From Minnesota to Amsterdam

Last evening I took the 9:45 PM flight from Minnesota to Amsterdam. That put departure right at sunset, only the entire day, like many before it had been cloudy. I happened to notice a woman sitting near me had her face tinted red and that's when I discovered late evening sun.

I liked the way the sun was turning a jet way into an interesting sculpture.

I was rather delighted to find the expected flying time would be almost one hour shorter than usual. We had a supper served about 11 PM Minnesota time and then I tried to sleep. I think I did in bits and pieces. I kept the flight tracker screen open on the video monitor in front of me. One time that map said 4 plus hours left and then the next time I saw it there was only 2 plus hours left for flying!

We landed in Amsterdam about 12:30 PM  local time and I was over to my favorite Citizen M hotel by a few minutes after 1:00.

Settled in a bit, assuring myself that everything necessary really did accompany me on the trip. I transferred some things from my carry-on bag to the bag which I will check for my bag weighed only 36 pounds when I checked it, so a few more things can travel within checked luggage on the next flight.

Went downstairs and got a Coke Zero with a glass of ice-- in the Netherlands ice is possible and not considered strange -- and also one of the wonderful raisin pastries I find here. Then came upstairs and took a nap.

About 6 PM I wandered over to Schiphol Plaza. Stepped into the HEMA store mostly to just see what I could find there -- maybe another pair of flip-flops.

I laughed when I found these socks.

I've been accustomed to calling tennis shoes/sneakers by the British English word, trainers, while in Europe. I was amused to find that apparently the Dutch word for these shoes is sneaker.

Coming back from supper about 8 PM I found a new sculpture outside the hotel now lighted in a way I could see what it was. In the height of the mid-day sun all I saw was a shiny object. The late sun produced contrasts that allowed me to see this:

There isn't any explanatory information associated with this sculpture, so I cannot offer the artist's name.

As I write now at 10:15 PM local time, it is still daylight enough that I can easily read the signs on the buildings across the street. A great benefit of being "up north" and at the very western edge of the Central Europe time zone.

No Adventure Again is the Best Adventure

For two nights in a row this area has been hit with severe thunderstorms. The first arrived at 3 AM Friday morning. In my apartment I have large windows in both the living room and bedroom. It sounded like hail hitting the windows for about 20 minutes, and while other areas did get hail, at my apartment it was truly rain drops being driven that hard by the wind.

Then another one blew in about 8:15 PM on Friday night. The rain came down in deluges and my satellite TV was totally toast for nearly 45 minutes.

This morning I heard about the winds in other parts of the state and city. Huge trees were blown over, a combination of very wet soil and winds that varied by location between 60 -90 mph.

I picked up my older daughter who continues to live in my old neighborhood. We couldn't believe all the damage we saw, and she told me her group home had been without electricity for awhile.

We wanted to go to lunch and had to go quite far away from her neighborhood. Some restaurants were closed and the ones that were open were immensely crowded, probably by residents in the area who lacked electricity in their homes.

The news tells us that 279,000 people were originally affected by electrical outages --an average thunderstorm yields only 15, 000. Now on Saturday night the number is down to almost 100,000.

Last summer no rain for weeks and weeks, this year no sun and pouring rain for weeks and weeks. I'm so very glad to live in a managed building that allows me to simply turn the key and leave and not have to worry about trees falling down on my property.

A Few Days as a Grandparent

On Monday I needed to go to the Mall of America to a game store to see if I could find something to use for teaching in Poland. I decided that I might as well do a walk as long as I was there. Picked up the paperwork for this at a motel across the street.

I found some of the displays in Legoland to be new.

Found some Polish dishes in a store featuring things from Europe, along with some amber.

I took the next two pictures thinking they would be fun to use with the kids.

What do you think is in the picture above? Did you guess cupcakes?

And how the items in the picture below?

Did you guess dog treats?

About now my phone was fussing and I found text messages from my daughter asking me to take her to the doctor. I drove over to her apartment on the eastern edge of Saint Paul and then we went to the clinic in Woodbury.

Verdict -- baby would come soon, but just when is still an unknown. She asked me to drop her at a restaurant where her teen age daughter works, saying she would follow the doctor's advice to walk, by walking home the two blocks from the restaurant.

About 8 PM the phone was fussing again and I got a message asking if the two granddaughers could come stay with me. They arrived about 10:15 PM and we settled down for bed.

On Tuesday morning about 6:30 AM  I got a text message that my daughter and her husband were at the hospital. I took the two girls out for breakfast and then we went to a driver's license station for my older granddaughter wanted to take the test to get her driving permit. We found her driver's ed teacher had not signed the "blue card" correctly, so she called her school and found we could come there to pick up a new and correctly prepared card. Then the phone beeped again, and my granddaughter said, "Look, here's the baby's picture."

So we did the school stop, without success, and headed for the hospital. 

Here is my older granddaughter with her new baby brother. The next hours are a bit of a fog. The day didn't end until about midnight when I bedded down all three grandchildren in the living room.

On Wednesday morning, I took my grandson over to the hospital to spend the day with his mom and the baby, my son-in-law back at work already at 6 AM.

The two girls and I went to the Minnesota Zoo.

Here is my younger granddaughter engaged with views of otters.

Up in the farm area the girls spent some time with the goats.

We went to the cow milking demonstration. My younger granddaughter was very intrigued with this. She wanted me to take a photo with my phone and send it to her mom in the hospital.

We ate a late lunch and then headed the the hospital. I asked the question I really didn't want the answer to-- should I take my grandson back to his other grandmother's home where he has been staying? When I brought it up on Google Maps I found the trip was 18 miles and it would take 61 minutes to do it! Oh, the fun of driving across the Metro area during rush hour. Back to the hospital two hours later to get the girls and then we came home -- we were tired.

The next morning we got up and going in order to get to my older granddaughter's school where this time she got the blue card correctly prepared. Then I took her to work and then took the little one to a park to play.

About 2:00 PM I got everyone back home and came home and collapsed. I was so tired -- particularly keeping up with a four-year-old who is very normal -- meaning she talks all the time!!!

Woke up at 2 AM and was just about to sleep when a humdinger of a thunderstorm moved through the city. I have large windows in both the living room and bedroom and it sounded for 20 minutes like hail was hitting the windows, but actually it was highly driven rain drops-- although there was hail in the storm.

Got up at 8 and had breakfast. Met with my son-in-law for a late lunch to give him all the things I had found that the girls had forgotten.

Off to a health clinic to pick up some supplies for my hearing aids. The first questions always asked are about one's address and phone number. Both were mysteriously wrong on my record. Took awhile to get that all straightened out.

And then finally to get my hair salon.

Coming home the weather began again to blow up a thunder storm.

The above buildings are at Fort Snelling and are the buildings used during World Wars I and II.

The above buildings are part Fort Snelling operated by the Minnesota Historical Society. Within this part of the fort it is 1832. The fort was sighted here because the bluff overlooks the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. Sitting here one could control all the traffic.

And now home again for another driving rain storm.

I'm delighted with the new little boy. He looks so very tiny -- did I forgot the size of a baby? He arrived weighing 7 lbs, 15 oz -- he's not tiny.

Off to Poland on Monday for a rest! More adventures to come!!

Garden Dedication

On Friday afternoon I attended a dedication of a new garden space at Metropolitan State. There has been an unused space next to the library ever since its construction. On Friday this beautiful garden is in place, but with a somewhat sad reason. It is a memorial to the library dean, very beloved and respected by all. He became ill at work one day and in 2012 died from brain cancer. He loved gardens and he promoted community connections, so this garden seemed to be a lovely way to use the space to remember and salute David Barton's legacy.

My colleagues in the School of Nursing have also been interested in creating a labyrinth. This, too, is part of this new space.

I donated money to support tree planting. Here is the sign by my "tree."

Hard to take the above photo in the glaring sun -- but I'm not complaining. The sun has been a quite missing feature of this spring and early summer.

And finally the ribbon cutting.

The wet spring made it quite a challenge to get this garden planted. I'm looking forward to seeing how the plants, trees, and flowers look when I return from Poland in the late summer.

Polish Grocery Shopping in Minnesota

I am invited to a picnic on Saturday afternoon by my Polish language teacher, obviously along with all the other language students. However, I'm undecided if I can attend due to the impending arrival -- any moment, any day -- of a new grandson. Thus, I decided I would head to the Polish grocery store and do some shopping for things I like. If I can't attend the picnic I can also eat these things later.

The store is in NE Minneapolis where there are a lot of folks with Central European origins, including Poland.

Above is the store front, complete with the Polish white eagle.

Here's what I bought. The pretzels, cookies, and Krowki are things I plan to share. I thought for certain I can could find my favorite juice, black currant juice--but the label said, " juoduju serbenty" and juoduju didn't match any fruit word I knew. Then I turned the package around and in plain English it says, "Blackcurrant nectar." Hurrah! I put the other phrase through Google translate and it doesn't translate, so now I don't feel so stupid!

The Delicje cookies are also available in Hungary, but sold under a different name. The packaging is exactly the same, just a different word than Delicje, but now I can't remember what it was. Anyway, when I found these in Hungary, I felt like I had found an old friend.

This trip through the Polish grocery store cost me about 33 PLN. That will probably make my Polish friends gasp, but I think the price is well worth for a taste of Poland every once in awhile in Minnesota.

Walking in Springfield MN

I didn't do much on Sunday other than go to church. That didn't require too much walking. I decided if the weather was decent on Monday to try another walk. The Monday forecast was for fog in the morning with sunshine arriving in the afternoon. Well, that didn't exactly happen, but I did do the walk.

I did this walk primarily to be able to mark off Brown County in my Minnesota county book. Looking in my Minnesota geographic name book, I find Brown County is named for Joseph Renshaw Brown, called a prominent pioneer in this area. The story is that Brown ran away from an apprenticeship in Pennsylvania and arrived in Minnesota at Fort Snelling-- at the age of 14 years! What an adventure for a boy of this age. He developed the ability to speak Dakota fluently, became a journalist, and the list continues through attributes such as lumberman, legislator, and newspaper editor.

Springfield started out being called Burns, but at the time of its incorporation the name was changed to Springfield. Two stories are attached to this. One is that it was named after Springfield, Massachusetts, the other that it was named for a water spring. A great feature of this walk are trails along the Big Cottonwood River. Logically enough the river carries this name because of having cottonwood trees along its banks.

The walk started at a Microtel Motel. The attendant at the desk didn't know anything about a "walk box," so she suggested I wait a couple of minutes for Ben. When Ben appeared he knew exactly where it was under a desk and escorted me to the breakfast room in the motel so that I could do my paperwork for the walk. When I returned the box to the desk, Ben said, "Now don't get lost!"

The walk started out through a bit of a residential area that didn't have a great deal of interest. At this point I was trying to decide why this walk for Brown County had been located in Springfield. Soon I got into the business area of this small town, present population around 2150. I saw a sign for a meat market.

I thought this was an old historical sign, but when I got in front of the building, I found ads on the windows indicating it surely was in business.

I surely regretted not having a cooler in the car for I would have enjoyed taking advantage of some of the things offered by this shop.

Across the street was a mural.

I looked down the main street, named Central Street in this town trying to decide if the building in the mural was still in place. Don't think so, but I found a couple of interesting old buildings.

And since Springfield is located in a prominent agricultural area in Minnesota, of course there is a grain elevator.

On my back track to the walk route I also found a time capsule.

Soon I was by the Community Center with its digital sign that provides data about my walk environment.

At the bridge I began to understand why this walk was placed in Springfield.

How beautiful.

With all the rain we've had, the river was flowing rather swiftly to the northeast, on its way to the Minnesota River and then eventually this water will flow by me in the Mississippi. From the distance it looked like a dam in the distance, but that made no sense. When I walked a bit along the river I discovered this was an area of rapids.

This view caused to me to think if any boated on this river, it could only be a canoe.

I continued on the circle trail through Riverview Park, just a lovely walk.

When I returned to the bridge area I saw this car and thought I'd figured things out correctly.

The car had a logo for the University of Minnesota, as did the white car in the distance. However, I was not able to find anyone around to ask if people might be conducting a research study or what ever might be happening.

The route map directed me to cross the river and then immediately turn left and walk a trail on the other side of the river.

On one side of the trail is first a prairie and then a corn field.

Sights along the river --

Mushrooms

Wild flowers

A Frisbee link 18 hole course designed for both amateurs and professionals

 and a cute bird house.

I got around to a place on the map where a pond was indicated, but didn't see any pond. I kept walking and then around a grove a trees there it was.

Soon I was at a place where I had to make a decision between 5 K and 10K. Well first it was lunch time and I was hungry and it didn't appear there was much chance to get lunch in Springfield, and secondly, it looked as if I had walked the very best of the route and the rest would simply be for distance. So I headed back towards Central Street.

This business surprised me; I don't think I've ever seen these two functions combined together.

A walk through another residential area brought me to a group of brick homes.

It is somewhat uncommon to see large brick houses like this. I'm guessing these homes were built with brick because Springfield had a brick yard. It was probably more economical to build with local brick than with lumber that had to be shipped from elsewhere.

The horrible weather we've had has delayed all plants and flowers this year. Below is the first peony I've seen. Peonies are high on my favorite flower list and I was glad to see one.

Back to the car quickly after this. I drove over to New Ulm and had a late lunch at Kaiserhof. I was surprised that there were 15 of us in the dining room at 2 in the afternoon. A lovely walk in Springfield. Glad I did this.

Walking the St. Paul Three Campus Route

Last Saturday I thought I should perhaps continue to rest my gimpy knee, but the sunshine was calling -- probably because we've seen so little sunshine this spring/summer season. I thought perhaps I could handle a 5K walk, so was off. When I got there I found only a map for 10 K. Since this walk's route is through an area in St. Paul that I know well, I knew there would be many places to rest, and if worse came to worse I could always call a taxi to get me back to my car.

The walk started at a gas station and in a few steps I was by the Whole Foods store with this interesting mural.

A bit more walking brought me to the campus for Macalester College.

When this college was established, the site chosen was way out in the country to keep students away from the vices of the city. Well, in time, of course, the city caught up with the college site.

The campus was busy for an Alumni Weekend was underway. This allowed me to have a peek into the chapel, something I've driven by many, many times but never have had the occasion to enter.

The welcome sign is an indication of the diverse student body.

Next to it I found a segment of a torah.

A sign next to this explains this is a segment of a torah originally from a synagogue in Brno, Czech Republic. This torah was looted by the Nazis. When recovered a piece of it was placed at Macalester with the permission of the Czech Republic government.

Many people were seated at outdoor tables enjoyed coffee as I walked through the campus. Of course, I went looking for an old building.

About 10 minutes more walking brought me to a coffee shop where I enjoyed a good break. Then in just a few steps I was at campus for the University of St. Catherine, affectionately called St. Kate's.

The campus is alive with flowers. Since we have seen so few spring flowers due to the very strange weather, it was a real treat.

A few more steps brought to a view of Dew Drop Pond.

I remembered sitting on the pond shore with my mentor when I did a practicum in university teaching on this campus.

More steps led to the "chapel."

And this picture shows too that the sun had disappeared again.

Out of the campus the route led towards Mississippi River Boulevard. I went by the salon where I have my hair done.

Turning a corner I found the cottonwood trees had been busy.

Then finally I was on Mississippi River Boulevard. I took the chance to rest on a park bench for a bit. Walking on further, an older woman caught up with me, expressing her displeasure at all the young men riding their bicycles very fast on the walking path, right beside the bicycle lane marked on the street.

At last I was at the Veterans' Monument.

This hillside gives a good view of the Mississippi River.

The next couple of blocks revealed some interesting things.

Some happy tulips

An interesting sculpture in someone's front yard, and

 

a  Little Free Library.  

Under my feet I found a sidewalk poem. 

These are possible to create when a section of sidewalk has to be repaired.

I crossed the street and entered the campus for the University of St. Thomas.

I came to this campus many times when I was doing my Ph.D work. The library was a place of peace and quiet for study when my home was full of kid noises!

A sign by the fountain explains it was installed in May, so truly it's new.

All the building at St. Thomas are made from this cream sandstone. It is quite unusual to find a campus with every building constructed with the same building material.

And the best part of being here is that the end of the route and and my car were only about three blocks away. So I did it -- another 10K.