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| After the boat ride, we drove past the new Minnesota Vikings US Bank Stadium (football) for this shot. |
I suspected that at some point during the six weeks we’re spending in Minnesota, we’d eventually run out of photos. As much as we’ve continually searched for decent photo ops, we’ve fallen short and today’s photos may be lacking in originality.
It’s not as if we’re surrounded by wildlife and “sightings on the beach” such as our daily entries on each post during the four months we spent in the villa in Sumbersari Bali which I was reminded of when I posted the “year ago” photo of the scary bull below.
It was hard not to laugh out loud when I reread last year’s post of Tom’s second most frightening animal encounter since the onset of our travels with the Mozambique Spitting Cobra next to his feet on the veranda in Marloth Park South Africa as his first, definitely his biggest scare ever.
That’s not to say I haven’t been rattled a few times myself especially when encountering frightening-looking venomous insects throughout the world. But, now with my preoccupation with taking photos of nasty creatures, I’ve been able to allay my fear into a more productive mode of, “Hm…this will make a nice shot for the blog.”
Speaking of the word “blog” I find myself referring to ours as more of a website than a “blog.” When I notice other blogs I find most authors only post now and then, as opposed to our current number at 1,793 over these past five-plus years.
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| The entrance to the Minnesota Vikings US Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis. |
Where has the time gone and how the heck did we ever get to this high of a number? We often shrug our shoulders when we make note of the number of stories/chapters/posts.
When people often say, “You should write a book!” We laugh. We’ve already written a book with 1,793 chapters that are already online for the “free” taking of any enthusiastic reader who attempts to tackle it in its entirety. Brave you! Have at it!
Are we gluttons for punishment, hell-bent on continuing this relentless documentation of our daily lives, even when such lives are quiet, uninteresting, and mundane? Sure, we are.
Why wouldn’t we be when it rarely feels like a task or obligation? Although, I must admit it’s been tricky on the days when we’re picking up a grandchild at 8:00 am who’ll hang out with us for the day which has been no less than three times per week.
Never wanting the “grandchild of the day” to be bored and antsy while waiting for me to upload the post, at least three times a week, I’ve completed two posts in one day in preparation for their arrival.
Only once, this week, did I find myself in a quandary with no choice but to prepare the post while one of the kids was here. We’d been out late the prior night and I had no steam left to do it.
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| Vikings design on the exterior of the stadium. |
Even then, I hurried through it and was done in half my usual time continually stopping to pay attention to how Miles was doing to ensure he wasn’t impatient or bored. It worked out fine. We had a great day.
Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. On the days I’ve done two posts, I’ve done one in the morning and the second at night after we’ve been out for dinner and I’m sitting in bed in my nightshirt. On a few such occasions, I fell asleep in the process, startling myself awake. On a few other occasions, Tom did his usual “waving a hand over my eyes” to see if I’m dosing or awake. Irritating? Yes. Effective? Yes. It wakes me every time.
With today’s outrageously packed day which will require no less than four hours of driving time after picking up Madighan at 8:00 am, last night at 8:00 pm, Tom and I were situated in the hotel lobby (where we usually work online), yet to have dinner.
We’d picked up Vincent again at Cardboard Camp and taken him to see the movie, The Mummy. He loved it! I liked it! Tom hated it. Tom and Vincent shared a giant popcorn while I snacked on a bag of nuts which sat in my gut like a rock. Tom’s appetite was iffy after eating at least of third of the giant bucket of popcorn. We never went to dinner.
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| Multiple bridges view from the riverboat on the Mississippi. |
I scheduled this post for an automatic 11:00 am upload at which point our outrageously busy day will be in full swing.
We’ll be back with more details over the weekend, which is also packed from morning till night including an 80th birthday party for Tom’s sister Margie starting at 2:00 pm on Saturday and a full day on Sunday with Camille and the two girls for a “Shrek” production downtown, followed by a visit to the Sculpture Garden.
You’d think amid all these activities, I’d be taking tons of photos. But, I’m so distracted with the precious time we’re all spending together, I keep forgetting to look for photo ops. I suppose, in the realm of things, that’s a good thing. We promise to make up for it later.
Enjoy the day and we’ll be back for more.
Photo from one year ago today, June 23, 2016:
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| In Bali, this buffalo snorted and stomped his feet ready to charge at Tom when he went for a walk while I stayed busy at the villa. For more on this frightening story, please click here. |