Garden Buddha

I have always wanted a Buddha for my backyard and am frequently drawn to statues of them when I am at a garden center.  As much as I like this one I decided that the price tag was a little out of my league.

Linking to signs, signs

Dancers Together-ABC Wednesday "D"

 Visions in purple
All very light on their feet
Dancers in a park

Linking to ABC Wednesday & Our World Tuesday & Tuesday Afternoon

Teardowns to Supersize

There seems to be a growing trend in the Twin Cities of tearing down smaller homes and replacing them with supersize structures.  On Sunday the Minneapolis Tribune published an article about it with examples of newly built houses in Minnetonka, a coveted  lake area.  Although the houses that are being built in our Highland Park neighborhood are decidedly smaller than the ones mentioned in the article, these four under construction a few blocks from our home have changed the landscape of that street. . . and not for the better in my opinion.  Although  our city lots in this area are not enormous the spaces between the buildings here are decidedly narrower because the houses are much too large for the lot.  This teardown trend with supersize replacements is causing a stir in some quarters.  Is this happening in your town, too?

Meet Greg (and Karl)

When our children were small, we lived in a neighborhood alive with children; a perfect place to be if you were a child.  One family of ten children supplied baby sitters for us, one of whom was Greg. Aside from seeing him briefly three years ago at his father's funeral, I hadn't seen Greg since 1976 because we left the old neighborhood.  Last Friday he unexpectedly came roaring up to our house on his motorcycle while visiting from his home in Arizona.  We had a great time reminiscing:  just exactly what were those kids doing in the fort down in the swamp? who started the grass fires every spring? why did some neighbors complain when the 3-year-old boys were peeing in the middle of the street? why did I always refer to Greg as "a callow youth?"

Greg's siblings are scattered throughout the country and his mother is now living in Florida. Good to get an update plus getting a photo of him and one of his charges, my son Karl,  before Greg left.

Added later:  I don't know why this post occurred on July 31 instead of the above date, but here it is!  What did I do, I wonder?

Mystery Bike: Theme Day- bicycle #2

I am not sure how to decipher this old and interesting registration tag on the rear fender of a very old bike I spotted at the Highland Park branch library.  The bike itself had seen better days; I hung around for awhile to wait for the owner who never emerged while I was there.  I wanted to get a bit of history about both the bike and the rider. Sometimes you're just not successful.

August Theme Day, 2015, Bicycle #1

This seemed too pedestrian to use as my theme day photo but they have become very popular.  For the past few years, these green rental bikes have been appearing everywhere, especially around college campuses which abound in my neighborhood: St. Kate's, St. Thomas University, Macalester, and Hamline that are fairly close by.

Grocery stores and business also have racks of these bikes.

To see a gallery of bikes posted by CDP bloggers from around the world,  go here.

Tools

A place for every thing, and every thing in its place!

 1802 Alexander Dumas

Flowers and Fence

Nothing decorates a cyclone fence better than beautiful flowers

Linking to Good Fences

Used Books-Signs, Signs

Seen on a sale rack of used books, outside a bookstore on the sidewalk in Dinkytown, near the University of Minnesota campus.

Linked to Signs, Signs

A Spyder-ABC Wednesday "C"

I'd like to take a spin in this Porsche Spyder.  Care to join me?

Linking to ABC Wednesday & Our World Tuesday,  Tuesday Afternoon

1844 Gerard Manley Hopkins

Pine Bend Refinery

For years I've passed this oil refinery, noting only that it dominated the landscape beside  Highway 52.  I have always been struck by our tendency on CDP to present our city and immediate area in the best light as possible.  The beautiful people we photograph, restaurants, lovely homes, flowers, and landscapes are only a part of our environment; I thought that this would certainly be an alternative photo; something on which we all rely.  This is what I found to describe these photos:

The Pine Bend Refinery is the largest oil refinery in Minnesota, located in the Twin Cities suburbs of Rosemount and Inver Grove Heights next to southern split of U.S. Highway 52 and Minnesota State Highway 55. The refinery is notable for being the largest in the United States to be located in a state without any oil wells.  Overall, it ranked 14th in the country as of 2012 by production, with a nameplate capacity of 320,000 barrels (51,000 m) per day.^] The facility is owned by Flint Hills Resources (FHR), a subsidiary of Koch Industries.

Hands

I'm fascinated by hands and what they might say about the person.

Fountain

I know that I should wax eloquent about this water fountain but it just looks like these poor souls are barfing.

Five Former Colleagues

Last Wednesday four former colleagues and I had lunch together at Cristo's Greek restaurant in Minneapolis: Caroline, Colleen, Syb, Claudia, and Moi.  Caroline, Colleen, and I taught in the English department together for approximately 30 years, Claudia left the Social Studies/History department in 1983, and Syb worked in the Development Office. Syb and the three of us who taught English still live in the Twin Cities but Claudia flies in from Arizona to be with us on occasion. I think that we five should now go to Greece or Italy or France or Ireland or the British Isles or ??? Don't you think so?!

Rose Garden's Good Fence

The gate and fence is part of the landscape at the Rose Garden in Minneapolis

These beauties are just two of the many exquisite blossoms in the garden.  What visual pleasures!!

Linking to Good Fences

Today's College/University Campuses

The college campuses are much more civilized and inclusive in the 21st Century than they were in the past.  It is heartening to see that students with families have play areas provided for their children.


Link to Signs, Signs

Bird on Rocks-ABC Wednesday "B"

When our grandson was little we spent many happy hours in cottages on Lake Michigan.  Washington Island in Door County, Wisconsin, was our favorite hangout, and a child's picture book about a seagull was a favorite read.  I recently got reacquainted with Shelly, the seagull when we stayed in a cabin on Lake Superior.  Too bad our grandson no longer joins us on our lake outings because I know that he, too, would recognize Shelly.

Linking to ABC Wednesday and Tuesday Afternoon and Our World Tuesday

1899 Ernest Hemingway

Monday Mellow Yellows

Unusual yellow new growth on this pine tree.

Linking to Monday Mellow Yellow

Simple pleasures

Admiring the simple gifts of nature is my humble Sunday prayer.

And, a very Happy Natal Day to my favorite New Zealander!!

Kayak Instructions

Kayaks were available in the cabin/resort where we recently stayed.  I watched the man give instructions to the female in the orange kayak.  Water on Lake Superior is a tough place to learn,  and she didn't last long.  By the time I finished watching and taking a few photos she had fled and returned to terra firma.