Thanksgiving in ABQ

Here are some pictures from Luther's and my trip to Albuquerque over Thanksgiving. While there, we took a two-night road trip to see some old towns, some ruins, some white sand dunes and some lava beds. It was fun.

2008-11-27_Tgiving_ABQ

Walk in the Cold

I came home from work and Luther wondered if I wanted to walk over to Midtown Global Market, have a Manny's torta and do a little shopping while he went to a meeting with some bikers regarding crime on the Midtown Greenway. On a summer's evening, there is nothing more pleasant than an activity of this nature. But it's November -- it's dark out, and the temperature is about 20 degrees F. with a stiff breeze. I said I would love to and went to pull out my old silk longjohns. The walk was brisk, the weather was bracing, and, when we got there, the jalapenos in Manny's tortas made a fire in our tummies and brought tears to our eyes.

Mozart Requiem

The St. Mark's Choral Society is preparing to present Mozart's Requiem on Saturday, November 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark's on Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis. Mozart died without completing the Requiem. Franz Xaver Süssmayr, a student of his, filled in the missing bits. Juan Luis Guerra wrote a song based on the Lacrimosa section of the Requiem. It's on his Fogarate CD.

Labor Day 2008 in California

I just realized that I never published my photos from California! This is a severe oversight. I had a great time! I would like to say a whole lot more about it but, for now, I will just post the pictures. There are four sets.

2008_09_02_California

2008_09_04_California

2008_09_05_California

2008_09_09_California

Monstrous Crime Out

On Nic's birthday the Lyndale Walkers held a Monstrous Crime Out walk. Shirley came as a gorilla.

2008-10-28 Monstrous Crime Walk

Walking at Work

The two people on the walkway in the shadow of the building on this webcam shot are Jo and her walking buddy Judy on their way in from a brisk walk around the hospital campus.

2008-10-29 Work Walk

Last Canoe Outing

I can't remember exactly when it was, but sometime in late September or early October Dad and Jo took the canoe out one last time for the season. We put in as usual in the channel along Dean Parkway. We paddled through Lake of the Isles, through the Lagoon and under the Lake Street bridge into Lake Calhoun. We had often tried this before but always had to turn back because it was just too windy. But this time was different and we ended up canoeing all the way around the lake. The water was so clear and the afternoon light so beautiful, I felt like Reepicheep in his coracle.

2008-10-01 Last Canoe Voyage of the Season

Crane Ride

At work there is a huge construction project going on and Jo recently got to ride in the bucket on the crane. The pictures are from November 10th, when Jo rode in the crane but forgot her camera and had to get pictures from other people one of whom had taken them on his cell phone camera from the roof of the building, and from November 31st, when she grabbed her camera to go take pictures of other crane-riders and then sent it up with her office-mate Dustin who was nice enough to get a couple shots of the operator for her.

2008-10-10&31 Crane Ride

Muralist

Luther has been working on murals for our alley as an anti-grafitti measure. Works by Lucia and by Jack have also been mounted. Photos of these forthcoming.

2008-9-17 Muralist

Championship Cucumber

Just kidding. But it looks like a contender, doesn't it?

2008-08-05 Cucumber

Laura

Laura was here for about three weeks doing a theater camp with her cousins. We were able to see her plenty and had good times. All four of us bluehousians attended the kids' production, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. It had verve and vim, and talent leaked from every pore. Fotos available on Grandpa Ted's website.

2008-08-03 Laura

7/21 Concert at Minnehaha Park

Until the battery burned out, Luther took pictures for me during our concert on Monday night. We had an excellent turnout and amazing levels of participation. Mom and Jo AND Dad performed in the concert. Mom on C-flute and piccolo. Jo on C-flute and alto. Dad on piano.

A highlight of the show was a musical story called Three Crotchety Cats by Sonny Burnette. Dad narrated and Jo played the bass flute on that one. It is described as A humorous tale about three felines--Winston, Humphrey and Thurston--who were orphaned at a young age and raised by bullfrogs, cuckoo birds and garden snakes, respectively. Due to their upbringing, none of the cats could "meow." But the fact that they could "ribbet," "cuckoo" and "hiss" came in quite handy when they encountered their nemesis, Mollogwhump the troll.

2008-07-21 Minnehaha FC Concert

Summer Concerts

Flute Cocktail has two concerts coming up.

Flute Cocktail 2008 Summer Concerts

Las Tías

Mom's sisters came to town last weekend. It was lots of fun.

Mom and Barb and Jo played in church on Sunday for the Spanish-speaking congregation in St. Paul.

2008-06-29_Barb_&_Mom

Maija played with John Bergquist on bass and Steve Bergquist on percussion at the Bergquist's house in Eagan. Others sang and did kitchen percussion. Later, we went to an Irish pub in northeast Minneapolis and Maija took part in an Irish session.

2008-06-29_Sunday

Using public transportation, we had a leisurely supper at Caravelle on Nicollet and then went to the Mississippi riverfront for a walk.

2008-07-01_Stone_Arch_Bridge

There was a backyard picnic at our house so that other rellies in the area could see everyone.

2008-07-02_Backyard

Día de la Independencia

For the Fourth of July, Dad and Jo went canoeing in the Rice Creek Chain of Lakes north of the Twin Cities where highways 35W and 35E join up and become just plain 35 again. Dad attached the canoe to the car more firmly than usual because of the longer trip, and we avoided the freeways on the way there, so we got to see some neighborhoods we usually don't see. It was maybe a half-hour drive. We left around noon and got back to the house around 5.

The weather was beautiful. A slight cool breeze, big puffy clouds. Not too hot. Not many bugs. The lakes in the chain were deserted except for a couple of boats of carp hunters (in pairs, one person paddling and the other standing in the prow with a bow and arrow, going slowly along the reedy shoreline) and later in the afternoon we ran into some noisy kayakers.

The lakes and creek were full of carp. They fed at the surface, their dorsal fin visible above the water, making a nasty snuffling, piggy sound. When they noticed us, they would startle and swish and swim away. Once, we glided up close to a big one, paddles out of the water. The fish didn't notice us until the prow was about six inches away. It stiffened, then jumped, swished, and was gone.

I calculated our route. It came out to eight miles round trip, but we took the long way 'round through the first lake, so I think it was more. There is a dam (not shown on the map we had along) a few yards after you pass under the Main Street bridge, so we turned around before we could get into Lake Peltier.

2008-07-04_Rice_Creek

El Jardín

2008-06-27_Garden

Memorial Service

On Wednesday, June 18, Bethany and Scott picked me up from work and we went to Mankato for the annual synodical memorial service in which Opa was to be memorialized. Alexis and Marissa were along (Jeremy at basketball camp). It was delightful riding in the car with them. Present at the service were Bob & Ruthann, Tom & Judy, before-mentioned Sieverts, Bekah with Aria, Owen and Hunter (husband Jeremy in undisclosed location), Matt (Ruth and Jordan at baseball game). Bible reading was Hebrews 11:8-10, 13-16, 38-40. Pastor Wosche gave a talk on Luke 2:29-32 "This World Is Not My Home.". He referred to each of the five people memorialized in his sermon, and when he mentioned Opa he called him Arnold and not A.V., which I thought odd. Only two hymns were sung. The congregation sang I'm But a Stranger Here and a pastoral singing group sang All Men Living Are But Mortal. Pastoral singing these days seems to be less suave than I perhaps remember it. Not that it was ever very suave. Service was followed by a receiving line with all the families so shook hands with a ton of people who remembered me but I didn't remember them. Saw my old roommate Lois and her mom there. After service had a grand time at Andy and Laurie's. Brats. Hotdogs. Watermelon. Got to know 7-month-old Hunter a little.

Innocent

Blogspot thought my blog might be spam, so they removed it. A week ago, I got on to blog and discovered the situation and, per instructions, submitted my request for judgment. They have seen fit to release me and I am now blogging again. Yay.

Waiting

Been meaning to post that on May 20th we met with the remodeler. We were going to give it one last try to get the cost within budget before giving up and trying something else but we did not give up yet. Some new ideas were tossed around and the remodeler is now working on the new estimate. So we are waiting. This would be round 4, I believe.

Jo Goes Nordic Walking

Tonight, Jo went Nordic walking with a friend from work. While no accent is required, you are more successful if you imbue your stride with a little lilt. The group that Judy and I walk with is based out of a sports store in St. Louis Park. The leader brings along a bunch of "demo" poles for people to use for free. This week we met at the Stone Arch Bridge and walked down the St. Anthony Main side, crossed the Hennepin Avenue bridge, went down the stairs and walked along the other side of the river for a bit, then turned around and came back to the Stone Arch Bridge near the Mill Ruins. It was a brisk, cool evening but I still got hot and had to take off my jacket before we had even gotten halfway round.

Elijah

Tonight was the St. Mark's Choral Society's performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah. Mom and Dad and Luther came to see Jo sing in the alto section. It was a good performance. Strong soloists, tidy little orchestra, and the Choral Society joined by the more-experienced Cathedral Singers of St. Mark's.

I enjoy singing in this choir. It's almost always a very satisfying experience. I get to participate in making music that I would never otherwise get to do. I think this is my sixth event with the outfit.

So now I have Monday nights free until mid-September.

P.S. Dad started rehearsals for this concert but then took a long trip to see his grandkids. Perhaps he can be in the next one.

Adoquines

A little while ago I saw a classified in the company newsletter at work for a guy who does "pavers." So I had him out and he gave us a price and we had him replace our front walkway. He finished today -- started only yesterday -- and here is the result.

2008-05-14 New Sidewalk

Snowy Morning

We woke up on Tuesday, April 1st, to this:

2008-03-31 March Snowfall

Ever Ready

M&D went to the first of three CERT training sessions yesterday. They came back with a backpack each full of equipment and information.

2008-03-30 Cert Training M&D

Garage Murals

On the weekend, we didn't have Flute Cocktail rehearsal so Mom and I thought we would go shopping. Luther agreed to drive us to Savers if we could go through the Corcoran Neighborhood and check out the murals, results of a couple of years of graffiti prevention work by neighborhood volunteers. Here and here are blogs with more info. The idea is to do something similar in Lyndale this summer, although on a larger scale, and restricted to private property. There already is a project for murals on commercial property that is being run by the neighborhood organization in conjunction with the Walldogs.

2008-03-22 Corcoran Murals

Spoken Word

I have a handful of spoken word LPs. Who knows what these are doing in my house.

The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart
Ike From Abilene, Narrated by Henry Fonda
Robert Graves Reads Selected Poems
The Dream Keeper and Other Poems of Langston Hughes Read By the Author
Martin Fierro, Poema Argentino, Narrado por Alcides Dorado

I think these last two might originate from N, who is in B.

If It Brings Tears To Your Eyes

I've been doing a little decluttering in preparation for our remodeling project. One thing we have is a lot of is LPs. A list follows of the LPs I have sorted into the pile marked "Latino."

Vientos Del Pueblo, Victor Jara
Grabando Exitos, Sonora Santanera
Canto Para Una Semilla, Inti-Illimani con Isabel Parra y Mares Gonzalez
Imagination, An Album of Instrumental Music, Inti-Illimani
Por Eso Luchamos, Songs of Salvadoran Struggle, Cutumay Camones
Ejemplar de Promocion (!), Mirla Castellanos (there are two of these and they are 45s)
Por Eso Ahora (side A), and Si Tu Te Vas (side B), Cuatro Cuarenta (this is a 33, or whatever the little tiny ones are called)
Francis En El Cuarto, Vol. IV, Francis
Canto Del Agua, Ihuaye
El Huerto, Rumisonko
Yo Protesto, Roy Brown
Rabo De Nube, Silvio Rodriguez

Weekend in Mankato

I spent last weekend in Mankato, taking the airport shuttle after work on Friday and staying at my friend Lois' house. We were roommates the first year I was in Madison -- let's see, that would have been the school year of 1981-1982. We've known each other since childhood and attended two schools together and Lois is an accomplished pianist, organist and singer but but we've never actually done music together. So this time I brought my flute and a bunch of music and we played and Lois coached me a little on voice. We went for a walk, went shopping, watched Sense and Sensibility, visited her mother, went to Palm Sunday services at Mount Olive, and met Laurie and Andy O. et al for lunch. It was a good time. Got back to Minneapolis in the middle of the afternoon on Sunday and found the solar cookers out in the back yard. Luther had made a nummy banana/peach muffin/bread. It was fabulous.

Solar Cookers in the Yard

Flute Choir Showcase 2008

Flute Cocktail performed at the third annual Flute Choir Showcase yesterday. Of the eight flute choirs performing, we were the largest. Last year, one of my brothers was our guest artist and my other brother happened to be in town to catch the show. This year, our guest artist was a fabulous jazz musician, a friend of the first brother mentioned.

Ceniza: December 1990 - March 1, 2008

Ceniza, our little gray kitty, is not with us any more. She was put to sleep yesterday after being diagnosed with kidney failure.

Late last week Luther noticed that she didn't seem herself. She hadn't been eating or drinking and she moved slowly and gingerly. So Saturday morning he took her in to Kitty Klinic. The blood test results showing kidney function were off the charts. He brought her home again until I got home from flute choir practice. We waited around for Steve, who was coming by to pick up our old wireless router, and found out from him where the emergency vet was. Meanwhile, Ceniza didn't move around much. We just tried to keep her warm. We couldn't justify letting her try to get through one more night, so we went.

Luther and I answered the ad I had found in Methodist Hospital's weekly employee newsletter on January 16, 1991, the day the first bombs of the Gulf War fell on Baghdad. The people offering the free kitties had the TV on, so, while we picked out our kitty, we could see the newsies covering the bombing. Luther (who can remember it better than I can) says Tom Brokaw (I think) had just gotten Walter Cronkite, of all people, out of bed to get his take on the situation. He was barely awake and had no idea what was going on. The people in the house smoked, and the smell of cigarette smoke was oddly compatible with all the bombing going on on the TV. I can't remember how many kitties there were, but, of the ones not spoken for, we saw one that didn't rough-and-tumble with the rest. She looked shy and cute. So we picked her. And we named her Ceniza for her color, and for the apocalyptic atmosphere of that night.

Ceniza's talents included the ability to say "beer!" and "what!?." She possessed a hypnotic purr. In one famous incident, Franklin Curbelo, attending a meeting at our house, heard her purring and said, in his thick Argentinian accent, "Eeet eeez making me sleeeeeepyyy."

We will miss having to jump up from the bed upon discovering that we have sat on the spot where she was sleeping comfortably under the covers. We will miss having to coax her the rest of the way down the stairs in the evenings after she has announced her presence by squeaking "what!?" from the landing. Of course, she was so shy that not many people besides us ever actually saw her. However, in the last month or so she was even becoming comfortable enough to watch TV in the living room with M&D, even if Luther and I weren't around. And she always recognized and responded to the voice of Luther's sister Deb who seems to be part cat herself.

Melll-tinnngggg

Finally the temperature came above freezing. The snow started to melt, there was an earthy, watery, melty smell in the air and spring fever threatened to set in.

On Sunday afternoon, M&D and J went for a walk, because the best thing to counteract spring fever is to get outdoors.

2008-02-25_Melting_Mpls

Spring fever, n.: a lazy or restless feeling often associated with the onset of spring.

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Picture from Star Tribune, Feb. 20, 2008

Same Minneapolis building goes up in flames twice in six hours

By TIM HARLOW, Star Tribune

February 20, 2008

Minneapolis fire officials are investigating two fires that happened at the same building just a few hours apart.

The first blaze broke out around 3:30 a.m. at a building housing Jo Jo Urban Clothing and the La Princesa Bakery. The brick building at 3345 Nicollet Av. S. also housed a vacant food market. The fire appeared to have started behind the market, said Sean McKenna, spokesman for the Minneapolis Fire Department.

About 6 hours later, fire fighters were back on the scene, McKenna said. A fire had started in the basement of the bakery. The building is heavily damaged and may be a total loss.

McKenna said the first fire did not rekindle, but he was not sure what sparked the second fire.

"It's a mystery," he said.

© 2008 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

Aguas Calientes

Tragically, the hot water heater is not working. The service person will be coming out tomorrow afternoon. Worse could happen. Did everybody read Paul's blog about the car being stolen?

Mark Twain

Just finished reading Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. It took me a good long time to read this slim volume and I blame my TV-watching habits for that. Instead of climbing into bed and spending an hour or so reading, I watch TV until I am too tired to keep my eyes open, brush my teeth, crawl in, and turn off the light without touching my book.

Mark Twain gets distracted while telling the story and gets up on his soapbox plenty about capitalism, democracy, nature vs. nurture (it's nurture all the way), religion, and pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps, among other things. But he is a hoot and there are some very funny moments. The fascinating thing is the the mirror-within-a-mirror effect of a person in the 21st century seeing Twain's 19th century-ness reflecting the Middle Ages, and back again.

Sounds of Music and House Remodeling

This morning, Mom and I got up early and went to a Valentine's Day Tea (even though it is not yet Valentine's Day and even though a tea should be held in the afternoon) where our flute choir, Flute Cocktail, entertained and charmed the attending ladies (about 100 of them) with jazz music -- and one Celtic piece.

Valentine's Day Tea

Flute Cocktail is sounding better than ever. We are blending better. We have a better feel for jazz than we used to. But we still have some places where we are hesitant, where we don't play when we should for fear of sticking out, making for a couple of rough spots. But, I believe we are gaining in confidence, too. Our guest artist on the program is Maggie, a friend of Boo's. She is very good -- jazz is her thing -- and seems to like playing with us. We learn a lot from her, too.

This afternoon we met for the second time with our Certified Remodeler, Paul, from House Lift. "Nos cae muy bien" and he reminds me and Mom of about three different people we know, possibly four. He presented us with what he calls a budget of our wish list, which is, in order of priority: 1) new kitchen, 2) new bathroom, 3) another room. All on the 1st floor. The project entails an addition to make all this possible.

Now we know how much it will cost to do everything we want up to top-of-the-line standards. And it will cost a lot. So we are already paring down the wish list to a region that is more affordable. There will be, as I see it, a couple of weeks worth, maybe a little more, of conversation with Paul to figure out how we can get the most bang for our buck.

The ol' house needs some investment and, as those of you who have visited it within the last four or five months know, the areas 1) and 2) are especially in need of improvement.

Of course, this is an extremely preliminary plan. I am kind of excited about the process starting, though, so I wanted to show it to you.

Project Images

Tux

Here you can see Dad's new tux. These pictures were taken after the Choral Society's "Choral Music for Christmas" concert on December 8, 2007.

2007-12-08 Concert

Webcam

Here is a webcam that shows the construction project at Jo's job. We are building a humongous ramp and an addition that will be an expanded Cancer Center.

Choral Work

Dad and Jo attended rehearsal tonight of the St. Mark's Choral Society. The group is working on Mendelssohn's "Elijah" for performance on Saturday, May 17, at 7:30 p.m.

Trip to ABQ

The last seven days of January, Jo was in Albuquerque.

First day in ABQ, 1-25:

2008-01-25 Albuquerque

Trip to Santa Fe, 1-26:

2008-01-26 Trip to Santa Fe

Rocket launch, 1-27:

The launch was totally fun. Jack had already had some experience so he pretty much knew how to put the rocket together and get it ready for launch with just a little grown-up help. There's a rocket club around here that they have hung out with once or twice. Karen emailed them to find out where we could launch this one. It was designed to go up only 300 feet so they said we could pretty much launch it in any large space where we could be reasonably sure of recovering it. The place we went to is right next to the Sandia National Science Labs which are locked up tight as a barrel and if the breeze had been a little stronger and the rocket had landed inside there we would never have gotten it back. The whole process can be addictive. The countdown is exciting as is the hiss of the rocket taking off. Karen says the rocket club people spend most of their time running around in the bush looking for their rockets!

2008-01-27 Rocket Launch ABQ

Greetings

Greetings! Here's a new blog for occasional postings about what's going on at the blue house on 1st Avenue.

This should be big year. We are actively planning a 1st floor kitchen/bathroom remodel including the possible addition of a small room. Our remodeler is going to present us with options on Thursday. Later this year, two inhabitants of the house, M & D (or T & H to some of you), will be traveling to Peru, 40 years after first going. L & J would like to go, too.

This already has been a big year. We hosted the party of the year on January 18 for N y N's wedding. We really like having a houseful of people and, as you can all well imagine, the remodeling project will make that kind of thing easier and even more enjoyable.

So, watch this space.