Microblog

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.

Winter was receding as we walked around Lake of the Isles. When we lived in this neighborhood, I, along with other regulars, jogged or walked this lake almost every day. Over the decades that added up to something like 30,000 miles.

On a grey, drippy day, in a sleek place with no vowels in its name (FRGMNT), we chatted with a friend over coffee and the best donuts.

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

Avoided another trip… …to the emergency room. (There were no cones.)

Tonight I’m making one-pot comfort food: chicken and brown rice. I rarely stray from these three types of rice when cooking: sushi, Arborio, and short-grain brown.

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

With temperatures soaring into the mid-40’s, it was time for an al fresco coffee.

On my walk in St. Paul’s Union Park district, “discovered” the Aldine Street Pedestrian Bridge. It falls short of modern standards, dating back to the early days of I94, below. It’s a reminder of the communities divided and eliminated by the construction

Walked around Downtown with a friend, picking out favorite buildings. This beauty was built as a facility for manufacturing farm equipment. Today, it’s a hotel with dramatic public spaces. An atrium, with exposed timber beams, soars through all six levels

Walked to a store that’s been in business for almost seventy years to load my backpack with locally made, multicultural goodies: pierogi (Poland), lefse (Norway), and bangers (UK/Ireland).

Wheeled my bicycle over to Freewheel for a service. So many worn parts are being replaced, it’ll practically be a new bike.

Started entering data for our first joint tax return.

This weekend I’m cooking with ingredients I’ve never used before. Today: Thai eggplant. Tomorrow: oxtail.

On my walk, stopped to watch a long freight train go by. Every freight car was transporting military vehicles.

Picked up gai lan, Chinese broccoli, from an Asian supermarket. My new favorite vegetable has a stronger, slightly more bitter taste than regular broccoli. We stir-fry the stalks for a while, then add the rest. We might include garlic, fresh ginger, sugar, shoyu, and fish sauce.