Travel
Swine from a father’s point-of-flu
Aaargh! My daughter has spent the whole year studying at the UDLA in Cholula, Mexico. She’s got three weeks to go, and now this swine flu breaks out! My first reaction was that Mexico’s a big country, and she’s not in Mexico City where the epidemic is concentrated. We should just have her sit... more »
Show Couch 2009
Here’s 2 minutes of pure joy. JMdFe9s1HP8 In some parts of Canada, they’d call this a snow chesterfield. more »
Wolf Kill on Snowbank
Two a.m. Saturday morning I woke up from the hard ground, but I was still warm, and happy about it. There were only six hours until sunrise, I could feel nine toes, and I was confident that Scott wasn’t going to have to pull me out on his sled, though I’d had my doubts earlier... more »
Mom and Pops Abroad: a brief tour of Cholula
We really had a great time with Kylie in Cholula last week, mostly because we hadn’t seen her for three months, a new experience for us, and mostly because she’s doing so well on her own in the wide world (more to come on that). However, another big part of our enjoyment was that Cholula... more »
Fish on. I had the big one…
This is Ken. If you have a hairy mole in the middle of your forehead, Ken will ask, “You just ugly, or do you want me to remove that there hairy mole with my fillet knife?” And he’ll pronounce the “t.” At lunch time, he’s generous with his home grown “maters” - round, red, and plump on... more »
Holding Goats
I nearly forgot this one. We passed a lot of livestock on the way to Hinkley – mostly aromatic hogs. However, my favorite were the aromatic goats. Here, Andy holds one in the palm of his hand. Sing with me. “And holds goats in the palm…of his hand…” Note: Done completely without Photoshop. more »
Sabbatical Straggler: a brief Minnesota bicycle tour
Yes, my sabbatical was over in May, but parts of it straggle on. Included in my sabbatical plan was a poorly conceived goal of taking a bicycle tour of northern Minnesota. It was my dream to bike up the North Shore, circle west through International Falls to Warroad to visit my brother, head southwest... more »
I’m back, and with (stolen) tornado footage
Who knew my blogging hiatus would be noticed? Life got really wild in June and I got complacent living the unexamined life. Luckily, gentle bloggers Sarah and David have coaxed me back. I’ll begin with something simple. I just returned from the Swenson family reunion in Willmar, Minnesota. I know... more »
Hope for Pedestrians Everywhere!
My brother Karl sent me this interview with Enrique Peñalosa, former mayor of Bogota about redesigning our cities, and therefore our cultures. Check it out. more »
In line with the Bayou Steppers
While visiting with Rachel and Abram of the Neighborhood Story Project in New Orleans Saturday (April 5), Sherry and I found out that there would be a Second Line Parade noon the next day starting at some obscure street intersection that meant nothing to us touristas. I had a slight notion what this... more »