Another Morning Walk

I got up early to do the finishing touches on two Power Point presentations for lectures this afternoon. Got them done and made my breakfast. Then I took off for a bit of a morning walk. My goal actually was to take a photo of the electrical power plant up the path a bit. This photo will go into a Power Point presentation to introduce the game, Community Jingo, that I'll use to teach English in Romania and Poland.

The morning weather look cloudy out the window and I was very glad I had grabbed a jacket for the temperature was just on the edge of cool. Just after I turned to walk back home the rain drops started, but that didn't last long.

I was surprised to see  how the railings on a building associated with the power plant showed up this morning against the cloudy sky.

I truly had never noticed the yellow railings before.

In  a few steps the sun was almost peaking through the clouds. I liked how the river sparkled this morning.

Hope you enjoyed a quick walk with me!

Walking Along the River on an October Day

I have two lectures unexpectedly to prepare for Wednesday, and got delayed on doing this because I had my older granddaughter with me for the weekend. I had to take her back and forth to work and also drove her to a friend's home for a time on Saturday night and then had to go pick her up, too.

I had one almost done and decided to walk down to Caribou and get some coffee -- that is coffee beans to make coffee. This is the month when Amy's blend is the special. Amy was the first roast master for Caribou and died tragically of breast cancer when she was in her early 30's. Every year there is a time to remember her and provide funds for cancer research and care. This year the benefit is Cancer Care and I have a friend who has been dealing with malignant melanoma who has benefited greatly from the Cancer Care organization. If you live too far from a Caribou to buy coffee and have these proceeds become a benefit, you can help fund Cancer Care by going to Caribou's Facebook page and choosing Like!

So out along the river and oh my! was it beautiful today. The light is back for wonderful reflection pictures along the river.

I also like the red trees that line the side streets in this area.

I also found a couple of surprises today.

There were jet trails being reflected into the river. They looked like immense water snakes skimming along the bottom.

Here's the sky view.

Here's how it looked in the river.

The other surprise is just how low the river is becoming due to the drought in Minnesota. In places where the river is usually  6-8 feet deep I can now see the bottom.

The line of buoys shown above usually float parallel to where they are hooked in to the pier. Notice how low the buoys are floating today. No rain in sight. The wish is for some late fall rain plus at least a normal snow fall.

Walking -- Olivia and Redwood Falls

Yesterday I left around 8 AM for Olivia, MN. It is about 90 miles west of the Twin Cities, a bit further if one gets tangled with road construction along I-494 before even getting out of the Twin Cities!!

On the way I drove by a pumpkin field. I don't think I've ever before had such a view.

The official Olivia city web site proclaims its location, Renville County, as the richest agricultural county in Minnesota and also says it is one of the leading agricultural innovator counties. Olivia is named after the first railroad station agent, a woman named Olive.

My goal for going here was two-fold. First, it was a lovely autumn day and a walk would be good. Also I wanted to take photos to illustrate how to do a walking survey to learn about a community, pictures to illustrate a lecture I will do next week. Thus, most of the pictures I took aren't all that interesting.

Here's the courthouse, though, a building of note.


This structure, built in 1902, has been in the National Historic Register since 1986.

In the 20th century many Americans would have driven through this town, for the highway going through Olivia was part of the Yellowstone Trail, a tourist destination route that ran from "Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound." Olivia is also know as the Corn Capital of the World, but I didn't take a picture of the monument for it was not located along the walking route.

I did stop at the Masters Coffee Shop and Bakery and enjoyed a very good cup of coffee and a scone.

The route map did include a warning of street construction and that was surely true. It caused me to detour both to get to the start point for the walk as well for some of the walking route. Construction workers were busy putting down new street surfaces and wet tar is a good thing to avoid!

After completing the 5K route in Olivia I drove about 20 miles to Redwood Falls. I'm uncertain if I've ever been in this town before. Redwood Falls is the county seat of Redwood County. It is named for the Redwood River that flows through what is now a small town. The name comes from the red bark on a willow tree that grows along this river. The Dakota Indians scraped this bark off twigs and combined it with tobacco.

This town was originally within a 75 mile stretch of land left to the Dakota after the 1851 Treaty of Traverse des Sioux. My walk map says the following: "With the corruption of the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs -- for my readers in other countries) which led to the maltreatment and suffering of the Dakota, the Dakota War of 1862 began as a result of that war, the reservation was abolished." 

My walk route started at convenience store and then went through a residential area. Soon I can to a point along the Redwood River.

I crossed the bridge and found myself in a city park. The walk route followed the present version of what had been a military road connecting the Upper and Lower Sioux Indian reservations.

Soon I found myself crossing back over the bridge and walking to a trail that provides a good view of the waterfall on the Redwood River.

When one is crossing the bridge it is easy to note the warning barriers on the upstream side of the bridge. Look for the orange balls floating in the river in the photo below.

This is what is one the downstream side of the bridge.

After walking through the set of trails for this waterfall, I followed the map to another waterfall. This trail was really up and down. The route also included walking over a "swag bridge."

This bridge bounced and groaned as I walked across a deep ravine.

When I arrived to the end of the trail, I found this.

Certainly both this waterfall, Ramsay Falls, and the Redwood River Waterfall would be more impressive under normal weather conditions. This area of Minnesota is in extreme drought and there simply isn't much water. I noticed a lot of nearly dry ponds during my drive and all the rivers are very, very low.

I tracked back on a trail the route map called "a steep uphill but a short jaunt" and then walked back to the start point.

I drove a bit north on Highway71 and stopped at the Pizza Ranch.

Now at nearly 4 PM, believe me, a bit of pizza tasted very good.

I headed back to the Twin Cities stopping at a shopping mall in the western part of the Twin Cities to pick up a couple of USB drives, needed for work next week. My plan was to enjoy a good night's sleep and then spend a lot of time at home on Saturday getting lectures ready for next week.

Well, good plans often disappeared. My daughter called and asked me if I could pick up my older granddaughter at a party at midnight, keep her overnight, and then get her to her job at 11:00 AM this morning. So it was 12:30 AM before I got to bed and not much work done until right now, about 12 hours later.

Learning Polish -- Now That's An Adventure

I have picked up a bit of Polish from my stay in Poland, but really don't know much. I've tried some self -study, but with only a bit of success -- well, probably not the fault of the programs I tried, but because I didn't really study when I was working more than full time and going 110 mph.

Now that I'm semi-retired, there is a bit of time to do some "Fun" things. Thus I was glad when I saw the announcement of Polish classes sponsored by the Polish American Cultural Institute of Minnesota (PACIM).

Last evening we found our textbooks had arrived from Poland. I saw them and said, "Super." Then I explained to the woman next to me that Super is a good Polish word, and I use it when a student has done well with an assignment or exercise. The woman next to her pulled out her Langenscheidt dictionary and couldn't find super in the Polish part of the dictionary. They tried super on the English side and it went to a word that began with wy--- and I can't remember what else. They asked me why I didn't use that word, and I explained I had learned Super in Poland and it's used there. They really thought I was wrong. Thus I was silently amused when later the professor for the class told a fellow student her response was "Super."

It must be the other woman has a very old and out of date from current Polish dictionary. In mine Super is Super in both Polish and English!

And last evening while driving to class the engine malfunction light came on. I was early enough that after parking I could call my auto repair shop and get an appointment for this morning.

I took along my Polish books to study while waiting.

We have two workbooks and a green grammar book. The workbooks come with CDs and lots and lots of instruction, with all the directions being given in Polish.

The green book explains Polish grammar and thankfully is written all in English, and even goes in separate ways sometimes for British English and American English speakers. It is terrific. Once I master some of the green book, I'm going to be a lot smarter!

And in our class we are just moving into verbs, which is why I wanted the classes. But I'm learning lots of other answers to questions I have about why things are pronounced or sometimes pronounced as I think they should be.

Old dogs can learn new tricks!

Oh, and the car problem -- a brake light switch that was malfunctioning. I wish the auto makers could figure out how to do a little uwaga! Engine malfunction warning makes one think something is very wrong.

Wallking at the Mall of America

Saturday, October 6 the temperatures were only in the high 30s (about 1-2 C for those of you in Europe) and the sky was cloudy blue gray, looking like rain any minute. That didn't seem like weather for an outdoors stroll.

After taking my older daughter for a hair cut and then lunch, I decided to try the indoor walk at the Mall of America. The directions for the walk said one lap around the hallways equals 1 K. So I did 5 times around Level 1, 3 times around Level 2 and 2 times around Level 3, with a stop for coffee after 6 K.

One of the first things I saw on Level 1 was Canstruction. This is a benefit to fight hunger organized by the American Institute of Architects and the Society of Design Administrators. Visitors got to vote for their favorite canstruction, and I assume all the food will be donated to food shelves after the competition.

Here is the ENDeavor WORLD HUNGER.

It is made from 168 cans of whole kernel corn, 168 cans of cream corn, 506 cans of potato slices, 31 cans of Amy's organic soup, 242 cans of sliced black olives, 1000 cans of tuna, 100 cans of chicken, 500 cans of beef ravioli, and 250 cans of salmon. (Sorry I chopped of the top. Walked around this multiple times and if I had noticed in the camera LCD screen my mistake, I surely could have fixed it!)

Another that I liked is the box of crayons.

This canstruction required 1634 cans of green beans, 1110 cans of tomato sauce, 170 cans of chicken with rice soup, 83 cans of pinto beans, 21 cans of coffee, 30 cans of black beans, 15 cans of black olives, 15 cans pumpkin, 15 cans of whole potatoes, 15 cans of whole kernel corn, and 15 cans of garbanzo beans.


When I got to the 2nd Level South I had a good view of the amusement park that occupies the center of the mall.

The second level south also gives one a a good view of the Lego Store. Here's the construction there:

On the west side there is a European gift store. I always like to look at these places to see what is there and what the prices are compared to what the same objects cost in Europe.

Found the Polish pottery. Oh my! Each coffee cup on the top shelf was marked at $34.00. Today's currency exchange puts that at 104 PLN! Much better to shop at the Cepalia shop at Manufacturka in Lodz!

On the southeast corner of the mall one can find the wedding chapel.

This walk was good exercise, but it's very hard to walk in a Saturday afternoon crowd, many of whom didn't seem to know where they were going! Or would just suddenly stop and have a conversation with each other right in the middle of a crowded hallway, expecting others to somehow walk around.

I don't wish to belittle anyone who is having a difficult time with finding work, but I sometimes wonder if this issue is being overdone for political reasons. Every time I get on a plane, every seat is full. We seem always to find the money to build athletic stadiums! The mall was and is always very crowded, I had to park on the very top level and it took me a good 15 minutes of driving through the parking ramp to get there!

That said, on the top, I found a great view just at sunset.

The sun caught the glass in a office building in a very interesting way. On the far left in the horizon there is small white object. That is a water tower in the Highland area of St. Paul. This water tower is located about 6 blocks from where I lived when I had a house in the Highland neighborhood. The view is quite spectacular from the top level of the parking ramp. (and I guess the rest of the United States calls these structures a parking garage, but here it is a ramp.)

Hope you enjoyed seeing what's happening at the Mall on a Saturday afternoon.

Walking This Week

On Sunday, September 30 I went to Princeton, MN to do the walk there. It takes a bit more than one hour to drive there from my apartment in Saint Paul. It is a small town, population around 4700 people.

European and American explorers came into this area in the mid-19th century, attracted by the white pine forests. The town is name for James Prince, who built a saw mill in Saint Paul to manufacture lumber from the timber in the Princeton area. By the early 20th century the timber was gone, and the area turned agricultural with some small manufacturing.

The day was a lovely fall day -- actually perfect temperature and sunny skies. I got the "walk box" at a Holiday gas station. While getting organized I realized that I had left my record books at home. I decided to do the 5K anyway and set off.

Almost immediately I went by a little house all decked out for Halloween. I never did figure out what this building is or what is its purpose.

Here's a close up of one of the hanky ghosts.

Soon the walk route took me through neighborhoods. I saw a couple of splendid old houses.

The fall colors were splendid that day, too.

The route took me to the city park and along the Rum River.

Coming out of the park I walked along the Veterans Monument. The Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines were represented by plaque on a wall. The bricks in the street were in memory or honor of veterans.

A nice walk in Princeton -- enjoyed it.

In an earlier post I wrote about walking at sunrise, coming home after taking my car for a repair. About 11 AM on Wednesday I got a call the car was ready to be picked up, so I headed back. By Wednesday the winds had moved into Minnesota and the leaves were rapidly falling.

Above is the Ramsay House, being glimpsed through the fall colors.


Yesterday I went back to Princeton again and walked the 3 K route. Oh, the weather was different -- about 20 degrees cooler than Sunday with a stiff north wind. At times it was a strain to walk against it, but as long as I made the trip to take care of my record books, I was determined to do the little 3 K route and make the trip worthwhile.

Now I'm watching the weather and trying to decide what I might be able to do next.

Sunrise

I had to take my car for some repairs this morning and was asked to have to the shop between 7 - 8 AM. The October sky, with daylight time still into effect, is almost yet dark at 7 AM. I took it to the shop and then walked home.

The walk home is very pleasant. I cut down through Irvine Park, stopping to read the information sign. I found Irvine Park is named for the man who donated the land to St. Paul for the park in the mid-19th century. Over time the park deteriorated and was allowed to go into ruin. In the early 1970s it was restored with the fountain there now being a replica of the original.

The park itself is quite small, laid out in hexagon shape. It is surrounded with houses, mostly built in the late 19th century with some 20th townhouses on one side.

Above is the Forepaugh House, now operated as a restaurant. The sun was catching the top turrets as I walked by. This is one of my favorite places for brunch.

As I walked out of the park I was struck by the beauty of the sun lighting the red leaves on the trees.

Nearer to my apartment building I enjoyed the view of the fountain in the Upper Landing Park being lit by the rising sun.

The shop offered me a ride home, but I'm glad I walked. Sunrise in October is an interesting and beautiful time.