Microblog

Marriage tip #23: Fill the home with the aroma of freshly made sofrito just before the husband returns from a long drive from Fargo where he stayed with his mom. Tonight: cauliflower and bean paella. Recipe.

The theme of today’s cycle ride was star architect, Ralph Rapson. Met a friend at the 1971 Rarig Center at the University of Minnesota then went on to mainly single family homes. We have several pieces of furniture based on Rapson’s designs.

Ready to deliver my twice-weekly “Phlebotomy as a Third Language” tutorial over Google Meet. English is the second language, Somali the first. I use slides from a phlebotomy certification course, but focus on the language rather than the practice of drawi

Dwight bought way too much broccoli at the farmers market, then drove up to Fargo to see his mom for a few days, leaving me with the broccoli. I roasted it, which halved the volume, set aside enough for two or three meals and froze the rest. I’ll use the chopped stalks in soup.

Stopped at Five Watt Coffee for a cuppa. “California Dreamin” was playing in the background and inevitably became an earworm. On the way out, a red elevator lobby demanded my attention.

There were frequent “rain showers” inside our home as I finished up expanding our homegrown automated plant misting system into three separate zones. An ultraviolet water purifier minimizes the possibility of Legionnaires’ Disease from inhaled, contaminated droplets.

Sipped champagne outside Orchestra Hall before donning masks and heading inside to a full house of vaccinated people. The season opener of the Minnesota Orchestra, with Joshua Bell on the Strad., had interesting juxtapositions I may never figure out.

On our walk: the Fairfield Chair Company had set up a pop-up showroom in Gold Medal Park for some interior decorators.

Fall colors were starting to come in as we cycled the lovely Red Cedar Trail, starting in Menominee, Wisconsin.

Woke up to an unusually pink sky, presaging much-needed rain. Living in an apartment, we’re more aware of the sky and less aware of trees than when we lived in a house.

Roasted Brussels sprouts, deconstructed eggplant parmigiana.

On my cycle ride, foraged for local products that might be low on the nutrition scale, but essential nonetheless: Bauhaus beer (brewed in Minneapolis), Peace Coffee (roasted in Minneapolis), and Izzy’s ice cream (milk from Wisconsin cows).

Just noticed that, in my absence yesterday, my water bottle had been repurposed for plant propagation. Occasionally, with permission, Dwight comes home from his volunteer job at a greenhouse with cuttings that would otherwise be composted.

Flew to Chicago, walked, flew home. My “find” was the Thompson Center in the Loop, a postmodern building, with a huge atrium, a teardown candidate. Later, at the Chicago Architecture Center saw inspiring winning entries for a competition to transform and

“Discovered” the docket app today: it displays all my immunization records logged by the Minnesota Department of Health, back through decades, whether I went to a clinic, a mass-immunization event, or a pharmacy. I’m impressed.

Cycled downtown to pick up meds. Before cycling back, looked up at the Foshay Tower (1929) framed by buildings of the IDS Center (1972). The Foshay was the tallest building in Minneapolis at 447 ft (607 ft including the antenna mast) until the IDS Tower (792 ft) was built.