Japanese

 I started to learn Japanese on Duo lingo. I got frustrated because the word "its" comes at the beginning and the end of sentences without any apparent rhyme or reason. So I borrowed the Pimsleur audio book from the Hastings Library and I have been practicing every day. I repeat each lesson twice. I think it's helping but I have a long way to go. Sayonara!

Wings

Today I went to Rapids Honda for some maintenance work on my Fit. The service people were great with one exception. One guy said my car was done and it was all under warranty. They wanted me to pay sales tax but he took care of that. He gave me my keys and said it was out in the parking lot. It wasn't out in the parking lot. He thought I was someone else. Later, when I went to get out of my car for lunch I realized I had 3 sets of Honda car keys and this extra set had two house keys on it. I drove back to the dealership to return the keys before someone panicked. I felt good about that. I am disappointed that Honda stopped making Fits. Maybe next time I will get a hybrid Civic.

After lunch I went to Northtown Mall to walk the inside perimeter twice like I used to do when I worked at Achieve. On the walls was artwork done by Achieve participants and staff.

I like the way they listed all the names of the contributors without denoting if they were participants, staff, family of staff, or volunteers. Great art work!

 

Ice Castle

I drove by the ice castle at the state fair grounds today. They are not open during the day. I think it's too cold to go at night.

 

Bakken

Offspring #2 and I made a Scandinavian ice lantern. This was a group effort. Oh, and by the way, the bird I identified yesterday as a yellow warbler was actually a saffron finch.

Forty years ago my brother-in-law talked about taking his son to the Bakken Museum. Today I finally made it there myself. The museum is near Lake Harriet where I saw people fishing, skating, and skating with sails.

As usual I start museums on the top floor and work my way down. This is the great hall in the mansion. QR codes on the wall led me to a website that described what I was looking at. Nice wood floor surrounds the rug. Under the rug is the cheap wood.

Minnesota plants and animals are depicted in the stained glass windows.

The owner of this mansion was really worried about being kidnapped. This was after the abduction of the Lindberg baby. Gangsters were everywhere. The study has 6 doors for escape. A large stone wall surrounded the property.

Veterinary tools.

Nice copper top fire place.

 

One exhibit featured the life of Mary Shelley - the author of Frankenstein. This was a play reenactment of Frankenstein confronting his maker and demanding he make him a wife or he would be killed.

Another view of the study. When I came upstairs a docent was showing a family experiments with static electricity. I was offered a chance to hold hands and feel a static electrical charge. That was a hard no, thanks.

They had a section on medicinal plants. Other parts of the museum featured Earl Bakken who was one of the founders of Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc. Back in 1977 I worked for Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc. My job was to x-ray and package pacemakers with the appropriate paperwork. My boss, Marty, would walk by several times a day and say, "Faster, faster." He was nice. They had examples of prosthetic devices. I put one on my right arm and then tried to pick up the checkers for a game of Connect Four. I had a lot of difficulty. This would be a great place for kids to visit.

What Happened To You?

 Oprah Winfrey and Doctor Bruce B. Perry are the co-authors of What Happened To You?:Conversations On Trauma, Resilience, and Healing. I totally enjoyed reading this short book (less than 2 hours) with great examples of real people overcoming obstacles. Many of the problems originated with poverty or neglect. Some were war veterans with PTSD. Every brain is wired differently. If doctors could focus less on finding a name for a disorder and focus more on the life experiences that lead to this particular brain, we might all be better off.

Hot & Humid

Today I decided was a good day to take my exercise to a place that is good for my skin and my health.

A yellow warbler takes a bath.

A myloplus fish swims by.

The sloth eats some dry Caesar salad.

The ball python can stay in the aquarium, thank you very much.

A Galapagos tortoise parks next to a light pole.

A side necked turtle goes by. This turtle can be either left necked or right necked. They can withdraw their heads completely into their shell for safety.

 

Hoot

 I asked my cousin to ask his Dad how he got this owl and was able to pass it on to his little brother. Here is his response:  2 of his friends took it out of a nest when it was young. After it started getting bigger they couldn't take care of it and they knew dad had a large cage that he kept turkeys in so they ended up giving it to him. He took care of it until he was 17 when he went in the Army and gave it to Joe. He figured Joe just quit feeding it and let it go. He said he fed it everything from mice, rats, squirrels, rabbits and even frogs. I told him Your dad's side of the family took the picture and he remembered that. He said he dug the basement to your house with a horse and horse drawn scoop, and remembered unloading all the brick for the house as well.  On the next message he added that the owl's name was Hoot. Is that ever cool? Unless I was a falconer, a wildlife rehabilitation specialist, or a wildlife educator, there is no way I could ever do this now.