Central Standard Time Arrives

The first day of CST - Central Standard Time. I awoke early to chat with Kagami Sensei from Ogaki City in Japan. The normal 8 am time here moved back to 7 am, so I pretended that the clock hadn't changed until after the chatting concluded. She's been having some trouble with one of the Japanese teachers she's trying to help. He makes up lessons for the English classes and tends to use wrong English expressions without checking for authenticity with KS. He made up a song in English and used the word "clothes", but pronounced it like it had two syllables "clothe - es", and then taught it to several classes. KS objected, but he wouldn't change it because it changed the rhythm of the song. Americans are not the only nationality with obstinate old men.

In any case KS is still doing well.

The photo is a lovely oak tree on Summit Avenue that still owns its leaves.


I took an afternoon walk in the late fall sun with Herb. The evidence of the just passed Halloween holiday is still around. There are lots of sunken cheeked jack o'lanterns, many that have been gnawed by the herds of squirrels who are getting ready for winter.

I'll be playing tennis tomorrow and voting on Tuesday.

Campaign Season

I've been thinking about the challenge to blog every day. It seems like it might be easier if there were a theme for November. After walking around the neighborhood, mostly to the west, it became clear to me that it is political season. In St Paul there is an election next Tuesday to elect school board honchos and city council members. There should be fodder in that to fill up a couple of day's blogs. There must be a campaign sign or two that is odd, or perhaps uniquely St Paul in some way. I'm posting this campaign sign for two reasons: 1. It is a blue sign and thus fits yesterday's "blue" theme. 2. I had an uncle David Peterson, but I know that it is not him running for school board. This Dave is a 60 year old Republican who has retired from printing industry consulting. I may have to cast a ballot for Uncle Dave. St Paul, a strongly Democratic city, has only one Republican on the school board.


Another of my possible schemes to fill dead space on this blog is to do some restaurant reviews of the eateries on Grand Avenue that are within walking distance of home. I'd have to do it from some odd vantage point, like maybe look into its vegetarian offerings. This is just a work in progress at the moment.

I have a two picture commentary on Halloween and wildlife, squirrels in particular. I ran across this creature eating on a jack o'lantern on a porch somewhere to the west of here. Any squirrel with a taste for pumpkin is in hog heaven this week. There are so many former jack o'lanterns in front of houses that will feed the squirrels, that I sense a population surge of these creatures in the near future. Maybe there is work for a squirrel Jenny Craig.


Another shot of the squirrel, chewing on his feast, while the damage to jack is readily apparent behind him.


Squirrels are vermin.

There was no tennis for me today. I'll be on Wooddale courts tomorrow morning with the geezers.

Squirrels Are Vermin

On my last trip to Park o'Minnehaha, I came upon a dead tree trunk standing in the park. It has a tiny door built into the trunk at about eye level, and hinged, decorated and supplied with a tiny handle. See photo. I'm suspicious that it was put there by Carl P., but who knows. As curious as I was, I opened the door slowly and the fake squirrel tail slowly sailed out. You can see it in the photo. A practical joke trap! If I had opened it rapidly as many would, I would have been startled by the "squirrel" on a spring jumping out at me. What is this doing in a public park in Minneapolis?


A beautiful day again, nearly 70 and sunny most of the day. No tennis.

Spurs sweep

I heard the forecast calling for the 5th straight day of 90's, so I, too, took a morning ride. I finished at 11:58 am. It was fairly pleasant and I haven't been to Fort Snelling on the bike for a long time. I went over the 35E bridge on the way, and, on the bridge, took the picture of a rock-filled barge as it passed in front of the Lilydale Yacht Club. My camera battery gave up the ghost there, so the remainder of the ride was pretty much photo free. The path down into Fort Snelling Park, where the entrance to Pike Island exists, was closed, the sign said, so I took the alternate path along the highway to Minnehaha Falls and the Ford bridge and then up Jefferson towards home. I ran into a pipe smoking biker on the way, a rare breed in these parts, and almost guffawed. He had his own ozone advisory area that he was carrying around with him. An odd piece of behavior for someone biking to stay healthy. I finished the ride with 15.75 miles.


The farmer's market was open by St Luke's Chuch at 1:15, so I stopped to see what they were selling this early in the season. Some guy had tomatoes. He said that he planted them in the ground in February. "They looked fabulous." And there was zucchini and cukes, and snap peas. And lots of onions. I bought tomatoes and zukes.

More scanner fun. You have to love this technology. This is the 1959 issue of GHS tennis team. They don't look much like tennis players except they wield tennis rackets and most are wearing tennis shoes of the day. Name the players and win a "brand new car." (just a match box car, sorry.) If you get the racket makes, there is an old Wilson racket here I'll let you have. There are no Bouchards in the picture, but maybe a Sobczak.


I discovered through google that only gray squirrels are considered vermin in many areas of the country. The red ones are the nice squirrels. This smacks of racism and should be stamped out. Do this google command "squirrels are vermin" for the definitive proof.

San Antonio wins NBA crown in four straight games over Lebron James.