Edo Woman

It's nearly December and that means two things. The first is that I better get some Christmas shopping started and the second is that I start to crave a trip to anywhere sunny and warm. I can get a direct flight to Phoenix or Fort Meyers and be there in less than 4 hours. Hop on the 54 bus from downtown and I can be at the airport in 20 minutes. But yesterday was sunny in the Twin Cities so I talk myself out of that idea and decide on local travel instead...across the river to the other city and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I had seen the advertisement for the Edo Pop exhibit on one of the bus shelters in downtown but didn't think I would be interested in it. I learned that Edo is the former name for Tokyo. The majority of the MIA is free but there is usually a charge for special exhibits like the Edo Pop. I never got further than the first floor and spent most of that time in the Bonjour Japon: A Parisian Love Affair with Japanese Art exhibit. Did you know that if the museum owns the art then you can take a photo of it (without flash of course)? I loved the Parisian exhibit so I think I'll be back to the MIA to see the Edo Pop exhibit too but I'll do that on December 11th when the special exhibits are free. Lunch....you could eat at the museum, but Eat Street otherwise known as Nicollet Avenue is blocks away. I stood outside Lu's Vietnamese sandwich shop pondering the photos when Lu opened the door for me and urged me inside. I had the mock duck sandwich and it was tasty. I tried a can of penywort pop. Unfortunately it tasted like something scrapped off the side of a fish tank mixed with a little sugar. I asked the owner if it had some kind of health benefits. Who would drink it otherwise. He thought it was good to cure a bloody nose and maybe a cold. I had neither when I woke up this morning. So I've temporarily solved my need for travel. I better start thinking about that Christmas shopping.

Downtown News

I don't subscribe to a local newspaper. Once in awhile I will pick up the Pioneer Press if I'm walking around downtown. I guess I don't get my news from any one source any more. Sometimes I'll get my news from the local TV broadcast but that can be frustrating because I can't sit through all of the advertising and most of the news shows advertise during the show about what they will tell you later. Yesterday in one advertisement for the news at 10pm with Frank Vascellero (on WCCO) they announced that he will talk about how he lost 20lbs in a month. Although I applaud him for his diet, that's not really news...should news people show news stories about themselves? I think we all know how to diet even though we may not do it....eat less, eat better, exercise more. This morning I went to the Internet version of the Pioneer Press. I learned that there was a gas leak several blocks from where I live but it has been fixed. Good to know. Also they found the guy that stabbed someone over at the Cherokee Tavern. Good news. That's just over the high bridge and up the hill a 1/2 mile. They should also have mentioned that this is a nice place and don't be afraid to go. They make a nice chicken pot pie and have a great happy hour. But skip the chicken pot pie unless you plan on walking there and back because it is definitely not on your diet. I also read about the 3 million dollars that the city council found laying around under the so-called sofa cushions. The funds came from from unused Star grant funds promised for development projects that never got off the ground. So really its not missing cash but rather checks that were never sent out because the folks who wanted the money decided that they didn't need it after all. That's simplifying the thing of course and the city should review the status of grant funds annually. Now they just need to make an accounting adjustment and open up those funds to other groups that can use them. What is interesting to me in this story is the negative viewer comments shouting out fraud and mismanagement. At least with a story on the Internet we get to find out what other readers think.

Thanks

Thanks for reading my blog. Looking back I see I started this thing a year ago on September 26th of 2010. I usually try to enter something once a week but I don't always make my made-up deadline. What happened in October??? Not a single entry. My Mother noticed. Well, I could offer several excuses. Maybe I wasn't feeling that great....allergies flaring up....but I don't usually have allergies this time of year. I am convinced that downtown has a cone of pollution hanging over it right now from all the digging that has been going on. Maybe I didn't write anything in October because I didn't go anywhere or see anything interesting. Well, that's not exactly true either. I saw the zombies in Mears Park on October 8th. Unfortunately I tossed out my zombie bride outfit about 8 years ago so I was only an observer and therefore couldn't be counted toward the attempt to set the Guinness world record. The park was full but did they have the 8,000 that they were hoping for? I haven't heard the verdict on that one. I attended Sample Night Live at the History Theater on October 5th. I could have written about that. The first Wednesday of the month they host 10 to 12 performers who each get about 15 minutes to perform. It is very much like an old fashion variety show so if you don't like the jazz singer you might like the poetry slam performance or the improvisational comedy act. My favorite act last month was a comedian named Linda Aarons. I enjoyed hearing her talk about nothing more than her own name for a solid two minutes. They give out prizes too. Last month I came home with one free Flamenco dance lesson. I went to Plug-In St Paul on the evening of October 20th at the Crowne Plaza too. I certainly could have written about that. Why weren't there more people there??? It should have been packed. It was held at the top of the hotel overlooking the river in the old carousel dining room which is now only open for events. It still has the revolving platform and the view at sunset was spectacular....free hors d'oeuvres too.....come on people. The real reason I went was to hear about "ranked voting" which we will use to elect our next city council members next Tuesday. Hope we have better voter turn out than the Plug-In St Paul event. Well, I feel better now that I have at least re-capped October and look forward to whatever November will bring to downtown living.

Road Work Ahead

On a stroll through town I heard a fellow walker say to his companion "downtown is under construction". Well, yes that would be an understatement. One bicyclist passing the Union Depot construction site mumbled "I hate this". Even my own condo is under construction as I am trying to finish painting walls before the winter weather sets in. Orange diamond shaped signs with Road Work Ahead are located everywhere downtown. Maybe I should have one of those on my front door. I've noticed that a few of those orange signs have added ornamentation in black and blue and shiny white....no doubt unauthorized by the city planners or safety sign makers. I like the one with the black and blue star even if it is not authorized. Maybe we could adopt it as the universal sign for Problems Ahead Just Go With It. Even as my own personal painting project is zipping along it seems that we are making speedy progress in downtown too. The Union Depot LRT stop on 4th St is taking shape. Will that be called the 4th Street Station? I bet the owners of the 4th Street Station Bar would like that. The skyway connection that was removed on Cedar and 5th is moving along this week too with its reconstruction. I remember the city saying that it would be done by November and I think that might actually happen. That connection is important for anyone wanting to get to the library or the Excel Center without having to set foot outside in the winter. It's not that I mind walking to the library outside. In fact I normally prefer it and I enjoy sitting in Rice Park across from the library before I return home. Has anyone noticed the lovely new garden and benches across from the library that the city constructed this summer? Earlier in the week as I sat there (it was getting darker by the minute), I noticed that the garden is completely overrun with mice....not unattractive mice exactly. No, I would say they were the cutest, tiniest brown mice I've ever seen. Beatrix Potter would have loved to capture them in a drawing or two and I imagine they too are busy with their own construction projects far below the new garden in Rice Park.

Blind Faith

Last weekend Concrete and Grass music festival played out in Mears Park. Did that officially signal the end of summer for us? I enjoyed Alison Scott's interpretation of Blind Faith's Can't Find My Way Home on Saturday night even though I wanted her to pick up the tempo just a bit. Friday night Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum (right after a rousing opera lover's hour) played an acoustic set to a full crowd. I know it wasn't just me who thought that he seemed unprepared....but strangely that was just fine, maybe even better than fine. A few times he played things that seemed like he hadn't practiced in awhile, shouted out to family members in the audience, started, stopped and restarted. Amazingly it all seemed fresh and unrehearsed, not just another scripted show like one from the night before. I remembered some of his songs from the 90's like Runaway Train and he threw in some interesting choices like Glen Campbell's Rhinestone Cowboy. I was shocked to see on the Internet that his bio says he is 47...can that be true? He seemed to have such a baby face, but it was dark in the park....yes, very dark out and the moon was nearly full and little bats were flying around keeping the remaining summer mosquitoes from festival participants. Some in the audience were clearly creeped out by those little bats but don't they really do us a service flying up from the caves along the river to keep the bugs under control. Days before I was watching the old Francis Ford Coppola version of Dracula from 1992 staring Winona Ryder....say, didn't she use to date Dave Pirner in the 90's? Was that the role that got his attention? I had just read the book as part of my attempt to try to tackle some old classics from the BBC's poll of reader's favorites. The movie tried to follow the book (with a twist) in ways the old Bela Legosi version did not but the acting was, well, just plain silly. Still I couldn't stop thinking about all those bats enjoying the teeming masses in the park just like Dracula....just remember that "he cannot enter (your downtown condo that is) at the first unless there be someone of the household who bids him to come; although afterwards he can come as he pleases!!!"

Red Bull Barge

Red Bull brought a floating skateboard park via barge to the river this past weekend. A barge actually seems like a perfect place for a skateboard park....listen up parks and rec people. Sunday starting about noon twenty or so athletes each had 2 one minute runs to show off their tricks and skate skills. I watched more than a few tumble onto the concrete deck. Hope they got those kids to sign liability waivers. There's going to be a few bruises. The objective for the athletes is a place in the finals of the Mississippi Grind competition to be held in New Orleans. RB will float their barge downstream to St. Louis this month finally reaching the Big Easy in October. RB workers were handing out product samples to the 100 or so spectators watching the action and I accepted my free can of Red Bull. Thanks RB. I've actually never tried one and I'm probably not their normal target market. I decided I would have to save it for another day since I'd already had 3 cups of coffee. Their advertisement says that "if you want to stay on top of things in this 24/7 world, you'll need some wings"....that sentiment must be the inspiration for the Flugtag event they host world wide. Last year they brought that event to Harriet Island and I watched it from the steps of the Science Museum arriving just in time to see a local team's homemade contraption take flight from what seemed like a pretty high perch on the RB barge, skimming gently across the river to break the world record. The estimated 90,000 people that showed up were ecstatic. It was a crazy blending of sports and science. Even the 4th of July fireworks doesn't compare with the crowd that was in downtown on that day. How do we get back on RB's list of host cities for that event?

End of Summer

You know summer is coming to an end when the state fair begins. In fact we are already half way through it. I haven't been in a few years and I don't plan to go this year...maybe next year. I'm just not feeling the pull of the chocolate dipped jalapeno peppers or deep fried apple pie. Most of the summer long music events in downtown like Tuesday's 9 Nights of Music, Thursday nights at the Ordway or Music at Mears have come to an end and well, I feel pretty stuffed with all the summer fun. The weather has changed into far more moderate temperatures and I'm trying to get out in nature as much as possible before winter arrives. On the river downtown, besides the usual working barges, pleasure boats continue to cruise the river and will do so well into the fall. Even if you don't have a boat it's a good time to be out near the river and you don't have to go very far upstream to feel the wilderness of the river and see wildlife. Crosby Farm & Hidden Falls Regional Parks and Snelling State Park all are excellent quick escapes from the urban thing. I've been at Snelling twice in the last two weeks and both times have spotted bald eagles on the river banks. I shouldn't be surprised. Bald eagles can sometimes be spotted drifting on the air currents around the highrises in downtown. We are fortunate to have one of the larger populations of eagles in this part of the U.S. Try the three mile hike around Pike Island at Snelling. The bench where the Mississippi and the Minnesota Rivers converge is a beautiful spot to sit and look downstream, watch the few folks fishing there and perhaps see some of the wildlife that lives on the river.

View from Harriett Island

A week ago Sunday I walked across the Wabasha Bridge to the Irish Fair at Harriett Island. The backdrop of the city along the river on a blue sky day is a spectacular setting for any event. There was the usual assortment of food and drink vendors, arts and crafts displays, Irish dancers with curly haired wigs, and musicians at multiple stages singing Irish tunes. One tent had a dog exhibition going on that included terriers, water spaniels (looks like a poodle, don't call it that to the owner) and of course the Irish wolfhound ....the big big dog that hunted the wolf to extinction in Ireland so many years ago. My building has a 30 lb dog limit and it might be hard to sneak it in without neighbors noticing. Even though in terms of population the German and Scandinavian ancestry wins out, St Paul feels like it has a large Irish community especially with in your face landmarks like the Cathedral....and of course the pubs. The newest pub in downtown won't be Irish however. The Amsterdam Bar and Hall is due to open this September in the old Pop/Fhima restaurant spot. Can they break the curse of that location? I think so if they just give people what they want which is basically interesting beer choices. A week ago the Mayor's office gave an open to the public speech at the Amsterdam location about the coming year's budget. I stopped by to mainly see the construction progress of the space. I was greeted with a copy of the menu and a coupon for a free Broodje (little Dutch sandwich). I didn't stay for the Mayor's speech (too many folks in suits and the construction odor was unpleasant), but I will be back when they open in September to collect my Broodje. When I think about Dutch food I think herring and Belgian style fries. Those are on the menu, but Loempia, the little Indonesian spring roll is on the menu too. Now I'm excited. I remember "Lumpia" from my time living in San Francisco when a Filipino coworker brought them to potlucks. I dreamed about those for years but can't remember now why they are different from any other crispy fried spring roll. Guess I will find out in September.

Tracks Arrive in Downtown

At the August Downtown Council's monthly happy hour someone asked if I owned a car. Some years ago after moving to downtown from the suburbs I gave up my car in an attempt to go car-less. I gave my aging Toyota away to an organization on Como Avenue that teaches auto skills to youth. I thought that sounded like a good idea. After my donation I took the bus back to downtown. At first I did all my errands in downtown, but eventually I expanded my walking range up to Grand Avenue walking all the way to the Grandview for an occasional movie and Mississippi Market for groceries. I occasionally rented a car when I really needed one. During that time I lost 10 lbs from all the walking I did. Taking the bus to the Mall of America, downtown Minneapolis and the airport.....all easy, but getting around to other places in and outside of the Twin Cities can be difficult. My experiment without a car lasted less than a year before I bought another one. While I like having access to my car, I use it less and walking is still a huge part of my lifestyle of living in an urban environment. About a month ago on an evening walk, I spotted the light rail crew bringing in one of the first rails to be placed on 4th street. It seemed like a low-tech operation. The rail was slowly dragged on rollers set up in the street. I was surprised how the block long piece of metal curved to make the bend around Kellogg Avenue. Now when you walk down 4th Street, tracks are in various stages of being embedded into the newly prepared street. Closer to downtown the space left after the demolition of the buildings at Cedar and 5th Street, you can see the metal posts that have been driven into the ground showing the curving path that the train will take from Cedar Avenue to 4th Street. The work to reconnect the skyway at Cedar and 5th is in progress too. That link is scheduled to be back in place by November.....an important section to getting to the library before the winter weather gets serious. I don't know how I will use the light rail system in the future. Next year downtown should have a green bike station courtesy of Nice Ride MN....maybe I will bike to the U of M and return via the light rail. All these new options make going car-less ever more possible in the future.

Hot Afternoon

Yesterday the Lowertown Roots Music Festival began with Mariachi Flor y Canto at one in the afternoon. The temperature and humidity was fierce but folks with lawn chairs in hand began to filter into Mears Park in spite of it. Several songs into their set they began to sing La Cigarra a song that sounds like it should be about smoking cigars, but is really about the cicada, the grasshopper with the unusually long life and known for the sound that the male makes when it beats its belly like a drum. I first heard La Cigarra on Linda Ronstadt's 1987 album of mariachi music dedicated to the Mexican heritage of her father. I remember hearing her sing that song and others with Mariachi Vargas on one of the morning shows when the album debuted....and I've loved it ever since. Flor y Canto did an impressive rendering of La Cigarra....and they sang it in the hot sun decked out in traditional mariachi suits. That means long skirts and jackets for the three women singer/violinists and full suits for the 3 guitarists and 2 trumpet players. At one point the lead singer complained about her attire and the polyester fabric of her costume. I wanted to shout out "summer weight wool will breathe honey"......maybe I'll post something on their facebook wall. The afternoon continued with a variety of roots traditions like gospel and bluegrass, but I left the park and didn't return until headliner Greg Brown took the stage at eight. It was still warm out and there must have been close to a thousand folks in the park by then. I'm not very familiar with his music but I had the feeling that most of the fans in the audience had heard him sing songs about flying his freak flag and fat boy blues before. He didn't seem like he had a weight issue and I thought he looked pretty trim in his cool wifebeater shirt. The evening ended a few minutes early when the festival organizers warned the audience of approaching thunderstorms to the north. The fans did not want to leave until Greg played one more song and he agreed. Warning sirens went off about twenty minutes later and finally lightning arrived to end what was a great beginning for the first annual Lowertown Roots Music Festival.

Mrs Peabody Nearly Melts

Mrs. Peabody who had nearly melted away yesterday is beginning to recover nicely thank you. I won't go into all the statics associated with our recent heat wave like dew point, heat indexes, record breaking stuff and all that. It is enough to just record it as hot and set it in your mind so that you can retell it in twenty years. But that is over now and downtown residents can actually walk outside. Children can play once again outside. Not only that but ovens can be used. The faint smell of warm chocolate chip cookies wafting through the breeze up to my balcony as I sat outside enjoying my third cup of coffee tells me that things are back to normal. Praise the whatever that our collective misery has passed.

Littering Butts???

Someone is a little pissy about the cigarette butt litter on our downtown streets. I noticed this stenciled sidewalk graffiti by the Union Depot several weeks ago and now there are several more around town. This one is labeled 1.1 so maybe others are 1.2 and so forth. I was contemplating the cigarette butt issue myself about a month ago as I was entering a door on Minnesota Street leading to the skyway. There are always folks smoking there since we turned them out of buildings a few years ago. There is no receptacle there for butts and I doubt that many smokers feel compelled to hang on to it until one can be found. Some businesses put out containers and I wonder if their outside areas are a little cleaner. One winter at this same skyway entrance I came across someone urinating on the sidewalk where I wanted to walk. As I recall I made somewhat of a negative comment to the gentleman and he responded "well....ah, you're fat". I guess he told me. Perhaps this downtown artist whom I shall call "The Squirrel" also does not want to risk direct confrontation by the offending butts in town.

Summer Read

Marcie Johnson, the conscience of Peppermint Patty sits quietly reading in Rice Park while her other friends like Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, and Schroeder strike playful poses in nearby Landmark Park. It seems fitting that Marcie should be located nearer to the downtown Central Library just across the street. The downtown library is one of our great assets and an easy way to find that great summer read. A few weeks ago I began to contemplate (again) that I should read some of those books that "the experts" say I should. I could call it my book bucket list....and so I hit the fiction section under A's and B's. A for Austen and Pride and Prejudice and B for Buck and The Good Earth. I finished The Good Earth easily and treated myself to The Lovely Bones by Sebold before beginning my first Jane Austen novel. I have to admit I'm struggling a bit and maybe I'll just pop in the movie....I think I can get that at the library too. I'll take the 6 part mini series staring Colin Firth. Sometimes we forget that the library is not really free. We pay for it in our property tax so you pay whether or not you use their services. This week I brought home a selection of magazines too....got to get my money's worth. I picked out an assortment of 2011 issues of The Atlantic, The New Republic, Smithsonian, Bon Appetit and Rolling Stone. I can get tips on baking best-ever brownies while trying to understand an article on democracy and why the world is becoming less free.

Closed Until Further Notice

The state government is shut down as of July 1st. As I walked to the library Friday morning I noticed there were definitely fewer folks in the skyway, but I suppose some of that was due to at least many people starting a long 4th weekend. The coffee shop in the Golden Rule building was closed. I guess they have too many state workers in that building to bother staying open. Business for them and others will suffer if the state doesn't settle soon. A few folks continued to work on street projects connected to the light rail project. I felt sorry for them because Friday was dangerously hot. I suppose they work for one of the utility companies associated with the project or perhaps the city....they are still working. The workers seemed intent on the large brick lined hole they had uncovered that looked like an entrance to the vast underground network of tunnels underneath St. Paul. Perhaps they will find some extra $$$ in there to solve the state budget problems. Passing by on Saturday night the hole was gone. I guess the state will have to look elsewhere for the extra money we need. I continued walking to Kellogg Park to the overlook to view Harriet Island...pretty quiet for a holiday weekend. The city should be crowded with people enjoying the Taste of Minnesota event....but that ended last year when the private sector that took it over screwed it up by thinking we wouldn't notice that the once free event was now $30 per person. I like free stuff so that didn't sit well with me. Luckily we will still have fireworks on the 4th and although there may be fewer people it should still be a spectacular sight along the backdrop of the Mississippi River.

Lunch Trucks in Downtown

Every Wednesday during the summer a group of lunch trucks come to downtown. They park across from the Ramsey County Court House on Kellogg Avenue from roughly 11 AM to 1PM. A few Wednesdays back I ate at the Gastrotruck. The decision to choose this little white truck over the lovely purple Magic Bus Cafe or the bright orange Fork in the Road truck was a hard one. All the menus looked great, but the little rack of homemade condiments on the Gastrotruck won me over. I guess I just had to try the marinated spring ramps and the pickled red onions. I only recently discovered what a spring ramp is (wild leek) and you really wouldn't expect a lunch truck to be serving it. I perhaps had more than my share of spring ramps on that black bean and oats slider I ordered. You wouldn't expect that from a lunch truck either. I was so impressed with my slider that I had to attempt to make them at home. My version goes something like this: Mash one 15 oz can black beans with 2 eggs, add 3/4 cup old fashioned oats, 1 cup chopped portobello mushrooms, a little chopped onion and garlic (saute it first), a little salt, pepper, dried oregano. Leave it in the fridge for an hour or so and then form into patties and fry on a griddle in a little olive oil. Awesome. I made a jar of pickled red onions too. Maybe next spring I will try foraging for ramps to complete my slider experience.

Union Depot Rehab

I got a call recently from a friend who said she had just gotten a job on the Empire Builder train that runs from Seattle to Chicago. Out and back is 6 days with a brief stop in the Empire Builder's hometown. I mean James J. Hill of course. I think he would approve of the plan to rehab the old Union Depot and get that train stopping in Lowertown instead of the dreary Transfer Road location off of University Avenue. Work to make that happen started January 2011 and the first train should stop in downtown in 2012. The concourse already looks like it is getting new windows while demolition work is still in progress to the area that will be the train platform. The depot will also serve as an end of the line for the LRT and a hub for Jefferson, Greyhound, and local buses. If we can just get through all the construction in downtown in the next few years we will have some great transportation choices other than getting into our cars. I might just make my next trip to Chicago by train.

Pianos on Parade

Twenty hand painted pianos in locations around St. Paul are waiting for spontaneous concerts. The performer is you and you can play them all day until 10pm. I have found only three of them. This one sits outside of the Ordway across from Rice Park. Yes, it is somewhat sheltered from potential rain. Two more in downtown are located just outside the Travelers Building and the Landmark Center. But where are the other seventeen? Another piano admirer asked me that question in downtown. He wanted to take his son to each and every one of them to play. I guess the answer to that is that it is like the winter medallion hunt but without the clues. You have until the end of July to find them so good luck. The Pianos on Parade is a project of Keys 4/4 Kids an organization which restores old pianos that they receive as donations from folks like YOU!!!

Building Dancers

Today was the last day of activities for the Flint Hills Music Festival in downtown. The weather was perfect all weekend. I'm sure Project Bandaloop appreciated it as they performed their acrobatic ballet on the face of the 12 story Lawson Building. Kids and parents alike were mesmerized as the performers descended from the roof and began their show of graceful jumps and twirls. Their first routine was performed to the music of Caravan Palace and then a short 5 minute intermission...after all they had to get back to the top floor of the building....by elevator I hope. They have performed similar routines all over the world from bridges in Tennessee to buildings in New Delhi and even the rock face at the top of Yosemite Falls in California. I remember hiking up the switch back trail to the top of Yosemite Falls and it was grueling. I hope they had an easier way of getting up there. As with everything today, you can see their Yosemite performance on You Tube.

Cedar Street Walk

Walking north from downtown and up Cedar Street, it doesn't take long to get to Cass Gilbert Park. With a nice overlook of downtown, it was named in honor of the architect who not only designed the State Capitol one block over, but also some of our most solid looking buildings in downtown like the Gilbert on Wacouta and the Endicott on East 4th. I like wandering around the grounds of the Capitol Mall. The evening walk last night was relatively quiet. Several skateboarders around the police memorial did a quick exit when they heard a nearby siren and a red "Party Hawg" bus allowed a quick stopover for party quests in formal attire to get out and take photos on the Capitol steps. The Minnesota Historical Society website has a nice online walking tour of the Mall so you can read about the area and the memorials before you go. (http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/msc/state_capitol_walkingTour.htm)

Street Art

The street markings for the utility relocation project on the corner of Cedar Avenue and 7th Street are beginning to look like some kind of strange modern art piece. Nearly every color code was represented: red for power lines, blue for water, green for sewers, orange for communication cables. What about yellow markings? Are there no gas lines under there mixed in with everything else? The utilities relocation is of course part of the central corridor light rail project that will connect downtown Minneapolis to downtown St. Paul. Not everyone is excited about it especially during these years of disruption, but in the long run I think it will be well worth the effort. Cities have to find ways to get more drivers off the road and and using public transportation.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all those moms out there. Yesterday my mother brought a bundle of my old school work to a family barbeque. I suppose she couldn't pitch all those memories so she left it for me to do. I looked through the stack of drawings and workbooks taking a quick smell of the faint mildew. Besides this one, there were drawings of the milkman, a farmer, and a policeman. Dick and Jane were prominent characters in my school life too. I hope my own mom didn't cook in the kitchen with high heels like the ones in my drawing, but it was the early 1960's. This week if you want to return to those times, get into your vintage clothes and head to the Minnesota History Center Thursday evening for the annual RetroRama, a vintage fashion show that includes music, food and drink demos and more.

Picasso Me

Art work by young student artists arrived in downtown this week and are being displayed for a month by various businesses around town. Art Walk, in its 8th year, is an opportunity for schools to showcase the art work of youth in conjunction with the Ordway's Flint Hills International Music Festival. Start at the the Travelers Building across from the Landmark Center. Students were given the assignment of doing a self portrait using Picasso's work as inspiration. I think that would be harder than it sounds and I particularly enjoyed this painting by a student from Leap Academy. Picasso would have too! Continue your walk across the street at the Hamm building and then around the corner and over to Ecolab Plaza. If you have young children don't miss the Flint Hills Music Festival which begins May 31st and goes through Sunday June 6th. The festival, held both in the Ordway and also in Rice Park on the weekend is a wonderful opportunity to bring world music, theater, and interactive art for children and their families. The Ordway does a spectacular job but lots of volunteers are needed. Having done this one myself I can tell you that this volunteer job is a great way to participate in the fun. Go the Ordway's website for an application and I'll see you there.

Spring at the Conservatory

Yesterday was a disappointment. Well, it started out that way. I was counting on sunshine. I should have checked the forecast. So we headed over to the Marjorie McNeeley Conservatory. I always have to catch my breath when I enter the side door of the Palm Dome and the North Garden. The heat and the humidity hits your lungs hard, fogs up the glasses, and off comes the coat and sweatshirt. Feels like the tropics and if you look up you can almost pick the papaya hanging overhead. The cooler Sunken Garden was surprisingly quiet even though the spring flower show is in full bloom with 1,000's of violas, hyacinths, tulips, and all the other regulars you would expect to see. The show goes on through May 1st, but if you can't get there then you can also see some spring flowers in downtown. The Central Library has a nice planting of daffodils on the south side of the building. The Minneapolis Art Institute gets into the act this week too. Beginning Thursday the annual four day Art in Bloom event pairs fresh flower arrangements with art in the galleries.

Voices of Hope

The Minnesota weather is a harsh environment for outside murals like this one by Ta-coumba that resides on the west wall of the Union Gospel Child Care Center on 9th Street. The city plans to eventually turn the entire block into a park so I wonder what the plans are for this building and of course the mural. The first visible step in the park process is the demolition of the Pedro building on the corner of Robert and 10th. I've been watching all week as workers knock it down brick by brick and haul away some of the old wood beams from the interior. The promise of this park has been in the works for ten years or so but I don't doubt that we are still years away from it as a reality. I'm sure there are many issues to be decided but I wonder if preserving this mural can be part of the plan.

Lowertown View

There were several opportunities this past week to attend meetings to hear from the St Paul Saints about their desire to build a new stadium in Lowertown. I had other commitments and couldn't attend, but generally I like the idea. I'm not a baseball fan in particular but minor league baseball seems like a good fit in size and style for that end of town. The coming light rail should help with bringing in visitors to both games and restaurants. I wonder how the Lowertown arts community feels about it though. Will they benefit in any way? Will the lofts in that area remain affordable? Oh, and do I have to help pay for this????

Sounds Good

M and I drove from the Florida panhandle back to the Twin Cities this week. Unfortunately most of the scenery along the interstate looks the same no matter if you are in Alabama or Illinois....the same hotels, the same restaurants, the same malls. The same seems to be true for radio stations. Driving is the easy part, but a good navigator must keep you on the right freeway as well as find radio stations that help fight the tedious nature of the drive. We began to count the number of times we heard Don't Look Back by Boston. I like classic rock but I crave some variety both in music styles and period. Could they throw in some techno Argentine accordion music or what about playing something from the Silk Road by Kitaro during that rainstorm in southern Alabama. I haven't heard that in ages. We couldn't find much in the way of current music like Communist Daughter, Fleet Foxes, or Arcade Fire either. Sunday mornings in the Twin Cities I like to listen to the Brazilian hour on 88.50 at noon and then change over to the Current at 89.3. This week my music tip for St. Paul residents is to see the free show by the Rose Ensemble at the downtown Central Library on Wednesday at noon. I don't expect to hear anything familiar at that show and that sounds good to me!

Under Construction

This blog is under construction for a week while my brain ponders such topics as will there ever be a Lunds grocery store built in downtown St Paul, how high will the Mississippi River crest this spring and has the pigeon population been reduced by the birth control feed being fed to them from the top of the Lowry Building. Hmmm, I wonder if the Pope approves of that bird feed???

Sidewalk Cafe

Ok, this photo was not taken in downtown St. Paul but rather a few summers ago in Boise, Idaho whose downtown has a great little outdoor cafe scene. As we begin to approach warmer weather in Minnesota is it possible that some of our downtown restaurants with outdoor patio seating will open soon? Meritage's website says they will open their terrace in April if weather permits. If they do I'll have that $12 hamburger with fries, a cold beer and a dose of vitamin D. What about the terrace at Black Dog across from the farmer's market? They have a nice balance of sunny and shady spots to sit in and they make a great pizza there. Great Waters Brewery had their patio open in January serving beer at their Winter Carnival ice bar. You won't find a better deal than their $2.50 happy hour pint of homemade beer for a perfect patio experience in downtown. Then there is Barrio, Alarys Bar, Kelly's Depot Bar, Wild Tymes, Patrick McGoverns, The Liffey....all with outside patios. The best patio of course is the one outside my own door where I can get a cheap glass of wine and put my feet in the sun.

Sidewalks

Sidewalks are for walking, chalk art and now poetry. I never realized I might be walking over a poem stamped into one of our downtown sidewalks. Poems have been stamped into our downtown sidewalks and elsewhere in St Paul since 2008 when the Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk project began. Find Sean Fleming's poem "Let's Talk" stamped into the sidewalk at 10 W Exchange Street or Pat Owen's "A Dog on a Walk" on your walk to the farmer's market at 261 E 5th Street. The annual contest was created by Saint Paul’s City Artist in Residence Marcus Young in partnership with Saint Paul Public Works and the nonprofit organization Public Art Saint Paul. Go to: http://www.stpaul.gov/ to read past poetry winner's poems and locations for sidewalk poems around St. Paul. Guidelines for submissions for 2011 will be announced in the next few days on the city website.

Bye Bye Pedro

A November 18, 2009 Star Tribune article announced that the Pedro Luggage site would be donated to the City of St. Paul and the land used for a future city park. This was good news for those in the community who have been working towards seeing the entire 10th and Robert Street block turned into downtown's newest green space. According to the article, Pedro opened the Robert Street location in 1960. That was about the same time that my father bought his first briefcase. It came from that store. It became mine about ten years ago and I still have it. The demolition of the building will begin on March 18th with a celebration at the site at 1:15 with Mayor Coleman, Councilman Thune and the Pedro family. A reception will follow across the street at Keys restaurant. That information came from the Downtown River Council E newsletter. What they didn't say is what is the process for the demolition. Do they just get a start on it on the 18th? Can they remove the whole thing in a day or in a week? I have to admit that I am curious about watching the demolition process. When the Xcel smokestack was detonated in June of 2008, I was there from the high bridge watching it with the other gawkers. If I can't make it to the event on March 18th, I hope someone will put the video on You Tube.

Spring is coming!

I know it's still February but March is just days away. Big box stores like Walmart are already selling seeds and I bet stores like Mississippi Market Co-op and Whole Foods are too. Even if I don't intend to buy them, seeing them in the store helps me to get through that last little bit of roller coaster weather in March and April. Each year I try to add another planter to my little balcony garden. I've started out slow because my downfall is watering the plants everyday. It's kind of like brushing your teeth...you really have to do it or everything will rot. Several of the pots I bought last spring did not winter well and the finish has cracked on those. I can start looking for replacements soon. My plan this year is to try a variety of herbs, especially since fresh herbs tend to be pricey at the market. I like the small space gardening advice and photos from fellow blogger at www.mybalconyjungle.com/ and look forward to seeing the progression of their balcony this spring and summer.

Downtown Streets

Three policemen and a woman in a fake fur coat in the middle of the street with her hands in the air....I don't know what happened after that but that's what I saw this morning. Crime does occur here and just about everywhere else in the world. Several weeks ago we received an email from the St Paul City Police warning that there have been a rash of purse snatchings in downtown. How did we get on that email list? Should we worry? If you don't guard your purse in all situations you should probably worry. Did you leave your purse in the car at the gas station and quickly ran into pay and it was gone when you came out? I know of that happening. I always wear my purse with the strap across my chest if I am out and about. Generally I feel pretty safe in downtown St Paul. Half the battle for women walking with a purse is to remember to secure it, zip it, don't carry the bank with you, and look like you are fully alert!

Appetite

We ate a salad most days in Buenos Aires...basic ingredients of lettuce, tomatoes, and onion served in a little silver bowl. Plenty for two people. Sometimes corn oil and white vinegar were on the table and it took us awhile to figure out we needed to ask for the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I never saw any other choices for salad dressing so I began to look at salad dressings in the small markets that we passed on our daily walks. If you go to Rainbow or Cub there is a good 20 feet of shelf space devoted to salad dressing and that doesn't include the stuff in the refrigerated section. If you have two people trying to decide which salad dressings to purchase you could be there all day. First you have to look at the ones that have food coloring and rule those out, then consider the sugar content and other ingredients, and finally price. It's exhausting. I like the idea of simplifying the choices for salad dressing. In my survey of 8-10 markets in Buenos Aires I found most of the small ones only carried oil and vinegar. I finally found a market that was about 1/3 the size of the Rainbow on Robert Street and there were four varieties of Newman's Own and one local brand. So five to choose from. I could live with that. What about making my own dressing and unclutter the fridge of all those half used bottles of salad dressing we accumulate? I usually pick up a free weekly copy of the Villager newspaper that is available downtown. An article appeared about salads and making your own dressing in the food section of the 1/26/11 edition. The author Jo Marshall says "Luckily for the cook, the world's most satisfying salad may also be the simplest--an interesting tangle of leaves moistened with just a drizzle of oil and vinegar." I may just start skipping the salad dressing isle entirely!

Fruit Stand

M and I just returned from an adventure to Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was summer there and we had some humid days in the high 90's so returning to the deep freeze of Minnesota was oddly pleasant. They do things differently down there. There are small specialized grocery stores everywhere. We ate more fruit both with breakfast and in a wine drink called "clerico". It is similar to sangria only made with white wine. The food network has a recipe that I think duplicates what we had. Look for the recipe at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michelle-bernstein/clerico-summer-white-sangria-recipe/index.html Generally we tend to buy our wine at Morelli's, a market that would fit in nicely into one of the neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. It is located just a mile out of downtown on Payne and Tedesco. See their online specials at http://www.morellismarket.com because sometimes you need to print out a coupon. This week they offer a deal on an Argentine white wine with a Torronte grape made by Alamos. I had not heard of that grape, but have been enjoying the red Malbec wines from Argentina. An article in the NY Times http://nyti.ms/gucvSq suggests "TORRONTÉS has been touted as the hottest thing to arrive from Argentina since the tango." Ok, we'll see about that.

Art Crawl

Most condos and apartments in downtown have some communal area where residents can post events, services, business cards, etc. Someone may have a service to help you with your taxes or computer problems. Need a parking space or your dog walked? Leave a note on the message board. I enjoy looking at what people have for sale, things they can't take with them on the next move. Sometimes you see an old TV for sale. I wonder if anyone ever sells those. Best Buy on Robert Street will recycle it for a $10 charge, but they give you a gift card for the same. Seems like a good deal to me to just take it off your hands. The bulletin board in my building has a poster for the art crawl in Lowertown. In addition to the larger art crawls that take place in April and October a few buildings also have one on the first Friday of each month. That coincides nicely with the downtown community happy hour that also takes place on the first Friday of every month (4 to 6pm). It is hosted by the Capitol River Council and there are usually 40 to 50 folks who show up. Get on their email list at www.capitolrivercouncil.org to find out what bar is hosting the February event.

Chicken Burrito

Rumor has it that the owner from Bin Wine Bar will be opening a burrito place around the corner on East 7th. Or is that a taco place? Either way I´ll be happy to have another choice in dining downtown. And all the better if I can just get something great to take out and eat at home. A great burrito or taco has to start with the meat and my preference is grilled chicken. I´ll need homemade black beans and pinto beans not ones out of the can. Please don´t try to stuff my burrito with a bunch of cheap rice. Go easy on the cheese and sour cream. I don´t really need that, but I will need plenty of variety of salsas. I like to put both a salsa verde and some pretty hot stuff on there too....not Minnesota nice but the real thing please. See you at the grand opening!

Winter Sunrise

We have just completed our first week in 2011. Sometimes people ask if I have made a new year's resolution. Generally I try not to make grand resolutions that I am unlikely to keep. My standing resolution is that I will try to spill less food and drink on my clothes, something I believe I have been making progress on over the years. I think a good resolution might be "always have something to look forward to". Maybe that is not really a resolution at all, just a good idea. Getting organized is always a good choice for a new year's resolution. A fact of living in downtown is that we have less square footage to our apartments or condos than traditional homes. We can't afford to be pack rats and so we are constantly trying to organize, downsize, recycle. etc. It's a continual effort with all the things that we accumulate on a daily basis. Goodwill on Robert, St Vincent de Paul on West Seventh, the Animal ARC on East Seventh are all good places to unload the extra stuff in your closets.

WinterSkate

Free outdoor ice skating in downtown is available courtesy of Wells Fargo Bank until February 6th. Look at their website (http://www.wellsfargowinterskate.com/) for specific information on hours. I wonder if downtown workers take a skate break during their lunch hour? If you fail to pack your skates you can rent them there or show that you bank with Wells Fargo and they are free. The setting across from Rice Park, the library and the Landmark Center is sweet whether you skate or just come out to watch. I was never great at ice skating and I don't think I'll take it up again. Maybe I would be better at Broomball. No skates are needed for that. Can you just wear your tennis shoes or snow boots or do you need special shoes for that? The rink closes at 5 pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to make way for teams that play Broomball. I'll have to stop by on my evening walk and check that out.