The Dust Bowl

This is a huge departure from my past few posting but there is no possible way to make a decent transition.

Last week, on our local public television station I watched a two part segment on the Dust Bowl.

It is an amazing part of American history, I had heard about the Dust Bowl but I didn't know anything about.

Though I watched both segments I didn't retain any of the pertinent info so I found this information off of Wikipedia.   In the 1930's particularly from 1934 and 1936 it was a time severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands.

The phenomenon was caused by severe drought combined with farming methods that did not include crop rotation, soil terracing and wind-breaking trees to prevent wind erosion.  Because they did extensive deep plowing the virgin topsoil of the Great Plains displaced the prairie grasses and made it susceptible to high wind.

During the drought of the 1930's without natural anchors to keep the soil in place, it dried, turned to dust and blew away.  At times, the clouds blackened the sky, reaching all the way to the East Coast cities such as New York and Washington, D.C..  The Dust Bowl affected 100,000,000 acres centered on the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma and parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas.

On May 9, 1934 a two day dust storm deposited 12 MILLION pounds of dust!  On April 14, 1935 known as "Black Sunday" 20 of the worst "black blizzards" occurred throughout the Dust Bowl, causing extensive damage and turning the day to night; witnesses reported they could not see five feet in front of them at certain points. The repercussions of all the dust resulted in 'dust pneumonia', many children and adults died from it or were forever effected by it through their lifetime.

There was a misconception that the flood of migrants to California during the 30's were from the Dust Bowl states but in fact that is not true, only about an eighth of California's population is from the Dust Bowl.  They had interviews of people that were children who had gone through the 1930's in the Dust Bowl states.  Everyone that was interviewed said that with each new year they thought things would get better so their parents would stick it out.  Their stories were amazing.  I can't possibly imagine going through anything like that. The determination, hope, faith, tenacity of the people back then is astounding.

We think what we are experiencing right now is tough but it is NOTHING compared to what happened over 78 years ago.

If that were to happen today, I don't know if we would handle it as well as they did.  I guess we will see what happens on the East Coast with the Sandy survivors.

That concludes today history lesson, there will be a test at the end of the week, notes can be used!  Just kidding.  Sorry, I went off there but it was so interesting.  Unfortunately it is something we don't really talk about.

Keep smiling and know that God loves you and so do I.

L

North Pole in Minnesota!

After dragging my feet for a few days, I finally put up my tree and decorated the apartment on Saturday .

As I was going through the boxes and unwrapping each item a warm fuzzy feeling got bigger and bigger in my heart.  Each item holds memories of old friends, co-workers, family members.  Some people are no longer with us and those decorations hold a very special place in my heart and there are those decorations that were crafted with care by tiny hands and those gladly take me back in time.

I don't have a lot of decorations but what I do have are priceless to me.

Please enjoy my little piece of the North Pole.

 

 

 

 Keep smiling and know that God loves you and so do I!

L

Home Spun Christmas

With Holiday shopping officially started I do not envy those who have a lot of people or children to buy for.

Personally, I am going the home spun route, that is, as much as I can!

I'm looking at making cookies, cakes, chocolates, Irish creme, barbecue sauce & coasters.  I've also been thinking of making copies of pictures I've been taking, getting frames from the Dollar Tree (one of my FAVORITE stores) and giving them as gifts.

I LOVE gift giving, I am a person that goes overboard.  An example of my overboard disorder is when my daughter was younger her Christmas stocking overflowed onto the floor!  If I wanted a stocking for it all to fit into I would have to borrow one from Paul Bunyan!  The way I see it is everyone is special and should be made to know it through LOTS of gifts!  Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I can't do as much as I would like, so I try to make what I can do special.


Christmas time can be very stressful for some.  Try to keep it simple, sure you want to make the season and gifts memorable but it doesn't take a lot of money or effort.

Think of the person you giving a gift to, for example a nine year old grand child.  Sure they would love the latest and greatest electronic device but think back when your children were that age or heck when you were that age!  What was their/your favorite book, game, musical group?  Get one of those items, include it with an ornament and write a short explanation about the gift.  With this type of a gift you are tying the past in with the present.  Is it the latest, greatest techno toy with all the bells and whistles?  No, but it's a gift that has a great deal of meaning tied to it.

Rushing from store to store is not required for this kind of a gift giving but it does require some quiet reflective time, which is reflected in the gift.

Breathe, keep it simple, set a budget and ENJOY this magical time of the year.

Keep smiling and know that God loves you and so do I.

L

Post Thanksgiving Update

Have you awoken from you turkey induced coma?

I pray that all of you had an awesome Thanksgiving.

Mine was very quite but nice.  I didn't accomplish putting up my Christmas tree and decorations (my tradition).  The 'blues' managed to seep in under the door and they over took my holiday spirit.  Now that I am rested I am ready to drag out the boxes and bring a little of the North Pole to my apartment!

My Thanksgiving dinner wasn't traditional but it was tasty.  I thought I would share this recipe with you.  I used this recipe as a meal but it would make a awesome and healthy holiday appetizer.

RECIPE DISCLAIMER:
I followed this recipe to the letter but I found it to be very moist.  I used the smaller cubed stuffing so maybe that was my issue, instead of what the recipe called for I used a full 6 oz box of Stove Top stuffing and I still thought it was too mushy.  I grated the onion which made it very mushy, next time I will finely chop the onion. Lastly, I am thinking that 1 egg would have been enough.  I baked the meatballs for 45 minutes, I wanted to be sure they were done!  Ground turkey is like pork I cook it until it is REALLY done!  As always if you try this recipe and have any comments or tips PLEASE feel free to share them with me and the other readers. 

Here is the recipe complete with photos, take pity on me this is my first attempt at food photography.  I am hoping through practice it will improve.

Turkey & Stuffing Bites (from Family Fun Magazine, November 2012)

1 1/4C packaged seasoned stuffing
1 1/4C turkey or chicken stock
1 pound ground turkey
1 t salt
1/2 pepper
1/2 medium apple, peeled and grated (I used a Golden Delicious)
1/4 C finely grated onion
2 t poultry seasoning*
2 large eggs


Cranberry Dipping Sauce

2 C fresh or frozen cranberries
1/4 C orange juice
3/4 C sugar
1 t coarse grain mustard

*Poultry Seasoning (yields 1 oz)
2 t ground sage
1 1/2 t ground thyme
1 t ground marjoram
3/4 t ground rosemary
1/2 t nutmeg
Mix spice together and store in an airtight container. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.  If using foil coat it with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, stir together the stuffing and the stock.  Let the mixture stand for about 2 minutes to soften.

Place the turkey in a large mixing bowl.  Add the salt, pepper, apple, onion, poultry seasoning, eggs and stuffing mixture and stir until well blended.

Form the mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls and put them on the prepared baking sheets.  Bake until they're cooked through, firm and golden about 20 minutes.

This photo is before they were baked

While the meatballs bake make the cranberry dip in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Stir together the cranberries, orange juice, and sugar.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.  Remove he pan from the heat and stir in the mustard.  Use a immersion blender, food processor or blender to puree the sauce.  Serve it on the side with the meatballs.

Again, this recipe was really easy and quite tasty! 

BEWARE of the grater!

Comments are welcome!

Keep smiling and know that God loves you and so do I!

L

Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving a day away I know it has me reflecting on what it is that I am thankful for.

(This is not listed in any order of importance just off the top of my head)

Being cancer free
Being a Mom AND Nana
My beautiful daughter
My job, home, car
My Savior
My friends
The Earth
Ice Cold Pepsi
Dark Chocolate
Peanut Butter
Love, laughter
Freedom
Democracy
Trees
Water
Photography
And so much more...

I am sure a lot of you are getting ready for Thanksgiving.  I ran across a few items in the Family Fun magazine and I thought I would share them with you.  Family traditions are great but it might be fun to interject a few new things to 'spice' things up!

There was a reader, Deborah Zelasney of Branchubrg, NJ who uses a unique way to keep the kidlets busy while the meal is being prepared.

She says, "Every Thanksgiving I create a scavneger hunt for my son and his cousins to complete while the adults are cooking.  The night before I make a checklist of crazy items for them to find the house, like a sock with a hole in it, a box of spaghetti, a tiny bar of soap...The kids work together to gather evertyhing on the list and usually by the time they finish, it is time to eat!"  I don't know about you but I love that idea.  It definitely cuts down on the question, when are we going to eat!

Another fun activity is an outside game, providing the weather cooperates!  It is called 21 Turkeys. 

"Before or after the big feast try this fun varation of the basic football toss.

Players stand 10 to 15 feet from one another and throw the ball back and forth.  A pass to the receiver's chest area earns the thrower two 'turkeys'.  A toss that is catchable but forces the receiver to extend his arms scores one turkey.  Lastly, a ball that lands beyond reach gets zero turkeys.  The first player to earn 21 turkeys wins!"

If the weather doesn't cooperate and everyone is stuck inside here is one more game that I read about in Family Fun.  It is a fun twist on an Easter tradition, it is called Drumstick Hunt.

"Drumstick Hunt
To play the game:
Following the directions below, make one fewer drumstick than you have players (the hider doesn't need one).  Someone hides the drumsticks around the room while the other players keep their eyes shut.  The players then race to find the drumsticks.  As soon as a player has one, they stop looking and wait for the others to find theirs.  The first person to find a drumstick gets to hide them in the next round.

To make the drumsticks:
Trim the top of a brown paper lunch bag so that it's about 7 inches tall.  Smooth the bag around your fist to shape it, then stuff it with newsppaer or scrap paper.  For the bone, unfold two white napkins and crumple one of them into a ball.  Drape the second napkin over the ball and tiwst it to form the darrow part of the bone.  Insert this end into the paper bag, and secure it with tape."


Please be sure to give an extra squeeze when hugging your family members, even the aunt you might not always get along with.  We are all here for such a small amount of time and each one of us is so precious.  Time moves so quickly that before we know it those we thought we would have time to talk to are gone.,  Treasure the stories, jokes you will hear and the memories that you will be makiing in the days to come.  Over the holidays you usually over eat but you can never get too much love and laughter from you friends and family.  

Keep smiling and remember God loves love you and so do I.

Gobble, gobble!

L

National Peanut Butter Lovers Month!

This is where the saying better late than never comes in handy!  It is National Peanut Butter Lovers Month!!  I just found this out this week!

I ADORE peanut butter!  I am a creamy peanut butter lover, Jif preferably, no crunchy for this chick!  It is loaded with protein and is so versatile.  It is awesome on bread, pancakes, crackers, cookies, DARK CHOCOLATE, noodles, fruit, vegetables... can you tell I love PB?  My two favorite ways to enjoy it is grabbing a tablespoon out of the silverware drawer and scooping out a heaping spoonful or spreading a generous portion on two pieces of bread, cementing them together.  Then I tear off the crusts and eat those first, crusts to me are like vegetables to kids, YUCKY.  Then I compress the bread down all over the sandwich, pinching the bread down carefully.  OH MY GOODNESS, I'm drooling!  I guess I know what I'm having for dinner tonight!

If I had a food processor I would definitely try this recipe.  If you do try this, please let me know how it went and what you thought of it.

Peanut Butter

2C dry roasted peanuts

1/4 t salt

3 - 4 T oil

Place the nuts in the food processor, sprinkle salt over the nuts.  Then drizzle in the oil.

Process until well combined.  If it is too thick drizzle up to another tablespoon of oil & process until well combined.

Wha-lah!  Creamy, peanuty goodness!

Okay, I'm going to admit something and I hope you won't judge me too harshly.  I know it is juvenile but when typing the first line of the directions I mentally giggled when I came to the word 'nuts'.  I mean it's a funny word right?  Well, maybe it's just me.  Nuts!  Teehee!

Enjoy what is left of National Peanut Butter Lovers Month!

Keep smiling and know that God loves you and so do I!

L

Emotions

In the past fifty years I have gotten really good a suppressing my emotions.  Emotions were something that needed to be in check during my childhood, if you were good and quiet everything went well.  There were three temperatures in our household, hot, where tempers were flaring.  Cold, which always preceded hot, it was where everyone, even if you weren’t involved in the ‘hot’ incident went to their neutral corner and stayed there until it was ‘safe’ to come out.  Lastly, warm, it was a neutral feeling, people got along and you tried to stay in this place as long as possible.

Lately my suppressed emotions want to come out and ‘play’, which is causing turmoil in my life.

In May 2011 I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer.  When I was first diagnosed I didn’t cry or get upset, I just wanted to know what the next step was and how soon we could get started.

During my treatment I cried, I felt alone, I felt sick and at time helpless but for the most part I tried to stay upbeat and positive.  I tried not to think too much, I just moved through each day as best as I could.

Now that I am cancer free I am finding it more difficult to move through my days.  There are times that television show theme songs can take me back to those treatment days.  It brings back the loneliness, helplessness & sadness I felt back then.  In writing this right now tears are streaming down my face, it's the emotions off that time washing over me all at once.

I don’t want to think about what I went through, I don’t want to remember, I don’t want to feel what I felt.

I know that I need to work through this but I definitely don’t like it!  I know that emotions are not things that you can jam into a box and tie the lid shut when you don’t want to deal with things.  I know that eventually the tie on the swollen box will break and everything will spill out.  Right now my emotions box has busted open and the contents are strewn everywhere.

As I crawl around on the ground gathering up the contents I hope to go through some of it and manage to toss a few items aside.

In the meantime I will persevere, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?  I am stronger now than I was a year ago and though things are difficult now they will get better and if they don’t I will learn that with prayer, faith & friendship I can get through it.

Keep smiling and know that God loves you and so do I.

L

Fresh Perspective

Here is a story I read on Monday on CNN.com.  It's about an eight year old girl who is so unique and grounded in who she is.  I hope you enjoy the story as much as I did.  I know when I was eight I would have NEVER dreamed of being so brave and interesting.

 
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/27/living/omaha-girl-characters?iref=obnetwork

Socks for Sandy

I came across this on Monday and wanted to pass it along in hopes of generating more interest.  Please be sure to forward this information to friends and family.  It is something small that could make such a huge difference.

http://cottageatthecrossroads.com/socks-for-sandy/  


https://www.facebook.com/TheOriginalSocksForSandy
 

Thank you so much.

Keep smiling and remember God loves you and so do I!

L

God Spoke to ME! (sort of)

I wanted to share something I wrote over a year ago.   Occasionally funny things happen to me and I thought I would share this with you.

God spoke to me this morning!  Don't get too exticted, he didn't actually speak words, there was no burning bush but it was His actions that spoke louder than words.

The past few days I have been noticing that I'm more uncomfortable than usual in my clothes and I have been thiinking about exercising but haven't initiated it yet but none the less this morning I was craving a Pepsi and I really didin't want the oatmeal that was waiting for me at the office.  I stopped at the Holiday Station to grab a LARGE glass of Pepsi and a breakfast sandwich even though the thought of being a bad money manager and a breakfast loaded with nasty calories was scre3aming in my head.

I got in the car securely placed my beloved Pepsi in the cup holder, backed out and was graciously let into traffic by a kind citizen.  Just as I was getting into traffic what shoujld occur?  I kid you not, I was traveling a whole 4 mph TOPS when my beloved toppled from her comfy secure perch and landed on her head on the passenger floor board!!

As I am trying to get into my spot in traffic with one hand on the wheel and my eyes glancing from the traffic to my beloved bleeding out all her surgary goodness on the floor of the care, I was frantically reaching for her to salvage what I can without losing anymore of her than humanly possible.  Finally, I am able to get a grip on the cup and right it in the cup holder, to my great surprise (and delight) I saw that I hadn't lost but a few sips!  After my heart stopped racing I had to laugh out loud, and said to the heavens "I know, I'm sorry and I hear you!"

Yes, it could have been a coincidence, a fluke or I could have not put it in the holder properly but I KNOW IT WAS IN THE HOLDER (did you notice the word securely above was underlined!).  I think He made a point of saying I see you and you and I know you don't need that!  So instead of happily enjoying my beloved I am guiltily slurping her down in between bites of my greasy but delicous breakfast sandwich!

Keep smiling and know that God loves you and so do I!

L

Babies are Genises

This is not a posting about how awesome my grandson is, but let’s face it, he is!

I think that babies are the smartest beings on the planet; they take life and break it down simply.  They know what they like and what they don’t.  They let people know it right away and for the most part they get what they need when they need it.

As we get older we learn that we don’t know as much as we thought we did so we look to those older and wiser than us to learn from.

Then we hit those wonderful years where we think we’ve got the universes number and we just need to snap our fingers and either people will jump or they just aren’t worthy of our time.  Bucking authority becomes necessary like breathing.

From personal experience it wasn’t until I hit my mid thirties when I would think back and “remember when” and cringe at my youthful thoughts, attitudes, beliefs and behavior.  Can anyone say arrogance with a capital A?

As I got older it seemed I started to mellow.  Heck, I caught myself uttering phrases “Where’s the fire!”, “She’ll catch pneumonia wearing an outfit like that!”, “Turn down your radio!”  Which was followed by me looking rapidly around wondering how my parents had come into town so suddenly without me knowing?  Then with a heavy sigh and a slight chuckle I realized, yes, you do sound like your parents!

I adjusted slowly to the metamorphosis.  I thought “Well now that you are ‘seasoned’, life will become clear and it should get easier as you go”.  It’s a reasonable assumption isn’t it?  There should be an earthly reward for all the trials & tribulations, right?  All these experiences aren’t all for nothing.

Currently I am stumbling along on my current path, I feel more confused, frustrated and unsure about life right now than I did when I was seventeen!  I know this sounds like I’m complaining but really I’m not.  At times I can find this part I’m going through right now rather perplexing and at other times I laugh, shake my head and look forward to what is coming next.

In writing this posting I’ve come to the conclusion that we aren’t suppose to have it all dialed in, it would make everything so boring.  Being human for me means I should be constantly striving.  Striving to be better, better to myself, a better worker, friend, mother, photographer, writer, baker, gift maker and better at sewing.

The down side of striving (speaking only for me) is if I fail to miss the mark I’ve set for myself I can be merciless.  The ugly triplets pop up & start wagging their pointer fingers at me.  I’m sure you know the triplets, they are Shoulda, Coulda & Woulda.  “You should’ve done this, you could’ve done that, so you would’ve gotten this….”

At times I listen to those naughty triplets and before you know it they’ve got me in the deep end of the pity pool and are trying to dunk me under!  But more times than not there are times I send those delinquents packing before they can pull on their swimsuits!

This is why I think babies are the most intelligent beings on the planet!  They keep it simple, eat, poop, drool, smile and sleep.  With any luck I can look forward to being like that in another 30+years!

Keep smiling and know that God loves you and so do I.

 L

Shout Out!

I want to give a shout out to a fellow blogger that inspired me to take this up!  Her name is Rachel and her awesome blog is And So It Goes On.  I have been following her for about three years, she is a Christian woman with 4 beautiful children and a handsome loving Christian husband.  It has been fun & inspiring following her ups and downs.  Please check out her blog, I think she rocks!  rachelkrutsch.blogspot.com

Thank you Rachel for the inspiration!

Keep smiling, God loves you and so do I!

L

Hallelujah!

It felt great to vote yesterday, we are extremely blessed to be able to pick our political leaders.  I was happy with the results and pray that the next four years will be better than the last.

I hope that everyone was able to get out and exercise their civic rights yesterday, I also hope that all of you are happy with the way things worked out.

I can't imagine being in politics, I'm too much of a people pleaser and would probably have a nervous breakdown within the first few weeks of being in office!  In politics you need to be a game player and that is DEFINITELY not me, I trust what others tell me, until I get burned a few dozen times then I start getting suspicous about them!  

I feel for those that are in the lime light, you need to be extremely careful about what you say and how you act or it will come back to bite you in the ass.  Luckily I only like moderate attention, I can do with out being center stage all the time.  I'm the person lurking the in back ground making sure everything is running smoothly.

Well enjoy your first night of television with NO POLITICAL ADS!!

I'll be back tomorrow!

Keep smiling and remember God loves you and so do I!

L

Melancholy

This last weekend was busy.

Saturday I had breakfast with a friend I hadn't seen for a while.   It was great getting caught up, we were so busy talking we were almost asked to leave Perkins, we had been there awhile and they needed the space!

After breakfast I headed off to the Mall of America (MOA) and briskly walked for 30 minutes. Huge for me since I am not a big exercise person!   I checked out a sale at Lane Bryant and was able to pick up a shirt for a memorial service I needed to attend later that afternoon.

Sunday was okay.  As I was getting into my car I noticed my car had been broken into again.  Last Easter the small triangle window on the rear driver side had been broken out by some lovely delinquent.  Throughout the summer I managed to cover the space where the glass should be with a piece of cardboard and a sufficient amount of packing tape!  I am hoping to get the glass replaced before the snow flies.  Sometime Saturday nite, someone with nothing better to do pushed the cardboard out and opened the doors to rifle through my car.  Though it was Sunday morning & I was going to church I let more than a few choice words spill out.  Not a single one was a Christian word either!

By the time I drove to Church I was in a Christian frame of mind and took solace in the fact that nothing was taken.  

After Church I headed home and spent a quiet day curled up on the couch in my jammies!  I was feeling tired, quiet and a little melancholy.

Backing up a little, I know that my melancholy started on Saturday while I was shopping at MOA & the grocery store.  I was thinking about Aiden (my adorable, 1 month old grandson) & I was trying to get excited about buying things for him for Christmas but I just couldn't get there!  I feel so terrible, like I'm the worst Nana on the planet.  I love Aiden and I want to give him everything I just can't seem to get excited about it.  I'm hoping that as the season draws closer my excitement will grow.

Another part of my melancholy came from the two deaths that have happened within a week of each other.  Two co-workers have lost their mothers suddenly.  The memorial services made me sad & it's not for the reason you would think.  Normally people are sad for the loss of their loved one but I am sad at the thought of not knowing who they really are.

I lost my mother when I was twelve years old.  I didn't really know my mother very well, we were not close.  Of course I was sad at her sudden passing but it was a sadness of not really knowing who she was.   She was a good woman but not one that felt totally comfortable with children.  The same could be said of Dad.  I love my parents because  I should love them, I mean they are my parents right?  I have good memories of them, there are not a lot of them but I do have some.  I don't really know that much about them.

I suppose this is the time to ask "Does anybody really KNOW a person?"  I KNOW my ex-husband, probably a lot better now.  I KNOW my daughter, she is my best friend.  Knowing that about myself makes me feel a little better.  I've tried to get to know my Dad but it's really hard.  I find that it is really one sided, and at this point I just don't think I can try anymore.  Feeling this way brings me back to feeling sad, sad about the lost relationship and sadness for wanting something I'll never get to have.  I'll keep calling my Dad, seeing how he is doing but it's hard to feel close when conversations revolve around the weather & his health issues. I sound like a very selfish daughter but truly I am grateful for those conversations for I know they won't always be possible. 

 

Well I certain didn't mean to be Debbie Downer but I'm sure you can relate to the ebbs & flows of life.  One day it is sunny and the next it's a little cloudy.

Cherish those that are close to you.  If you are not as close as you would like to be then remedy that.  The only time it's too late is when they are lowering the casket.

Keep smiling & remember that God loves you and so do I!

L

A Favor

I don't have a large group of friends so I would really appreciate it if you woujld recommend my blog to anyone you think might be interested.

I admit I am working at learning how to be a better blogger.  I know with time, study & feedback I will get better.

Thank you to those of you that are sticking with me and welcome to those that are new to the blog.  I'll try to make it worth your while.

Please free free to post an answer to the questions I ask on some of my postings.  I REALLY want to hear from you!

Keep smiling and know that God loves you and so do I!

L

Excursions

In the past weeks I have wandered around St Paul and have taken some photos.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I loved taking them!

This statue is craved out of an old tree and is situated outside a grand house on Summit Avenue.  During the winter months the owners of the home put a knitted shawl around her shoulders to keep her warm during the cold Minnesota winters.  Sadly, her wardrobe is more extensive than mine!

The bears outside of the Red Balloon Bookstore on Grand Av.

 

The Cathedral of St Paul. The carvings on the cathedral are amazing.

 Minnesota State Capital

I remember seeing these statue’s when we toured the Capital in grade school and the statue’s used to be covered in gold leaf.  I’m sure now a days it is probably gold paint!        

   

   Here are some pictures I took on a foggy day in St Paul.  I went to the Dodge Nature Center in South St Paul and then I drove up to Summit Avenue and wandered around the streets looking for unique items to capture.

Well that’s it for now.  I have more to share but I’ll leave it for another time.

Keep smiling & remember God loves you and so do I.

L