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!