Christmas Card World

I had a morning meeting and then stopped at Target for some shopping. By the time I was coming home the sun had popped out. Yet the world was so beautiful from yesterday's snowfall -- no wind to blow the snow off the trees and not enough sun yet to melt the snow. So I decided to take a bit of side trip through nearby Irvine Park.

The views within the park were definitely stereotypical Christmas card views.

The cloud-like structure behind the tree is actually steam coming out of the District Heating plant. The temperature at this time was about 12 degrees ( -11 C).

The idea of Christmas cards is further re-enforced by the Victorian style houses that surround this charming little park.

But the lamp post clinches the idea of a Christmas card.

 By the way when I was coming home from Polish class tonight the temperature had dropped to 2 degrees (something like -16 C). Brr!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like .....

Winter! A snowstorm blew in last evening and the snow has been coming down all day. I went to 9 AM church and was really glad to get home. By the time I returned there was probably about 4 inches of snow and that made coming down all the hills a bit breath -taking, particularly when a pedestrian decided to walk out in front of me, walking against the light.

I took a walk about 3:30 PM to see how the world now looked. The snow was still coming down and the sky was cloudy; thus the photos are not very bright. 

Here's how the fence looks along the ramp entrance to my building.

I enjoyed seeing how the trees looked with this wet snow.

No one will soaking up the sun on these benches for awhile.

Someone had made a snowman.

And I really liked this fence design.

These stairs show how deep is the snow.

 The snow has capped the fire hydrant. The red stakes outline the sidewalk so the person clearing the walk knows where it is.

Someone had tried to decorate this tree. The Christmas balls look a bit strange because of how the snow is clinging to them.

 

And here's a scene right out of a Dickens' Christmas story.

So now the big dig-out begins!

Walking Minneapolis Skyways

Yesterday I set off just at sunrise for a restaurant where I had breakfast. Then I hopped a bus to the 46th Street Station of the light rail and went to downtown Minneapolis. There I took a bus to 9th Street and started to find the YMCA.  It wasn't where it used to be. I asked about three people before one told me it can't be found anymore at street level and so then I finally found a way to get into the skyway and started towards where I thought it should be. But while on street level I got a nice photo of a street sculpture.

As can be seen we had a skiff of snow yesterday.

Finally got into the skyway, found the YMCA, got my route map and then took off.

But some readers may be asking what is a skyway.

Here is a view of one as it crosses a street. One can get all over the downtown area of Minneapolis -- and also St. Paul -- without going outside. This obviously is an advantage in the winter months!

Here is a view of one from the inside.

This skyway is empty because it was early on a Saturday morning when businesses are closed, as well as many of the fast food restaurants, coffee shops, and other businesses such as dry cleaners.

The route took us over to Target Field and its associated parking garage. On the way back the sun popped out a bit, and I got this photo of Target Field.

 I looked down and noticed that the snow had made a very interesting pattern with the light rail tracks.

We headed through the skyways to Target Center (see a pattern here!) and then into the retail area between Neiman Marcus and Sak's Fifth Avenue Outlet.

The stained glass in the ceiling makes this a very attractive space, and holiday decorations are just icing on the cake. I stopped in this area for a bit and had a cup of coffee.

Then the route took off east and then quite a bit north through the skyway system to the Churchill condo buildings. Then the route backtracked towards the Convention Center. Somewhere in here I took a wrong turn and never found the "wood paneled skyway." I took an exit outside and walked a couple blocks and then entered another building and got back on the skyway. A walk through the Convention Center skyways produced a chance to get a nice picture of the Minneapolis skyline (complete with a window reflection, sorry).

We needed to get to the Hyatt Hotel and look over the balcony and count how many steps separated the main floor from the lounge area to prove we had really walked this far.

Then backtracked towards the start/finish point.

While in the skyway for the International Center I couldn't resist one of those "mirror" photographs.

I passed through the atrium of the IDS building. It always feels like a summer day here.

When I got the start/finish point, the woman at the desk asked for my start number. I thought she simply wanted to check me off on the list. Instead she said, "You won a door prize."

Much to my delight I received a Christmas ornament from Uzbekistan.

This more than made up for the initial frustration I had in finding the YMCA and the start desk.

Took the train back to the 46th Station and then grabbed a bus back to where I had parked my car. A good time walking in the Minneapolis skyways.

A Salute to Public Employees

It has become quite popular to bash public employees, and since I've been one for my whole career in a variety of jobs, I'm a bit sensitive about that. But this isn't about me. This is about what I observed today.

I was driving down Jackson Street in Saint Paul about noon, towards the river. I had to pull over for an ambulance. When I got to the bottom of hill, I found a two car head-on accident there, cars on the median and a stop light crashed down on the ground. The ambulance pulled up there, having been called obviously by the fire-fighters who were crawling all over the two cars. (And so yes, there was also a fire truck there.) In Saint Paul nearly every fire-fighter is also an EMT.

I was able to turn right and continue on home. Four hours later I was on my way to my daughter's apartment and arrived at the same intersection. The stoplight was restored and there was absolutely no sign there had been a car crash there -- no glass on the road, nothing!

All of this fine work was done by public employees!

Christmas Lights

I had a meeting today from 5:00 - 6:30 PM so of course it was dark when it was done. I went first to the Conservatory to see how that space looked in the dark. (See post below for day views of this place.)

Then I started home and turned on Summit Avenue for I knew from recent trips there were some pretty trees on that street.

 Here is the tree on the lawn of the Governor's Mansion.
Across the street there is another large decorated for the holiday season.

And just down the street is another very large tree in the front lawn of a home.

 Next to the trees I found a house that looks very beautiful.

I drove to another are of Summit Avenue where I knew there were decorations.

Found a house in this area too with lots of lights.

I think I like the more classic decorations I found on the home behind me.

Lights are one way to deal with this dark, dark month.

Visiting the Tropics in December

I had an errand today near Como Park in Saint Paul, so when done decided to visit the Conservatory to see the holiday flowers. What a treat to be semi-retired and able to visit here without crowds on a weekday!

The Conservatory opened for the first time in November, 1915. The first Holiday Flower Show was held in 1925. It enjoyed a renovation between 1987-1992.

The Sunken Garden shown above is the area with seasonal changes. Now obviously it is decked out for the Christmas season.

At the far end is a small fountain.

The sculpture is called Play and is the work of Harriett Whitney Frishmuth.  A review of the link provided will reveal she was a quite noted sculptor during the early 20th century, having lived in Paris and Dresden as a young woman and even studied for a bit with Rodin.

But the title of this post says tropics, so let's move there.

 The garden area under the dome of the Conservatory is called the Palm Dome. This garden includes many beautiful flowers.

 I found one curious plant with flowers.

It grows very low to the ground and the blossom appears to emerge out of the red leaves.

Nearby is another garden area, the Fern Garden. In the center of this is another Frishmuth sculpture.

This sculpture is called Crest of a Wave and was also placed in the Conservatory in 1925.
I wandered just a bit too in the Tropical area of the nearby Como Zoo.

Here is a fish video.

Today was a lovely sunny day in Saint Paul with a seasonal temperature of 33 (+1 in Celsius), cooling down from nearly 50 degrees when I came home last evening about 8 PM. It was still nice to visit the tropics, and it will not be my last weekday trip to this area this winter. What a wonderful place to escape!

Making Lemonade

There is an expression that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Certainly a similar expression may exist in other cultures and languages, too.

I need to make invitations of an important family event coming up. I bought a kit to do this myself, only to discover yesterday that the weight of the paper in the kit is incompatible with my printer. So I went on quest to find some professional printing help.

I started out this morning to one place, having to get myself around the light rail construction and road construction going on in St. Paul. The web page for this company said they had office hours on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 - 2. I arrived a bit after 10 and found no one there. Another person who works in the same building said the office is often closed "when they are not busy." I left a voice mail message, and now nearly 10 hours later, no one has returned a call. Got myself out of the light rail construction and went to restaurant to get a late breakfast.

Pulled out my Kindle and got on the internet and looked up a couple of other places. One gave me an appointment for 11:45, so I headed over to Minneapolis. We got the invitation business all sorted out and then I headed home.

I was driving along 50th Street in Minneapolis, a street I've driven on many, many times. Suddenly I saw the top of a tower a bit to the right. I turned off 50th and found this.

I walked up the hill and around the building. Here is a closer view of the figures around the bottom edge.

 But what is this? Finally on the opposite I found a sign explaining this is the Washburn Water Tower. The sign explained this is the second water tower on this hill -- this one built in 1912. It stands 110 feet high (33.5 meters) and can hold 1.35 million gallons of water! The structure is now in the Historic Register.

Here is a glimpse of the landscaping around the tower, now with a very late autumn view.

So here is one glass of lemonade for a day that started out somewhat frustrating! Notice no snow, but we did a bit of rain during the morning. I always say, "One doesn't have to shovel rain!"

Here are the berries close-up.


As I continued towards home the sun came out -- a nice change after gray and foggy days. But it's December, time when we start to see sunshine again in Minnesota.

I went by a small park area that I've passed many times and getting out in the sunshine seemed like a good idea. I went investigating what this sculpture is.

On the back of the sculpture I found the artist's name, S. Hammond and a note the he is from Egypt and the sculpture done in 2006. Then I remembered back to when huge blocks of stone were placed on the lawn of St. Paul Technical College and artists were given the opportunity to make whatever they wished.

Another nice glass of lemonade.

Hope you enjoyed these surprises from the Twin cities.