Say What?

Tammy took me out to see our first game at Target Field for my birthday last Saturday night. Neither of us follows baseball and I could only name one player on the Twins but we were there for the experience more than anything. The Twins lost but that didn't matter. We enjoyed ourselves and both commented that we'd like to do it again. We even drank beer and munched on salted peanuts the way real fans do. I golfed in the annual retirees Red Eye Memorial golf tournament on Tuesday. There were off and on rain showers the first 2 hours of the tournament but the rain let up by the time we made the turn. It's always a fun time, especially the gathering at a local pub in town where we get a chance to catch up with one another afterward. There were two older men in our foursome, Archie and Roger, age 84 and 87 respectively, and I was so impressed by them. I would not have guessed their ages based on their golf swings. They both said that staying active is the key. They didn'...

I'm sitting out on the deck with the pups, listening to Augustana while a hummingbird chirps its dissatisfaction at my presence. The cool evening air feels nice. If I never see another 90º day again in my life that's fine with me. Our city, Lakeville, has contracted with a company to get its residents a discounted price on the preventative treatment of our ash trees for the Emerald Ash Borer. It's a daunting little bug that will destroy any ash trees in its path if the trees aren't treated with a chemical. We had 2 of our 3 ash trees treated last week at a cost of around $120 each for a 2-year application. Because it stands on the boulevard, the remaining tree will hopefully be treated by the city next spring, or so they say. I'm a little late to the party but I finally signed up for Nextdoor , the neighborhood social media site where people can post about events in their neighborhood; lost animals; items for sale; reckless drivers, and whatnot. I'm not sur...

We made it to the Dakota County Fair last Thursday to continue our tradition of watching the demolition derby . Maybe it's because Rachel couldn't be there with us, or maybe the derby didn't quite live up to our expectations but it was sort of a letdown this year. We left after 3 heats. I was talking with a neighbor who was also there with her daughter that night and they too were disappointed, leaving the same time we did. We kicked around the fair for a while after exiting the derby grandstands, taking in some of the exhibits and getting our fill of fair food. It's our warm-up to the State Fair! I mentioned to Tammy how Tim used to love coming to this local fair. I was plotting out a course on my laptop last week for a bike ride the next day when I received an Etsy notification that one of my large stained glass panels had sold. A notification that should've caused a feeling of elation, caused instead my heart to sink a little because I was sorta hoping none of...

I received this message on Google Hangouts back in June: "Hi, Kevin! I am a journalist (freelance, though this piece is for Jalopnik) and I am writing about someone you know. Wanted to see about having a quick interview with you." I wasn't sure what to think so I messaged him back: "Sure." The person contacting me is named David and he was doing a story about a man who lived next to us for several years in the late '60s and early '70s: Jim Barbour. In doing his research about Jim, David came across this piece I'd written ten years earlier where I talked a little about Jim, or Mr. Barbour as I knew him. He said my blog post was about the only thing he could find online about him and he wanted to know if I had some time to share any additional memories or thoughts I may have about Jim that he could possibly use in the article he was writing. I was happy to help. We spoke on the phone for 20 minutes. I told him of my intrigue with Mr. Barbour. I...

After 32 years, 952-892-6617 and I have parted ways. Technically, when I was first assigned the number it had a 612 area code. For the longest time about the only calls we've been receiving on it have been from telemarketers but the landline was bundled with our cable package and it was simply cheaper to keep it. That's no longer the case. And speaking of area codes, did you know that the area code for Cape Canaveral (where they launch the space missions) is 321 as in 3-2-1 liftoff!? I really only have one item on my bucket list, and that's to spend a week or two in San Diego riding some of the same roads on my bike that I rode when I was stationed there in the mid to late '70s while in the Navy. I can't imagine what feelings and memories being on those roads again would evoke in me so I need to find out. Honestly, the thought of it gets my heart racing a little. Sometimes I feel like the years are slipping away much faster than I'm comfortable with and I f...

I just finished burning a few Supertramp CDs for my daughter. She's recently developed a love for '70s rock music (Supertramp in particular), and Supertramp was and still is my favorite band. I saw them twice in concert when Rick and Roger (the main forces in the band) were still together. I've seen Roger's solo shows a couple of times since their split in 1983, and I flew out to Los Angeles in 1997 to see the reconstituted band play at The Greek Theater—a great experience! I couldn't have been more pleased to hear that Rachel's interested in hearing more of their music. And speaking of Rachel: Tammy and I spent last weekend at (her boyfriend) Drew's mother's cabin in northwestern Wisconsin with the 3 of them. Jenny's cabin is less than 15 minutes from the city of Webster where my parents owned 40 acres of land from the early '70s to the mid-'80s. We kicked around the town of Spooner for part of Saturday before driving to Clover Meadow Win...

Fourteen years ago tonight I was putting the finishing touches on one of the best days of my life : a 266 mile (428 km) bike ride from our home in Lakeville to Tammy's parent's home in Babbitt, Mn. I doubt I'll ever attempt such a distance again but I've learned to never say never. I received a group email from a friend last Thursday inviting me to take part in a longish ride the next day. It would be a ride with some of the riders from Lakeville's Silver Cycling bike group. I first rode with them in the spring of 2005 when our paths crossed on Hwy 246 south of Northfield. Although I'm mostly a solo rider, I rode with them a few times. Steve and others in the group are experienced, competent cyclists and I enjoy their company. I've been lacking any long rides this year so I scrapped my plans for a round of golf and joined the ride . It was a lot of fun! (See embedded video below.) I appreciate the way Steve (aka Silver) and others in the group sniff ou...