On the Mighty Mississippi

Mark is Lock and Dam Operator, Army Corps of Engineers, Lock and Dam #1 since July. Overlooking the lock at St. Anthony Falls from our balcony inspired him to get even closer to the river. Peregrine falcon and mink nests, a film crew in two canoes beginning a trek to New Orleans, barge traffic at 3 am, and a riverboat rowdy revelers, prompting the captain to have police meet the boat when it arrived at the lock. . . all part of river traffic. Earlier this summer we crossed the mighty waters at their source in bare feet at Itasca State Park.

Housesitting in California

Not knowing a lot about our home for a month, we flew to California to take on a dog and a cat for a housesit in a city we've never explored. We realized Northern California is cold, grey and often rainy in January, but Minneapolis is colder. We've traded the snow and below zero temperatures for a few new challenges. We love warming ourselves by the fire in the den, our Shelty is faithful and obedient, our kitty sweet but shy.
"Expect nothing, live frugally on surprise." -- Alice Walker

Northland Winter

One kind word can warm three winter months. ~Japanese Proverb

Antisthenes says that in a certain faraway land the cold is so intense that words freeze as soon as they are uttered, and after some time they thaw and become audible, so that words spoken in winter go unheard until the next summer. ~Plutarch, Moralia

Christmas in the City

We're happy to be home surrounded by family and friends.

Happy Holidays and a Blessed New Year to all!!

Paris, Je t'aime

We arrived by fast train, coming out of the station in a taxi turned the corner to see the Tour Eiffel. . . our apartment a few blocks away near the Seine. . . the D'Orsay, L'Orangerie, Monmartre, Sacre Coeur





Traveling by Metro or on foot, Paris is still the most romantic city on the planet.

Chinon and the Loire Valley

Achingly beautiful and tranquil, the gite (or farmhouse) where we stayed outside of Chinon. The food was impossibly delicious, the wine free-flowing, the Loire valley evocative of long-past eras of kings and queens, intrigue, the foundations of stories and the history our civilization is built upon.

Summertime

Spring passed by in a jetlagged blur, renting on the river in Marine on St. Croix, then housesitting again at the graceful mansion in Kenwood. . . feeling vulnerable and rootless, the desire for a place of our own became irresistible -- we found ourselves renting a condo in Minneapolis with a view of all the bridges on the Mississippi. Amazingly grounding to see our old stuff emerge from the depths of our storage locker, and then, zoom, off to France to meet David and Barbara, Mark's brother and sister-in-law, for another adventure.
The view from our balcony -- Elizabeth's watercolors of summer still life

Ayutthaya, ancient capital of Siam

Our friends Kik and Simon took us to Ayutthaya, Kik's home town. We visited her family home and had a spontaneous Chi Gong lesson from her very much in shape 70-year-old father who does Chi Gong every 15 minutes all day. We saw the temples that were covered in gold when the city of up to a million inhabitants in the 14th-18th Centuries was a destination from all parts of the globe.

Below,the Summer Palace, where the elephant topiaries were Kik's playground when she



went with her school to welcome dignitaries with their songs

Magical Chiang Mai

From shamans dancing in the park, to Philip and Dao's orchard retreat,to a mountain temple with golden Buddhas, Chiang Mai was a magical moment

Bali, Indonesia

In the Indonesian archipelago, the island of Bali. White and black sand beaches, jungle ravines, rice fields, Bali is a graceful dream. Hindu, in a Muslim nation, descended from artists, priests and musicians who came from Java to Bali in the 15th century. A mellow time with friends Frank and Lynn who graciously invited us to share their villa for a week.