Fun Day at the Farmers' Market

Here we are off across the Stone Arch Bridge to the Farmers' Market by the Mill City Museum.  Moonie is very excited about this outing.

St. Anthony Falls - From the Stone Arch Bridge

This is the new Mill City Museum.  It is a former flour mill that blew up.


Minneapolis started off as a sawmill town and the became a place where grain was turned into flour.


I love the name Mill City.


Here is the what is left of the mill from the inside the museum.

Stone Arch Bridge





Wow.  Beautiful.

Table runners the likes of which I have never seen.

Here is the market with the new Guthrie Theater in the background.  Great day had by all.

Rust Never Sleeps, and Neither Does Mold...

Over the fence behind our house the cedars trees are dying.  You can tell that the trees on either side now don't look too good either.  My guess is some kind of disease or mold is killing the poor trees.  When we first moved in they were a little higher than the fence.

Karyl thinks it will be next May or June before the family will deal with these trees.  She also postulates that our "Master Garderner" Gordon, whose yard is a series of piles that the local mice just love, may help our neighbors deal with this.

I am going to say the glass is half full and that by November our neighbors will cut the down.  But that is nuts, it will be cold by then, and I don't think this family is quick to act (see photo for Evidence #1).

Dumb Butts Abound...

So there are too many bikes in the garage, and I don't ride the Lemond Tourmalet.  Don't ask me why I don't ride it; it is beautiful - steel, light and fast.  57 centimeters of the best bike made here in the U.S.  But I never enjoyed riding it that much.

So off to Craigslist we go.  A couple of hits but people back out and find other bikes.  Finally I have a  dad and son who are interested in the bike.  So one night I drive over to the University district and show the bike to the dad.  He likes it and tells me that his college-student son had his Cannondale stolen and so they are looking for a replacement.  I tell him that I wouldn't buy this bike for a college student because it will be gone in a New York minute. The dad tells me that his son plans on locking it up.  Oh, well then that is different because we all know that thieves never steal locked bikes.  Moron.

So off to camp I go, and the dad comes and buys the bike from Karyl.  He gives Karyl the same speech about buying the bike for his college age son.  Karyl is smarter than I am and she just nods thinking, "Two days. Two days before the bike is gone."

So we sold the bike to the family of Morons.  I hate to see it go, but that is life...

Are You Kidding Me....!

Yesterday I went mountain biking with Benton and Jon R.  I had never been mountain biking before, although I know it can be dangerous, so I was mildly apprehensive at the start.

We were biking a Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve in the South Metro.  The adventure begins with a nice ride on a hard packed trail through a scenic meadow.  "Okay", I say to myself, "I can do this".

And then we entered the woods....

I didn't bring a camera, so I have no photographic proof of the terror that ensued.  The bridge to the right is something that I actually did try (and make it across - which if you need proof of divine intervention - there it is).  The trail is full of dips and turns and trees and there is a real art form to staying off the brakes and just rolling through.  I was very conservative in my ride through the park.  I stepped around a few of the boulders, but I did make it over a few logs.  I had two excellent teachers who were very patient with me.

The larger question, is why do people do this in the name of recreation.  I can't readily imagine doing this from week to week.  I am sure I would get better, but I am not sure that my nervous system needs that kind of terrorizing.

Wow, was I ever happy to get home and hug my loving wife...