all that's past is prologue...

My parents divorced when I was two, and my dad purchased the duplex at 4109-4111 Sheridan Avenue South in Linden Hills not all that long after that. Which is to say, while I grew up "So Saint Paul," there was also a part of me that was from Minneapolis too. As I grew up, we hung out there every Saturday, and while my dad took afternoon naps I made fairy gardens in the yard, made "pens" from the fake bamboo growing everywhere, or climbed to the top of the big cedar tree outside. I hung out upstairs with his tenants, or next door with the Orfields and the pig or turkey they had at that time. Every summer I spent a couple of overnights there, sometimes with friends — where we could sit on the front steps and talk to boys as they walked past. One time I spent there I got really sick, and went through 6 of my dad's t-shirts worn as nightshirts as I puked all night. I made little cubbyholes for "The Borrowers" to find things. My room was (and is to this da...

The weather this afternoon was perfect to sand and varnish the doors. Found the sander. Brought it from Summit to Ashland. Found out I needed smaller pieces of sandpaper. Sanded the doors, taking cat-petting breaks. Went to the basement to get the marine varnish. Varnish had dried up. Grabbed the back-up varnish. Also dried up. Went to Frattalones. No marine varnish. Millenial sales help guy did not seem to know the difference between indoor and outdoor, polyyuruthane vs. other finishes, stain vs. varnish. Looked through all the options while trying to touch as little as possible. Missed 7 Corners Hardware a lot (Frattalones tries, but they have been striking out on old house needs). Purchased what seemed to be the best option. Came home, varnished the doors. Look great. Peace is restored. Another project that's been on the to-do list for a long time checked off. Front Before: After: Back Before: After:

You know what? I have to say on a personal level, we've kind of got this. We're spending good time as a family together. We're reading a lot. We're finding a way to have (distanced) time with friends that is in no way as frequent as before, but that means a lot more. We're cooking good food. We're doing some house projects. We're visiting sunflower fields. We have a collection of masks. We're getting good work done. We're escaping to the cabin. In a lot of ways it's hard — and things that would have been hard before, like the enormous leak that took out our kitchen ceiling, are that much harder. But in general, we're getting it done. Which stands in stark contrast to our leadership, at all levels. Though Beatrix's school seems to be handling the myriad issues well, their communication has been terrible. I've not heard a word on the situation from my city council member, Dai Thao. I hear a few talking points from Mayor Carter...

It was the early 1990s, and I was serving as an election judge for the first (and only) time. I was not cut out for a day that went from 5am to 9pm, of counting write-ins by hand, for being constantly "on" serving people — those judges are heroes. At the same time, it was an incredibly rewarding experience to see people come out to vote, to register at the polls (MN has same day registration), and to feel great pride in my country. It was at the training when I asked "What about the absentee ballots?" The answer - "We count those, of course. If we have to." But I could not suss how they knew if they had to. That same question came to my mind when I voted for Wellstone in 2002. I was going on tour with my theater company and had cast my ballot, and then the plane crash. I went down to the election office to retrieve my ballot and write in Mondale, and was told I could not because Mondale had not been confirmed as the candidate yet. It took several min...

Though there are scores of taprooms in the Twin Cities, we rarely have time to take Brutus out to a couple of them in a day. On vacation at the cabin, though, there's more leisure time, and so we could head out to a few. Brutus was All In for this turn of events: We first hit Copper Trail, which has been a reliable standard for us in Alexandria over the year. It used to be located in an industrial park, which was kind of ... industrial park-y. But late last year they relocated to a more central site, and this was our first time to visit the new place. Brutus approved: In comparison to city covid-cleanliness standards, theirs were a little lax, and the patio seemed somewhat thrown-together. But the beer was good — Patrick had a Belgian and I a hoppy IPA, though we actually switched — and it was nice to all sit and enjoy some vacation beer-and-patio time. We give it a solid 3 out of 5, maybe higher. Besides, afterwards we could walk over to the Big Ole statue — because wha...

So, like everyone else, my bucket list has become a little...less ambitious...this year. So I think when I decided that visiting a sunflower field was on it, Patrick was a little dubious. But one of the Fish Sunflower fields was on our way up to the cabin, so all six of us (3 humans and 3 dogs) stopped on Sunday morning. And it was incredibly worth it. ETA: added Beatrix's pictures, which are awesome.

So, Lawless is one of our (Patrick's and my) favorite places to go, topped only by the bars at Martina and Coquito (because Adam, Dustin, Marco...) — and Stillhart is way up there too, because Olivia.... But needless to say, other than picking up Hustle Packs, we have not been in a LONG time. They recently re-opened for outside service, so my one birthday request was to get a drink there. And the winner part of course is that the patio is dog-friendly. Brutus has only been to taprooms, never a distillery. Let's just say that he realized that now he was Living His Best Life. Lovely outdoor setting, great drinks. I had the Minnesota Vice, Patrick went with his usual old-fashioned. Good social distancing, lots of sanitizer. It loses a little of the Lawless touch because there was not fancy glassware, and part of the fun is sitting at the bar kibitzing with the bartenders and watching them make drinks (not that I have whiled away many hours doing just that...) But i...