March 17 - Saint Patricks Day in Saint Paul

It couldn't have been a more picture perfect day. Warm and sunny....so all the Irish and everyone else made their way to the streets of St Paul and got the celebrating started early.
I have never been quite sure what the rules of being in the parade as opposed to being on the sidelines but it all seems to work and has been going strong for 44 years.

Spring Break Minnesota Style - Danny and Davide head South

Danny and Davide are doing Minnesota this spring break - Dawit as well but he is selecting surgery as his entertainment of choice for the break.
If you are in Minnesota for the long winter heading south is the best idea for spring break. Danny, Davide and Dennis headed south for the day - and as it should be the weather cooperated and we hit record highs!
Oh by the way south meant Hastings, Red Wing, Frontenac, Lake City, Wabasha, Hark Toys on the edge of Kellogg, Rochester and the temple in Hampton all great spots in Minnesota on the way back to our more northern Twin Cities base.
We started the day with some miscues with the day light savings changeover...of course.
Supplies obtained we finally got off and didn't miss much. We had hoped for lunch with Grandma Evie Cashman but hard to get squeezed in late with the busiest person in Rochester....and then we tried Betty but she has moved in to volleyball coaching and her first foray was not what her commitment included........but she found time to rendezvous at Assisi Heights and introduced us to a nun who sang at our mother's wedding 56 years ago.
As a quick summary we did water, historic old communities, eagles, nuns, temples, ice, naps, many good miles...and even Wisconsin - oh my!
We gave the once over to Dawit's hospital for the big knee fix.....Linda is running PT general on that project......oh does Dawit really know!
With record temperatures and the sun after a long gloomy week it was close to a very perfect spring break day.....all those other important things have to be found elsewhere with those left on campus.....who are also significantly younger than me...as everyone knows!

Coming out of hibernation

Been slow on the posts....but at a certain level the adventures have been few and the winter has seemed not much fun this year. Maybe I have learned a bit about the concept of hibernation.
Coming back to life....great day today. One quick shot of a couple weeks back with long, dear friends - lots of conversation and many great laughs. A great way to start the end of the winter doldrums.
And Jim settled in and holding court is the perfect start to a great evening and lots of interesting conversation...

Saint Paul - cool crisp winter night in Minnesota

Twin Cities - Lucille does 71

Ice sculptures in Saint Paul that survived the rain and meltdown the week before, shopping on 50th and France in Edina and brunch downtown Minneapolis at Hells Kitchen. Not a bad first day at 71!
No birthday cake, plenty of that the night before, but we toasted the birthday over a huge birthday caramel roll, the best peanut butter in the world and bison sausage toast!