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.