It was one of the nicest days in the history of Wednesdays. I played some tennis outside at Sibley High School with a few of the Gang of Geezers. The wind was mild, the sun bright, and the tennis enjoyable.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Rabbits
About a month ago I thought that I had chased away the bunny that was living in my yard. He's been gone a while, but has been replaced with Rabbit 2.0, perhaps a relative, but almost certainly a younger buck. I went outside about five-thirty and he was sitting in the grass enjoying his meal. I took his picture and chased him a bit under the impression that I might discourage him enough that he'd move on. I'll see how that theory plays out this time. I'm not very optimistic, because there are plenty of others out there. Rabbit 3.0 and Rabbit 4.0 are waiting in the wings.
It was one of the nicest days in the history of Wednesdays. I played some tennis outside at Sibley High School with a few of the Gang of Geezers. The wind was mild, the sun bright, and the tennis enjoyable.
It was one of the nicest days in the history of Wednesdays. I played some tennis outside at Sibley High School with a few of the Gang of Geezers. The wind was mild, the sun bright, and the tennis enjoyable.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Another photo of Minnehaha Falls
There have been several blog postings about the water level in Minnehaha Creek lately. I thought I'd check it out myself, and heaven knows there's not a better blog photo than Minnehaha Falls in full throat. It was as advertised. The water was high and the falls was loud. And there were lots of other citizens there to check out some of the highest water in years.
A view across the creek valley just below the falls finds a couple daring to venture out over an area that has recently slid into the creek. They're young enough to fully believe that they are invincible. I believed that about myself once upon a time, too, but my belief has softened a bit with age, and now I'm a little more careful where I walk. And once in a while I have my blood tested for glucose and cholesterol. I watched them for a while and nothing happened to them. They retreated to safety. And my recent blood tests went fine, too.
A view with the telephoto fully engaged gets us closer to the daredevils and the terrain where they are precariously standing.
We walked down the creek to Bridge 3 and crossed over to the north side of the creek. The water is spilling over its banks all the way to the mighty Mississippi.
Incidentally, the stairs to return to the top level of the falls has 134 steps. NCW counted them as we ascended to the top to return to the car and the drive home, stopping briefly at Baker's Square for pot roast pie.
A view across the creek valley just below the falls finds a couple daring to venture out over an area that has recently slid into the creek. They're young enough to fully believe that they are invincible. I believed that about myself once upon a time, too, but my belief has softened a bit with age, and now I'm a little more careful where I walk. And once in a while I have my blood tested for glucose and cholesterol. I watched them for a while and nothing happened to them. They retreated to safety. And my recent blood tests went fine, too.
A view with the telephoto fully engaged gets us closer to the daredevils and the terrain where they are precariously standing.
We walked down the creek to Bridge 3 and crossed over to the north side of the creek. The water is spilling over its banks all the way to the mighty Mississippi.
Incidentally, the stairs to return to the top level of the falls has 134 steps. NCW counted them as we ascended to the top to return to the car and the drive home, stopping briefly at Baker's Square for pot roast pie.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
May wanes
May is rapidly fading away. It's been a busy month and I have a few pictures and a few occasions to comment on. I spent last weekend in Pengilly with NCW at the lake. The septic system has thawed and the loons have returned. The loons were vocal and melodious in the evenings, getting ready for the summer up north. It was the first really nice weekend after a very long winter and cool spring, so we enjoyed the outdoor living and had a big bonfire to celebrate the return of summer.
Here's a photo of NCW sweeping the area near the lake. Nice crocs.
The city, too, is getting ready for the growing season. This is the second season of community gardens on St Clair and it seems as though the seeds are planted and the mulch in place for another year. We're having a scourge of rabbits in the Saintly City, so I suspect there will be rabbit fences and all sorts of other strategies to keep the little bleeders away from the produce.
The community gardens on St Clair are taking shape. The fences haven't yet been erected.
On my way to Pengilly I stopped in Wisconsin to check on the graves in Webster Cemetery. It was Saturday, so it seemed time to clean up the sites and put some flowers on the graves. Someone had planted flowers (geraniums) on the Anderson graves including Lillie's (maybe Uncle John?), but the Millers were untouched at that point at least. I put a pot of red geraniums on each and took some photos. It's always touched me that my parents and grandparents are all buried in the same small town cemetery.
Lillie's grave in Webster.
The Miller lot in Webster with geraniums.
Sunset on Swan Lake last weekend. NCW's son, Scott's family was there for a day and they enjoyed the sunset and the bonfire with us. This is Scott getting Ryan's fishing line untangled as the sun set in the west. It was an activity that seemed to recur as Ryan learned to cast with his fishing rod.
In tennis related information, I managed to play tennis 15 times in the month of May. It's the cutover to the outdoor season so about half were outside. I'm also playing on an over 65 USTA league team. It's an interesting situation. There only are two teams in the league. There are few players in this age group still playing league. We have played the other team, from the western suburbs, three times and have won all three. We will play them a total of 9 times, I think, and the winner of the league will be our region's representative in the age group national tournament in the fall. Perhaps in Arizona.
Here's a photo of NCW sweeping the area near the lake. Nice crocs.
The city, too, is getting ready for the growing season. This is the second season of community gardens on St Clair and it seems as though the seeds are planted and the mulch in place for another year. We're having a scourge of rabbits in the Saintly City, so I suspect there will be rabbit fences and all sorts of other strategies to keep the little bleeders away from the produce.
The community gardens on St Clair are taking shape. The fences haven't yet been erected.
On my way to Pengilly I stopped in Wisconsin to check on the graves in Webster Cemetery. It was Saturday, so it seemed time to clean up the sites and put some flowers on the graves. Someone had planted flowers (geraniums) on the Anderson graves including Lillie's (maybe Uncle John?), but the Millers were untouched at that point at least. I put a pot of red geraniums on each and took some photos. It's always touched me that my parents and grandparents are all buried in the same small town cemetery.
Lillie's grave in Webster.
The Miller lot in Webster with geraniums.
Sunset on Swan Lake last weekend. NCW's son, Scott's family was there for a day and they enjoyed the sunset and the bonfire with us. This is Scott getting Ryan's fishing line untangled as the sun set in the west. It was an activity that seemed to recur as Ryan learned to cast with his fishing rod.
In tennis related information, I managed to play tennis 15 times in the month of May. It's the cutover to the outdoor season so about half were outside. I'm also playing on an over 65 USTA league team. It's an interesting situation. There only are two teams in the league. There are few players in this age group still playing league. We have played the other team, from the western suburbs, three times and have won all three. We will play them a total of 9 times, I think, and the winner of the league will be our region's representative in the age group national tournament in the fall. Perhaps in Arizona.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Signs of Spring
It's a good time to look for signs of spring. There are a lot of them around, including yesterday's sighting of rollerbladers and shirtless runners. On one of my sauntering walks around this St Paul neighborhood, I encountered a few more and used my search engine to try to identify the flowers by their common names. In a lawn on Lincoln and in the edges of the park's grass at Linwood Park there are lots of these blue star scillas. They are always one of the first flowers that emerge from their long winter nap and a welcome sight.
The seemingly out of place white magnolia tree is nice. An early and prolific bloomer. This tree is a couple of blocks away, on Lincoln, I think. It was in the same lawn as the blue stars.
And your classic yellow Dandy Lion. These hardy beasts were growing out of a crack in a wall next to the sidewalk on St Clair. They can germinate when the soil temperature is as low as 50 degrees. Today it made it to 64º, just three degrees below the average high for the date here. It might be spring.
There is a fairly new French themed bakery on Grand Avenue, Chez Arnaud. They sell pastries as well as French style quiches. After a stop at the First Grand ATM, NCW and I stopped to see what kind of pastries were available today. They had pain au chocolate, but nothing, they said, with almond paste. We bought a pastry, pain au something else, with raisins and custard or cream filling of a Frenchy variety. To share later over a coffee. We asked, they said zero calories. We cut it in half and we did the math. Zero divided by two gave us each zero very tasty calories.
The seemingly out of place white magnolia tree is nice. An early and prolific bloomer. This tree is a couple of blocks away, on Lincoln, I think. It was in the same lawn as the blue stars.
And your classic yellow Dandy Lion. These hardy beasts were growing out of a crack in a wall next to the sidewalk on St Clair. They can germinate when the soil temperature is as low as 50 degrees. Today it made it to 64º, just three degrees below the average high for the date here. It might be spring.
There is a fairly new French themed bakery on Grand Avenue, Chez Arnaud. They sell pastries as well as French style quiches. After a stop at the First Grand ATM, NCW and I stopped to see what kind of pastries were available today. They had pain au chocolate, but nothing, they said, with almond paste. We bought a pastry, pain au something else, with raisins and custard or cream filling of a Frenchy variety. To share later over a coffee. We asked, they said zero calories. We cut it in half and we did the math. Zero divided by two gave us each zero very tasty calories.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Cinco de Mayo
A fine spring day came to visit here today. I managed to spend much of this Cinco de Mayo outside. It was 66º at one time and it felt extremely fine. I was able to finish some of my raking responsibilities and ferried the leaves and other refuse to one of the Capitol City's yard waste recycling sites. I had some branches and, because of the Emerald Ash blight that has lately arrived here, all wood has to go to a specific site. For a Monday the site was bustling. Spring has brought out the rakes and black plastic bags.
Later in the afternoon NCW and I took a saunter around Como Lake. It was nice. The signs of spring were there. The wood ducks and black birds were bustling about. The first sighting of a rollerblader. The first sighting of shirtless runners circling the water front. The first view of turtles basking in the sun. And the lineup of "Nice Bikes" by Black Bear Crossing. They were being rented and used, too. As we walked up to the lineup of bikes a mom was helping a five year old (or so) count the bikes. So I know there were thirteen of them there.
There are at least six turtles basking in the sun at the city lake.
Not much else going on just now. I'm still playing tennis four times a week and today was a day off. A welcome day off when I can rebuild my stamina to get ready for some more geezer tennis on Wednesday. We haven't played outside yet, but I think we'll be outside by Saturday. Maybe spring and summer are actually going to happen this year.
Later in the afternoon NCW and I took a saunter around Como Lake. It was nice. The signs of spring were there. The wood ducks and black birds were bustling about. The first sighting of a rollerblader. The first sighting of shirtless runners circling the water front. The first view of turtles basking in the sun. And the lineup of "Nice Bikes" by Black Bear Crossing. They were being rented and used, too. As we walked up to the lineup of bikes a mom was helping a five year old (or so) count the bikes. So I know there were thirteen of them there.
There are at least six turtles basking in the sun at the city lake.
Not much else going on just now. I'm still playing tennis four times a week and today was a day off. A welcome day off when I can rebuild my stamina to get ready for some more geezer tennis on Wednesday. We haven't played outside yet, but I think we'll be outside by Saturday. Maybe spring and summer are actually going to happen this year.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Blogger returns from hiatus
Well, that was a long time. I haven't blogged much, but it's been mainly because of lack of inspiration. The landscape has afforded very few opportunities for nice photos and that's what usually gets me inspired to write in this space. Today was pretty nice for at least part of the day, and the sun shone for enough of the day to get me outside and I even took a few photos. By the time I took them it was after five and the sun was being overwhelmed by haze. Or maybe just whelmed. But I was enough inspired and frankly, I usually enjoy the process of writing here and was beginning to miss it. So the hiatus is over for a while.
On the subject of the first photo. This is my personal wild rabbit who lives in the back yard. There are, or were, two others in close proximity. There have been instances when when there were three of them in the yard, all eating off the tops of crocuses or lilies or any other green plant that dared to rise from the ground and bare it's leaves. Those rabbits were hungry bunnies. I set about trying to discourage their continued residency in the yard. Every time I'd go out and discover them chomping on "my" vegetation, I'd make it a point to chase them around the yard until they exited to the neighbor's place. I didn't know if it would work, but I made it a little stressful for them to remain. I kept it up for about a week. It may have worked. I haven't seen any of the three in several days. That may just mean that an eagle got them, but I like to think that my strategy worked. This is a photo of the most brazen of the three before he left the yard.
It was a beautiful Sunday for most of the day. I had a walk around the neighborhood in the morning with NCW and then did about an hour of yard work. I raked the front lawn and spent some energy sweeping up the crushed rock that I'd deposited on the ice on the sidewalks a couple of months back to keep from falling and breaking a leg or a skull. I think I'll be able to use the rock again next year, because I think the ice will return. This is another recycling strategy and I feel pretty good about it.
After about five o'clock NCW and I took a trip over to Minnehaha Park to see how the falls are doing. And to get a little exercise. The creek has high water and the falls are roaring. I've posted so many photos of the falls in the past that this time I'm posting a photo of the nearby Hiawatha and Minnehaha statue on the island in the middle of the raging creek. We walked around the park a bit, too. There were lots of people out and about. The Se Salt restaurant at the park was open and humming. A line of hungry Minneapolitans strtched out the door. There were bikers galore going by and I even saw a young guy running in shorts without a shirt. After all, it was nearly 60º.
Hiawatha and his maiden, Minnehaha, are situated in the same spot since they were placed there in 1911 - over a century ago. The leaves of the surrounding bushes are just beginning to emerge. Spring!!!
Hooray, hooray, the fifth of May,
TT's blogging resumes today.
On the subject of the first photo. This is my personal wild rabbit who lives in the back yard. There are, or were, two others in close proximity. There have been instances when when there were three of them in the yard, all eating off the tops of crocuses or lilies or any other green plant that dared to rise from the ground and bare it's leaves. Those rabbits were hungry bunnies. I set about trying to discourage their continued residency in the yard. Every time I'd go out and discover them chomping on "my" vegetation, I'd make it a point to chase them around the yard until they exited to the neighbor's place. I didn't know if it would work, but I made it a little stressful for them to remain. I kept it up for about a week. It may have worked. I haven't seen any of the three in several days. That may just mean that an eagle got them, but I like to think that my strategy worked. This is a photo of the most brazen of the three before he left the yard.
It was a beautiful Sunday for most of the day. I had a walk around the neighborhood in the morning with NCW and then did about an hour of yard work. I raked the front lawn and spent some energy sweeping up the crushed rock that I'd deposited on the ice on the sidewalks a couple of months back to keep from falling and breaking a leg or a skull. I think I'll be able to use the rock again next year, because I think the ice will return. This is another recycling strategy and I feel pretty good about it.
After about five o'clock NCW and I took a trip over to Minnehaha Park to see how the falls are doing. And to get a little exercise. The creek has high water and the falls are roaring. I've posted so many photos of the falls in the past that this time I'm posting a photo of the nearby Hiawatha and Minnehaha statue on the island in the middle of the raging creek. We walked around the park a bit, too. There were lots of people out and about. The Se Salt restaurant at the park was open and humming. A line of hungry Minneapolitans strtched out the door. There were bikers galore going by and I even saw a young guy running in shorts without a shirt. After all, it was nearly 60º.
Hiawatha and his maiden, Minnehaha, are situated in the same spot since they were placed there in 1911 - over a century ago. The leaves of the surrounding bushes are just beginning to emerge. Spring!!!
Hooray, hooray, the fifth of May,
TT's blogging resumes today.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Some baseball on a birthday
It's Thursday and NCW and I were able to get free tickets (from LendSmart Mortgage) to see the low down Twins play some baseball at Target Field in Minneapolis. We took the light rail for a 12:10 start. It was 61º in the sun, but colder in the shade. The Twins were colder yet and went down in a very feeble way 6-1 to Oakland. It was nice to see some outdoor baseball in a really nice stadium, though. Spring is here and so is the baseball season.
It's birthday season, too. Unky Herb's birthday was last Saturday and today it's the Prairie Princess who is marking another year on the calendar. I think we'll have a nice dinner at a fancy eating establishment and celebrate the day.
It's birthday season, too. Unky Herb's birthday was last Saturday and today it's the Prairie Princess who is marking another year on the calendar. I think we'll have a nice dinner at a fancy eating establishment and celebrate the day.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
A Good Moo-ed
Who doesn't appreciate a good cow sculpture?
As it turns out there is a very nice cow sculpture in the linear park near the bridge to Punta Gorda. We had a walk over by it this early afternoon and it struck my fancy. And who doesn't like to have their fancy struck?
It was a slower day than some in the recent past, but still pretty nice. We did some shopping, some cooking and a bit of hot tub soaking. It's nice to have the sun shining all day and realize how strong it is. I think the northern snowbanks are going to be hard pressed to keep from melting away soon. And it can't be any too soon.
As it turns out there is a very nice cow sculpture in the linear park near the bridge to Punta Gorda. We had a walk over by it this early afternoon and it struck my fancy. And who doesn't like to have their fancy struck?
It was a slower day than some in the recent past, but still pretty nice. We did some shopping, some cooking and a bit of hot tub soaking. It's nice to have the sun shining all day and realize how strong it is. I think the northern snowbanks are going to be hard pressed to keep from melting away soon. And it can't be any too soon.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Annual Imperative
March 4th. March forth.
NCW and I visited Gasparilla Island to play some tennis with John and to search for shells and walk on the beach next to the Gulf of Mexico. NCW took this photo just before we began playing our abbreviated set. The players are TT and one of the tennis geezers who lives in St Paul, but vacations here, John. We quit early to catch the ferry to the island. It was a good idea. I was hot and getting heated. I've now played three times during this trip.
Shelling on the beach at Gasparilla Island. NCW, Beth and John. The beach and the aqua colored sea water are quite striking. NCW gathered some nice shells and a nice collection of million year old shark teeth. Ask her to see them.
The bad news is that both NCW and I sunburned our feet. Another lesson relearned.
NCW and I visited Gasparilla Island to play some tennis with John and to search for shells and walk on the beach next to the Gulf of Mexico. NCW took this photo just before we began playing our abbreviated set. The players are TT and one of the tennis geezers who lives in St Paul, but vacations here, John. We quit early to catch the ferry to the island. It was a good idea. I was hot and getting heated. I've now played three times during this trip.
Shelling on the beach at Gasparilla Island. NCW, Beth and John. The beach and the aqua colored sea water are quite striking. NCW gathered some nice shells and a nice collection of million year old shark teeth. Ask her to see them.
The bad news is that both NCW and I sunburned our feet. Another lesson relearned.
Monday, March 3, 2014
Florida Tennis
I played five sets of tennis during this week here so far. We went to Spring Hill where my high school tennis coach has retired and continues to live with his wife. He coached at Greenway High School from 1958-61 and left that year to a job in the Twin Cities at the same time that I went off to college. He was a young coach, just eight years older than me, in his first job. We're a bit older now, 71 and 79, but he still plays tennis twice a week and golfs twice, too. My schedule is similar, four days of indoor tennis in a cold city. We've reconnected and have played tennis in February for about the last six or seven years (since 2007). He lines up some other older gents to play and we see if we still have what it takes.
Here we are getting ready to play last Friday on hard courts. It was morning so I was still wearing my Minnesota vest for warmth.
Paul still can hit a tennis ball with authority. Here he's lining up a backhand. Photo by NCW.
The team picture at the end of the third set. We played for two hours on hard courts in the morning of our first day there. The scores were 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 and all competitive and fun against two good guys. Ken is the lefty on the left, Kevin, from New York is next to him. Paul is third from left. TT in blue.
The second of our two matches was played on clay - the so-called soft surface - on Saturday. Paul and I split sets with Terry and Dan 6-7, 6-4. But we quit before anyone was badly hurt or fell down or anything drastic like that. Terry was from Cincinnati and Dan, on the right, originally from Kansas. I'm wearing my Twins spring training tee shirt, just so people knew that I appreciate underdogs. Photo by Barb Q.-B.
We had a couple of days to reminisce about the old days and the years in between. We also ate well and had a look at some Florida real estate for entertainment. It was a couple of days well spent. Especially the tennis.
Here we are getting ready to play last Friday on hard courts. It was morning so I was still wearing my Minnesota vest for warmth.
Paul still can hit a tennis ball with authority. Here he's lining up a backhand. Photo by NCW.
The team picture at the end of the third set. We played for two hours on hard courts in the morning of our first day there. The scores were 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 and all competitive and fun against two good guys. Ken is the lefty on the left, Kevin, from New York is next to him. Paul is third from left. TT in blue.
We had a couple of days to reminisce about the old days and the years in between. We also ate well and had a look at some Florida real estate for entertainment. It was a couple of days well spent. Especially the tennis.
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