Microblog

Added a 4th misting zone (M4) to our apartment garden. All the tech in the photo sits in a large, slide-out disaster pan. Normally it’s out-of-sight. Misting keeps plants happy and greatly reduces the population of spider mites. You can see how the garden has evolved in a new post: As the Apartment Garden Evolves.

Tonight we’ll walk over to the Guthrie for ”A Raisin In The Sun” where a Black family buys a house in a whites-only neighborhood. The playwright based the story on her own experience of growing up in 1930’s Chicago; it was first performed on Broadway in 1959. 1930’s Minneapolis was no better as this 2020… Continue reading A Raisin In The Sun

In a part of town where there’s small businesses with names like “Ruff Love” (dog daycare) and “Eat My Words” (used books), took my bike to “Behind Bars.” Splashed out on “the most puncture-resistant pneumatic tires on the market.” I’m cycling hopefully, while not expecting miracles.

Initially, I felt my pot pie was being disrespected when Dwight suggested I could toss in some carrots “going limp” in the fridge. The carrots turned out to be OK, so in they went. I have to admit, bakes are convenient for using up ingredients that may not look their best, solo, on the plate.

Today’s cycle ride included a section I’ve never cycled before. This US Highway 61 bridge took us out of Hastings, Minnesota, and across the Mississippi. We then took the pretty Point Douglas Trail along the Mississippi to Prescott, Wisconsin.

Purchased the final tickets for a family trip this summer with our nephews and their parents. Portuguese train tickets opened up this week for our day of travel. By buying them now, we paid less than half the price closer to the day of travel. We’ve now reserved our complete journey from Minneapolis, back to… Continue reading Planes, Trains, Buses

Dwight and I have become the “Drip Irrigation Mavens” for our building’s gardening club. We built dripper harnesses (6 drippers per planter, tubing, manifold) for two planters as a demonstration, and plan to roll out to six more planters this week.

Tonight, after braised sausage and cabbage (it is Sausage Saturday): “House of Gucci.”

The setup tonight at Orchestra Hall for the Minnesota Orchestra and a 90-voice choir. It’ll take time to process a piece written in 2015: “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed,” the last words of seven Black men who were killed by authority figures.

Today I was reminded how lard makes pastry light and flakey. Out cycling with a friend, stopped to pick up Cornish pasties at a serving hatch. Savored the melt-in-the-mouth crust and tasty filling upstairs and outside at a picnic table.

When Dwight was in his working years, I liked to welcome him home to weeknight meals that had an illusion of complexity. Tonight we had one of those quick weeknight meals. Rice from the rice cooker with veggies and tilapia cooked in a broth of coconut milk (from a can) with Thai curry paste (from… Continue reading Fast Food

I enjoy gadgets. Today, I squealed with delight when my first WhatsApp message popped up on my watch and I replied with a tap of an OK button. Eat your heart out, Alexander Graham Bell. And heart is what this wearable gadget monitors for the next two weeks… just playing safe. I resisted asking if… Continue reading Gadgets

We cycled a loop: Hiawatha LRT Trail, Midtown Greenway, Chain of Lakes, Minnehaha Creek, back up the Mississippi. On a weekend, this route is busy, but not on a Monday. Stopped for a late lunch at Longfellow Grill, greeted by staff who’ve worked there since before the pandemic. Spring comes late here, and the section… Continue reading Off-Peak Cycling

Early Sunday evening, dining table undercroft.

On my cycle ride, stopped to walk around the outside of this abandoned grain elevator to take in its undulating form. Silos like this started to be built in the early 1900’s. Their forms strongly influenced the International Style that emerged in the 1920’s and 1930’s. I’ll miss this bold structure when it’s replaced with… Continue reading International Style

Towards the end of my cycle ride, the Mississippi was unusually wild, thanks to the violent storms this week.