mirepoix, which always mystifies me. Dwight used the rest of the mirepoix to make a pea soup, adding a handful of his homegrown pea shoots and bringing it all together with an immersion blender.

Dwight was engrossed in the den, immersed in the world of architectural LEGO. His current challenge: constructing an A-frame for the Christmas village beneath the tree. Achieving an acute roof angle, while avoiding any “illegal techniques,” demands ingenuity.

The first real snowstorm of the winter, as I waited for the bus. It was a busy morning, with a little help from technology. Some students had chosen to take a job qualification test in Spanish, so I found myself pointing Google Translate at their screens so I could offer hints. In another class, I used Gemini to generate random numbers to select writing topics submitted by the students.

On my walk home from a medical appointment, I passed food delivery robots idly waiting for their next gig. I opted to dine in and enjoy a lunch I’d ordered through an app, as in-person ordering wasn’t an option. Meanwhile, back at our building, a drone was conducting an exterior inspection, scanning for any maintenance issues.

Explored the University of Minnesota West Bank Campus with a friend. Although I live next door to this campus, I saw things new to me. We could spend days going through this directory. For example, the University, incongruously, has the world’s largest collection of Sherlock Holmes materials. On the left, a snow shovel, often accompanied by a box of Ice Melt, is a common sight at building entrances in this northern clime.

Here, I’m waiting for a TTP (Trusted Traveler Program) interview via Zoom to renew Global Entry. With a simple selfie using an app as the plane arrives, I can skip immigration lines and I don’t even show my passport. Last time at O’Hare, I walked past a two-hour line and easily made my connection.