Fall

Fall

This weekend we were back up north, helping Maggie's folks close 

up the cabin for winter.

Sitting at the breakfast table and looking out the window toward the 

lake, we were reminded that "fall" is a verb. The trees were making 

quick business of shedding their leaves - whole stems of black ash 

were coming down in clumps.

The maples at least had the decency to let go of their leaves one at a 

time (albeit in rapid succession). They flitted in circles, catching an 

occasional updraft, but never really questioning their final resting place.

~ Hal

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

The Invisible Embrace

The Invisible Embrace

On Friday I told Maggie I was going to build the gate for our 

back fence. She lifted an eyebrow at my declaration, mainly 

because this is a project that I've been putting off for, oh, about 

2 years.

On Saturday morning Maggie and Maura went off to a swim meet; 

the boys were sleeping over at friends' houses. I did not go directly 

to work on the gate. I walked out to the back fence where I was 

overtaken by the warm sun, the buzzing of bees, and the joyously 

overgrown end-of-summer jumble of plants.

So I put off the gate for another half-hour or so and got lost in the 

morning.

~ Hal

Hop Harvest

Hop Harvest

Tim (my good friend, co-worker, and home-brewing buddy) has been growing some massive hop vines this summer. In the spring he set up 14 foot poles in his back yard and strung rope to the ground where the little rhizomes were planted.

On Sunday Tim, his wife Joan, and their son Levi invited a few of us over to help with the hop harvest. Naturally we also brewed beer and had a great time trying out each other's summer brews.

This is a shot of one of the hop buds before we cut the vines and got to work.

~ Hal

Up North at the Cabin

Up North at the Cabin

We headed up to Maggie's parent's cabin this Labor Day weekend. 

Beverley and Decker were there to greet us as we rolled in late 

Friday night.

The weather was absolutely perfect. We played some badminton, 

ate walleye, did a few chores, burned the brush pile, walked the 

dogs, talked, and read a lot.

All around were hints of autumn. On our Sunday morning run, 

Maggie and I noticed these ferns. I went back the next morning 

and found them again.

~ 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

Summer Thunderstorms

Summer Thunderstorms

Our last fling of summer was to drive down through Iowa to Rock 

Island, Illinois for Maggie's 25th high school Reunion. We got up 

very, very early on Saturday morning and made our way down 

through some beautiful farm country while the skies put on a 

dramatic show at sunrise.

We had a wonderful time catching up with old friends and I made a 

few new ones as well. We also spent some good time with Maggie's 

folks, who put up with our coming and going and helped with the 

kids for the weekend.

On the way home we ran into some really intense summer 

thunderstorms rolling east of Waterloo, Iowa. I pulled over and 

got out of the car to take some photos as the leading edge of 

these scary looking clouds bore down on us.

~ Hal