The Fanciest Bench Ever

It was a nice day and tennis had been canceled by the Fort Snelling Tennis Club management because it's Easter. The geezers could have played outside, but instead took the day off. In the absence of a real plan for exercise, after lunch, I took a bike ride. It's real early for me to be biking much and a long ride was out of the question. So I took the short ride to the state capitol and environs. Because I've been on the lookout for benches lately, I was pretty impressed when I came across the bench below in the sculpture park just east of the downtown Sears store. It's the nicest one that I've come across to date.



After looking over the area around the capitol, I continued my ride to an area that I haven't visited on a bike or on foot in a number of years. In a little park by Bethesda Hospital I saw this fancy statue of Linus that was created for the summer sculpture program a few years back that filled St Paul with statues of Peanuts characters. This is one of the more colorful ones that I've seen. Trek for scale.


So my ride was about 10 miles and is the longest of the year. It's pretty puny by some standards, but I'm happy to have been out and to have returned without serious incidents. It was one of the nicest weather days for Easter that I remember.

Nothing says Easter like sauerkraut and brats. So that's what I fixed for lunch. It was pretty tasty, too. I suppose I should put the recipe on the family recipe blog, but not today.

Blue Flowers Down by the River

This early in the spring it is always gratifying to find flowers blooming outside. Except for the crocuses, these are the first outsiders that I've seen. I don't think that they are native, but they are blue and plentiful. There are also some white flowers mixed in for contrast. I found them in Crosby Farm Park, planted in a flower bed in the middle of the turnaround point very near the path that leads to Upper Lake, the home of the beaver lodge.



This is a closer look at them. I'd like to know what variety of flower they are. Blue somethings, maybe?


I was in Crosby Farm Park early this afternoon after returning from indoor tennis at Wooddale. When I was last in the park it was very difficult to get to Upper Lake because the Mississippi River had flooded the area. It was better today, but there was still water over some of the paths and mud on some, too. But there were quite a few people out to explore the area on a pretty nice April weekend. I don't think I've ever seen this many folk in the area, to be honest, but after a long winter it's nice to get out into nature again. There were even some people on bikes riding through the puddles and braving the mud. None of the bikes had the skinny tires favored by bike racers, just fat tires and curious riders.

PP and I installed a new bike computer on her Bianchi yesterday and today. I mostly did trouble-shooting when the display failed to get data from the wheel sensors, but in the end we succeeded and she set the display data to zeroes and went off on her bike, good Will hunting.

Happy Easter.

Guess Who's Back from White Earth

It was such a nice day, that even I was coerced into riding my bike. The mileage got me into single digits for the month and double digits for the year. PP wanted to bike over to the garden plot at Hamline and see if her perennial plants were coming up yet. She showed some enthusiasm for the ride - her first bike ride of the year - by pretending to fly. The ride was only 6.25 miles, but enough for a start. After all, I had tennis to play tonight with Jerry and the hardcore girls.


A word or two about my trip yesterday to the History Center in search of more info about George Miller, the last of my ancestors to live in the Alsace region of France, and that in 1828. This was done with an eye to perhaps doing some more research when I visit France later this year.

It was a trip to the History Center to find a reference book - "The Alsace Emigration Book." I found volume 1, but not volume 2. There were just a few Millers in the book and no George or Jean, or Jaçon (Jaçon?), Marie Elisabeth (not Elis.), or Marie Roni (perhaps Rom). Maybe volume 2 has something, if I can track it down.

The Ancestry.com site, which is available there, did add some tantalizing details. I did a search for George Miller (aka Grossfather), born in 1823 in France. An entry from the 1880 Federal Census from Missouri (done in April, 1880)shows a George Miller, born in 1823 in Alsace. It could be Grossfather, but he is married to Caroline Miller, 47, and has a 17 year-old son, George Miller, and an adopted daughter, Corinne, 3. He was a grocer in St Louis township, St Louis County, Mo. The 17 year-old son would have been born in about 1863, around the time that Grossfather disappeared for 28 years. When he returned Sept 10, 1888, the Crawford County Journal article indicates that he was gone for 28 years and was visiting from Missouri. He must have left Prairie du Chien in 1860.

There is also a George Miller, born in France in about 1823, a servant in a hotel in November, 1880, working for a Barbara Heckler. He was in Clinton, Henry County, Missouri. Could they both be him? There is quite a distance between Clinton and St Louis.

And then tonight there was tennis at Wooddale. We played two very good and very close sets, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5). The biking took some of the starch out of my game, but all in all it was a good match and I was glad to be off the court. I think I will sleep well tonight, except that later I did have the curried Singapore Rice Noodles from Yang's and that be a constraining factor to a good night's slumber.

Aerial view of the next Grand Slam tennis tournament

The big tennis tournament in France is held in the latter part of May into June. Bjorn Borg won the men's singles six times, Chris Evert won the women's singles seven times. By the magic of google, I have a bird's eye view of what the courts look like. There are three stadiums of sufficient size to hold a big tournament, and all the courts are composed of European red clay. It looks like a nice place to spend a couple of days in late spring.



The weather in St Paul is granting some preseason outdoor tennis play. Tomorrow. But today was a rest day and a chance to go to the History Center. There could be a reference book there ("The Alsace Emigration Book") that may be able to tell me the home town in the Alsace of one George Miller. He left France in 1828 at the age of five in the company of his dad, Jean Miller, and some other family members - three women and girls, Jacon and two Maries - to come to America. They arrived in New York on the good ship, Parachute, on May 14, 1828. He later took on the nickname Grossvater, married Harriet C. Bowen in Indiana, and became my great great grandfather - not necessarily in that order. The book I was looking for may be in the Minnesota History Center genealogy library, but unhappily, after a long walk to the building (to avoid paying outrageous parking fees) I discovered that the place is closed on Mondays. This search will be taken up another day.

Pay phones are now half a buck to use

Sunday afternoon tennis was played inside again at Fort Snelling. The first outside match is tentatively set for Tuesday when the weather is expected to be very un-Marchlike for an actual March day - maybe into the 70's. Woohoo! My play on the court was better today, aided in part by the fact that I stretched and warmed up ahead of time. The players of geezerhood managed a few very good shots and a few that were perhaps unconscious or more likely lucky. As we left we decided that it's a very good thing that we've been able to play this well and this often into our dotage, and that if we quit we would likely soon thereafter, die.

Anyhow, after tennis and a nice lunch of leftover Papa Murphy's veggie pizza, I decided to see if there was any ice on the lakes in Minneapolis. I have seen Como in St Paul and the ice there is pretty much gone - a little blown to the downwind shore is about all that remains. I decided to circumnavigate Lake Nokomis and see if the water was all liquefied. As the photos demonstrate, there is still ice piled on the shore. There is still ice on the lake surface, too. I guess Nokomis is enough bigger and perhaps deeper than Como to allow it to keep its ice longer.



A closer view of the piles of ice.


I read on the Internet earlier today that almost all of the pay phones in this country have vanished. They were no longer needed because of all the cell phones in the hands of the populace. I went searching to see if I could find a working pay telephone. I found three locations where signs indicated pay phones. The first, at a gas station was missing the phone. The second, at Fort Snelling had a phone, but it was not in working order. This one, the third, was at West Seventh and Snelling Avenue. It actually worked when I dropped a quarter into the slot. As it turns out, pay phone calls are now fifty cents. Who knew?


Time scrams.

Friday Again

The crocuses are persistent and are more numerous as the spring vacillates. They are the first flowers of the year, and although tiny, deserve admiration.


The one o'clock tennis session with the geezer group was at Fort Snelling tennis facility today. My play was pretty erratic and my normal confidence in my shot placement was noticeably absent. We split 6-3 sets and called it good enough. Some days, one can feel like he is going to play well and warm-ups seem to confirm the thought. Then the first few shots go awry and the tennis gets iffy. So it goes. Tomorrow is another day.

Crosby Farm is Flooded and Closed

A chilly March day after a string of pretty good Minnesota spring days gave me pause, but since the river crested yesterday, I wanted to see the beaver dam on Upper Lake. The weather creatures have been saying that this is the eighth worst flood on record at 18.5 feet above flood stage in St Paul. Around noon I drove to Crosby Farm and parked. Across the river from the top of the hill I could see Fort Snelling and Pike Island below. The photo below shows Pike Island and the Mendota Bridge in the far background. Pike Island is inaccessible and flooded. I soon found that Upper Lake is also inaccessible. So the beaver dam will have to wait for the water level to ebb. I had a nice brisk walk through the part of Crosby Farm that is still above water, and I managed to get enough exercise for the morning.



The Thursday night mixed doubles went a little late tonight because the next players didn't show up. We played on and were able to get in three complete sets - 6-3,7-5,6-4. We've been changing partners for the last few weeks, weekly, and playing the whole session with the same teams we began with. Tonight I was paired with Becky, against Jerry and Barb. Good tennis and no bickering. Then off to Yang's for grand chicken.

PP is still at White Earth while her car is being repaired. A minor parking lot wounding. She'll be back next week. Unky Herb is off to Chicago again this weekend in the Corolla. Busy. Busy. Busy.

The Mississippi River in St. Paul Reaches High Water Mark

The Mississippi in St Paul crested today - or maybe tomorrow. Since I've been amusing myself with the consequences of the spectacle of too much river to fit within the banks, I went to the river try to record the high water mark. It was harder than I expected. The St Paul police, in keeping with their duty to protect the public, have blocked off most of the routes to the river with orange plastic fencing. And they have assigned some officers around the area to catch the stragglers and those who don't read signs very well.

I took this picture from the Wabasha Bridge overlooking Raspberry Island. The railroad bridge just down river from Raspberry Island has amassed a clog of tree trunks, branches and various other pieces of junk. The protectors of the bridge decided to clear the clog and sent out the heavy equipment on the tracks. I spent some moments on this pretty day watching guys work on unclogging the Mississippi. I assume they successfully completed their task, but I went on to try and get a picture of the Harriet Island water level.



I managed to find an area where the orange fencing was missing and was able to get to a vantage point where I could see the great lawn of the island and the river beyond. I hurried to take the photo because the St Paul cops (in the photo) were on their way. Shortly after the photo I was accosted by an officer who explained politely that the park is closed and that I should scram. I engaged in some conversation, drawing on my stature as a senior citizen, and asked if I might take a photo or two more. She explained that if she let me do it there would be a crowd of other folk expecting the same privilege. That, of course, is the standard line that is always used on juveniles to shut off the fun. It worked on me, too. No arrest was necessary. I thanked her for her service and walked out to my auto. Then I drove to the lookout near the high bridge for more viewing.



No tennis today, but tomorrow starts my four days in a row. The outdoor courts continue to look inviting, but it's still a little chilly and the wind is also a factor.

Marching On with Soggy Boots

It's getting to be springy. The crocus plants outside my door are relentlessly pushing up through the old growth around them. It's sure nice to have flowers again. Soon there will be tulips and that most relentless of all flowers - dandelions.


The flood down by the river continues to progress. I went down to check out the current state of Harriet Island. The big open lawn where the Taste of Minnesota occurs every July is flooded and Raspberry Island is closed to the public - too dangerous, the signs say. I was at Harriet Island around noon and there were a lot of people using the sidewalks that were still open. The running folk from the businesses in the area were pounding the pavement and gawkers with cameras, me included, were out and about taking photos of the spectacle. The crest, the high point of the flood, has not yet arrived, but will in a day or two. The river is quite wide, but I don't think that any buildings are threatened. That's the river bed, on the other side of the sidewalk in use by strolling citizens. The St Paul Cathedral can be seen in the background, Science Museum to the right in the frame.


I took a photo from up on the hill to show what parts of Harriet Island are flooded. The Wabasha Bridge is on the far right. Unless you live near the floodplain, this flood is pretty much a non-event.

Outdoor tennis is coming soon. I actually have seen some of the St Paul courts in use, but I'm still attached to my indoor schedule.

St Patrick's Day

The Irish got a really nice day for a parade. I decided to park by Harriet Island and go see if I could catch a leprechaun. On the way, I passed by the big river getting ready to overflow its banks. This photo was taken on Raspberry Island a little before noon. The river is full of ice chunks and woody debris. And moving fast downstream. There will be some real flooding in St Paul by the weekend, say the weather gurus.


The parade was the typical St Paul St Patrick's Day parade. Everyone with any Irish blood wore green and marched down the city streets. The crowds are large and some beer was being consumed on the street. The St Paul politicians, including the mayor, were in the parade wearing the green. And there were bagpipe bands.

The rest of the day was sunny and beautiful. Spring is in the air.