Just a Normal Weekend

Recently all I have talked about here involved traveling. Well, once in awhile I stay home. The past weekend was just a normal one!

I need to help my daughter who has some development disabilities accomplish life tasks, so I take responsibility for making her hair salon appointments and getting her there. She had an appointment for Saturday at 10:00, so I planned to pick her up about 9:30. Then signs began appearing last week advising the major road in front of my apartment building would be closed from 5:30 AM to 1:00 PM on Saturday.  That meant I couldn't get to where she lives without doing a very long detour. So I stopped by on Friday afternoon and she came to spend the night.

Saturday became more complicated when a note appeared under my door advising that the property manager wished to show my apartment to a potential renter on Saturday about lunch time.

So I was up early on Saturday morning so we could have breakfast and I could get everything cleaned up and looking nice before we left for the hair appointment. When I got up on Saturday morning indeed there was no traffic on the road. Then about 9:00 this is what we saw.

Perhaps it is easier to see in a video.

This was called in the media the Minneapolis Monster Mash -- interestingly enough, all run in Saint Paul. Sorry that the above video is a bit jerky. I had to use a telephoto lens and couldn't hold the camera still enough for the distance.

We left here about 9:30, getting the assistance of the police to cross the race line.

My daughter got her hair cut and I got my manicure -- all at the same place. Then we headed for Culver's on the east side of Saint Paul for an early lunch.

Our next stop was the Hayden Heights branch of the Saint Paul Public Library. We attended a lecture about the prohibition era in Minnesota. One thing I learned is that prohibition didn't prohibit drinking alcoholic beverages; instead it prohibited the making and transporting of such beverages.

Prohibition is a hot topic in Minnesota because the author of the legislation that promoted it came from Minnesota. Secondly, a border with Canada meant Minnesota was a hot location for smuggling. And I learned about something called Minnesota 13. This was a variety of corn that made excellent home brew! Some in the audience reported recently seeing an article in the paper announcing that Minnesota 13 is going to again be grown to support the micro-breweries that are arising in Minnesota. Well, in a couple of weeks, the Minnesota History Center is opening an exhibit on prohibition, so more will probably be reported here at a later date.

Took my daughter home and then went to Panera. Panera owed me a birthday gift. The sales clerk told me I could have any pastry in the counter, so I picked out a bear claw.

Enjoyed sitting for awhile with a cup of coffee and my nose in a book.

Home for relaxing evening. I didn't do anything on Sunday, but relax. So that's how life is once in awhile.