Blowing & Drifting

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Entries Tagged as 'Minnesota'

Registration Circus Tent

September 8th, 2010 · No Comments

Carleton has a lot of good traditions, but those centered on “New Student Week” are especially good. The best one: upperclass students line up at the formal campus entrance and cheer – loudly and energetically – for the first-year students as they roll onto campus. The noise is joyous and wonderful. Another good, if more [...]

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Tags: Carleton · Minnesota · Northfield · autumn · borrowed content · diversions · photos · school

First-Rate First Grade

September 7th, 2010 · 1 Comment

Julia’s first day of first grade went pretty well, I think. Witness:

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Tags: Minnesota · Northfield · autumn · girls · miscellany · parenting · photos · school

Minnesota Zoo

September 6th, 2010 · No Comments

Our first-ever family trip to the Minnesota Zoo was quite an outing. Many many animals seen, three and a half hours on our feet, five or six miles walked, four snacks and four lunches consumed, scores of other families dodged, dozens of prairie dogs oohed and ahhed over, several big felines gaped at, one terrifying shark [...]

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Tags: Minnesota · diversions · girls · miscellany · nature · parenting · photos · summer

Big Chairs Are Big Fun

September 5th, 2010 · 1 Comment

One of our wonderful neighbors – someone who runs Swag, a great (web-invisible) shop in downtown Northfield – bought some oversized adirondack chairs for her backyard. Before wheeling them out of sight, she invited us to come over and sit in them, which we promptly did, being suckers for a cheap fun time. Julia predictably [...]

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Tags: Minnesota · Northfield · Shannon · diversions · girls · miscellany · parenting · photos · summer

My Laughter Box is Full

August 22nd, 2010 · 2 Comments

This is a video camera: This is a video camera in the hands of a four-year-old. Genevieve calls this “My Laughter Box is Full.” My Laughter Box is Full from Christopher Tassava on Vimeo.

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Tags: Minnesota · Northfield · art · borrowed content · diversions · girls · miscellany · narcissism · parenting · summer

Strange Roadsign

August 20th, 2010 · 1 Comment

There really are twin ruts in this road, but this is a funny sign anyhow.

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Tags: Minnesota · borrowed content · diversions · miscellany · photos · summer · traveling

Slice of Summer

August 19th, 2010 · 2 Comments

After dinner tonight, the girls and I went outside to play catch and have a few more minutes of active fun. As Julia and I were tossing a ball back and forth, Vivi – wearing a nightgown for no good reason at all – transformed herself into “Ball Fief” and proceeded to try to steal [...]

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Tags: Minnesota · Northfield · diversions · girls · parenting · summer

Freeze Taggers

August 17th, 2010 · No Comments

Monday night, the girls decided we were going to play freeze tag. So we did, and it was both lung-burning and hilarious. They understand the basic idea, of course, but their physical limitations and personal idiosyncrasies make for a zany sort of activity – not quite a game, but not quite not a game, either. [...]

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Tags: Minnesota · diversions · girls · parenting · summer

Poncho-Wearing Poodle-Walkers Only

August 12th, 2010 · No Comments

A classic sign at the wonderfully-named “Middle Spunk Lake” rest area on I-94 north of the Cities.

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Tags: Minnesota · borrowed content · diversions · miscellany · photos · summer · traveling

Road Trip

August 11th, 2010 · No Comments

Notwithstanding the fact that the girls have never been and are still not particularly good travelers, today’s trip up to Moorhead was by far the easiest, smoothest trip we’re ever had. Nobody (adult or child) cried, the (adult and child) complaining was kept to a minimum, no untimely urination or vomiting occurred, and on the whole, [...]

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Tags: Minnesota · diversions · girls · parenting · photos · summer

Hot, Hot, Hot

August 8th, 2010 · 2 Comments

Today was beyond hot – for southern Minnesota. The air temperature was up over 90°F for a good part of the day and the heat index was up over a 100°F for even more of it, while the relative humidity was in the upper 70% range and the dew point was well over 80°F for [...]

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Tags: Minnesota · Northfield · borrowed content · diversions · girls · miscellany · photos · summer

Shut Up, Legs

August 6th, 2010 · No Comments

That’s the famous demand that Jens Voigt, a superlatively tough pro cyclist, makes during especially hard rides. My ride today was hardly a Tour de France stage, but it was both the longest ride and the longest workout I’ve ever done. The ride took me further away from Northfield than any ride I’ve done, into [...]

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Tags: Minnesota · Northfield · cycling · diversions · miscellany · narcissism · nature · photos · sport · summer

The Day in Haiku

August 5th, 2010 · No Comments

Something about Thursday called for haiku. Morning Days without meetings Are easy to get up for Time to get stuff done Noon A baby swallow Grounded on the hot sidewalk Parents swoop madly Afternoon The roofing tar stench Displeases, causes sneezes, And inspires queases Evening The girls think “Heigh Ho” By the silly Seven Dwarfs [...]

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Tags: Minnesota · Northfield · diversions · miscellany · narcissism · nature · summer

The Saddest Girl in the World

August 2nd, 2010 · 3 Comments

This evening Vivi and I were  drawing when she looked over at me with big sad eyes and asked, “Is amorrow a weekend day?” I shook my head. “No, honey, tomorrow is just Tuesday. It’s a few more days until the weekend.” Whereupon she burst into tears – heavy, gasping, wailing tears – and leapt [...]

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Tags: Minnesota · girls · miscellany · parenting · summer · work

Fields, Clouds, Sky

August 1st, 2010 · No Comments

I know I already posted another version of this photo on my blog and on Flickr, but I like it so much I have tweaked it a bit so I can put it up again. It’s pretty much worth any 10,000 words you might use to describe high summer on the prairie.

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Tags: Minnesota · Northfield · miscellany · narcissism · nature · photos · summer