Last year at this time...

Excelsior.

Deephaven Beach Ice In

Lobster at Blue Point

We had lobster at a restaurant nearby that serves quality sea food. The Blue Point is always a fine dining experience, with a professional staff and simple, elegant ambiance. Actually I had the Hawaiian Sunfish... Lobster is a messy operation at best.


My mother often spoke of a time when lobsters (and scallops) were considered a poor man’s entree. You could buy them at the market cheap. I am willing to bet that this was due to the primitive food preservation technology of the early 20th century.

From an authoritative seafood blog:
"Eating lobster was once considered a mark of poverty and they were served to indentured servants, slaves and prisoners. In one Massachusetts colony, servants rebelled and forced a contract stating they would not be fed lobster more than 3 times a week."

Drawn and buttered.

The cruelest month

T.S. Eliot said it is April.
The picture is a desolate Lake Sarah.

March leaves.

Wells Fargo Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon

May 1 - now starting in waves at the Wayzata Bay (ex)shopping center.

8:00 a.m. WAVE #1(1hr 50 mins and better)
8:02 a.m. WAVE #2 (1hr 55 mins to 2hr 10 mins)
8:04 a.m. WAVE #3 (2 hr 11 min and over)

I read this with shock, then I remembered it this a HALF MARATHON. Whew! (Of course there would be no starters if these were marathon times).


The finish area is at the Excelsior Commons Park. I plan on photographing this event for this blog. Big time coverage! I think the half marathon is a great (& the most reasonable) long-distance road race. A perfect race for Lake Minnetonka. I look forward to some great shots, from an area that has fostered some great runners.

The forbidden fog

The past dissolves, but into a grey that is ambiguous. A strong metal bar is a good restriction.

The thaw on Carson's Bay

Kitty has an Irish Eye

Toonie On Tonka gets her GED.

A dog with a degree is like a pet with power steering.
My congratulations to Toonie and Shelly her handler, who plan to continue on to a Post-Graduate degree.

Toonies early training had some hurdles.

Broken Trail today. Tomorrow: The Ides of March.

Act 1. Scene II Julius Ceasar (excerpt)

CASSIUS
'Tis just:
And it is very much lamented, Brutus,
That you have no such mirrors as will turn
Your hidden worthiness into your eye,
That you might see your shadow. I have heard,
Where many of the best respect in Rome,
Except immortal Caesar, speaking of Brutus
And groaning underneath this age's yoke,
Have wish'd that noble Brutus had his eyes.

BRUTUS
Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius,
That you would have me seek into myself
For that which is not in me?


Note: I admit: I thought today was the 15th. I “leaped ahead” too far. Right into the ancient past and Shakespear’s Julius Ceasar, which I read in my public high school English Class in 10th grade ....and I still remember .

The unleaded - part 2

More about lead. BTW - if the gas is unleaded, and no leaded gas is available, why not just call it gasoline.


So what about lead?
“Lead is a dense, corrosion-resistant, bluish-grey metallic element, and is the heaviest stable element. Lead was one of the first known metals and has been used for at least 5,000 years. The early uses of lead included building materials, pigments for glazing ceramics and pipes for transporting water. Today’s major use of lead is in lead-acid storage batteries”

Framed on Friday

Putting Decartes before De Horse

Yes, this is a repeat, but it will have to suffice on a Thursday with the sun breaking through. My typo on "therefore" is embedded...oops!

No access

The gates are closed, and with the amount of ice and snow on the ground and lake I doubt that we will seen an average ice out.... just a few years back we had a March 18th ice -out.
Much, much later this year... well into April. The norm is the first week in April.


Like most people, I am tired of winter. My photography has suffered with all the repetitive snow scenes and my own lack of enthusiasm. The results are treadworn, dreary, and flat winter scenes. The above shots were taken at Gray's Bay as I struggled with the snow piles that line the street, just to position myself to take a shot.

The unleaded and the leaded

Lead dispenser (toy)

Tubby or not Tubby?

In 1905 the Coca Cola Western Bottling Company of Chicago issued its own ads for Coca Cola featuring an effervescent young lady. The President of Coca Cola did not approve of these ads because they touted Coke as a refreshing mixer for alcohol.

Looking to the East. Wayzata Yacht Club docks