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Out and About Pug Life

Centennial Lakes Park in Late October

This afternoon, my mom, my puggles, and I visited Centennial Lakes Park in Edina, Minnesota. These photos were taken from 3:13 to 4:10 p.m.

Walking labyrinth/meditation maze
Prairie grass
Pugsley
Missy
Pugsley and Missy
Missy
My mom and our puggles next to a Rotary International clock at the entrance
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Out and About Pug Life

Leaf Peeping 2022: Excelsior, Minnesota

For my third outing leaf peeping this year, I visited Excelsior, Minnesota, with my mom and our two puggles. I took these photos today from 11:42 a.m. to 12:11 p.m.

Small plane that started flying over the Excelsior Commons as soon we got there
Scarecrow in someone’s yard
Licks Unlimited
Port of Excelsior
Tommy’s Tonka Trolley
Staircase to a pier
Pier Four
Missy, Pugsley, and my mom
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Out and About

Leaf Peeping 2022: Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

For the second installment of “Leaf Peeping 2022,” I visited the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum today in Chaska, Minnesota. I took these photos from 8:19 to 9:35 a.m.

Main road
Rose Walk sign
Main road (again)
Red flowers
House with picnic tables
The beginning of the Three-Mile Walk
Pond with green algae
Brick path
Signpost
Purple flowers
Crabapple tree
The Canada goose on the right is eating a crabapple
Paul Granlund; American, 1925-2003; Swimmers, 1990; Bronze
Acer saccharum, the sugar maple
Acer platanoides, the Norway maple
Acer saccharum nigrum, the black maple
Rosa ‘BUCbi’ (Carefree Beauty)
Pine Tree Exhibit land art
Pinus nigra, the Austrian pine
Maze Garden
Douglas Freeman; American, born 1952; Family, 1989; Bronze
Sunlight on an oak tree
Vista over Green Heron Pond
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Out and About

Leaf Peeping 2022: Lake Ann Park

I am starting a series this autumn titled “Leaf Peeping 2022.” I plan to document various stages of fall colors and the eventual falling of leaves (phenology). For this inaugural post, I went to Lake Ann Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota, from about 11:20 a.m. to noon today.

Trees by a fence for a tennis court
Trees behind a fence, which is the bokeh
The same fence in the above photo, but this time the trees are the bokeh
Ambulance bay
Mixture of coniferous and deciduous trees by a parking lot
Tall conifer growing by a parking lot
Metal halide lights (or are they LEDs?) above trees by a baseball field
Yellow tree growing by a baseball field
Birch trees (left) growing on a hill
Conifer that somehow has red leaves inside
Conifer with cones
Lodge overlooking Lake Ann
Watercraft Rental next to Lake Ann
Dock for Watercraft Rental on Lake Ann
Fall colors are well underway on Lake Ann
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Out and About

A Mid-September Afternoon at the Arb

Today, I visited the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (the Arb) in Chaska, Minnesota. I hope to visit the Arb many times this autumn (I’m an inveterate leaf peeper!).

These are my first professional-camera photos taken this September.

Gate where the Three-Mile Walk and Three-Mile Drive meet
White and yellow wildflowers
Diseased tree
Pinus strobus, eastern white pine
Malus, ‘Jubilee,’ Crabapple
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Out and About

The Arboretum’s Three-Mile Walk in Late Summer

This evening, my mom and I walked the Three-Mile Walk at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, Minnesota.

Birch trees
Black-eyed Susans
Malus, ‘Sundog,’ Crabapple
Malus pumila, Crabapple
Sundial
Pad-mounted transformer and conifers
Douglas Freeman; American, born 1952; Family, 1989; Bronze
Unidentified red flowers
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Out and About

N.W.S. Launching a Weather Balloon

The National Weather Service (N.W.S.) launches two weather balloons each day, separated by 12 hours. I took these photos at 6 a.m. this morning. The next launch is presumably at 6 p.m. (these times are probably different if the time is C.S.T. rather than C.D.T.).

If you ever come across a weather balloon on the ground when you’re out walking, follow the instructions to send it back to the N.W.S., since they reuse some of the equipment. As this “kidscorner” article on the N.W.S.’s website states, “The balloon flights last for around 2 hours, can drift as far as 125 miles away, and rise up to over 100,000 ft. (about 20 miles) in the atmosphere!”

These photos were taken at the N.W.S. forecast office in the Twin Cities/Chanhassen, Minnesota.

Getting ready to bring out the weather balloon
Getting ready to bring out the weather balloon
Bringing out the balloon
Getting ready to launch the balloon
The balloon launches
The balloon quickly rises
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Out and About

Chanhassen’s 2022 Fourth of July Celebration

My mom and I went to Chanhassen’s Fourth of July celebration two times today (it is free, after all). It was sprinkling the first time we went at about 2:30 p.m., but otherwise the weather was nice. By the second time we went at about 6:45 p.m., the precipitation was over. The weather is significant because, for Independence Day, there will be heavy rain and a chance of thunderstorms.

All photos were taken with my smartphone.

Coin pusher game with a memento mori
Water Hogs
Break a Bottle
Prizes
Balloons
Tickets, ATM, and Ferris wheel
Fair food
Lemonade concession stand
More fair food
View from the Ferris wheel
Self-portrait from the top of the Ferris wheel. I also took photos of my mom and myself on the Ferris wheel last year.
Pirate’s Fury
Various stuffed animals for prizes (including pugs!)
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Out and About

Who Makes Sunsets? Not the Government.

Who makes sunsets? My source for such information tells me it’s not the government.

But, tonight, I did get to experience my first nice sunset in a long time. Even though yesterday I posted about why smartphones are not replacements for professional cameras, I went on a walk this evening with only my smartphone for a camera.

I took these photos of the National Weather Service forecast office in the Twin Cities/Chanhassen, Minnesota. For the uninitiated, I have been photographing this entity since at least high school. It’s located right next to my neighborhood, and it’s been pretty neat getting to grow up next to it.

Pictured on the right is the Doppler radar
This is the building where they inflate the weather balloons. The dome on top houses the tracking antenna.
Pictured is the Doppler radar and the office building
Categories
Pug Life

It’s Meteorological Summer!

June 1 is the first day of meteorological summer, which is based on the temperature cycle. But some contend the first day of summer is actually June 20–22, the solstice, which is based on the position of Earth in relation to the Sun. In any case, today’s blue sky and fluffy clouds look like summer. I took these photos with my phone.

Song of the day: The Orb – Little Fluffy Clouds.

Headshot of Missy
Side profile of Pugsley