Last leg(s)

Literally the last stretch for Twin Cities marathoners, this is what runners see as they descend the hill past the St. Paul Cathedral towards the finish line by the State Capitol. Good luck to all runners this Sunday.

Red brownstones

I'm a little behind on the new week's theme posts, but here we have #1 for the week of Aug 15-19. These solid brownstones on a gracious side street in Saint Paul are built from the same material as the more renowned J. J. Hill mansion around the corner. It was quarried in the Apostle Islands up in Lake Superior and really cuts a dramatic line in the old neighborhoods of the city.

Cooling off

Last post for this week's theme. You should have it by now. This was taken in the YWCA on Selby and Western where the exercise rooms heat up considerably with all the bodies bending and twisting and stomping.

Painting alfresco

A group from a drawing and painting club were in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood recently sketching and painting the local architecture and street scenes. Finally, a day to be an outdoor artist.

Rebirth

In the week following Easter we are finally see spring arrive in Twin Cities. St John the Evangelist Church in St. Paul has some of the prettier trees framing their front facade.

Nina's columns

I'm collecting columns around town. These are on the corner of Selby and Western and belong to a favorite coffee shop.

Column obsession

I'm getting a little obsessed with all the columns that I've started to notice in my neighborhood. This is an interesting mismatch on the front porch of a very large house off Summit. Remember where this started? And where it went to from there?

Light up your day

The Blair Arcade on Selby and Western is lit by a series of delicately decorated chandeliers. If not original turn of the century fixtures, they sure do a good job of pretending.

Capitol and cathedral

The view from the Cathedral of St. Paul is of the State Capitol (and vice versa, of course). There's a message in there somewhere - government and religion - separate, but equal? Competing? Or maybe just keeping an eye on each other.

New Year's Resolution

What more is there to say?

Read a good book

Have some Christmas money to burn? Go to Common Good Books, owned by Garrison Keillor and located underneath Nina's Coffee Shop in the Blair Arcade, for knowledgable sales staff, a cozy subterranean atmosphere, and a quality selection of fiction and non-fiction.

How much is that reindeer in the window?

The College of Visual Arts has this display in their window but your eyes can play tricks on you if you don't stay focused.

Low-rise St. Paul

Our metro area feels more neighborhood-y than big city. Lots of low-rise streetscapes. Good for glimpsing the sky while you have a coffee and read the morning paper.

New in the old

An old brownstone on Summit that has been redone to reflect its 21st-century owners.

Brick buildings

More images of the Cathedral Hill neighborhood. Lovely old brownstone-like apartments.

Clouds

The "New York Eagle" and the Smith Ave. High Bridge on a gloomy day.

Summer cleaning

Want some free stuff? It's that time of year. Time to clean out the house.

numbers

Some aging numbers on Summit Ave.

Apt

A lovely colorful apartment building on Laurel Ave. Garrison Keillor lives in this neighborhood.

Sidewalk

Some enterprising individual decided to put in random poems all over the Cathedral Hill neighborhood when they were redoing the sidewalks. The first time I came across one, I was so utterly enchanted that I read it over and over again for about ten minutes. This is my favorite of all the ones I've seen so far. I actually laughed out loud when I read it.