autumn | The Quotidian Diary

Patchy

October 24, 2014 § 1 Comment

I took 60 photos today, mostly of pumpkins, so…

: Squash menagerie

: Patchy

: Veins

: Spots

: Gray guy

: Dumpster rejects

: Pumpkin path

: Babies

: Reds

: Odd one out

Stem

Carpets, Canopies, and Side Glances

October 23, 2014 § 2 Comments

Leaves still hang like canopies from trees and creep along walls and fences. But many are falling en masse, carpeting yards, roads, and sidewalks in crunchy, vibrant color.

Hanging on

Eye level 1

Rainbow

Benchwarmers

Eye level 2

Vine

Eye level 3

Perfect

Roy G. Biv: Yellow

October 11, 2014 § 4 Comments

Yellow, yellow, yellow. The third installment in a week-long series on the colors of the rainbow:

Tent

Yellow sky

Certified hybrid seed corn

Pickup

Loop

Line

Railing

Sixty-two

Leaf

Roy G. Biv: Orange

October 10, 2014 § Leave a comment

Day two of my interpretation of the rainbow spectrum. Next up: Orange, with all photos taken today in St. Paul.

Pumpkins

In and out of focus

Punch umbrella

Orange on brown

Warning

Leaves in sky

Barricade

Gourds

Rim

Downed leaf

Roy G. Biv: Red

October 9, 2014 § Leave a comment

Red occurring naturally and not so naturally (St. Paul):

Branch

Limbs

Marker

Door

Dead end

Garden hose

Schwinn

Chair back

Arbor

Waste receptacle

Stop

Canopy

My parents and I took an afternoon drive to Stockholm, Wisconsin, to see the fall colors and sample some pie from the Stockholm Pie Company (triple berry for Dad, sour cream raisin for Mom and me). A perfect fall day to be out and about.

I visited Stockholm for the first time this past summer and fell in love with the charming little town, population 66. I tried not to replicate photos this time, but feel free to compare.

Maiden Rock

Chicken

Self portrait with Mom and Dad in the foreground

Gourds and artichokes

Sign

Inn

Banner

Stockholm

Mums

Blue bikes

Transition

September 28, 2014 § Leave a comment

A spectacular day resplendent with high temperatures, blue sky, and changing fall colors.

An Ocean and Mountains with a Minnesota Accent

September 26, 2014 § 1 Comment

All good things must come to an end, including three days of vacation on Lake Superior’s North Shore during the peak of autumn colors.

After a lifetime spent in this area, I’m always in awe of hills as large as mountains and a lake that mimics the ocean.

Before I return to the schedule I left behind, indulge me as I take one moment to reflect on Tofte, Lutsen, Grand Marais, and all the villages and trails in between on the largest of the Great Lakes.

: Tofte, morning

: Andy Goldsworthy imitator

: Red and green

: Dead tree

: Tree, Britton Peak

: Overexposed oranges

: Orange canopy

: Sawtooth Mountains

: Maple and birch

: Wall, Grand Marais

: Grand Marais harbor

: Garage window

: Garage, Grand Marais

: Ski lift

: Gondola, Lutsen Mountain

: Pine tree

: Mountain

: View from Moose Mountain

Reads and Recs (and the Daily Photo)

September 15, 2014 § 1 Comment

A Gabriel Garcia Marquez novella. Articles on homelessness in St. Paul, final photos of the World Trade Center in the months before 9/11, and how to live in Manhattan (conclusion: it ain’t cheap).

What I read last week, why I read it, and why I liked it (and a quote to entice you):

What I read: Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1981)
Why I read it: Since Garcia Marquez’s passing in April, I’ve wanted to read one of his books. When a recent article named this one of the best novellas ever written, I decided it was time.
Why I liked it: The reader discovers in the first sentence what will happen at the end, that Santiago Nasar will be killed. What we’re left asking, however, is why and also why no one tries to stop the ambush and murder, for abundant chances arise. A friend of Nasar’s narrates the story 27 years after the murder. He acts as an investigator piecing Nasar’s final hours together, ultimately discovering the role each character played in Nasar’s life and death and how his violent and untimely demise still haunts the main characters years later. Garcia Marquez’s simple, beautiful writing keeps the reader disbelieving the murder will occur because of the murderers’ reluctance at times to follow through with the plan and the ridiculous reason (at least in today’s world) for insisting on it (to restore a lying woman’s tarnished honor).

“All the many people he ran into after leaving his house at five minutes past six and until he was carved up like a pig an hour later remembered him as being a little sleepy but in a good mood, and he remarked to all of them in a casual way that it was a very beautiful day.”

What I read: “As Homelessness Overwhelms, Dorothy Day Center Struggles, Plans” by Tim Nelson (Minnesota Public Radio, September 9, 2014)
Why I read it: Plain and simple, I, like most, worry about homeless people, especially those living in Minnesota’s cold climate. I drive by this center regularly and have noticed a growing number of people congregated outside its doors.
Why I liked it: The story emphasizes the desperate and growing need to house the homeless in St. Paul. Nelson focuses on the lack of services Dorothy Day provides, as it was never meant to be a homeless shelter, but it has become the place where 80% of homeless in the city go to get off the streets at night. The good news is a new center is being built to deal with the increased need, but it won’t open for another four years. And there doesn’t appear to be an alternative plan to serve this growing population in the meantime.

“Dorothy Day was never supposed to be this way. It was built in 1981 with just two bathrooms, providing meals and services just during the day — with no sleeping accommodations. Now, as many as 250 people sleep inside each night, most on mats on the floor. Dorothy Day provides 80 percent of the shelter to homeless single adults in Ramsey County. It started turning people away for lack of space three years ago….’Every time I go in there I get sick,’ [Leticia Bell] said. ‘The ventilation system is not equipped for housing people up in there. So, all night long, all you hear is people coughing and in the morning, you can’t breathe, you can’t talk.’”

What I read: “How to Get to Manhattan? Save, Save, Save” by Joyce Cohen (The New York Times, September 11, 2014)
Why I read it: I’ve contemplated a move to Manhattan in the recent past, and I’m always curious how people go about finding and buying an apartment there. The moment I saw the headline, I was intrigued.
Why I liked it: “Like” is a strong word. A better description is it opened my eyes wider than they already were to how expensive it is to live in Manhattan. I was pumped at first, thinking the buyer’s price range, though steep, was manageable ($450,000 for a one-bedroom apartment). Then the article began talking about the additional monthly cost of maintenance ($800-$1300), and my heart sank. Again, nothing I didn’t already know, but a reminder I didn’t appreciate.

“[Anna] Gole, analytical through and through, came of age during the financial crisis. ‘It was scary and it motivated me to work at something I was interested in,’ she said. ‘While other kids were talking about happy hours, I was talking about mortgage rates.’”

What I read: “Take Picture” by Nick Paumgarten (The New Yorker, September 15, 2014)
Why I read it: It’s an absorbing profile that includes haunting photos of Windows on the World and the World Trade Center towers taken in the summer prior to the 9/11 attacks, and it touches on the search for Konstantin Petrov, the man who took them.
Why I liked it: This story has everything — photos, mystery, themes of art and loss and perseverance. A lot is contained in this five-minutes read.

“For whatever reason, this Petrov had turned an archivist’s eye on the banalities of an office building and a sky-top restaurant, which, though destroyed in one of history’s most photographed events, had hardly been photographed at all. The pictures were beautiful, too. Devoid of people, and suffused with premonitory gloom, they made art out of a site that most New Yorkers, at the time, had come to think of as an eyesore.”

* * *

Fall colors, inching closer:

Let’s Pretend We Don’t Live on Mars

January 5, 2014 § 12 Comments

News sources claim parts of Minnesota will be colder than Mars for the next several days. While I haven’t been to Mars, I was out and about several times today in the Twin Cities, and it’s physically painful spending time exposed to the elements.

However, these days are rare and will pass quickly. It may be difficult to imagine, but scenes like those captured below — my favorite daily photos from 2013 that focus on nature — will certainly grace us again.