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Minneapolis tap water tastes good straight from the faucet, but our plants disagree, so we run irrigation water through fancy filters. A year ago we bought the wrong size filters and missed the return window. Today I put them up for sale on eBay, with proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders.

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.

Picked up this haul from an Asian supermarket: Japanese snack mix, Japanese mayo, Asian broccoli, Japanese curry cubes, and Japanese KitKats. Japanese egg salad sandwiches are the best, thanks to that mayo. The slightly bitter Asian broccoli nicely offsets a sweeter dish. I’ve read that over 90% of Japanese homes use curry cubes to make a curry base: just add leftover veggies, spoon some rice on the side from the rice cooker, and you have a satisfying, quick meal.

It wasn’t a protest as I cycled past people outside the U’s ice arena holding signs. It’s Welcome Week for new students, and the signs were meant to group everyone by department. Looking at them, I find it hard to believe I was ever that young when I was a fresher back in the UK.

I’m the mysterious gentleman lurking in the grimy Pedicord Apartments, part of the permanent collection at the U’s Weisman Art Museum. If you lean in to any apartment door, you can eavesdrop on what’s going on inside. ​I’m between appointments. I’ve just had the most thorough eye exam ever, including a 3D digital model of the inside of my eyes ordered by the study, hence the dark glasses.

Dinner at Forgotten Star Brewing Co., beer and burgers, sitting outside at a picnic table with friends. Life’s good.

Cycled in to the U for week six of the study. Being in the study means receiving an unsustainable level of healthcare: extensive lab workup up to three times a week, time with a physician or PA up to three times a week, blood pressure checked up to ten times a day, weekly ECGs, and scans every 8 weeks.

My nephews would’ve enjoyed scrambling on the climbing net at the foot of the beacon… maybe a dozen years ago. The beacon leans out over the Mississippi at this overlook in North Minneapolis, a short ride from our home. This was my first outing in three days: the study treatment has kept me laid low, which means it’s doing something! It felt good to be out among people clearly enjoying the beautiful day.

Perhaps this is why most people do not automate their homes! Today, I fixed a few glitches in our “smart home.” For example, when a particular scene (a group of lights) was selected, it turned on, shut back off, and then turned back on again. Generally, the smarts are hidden; light switches, for example, look and operate just like regular switches. We do like the extra layers of control, such as turning off all the lights by voice command as we leave our home.

Lazy day following another energy-sapping round of shots this week. While Dwight cooked, I read, napped, and looked forward to dinner. Everything smells wonderful, including fresh-baked focaccia and lentil soup. He made enough for tomorrow, too, when he sees his mom for lunch.

It felt like the end of our workweek at Town Hall Brewery, just a few blocks from home. For me, it marked the end of a busy week of 12 tiring medical appointments, including four hours today, with a welcome break until Monday. For Dwight, it capped off his time today in the university greenhouse. The onsite-brewed beers were excellent and paired well with the Happy Hour pulled pork sliders.

Installed e-ink picture frames in our front hall to display our photos. They rely entirely on ambient light, in this case, overhead high-CRI (Color Rendering Index) wall washers. Each frame has a rechargeable battery lasting up to a year on a single charge, with display refreshes managed via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Setting up the leftmost frame and adjusting the overhead lights are tasks for another day.

Had a great bike ride through Spring Lake Park Reserve with a friend. We’ve cycled this stretch that includes bluffs above the Mississippi, downriver from St. Paul, plenty of times, but today was different. It was the first time I actually got to see the bison up close on the restored prairie.

Spent much of today at the U, hopefully delaying a visit from the Grim Reaper. On my bike ride home, I spotted this freight car graffiti: the man himself, flipping classical Christian iconography right on its head.

On our Sunday morning walk, we spotted furniture set up on the substructure of the 10th Avenue Bridge: unexpected, possibly art, and an expense for the city to remove. This afternoon, we relocated a watercolor from another room and adjusted the placement of these Craftsman pieces. Much like the morning’s installation, our arrangement is essentially decorative.

First port of call today: stocked up on veggies and bread at our local farmers market, tucked between the Mill City Museum and the Guthrie Theater. I then cycled over to Coastal Seafoods for a nice fatty piece of Atlantic salmon, then on to the Seward Co-op for our favorite almond milk ice cream, which conveniently kept the salmon cold on the ride home.