Back to the relative heat of the big city

After a couple of days by Swan Lake, I left NCW by the lake and came back to St Paul. Swan Lake was still iceless yesterday, but it was cold overnight - in the lower 20's, so there may be lake ice there now, too. There is ice on Como. After an uneventful road trip home slowed only by a lunch stop at White Castle in Hinckley, I arrived home in sunshine. The Prairie Princess was here and we went for a walk at Como to enjoy the nice weather. It wasn't quite as nice as it had seemed, but it was good enough. The lake has begun to get a thin layer of ice on the surface, especially in the central part of the lake. We stopped to look at a small flock of mallards in the water. They may have been the same group that Mr Moohoo photographed a couple of days ago. I missed a good photo of them because my camera battery bogged in the cold.

The ice forms in its own way. The rock interfered with a smooth transition to solid and caused small shards of ice to pile unto the rock itself. There was a small area of open water on the leeward side.

The sky was pretty interesting. The clouds and sun had a late autumn interplay that only seems to happen in late autumn.

We finished a circumnavigation of the lake before dark and managed to get home through rush hour traffic in time for a warm dinner.  Leftover pizza.

November is a pretty long month, it seems

Here in the northland, it never got to 32º F. and yet the lakes are still not frozen over. I read in the paper that some guy somewhere around Sandstone has already gone through the ice while attempting to do a little ice fishing. Swan Lake was entirely liquid.  The clouds had a strange purplish hue, probably reflected sunlight from somewhere in the stratosphere.  At least we had no scary wind storms.

NCW had her first day of physical therapy today in Nashwauk. It'll take 15-20 sessions before she's back to full strength, but the process has to start somewhere.

Mark it down as a Sunday not to be long remembered

It was a dark, wimpy day. I managed a visit to Swan Lake and am including a current view from NCW's deck. There's not much scenic about it and could serve as a "before" picture for a "before and after" sequence. As darkness deepened when the sun moved lower in the sky, it started to snow. Just a few flurries with some misty rain. Nothing serious nor very pretty.

We did have a really tasty walleye dinner at Florio's in Cohasset. I guess that may have been the high point.

The Vikings lost big time. I did not touch my tennis racket for the first time since Tuesday.

"Sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes... well, he eats you."

It looked like I might be able to get in a walk this afternoon before the serious rain began, and I thought I'd like to scout the area north of Summit for leftover pumpkin faces. As luck would have it there was just a hint of a mist when I took my adventurous bones north towards Grand. The rain held off until I'd reached a point so far from home that I was about to turn and return to the shelter of home. Then it came down and continued for the 15 or so blocks that I needed to traverse before reaching adequate shelter. I'm home now, without any decent pumpkin face photos and with wet shoes. Sometimes you win and sometimes not so much.

But I did get one photo that at least indicates the kind of day it was. Dark and damp. I stopped near Victoria Crossing in the shelter of an overhang and took the defining photo for the day.

Tennis on Saturday: 6-4, 6-3, 2-2.

Getting old is not for sissies

It was a really nice day today. I wish that I would have finished the remaining yard work, but I was too busy with grocery shopping and tennis playing. This may be the last of the Jack O'Lantern photos. They're starting to look peaked. Sagging and down at the mouth.

I'm borrowing one of Wireless' items from her 33 "Ask Me a Question" questions.

28: can you think of anything more boring than birdwatching?

Yes, I can. Watching paint dry. Watching the same lame commercial over and over. Setting pins in one of those 1950's bowling alleys. Raking the leaves from the same lawn more than once a season. Waiting for the Zombie Apocalypse.

Actually bird watching is pretty interesting, and most birds lead a pretty complex and interesting life. I've been watching birds in various seasons and in various locations for quite a while and I actually recommend it as an enjoyable pastime. Just a few days ago there was a hawk sitting on my back fence eying the squirrels and small birds. I ran to get my camera, but just before I took the photo from inside the house, it flew off. I got nothing but a blur. It's the first hawk I've seen this close to home, but I think they've discovered the plethora of protein they can find in squirrels, rabbits and smaller birds in St Paul's urban environment.

See. Just a blur.

Oh yeah. The afternoon tennis session went pretty well: 6-3, 5-7. And I'm knackered again. GOINFS.

There is a rumor that Andy Kaufman staged his death in 1984 and is still alive in Arizona.

The Prairie Princess and I had a walk today in pretty nice weather. NCW stayed home to rest her healing ankle.  It was sunny and in the upper 40's, very pleasant for the middle of November. We walked past Linwood Park, down St. Clair and up the big stairs by the tennis courts into the Crocus Hill neighborhood. We were looking for Jacks, and talking about the quality of life in this great state, and how things have changed in the world since I moved into this neighborhood.

The Halloween decorations are still out there. Soon most will be replaced with (gasp) Christmas lights, but this grouping is still pretty attractive. There is a Jack O'Lantern, or two, among the other uncarved pumpkins and they're beginning to show their age, too. There is a short life for these orange beasts.

The Halloween decor abides. People go all out and I guess they like to see their handiwork last at least a few weeks.  That's as big a spider as you're likely to see the rest of the year.

It's November 14 and on a street a few short blocks from here there is a stretch of trees that still have refused to give up their foliage - Kelsey trees, because they never give up. They're almost all oaks and very healthy looking.

I played tennis at Wooddale Tennis Center - the Fun Zone - tonight with Jerry and the hard core girls. I'm, as they say in some parts of the English speaking world, knackered. It was fun, but I need some rest before I go out and do it again.  Tomorrow.

That Miley Cyrus thing did nothing to enhance my blog visit statistics.

Jack O'Lanterns. They are still out there on porches and steps, but they are beginning to become squirrel fodder. The ones that have been eating on this Jack seem to have done a fairly symmetric job of enlarging the eyes.

Another of the toothless variety of Jacks. This guy is in pretty good shape having so far avoided the attention of the squirrelly creatures.  But he looks a bit frightened for his future.

The oaks, at least some of them, have dropped almost all their leaves and the black scraggly branches stand out against the very blue sky.  It was in the low 50's today, a very nice November day.

NCW went to the surgeon today and he retired the walking boot. Now she has an ankle brace to replace it and a soon to be arranged schedule of physical therapy at a Nashwauk clinic. Progress.  She'll be dancing by New Year's Day.

I was back to playing tennis again today. Wednesdays I play 90 minutes at Fred Wells Tennis Center at Fort Snelling. I was about a half step off my game today, but it was still fun and I'm glad I played. 7-5, 4-1.

Miley Cyrus did no twerking in St Paul today. I looked for Jack O'Lanterns yet again

"It was the best of days, it was the worst of days." It was a cold day. The Pengilly Woman and I had to go to Penzey's Spices to get a bottle of crushed rosemary and figured we could check out the area near there for whatever leftover Jacks were hanging out.  I used the last of the rosemary this morning in a batch of three (or four) bean salad.  Penzey's has a fine assortment of spices and, as it is a spice store, it has a rather pleasant aroma. We were able to find the correct size of the correct spice and went south a block to look for our quarry. The sun was bright, but the air November-ish.

This Jacko was nestled on a porch near Dale and Lincoln. It shows a technique that I hadn't seen before, namely to use the stem for the nose. It's pretty effective and I think I like it. It is, however, beginning to show its age and is sagging a bit.

This Jack espouses the not often seen cat motif. This one is showing good resilience partly due to the 25º weather.  It was a block south on Goodrich.

My fellow Jack O'Lantern searcher is still sporting a weight on her right leg, but she was quite capable of walking the few blocks that were necessary to find these nearly two week old creations. I think we have at least until Saturday to find new ones and then I think they will seriously thin out.

We continued to Target to buy some dinner raw materials and gloves for the northern woman, who left her warm ones at home.

That Miley Cyrus stuff in the title is just an experiment to see if, by mentioning the notorious Ms. Cyrus, I can get more readers, or maybe just a few more hits. I'll let you know.

I'm beginning to weary of the search for carved pumpkins. Nineteen days to go.

It's Monday and a sunny, but quite chilly a Monday it was. The route for looking for Jacks took me further east to Crocus Hill Street and back along Fairmount. There are still quite a number of creations left outside, and today there was no fear that any rot would take place. It was too cold.

This is the best of the mouthless Jacks, a bit wrinkled, but mostly uneaten.

Another designer and carver and a little bit different look to this Jacko.  A simple design with a square nose and triangular eyes.  Just a slit for mouth.

While out and about, looking for orange fruit-like objects, we encountered another of St Paul's sidewalk poetry. Food for thought?

Unky Herb makes another guest appearance in the blog. He's shown here as he arrives in the evening, dressed for the kind of weather that we're having and are likely to continue to have for a few months.  It's nice to have a human in the blog, especially one with some orange to him.

I was going to try to work the word "bloviate" into the blog, but I see that blogger doesn't recognize it as a real word. So I guess I won't use it.

I think that this Jack O'Lantern theme has a few more days to run

I haven't given up on the theme of the month, but the pickings are starting to thin out. People are starting to toss their old pumpkins into the garbage as they rot and get partially consumed by the neighboring squirrels. It's almost two weeks since theJack O'Lanterns were stationed by front doors and on porch railings.  I've begun to stockpile photos to last through the end of the month.

NCW and I went out to find grist for the blog a little after noon. Photos and anecdotes.  This guy is nearly done. The squirrels have found him and they like how he tastes. He has only a couple of more days. All is lost.

This Jacko was previously posted on this blog on November 3. He's still around but aging.  And down in the mouth.

This is a previously unposted Jacko. It's more of the vanilla variety, but is beginning to show its advanced age.  You can see his hat through his mouth where it has settled.

This is one of the more unique yard decorations in the neighborhood. It's enough to scare you any day of the year. No need to wait for Halloween.  Interestingly, it is leashed to the tree behind it as though it were actually alive and a threat.

It was a pleasant, but chilly walk around the area. Tomorrow promises to be the first day of the season when the temperature will remain below freezing. The dark season is upon us.