More Snow In The Forcast

The Joys Of Winter

Frosty The Snowman

Merry Christmas To All

Merry Christmas to all who stop by today. I wish you and your family a safe and enjoyable day of celebration.

Christmas Lights

Now this house doesn't have tons of Christmas lights, but I do enjoy this one. Mainly because of the time they take each year to string the lights on their roof so it resembles a Spirograph pattern. Which happens to be one of my favorite toys to play with growing up. They've added a few things over the years I've been driving by it, but not too much. This home can be found in South St Paul around the 5th - 7th Street exits.

Frozen Parking Lot

Current temperature for this photo was around 3 degrees Fahrenheit. Freshly fallen snow covers the parking lot half filled with cars on a Sunday evening in Cottage Grove. The sun had recently set and the sky was oh so colorful tonight. The frozen cars, waiting for their owners to finish up their Christmas shopping so they can return home. Was I out Christmas shopping this evening you may be thinking. Nope, not a chance, I had to pick up some fish food from the pet supply store.

Finally A Win

After a six game losing streak, my Minnesota Wild finally earned a victory against the New York Islanders. This has been a tough stretch to watch all of the losing outcomes. The Wild finally got Marion Gaboric back from his annual "lower body injury" and from what I've seen in his first two games back is a team that once again has offensive chances of goal scoring. Gabby brings a different level of offense to the Wild and it quite the difference maker having him in the lineup. The opposing team is force to worry about his presence on the ice and what he can do with the puck. In the past two games, the Wild offense has had many more opportunities to score than they've seen in quite a few games.

Like A Stone

I've always liked this building and how it looks. The redness of the stone has always stood out as it obviously cannot be the natural color. But the blocks above the windows, look at the texture. It appears to have been chipped and carved, which it may have been, I don't know. Each block above the window looks different from the next.

Nighttime On The Mississippi

I was looking through my photos and stumbled upon this one overlooking the Mississippi River. I took this on day 4 of the Republican National Convention back in September. I really had the ISO set high, thus the graininess in the photo. Believe it or not, I didn't use a tripod for this one, but I was holding it against a railing.

Marquee Theatres

I've been told the marquee theater sign has changed at the Mall Of America. This contribution photo from Dave R was sent to me last week. I'll certainly get out to the mall soon to see it. I've always enjoyed the various displays the theaters have outside their doors. Hopefully marquees will be one tradition in the United States that survives. It would be a shame to see them all disappear over time because they use evil light bulbs. I still have trouble coming to grips why an incandescent light bulb is bad because it uses more electricity, yet at the same time, the average power supply in a computer today is rated at 400 Watts. 2012 is when we start saying goodbye to the 100 Watt incandescent light bulb and completely phased out by 2014 with the 40 Watt. We are asked to put CFL's in the sockets instead, but my concern is the small amount of mercury in them.

Schmidt Brewery Catwalk

Before Minnesota Brewing Company purchased the Schmidt Brewery, along the catwalk between the castle like tower and the silo's, one could see the word 'SCHMIDT'. The letters were lit up in bright red neon letters. At night, it could be seen for miles, the letter were large, larger the letters L and K from the landmark sign.

I spent a good hour or so looking for an old photo of the Schmidt neon letters but could not find one. Perhaps someone has one in their old photo albums that they could scan and send in to be posted? My email is listed under my About Me page.

The letters would light up, one at a time to spell the brewery's name in the exact same pattern, S C H M I D T, then all lights off, then all lights on, then all lights off, and all lights on once again. Finally the lights would all turn off again, after a brief pause, the letters would once again light up one at a time in sequence. As a child, I could envision this pattern in my head and time it to the exact second when the letters would turn on and off when ever the neon letters would be out of site. Or you could close your eyes, walk the pattern in your head a couple of times and see how close you were to the sequence. Tell me I'm not the only one who did this when you were young? Someone else has to have done this silly game too....right? Hahaha!

Just Like A Castle

I've always thought the main tower of the Schmidt Brewery looks like a castle.

Jacob Schmidt

Born in Bavarian in 1845, Jacob Schmidt arrived in America at the age of 20. After working in New York and Milwaukee breweries for almost five years, he came to St. Paul to assist his friend, Theodore Hamm, as the brewmaster at Hamm's brewery. Three years later, he travelled to New Ulm to work for August Schell of Schell's Brewery, and from there worked in various breweries around the Midwest.

In 1884, Jacob moved back to St. Paul and purchased a half interest in the North Star Brewery located at Commercial St. & Hudson Rd. (The place had been in operation under various owners since its inception by Edward Drewry and a Mr. Scotten, in 1855.)

SOURCE: Minnesota History of Brewing

Schmidt Brewery History

Originally the Stahlmann Brewery, but built as the Cave Brewery in 1855 was sold the the Jacob Schmidt and family in 1900. They purchased the old Stahlmann Brewery because the North Star Brewery which Jacob Schmidt had half interest in burned to the ground and a new location was needed. In 1901 it became the Jacob Schmidt Brewing Company. They built a new facility and malt house along side the existing structures. In 1955, the plant was sold to the Pfeiffer Brewing Company of Detroit, but continued to use the very popular Schmidt name and logo. In 1972, G. Heilemann Brewing Company of LaCrosse, Wisconsin brought the brewery. I believe the plant closed briefly in 1987 when Heilemann's was purchased by an Australian company. The plant did reopen in 1991 when the Minnesota Brewing Company moved in and produced the strangely named beer labeled 'Pig's Eye'. If however you are a local, Pig's Eye is a very familiar name as it has quite a history in the early days of St Paul. [I believe they wanted to name St Paul 'Pig's Eye' at one point]

The plant struggled in the late 1990's financially. To help keep the plant alive, it sold part of the plant to Gopher State Ethanol and it became the nations first urban ethanol processing plant. Those of you in the Ethanol business are familiar with the foul oder it can produce. As you can image, the neighborhood was full of complaints. In reality, having an ethanol process plant in a neighborhood turn into a very bad idea. In 2002, beer production unfortunately ended at the Schmidt Brewery. The bitter smell continued to stink up the neighborhood. In May of 2004, the ethanol side of things closed for good, not due to the complaints and many court battles that lasted for years. It was closed do to financial reasoning.

Now the plant sits vacant. Though in doing some research tonight, I'm reading the plant may have been sold for 7.5 million and parts of the plant will be reconstructed in to art studio's and perhaps more. It would be nice to see the castle like structure that has stood in St Paul for 150 years to live on versus being torn down.

Pure Spring Water At The Well House

If you look closely, the two blue squares offer free water to anyone who brings bottles or jugs to fill up. Growing up, we often stopped here every couple of weeks to get the good drinking water. Waiting in line some days for others taking their turn. I'm not sure if they still offer the free water as the plant has been closed since 2004 or 2005.

UPDATE 12/12/08: Entrepreneur.com 4.02.1990 - Schmidt Brewery will cease dispensing free spring water.

Taps at the Schmidt Brewery that have dispensed free spring water to the public since 1983 will be turned off sometime after the planned July 3 plant closing.

Each month, thousands of people wait in line to fill their glass jugs or plastic bottles. They take away a combined average of 79,000 gallons each month. The brewery estimates it gives away 955,000 gallons of spring water each year.

From the time the faucets were installed, the water was a hit. Regulars say there really is no season or time of day when there isn't a line.

The regulars were hit hard by the news that they would be cut off from the spring.

END UPDATE

The words are a bit hard to read so I've transcribed them below.

Over 1100 feet beneath this well building flows a stream of sparkling pure spring water. We have drilled deeper than any other brewer in the United States to tap this water because no other single ingredient is more important to the qualtiy and character of our beer than the purity of our perfect brewing water.

This water fell as rain over a century ago and has been viltered pure by nature through natural rock and limestone. There is no finer or purer brewing water anywhere in the world.

We don't aim to make the most beer, Only The Best!

Minnesota Brewing Co. [originally the Jacob Schmidt Brewing Company]

Down On The Corner

The corner of 5th and St Peter, plus a side entrance to The Saint Paul Hotel in downtown St Paul.

Now For Something Really New

I passed this street sign on the West Side neighborhood in St Paul. I'm puzzled to the meaning of this sign. What possibly could a sign like this alert drivers or pedestrians for? Beware of a silhouette carrying a jacket and briefcase?

UPDATE: This sign is part of a money spending project of St Paul called 'Traffic Calming Art Signs'. Here is a link about the signs: http://www.stpaul.gov/index.asp?NID=2639

I Am Thankful For

One thing I am thankful for living in a part of the country that does receive a lot of snow during the winter months is I do not have to shovel those stairs. It's been snowing here off and on the past week, nothing major yet, but enough to get out the shovels. I could only imagine how long it takes a person to clear all of those stairs of snow. Perhaps if I play my cards right, I can snap a photo of them being cleared of snow.

Self Service Car Wash

Another photo from the 7th Avenue car wash.

Tin Cups

Made a quick drive through the North End neighborhood of St Paul. More specifically, I drove down Rice Street. It has been a while since I've driven down Rice Street for as far as I did. I have a Grandmother that lives just off of Rice Street, so I get there from time to time, but typically I take a different route. As I drove south on Rice Street, there was so much that has changed, yet quite a bit of it is still as I remember it. Tin Cups and their great sign sits on Rice and Maryland Avenue. Attached to Tin Cup's is a liquor store and beyond that, there are a bunch of new or updated shopping stores that looked quite different from what I could recall.

The Extras At The Car Wash

Just a close up of some of the extras from yesterday's car wash photo.

Four Stall Car Wash

This car wash location has been here on 7th Street in St Paul on the West End neighborhood for a very long time. Their unique shape sets them apart from anything being built today in car wash land. I guess you could say they are a historical landmark for the city of St Paul. I can tell you this, anyone who has driven by them knows exactly where these are. It may have been a while since you drove past them, they are still there cleaning cars on a daily basis. When the day comes and they are no longer standing, their oddly shaped points will be missed by those who remember.

Theme Day: Circles Or Spheres

The first day of each month, many of the city photo bloggers participate in a theme photo. December's theme is circles or spheres. I found wanted to incorporate Christmas into my theme day photo and found the largest Christmas ornaments I could find in the Twin Cities. These can be found hanging at the Mall Of America in Bloomington.

To see more creative theme day photos around the world, stop by the portal page for a convenient thumbnail view of all participants. As the time zone change around the globe, more photos will be added.

What Do You See?

Sitting down eating dinner with my family, I looked over my wife of 14 year's shoulder and I see to faces staring back at me. What's even odder about this unplanned photo is how the coffee cups are placed, match the photo of the two upside down coffee cups each one caries. Tell me you don't see a face in each of the cups?

Westside's Fire Station 21

Growing up in the West Side neighborhood of St Paul and living rather close to this fire station, I knew very little about it's history. Built in 1920, Engine House #21 resides on the southwest corner of Ohio Street and Baker Street. The fire station at 643 Ohio Street was modeled after Station 18 on University Avenue and was used until 1943. It has since housed a VFW, a German gymnasium [the Turnverein's] and presently residential for a shipwright and a photographer. What stands out to me is, until recently, I never knew this was originally a fire station.

One thing of note, the size of the garage doors were built for a horse drawn wagon. This explains why it was abandon after 23 years of service. The size of this fire station was one of the smallest in the city, when engine drawn firetrucks became the norm, the larger fire stations had their garage doors widened to accommodate the size of the trucks. This station was left intact as it was easier to build a brand new building.

The Still Of The Night

The air was very calm as I drove over the Wakota Bridge yesterday evening. The bridge cross the Mississippi River from Inver Grove Heights into Newport. The plant you see in the distance is the Ashland Oil Refinery. I've been wanting to take this shot for quite some time now. The factory has a ton of lights, in the cooler months it throws steam everywhere. These long streams of lights on the river, I see from time to time. I had to turn around and find a location to shoot from. I was a bit under dressed for the sub freezing temps, so I didn't venture to far from where I parked. I am curious how the area will photograph once the river freeze over and there is snow illuminating the banks of the Mississippi River.

St Matthew's School

I paid a visit inside St Matthew's School on St Paul's West Side neighborhood a couple of weekends ago. It was just how I remembered it to be the last time I was there back when I was in 7th grade. There was new paint here and there, the windows had been replaced, but generally the same look and feel. I've always loved the steep pitch of the roof and the windows that protrude out from the roof. I've never been on the level of the school to look out those very windows. So I've always been curious what exactly is up there on the top level.

West Side Downtown View

There is a great view of the taller downtown St Paul buildings from the top of the hill on Bidwell Street. My location for this photo is the West Side Neighborhood.

An Earned Rest

Standing between Gilies and Belanger is Head Coach Jacques Lemaire. He has been the coach of the Minnesota Wild since day one. My normal seats when I am at a Wild hockey game is directly across from the bench, so the view for this photo is quite different from what I am used to seeing.

Riverview Branch Library

In my comments from yesterday's photo, Micayla left a note about once living on the West Side and recognizing the home in the photo. Micayla also mentioned the public library across the street from the big house. The brick appears a bit faded from the sun's rays, but there the Riverview Branch Library is still up and running. I believe the Riverview sign is new, I don't recall it being there.

Rau - Strong House

This home on the West Side Neighborhood of St Paul has been under construction for as long as I can remember in one form or another. It's slowly come around to what you see today. I recall in the past, perhaps 20-25 years ago, on Halloween night the house was open to the public as a haunted house of some sort. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (added 1975 - Building - #75001015).

2 George Street East: Rau-Stronge House/Strong House/Ossian R. Strong House; Built in 1884; Italianate/Stick/Eastlake/Second Empire in style. The structure is a two story, 3351 square foot, eight room, one bathroom, stucco house, with a detached garage. The 1885 city directory indicates that Mr. and Mrs. G. Adam Rau resided at this address. The 1887 city directory indicates that Mr. and Mrs. Adam Rau and Mr. and Mrs. O. R. Strong resided at this address. The 1890, 1892, 1894, 1896 and 1898 city directories indicate that Mr. and Mrs. O. R. Strong resided at this address. Oakland Cemetery Association records indicate that Ossian R. Strong and Elizabeth S. Strong (1861-1894,) of German extraction who died of consumption, husband and wife, resided at this address in 1894. Oakland Cemetery Association records indicate that Johanna Sophia Rau (1823-1906,) the widowed mother-in-law of Ossian R. Strong, who was born in Germany to parents who were also born in Germany and who died of a cerebral hemorrhage, resided at this address in 1906. Oakland Cemetery Association records indicate that Julius A. Strong (1827-1913,) the husband of Caroline M. Strong, who was born in New York to parents who were born in the United States and who died of pleurisy-bronchopneumonia, resided at this address in 1913. The 1930 city directory indicates that Ruth G. Strong resided at this address. The property was purchased by stone cutter Adam Rau in 1867. In 1884, Rau began constructing the limestone Second Empire house and the neighboring barn, which was completed in 1886. In 1888, Rau sold the property to Ossian Strong for $8,000. Adam Rau ( -1939) died in Ramsey County. Adam Rau was a stone cutter and dealer in 1880-1881. Five members of the Rau family worked in the stone business, all living on the West Side, including Nicholas Rau, who was the foreman in Adam Rau's stoneyard. Sauter & Rau was another stone cutting firm in 1880-1881. Osslian R. Strong ( -1922) died in Ramsey County. The property was last sold in 1991 with a sale price of $55,500. The current owners of record of the property are Steven E. Peterson and Collette L. Peterson. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places (1975) and has been designated a local heritage preservation site.

SOURCE: Kevin D. Hendricks

Unknown Lake Shot

As the sun recently had set for the young evening, I looked out my balcony window from my hotel room in Seattle, the water was calm, there was a sprinkle of rain of course. It looked right for a photo opportunity. What doesn't show in this photo, out of frame to the left is the airport, it's right there, noisy as an airport can be, yet, these few homes share valuable waterfront property. Anyone who lives on a lake can tell you they pay a heck of a lot more in property taxes than the regular homestead. I'm just curious, with the airport being in plain sight, are the property taxes still high on this body of water?

My Visit To Seattle

I spent the majority of last week in Seattle, Washington last week. I was there four days, and only was able to photograph the outdoors one time. I was there on a business trip for work. It was to prepare for Microsoft's new operating system 'Windows 7' that will be released in second half of 2009. I was there for the OPK Fest. Basically it was a training session for preinstalling Windows with their new tools that I use at work. Unfortunately, the even and my hotel was the same location and the hotel was across the street from the airport. Thus I didn't rent a vehicle to explore the city. The event tied me up from 8 until 5:30. It was dark by the time I had free time. But then it was raining when I had free time. Just a bad week to take photos in a new location.

The good news, the final day of my visit, I made my way back to the airport and I was able to see Mount Rainier from gate A14. That was my only view I managed of the mountains. Oddly enough, the hotel you see in the photo was the hotel I was staying at for the week. See how close I was to the airport? I was just happy to be able to see the mountains before I left. With how rainy and cloudy it had been the last few days, I was lucky to get to see it so clearly. I was told, Mount Rainier is about a two to three hour drive from the airport.

Broken Wings Again

While walking through the butterflies area at Como Park in St Paul, I captured this second photo of the butterfly with a broken wing, the original photo is here. It was photographed in a different area of the room, but until I looked closely at my batch of photos from the day, I never realized it was the same butterfly I was looking at.

Center Ice

Some friends of ours invited us to sit with them in their seats as the couple they normally attend the games with could not make it. Having partial season tickets to the Minnesota Wild and normally sitting across from the Wild players bench around the left blue line, this view was quite a different perspective. Being dead center on the red line, at the height I was at, I felt like I was playing a game of hockey on one of those games with the domed plastic covering, stick hockey players, you know the game I'm talking about right?

It's Feeding Time In Butterfly Land

Back to the Butterfly area in Como Park in St Paul. Yes, butterflies do eat more than nectar.

She Said Yes!

If you stopped by the blog yesterday, my photo of the day was a marriage proposal in progress. It was unplanned, I'm not sure who the couple is, but I was in the right place at the right time to capture their special day. As you can tell, she happily agreed to the proposal and the couple is now engaged to be married. Congratulations and I wish you well on your next adventure in life together. If by chance you should see these photos, I will send you the originals if you're interested.

Will You Marry Me?

When I first entered this wing of the Conservatory at Como Park, the image I wanted to capture, I've seen many times before. When I realized I was also taking a photo of a marriage proposal, that made this familiar view a bit more unique. It should be noted that this gentleman is doing the traditional proposal, he has dropped to one knee to ask the big question to his future bride to be if she accepts.

Return tomorrow for the dramatic conclusion to this story....

Broken Wings

It looks like a soft landing spot to me. I captured this broken winged butterfly at Como Park in St Paul this past summer. The park has a new butterfly building to the grounds. I'm not sure if this is a permanent feature to the park or if it was only for this year. One can literally walk among 60 to 70 butterflies in the netted area. You are warned to watch your step as the winged creatures will rest on the walking path.

Custom Made Flower Box

This one of a kind plant box, can be found in the West Side neighborhood of St Paul. It was made by my sister this past summer. She was looking to spruce up the front of her home and decided flowers inside a custom made flower box was the answer. It should be noted, my sister does work for a local filming company that creates television shows for the DIY Network. She is involved with the filming portion of the show, but my understanding is, she does a good portion of the hands on, off camera remodeling for the projects they are filming. Go sis!

Thinking Spring

Ugh, it's almost here....WINTER! The long, cold dreaded winter of Minnesota. I've decided that I'm taking the day today to think ahead to the coming springtime. Warm weather, lots of colorful thinks to look at, baseball, being outdoors in shorts and a t-shirt....ahhhh, spring!

Fogo De Chao

Located on the corner of 7th Street and Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis is a great Brazilian Steakhouse. It's basically an all you can eat steakhouse that offers about 20 or so different cuts of meat prepared in various ways. We've been here a couple of times and have enjoyed the atmosphere and the food each time. The Gaucho chefs walk around from table to table with meat on skewers. If you want to try the particular cut of beef on the skewer, you say yes, or no if you want to try something else. It's a rather unique way of serving an all you can eat type of restaurant. They walk around with the food and you never really have to leave your seat. A tad on the spendy side at $40-43 a plate if you're on a budget, but I highly recommended Fogo De Chao if you're looking to try something new.

Minnesota, State Of Confusion

My confusion on how Minnesotans vote continues....

Government Of The People, By The People, And For The People

Twin Cities Daily Photo has exercised the right to vote....

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
— Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1870)

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
— Nineteenth Amendment (1920)

The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election . . . shall not be denied or abridged . . . by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
— Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964)

The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of age.
— Twenty-sixth Amendment (1971)

The Ends Of The Earth

This is one of those shots I should really flip over so the tree is upright and see if anyone figures out the photo is upside down. Since starting this photo blog, I never look at puddles the same. It's amazing what kind of photo one can get looking into a puddle about the size of a cowboy hat.

Theme Day: Books

November 1st, Theme Day in the City Daily Photo community. This month's theme is 'Books'. How fitting of a theme, since a personal favorite book of mine has been my inspiration for the Twin Cities daily photo. The book, published in 2001, is titled 'Minneapolis-St Paul, Then And Now'. The cities Minneapolis and St Paul IS the 'Twin Cities' this blog is named after.

Stop by the other cities participating in the November Theme Day via the links below this photo. Do remember that there are timezone differences between the other cities. Or you can head over to the Click here to view thumbnails for all participants that have posted their 'books' photo.

American Fork (UT), Anderson (SC), Ararat, Australia, Arradon, France, Ashton under Lyne, UK, Auckland, New Zealand, Aurora, South Africa, Austin (TX), Avignon, France, Bali, Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia, Bangkok, Thailand, Barrow-in-Furness, UK, Barton (VT), Baziège, France, Belgrade, Serbia, Bellefonte (PA), Birmingham (AL), Bogor, Indonesia, Boston (MA), Boston (MA), Boulder (CO), Budapest, Hungary, Budapest, Hungary, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Canterbury, UK, Cavite, Philippines, Chandler (AZ), Chapel Hill (NC), Château-Gontier, France, Chateaubriant, France, Chateaubriant, France, Cheltenham, UK, Chennai, India, City of the Blue Mountains, Australia, Coral Gables (FL), Edinburgh, UK, Evry, France, Fort Lauderdale (FL), Geneva (IL), Glasgow, Scotland, Gliwice, Poland, Greenville (SC), Grenoble, France, Haninge, Sweden, Helsinki, Finland, Herne Bay, Great Britain, Hobart, Australia, Honningsvag, Norway, Islip (NY), Jackson (MS), Jakarta, Indonesia, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Jefferson City (MO), Juneau (AK), Karwar, India, Knoxville (TN), Knoxville (TN), Lakewood (OH), Larchmont (NY), Las Vegas (NV), Lisbon, Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal, Lodz, Poland, London, UK, Madrid, Spain, Mainz, Germany, Manila, Philippines, Manila, Philippines, Melbourne, Australia, Melbourne, Australia, Menton, France, Mexico City, Mexico, Middletown (MD), Milton, New Zealand, Milwaukee (WI), Minneapolis (MN), Minneapolis (MN), Molfetta, Italy, Monrovia (CA), Monte Carlo, Monaco, Monterrey, Mexico, Montréal, Canada, Moscow, Russia, Moscow (ID), Mumbai, India, Mumbai, India, Murcia, Spain, Napa (CA), Nashville (TN), Nelson, New Zealand, New Delhi, India, New Orleans (LA), New York City (NY), New York City (NY), Norwich, UK, Oklahoma City (OK), Orlando (FL), Paderborn, Germany, Palos Verdes (CA), Paris, France, Paris, France, Pasadena (CA), Pasadena (CA), Pensacola (FL), Philadelphia (PA), Phoenix (AZ), Port Angeles (WA), Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Port Townsend (WA), Prague, Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic, Quincy (MA), Ramsey, Isle of Man, Reykjavik, Iceland, Riga, Latvia, Roanoke (VA), Rotterdam, Netherlands, Rouen, France, Saarbrücken, Germany, Saigon, Vietnam, Saint Paul (MN), Salem (OR), Salem (OR), Salt Lake City (UT), San Antonio (TX), San Francisco (CA), San Francisco (CA), Santa Fe (NM), Seattle (WA), Seattle (WA), Selma (AL), Seoul, Korea South, Seoul, South Korea, Sesimbra, Portugal, Silver Spring (MD), Singapore, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore, Sofia, Bulgaria, Springfield (IL), Stanwood (WA), Stavanger, Norway, Stayton (OR), Stockholm, Sweden, Stouffville, Canada, Subang Jaya, Malaysia, Sunshine Coast, Australia, Sydney, Australia, Sydney, Australia, Székesfehérvár, Hungary, Tacloban City, Philippines, Tamarindo, Costa Rica, Tauranga, New Zealand, Telluride (CO), Tempe (AZ), Terrell (TX), Terrell (TX), Torino, Italy, Torun, Poland, Toulouse, France, Trieste, Italy, Turin, Italy, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Twin Cities (MN), Verona, Italy, Vienna, Austria, Wailea (HI), Washington (DC), Wellington, New Zealand, West Paris (ME), West Sacramento (CA), Willits (CA), Woerden, Netherlands, Yakima (WA), Yellowknife, Canada, York, UK

Pumpkins

Our Halloween pumpkin carving creations for 2008. Created by my two kids, my wife and myself.

Happy Halloween to all.

Be safe, have fun, enjoy.

Three Panels

Another reflective gem of the AmHoist building. Does the slogan 'More bars in more places' come to mind?

Lower Downtown St Paul

With the Mississippi River to my back, the larger building in the background center is the St Paul Postal Office.

Koi In Conservatory

If you saw yesterday's photo, you saw a couple of kids playing in the water. With a topside view, it's revealed what they were playing with in the water. Could you resist playing with the Koi fish if you were a young child? These Koi are quite interesting as they poke their heads out of water and you're able to see their mouths appear to breath the air. As long as I can recall, the Conservatory at Como Park has always kept Koi in this water tank.