This morning, my mom and I brought Fannie and Missy to Carver Park Reserve Off-Leash Dog Park in Victoria, Minnesota, for Fannie’s first visit to a dog park. As I say in this post from 2021, this was also Pugsley’s first dog park.
I took these four photos from 8:26 to 8:43 a.m.
I visited the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum this morning to see the 40,000 tulips on display. That being said, a volunteer told me the tulips were past peak. But I think I still got some good photos—of the tulips, the various plants, and a sculpture.
I took these 12 photos from 8:24 to 9:19 a.m.
This evening, Fannie visited nearby tourist destination Excelsior, Minnesota, for the first time.
I took these three photos between 6:34 and 6:40 p.m.
Day 5 of Fannie being home.
My mom and I took Fannie and Missy to Centennial Lakes Park in Edina, Minnesota, for the first time (at least for Fannie) this evening.
Unfortunately, my mom dropped Fannie’s leash as she was conversing with other pedestrians, causing Fannie to bolt approximately 100 feet along the man-made pond. Luckily, a Good Samaritan caught up with Fannie and stopped her from going any farther—avoiding a potentially dangerous situation with the water.
These four photos were taken between 5:56 and 6:15 p.m.
With sunny skies and a high of 73 degrees Fahrenheit, my mom and I made our way to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, Minnesota, this morning. I took these 13 photos from 10:47 to 11:43 a.m.
For the most part, the Twin Cities hasn’t had snow this 2023–24 winter season. It’s by far a winter unlike any other I’ve experienced in Minnesota. Though I enjoyed the warmer days and better driving conditions, I was pleased to see bright snow outside my window when I got up this morning.
I took these seven photos today from 10:17 to 10:35 a.m. The National Weather Service’s forecast office for the Twin Cities is located next to my neighborhood in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
This weekend is the 35th annual Hudson Hot Air Affair in Hudson, Wisconsin. The hot-air balloon festival was supposed to take place yesterday, Saturday, as well, but they had to cancel it because the conditions weren’t perfect. Apparently, weather conditions that do not seem particularly capricious to the average Joe or Jane could spell disaster for balloonists. With that said, today is my mom’s birthday, so it worked out well for us.
I took these 20 photos from 7:39 to 8:17 a.m.
Today, my mom and I visited the Mall of America—the largest mall in the Western Hemisphere—in Bloomington, Minnesota, so I could take photos for my own archival purposes.
I took these photos from 11:24 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.
Tonight, I visited the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, Minnesota, to see their Winter Lights walking tour that goes through the end of the month. I’ve never been to the Arboretum in the winter, much less seen their Winter Lights display (though I’m not sure if they’ve had it in previous years).
I took a bus in Chaska to get there, because the Arboretum was sold out of tickets for parking on-site. A SouthWest Transit employee at the park-and-ride facility in Chaska told me there would be 4,000 attendees tonight—with 3,000 people parking at the Arboretum and 1,000 people taking the bus.
As these photos illustrate, there is no snow on the ground. Furthermore, I recall only two days this fall and winter season when there was any measurable snow on the ground, and they were on October 30 and 31. Needless to say, there won’t be a white Christmas this year. In fact, the two main reasons I went to this event tonight was that it was warm (the high temperature in Chanhassen today was 47 degrees Fahrenheit) and that I wanted to document the brown Christmas, which happens much less frequently than a white Christmas in the Twin Cities. The high temperature for tomorrow (Christmas Eve) is 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
I took these 19 photos from 4:49 to 5:37 p.m.
Beginning today, we are having an Indian summer in the Twin Cities.
My definition of Indian summer is simple. It is after the first hard frost when it is unseasonably warm and dry. The next four days will be Indian summer as well, with high temperatures of around 60 degrees Fahrenheit on all of these days.
I decided to photograph this year’s Indian summer today, as I don’t believe it happens every year. I took these photos at Lake Ann Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota, from 4:02 to 4:09 p.m.
