Unky Herb (UH) came home with a couple of photos from one of his co-workers. The co-worker is the daughter of the people who did day care for UH and the Prairie Princess (PP) when they were young. The photos were part of Christmas cards that we sent out in 1993, and now 19 years later they came back. This one was a favorite of mine for that year and I don't think that I've posted it before. It was taken at a party or maybe a restaurant in that year. I post it to remind me of the circularity of experience. What goes out sometimes returns.
While walking in the surrounding neighborhood, I encountered this lawn sign: "Pelouses Interdites." I've been to France a couple of times, but I don't remember this particular sign anywhere, but I could be wrong. The sign is clearly in French and is posted in a part of St Paul that is not very well known for its French speakers, so I'm not sure why it was posted except perhaps as whimsy. My translation and that of google translate is "Lawns forbidden." Maybe it means "keep off the grass." In any case most people who are apt to read it will be as clueless as I was. Google says that if they meant "keep off the grass," they should have said "défense de marcher sur le gazon." I hope there is a better explanation of the French language idiosyncrasies than this.
I wish to express my appreciation for Gino's blog and its explanation of the location of Horton Avenue between Lexington and Hamline Avenues. I spent several harrowing moments searching for Java Train Cafe on Horton Avenue and Pascal last evening and can attest to the fact that Horton doesn't make it past the west gates of Como Park. PW and I were not lost, just a little confused about the city planners naming of streets. I'd say to stay off Como Avenue if you can, but definitely avoid it during the State Fair in late August.
We had some exercise today in unseasonably warm weather. I know we'll pay for the stretch of fine weather with a cold snap later, but it's a small enough price to pay. We hiked up to Grand to see if Pier One had baskets of a specific size and quality for the right price. Kind of fussy, isn't she? We found nada. But it was a nice day, a nice walk, and if that wasn't nice, what is?
We had dinner at Mai Village. It's still in business and the food is still good.
3 comments:
I did a Google search which indicated to me that it does, indeed, mean Keep off the Grass. The photo, however, seems to indicate Keep out of the bushes.
Communication, in any language, is fraught with peril.
Mai Village . . . I hope they stay in business.
Cute picture of the small loud ones, V2.0!
It's going to get cold anyway and we all seem to know it. It's what makes these little warm spells so sweet, I think.
Baskets for pine cones, maybe? Whatever happened to those, anyway?
Excellent photo of UH and Pster... it makes me feel all nostalgic.
"Pelouses Interdites" is the standard French term for "Keep off the Grass." Signs like that are present in the Tuilieries gardens in Paris, but not many other places there. However, outside of Paris, they generally don't want you to walk on the grass in public parks, so there are lots of those signs. It's always seemed exceedingly strange to me.
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