May

From Chantilly France, 1413-16. A Book of Hours.
I was reading a scholarly book on The Book of Hours on Sunday night. It struck me how the pages and text (of the Books of Hours) were painstakingly and lovingly illustrated, the words were sacred.

Unsung heroes - the Crab Apple... and Gideon

"1861, Gideon and his family had only one surviving apple tree, a Siberian crab apple, and they were down to their last eight dollars. Determined to find an apple that would grow in Minnesota, Gideon sent the family's last dollars to an apple grower in Bangor, Maine, and got a bushel of apple seeds in return. Just one of these seeds, crossed with Gideon's Siberian crab apple, produced the apple that Gideon later named the Wealthy, after his wife, Wealthy (Hull) Gideon."

Getting traction

Many cooks

Yes folks, because of my frequent use of the Bay as subject matter, I have included my blog as a source.

I stopped by Gray's Bay

Friday Morning still

The sign says: "still plays with boats"

Holiday 101

They have added a blue border to the Holiday sign.

Hello!

Alexander Graham Bell invented the Telephone. Thomas Edison invented the greeting "Hello".
The Keywaydin Hotel boasted 2 telephones for patrons use. An exciting amenity in the Golden Days of Lake Minnetonka. I have been writing a brief short story centering around these early telephones when it occured to me; What did one say when the first telephones rang?

According to this excerpt from the New York Times Etiquette section 1992:

"Finally, Mr. Koenigsberg found the historic letter of August 1877. In December 1987, justifiably excited, he published his findings in the journal he publishes, The Antique Phonograph Monthly. No one cared.

His research enters the area of educated guesswork when it comes to settling the question of why Edison used "hello" in the first place.

When Edison discovered the principle of recorded sound on July 18, 1877, he shouted "Halloo!" into the mouthpiece of the strip phonograph. The word was the traditional call to incite hounds to the chase, and is a close relative of such words as hilla, hillo, halloa and hallo, all used to hail from a distance.

The British "hullo," which dates from the mid-19th century, is deceptive. It was used not as a greeting but as an expression of surprise, as in "Hullo, what have we here?"

It seems likely that Edison, satisfied with the resonant halloo, continued to use it in his experiments, at some point compressing the pronunciation and modifying the spelling, never his strong suit, in any case.

Mr. Koenigsberg said he would still like to know what exactly was going through Edison's mind at the moment of creation."

More Scenes from my visit to the Wayzata Depot

James J. Hill portrait.



James Hill does the locomotion.



Tourists waiting for a train.

I stole the Minnesota Historical Society shots from the actual signage surrounding the historical Wayzata Train Depot. The description of James Hill focused on the feud Hill had with the Wayzata City Council - and with a slightly unflattering slant on Mr Hill.
It was a love-grudge relationship involving the train track location.

Ring! @ Wayzata Depot

Wayzata Yacht Club April 2012

Off Wazata Boulevard: A one-lane MacDonalds Morning.

Wayzata MacDonalds

“The original prototype for McDonald’s drive-in hamburger stands featuring the full-scale golden arches and red-and-white tile walls was a major influence on roadside strips throughout the United States from its introduction in 1953 to its phased elimination in the 1970s and 1980s.”
From American Architecture.



I was driving through Apple Valley, MN and saw an archityepal MacDonalds. A reconstruction, no doubt. It is a beautiful piece of early 60s commercial architecture. Cheesy around the edges with a little bit of Koleco built in. Kind of like “Cootie” drive in. Today’s MacDonald’s are polished and uniformly corporate.

Minnehapolis first bridge

According to the Minnesota Historical Society 1951, this suspension bridge was the first bridge built across the Mississippi(1851). The bridge is gone, and so is the "H" in Minnehapolis.

Easter is a time of renewal... and Bunny Bingo.

This is a re-post of a seasonal classic. All intellectual and spiritual discourse descends into Bunny Bingo.

Thursday am

Call received!

Grays Bay.

Help! By Shel Silverstein

I walked through the wildwood, and what did I see
But a unicorn with his horn stuck in a tree,
Cryin’, “Someone please help me before it‘s too late.”
I hollered, “I’ll free you.” He hollered back, “Wait--
How much will it hurt? How long will it take?
Are you sure that my horn will not scratch, bend, or break?
How hard will you pull? How much must I pay?
Must you do it right now or is Wednesday okay?
Have you done this before? Do you have the right tools?
Have you graduated from horn-savin’ school?
Will I owe you a favor? And what will it be?
Do you promise that you will not damage the tree?
Should I close my eyes? Should I sit down or stand?
Do you have insurance? Have you washed your hands?
And after you free me--tell me what then?
Can you guarantee I won’t get stuck again?
Tell me when. Tell me how.
Tell me why. Tell me where….”

Grays Bay. The lights are on.

Bennet Family Park. The clean up man.

Along Highway 101 in Minnetonka is Bennett Field.
I looked up the field's web site, knowing nothing about the field. I was attracted to the new sign, like a bird to something bright.

"The original property was 22 acres owned by the Ted Bennett family. They had donated the property to the Deephaven Gun Club who operated a trap shooting range (located in far right field of Bennett #3, they shot from west to east). Harold Strot and Ray Peterson (Peterson Shoes) generated the idea for the park. In 1955 the Gun Club agreed to allow Little League to use a portion of the land for a field. By the summer of 1956 funds had been raised to fill, clear and grade the field. Sod was laid in October and backstops, fences, dugouts and a concession stand were finished in time for a June 1, 1957 opener. Mayor Bud Robb of Deephaven threw out the first pitch for that opener."



By the warning track.

Goin Spasso

People have asked me how I like "Spasso". I have written about it a few years ago. I decided to go again. It is exactly three miles from my house, so that is always a plus.

...more to come....

We were seated in the center of the main dining room. Booths and a divider topped with Easter Lilies separated us from the classic mirrored oaken bar. It is difficult to shoot photos properly and unasumingly using my aging 5 megapixel camera in a room with romantic lighting. I hold on to this camers like and old blanket. Needless to say my food shots were rejects.

To the side, sitting in a booth, was a lovely family enjoying dinner. As if to make sheer folley of my efforts, they were producing on-the-spot production quality photos and a family video with ease with a phone/camera. I could see the results in the father’s large LCD display and I was impressed at the quality.

Oh, The restaurant. I am often critical of the cloying descriptions used in restaurant reviews. So, I compliment the staff for courtesy, attentiveness and the food for being simply and well prepared. I had veal marsala. My wife had a stone baked pizza. Delicious salads.
We split a gelato banana split. I was going to photograph it. It would have been a showcase dessert photo, but before I realized it..... it was gone.