St. Albans, Standard Time Returns

St. Albans, Daylight Savings Time begins
Originally uploaded by minnetonkafelix.

5:30am Sunday. Orange lights guide you down empty docks.
The last boats have been sent to storage.

Shaver Lake

Shaver Lake
Originally uploaded by minnetonkafelix.

The Marsh Turkey Trot & other turkey stuff.

Since 1986 "The Marsh" on Minnetonka Boulevard has sponsored The Marsh Turkey Trot - a 5K run with other fun run/walks and events. November 4th. The 5K begins at 8:00am. The 5K (3.1 miles) is a very rational and healthy distance. If you want to be a hero, just try to run it fast.
The Marsh Turkey Trot garners over 1100 participants and is well organized and a lot of fun.
Cost of participating in the 5K is now $40.00. That may seem a bit steep, but you get a Turkey Trot sweatshirt. An unspecified percentage of the fee goes to the Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners (IOCP) and Intercongregation Communities Association (ICA).

Fun turkey factoids:

• Turkeys are the only breed of poultry native to the Western Hemisphere.

• Wild turkeys can fly for short distances at speeds up to 55 miles per hour. They can also reach speeds of 25 miles per hour on the ground.

• Turkeys have great hearing, but no external ears. They can also see in color, and have excellent visual acuity and a wide field of vision (about 270 degrees), which makes sneaking up on them difficult.

• Turkeys sometimes spend the night in trees.

Friday Morning Fractures

The truth:
"It takes a child to raze a village"

The Butterfly defect:
" A typhoon, half-way around the world can cause a butterfly in the Amazon to flutter its wings".

Halloween Activities

Halloween too
Originally uploaded by minnetonkafelix.

Excersize your demons!

Purgatory Creek

"Purgatory - A place or condition of temporal punishment for those who, departing this life in God's grace, are, not entirely free from venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions." - Catholic Enclycopedia



A small creek runs along Highway 101 and Old Excelsior Road with an engaging name. Purgatory Creek. The waters of this creek wind slowly through its sticky clay surface and marshes. Early settlers gave it the name "Purgatory" because their heavily loaded carts and wagons became bogged down in the sticky clay-like soil. It was a source of misery for many in their journey, slowing their travel to Excelsior and other destinations.

1905 Game Laws for Minnesota

-excerpted from a 1905 Minnetonka Souvenir Booklet.

“License for resident hunters, $1, $10 for small game, $25 for big game. Resident farmers exempt from license for hunting in their respective counties in which they reside.
Open season for turtle doves, snipe, prairie chicken, grouse, woodcock, upland plover and golden plover, Sept. 1- Nov.. 1. Not over 45 birds per hunter.

Open season for quail, partridge, ruffed grouse and pheasants, Oct. 1- Dec.1. Limit per hunter not over 15 birds killed per day, nor more than 50 in possesion of each hunter.

Open season for deer, male moose or male caribou, Nov. 10- Nov. 30. No person to kill more than 2 deer, 1 moose or 1 caribou.

Shipment of game allowed to county where hunter’s license was issued and when tagged.
No game allowed in possession 5 days after the close of open season. No cold storage of game permitted.

No training of hunting dogs in open fields allowed before Sept. 1.”

Minnetonka- Its Natural Beauties and Attractions- S.E. Ellis, Publisher 1906

The Pumpkin Studies

Researchers and agricultural scientest at the University of Minnesota
had suspected this for a long time. Results of a 2 year, 75,000 study were not unexpected:

- Almost 95% percent of pumpkin sales take place during the month of October.

- Sales fall off dramtically in November, and indeed remain insignificant during the other months of the year.

- The radius of a pumpkin divided into it's circumference is Pi!

Results are inconclusive as of yet, but researchers believe that "Orange and Black Day" on Oct.31 may have an indirect realtionship.
Researchers also feel that year-round marketing efforts by the Pumpkin Association like the new "Pumpkins-the other orange vegetable" will better distribute annual pumpkin sales.

Starvation Point - Orono

No one knew his real name. The Native Americans who encountered him and the early settlers simply called him "Hairy faced man". One of the earliest white men to live by Minnetonka, he seasonally occupied a small log hut on the point now called "Bracket's Point". He was known for his fearlessness and justness. The date: 1840s.
He traded with a local fur company and lived alone for the many years.
One year he did not show up at the fur company with his usual store of skins and furs. The fur company sent out an agent, White Crow, to search for Hairy Faced Man. White Crow returned with the news that hairy faced man had died of starvation on the point. Later searchers turned up signs of delerium and long sickness.
News of his demise spread among the settlers and the point became known widely as "Starvation Point".

I think of the isolation and solitude of this early trapper/hunter. He left no written notes. Living alone with his thoughts until the end of his days. One could say he was one with nature with little desire to be anything else... but that is my speculation.
Today, is anyone willing be so alone with their thoughts and life experiences? One sees people walking along the lake in autumn while chatting on a cell phone. Shopping, biking, yes even running marathons, while holding on to cell phones, or listening to headsets.
Eager to share their experience...

Thoughts about Starvtion Point, now called Bracket's Point. The name change in took place in 1881.



No need for starvation today. Open 24 hours in nearby Wayzata.

Fallen leaves in snow

Fallen leaves
Originally uploaded by minnetonkafelix.

The first dusting of snow arrived yesterday. Light layers of snow mixed with leaves to cover the ground.

The Garden Patch for Halloween ...

On Highway 19 just outside of Excelsior is a place called "The Garden Patch".

Stop in and have a scare on me. Garden Patch people have done a spooktacular (advertising lingo) job creating a Halloween land that will bring chills to kids and adults alike. Take care to cover your neck, there are vampires. Buy a pumpkin, say hello to my hairy palmed friends the werewolves.
There are scores of spooky scenes and stories.

Oddly enough, when I was there "Disco Inferno" was blaring over the loudspeakers.

Burning, burning...

October Squash

My last pumpkin post
Originally uploaded by minnetonkafelix.

Twins Manager, Ron Gardenhire on the Loss

Twins Manager, Ron Gardenhire
Originally uploaded by minnetonkafelix.

"I think we have some dead Piranna here".

BTW - Thanks to the Twins for a fun season.

Excelsior Fire Boat 11

Excelsior fire Boat 11
Originally uploaded by minnetonkafelix.

Docked.

Twin Cities Marathon 06 - Marla Runyan

Twin Cities Marathon 06 Women's Winner
Originally uploaded by minnetonkafelix.

Well, they gave her F 1 for a reason.

Twin Cities Marathon - observations from the street.

I stood curbside on historic Summit Avenue just past the 25 mile mark (The 9 mile mark for those running the 10 mile). A woman just to my left was shouting at 30 second intervals "You're doing a great job! Keep it up". An encouraging chant for a lover, but not for a marathoner with less than one mile to go.

Sitting along the curb a family of about 6 pounded away on thunder sticks. Yeah! Nasty little noise makers.
Target had set up an orange translucent sound tunnel with a loop tape of "The Rocky Theme" and some more contemporary motivating song. In my head, over and over I saw Sylvester Stalone on the Philidelpia steps.
The weather was perfect for a spectator, but a bit warm for the runners. I think the trade off with the inspirational beauty was more than fair.
In the end the race was beautiful and well run. I cheered on the leaders, and thought about next year's 10 mile...

Twin Cities Marathon - pushing it!

marathon
Originally uploaded by minnetonkafelix.

Here is another winner- who was running at a very brisk pace, the young lady had the best seat in the race.

Hussein returns as the Twin Cities Marathon 06 Winner

Twin Cities Marathon 06
Originally uploaded by minnetonkafelix.

Mubarak Hussein (41!) wins with a 2:13. Mea culpa, mea culpa. I didn't think he could win against the younger field, who wilted as he maintained a 5:06 mile pace with masterly precision.