Happy Dog

 That ear, though.

Maniacally

My future husband, acting like the star of a horror flick.  As seen in 1986.

Aureity

Ugh!  I need to get out and take more pics.  Sitting here this evening, desperate for a blog pic, I grabbed one of my dad's racing trophies and took a few shots with my phone.  Volià!

Woozy

He looks a little hungover. 

Rangy

It was a gorgeous afternoon yesterday.  Very warm, which meant that lots of people were out on Lake Minnetonka; but not in boats.  Every bay had clusters of people fishing, snowmobiling, and walking their dogs.

Fizzy

Boy, that was fun!  We're going to have to do that again sometime.  As seen in 2015.

Acclivity

A while back, I bought a cheap fisheye lens for my camera.  Today the husband and I went out for a bit and I tried it out.  Temp wasn't bad outside, a balmy 16ºF, but the wind was BRUTAL. 

Apparently, Minnehaha Falls was the place to be today, brutal wind or not.

Edifyingly

Our church was small enough to have an annual All Church Camp-out at Baker Park Reserve.  We would camp Friday night and then have fun on Lake Independence on Saturday.  We sure had a lot of fun back then.

In this picture, my future husband is waving at me and his mom and brother are in the background.  As seen in 1982.

Dressy

All dressed up and ready for – camping?  Dear ones, as seen circa 1970.

Variety

I was looking through old matchbooks this evening and found this.  I know I never went to the Carlton, so this was either something I found as a kid or someplace my parents went for a company Christmas party. 

If that address looks familiar, it's because this popular venue was located where the Mall of America sits now.  The Carlton Celebrity Room opened in 1979 and closed in 1986.

Foolishly

Sunday it was around 44°F.  On our way back from Ellsworth, WI, we stopped briefly at Point Douglas Park on the Hastings, MN/Prescott, WI border.

What you're seeing is the St. Croix River just before it merges with the Mississippi River. The park (where I'm sitting at a picnic table and using a zoom lens) is a peninsula that squeezes the St. Croix through a narrow channel into the Mississippi.

This guy was ice fishing on the St. Croix,  right where the "squeezing" begins.  I'm guessing that's why the ice wasn't covered in snow like further back.  There were small patches of open water not far from him and a huge stretch of open water, out of frame, where some sane people were fishing from a boat.

Here's a wider angle shot.  The guy is the tiny black dot, smack-dab in the middle.

Neighborly

Nothing says summertime like playing in a kiddie pool in the neighbor's back yard.  As seen a long long time ago.  I'm still skipping down Nostalgia Lane.

Potty

The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything: 42.
The ultimate question of life, the universe and everything: How many port-a-potties does one need?

It all makes sense now.

Artistry

Friday night.  Got out of work a little early.  Been fighting a persistent head/chest cold lately and felt weary enough to just want to go home.  But I knew if I went straight home, I would regret it.  It's supposed to rain all weekend and most flowering trees have just hit their spring peak.  If I wait until next week, I fear it will be too late.

So on the way home, I swung back around to my morning commute scenery along Minnehaha Parkway and noticed this woman painting.  I stopped about a block away and took some tree images and then walked back to her temporary outdoor studio.  Once she finished talking to another admirer, I asked her permission to take photographs and she agreed. 

The  image doesn't do her painting justice.  It was absolutely beautiful and very three-dimensional as she was layering on the paint with an artist trowel. 

I really enjoyed my brief time wandering around in the park.  It took the edge off the work week.

Queenly

More from our Iowa trip.  The Casino Queen riverboat was looking bright and cheery in the afternoon sun.

Forlornly

There's nothing worse than inadvertently getting on a horse that doesn't move.  Why do they even put those on a merry-go-round? 

Adventuresomely

I still remember my first snowmobile ride.  It was with my cousin, Grant, in my grandma's back yard.  Call me a fashion trendsetter with my gnome coat and my dad's ski mask.   

Briskly

A jogger during the snowstorm on Sunday, who was taking his life in his hands by jogging down a slippery narrow road instead of on the trail.

This was taken by hanging my phone out the passenger window as we were driving by and hoping I didn't drop it.

Cross-country

A cross-country skier during the snowstorm on Sunday.  I've seen several over the past few days.

This was taken with my phone out the passenger window while we were driving by.

Zippy

Today it's snowing like crazy and the temperature is brisk, but that doesn't stop hearty Minnesotans from enjoying the great outdoors, like these fat tire bicyclists zipping right along. 

I managed to capture several images along W River Parkway by hanging my phone out the passenger window as we were driving home. 

More images to come in the next few days.