On the Trail

On the Trail

Over the weekend, Maggie and I (and a handful of friends) ran 

the 10 mile portion of the Twin Cities Marathon. It turned out 

to be a beautiful morning, especially as we ran along the Mississippi 

River, glimpsing the sunrise coming up through the trees over 

St. Paul's Summit Avenue.

Our dog Stella wasn't quite so happy however, since our weekend 

schedule meant that she didn't get out all that much. So yesterday 

when I had a little extra free time, I took her for a nice long walk 

up on Hoffman Hill.

This is one of our favorite spots along the trails up there.

~ Hal

Some Kind of Ecstasy

Some Kind of Ecstasy

Yesterday after work I was watching Garth perform stunts on 

his scooter in the alley, when I heard some music floating over 

the breeze and remembered that Chris Silver was playing at the 

park downtown.

I grabbed Maggie, we abandoned the kids to their own devices 

and walked toward the river for some fun. The early autumn sky 

came in beautifully, our friends were there, and Chris' band was 

rocking.

Toward the end of the night, Chris looked out at everyone and said, 

"This is my community," and it was real and true - and not just for him.

~ Hal

River Falls Farmer's Market

River Falls Farmer's Market

On Saturday morning Maggie and I went down to the farmer's 

market. Our summer schedule has been so irregular this year 

that despite the fact that it's only a few blocks away, this was 

the first time we've been this season.

While we were there we ran into a bunch of friends we hadn't 

seen lately and had a great time catching up.

Naturally I was keeping an eye out for whatever revealed itself. 

I've always loved the explosive, fractal patterns of dill blossoms; 

I found them bunched together like this in a bucket near one of 

the market stands.

~ Hal