Field Trip to the Minnesota Zoo

 There's a swap on Swap-bot that I signed up for with a focus on sharing photos of three animals. As I went back on my photos over the past month, I realized I didn't take any pictures of our dogs or wild animals that I've seen around our home. Instead, these are all photos of animals I saw at the Minnesota Zoo.

I went to the Minnesota Zoo on a field trip with the sixth-grade class and was assigned to a student in special education. It ended up that another student I work with wanted to join us, so the three of us explored the zoo together. It was a lot of fun, especially since I gave them their own photo disk and let them borrow my camera. They took over 400 photos of the experience there.

So, I had very little time to photograph animals myself, but to see the joy of the boys as they took documented their trip was well worth it. 

At any rate, below are some photos I took that day. The first two are of snow monkeys. Snow monkey are from Asia and they live farther north than any other non-human primate. In Japan, they are able to survive the cold northern temperatures because of their long, thick fur and occasional dip in a volcanic hot spring. 

Snow monkeys have long canine teeth and are very strong which helps keep them safe from predators when they are on the ground. They also have special cheek pouches. While foraging, they stash extra food in their pouches and chew it later.  

It was a beautiful, sunny day when we were at the zoo, so the brown bears (grizzlies) were resting. Brown bears are among the biggest animals on earth, and they are particularly large in Kamchatka, in Russia’s far east, and on the coast of Alaska. They may grow to be ten feet tall and weigh 1,300 pounds.

This is an Amur Leopard. These leopards live in the eastern part of Asia and are on the brink of extinction. With deer populations declining and their habitat being disrupted, the leopards are in a precarious place with fewer than 50 individuals living in the wild.

As we were walking on a path, a chipmunk came running out. It stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and it watched us as we watched it. Chipmunks have either seven or nine stripes depending on their type (Eastern or Least) and weigh only from one to four ounces. They have short lifespans - up to two years. 

Like the snow monkeys, chipmunks have cheek pouches too. However, with chipmunks, the cheek pouches can enlarge to three times bigger than their heads.          

Zoos, for me, are challenging. Although I love to see different types of animals and appreciate that they are keeping some species from extinction, it is difficult for me to see animals in captivity - especially large ones with small enclosures or land space. I'm not sure the solution to this issue because, in some cases, the animals are safer than in the wild where poachers will kill them. 

So, for the time being, I need to focus on the gift of being able to learn about and see these animals; and for being made aware of the challenges that they face in the wild. 

My Favorite Photos - November 2022

This month I started a new position with a local museum to do their marketing/PR work. One of my favorite parts of the job is photographing items in the gift shop and the museum's artifacts. Below are Dala horse salt and pepper shakers.

This is a hand-carved tomte and pine tree.

This is one of 150 dolls that were donated to the museum. Each doll has an outfit that represents the clothing typical to a region in Sweden.

When I was taking the photos, my younger daughter was helping me. At the end of the session, I took photos of her. The first one she liked the best. 

These two, though, capture her spirit more - her laugh and mannerisms. 

I took some photos of Cooper on the first day that it snowed in November. This is one of them. He is looking out at the tree and watching the birds.

On the 18th, we celebrated Olivia's anniversary of her adoption day. She found a restaurant near her college that we all enjoyed. Her anniversary is actually on the 17th, but she had a class field trip for her Humanities class that was meeting on the 17th. So, the 18th it was for our annual anniversary dinner.

On the 23rd, Olivia, Sophia, and Nessa (one of Sophia's roommates) came home for Thanksgiving. On the 23rd, we celebrated Nessa's birthday by going to a new arts organization in Wisconsin. She hadn't been to Wisconsin, so that was another bonus "gift." 

The picture above and below were in the gallery.

We continued exploring Osceola, Wisconsin, by going to an antique store. None of us had been there, so it was fun to explore a new place.

For Nessa's birthday, I made lasagna. I made some changes to my mom's recipe - like adding more mushrooms, spices, and fresh mozzarella.

I made a Toll House Chocolate Chip Pie (instead of a birthday cake). Danny (the dog) is hoping the pie is for him. 

On the 24th, we celebrated Thanksgiving. There were 14 people total. We had both a turkey and ham, plus a lot of side dishes. We had three different pies for dessert.

On Thanksgiving, my sister brought slides that my parents took. There were quite a few I had never seen before, so that was nice to see them. My brother, sister, two nephews, and I watched the slides. For some of them, we could share details that the others did not know. 

Below is my sister (on the left) and me (on the right) with my mom and dad. There's a plant to the left in the photo. It's fake. That plant traveled from the house in Minneapolis (pictured below) to the one in Plymouth. They had it for decades.

My sister explained the significance of this photo. For my parents' entire marriage, my mom wanted a real Christmas tree. My dad didn't want one because of the mess that real trees can leave in a home. Well, one year, my parents went out to get a real tree. My mom looks so happy by the tree. Another slide after this one showed my dad using a saw to cut it down. This photo would have been taken after we graduated from high school. New traditions once all the kids leave the home...I know this all too well now that Sophia and Olivia are both at college.

Another photo I never saw was this one of my sister (on the left) and me (on the right) in front of one of our elementary schools. This is the second elementary school I attended in Minneapolis - Hamilton was Kindergarten and first grade, and Loring was second grade. 

Once we moved to Plymouth, I had three more elementary schools: Cedar Island (third and fourth grades), Fair Oaks (fifth grade), and Edgewood (sixth grade). It was insane. There were yearly school border changes because the suburbs were changing and boundaries needed to be changed. 

I loved seeing this photo of (L to R): me holding my brother, my sister, and our dog, Corgi.

My mom used to sew all of our Halloween costumes. This one was my favorite one - a kangaroo. It's not the clearest pictures, so the little joey in my kangaroo pouch isn't as visible as I hoped it would be.

Getting in the holiday spirit, my handmade stocking was made by Grandma Olive (she had made my stocking during the summer of 1966 - either before or shortly after my birth in June. She died in August. So, this was an extra-special stocking). My mom made matching stockings for my sister and brother using the same concept as mine. 

This is a better picture of my stocking. I would have been about four or five years old in this picture.

If this doesn't give kids nightmares, I don't know what would. The Santa that visited us at a friend of my grandma's home wore a mask. I swear that mask doesn't even have openings for the eyes. It would have to, but it sure doesn't look like it.  

Apparently, we are either in shock or fascinated by this masked Santa. Actually, now that I look at the picture, I'm wondering if this was supposed to be St. Nicholas since he is using a cane. 

Fear set into my brother. It's probably St. Nicholas/Santa's lack of eyes in the mask. Apparently, the mask isn't bothering my sister or me. 

This is our first Christmas in our new home in Plymouth in 1974. I'm in the middle with the curlers under my mom's hair bonnet. 

So those are some of the 200+ slides we looked at on Thanksgiving this year. 

On the day after Thanksgiving, Sophia, Nessa, and I went to Feed My Starving Children to pack food. We were at a table with about eight other people. This was a hard-working group of volunteers who ended up packing 26 boxes of food for children in El Salvador. We have packed food on the day after Thanksgiving for three years now and have really enjoyed doing this. It's a meaningful way to share our time and give children who are hungry or starving healthy meals.

After packing food, we went to Momo Sushi - our traditional meal two years in a row now. We had a bento lunch box with a variety of food which we all enjoyed. 

The sunset that night was beautiful. This is the end of the sunset, so the colors are not as vibrant at they were 15-25 minutes earlier that evening.

On November 26th, we celebrated the anniversary of Sophia's adoption day. It's hard to believe that we adopted her 21 years ago. (For Olivia it was 19 years ago on the 17th.)

Scavenger Hunt #3

This is a swap on Swap-Bot that I'm participating in that I thought looked fun. The goal is to take five photos (from a list of ten items) and give some information about them - where did I take it, is it part of a series of photos, or whatever other information that I think is interesting. 

Another option is to use old photos that I have taken. This latter option is what I chose to do. I always enjoy going through photos that I've taken and seeing if they bring me back to when I took them.

Purple

I took this photo on June 8, 2019, in Osceola, Wisconsin. The town has a committee that does floral or natural displays along the main and side streets as a way to beautify the community and drive throughout town. One of my favorite colors is purple, so this display caught my eye.

Diamonds

On June 18, 2017, Sophia (then 16 years old) completed this diamond quilt. This was, by far, her most ambitious quilt because of the cutting and layout she needed to do to create the diamond pattern. She was very happy with how it turned out.

Keyboard

I had totally forgotten about this "learn how to type" program that I had Sophia and Olivia do as part of homeschooling. Here, on April 23, 2013, Sophia is playing a game on computer using the keyboard to learn to type.

Wheels

On June 18, 2018, the propane company came out with a Bobcat to move our tank to a new location after we had a fire that burned down our hobby shed. The propane tank was about 15 feet - at the most - from it. Thankfully, our neighbor who was a retired firefighter saw the fire (we weren't home) and turned off the tank. Things could have been quite different had he not done that. 

Flags

On May 28, 2018, Memorial Day, I visited Fort Snelling National Cemetery. Someone had put a flag in front of my parents' gravestone - as they did in front of the gravestones in the entire section. I was so touched to think that someone took time out of their day to honor my dad who served in the Korean War. 

Shopping

On March 12, 2020, the shelves at Walmart were completely stripped of paper products - toilet paper, paper towels, and napkins. Other sections of the store, likewise, were bare. It made shopping for the basics quite difficult.

Mountains

For Sophia's (homeschool) high school graduation, we took a trip to Washington (state) and Alaska. This is one of the many mountain ranges in Alaska. It was such a beautiful place to visit. We went there before she graduated since the costs increase substantially in the summer there. This was taken on April 27, 2019, on the way to Girdwood, Alaska.

Boots

Of course I could have used a photo showing a normal pair of boots, but why do that when these attractive blue plastic boots were documented on June 3, 2012? Sophia, Olivia, and Colton (their cousin) went to a dairy/creamery operation. Everyone had to wear these blue boots when they went into the creamery. 

Vintage

This was one of my favorite ornaments when I was a girl. When my parents died, my sister, brother, and I went through the ornaments and I picked this one. On December 8, 2013, the little red fawn with white fur trim was on our Christmas tree. 

Glass

By far, one of my favorite places we visited when we were in Seattle, Washington, was Chihuly Garden and Glass. The glasswork there - both inside and outside - was spectacular. I especially liked this boat scene with the glass orbs in and around the boat. The black floor reflected the boat and some of the orbs. I could have spent hours there looking at all the different colors and patterns of this on exhibit alone.

My Favorite Photos - June 2022

June was a full month with lots of activities. It started with a family trip to London and Edinburgh to celebrate Olivia's graduation from (homeschool) high school. We were able to go thanks to points Paige had collected through business travel through the years. 

We came back to overly-grown grass and flowers blooming. From the 8th through the 24th, I spent a tremendous amount of time weeding the gardens, cleaning the house, and getting ready for Olivia's graduation party on the 25th. 

The month closed out with my birthday on the 29th and Sophia's half-birthday on the 30th. 

Out of the literally thousands of photos I took during June, I've narrowed it down to the following photos (which is still quite a few...so feel free to quickly scroll through them). 

Olivia and I spent the morning on June 1st together while Paige and Sophia slept in and moved the luggage from one hotel to another one. This is Olivia on the Millenium Bridge with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background. 

We took a tour of the Globe Theater.

On the fence, there were lots of little animals:

Afterwards, we went to Tate Modern. I was able to get the last ticket for the Yayoi Kasama Infinity Mirror Rooms back in April when the tickets went on sale. While she did that, I looked around the museum. There was an intriguing exhibit that had all these tiny components that were connected. 

After we had lunch at Tate Modern, we walked over St. Paul Cathedral where we met Paige and Sophia. 

Every part of the cathedral was breathtaking - from the ceiling...

to the artwork on the walls.

Olivia and I went up the 528 steps to the top of the cathedral. The passageways were, at times, dark and narrow. 

There were a lot of spiral staircases.

Finally, we reached the Stone Gallery. This was 376 steps up.

People could either choose to go back downstairs or go up another 152 steps to the Golden Gallery. We went up another 152 steps. The view was amazing!

Before leaving, I lit three candles in memory of my dad, mom, and grandparents. 

The girls and I went to Chinatown in London.

There were these little pastries that had a cream filling. They are called taiyako.

On June 2nd - when the Platinum Jubilee parade was happening (with thousands of people crowding the mall), we went to the Tower of London. Here Sophia is with one of the Yeoman Warders, a ceremonial guard who oversees the Tower of London.

The buildings - built hundreds of years ago - were beautiful and rich with detail. This is a view of a ceiling and the circular light.

This is the White Tower that was built by William the Conqueror during the early 1080s. It is the castle's strongest point from a military view, and provided accommodation for the king and his representatives. There was a chapel in this building as well. 

There was a museum at the Tower of London that focused on the armor that the knights wore. This one even had protection for the knight's fingers. 

The Tower of London is close to Tower Bridge, which Sophia and I toured a couple of days prior to this one. We walked up one side of the tower, walked across both "upper bridges" that have a partial see-through floor, and then walked down the other side of the bridge. Lots of walking!

After our tour of the Tower of London, we walked a bit and found a place to eat. I had read that for part of the Queen's Jubilee that there would be a flyover. People were lined up all along the river and on the bridge. Olivia went back towards the river and was able to see the planes before they got into the "70" formation (to acknowledge the Queen's 70 years on the throne).

After that, there were nine planes (I believe) that had red, white, and blue smoke.

We took a boat on the river to get to another part of London. As we were going under a bridge, the guide pointed out that we were going under London Bridge. It's a rather unassuming bridge that has been rebuilt multiple times. 

There were a lot of seagulls, but no other waterfowl like we saw at St. James's Park (near Buckingham Palace) in late-May.

We saw the London Eye. About 15 people can fit in one of those pods. We opted not to go on the ride since we had already seen London from St. Paul's Cathedral.

While we were on the boat, there were people dressed in red, white, and blue as well as those carrying flags. It was a day of celebration and everyone was in a good mood.

The Houses of Parliament were beautiful - especially the top of the building.

Big Ben was nearby.

Before leaving the boat, I had Olivia stand by a cutout of the Queen.

Then it was Sophia's turn.

On June 3rd, we went to the Natural History Museum. This is the first thing that you see when you enter the building - an escalator that takes you through the Earth. 

There was a section about birds that was fascinating. Not only did they display different types of birds, but they also explained differences between them, things to note (e.g., how they hear), and if they were endangered or extinct. 

One of the things I was surprised to see were two of the Blaschka Glass Models of sea creatures. I knew that Scotland had a collection of them (which I would see later in June), but didn't know that London had some. These glass models are all handmade. The artists who made them didn't share how they were made, so no one - to this day - knows how they were able to make them.

We went to Harrods and found items that were both extravagant and expensive. This bed set and light caught Olivia's and my eye because it was over-the-top...not like anything we would see in Minnesota. The palm tree with "lavish hand-dyed ostrich feathers" was 2,200 pounds or about $2,660. 

We went to the bookstore at Harrods and came across this 10,000 pound ($12,094) book. I told Olivia that she should flip through it because chances are she would not be touching a $12,000+ book again. 

In the evening, we went to a service at Westminster Abbey. It was absolutely spectacular on the inside. They did not want anyone to take photos of the Abbey during or after the service which was understandable.

One of the fun things that was done in celebration of the Queen's Jubilee was the placement of artist-painted Corgi statues around the city. We happened to spot one in a park as we were walking back to the Underground station. 

On June 4th, we took the train from London to Edinburgh. We saw lots of sheep farms along the way. 

One of the first places we went after getting settled at our hotel was Calton Hill. There were quite a few unique, historical buildings there. This one is the Old Observatory House that was designed by James Craig, the planner of Edinburgh's first New Town. It was built in 1776 in Gothic-Scots Baronial style. 

This is a white-tailed bumble bee. I've never seen one before. They are black and yellow on the top half and white on the bottom half. 

This is the National Monument that was designed by Charles Cockerell and William Playfair. They were inspired by the Parthenon in Athens and wanted to commemorate Scottish servicemen who died in the Napoleonic War. Funds were raised for building it and work started in August 1822. Only the 12 columns that are seen today were ever completed. 

This is Nelson Monument. 

After spending time on Calton Hill, we took a bus to Portobello. We walked about a block to get to the beach. There were colorful doors to homes along the way.

We walked on the beach and got our feet wet in the North Sea. 

There was a metal marker on the beach.

And moss/seaweed-covered rock formations. Not sure the purpose of them.

On June 5th, we took the bus and then walked to Edinburgh Castle. The buildings along the way were made mostly of brick and stone.

In the Castle, the views were spectacular.

Edinburgh Castle was even larger and more impressive than the Tower of London. One of the buildings was a chapel that King David I built around 1130. He named it for his mother, Queen Margaret, who was said to have performed many acts of charity. She was canonized by Pope Innocent IV in 1250. 

After visiting the castle, we explored Old Town. This is Victoria Street where there were a lot of colorful storefronts. 

Another view of Victoria Street. 

Many of the streets in Edinburgh were cobblestone. 

We heard bagpipe players. This one is tuning his bagpipe.

There was another bagpiper that we listened to also. Figured we wouldn't have opportunities to listen to live bagpipers anytime soon in Minnesota. 

We visited St. Giles' Cathedral. There were candles lit in memory of loved ones...

amazing stained glass windows...

and incredible architecture with bold, beautiful colors.

We went to the Scottish National Museum where we saw the Millenial Clock. It went off at 3 p.m. and all the different levels had activities on them. It was very impressive. 

The museum seemed like a hodgepodge of items. This dress was in the Fashion area. For a size comparison, Olivia is about 96 pounds and 4'8". She may have fit into that dress, but it would have been tight. The adult women back when this dress was made must have been super tiny.

This is another one of the glass sea creatures. The National Museum of Scotland had an impressive collection of these glass items.

On Monday, June 6th, we took the train back to London and stayed one more day. We each did our own things that we wanted to do. So, I took a walking tour that went from an Indian area to the Shoreditch district. It's considered the "cool" area of the city. There is art on the sides of building.

A chainlink fence full of locks. It was supposed to be a temporary exhibit about ten years ago. Looks like it became a permanent one instead. 

I liked this painting on the side of a wall. 

It was time to return home. This is my seat (or pod) on the plane. I liked the privacy and the fact that I could stretch out my legs and recline the chair. This is in business class and well worth the points that Paige had saved. 

We got the dogs on June 8th in the morning and they were so happy to see us. We brought them home and they were tired. Aspen slept much of the 8th. She knew she was back home and could sleep soundly. 

Scooby looked all clean and fluffy after getting groomed at the kennel.

Danny made himself comfortable on Sophia's bed while she was asleep.

And Cooper...he was just happy to be back home. He looked a lot better after having about two weeks on a non-chicken diet and a bath with medicated shampoo. He also had an allergy shot before we left, and I think his skin is doing much better now. 

When we came back home, the flowers were in full bloom. The bearded irises were at their peak or past it.

The peony in the backyard garden was blooming for the first time!

The honeysuckle was blooming for the first time too.

I love looking at the pattern of plants.

The wild columbine was covered with flowers.

The bleeding hearts, too, were blooming under all the pine trees in the front yard.

The lilies that I inherited from my mom and dad were blooming by the driveway.

The northern flag irises were blooming in the west pasture. The bumblebees were flying from one flower to another.

On June 20th, Olivia and I went to the Page Education Foundation's celebration of the 2022 Page Scholars. Olivia is one of them. (Sophia also is a Page Scholar from 2019 to now.) She is standing with Mike Elliott - the mayor of Brooklyn Center  and a Page Scholar Alumni - and Justice Alan Page. Justice Page was once a Minnesota Viking. While he was playing football, he also went to law school and became the first African-American on the Minnesota Supreme Court. 

On the 22nd, the Lions were giving away 200 native plants to anyone who stopped by our booth. We also collected a variety of items that supported our goals of vision (eyeglasses), pediatric cancer (pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House), and the environment (lead tackle to be recycled properly). 

On the 25th, we had a party for Olivia's graduation. Here she is with her speech therapist who she worked with for over a decade. Needless to say, Laurie and Olivia are good friends. 

The director of Gammelgarden Museum came in full Swedish dress after being at the Midsommar festival at the museum. She gave Olivia the opportunity to do some video work from January through April for the museum. Because of that, she now will be on the video/tech team at college!

Olivia is standing by her cake, graduation gown, and college pennant. 

The cake was for 96 servings. About half the cake was eaten at the party. So, we have quite a bit of cake we've been eating since the party.

Olivia made display boards with photos from her life. This is one of four boards that she did. People said they enjoyed seeing all the photos. 

One thing that we did for Olivia's party was hang up clothes on a clothesline: the little pink snowsuit we met her in on November 17, 2003; a black dress we bought in China that she wore around the age of 3; her First Communion dress that my mom and I made; a blue pioneer dress - one of many costumes she wore; her Tang Soo Do outfit that she wears twice a week when she does lessons; and her graduation cap and gown.

People brought their dogs to the party. This is Sophia with one of the dogs. 

Olivia is holding Howie who is 15 weeks old. 

Nessa, Ashley, Olivia, Sophia, and Lexi all will be at Bethel next year. With the exception of Olivia who will be a freshman, the rest are all seniors. They are all such great young women!

More flowers were blooming later in the month. I like this unusual one.

The shrub rose is still blooming.

The nodding onions are sending up their flowers.

The hostas, ferns, and bleeding hearts all are doing exceptionally well this year. I'll need to divide them next year.

One of my nightmare plants is thistle. It has been spreading in one corner of the pasture and in Olivia's garden she planted two years ago. I have been pulling it up during June. However, in the pasture, I left it and was surprised at the number of bees and butterflies visiting it. So, I guess it does have a good purpose.

Closing out the month, we got to see the second nest of black-capped chickadees be born. These are only a few days old and totally dependent on the mother. They don't have feathers yet and their eyes are still closed. 

So...that was June. July doesn't have nearly as much going on. So, there will be significantly less photos that I will be taking this month.