GMO Pork

Alas, a person working at our favorite co-op meat market told me today that they have no pork that is GMO free.
No pork farmers can assure the co-op that the corn fed to their pigs is free of genetically modified corn.
Even when farmers raise their own corn for feed they cannot protect it from cross-pollination from Monsanto neighboring fields.

Frankenfood is here.

Three hours on Grass Trails

The spring wash out in the corner of the corn field is dry as a bone now, as we hope for rain to come soon.


The poison ivy is a danger even in late summer.


And, well, Sweet Pea and I got lost. What was to be a one-hour hike turned out to be TWO.


Early in the morning a spry fawn came prancing toward us, but then stopped and reconsidered its course.


You can click on the sign to read the details of the prairie restoration burn.


Life is persistent. On the edge of the burn, wild flowers flourish.


It was a day made for KITES!


Families of campers enjoyed the dry weekend. These small children rode their bikes down the grassy hill, below the soaring kite.


Sumac is already forecasting autumn.

Our son and daughter-in-law lost their entire house to a fire early on the morning of June 21.

Lightning struck the electrical entrance box in the garage of our son David's house. The natural gas entrance to the house was fifteen feet away, but the lightning nevertheless found a way to burst the corrugated stainless steel tubing (CSST) that was used at the entrance and throughout the house.

It turns out that this is a national issue, with new homes built with CSST going up in flames when lightning strikes nearby. The lightning pokes a hole in the tubing, ignites the gas, and the result is a gas-powered blowtorch inside the home's wall or basement.

Here is a short Channel 11 story about our son's situation that aired Friday night:
www.kare11.com/news/article/1034149/391/Cause-of-Maplewood-fire-serves-warning-to-others.

David and Caroline are going to rebuild, but the gas lines will be good old black iron pipe!

Remembering June 2013

Don's Dad died. We made many many trips to Duluth in the preceding weeks. His death leaves a big void and great memories in many lives.

Our son and daughter-in-law lost their new house (in Maplewood) and everything in it (including cars and tools in the garage) due to a lightning strike in the night and the resulting fire. And then it rained for two days on the ashes. They escaped without injury.

Our daughter-in-law continues to endure chemo for ovarian cancer.

You can read about all of those events on Don's blogs: Make it a Masterpiece and Myeloma Hope.

"Grief upon grief," they say.

We are running, often and regularly, in the park.
Unusually cool weather, highs around 80, this week makes for pleasant morning runs.

A Week in July

House of Hope in St. Paul: celebration of life for a dear man who had been in our myeloma support group



Long-time friends from Texas visited us. At our encouragement they made a quick appointment at Mayo Clinic and got a definite diagnosis of myeloma!
They had their dog with them. Do you know of a good kennel they asked, and we said, Right here.
Sweet Pea was a major care-taker for the sweet dog.



This is tiger lily season in Minnesota.



So much has happened in the past 2 months that we are back at blogging..... gradually....

Rochester MN: final FINAL snowfall ?

An egret catching breakfast in the park on the morning of April 30.


The following morning (yesterday, May 1st), Don watched the weather reports, made a decision, reserved a hotel room in Rochester, rented a car. We left in mid-afternoon for Don's myeloma appointment which was the following morning at Mayo Clinic.
This was the amazing scene out our hotel window at six o'clock this morning. Don had already left, through the tunnels for his 6am blood draw at the clinic.



Rochester is in Olmsted County. All of the medical people Don was scheduled to see had made it in, some taking as much as an hour and a quarter for the usual 15 minute commute.
If we had waited until this morning to drive to Rochester, we wouldn't have made it. For a while this morning the highway between the Twin Cities and Rochester was closed.


Mid-morning view from the 10th floor, where we see the doctor.


Footprints in the snow greeted us as we waded our way to our car on the top of the parking ramp.


Immediately we were met by a man with a snow shovel, waving directions to the front end loader operator.


The city street in Rochester at around 1:00 this afternoon
Tonight they are reporting total snow fall at about 14 inches of "wet cement".

Kyle's Ordination; Get in Gear 10K; Finally Spring

A rare and precious opportunity: joining with other clergy in the laying on of hands in the ordination service for the son of a congregation I served.
Picture: newly ordained pastor!





Saturday morning we ran the Get in Gear "Rite of Spring" 10K
A moment of silence for Boston was observed before the race.


License plate... and how long is a marathon?


After the races, Minnehaha Park was alive with runners, kids, dogs, bicycles.


A celebration of spring...at last!


This afternoon there were still old dirty piles of snow here and there, but we are celebrating SPRING!

Snowing morning: April 23, 2013

Another SEVEN inches of heavy wet beautiful snow......









Even the plants in our sunroom are confused. This one thinks it's Christmas.

April Snow

APRIL NINETEENTH (19TH), TWIN CITIES, MINNESOTA, 2013



Geese, knee deep in heavy white wet stuff: Isn't this where we nested last year??

We are NOT in Boston today.

News of the bombing at the Boston Marathon has raised concern of people who know Don is a marathon runner.
We appreciate the caring.

We are home and we are fine (and lucky).
We just returned from Duluth where we attended a big birthday party for Don's Dad's 100th birthday.

Being in sight of the finish, having run 26 miles, and witnessing the explosions must have been an electrifying experience. Hard to even imagine the disappointment of training, running, and not finishing
the Boston Marathon.
We grieve .... our hearts go out for the children, for the injured, for the runners, for families, for security and law enforcement, for supporters, organizers, volunteers...

....And for people everywhere who are involved in road racing... for it will never be quite the same again.