Palm Springs Hiking

Palm Springs, CA, is surrounded by mountains and lovely trails: good reasons to be there last week.

There are downsides to hiking in the Palm Springs area:

• Too much driving to trailheads. It took one to two hours.
• Days are short at this time of year. When my partner and I were hiking around Palm Springs last week, the sun set soon after 4:30 p.m.

But there are upsides to being in Palm Springs in early December:

• Comfortable, dry climate. The average high in July is 108°F, but in December, the temperature reached the low 80's. At higher elevations, the temperature was in the 50's. 
• Cheap digs. We stayed in a comfortable resort for close to one-third of prices charged later in December through the rest of the winter.

Urban Hike: Early Nordeast Houses

If I didn't know better I would walk right past this unassuming house. It looks to be about the right size and style for Nordeast (Northeast Minneapolis), and it's in a typical neighborhood.

A typical Nordeast neighborhood has a bunch of churches and bars. There's five churches within a couple blocks of this house, and plenty bars within staggering distance.

The house was built some time in the 1850's through 1870's making it one of just a handful of houses in Minneapolis surviving from that time. The Minneapolis fire of 1893 destroyed more than 23 surrounding blocks, but somehow spared this house.

Northumbrian Beauty

When I tap "beauty" into the Google search box for my photo collection, I get a flood of too-easy, stereotypical beauty. There's enough sunsets and mountaintops to induce indigestion in even the most hardened tourist.

But the picture at the top of this post is top of the search results.

It's October 2015. I'm standing outside the Fenwick department store in Newcastle upon Tyne, north-east England. Instead of the usual merchandise or animatronic Christmas displays, the windows promote generic looks. In front, two strangers march in lockstep, neither likely to use the advertised products, at least not in public.

The Remains of a Tree

In the past few days, a sculpture has appeared on my running route around Lake of the Isles (Minneapolis, MN). It's a defiant sculpture, but it's not the creation of an artist.

The remains of the tree wait to be felled and chipped: it was diseased, it has to go. New trees will be planted for the next generation.

But this week it makes a statement. An old, gnarled hand is giving the finger to xenophobia. Those who have squandered yet another opportunity to call on our better selves are beneath its contempt.

Note: "The Remains of the Day" by British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro is a good read.

Urban Hike and Bike: All Over the Nordeast Map

Nordeast (Northeast Minneapolis) encapsulates much of the early working class history of Minneapolis, but it gets short shrift in guide books.

Recently I've been exploring Nordeast, trying to decode it's history and culture. Later in this post I'll introduce some tools I've developed, including an interactive map and a feature to customize and print Nordeast guides.

Veterans Day 2015

Today I cycled to Sheridan Veterans Memorial beside the Mississippi River in Northeast Minneapolis.

The monument reflects on the cost of war, expresses hope for peace, and is even-handed about the conquerors and vanquished.

The push to build this memorial came from veterans. It was dedicated just two years ago, so it is not a strong part of the public consciousness. Memorials at the State Capitol, Fort Snelling, and Victory Memorial Parkway get more attention.

I stood there alone, Veterans Day 2015. Balloons had been attached to some of the markers indicating the day had not been forgotten.

Ten conflict markers commemorate America's wars, including the one war on Minnesota soil, the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.

Mirepoix

I like to cook from scratch, but some days I simply want to assemble previously cooked ingredients.

The solution is to have a selection of "subassembly" ingredients in the freezer. I've written about one of these ingredients: stock. Another is mirepoix.

Superior Hiking Trail 2015

We're almost through a week of exploring the Superior Hiking Trail.

We visit this trail just about every year. One year we hiked from lodging to lodging, but usually we just do day hikes.

The twist this year was to bring two cars. That way we could explore sections of the trail as a series of one-way day hikes. For the first time we got to see the remotest parts of the trail, ending just a mile short of the Canadian border.

A Gate Agent's Conundrum

I hold my phone close, but the boarding pass scanner rejects me. The agent guarding the gate gestures me to scoot sideways towards his colleague at the podium.

Podium Colleague does not make eye contact, she sighs as she pokes at her keyboard.

"Your seat has been reassigned to someone with higher status," she informs.