Walkin’ Around Checkin’ Stuff Out #2

Oct 20, 2023

Here we go with WACSO #2, let’s call it Issue #2. I’m still trying to get my feet under me, but I think I’m starting to feel the groove.

The seasons are changing big time in Minnesota…one day it’s 90 degrees, the next it’s 40. Crazy stuff. But no one milks summer weather for all it’s worth like a Minnesotan because we know what’s right around the corner. Ever have snot freeze to your face the second it leaves your nose?

I’m keeping these first issues open a bit longer…you know, to give you a taste of the good stuff for free, get you hooked, and then hit you up for cash.

Truthfully, the money side of this endeavor weirds me out. If you’re into getting cool stuff in your inbox as a break from all the social media weirdness and negative news in the world, throw a few bucks at it and we’ll all have fun. If not, no problem…you’ll still get to see cool stuff and we’ll still have fun. In the business we call that a “win/win”.

Let’s get to it:

Pumpkin Season.

It’s that time of year when everything is available in pumpkin…pumpkin lattes, pumpkin pies, pumpkin candles…and even actual pumpkins.

Why go to the pumpkin patch when the pumpkin patch will come to you? I love stumbling on this kind of stuff when I’m wandering through the neighborhood. There must have been thousands of pumpkins piled up in front of a church…broken out in piles of same sized and shaped pumpkins so you can get right to what you’re looking for. That’s convenience.

Not sure it’s better than driving out to a pumpkin farm in a rural area, but it saves gas, miles on the car and whiny kids in the car, I suppose.

Garbage Humor.

Gotta love the sense of humor these garbage men have. If you’re going to recycle peoples trash, might as well get a smile out of it. It’s pretty cool having a garbage truck rolling through the neighborhood that people know and look out for.

Nina’s Coffee.

Nina’s is already a killer coffee shop in the historic St. Paul, Cathedral Hill neighborhood, so how does it get better than that? On Sunday they have live jazz. Pinch me. It’s a killer vibe anytime there’s a live jazz band playing a room, especially this room on a chill Sunday with people hanging out sipping coffee, talking, working, and groovin’ on the sounds.

Staff Spinning.

I didn’t even know staff spinning was a thing, but this guy was pretty committed to it as he walked around the lake. Besides the fact I think I would suck at it, I’d be too embarrassed to do something like that in public. Maybe he’s got a gig at the Renaissance Festival and he’s gotta stay in-tune?

Lake Harriet.

I like living in a place worth photographing…where people would rather aim their camera out vs. aim it at themselves for a selfie. I saw this guy on a dock on Lake Harriet taking pictures of sailboats with the Lake Harriet Bandshell in the background.

The chain of lakes in Minneapolis is pretty unusual in that there are paths around all the lakes and no fancy houses directly on the lake, so everyone gets to use the lake equally and the fancy houses are set back on the other side of the parkway. Some of the best city planning anywhere if you ask me.

Makes me wonder why they didn’t do the same when they developed the suburbs.

Overalls.

I used to wear overalls everyday. Overalls, Chuck Taylors and a KISS t-shirt was my uniform. Clearly it’s this dudes uniform as well (minus the KISS t-shirt).

Let’s bring overalls back…they’re comfortable (like the ugly sweatpants people wear in public), they’re utilitarian (like cargo shorts). Overalls look better than either of those, and they make you look like you know how to get stuff done.

Now that I think about it, I might have to pick up a pair and relive my youth. I already have the Chucks and KISS t-shirt.

Minnesota State Fair.

State Fair Prep.

I got to sneak in to the Minnesota State Fair a few days before the opening to gather reference for a bunch of drawings I did for a Star Tribune story about buildings at the fair.

This woman said she had been working at the Salem Dining Hall for over 30 years. She had a Southern accent…said she picked it up in the military over 30 years ago and it stuck.

I love the fair, so seeing this side of it was pretty interesting. The calm before the storm. My only disappointment was no one was serving corn dogs as a warmup to opening day.

Dreams Of The Big Prize.

If there are bigger bragging rights than winning a ribbon at the Minnesota State Fair Baking competition, I don’t know what it is.

People were lined up down the block to drop off their creations with hopes of winning. Maybe great grandma’s secret recipe, or a modified Martha Stewart recipe-is that cheating? Some people even had multiple entries. One guy was dropping off 5 or 6 different pies. Come on dude, get your recipe dialed-in and enter once, this ain’t BINGO where you play multiple cards to up your chances.

W.A. Frost.

Right across the street from Nina’s coffee is W.A. Frost…a classic St. Paul bar known for its killer patio. But don’t overlook the bar…it’s fantastic. The perfect spot to burn a few hours having one too many while playing dice. I would know.

With Nina’s and Frost on the same corner, you are literally at the corner of Caffeine and Alcohol.

Summer Fishing.

In search of a “lunker”. That’s what my grandfather used to call big fish. We never did catch anything that would qualify as an actual lunker, but we tried. Maybe we should have fished Lake Harriet…people have pulled some pretty big fish out of that city lake.

Soon summer fishing will be replaced with ice fishing. There’s a sport I never understood. But I have to give them credit…on -10 degree winter nights they’ll be on that lake with lanterns and snowsuits dropping a line through a 3 foot deep hole of ice. Maybe I’m missing out on something?

ROADTRIPPIN’:

Rush River Produce.

Rush River, WI.

Each year we drive about an hour down Highway 35 in Wisconsin through the rolling hills to a little place to pick blueberries. The owners are a nice couple that live in an old house on the property. They kind of have a hippy vibe and are happy to point you in the general direction of bushes that haven’t been over-picked for the day. They must have 2 dozen different varieties of blueberries, but I couldn’t tell you the difference from one to the other. They all taste great to me.

I told the owners they should weigh me before I pick, and weigh me after I pick so they can charge me for the 3 pounds of berries I probably ate during the picking process. I’m not saying I eat them by the handful…but I do.

DOGS!

Last night we stopped at Pumphouse Creamery for ice cream and we ran into this woman and her dog. I had drawn her earlier in the summer as she sat with her best buddy and shared an ice cream.

We got to talking with her and met her dog and it was clear that dog is the center of her universe. I think she takes the dog to get ice cream almost daily.

Dogs and ice cream. Does it get any better than that?

4-FRAMER:

That’s it…we’ll see you next week.