Month: December 2018

Bob and Sarah had to throw out a broken toilet and ancient chair, so I helped carry them to the curb last night. This morning they awaited their fate, collecting frost.

I would entitle this photograph “Dialogues at Dawn” because of the way there are two places to sit, side by side. But it’s humorous.

Later I took a medium-length walk around the pond in the center of the town of Whitewater, since Bob and Sarah had to work, of course.
I saw these guys standing on the pond, ice-fishing.

[daily log: walking, 3km]

I spent my last day in Minneapolis running a few errands and driving around a bit, among my memories. I’ve lived in Minneapolis/Saint Paul, on and off, for almost a quarter of my life, including very formative years of young adulthood.
This is the house on Elliott Avenue where I met Michelle and Jeffrey. Bob and I were roommates, upstairs, while Michelle lived in the downstairs unit. Jeffrey was 5 years old, then. The house’s appearance is almost unchanged.

Here is the Minneapolis skyline as seen from 14th Street at the University of Minnesota campus, at sunset.

No visit to Minneapolis is complete without a meal at an Ethiopian restaurant. Mark, Amy and I went to a restaurant on 4th Avenue South, just south of Lake Street, a few blocks northwest of the Elliott Avenue house shown above.

[daily log: walking, 3km]

Wendy found some more interesting old pictures in some boxes. I scanned a few.
In 1994, Michelle (my wife, who died in 2000), Jeffrey (my stepson, who is now 31 and lives in Seattle) and I drove from Minnesota out to California, and stayed with my dad (Phil), Wendy (my stepmom), Andrew (my brother) and Eugene (an exchange student living with them at that time).
We spent Christmas in Temple City, California.
Here is Jeffrey (my stepson) at age 7.

Here is Jeffrey with his favorite present, an infamous air hockey table.

Here is a picture of me, Jeffrey and Michelle, looking pretty happy.

[daily log: walking, 2km]

I have spent the day visiting with my stepmother Wendy. I met her current significant other, Larry, and we had a late lunch at a restaurant they like, where Brenda (my stepsister) also came.
One thing we did was spend some time going through some old photo collections. I scanned a few of them – so now I have digital versions of some old photos of my siblings and me.
Here is a rare and implausible “family portrait” from 1990, when I had just finished the training phase of my brief Army career.

Here is a picture of my father, looking rakish, and me, looking awkward. I was 13 years old, and we were taking a trip in Europe, in late 1978.

Here is a picture of me when I was 11 years old, at Phil and Wendy’s McKinleyville house. I think it might have been my birthday.

Here is a picture of my sister Brenda, age 5, pulling a go-cart that my father had made up the hill.

Here is a slightly damaged picture from my sister Samara’s wedding, in 1996: the four siblings.

Here is a picture of me with Lucy the Dog from a camping trip to northern Minnesota in 1993 – the dog belonged to my friend Kristen in that era.

Here is a picture of Samara, Wendy, me, and my father’s parents Alice and John, from around 1975.

Wendy and I took a short walk around her neighborhood and I took this panorama of Colorado’s Front Range looking west (you can “click to embiggen” this picture, you know).

My stepmother has artistic talent. She made this kokopelli that is in her back yard.

[daily log: walking, 2km]