The Erb Park Pool opens today and I can't wait. I bought our pool passes months ago, on one of those sleety Midwest afternoons that makes you wonder if summer planned to skip us this year. She took her good, sweet time but summer finally made it and it was fun to watch her unpack [...]
Broadway lyrics trapped themselves in my head Sunday afternoon as we made our way to a family party in Ortonville, Michigan. This was no surprise to my veteran co-pilot Vince. The poor guy has heard me belt them all. "Ortonville sounds very Seussical," I said and then let loose with a couple of choice lines [...]
Summer in Minneapolis offers the best of both worlds -- urban sophistication and pastoral charm, an impressive steel skyline that reaches right out of a sweet chain of lakes. We lowered our gangly selves into kayaks Saturday afternoon and headed out to explore Lake of the Isles with a group of experienced but thankfully patient [...]
Wisconsin put on a good front this weekend. She also put on a warm front, a cold front, a stationary front and an occluded front. In short, she kept us guessing and, as is our custom in this glorious but somewhat challenging state, we rolled with her punches. Too cold to swim on Friday? We [...]
My favorite sounds are the simple ones -- an old porch swing's slow creak, a robin's busy chirp, a warm breeze's whisper through tall grass, a ball's crack against a metal bat, a friend's deep belly laugh, a happy child's splash into the pool, a wave's steady lap against the sandy shore. These are the [...]
