Microblog

Cycled past this building. It was falling down until developers rescued the surviving structure. Nearby, apartments are going up on brownfield land. We’d planned to have dinner here with friends, but postponed: both friends have had COVID, one still tests positive.

Built then pulled apart a LEGO mechanism that didn’t pass muster as part of a larger mechanism. Time for more research, a better design, another iteration. Often, there’s more to learn from failure than success.

Admired a modest shrub Dwight had transplanted for our building’s gardening club. We support replacing some lawns and mulch with native grasses and other plantings, but many of our neighbors probably prefer things as they are.

Tied up my bicycle at Carma Coffee. (The owners operate a car repair business across the road, hence the spelling.) There was a line, so I pedaled to Mojo Coffee Gallery where I ordered an Americano.

I have several favorite viewpoints around the Cities. Today I cycled to my favorite railroad perch, the St. Anthony Parkway Bridge, spanning 22 tracks. There was so much activity, it started to feel unreal: I imagined myself towering over a busy model railroad.

Inside, featureless faces stared out from a wall while two men sat at laptops. “How did you find us?” one asked. “I was cycling past and noticed the open door,” I replied. Perhaps anticipating another prosaic response, he didn’t ask for my thoughts about the art. Or, maybe, he’d already asked.

Sometimes we just don’t feel like cooking dinner, so we head across the road to our neighborhood bar, Maxwell’s. ”The usual?” she asks. “The usual,” we agree. Reubens with coleslaw for us, Summit EPA for him, Surly Furious for me.

Cycled the lovely Gateway and Brown’s Creek State Trails to Stillwater. Crossed the St. Croix River on the car-free Stillwater Lift Bridge. Enjoyed a short delay on the way back from the Wisconsin side.

My cycle ride took me to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Fireplace in St. Paul’s Como Park. Kilmer was a poet (“I think that I shall never see, a poem as lovely as a tree”) who was killed in the Second Battle of the Marne in World War I. He never visited Minnesota.

Finally completed a Web page about the family trip to Spain and Portugal in July. The carousel at the top has long-form posts, and the timeline, below, documents something about each day. Click through for a link.

Dwight’s in Fargo visiting his mom, so I “went” to Japan. After age gyoza then tonkotsu ramen with a side of Japan Times at a local izakaya, walked back past wedding parties striking poses, and sports fans in no hurry to get to the game. Back home, streamed an emotional, visually expressive manga movie filled… Continue reading Sights, Sounds, Tastes

Soaked to the skin, we need the rain.

Drove an electric vehicle for the first time ever. I’ve signed up for a carshare program, no subscription fee, billed by the minute. You find the nearest car on a map then drop it off at just about any regular street parking spot… which I did, right outside our building.

Looked up at a Downtown sidewalk reflected in a mirrored canopy: two men playing a supersized game of chess, me, my bike, sidewalk art, all reduced to a common visual style.

Cycled from Fort Snelling along the river to this view of St. Paul at Indian Mounds Regional Park. Cycled back mostly on the other side of the river.

On my “best of summer” list: cooked-to-order breakfast sandwiches from Bread & Pickle at Lake Harriet.