Columbuzz

Ahhh, Columbus. Home to THE Ohio State University. Kristen took a trip there over Memorial Day weekend to see good friends, especially Ouida (left), Allyson, and Amy.

Friday night was an opportunity to see old friends at a cookout. Saturday was a chance to catch up with Amy and then go on a boat ride up the Scioto River. I had never appreciated the beauty of this river before. We spotted lots of great blue herons, a coromant, and several hawks. The weather was perfect!

One of the highlights was dressing up in beekeeping garb and checking on the hives with Glen. I learned a lot and got to taste honey straight from the hive. The bees are busy alright and need minimal intervention. Ouida and Glen got four gallons of honey off just one hive last summer!

Itasca

Can you guess the name of this river?

As unlikely as it seems, this is the Mississippi, and in a mere 2,500 miles it will arrive (considerably less potably) at the Gulf of Mexico.

Of the thousands of beautiful lakes in Minnesota, Lake Itasca is unique in that it gives rise to America's mightiest river. The photo below is taken from the northern shore, where the lake's waters flow over the rocks at right and become the Mississippi's headwaters.

The lake is also home to Minnesota's oldest state park, where stands of majestic red pine meet pristine marshes. In this haven for birds and other wildlife, we encountered yellow-bellied sapsuckers, great blue heron, hummingbirds, redstarts, orioles, grouse, purple finches, hooded merganser, yellow warblers, rose-breasted grosbeak, and the loon (our state bird).
We saw a red tailed fox on our early morning drive, and later rescued a snapping turtle who had decided to hang out in the middle of the road.

St Louis

The arch and the river from my hotel window.

Al and Nana begging for food.

Lou Brock throws out the first pitch. Cards lose 8-2, but a beautiful day nonetheless.

Scorching Bay

Morels!

For a few brief weeks each spring, delicious little morel fruiting bodies emerge from the forest litter. This morning, we drove to an 'undisclosed location' for the first morel hunt of the Minnesota Mycological Society. 

After a couple of hours of foraging, we had a pretty good haul; enough for a good feed of butter-sauteed morels.
This is such a fantastic time for fresh food in Minnesota. Our first CSA box arrived this week, loaded with goodies from the earth. K made an awesome sorrel ramp sauce for the fresh trout we had for lunch today and followed with a magnificent rhubarb date cobbler. Stay tuned for a report from sparglefest (asparagus) later this month.

As Flat as the Earth

An obscure little (less than 1 min) song from the late Chris Whitley, recorded in the downstairs bathroom (by me, not him) on the camera mic. Why not?

May Day-In The Heart of the Beast

May Day is an odd holiday-- a workers' holiday grafted on an old pagan festival. Here in Minneapolis, the "In the Heart of the Beast" May Day Parade is the offspring of this unlikely coupling--celebrating Spring, music, dancing, family, partial nudity, odd bicycles, Labor, religion, atheism, Leftist politics and some things I still can't figure out. In such cases, the old adage "show, don't tell" is the preferred approach, so . . .