Launching a Chinese Lantern from frozen Lake Jefferson, Southern Minnesota.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Saturday Night, February 28, 2015 -- Lantern Launch from Frozen Lake
Saturday Night, February 28, 2015:
Launching a Chinese Lantern from frozen Lake Jefferson, Southern Minnesota.
Launching a Chinese Lantern from frozen Lake Jefferson, Southern Minnesota.
Saturday, October 4, 2014 -- Bike Trip
Saturday, October 4, 2014.
On this date I biked 76.2 miles from my home in Eagan to our Cabin in Southern Minnesota. The trip was capture by a Go Pro video camera mounted just below the handlebars of my (frankly ghetto) Schwinn Le Tour, circa 1985. All but the last few miles were recorded, alas, since I ran out of video cards.
The link below shows the video condensed multiple times to make many hours of biking a barely tolerable 19 minutes of video. Fell free to skip ahead:
The day was perfect (save for a headwind), and I couldn't have asked for better. I rode through lovely little towns named Rosemount, Farmington, Northfield, and Faribault, and had lunch at a funny little cafe just south of Northfield. But the day wasn't so good for others. If you skip in the video to the 4:30 mark, you'll glimpse a couple of people I met at the Dunn Brother's Coffee Shop in Farmington. We chatted about where we were travelling, and it turned out they were going in the same direction, but all the way to Sioux Falls. The knew the Singing Hills bike trail that I'd pick up when I turned West in Faribault. They had given up biking for a motorcycle, and said that on a day a nice as this one, they were just out enjoying the last of autumn. They departed before me, and as they backed up of their parking spot, I noticed very distinctive leather saddle bags. They waved, and were off.
About 10 miles down the road, emergency vehicles start passing me, sirens on. A few miles more, I came to a road block where the Farmington Police were turning back cars, but they let me pass. After a few minutes, I see a helicopter appear on the horizon, low and so far away it was silent. It circled, then disappeared slowly behind some trees ahead.
If you skip to 8:13 in the video, you'll see where the emergency vehicles and helicopter were converging. The tow truck driver explained that a motorcycle had gone off the road, and both riders were seriously hurt. The bodies were on stretchers being loaded onto the helicopter when I got there, but I could see the Harley -- and those distinctive saddle bags on the back.
I never found anything online in the local police blotters about the accident.
On this date I biked 76.2 miles from my home in Eagan to our Cabin in Southern Minnesota. The trip was capture by a Go Pro video camera mounted just below the handlebars of my (frankly ghetto) Schwinn Le Tour, circa 1985. All but the last few miles were recorded, alas, since I ran out of video cards.
The link below shows the video condensed multiple times to make many hours of biking a barely tolerable 19 minutes of video. Fell free to skip ahead:
The day was perfect (save for a headwind), and I couldn't have asked for better. I rode through lovely little towns named Rosemount, Farmington, Northfield, and Faribault, and had lunch at a funny little cafe just south of Northfield. But the day wasn't so good for others. If you skip in the video to the 4:30 mark, you'll glimpse a couple of people I met at the Dunn Brother's Coffee Shop in Farmington. We chatted about where we were travelling, and it turned out they were going in the same direction, but all the way to Sioux Falls. The knew the Singing Hills bike trail that I'd pick up when I turned West in Faribault. They had given up biking for a motorcycle, and said that on a day a nice as this one, they were just out enjoying the last of autumn. They departed before me, and as they backed up of their parking spot, I noticed very distinctive leather saddle bags. They waved, and were off.
About 10 miles down the road, emergency vehicles start passing me, sirens on. A few miles more, I came to a road block where the Farmington Police were turning back cars, but they let me pass. After a few minutes, I see a helicopter appear on the horizon, low and so far away it was silent. It circled, then disappeared slowly behind some trees ahead.
If you skip to 8:13 in the video, you'll see where the emergency vehicles and helicopter were converging. The tow truck driver explained that a motorcycle had gone off the road, and both riders were seriously hurt. The bodies were on stretchers being loaded onto the helicopter when I got there, but I could see the Harley -- and those distinctive saddle bags on the back.
I never found anything online in the local police blotters about the accident.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Southern Minnesota in January
Quiet fields and sunset between the Jefferson Lake chain and Mankato, Minnesota. I thought this scene was one that had to be photographed in the "magic hour" light, so I pulled over on some small road and got out of my car. That's when I realized the picture is easier to enjoy from within a heated car: Not pictured below is the 0 degree temperature and extreme wind. I had to want this picture...
A little farther South, and on a warmer day in November: A girl standing on frozen Spring Lake releases cat-tail seeds.
Canada Geese, hunkered down on Spring Lake ice, unimpressed by cat-tail seed display.Friday, December 13, 2013
Catch-up Post: Final Views of Manila
We flew out of Manila in the daytime, which let us appreciate the size of this amazing city.
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| The Makati area of Manila, looking across the Pasig river from the 17th Floor of Cybergate 2. |
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| Taal crater. The "lake in a crater in a lake in a crater". Not Manila, here just since it's in the panorama family. |
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| The bridge we cross each morning, over the Pasig river. |
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| One of the many skylines of Manila, just after taking off. |
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| Manila harbor, in the distance on the left. |
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| You normally can't see this from Cybergate 2. The framework is for a giant vinyl billboard that was taken down for fear of Typhoon winds. |
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| Northern-most point of Luzon, just before the open ocean to Japan. The island to the upper right is Palaui Island. |
Catch-up Post: Food Mug Shots
I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves. Perhaps they will give you ideas of you can order the next time you are in Filipino Restaurant.
OK, so when I said I'd let the pictures speak for themselves -- not this one, The photo below is of "chicken and rice" at a friendly place called "Mr. Choi's", which was my lunch order. It is significantly, and perilously, more than a simple lunch order. That black thing you see on the left side of the bowl is called a "Century Egg", and it is indeed an egg (itlog, in Tagalog). If you look closely, you can tell that Once Upon A Time it was an EGG egg. THIS egg however has been soaked in bring and allowed to -- wait for it -- rot. Hence the color, and probably why it's "good for a hundred years" -- there's no other harm that can befall it. But it's good, I am told, and good for you.
Why, it's time for desert!
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| The now-legendary Crispy Pata (a.k.a, pig knuckles) |
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| I don't remember what this is. But the table shared it. |
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| Squid. Unlike the calamari you get at the bar, it's easy to visualize your appetizer living at the bottom of the sea. |
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| Let's have some crab. |
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| Scallops, cooked and served in their original housing. |
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| What you see is, etc. |
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| Caption as you see fit. I'm not going to. Note my look of concern regarding the forthcoming lunch. |
Why, it's time for desert!
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| Halo halo, which interestingly enough contains a serving of vegetables. |
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| The chocolate fountain (an imported custom). All is now well. |
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