Out and About
winter
Wonderland
It is Official
Skyway Art. Walking through the Skyway this week I noticed these new window murals. They are kind of cool.
It’s official. I’m retired. Day three of retirement. The countdown is over. Now I can get to all those projects I’ve been putting off for my retirement.
You might want to check out postcardbuzz.com this week. I came across some postcards from the turn of the century (1900’s). Apparently it was all the rage to send photographs as postcards. Here is one that was appropriate for the season.
Speaking of the season. We have had over 40 inches of snow this winter so far. We are running out of places to put it.
The US House of Representatives are the butt of all jokes at the moment. Specifically Kevin McCarthy. What an idiot. They have voted 10 times so far and he still can’t get elected speaker of the house. Where is Nancy when you need her?
I started reading the Raj Quartet, first one is The Jewel in the Crown. I saw the dramatization on PBS years ago. So far I am enjoying the book.
Obviously not much floating around in my head this week….
Holiday Party Time
First time I’ve seen the sun is two weeks.
Snaps around town
Before
After
Friday in the snow
It’s another Friday. Down to my last month at work. Snow on the ground. Cold and windy.
Nothing earth shattering in the news. Death, hate, war, celebrities, rich people, poor people, homeless people, bad politics, lawsuits, repeat. My crisis of the week? Didn’t have one. Actually I haven’t been out of the house all week. I’m reading a book called Up Like Thunder by Colin T. Nelson. A VIP’s daughter goes missing in Burma (Myanmar) and this Private Investigator goes looking for her. It is kind of slow moving but interesting. Lots of color on Burma. I’m about half way through, will finish it this week.
St Paul is full of skyways connecting the buildings downtown. I use them all the time to get around out of the cold. They are all on the second floor of the buildings. From my window I can see one lone skyway way above the street that connects two buildings. It is thought to be the world’s first modern skyway, built in 1931. Merchants Bank and First National Bank merged and the buildings were next to each other. The floor heights were different so the skyway connects one building’s 16th floor with the other building’s 17th floor. It is a private skyway so, unless you work at the bank, you won’t be able to use it. It is the tallest skyway in the Twin Cities. And it is green.
I leave you with Poem VIII from Pablo Neruda’s Book of Questions:
What is it that upsets the volcanoes
that spit fire, cold and rage?
Why wasn’t Christopher Columbus
able to discover Spain?
How many questions does a cat have?
Do tears not yet spilled
wait in small lakes?
Or are they invisible rivers
that run toward sadness?
Ponder that…..
Fun Friday
Not really fun but possibly. Looking at the world through a screen door. That could be fun. Looking at the world full of snow through a screen door. Getting more fun. Funner. Wonderlandy. It is pretty driving around town seeing the trees covered with white.
A light snow fell for most of this week. Reminded me of Moscow where it snowed constantly all winter. A weird thing was that the snow in Moscow never seemed to accumulate. It took me the longest time to figure it out. Big trucks came out at night that looked like giant crabs. They had two arms in the front that scooped all the snow into a feeder and onto a conveyor belt that took it up and dumped it into another truck behind. These trucks took the snow outside the city and dumped it into the countryside so there was never snow on the streets or sidewalks. What you ended up with was mainly ice. Black ice. I fell down a lot.
These are the trucks that push the snow into big piles so the ‘crab’ trucks can gobble it up.
So I signed up for Social Security. I guess I am ignorant but I discovered something. Once you hit your full retirement age, you can collect Social Security and work as much as you like. I always thought there was a limit to what you could earn until you were 70. But not the case. Not that I want to work but good to know.
The orange one is back. At least the press isn’t falling all over him like they used to. I hope it stays that way. I was reading today that Biden has a whole team at the White House working on ‘managing’ all the attacks that are sure to come. Sad.
Have a great weekend! Don’t think too much…
Churches
I voted in this church last week. It is across the street from my apartment. I had never been in it before but I see it every time I go out to my car.
Yesterday was very cold – in the 20’s. It takes some getting used to. So no walks in the woods yet… But I got this nice shot of the St Paul Cathedral.
Happy New Year
Happy New Year from cold country! Winter is here!
I’m being followed
We decided to drive to Wisconsin this year because I wanted to bring “the chair” back with me. We had a lovely family gathering for Christmas as usual. On the way back we packed the car up the night before and started out at six a.m. It was minus 12 F.
As we entered Illinois the sun was rising.
The cold produced steam-filled air in Indiana.
Ohio was uneventful but it started snowing in Pennsylvania.
It started feeling like home when we hit the Maryland gateway.
And then crossed the bridge into Virginia.
Today we woke up to snow again.
The weather is following me.
