Art Shanty Project

Opening day for the Art Shanty Project on Lake Harriet was well attended, despite the cold & wind. The cold-yoga instructor was wearing shorts!

We went with the Ks and had a fun time disco dancing in the Dumpster Fire Hot Box Disco. Inside it was all dark except for a lit-up disco dance floor like in Saturday Night Fever. The DJ played a full extended version dance song, and by the time it was over, everyone was warm again.

This shanty had an outdoor dance floor/stage with tunes cranking. In all there are a dozen or so shanties, each with some sort of concept art. One was several small sets where you could film yourself being in your favorite show (Star Trek, Addams Family, The Office, etc.).

 

Walk Across the Lake

We just can't get enough of crossing the lake. For the third day in a row, we journeyed across. This time it was on foot for opening day of the Art Shanty Project. We waited for the warmest part of the day; at 3 PM it was 9° F with a steady 21 mph wind gusting to 30 mph. Brrrr.

There was a guy on skates getting pulled around by his kite.

 

Do it Again!

We had so much fun skiing across the lake, we got up and did it again the following day. JP was up and we were out the door by 8:30; that should tell you how much she enjoys this!. It was 37° with no wind, but a front was coming thru at noon with temps going down, down, down for the next few days.

 

Crossing the Lake

We have an inch or two of snow on the lake and it makes for the best skiing ever. It's shallow enough that it's easy to cut a new trail without having to keep your ankle straight. The gliding goes on forever, too! It took us an hour to walk to the lake, ski across & back, and walk home.

We went out before sunset, and as we were leaving, the city skyline lit up.

Pictures cannot capture how magical the sunset was. The sky was glowing orange like the fires in L.A.

 

MN Up for Sale?

This was on the news this week. All but two of the MN counties highlighted in green contain I-90. 

 

Puzzle Season

JP is cranking out the puzzles with her new puzzle board.

 

Home Office

I got tired of competing with GP's gaming setup on my desk in the basement, so I moved upstairs and am am taking over our bedroom. I need to get some artwork up on the big blank wall.

 

Software Is Invisible

 As part of my journey to find a new job, I've started a new blog: Software Is Invisible. It's about some lessons I learned over the past five years. The target audience is project managers, directors, VPs, etc. of traditional companies whose products are containing more and more software. If you check out the new blog, look for an Introduction post that can give you more info.

My goal is to publish two or three posts each week.

Mysterium

CP brought over his newest game, Mysterium. It's a little bit like Clue, but a lot more fun. We played four rounds and we're looking forward to playing with the neighbors.

 

Wild Ice

We were treated to a few days of spectacular "wild ice". It's 8" of crystal clear smooth-as-glass ice across the entire lake. We walked across for our lunchtime walk. We ran into a skater on her lunch break; she was very excited to be able skate. We didn't trust ourselves on skates - we used our crampons instead.

As walked, the cracks in the ice adjusted themselves and made chirping sounds like laser guns in a sci-fi movie. 

 

Sunrises

I'm enjoying catching the sunrises in the morning with the dog. There's a bench on the ice at the hockey rink where we can sit and wait for the sun to come up.

 

Puzzle Season

We love JP's new puzzle board! We can sit side by side and work on it together without craning our necks and without the glare from above. Looking forward to another three or four months of puzzle season.

 

Cozy Sunroom

V's favorite place is sitting on your chest. It doesn't get much better than a warm sunroom and a captive person in the afternoon.

 

Squirrel Snacks

I spotted one of the neighborhood eagles picking apart a squirrel (or rabbit?) up in a big cottonwood tree by the beach.

 

Back to Normal

The warm spell melted all the snow on the lake and then we got back to normal with a week of single-digit highs.

S loves the cold. He can make it around the lake without panting.

 

Brand New Year

Our New Year's Day adventure was a walk around the lake. S wanted to go swimming with these guys.

 

New Amp

 

On New Year's Eve, I picked up a non-functional tube amp for $30. It had been in a 1x12 combo that someone converted into a head. It's similar to the last one I rebuilt; I'm looking forward to digging into it.

Lego Strat & Amp

GP got me a brand new red Fender Strat and amp. It took a few hours to put the 1,074 pieces together. The guitar has actual strings with tuning pegs that turn to tighten them.

Putting together the amp was the best part. The chassis has all the components on it, and the bottom side has all the tubes: a rectifier, two power tubes, and four for the preamp. At the bottom of the case is the reverb tank; it even has a reverb spring inside it. The Lego team must have had a blast coming up with this.

 

New Car Stereo

GP & I installed his new stereo; it fit like a glove and looks pretty good. He now has GPS navigation and his Spotify music. He loves it!

Fog

The post-Christmas warm spell meted the snow on the lake ice. We had dark dense fog for four days; it was absolutely dreary.

There were a few snowmen that got stuck out on the ice. The eagle didn't really care.

 

Creek Ice

I never appreciated how ice forms in creeks. I always assumed that it floated on top, which it does initially at whatever level the water is. In shallow spots it freezes down to the bottom and attaches itself. When the water lever goes up, the ice stays put on the bottom and a new layer forms on top of the water. This repeats and makes for a complex layer cake of ice.

 

Clark W.

CP picked up a Bears hat to finish off hiw Christmas tribute outfit to Clark W. Griswold.