Friday, July 8, 2011

MN Day 2

We got to MN without incident yesterday afternoon. The only small snag was that we got here so fast (some kind of tailwind, perhaps?) that we had to wait for our arrival gate to open up before we could get off the plane. Otherwise, it was smooth sailing, and totally worth the cost. I did have a little bit of a twinge, though, as though it was almost too easy. I'll just be quiet about that now.

My brother and SIL's neighborhood had a big storm, so there is evidence of people's clean up efforts all over their tree lawns (the strip between the sidewalk and the street). It made me think about neighborhoods, as they've lived here for over ten years now, and have had the same next door neighbors the whole time. This neighborhood, to my mind, is exactly like what most people think of as suburbia. Nice people who take care of their yards, takes 20 minutes to get anywhere interesting. But it's safe, and there's room to have a garden, and a yard for the dog. Safe but a bit boring?

Plans are shaping up. Tonight, my SIL and I are going to a talk by a Tibetan Buddhist master, who is speaking on global ecology from a Buddhist perspective. It's so far out there from what I normally do, but at the same time, hits the nail on the head of some the things I've been thinking about right now during this time of transition for me, looking for a mate and a job. I don't know if I believe in fate, but I do believe in freaky (and cool) coincidences that sometimes result in us getting knowledge or insight that we wouldn't otherwise have had. M was given the tickets by someone at the school where she teaches, and Mr W and I just happened to be in town during that time. It seems like if a person gets to hear an acknowledged wise person speak, one should do their best to pay attention and see if they can take something from it.

Aside from that, my brother and his friend are going to take Mr W geocaching while M and I are at the talk, and then go do guy stuff. There's a little pile of trinkets growing on the table that they'll use to add to (or replenish? I'm not exactly sure how that works) the caches they find. We'll probably find ourselves on a pontoon boat at some point, and also make a trip to the science museum (woo-hoo!) and of course lots of good food and ample red wine. Who could ask for anything more, indeed.

2 comments:

  1. now I have to back track to MN 1 sounds like a good trip so far although curiosity is killing this cat to know what suburb your in has to be somewhere close to the airport I'm thinking. A south of the cities suburb.now I'm way north suburbia] but I didn't hear you complain of all the construction you have to go through to get out this way.So it has to be south, have a good stay with bro,and don't let the mosquitoes carry you away.

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  2. Hey, Linda! I was just reading the Discover story about belly button microbiomes and saw your comment. I guess great minds read the same weird articles.

    Oh, and on another serendipitous (sorta) note, I'm here in St. Louis at the Botany 2011 conference, walking innocently by the BSA exhibitor table today, and see that the most recent cover photo is by none other than...Ami Wangeline! I get back to my room, wanting to see if I can look her up to send her a congrats note, and there in my inbox is a FB friend request. Random. (She's doing well, by the way.)

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Hi, sorry to make the humans do an extra step.