south minneapolis garden 7/15/06

Today was hot. 37 Celsius. And humid. A great day to be outside. I can say that because of where we went. We were invited to check out the garden at a house in South Minneapolis that some of Hiroe's students worked on. The students have a Koi and pond business. The garden was beautiful.

First of all, there is no grass. No lawn. It's all trees, and hasta, and vines, and statues, and.. and... too much to take in on just one visit.



















Each hasta was labeled.


















Shrubs were groomed.


















So much green.












Old man winter kept at bay. In this garden you can't imagine that such a thing as winter exists.































Status were lurking at every turn.












































Wa. Very important.































































And the pond. With a creek. And waterfalls. And vases with flowing water from the center.












And Koi.

























































So calming. Kind of a Tetris feel.












If I'm ever really stressed, this garden is where I'd like to go. And just sit. And stare. And dream. Ahhhh.

piano concert 7/12/06

Tuesday night we went to a piano concert - competition at Orchestra Hall. The competition was for pianists from around the world. The final 6 contestantss performed with the Minnesota orchestra in front of an audience. We saw the first three that night. It was really a wonderful experience with very diverse contestants. We both liked the second pianist. Maybe it was his style, maybe it was the piece he selected (it flowed very well with the orchestra) or maybe it was his hair.

At any rate, here is the view (before the concert) from our seat. Sorry about the quality. The picture was taken with my phone...

a trip to the cabin 7/9/06

I went to Wisconsin this weekend to bring the boat to the cabin. Hiroe stayed home to get some things done around the house.
When I stopped for gas in Woodbury I saw this cool scene. The guy in the green shirt was driving the van. He definately had a theme.








But about the boat... sadly, it's been sitting behind our house since we picked it up from storage in April. I never even had a chance to remove the cover. I decided to bring it to the cabin in case my parents want to use it. When I arrived at the cabin on Saturday, a quick test determined that both batteries were dead. Luckly, one battery took a charge. Later in the evening, we took it for a cruise down the lake. On the way back the low oil alarm continued to remind us that the oil reservoir was almost empty. We made it back, but further use that weekend was canceled until I get some oil. This is a pretty big deviation from years past where the boat was kept in immaculate shape and was used every weekend. Nowadays, we want refuge from the sun rather than to bask in it. Maybe we'll use it more when I have a top made for it. For now... here it sits. Sigh.












Sunday morning I was sitting on the dock and noticed that this cabin on the other side of the lake shows signs of life. Usually it was closed up, only to be visited maybe once a year. My understanding is that years ago a child visiting the cabin was killed in a boating accident. Reminds one that life is precious.

4th of July 7/4/06 (yeah, I know, redundant info)

The 4th of July. Probably the one day it's guaranteed that most people in the states go outside. To the parks, to the lakes, to the relative's backyard. During the day we went to Minnehaha Park. Lots of picnics and people playing.


















And an occasional old guy in shorts and knee-high black socks.












And families posing for pictures.












And toys... bicycles and quadcycles(?) for people to rent.












Like these people.


















Their only complaint was that there were no cup holders for their beers. The guy in the back (out of view) was holding two beers - a chaser, I guess. Notice the woman in back isn't pedaling. The true measure of a friendship.












Here's a big head keeping watch over the falls. I'm sure he has a name. I'll pass the name along if I even learn it. For now, let's call him Bob.












Later we went to see the fireworks in downtown St. Paul. We got what we thought was a great spot, far enough away to get a panoramic view of the show over the capital building.


















Emergency services were right in front of us. Very convenient.












As usual, St. Paul changes the location of the fireworks every year. I'm sure it's a little joke they play on everyone in the 5 county area. This guarantees you'll get a bad spot since the fireworks are always behind whatever you're sitting next to. We thought we had taken that into consideration this year. We were wrong. After a mad jaunt down the street, placing our lawn chairs in the middle of a sidewalk next to an ugly apartment building, this is what we saw.

Como Zoo 7/2/06

Today we went to the Como Zoo. It's a smaller zoo in St. Paul, with the benefit of being free (a $2 donation is requested). For free you can't set your expectations very high. But given that, I was reminded that it's a fairly nice little zoo. It seems to be a great place to take children as their first introduction to a zoo, to see what they like. Maybe it's the seals...













Or the polar bears.


















Stopping for a game of peek-a-boo.












Or a fashion show.


















I'm too sexy.


















Tigger was there too.


















And the giraffe.


















Hi.































I had high hopes for this photo. Until I realized what he was eating.

























There is also a small amusement park with several rides, corn dogs, cotton candy, and mini-donuts.












We were very good in that we didn't eat any of that. There was face painting too. We didn't do that either.


















A gratuitous photo of Soba.


















And no photos of us. On purpose. See, it's 33 celsius here. And humid. It's hard to want to pose for a picture while wiping sweat out of your eyes. I guess we should get used to it for our big trip...