Carson's Bay with ice houses in the distance

Deephaven's Officer Bridget

Bridget Joyce was Deephaven's first female police officer. (the current Deephaven City newsletter features my photo) Bridget was kind enough to allow me to photograph her at a 4th of July Celebration by the general store in 2006. The photo is very popular. Bridget has made a career decision, and is moving to Winona, Minnesota, where she will hold a similar law enforcement position.
I, personlly do not know Ms. Joyce, she has never given me a traffic ticket or citation.
Thanks and best wishes.

"Felix" Navidad

Linwood Beach, Deephaven

It was 4 above, and I should have wandered down the path for a better shot. Instead I just peered down the snowy trail lined by a fence, leading to Linwood Beach.

Please! Excelsior.

I have noticed these signs in Excelsior. Are they unique to Excelsior? I do not know, but they have a pleading quality that is palpable. For crying out loud, slow down!

My Plea to Our Hennepin County Commissioners: "Give this trail a name"

Along the trail the posted name is "Hennepin County LTR Transit Corridor". I know what that dreary title portends, but can that just be the subheading on the sighns (sic) to a more colorful moniker for the present? Let's show some spirit of creativity.
On the other side of The Lake, The Luce Line Trail is named after an old and defunct train line ( A fun, appropriate name with letters that also spells "clue"). With the historical significance of this trail that runs from Hopkins, through Excelsior, to Victoria, it deserves a real name. How about "The Raspberry", or "Victoria's End" .... well maybe not. I would be happy with "The St. Louis Trail", after the train line that once ran there long ago. Just a nudge.

Runners training along the trail.

Gideon's Bay with Tonka Bay in the distance.

It was about 8 below zero with a frigid wind when I took this shot in Excelsior.
From the Excelsior Residents Guide:
Incorporated as a village in 1901, Tonka Bay made history long before. In 1853, Peter Gideon staked out a claim of 160 acres in what is now Tonka Bay and where Gideon’s Bay still bears his name. Gideon successfully propagated his first apples “The Wealthy,” named for his wife, before he died in 1899.

Gene Kelly Where Are You?

On Saturday it rained. This shot, staged by your's truely, was shot in St. Boni where the temperature was 38 degrees.

Pegasus, and the shortest days.

Candle light

The ghosts of Saint Louis Point

Strolling along Lakeview Avenue on a frozen evening I can hear the faint sounds of an old V8 engine on the lake. A revving engine, mixed with casual conversations and the tinkling of glasses. The distant years overlap in ghostly music. My hearing is not as crisp as the winter air.
Lakeview Avenue. This little lakeside street was once the site of the magnificent 19th century Keeywaydin Hotel, and streams of tourists waiting for day-excursions to the Big Island Amusement Park.
The street is residential and quiet now. The Keeywaydin’s water tower still stands in empty homage to the Hotel. To the west is St. Louis Point. Site of another grand Hotel, The St. Louis. Both hotels have long since gone, lost to fire.
On any cold, dark January evening one might still catch a glimpse of a 1953 pickup as it cruises and spins across the crackling winter ice. The ecclectic eras mix with black ice and unexpected undercurrents.


(to be continued)

From December 2007

It was too dark this morning to shoot a snowy scene, and I was driving sideways at the time...... so I am posting this from last December 12th.

A Journey to Minnesota's Oldest Standing Bridge

Occasionally I stray from Lake Minnetonka's shores to visit a friend whose property includes Minnesota's oldest standing bridge. The Point Douglas-St. Louis River Road Bridge. ( Also known as; " The Old Stone Arch Bridge").
It is not a large bridge, it can hardly accomodate two people walking, although a formal descriptionstates that it is 17feet wide and 12 feet high. It is slowly crumbling from tree roots and over growth. This bridge was built in the 186Os, but was probably not the first bridge on the site. The bridge was part of a series of frontier roads pitched as "Military Roads" in 1850 by Henry Hastings Sibley. Sold as miltary purpose roads, they were probably used more often by early settlers of the Minnesota Territory.
The bridge crosses Brown's Creek, which flows east into the St. Croix River.

Parking is always a problem.

Fire & Ice

A little culture inspired by the docks in Excelsior bay.

Robert Frost Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire;
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To know that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice

My Plans for Excelsior in December "Be Prepared."

One of the most popular posts in this blogs history was my coverage of Excelsior's "Polar Plunge'on January 1. It is an annual event that I covered last year and experienced one of the bitingest and coldest days in recent memory. Half-way through my photographing and documentation, my camera batteries froze. Foolishly, I had not brought along warm replacements. I had forgotten my years of Boy Scout training. Thus I had to salvage my photogrphic documentation with the few shots I had taken. None the less, the post was popular.
This year I will be better prepared for this frigid event. I will bring 2 cameras and heavy winter wear - if it is needed. As I have said before, I have mixed emotions about a voluntary 30 seceond event that requires paramedics within arms reach.
Stay tuned.