Microblog

As we walked, we had to remind ourselves to stop and take in our surroundings. It was like walking through a vast botanical garden. Clouds were coming in, which will bring a drop in temperatures and maybe some rain for a few days.

Wandered inside and outside a Desert Modernist house, built 1946, designed, lived in, and extended by architect Robson Chambers. He was a business partner of architect Albert Frey who, in 1946, designed the building where we’re staying.

Hiked a loop in Indian Canyons on the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation: Fern Canyon Trail, Vandeventer Trail, and Palm Canyon Trail. It was shirt-sleeve weather (70’s) with snow visible at 10,000 feet.

Walked through four units designed in 1947 as a prototype for a planned community that never transpired. The architect, John Lautner, who was an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright, went on to bigger things.

Modernism Week (actually 11 days) has started in Palm Springs. Attended a lecture where an architect dissected Mid Century Modernism. He advocated for incorporating MCM principles and against stubborn reproduction. My favorite principle is optimism.

As we hiked Indian Canyons trails, the desert was getting ready to bloom.

Back to Palm Springs, back to an apartment we rented last year, back to watching the sun setting behind Mount San Jacinto. Snowbirds.

On my Downtown walk, a pile of balloons beckoned. Couldn’t resist a selfie.

Took a snapshot of our cloud data, almost filling an encrypted 256GB thumb drive. If all goes well I’ll never use the $20 thumb drive again.

Dwight drove to Burnsville (a suburb) to catch up with a friend at Red Lobster. Meanwhile I walked to Thailand for a solo pad thai at Sawatdee in an old (1856) building. Japan was closed today.

It’s Tip-The-Fridge Week, which preempts our traditional Sausage Saturday. Tonight we’re having carnitas from the freezer with polenta and a substantial salad. We’re still having ice cream: an intriguing small-batch pint from a local store.

On my walk, crossed a frozen Mississippi. The University of Minnesota East and West Bank campuses are directly behind me.

Looked out at our apartment (among many apartments) through a mirror-framed window at the Guthrie Theater while sipping a pre-show glass of wine. We then stepped into a world of Harlem apartments in the 1930’s: Blues for an Alabama Sky, finding family, fulfilling dreams.

My trekking pole came in handy as I clambered over an icy mound while the bus driver waited patiently.

These drugs are becoming less effective against my prostate cancer. Today I was randomized to a study drug on a phase 3 clinical trial. I’ll be injected 4 times with a drug that selectively sticks to tumor. A radioactive metal stuck to the drug may “stick it” to the tumor. I’m grateful and hopeful.

Emerged from The Gopher Way, a system of tunnels and skyways at the University of Minnesota.