all that's past is prologue...

In general, I am pretty progressive. I believe in "we all do better when we all do better," and I love Saint Paul with every inch of my being. But I don't believe in the 1% sales tax.  No, it's not the "1¢ sales tax," but rather1%, which would put Saint Paul's sales tax at 9.88%. That's not only as one of the highest-taxed places in the state (I can't remember if Duluth is a tiny bit higher), but also in the country; for example, New Orleans, which is known for taxing tourism, has a 9.45% sales tax. (edited - with recent sales tax changes, this will put as as the 5th highest in the US). Ok, you say, but shouldn't Saint Paul be gaining sales tax from people who come in to the city and use its facilities? Shouldn't they be paying their "fair share"? I reject that argument. If they are coming in for theater, like the Ordway, there's no sales tax on tickets. If they are buying goods, I don't see a lot of places where they wo...

When I was young, my dad took me to House on the Rock . I never understood why he took me there, and not to Taliesin at the same time...until this trip. The first garden at HOTR Taliesin There's a story (since proved wrong, for any number of reasons), that Alex Jordan built HOTR because he wanted Frank Lloyd Wright to collaborate on a house and Wright refused. But that contrast stayed in my mind this trip. Though House on the Rock has some cozy spaces in the house itself... ...it's really about the show, the razzle-dazzle. In fact, one thing that we learned about the house is that Jordan only ever spent 4 nights in the house ever. he built it as a showcase, as a tourist attraction. And it succeeds, even though it's kind of exhausting. It's also a place for him to showcase all of his collections, from carousels to dollhouses to firearms to cars to jewelers models to musical rooms to full-built towns. I think my dad aspired to that, though all he really seemed to collect...

Last year, we went to Door County for MEA break with our friends the Freys. This year we topped that, with a trip to Spring Green, Wisconsin! We drove down on Thursday, with a stop at Norske Nook for pie on the way. So delicious! (though the lefse was meh at best). Then we checked into our AirBnB. It was a relatively new listing, with great space for all of us and some wonderful touches to make us feel pampered. And waking up to this view the next morning was not half bad either.... On Friday we spent hours at House on the Rock, which was as ridiculous as I remember it and a rollicking good time. We then had a lovely dinner at Homecoming, with lovely wood-fired pizzas and a hippie vibe: The next day, after "brunch-lunchy" at the Spring Green General Store and touring the art crawl, we went to Taliesin, which was every bit as amazing as I would have wished. Then dinner at Arthur's Supper Club and a night of jazz at the Slowpoke. We took the long way home today, which inclu...

Instead of resolutions this year, I had goals. Twelve sets of four goals each, ranging from going out with  people I don't usually see to trying new bars and restaurants to writing letters. It's particularly interesting to me to see the areas that I have not yet ticked off all the boxes (creating things, learning things, and writing letters, for the record). I say this because I am not sure if todays's radical re-imagining of our plant area counts as creating something. I certainly know that the plant table looks better, here's the before pic (plants are off but not yet trimmed back): "During" pic: The main focus of today, though, was trimming back and repotting my various orchids.  I've done relax well with orchids, but always basically on the "benign neglect" model. Today I took them all out of their pots, cut back rotted roots, repotted where the roots had gone crazy, and basically spiffed them up. I'm terrified this will kill them all. Me...

Almost every Saturday and Sunday you'll find us at Yoga and a Pint (you should meet us there!). But this week a mix of community responsibilities and a need to trim back on expenses (plus a sleepless night because I am still coughing like crazy all the time) meant we skipped yoga. Truth is, a little bit of my heart was at yoga and I was not really in a "do better for the community" mood: But we rallied and met neighborhood folks at Lookout Park in order to clean out the annuals and get ready for fall. This intrepid crew got a lot done in a short time! In a better mood now, I came back and planted some of the geraniums we took out here, so we could enjoy a few more days (more maybe even weeks?) of color. I got a little more yard work done as well, including planting a hydrangea I had bought at a Bitty Kitty Brigade fundraiser. Maybe fall means some backyard bonfires! I have a few acquaintances collecting things for various fundraisers (stuffed animals, kids books, kids c...