Minneapolis
Oct. 2nd, 2022 09:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
offcntrWe've gotten in the habit of point-to-point, linear travel when we go back to the midwest; no loops, no returning to origin point. This time, we flew into Minneapolis, rented a car, drove across Minnesota and Wisconsin, and flew back from Milwaukee. Spent the first couple of days visiting my sister and what of her family were around--one kid is away to college in Winona, another dancing in a ballet of Dracula in Las Vegas, a third in residential treatment. Plus her wife has picked up new responsibilities in her job as an Episcopalian priest, so we hardly saw her before oh-so-late.
But it was lovely spending time with Maggie again, just talking and cooking together. Gabrielle was as attentive as any high school junior--ie totally distracted, but we did get to meet one of her friends, over to study. And Sarah and their husband Mark joined us for breakfast at a little Vietnamese place on our last day in the cities, where we discussed the proper term for the non-binary child of one's sibling. I nominate "nerf", because they're squishy and huggable, but bounce back from everything.
Because of Maggie's busy work schedule, we had an afternoon to ourselves, so we looked up longtime friendlydamorehouse who lives over in St. Paul. She offered to take us to the newly reopened Uncle Hugo's Bookstore, but shopping would require making decisions, and I had maybe one left in my poor brain (besides which, our house is so full of books already, we're mostly borrowing or buying digital anymore). So we hung out in her back yard, talked sci fi and new Star Trek and all kinds of geeky pleasures--she's a published author of SF and paranormal romance. Then went out to dinner at a nearby Ethiopian restaurant that had outdoor seating. Where they put us at the perfect table.
Yup, 42. The ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything. We think this should be her new author photo.
Also went for a morning walk around the neighborhood. There's always something interesting to see in Nordeast Minneapolis, including these lovely berries...
New-laid sidewalk, grafitti'd by squirrels and what looks like a very tiny kitten...
And this intersection, which seems like it ought to be a back road to Hogwarts.
But it was lovely spending time with Maggie again, just talking and cooking together. Gabrielle was as attentive as any high school junior--ie totally distracted, but we did get to meet one of her friends, over to study. And Sarah and their husband Mark joined us for breakfast at a little Vietnamese place on our last day in the cities, where we discussed the proper term for the non-binary child of one's sibling. I nominate "nerf", because they're squishy and huggable, but bounce back from everything.
Because of Maggie's busy work schedule, we had an afternoon to ourselves, so we looked up longtime friend
lydamorehouse who lives over in St. Paul. She offered to take us to the newly reopened Uncle Hugo's Bookstore, but shopping would require making decisions, and I had maybe one left in my poor brain (besides which, our house is so full of books already, we're mostly borrowing or buying digital anymore). So we hung out in her back yard, talked sci fi and new Star Trek and all kinds of geeky pleasures--she's a published author of SF and paranormal romance. Then went out to dinner at a nearby Ethiopian restaurant that had outdoor seating. Where they put us at the perfect table.Yup, 42. The ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything. We think this should be her new author photo.
Also went for a morning walk around the neighborhood. There's always something interesting to see in Nordeast Minneapolis, including these lovely berries...
New-laid sidewalk, grafitti'd by squirrels and what looks like a very tiny kitten...
And this intersection, which seems like it ought to be a back road to Hogwarts.