Scythe

CP got a new board game called Scythe. It's part Catan, part Risk, part Parcheesi and all strategy and fun. 

 

Patio Chairs

We scored some sweet chairs from Ikea for the patio. 

And then the maple decided to poop all over everything. It drops flowers and helicopters by the shovelfull. We will be glad when it's done dropping stuff.

 

Urban Birds

JP sees some sort of photo worthy wildlife every day on the dog walks. Eagles on the beach and in the trees as well as turkeys running loose in the neighborhood.

 

Coming Back to Life

For the last year our cafeteria has been devoid of chairs and tables. Social distancing meant there were only a quarter of the tables there and only one chair per table. This week all the tables and chairs came back and once again we could eat lunch and have conversations. 

 

Up a Creek

The robot with the tiger stripes was used at the zoo.

The coolest thing about Colorado is the Up A Creek FIRST robotics team that we sponsor. It's a group of world class high school kids that compete in the US FIRST robotics challenge. Every year there's a new challenge and they have six weeks to design and build a robot from scratch. The 2021 robot has four drive wheels that swivel around so that it can go in any direction as well as spin. It's a blast to drive! The video is real-time and is not sped up - that's how fast it really goes. There's a high school girl driving the robot with an xbox controller. I got to try it out - they made sure that I had the "GO SLOW" training feature engaged. 

This was my first trip since Feb. 2020 when I also went to Colorado. I got back from that trip at 4:00 and we went to the showing on what would be our new house at 6:00 the same day. It was exciting to see it as we came in to MSP. The view is from above Lake Harriet looking south down Penn Ave.

 

Top Golf

Hit some balls at Top Golf in Colorado for a social outing with our new robotics team there. I'm not a golfer, but I could do Top Golf every day. We were on the 3rd deck and it was a perfect evening.

 

Back to Normal

FINALLY!!! The end is in sight! Here's to the return of normality!

 

Congrats to the new EE!

The graduation ceremony was moved up an hour due to some inclement weather moving in. What started out as a picture-perfect day at the farmers market turned cold and blustery once we got to the stadium.

Tom Osborne gave the commencement address AFTER the kids had all walked. They wanted to make sure that everyone received their diploma before the rain and hail began. Later that night we had a pounding hailstorm. It was to the point that RK ran out and pulled his brand new truck in the garage.

Congrats to CP for earning his N for kNowledge. Nailing an electrical engineering degree in four years and maintaining a decent GPA is truly impressive!!

 

NE Weather

We set out for CP's graduation a couple days early to hang out with our old friends in the country.

The dark sky gave way to a double rainbow.

And then these guys showed up and dropped some crazy lightning and hail.

 

Graduation Celebration

Everybody came to Lincoln for CP's graduation. We ate and ate and ate.

 

Two Harbors

This small building in Two Harbors is the birthplace of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, a.k.a. 3M. It's a museum now; check it out here.

Two Harbors has some massive ore loading docks, a lighthouse, and a pretty park along the breakwater.

 

Split Rock Lighthouse

High on JP's list of things to see was Split Rock Lighthouse. It's an old lighthouse situated on top of a massive cliff of ancient anorthosite (similar to granite).

The lake was placid while we were there. I'd love to see it in action with storm-driven waves splashing up over the cliff top.

 

Adventure Dog

Now that the boys are grown and gone, the dog has become the center of our world. He absolutely loved exploring the north shore.

However, he HATES the tent. He does not want anything to do with it. JP got a new sleeping bag, and the dog burrowed down into it to stay warm with her.

 

Gooseberry Falls

We headed north last weekend up to the North Shore and camped at Gooseberry Falls State Park. It snowed the whole time and it was absolutely beautiful.

There are five falls and lots of rapids on the Gooseberry river as it descends to Lake Superior. We hiked the 5-mile loop from the campground to 5th falls. There was just enough snow coming down to frost the tips of the tree branches. The trail was wet, but not slippery. There are some spots above the river that would be spooky with an icy trail.

 

Back in the Saddle

Last week marked two weeks from my second COVID-19 vaccine shot. Celebrated with a shot of resposado and a beer INSIDE of Tinto Kitchen.

I returned to my office - the 2020 calendar on the wall says it all. We moved in and that was it. Haven't been back since.

 

Muddy Pawprints

We took S to Carver Park, west of town. There's a HUGE dog park there that is a paradise for dogs to run free and wild. Lots of brush to hide in and lots of mudholes to explore. 

 

WFH

This is the home office work from home (WFH) situation. All day, every day, the cat & I sit in the basement in jeans and a sloppy shirt. She takes naps, I attend virtual meetings. In between, she gets pet.

 

Curfew 2021

The city has been on edge with the George Floyd murder trial going on. The absolute worst thing that could happen during all this would be for a cop to shoot & kill an unarmed black man. Unbelievable!

The whole metro area had two nights of curfew to keep things calm. Our little corner of the city is peaceful and quiet. Brooklyn Center is 20 minutes north of us.

 

Spring Flowers

Spring has sprung! The wildflowers and bulbs are up and blooming.

JP has been itching to plant some flowers. Fortunately, for the past month, the greenhouses have not had any - otherwise she would have planted some a month ago in the snow.

The flowers enjoyed a few days outside before they had to come back inside. We're not done with the white stuff quite yet.

 

Dining Room Lights

Friday, at lunch, I came up stairs to a kitchen completely full of boxes and packing materials. JP was excited - the new dining room light fixture she ordered arrived! Wait - what?? What dining room fixture? What?? 

Saturday morning we took out the existing fixture that was installed to the single junction box in the ceiling. Note in the photo that there is only one place in the ceiling to mount a light fixture or fan. There are not two junction boxes in the ceiling. JP's mask isn't for COVID; it's for blocking the 100-year old plaster dust as we core out a new 4" hole in the ceiling.

After two dog walks to Ace, we were able to install an additional junction box and hang the new fixture. It looks nice and matches well with the windows and room. 

 

Dishwasher Mount

JP works the dishwasher so energetically, she broke it out of its mounts. Every time you pull the door open, it would move around. Very annoying. We pulled it out and made the cabinet façade thicker so that the mounting screws had something to bite into. 

The pugs we were babysitting were more curious than cats; they were underfoot the whole time.

 

Neighborhood Map

Finally!! Our map of the neighborhood is complete! It sat for 2+ months at the framer. We are down to one spot and we now have exact dimensions of what it needs to be. Looking forward to hitting some art fairs this summer.

The map covers most of the Lynnhurst neighborhood and showswhat it was like in 1912. There were not many houses around here then.

The ceiling lights are directional and they do a nice job lighting up the wall.

 

Pugs

To get her mind off of trying to organize the graduation, finding a shot, and coaching the boys through the end of the semester, JP signed up for babysitting a pair of pugs.

V was very keen to help.

 

Old-School Northern Lights

 

20 years ago the sun was peppered with sunspots and it unleashed some massive coronal mass ejections towards earth. We had northern lights that were visible in the city (Woodstock, IL) for a few nights.

When I found the scans of these film photos, I thought - "Oh that's pretty cheesy - photoshopping the full moon into the frame." Then I realized that these were shot on film - no digital trickery here. Just an old-school intentional double-exposure.