Took a long weekend, my first time away from Ess and Mykala for any real length of time, and went to Chicago with Nils and company for his bachelor party. We had a great time! This was taken at the Pitchfork Music Festival.
My dad always talked about how fun it was to travel, but that he missed being able to share what he was seeing with his family. On this trip, I found out exactly what he meant. Walking downtown Chicago during the gorgeous summer weather, seeing the lake up close, eating at Longman & Eagle, playing foosball at a 1980s style arcade, seeing just how big a city can be from the window of its transit. Makes you want to share it.
Learnt a new word today, “fixer”. I first heard it when Anthony Bourdain briefly referred to his show’s fixer during their trip to Beirut, Lebanon during the Lebanon War. A fixer, then is a native that you contact when you are planning to travel to an area. They can connect you with experiences you would never otherwise have, and are experts about every aspect of their area. What amazing travel guides. More in this article: The travel world’s top fixers - Times Online:
Mykala recorded this one for me a while ago. It’s a comment I made while we were navigating (as we often do): “Goog 411 + GPS = Poor man’s iPhone.”
Anyhow, I think we’re really getting good at navigating… which is to say, we’re getting good at working together. On a whim, we took a day trip to Red Wing this past Sunday, and it was a blast. We took a hike, scouted out some things to do if we visit for a weekend (historical train and boat tour and etc.), admired a wonderful “Bed & Breakfast & Bread” placed called Round Barn Farm, and generally had a blast. The weather was threatening to rain, but was otherwise perfect in temperature. Here’s a picture from the top of Barn Bluff:
Phenology is the study of periodic plant and animal life
cycle events and how these are influenced by seasonal and
interannual variations in climate.
It turns out that phenology rose to prominence amongst scientists in the early 1700s and then took off as a general pastime in the mid-1800s. What better way to show off your wealth (I’m not so busy that I must always work) and interest in science (I am recording numbers) than to help other scientists track the data underlying the seasons? But then:
In case you might be curious, tumbledry is going on the road for a while! I’m off to Amsterdam and Barcelona for a wonderful week with my family. It should be grand. I’m taking the camera with, so naturally I’m hoping for some fantastic shots. However, I will settle for mediocre shots that are foreign-looking.
I’d like to visit Fraser Island someday. You see, it has these super ultra blue lakes that are kept free of just about any growing things as a result of their high pH level. (I learned that on The Savvy Traveller). Wikipedia continues about the lakes:
