Strawberry sunset

I wish I had a straw long enough to drink up that strawberry fluff.

Take a ride on the wild side

Yesterday evening, with the expanse of several leisure hours ahead of us, my friend Adam offered to take me for a ride on his motorcycle. Now I’m not a committed adrenaline junkie or anything, but I have been know to throw caution to the wind, and in this case, that phrase can be taken quite literally.  After donning his wicked Spiderman helmet and a quick primer on weight placement, we were off! And fast.

There are some great roads for motorcycling here in Bluff country. We darted down country road 250 to Chatfield which has some ’sweeper’ turns and ideal straightaways for speed. I squealed, and giggled, and squeezed Adam’s chest as he expertly maneuvered the bike. It is SO responsive to him, like its a trained tiger but also an extension of himself. We reached unmentionable speeds. Its reckless, yes, but its amazing and exhilarating and so worth it!

Do you see that smile on my face?! It was there the whole ride. Its impossible to not grin when the winds whips around you and you feel dueling forces propelling you forward.

Two perspectives, one locale.

Honor thine bricks.

We are slaves to paved spaces,

to hot tar and chalk white lines

rolled thick by Goliath machines.

That is why a bricklayed alley way should always be traversed.

Trod the auburn plinth cobbles

and give each masterfully mortared brick your gaited weight.

Yoga Stay-cation

“Tadasana”, “Adho Mukha Svanasana”, “Chaturanga Dandasana”, “Namaste”.

I’ve been hearing these multi-syllabled sanskrit words everyday. I am midway through my self-created yoga ’stay-cation’ in Minneapolis. Away from work, away from tiny town, away from communal living, for almost a whole week. It feels like the right activity at the right time.

The unexpected joy and highlight of my trip has been the quality time spent with Sammy, my friend’s awesome dog. There’s something to be said for the company of a good dog when you want to be alone but not entirely alone. Sammy helps me carry groceries back from the co-op, goes for jogs with me, and always sits when I ask him to. And I think he really likes having me around because his masters are away from home a lot lately. We’re pals.

Sammy with his backpack on, helping me carry groceries.

Friends!

This pose usually means “C’mon lets do something!”

Amanda and Adam have a great little house in NorthEast Minneapolis and they’ve generously set me up in the extra bedroom. The backyard is bright and hospitable with a nice deck, a fire pit, and plenty of plants a’growing. Almost every night I pick fresh lettuce from the garden patch and make a mountainous salad.  Its pleasing to think that my dinner is made of of something that came out of the ground only ten minutes earlier.

After yoga class this morning I found a free table at a great coffee shop called The Spyhouse on Hennepin in uptown. I’m somewhat pretending that I’m a freelance grant writer and I get to spend my days immersed in the aroma of roasting beans and amidst the tippy tappy tippy tap of caffeinated fingers on keyboards.

Twin Cities Jazz festival tonight! A bottle of wine, some cheese, and some cool summer music.

Dawn song

Not much to see but plenty to hear. These are the faithful four a.m. avians that sing outside my window.

To Virgins, to Make Much of Time

by Robert Herrick

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he’s a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he’s to setting.

That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry;
For, having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry.

June afternoon

White dandilion fairy fluff pirouetting down the sunny street,

soaring sportively until sunset,

nothing to do but fritter in front of the thumb printed window.