Mostly pictures
And notes from early summer
The news lately—intolerable, right? On Sunday afternoon I ran into my State House representative, who worked very closely with Rep. Melissa Hortman, at the bottom of a public pool waterslide right after I rode down it in a triple inner tube with two of my kids. Kind of hilarious until I found myself trying and failing to express how sorry and sad I am for him, for his DFL colleagues, for all of us, really, while drenched and undignified in my bathing suit. Even if I had had days to prepare, anything I could say about that loss would be inadequate.
I’ve been on the road and in the sky lately, sleeping on the ground, under cushy hotel sheets, and on a plastic-encased dorm mattress. Being in five different places in less than five weeks has blurred the spring, summer, and end of the school year together and has helped me to compartmentalize the bad news out of my thoughts. In mid-May I traveled to Moorhead, MN, for a day trip visit with an uncle and aunt that I don’t get to see very often. On Memorial Day weekend, I went camping with my family and several others on the Minnesota side of Interstate State Park, just outside of Taylor’s Falls. One afternoon we rented canoes and paddled down the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway to Osceola, MN, where we rode a shuttle bus back to the campground (and didn’t have to paddle back upriver), a totally delightful experience.
After that, I met up with my graduate school friends in Madison, WI, for an anniversary trip to commemorate the twenty years we’ve been friends since our first semester at the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin—Madison. I woke up much earlier than I ever did in grad school and went for runs around campus.
State Street smells the same, which is both cool and gross. We shared a pitcher of beer on the famed Memorial Union Terrace on just about the most delightful late spring day, went out for delicious meals, and generally enjoyed each others’ company.
I took the Madison city bus out to the airport and enjoyed this delightful plant passenger’s company.
In the second week of June, I spent a week at a writers workshop taught by Mitchell Jackson at Kenyon College in a small cohort of incredible writers (my new writer best friends!). One of my new friends, Regina Landor, wrote about the week on her This Traveling Life newsletter, which you absolutely must follow right now, and another, Andy Dehnert, discussed the workshop on his podcast. If you own a TV, you must immediately subscribe to his podcast and Reality Blurred newsletter.
The workshop was incredible, the campus lovely, and the dorm room adequate.
On the Saturday before the workshop, I went on my regular running route and had an encounter with this glorious snapping turtle. Then I spent many workshop hours writing and revising 300 words about her. Not at all what I planned to write, but I think that’s the point of writing prompts!
Almost immediately after I returned to Minneapolis from Gambier, OH, I packed up my minivan and took my kids camping at Blue Mounds State Park, in the very southwest corner of Minnesota where there’s a herd of bison on a big sky prairie, outcrops of quartzite, and prickly pear cactus that bloom in June.
It was a short trip. We stayed for just one night, but that was enough to reconnect with my kids after being gone for an entire week, the longest I’ve ever been away from them.
Safe summer travels, everyone!
This is just what I needed at the ATL airport on my way home to MSP!! *cool and gross - I appreciate that! HH soon?
You’ve packed a lot into the beginning of summer! I really enjoy your writing!