Last winter I noticed an animal path under one of our sheds at our cottage. A few weeks ago I spotted the animals that created the path….a woodchuck family. I came out one morning to find a young woodchuck (a pup?) walking down the roadway. The next thing I knew it there were four [...]
I was on a canoe trip in Minnesota’s boundary water canoe area (BWCA) for several days this week. Every year a group of my high school friends gets together for a trip. This year we expanded our group a bit by including a couple other folks from the area so we ended up with [...]
This past weekend Ellen and I traveled to Northern Minnesota to visit my brother. He operates the Whispering Pines Motel on highway 61 just north of Silver Bay. It was a great weekend to be out and about outdoors.
The motel location is on the corner of highway 1 and 61. Many years ago there [...]
Earlier this week Ellen and I had an opportunity to do something I’ve always wanted to do….visit a private Frank Lloyd Wright home. The opportunity presented itself when a friend arranged for us to see the Thomas E. Keys home in Rochester, MN. Mr. Keys was a librarian at the Mayo Clinic. He contracted [...]
I was in the Goodhue County government building in Red Wing yesterday attending to some business. I had not been in the building for many years. It is an absolutely beautiful example of early twentieth century public architecture. I believe it was constructed in 1931. The building reflects lots of the art deco themes [...]
As you may know, construction work starts early most mornings. One of the advantages to that is that I get to see some beautiful sunrises. Yesterday morning I captured this scene as the sun started to peak up over the business across the road. Spectacularly beautiful and powerful!
We have constructed the lower level walls [...]
Last weekend Ellen and I spent some time in Northern Minnesota. Since Saturday started out to be a rather damp and cloudy day, we drove to Duluth and visited the railroad museum. That is a great place to spend a cold, rainy fall day while learning a lot about the early logging and mining operations [...]
Yesterday afternoon I participated in a fundraising event with the Minnesota Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). This is a group that I’ve been working with for many years. They have a good membership base of contractors all across Minnesota and work together to promote free-markets and individual responsibility in the construction industry. Like many [...]
Yesterday evening I attended a reception at the Conservation Minnesota Voter Center (CMVC) . They gave out their 7th annual conservation leadership awards. If you are a regular reader of this site you may remember that I served in the Minnesota Legislature for some years, and received their leadership award in 2003. I greatly [...]
Our work at the Dodge County Courthouse in Mantorville is moving along nicely. One of the major tasks at hand is getting scaffold properly erected around the building. The old Courthouse is a tall structure…on top of a tall hill….adjacent to a state highway. Those things come together to create a real challenge for [...]
