Superior Winter Wonderland

Last weekend was the final Grand Marais cabin trip. It sure was a way to go with all the below zero North Shore ice, snow, pines, and waves. We hiked, snowshoed, saunaed, threw rocks, and ate an all-you-can-eat fish fry. Here it is in photos:

Setting / Rising

Last weekend I decided to get outside for a while, so I went to French Park in Plymouth, MN for a walk. I brought my camera along, so I found a good spot and stayed for the sunset. The sky was too cloudless to get the usual amazing Midwest winter sunset colors, but when I turned around after the sunset I got a great surprise. The full moon had just begun to rise as the sun sat.

Fantastic Journalism

Archaeological Dig Uncovers Ancient Race of Skeleton People
I want to believe.


Area Man's Pop-Culture References Stop at 1988
Hmmm, this doesn't sound like ANYONE I know.

Twin Cities Wildlife

Here are some photos I took of animals around town over the last couple years:

Woodchuck, Westwood Hills Nature Center, St. Louis Park, MN, Apr 9, 2005 (cropped)


Red-winged Blackbird, Westwood, St. Louis Park, MN, May 6, 2005

White-tailed Doe, Westwood, St. Louis Park, MN, May 6, 2005

Snapping Turtle with Painted Turtles, Westwood, St. Louis Park, MN, May 6, 2005

Red Fox Cub, Westwood, St. Louis Park, MN, May 6, 2005

This is one of two fox cubs playing around the interpretive center. They didn’t stay still long enough to get a good shot of them together. This capped off a crazily lucky hour-long hike through the nature center. Besides those pictured, I also saw geese with goslings in the grass, trumpeter swans on the lake, mallards on the shore, and a wild turkey in the woods. I’ve never seen so many types of animals in one place before - outside the zoo anyway. I’m glad I brought my camera.

Young White-tailed Buck, Bryant Lake Park, Eden Prairie, Jul 1, 2005 (cropped)

I saw this while playing on the great Frisbee gold course at Bryant.

White-tailed Buck, Westwood Hills Nature Center, St. Louis Park, MN, Nov 6, 2005 (cropped)



Squirrel diversity:

Black Squirrel, Loring Park, Minneapolis, MN, Sep 6, 2004

Albino Squirrel, Hidden Falls Park, St. Paul, MN, Oct 29, 2005

Westwood

I went for a walk at Westwood the other day with my friend and roommate, Andrew. The memories were flowing. Man, I bet I’ve been to that place every year of my life for such diverse reasons. We had field trips there several times a year in elementary school, getting interpretative guided hikes, looking for bugs in the pond water, examining deer droppings, huddling into a quinzhee, watching puppet shows, and petting the stuffed animals with two fingers. In recent years I have done things like snowshoeing, night hikes, and photographing the wildlife. I was hoping to see some animals on this walk, but no luck. However, we did see what the unusually warm January had done to the quinzhee.

The lake was a mirror with puddles of free water on top of the ice.

Dozens of disappearing footsteps leading from the dock onto the lake prove that the next generation of kids still come here to make their own memories. That is a good sign.