Celebrating summer (July theme day)

Here in Minnesota if you don't spend some time during the summer on a lake, you can't really claim citizen status. So, celebrate summer the Minnesota way and see how others around the world are enjoying the season at the City Daily Photo Project.

Last chance

A beautiful Labor Day weekend beckons. Get out to a Minnesota lake. This one is Black Water up near Hackensack.

1 of 10,000

This may be one of our last weekends to get out on a lake before it gets too cold to waterski. Just do it!

The theme ending yesterday was ... wet.

Lakeshore

I'm spending a lot of time on or near water this month though I don't always need a sandy beach. A rocky shoreline reveals a more interesting contour to a Minnesota lake. Photo 3 for this week's theme was taken a little north of the Twin Cities but you don't need to venture far to slide your kayak into a glistening surface.

Yin and yang of Minnesota's climate

If you've been following this blog, you may recognize this location from the winter (Loring Park). Then again, the images seem like they must be from different countries. Ah, Minnesota!

And the theme for the past week's posts was ... edible! I know some of the objects were not actually edible, but hey, they were fun. To see them again, start with What a corny idea! in the archives and view the next four posts.

Summer style

I had a post a few days ago about this (click on the link for details) but just had to add another image that fits this week's theme. Those young women (who didn't live through the 50s!) do such a great job of evoking that era.

Rockabilly babes

Theme week #1 is over and if you guessed wood - you were right. A new theme starts Monday and it's a double whammy because it's City Daily Photo theme day, too.

Today's post is from a recent motorcycle rally in Northeast Minneapolis where the rockabilly bands on the afternoon bill attract this subculture of retro-dressing fans. I thought for a moment I'd traveled back to 1951, but the neon hair is the giveaway that we are really in 2011.

Monday night softball

A summer tradition in Minnesota.

Lunch on the Mall

It's the last week of noontime music at Peavey Plaza next to Orchestra Hall. Come for lunch (bring your own or pick up some fish and chips from Brit's across Nicollet Mall - the food at the stalls is over-priced and mediocre) and sit by the fountains to cool off.

Shelter from the storm

It's been a rainy month so bike riders need to find whatever shelter they can while out on the trails. This bridge is in Mendota along the Big Rivers Trail. There's lots of great biking in the Twin Cities.

Girl or boy?

A little pink, a little blue, tea for me and coffee for you (sitting in the garden at Swede Hollow). Dedicated to the regulars who never - or almost never - miss a Monday.

Pushing daisies

For a  brief few days, downtown St. Paul boasted a gigantic pinwheel in a little square in front of the Travelers building. Too bad it's not there anymore. A lovely bit of whimsy.

Demise of winter

Okay, you heard it right. As of yesterday evening when the outdoor temperature was still hovering around 100 degrees the remains of a gargantuan snow pile in the St. Paul Sears parking lot was finally coming to its messy end. It took record heat to get rid of near-record snowfall. What a great climate!

Mini donuts and Tilt-A-Whirls

It's the Great Minnesota Get-Together--better known to you out-of-staters as the greatest state fair in the nation! I'm off to revel in the cheese-curd infused delights of crazy carnival rides and free Boyz II Men concerts.

Reflections, part 4

The quietly rippling waters of Everett Lake make the sky and the clouds looks like an impressionist painting. I wish Monet had done some travels in northern Minnesota.

Flowers?

Are these flowers or something else? They look like tiny cauliflowers. Found on a walk around Dry Lake outside of Ely, MN.

Northern Sunset

A Minnesotan sunset on Everett Lake outside of Ely, MN.

Mushroom

Found all kinds of neat mushrooms during a hike around Dry Lake outside of Ely, MN.

The Dock

Evening on the lake. So placid. Do you see any loons? They're probably diving.

Fishing

My brother casts a line in a northern brook.