Sunday - January is almost over! Yay!

The pond by Bedman Drive. I wonder where those beavers are now?

Yes, this is GLARE ICE on Bedman Drive. It's safer to drive into town on co. rd. 61, towards either Garfield or the Carlos/Darling bridge and go into town that way.

Goin' and Seein' around Lake Ida on Saturday

Superman's suit is waiting for him in this phone booth, just in case. It's a short walk from our house, over on Oak Ridge Road. Take that! Lex Luthor. The Floding's have a unique bus stop warming shelter for those cold winter mornings waiting for the bus. They live near the winery on co. rd. 34.

This image seemed to be the definition of COLD. It's Lake Ida Cemetery, on the corner of co. rd. 61 and Lake Ida Way. Brrrr.

The deer ran right in front of the car as we drove down Oak Ridge Rd. on the west side of Lake Ida. But of course, do I have the camera ready? They ran a few yards into the woods, and stopped to stare at us.

A January Saturday

The one (and maybe only) nice thing about those below zero days, is that the sky is usually a nice clear blue, with sun. It seems a bit incongruous to wear sunglasses and earmuffs, but we do. Tracy and I have always been partial to earmuffs.

After we spent a some hours with mom, and helped her out with lunch, we went with the guys to Garfield, to the Fire Station Bar and Grill. It's right by the Central Lakes Trail. http://www.centrallakestrail.com/

We were just about the only people in the Firehouse that hadn't come by snowmobile. The fries were great. Here is a sweatshirt on sale there. Maybe for my next birthday. http://www.firestationbar.com/

Or not.

Another customer arriving.

A Room With a View

When I started teaching, I was in this classroom for a few years. Then I was in two other rooms - one faced the hallway, the other one was windowless. I finally was able to move back into my original room, and it's the most calming, natural view - here today's sunset is shining on the birch trees, and the moon is rising over the baseball field. It's the view from my desk chair.

In the morning, the sun is rising over Rice Creek as I enter the room. It is a great way to start the day.

This photo needs a caption . . .

It's an Ole and Lena joke waiting to happen.

Uffda! January weather!

We drove to Alex last night, the car thermometer a steady 32F (0C), and the rain didn't turn to ice until we were within the last 2 miles. Then it was pretty slippery.



Chuck and I went into Alex this morning. I'd promised mom I would be there before lunch to visit her at Knute. We had a nice visit, and lunch together. Then she was happy for an afternoon nap. Me too. By the time we headed home, it had been snowing quite hard, so the highway was just two slushy ruts down the middle. With a glaze of ice underneath. Yuck.

So until he has to go out to blow snow and shovel, Chuck enjoys being snowed in. He has beer in the fridge.

A bit of Danish culture

Sometimes Blogger recommends a blog of note - last summer we followed ryanrunseurope - an American college student who ran across Europe.
This blog is basically someone who photographs people on bicycles in Copenhagen. Having been to Copenhagen twice, that is where I first learned that in Europe there are definite bike lanes, and STAY THE HECK OFF OF THEM if you are a wandering, clueless tourist.
http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/

There are lots of images, so it takes a while to load.

Norwegians get attention too!

We've focused our energy on Sweden for a while, but Norway has popped up again. Out of the blue we received a Christmas card/letter from one of Chuck's Norwegian relatives whom we've never met before. I wrote back (snail mail) and hope to get it figured out. It's always fun to make a new connection. Svein Otto works on a North Sea oil platform, so he's out at sea for long periods of time. Not the oil platform in the Norway ride at Epcot.

Ellen Eilers, Alexandria, Minnesota artist, and relative

Ellen Eilers is also on facebook. Ingvor in Sweden gave me the heads up, and I found this youtube link from her facebook page. I'm now a fan on facebook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4jYZIzKHwY

Visby Web Cameras and Getting to Visby

Visby Webcams

http://www.webbkameror.se/webbkameror/visby/index.php

Sometimes Chuck and I check out the webcameras for Visby, just to see what kind of weather Andrea is having as she's at work, there in the center of Visby. The camera in Stora Torget is updated every few seconds, and you can see people walking and cars driving. I've always thought it would be fun to place oneself there in the Market Square at a set time, and wave at someone at home watching online.

This is the ferry to the mainland of Sweden. We've been on it once, at the start of our trip to southern Sweden and Germany about 3 years ago. The cars, buses and trucks are waiting to drive onto it. When on the ferry, the assigned seats are almost like being on a very wide airliner. Andrea and Stefan take the ferry for those mainland trips where they need a car - such as shopping trips to IKEA. Sometimes storms and heavy seas make it difficult for the ferry to dock.

The other way out to Gotland is to fly. Here is the airport.

This is the little Fokker we fly on. It's a Fokker 50 with room for 50 passengers. They serve coffee, tea and pepparkakor on the 50 minute flight from Stockholm.

Knute Nelson Home - moving day

Today Chuck and Tom did the heavy lifting and the motivating - Tracy and I were feeling overwhelmed. We cleaned out her belongings from the assisted living. Mom is being well cared for, and we are getting things all in place for her at her new digs.
She has a nice room with afternoon sun, and we worked a little on making it feel more homey for her.
Papa Murphy's take and bake pizza at Mike's ended the day. We had a good laugh at their cat Dave, who comes running when he knows there will be a ride on the walker. He just loves it. Mike likes to hot rod with any vehicle, ever since his tricycle I'm sure, and Dave goes along for the ride.

My 73rd Field Trip

We went to the U of M for a Physics demonstration. The demonstration was great, the crowd control wasn't. Here I am making sure all three of the 2nd grade classes get there together. Bigger kids were cutting into our line or across the middle of it.
When I look at this photo I scare myself. Can I retire yet? Seriously, it must be my 73rd field trip. 25 years of teaching, about 3 a year . . .
This photo will not make it into the yearbook.

10 below and blowin' snow!

Finally home, we couldn't get into the driveway - packed at the end with hard frozen ice and snow from the plow. Here's Chuck in action. I was the ice chunk buster. We worked way too hard for old people.

A Warm Welcome Home

Frankie is glad we're back. She's been stuck to me like a cheap polyester sweater since I walked in the door.

Back from Florida - a difference of 100 degrees Fahrenheit

It's good to be home again, but the temp is ridiculous! These were the overnight lows. First in Fahrenheit:And in Celcius for Stefan: