Today, my mom and I drove to see my grandparents in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. I had not seen them in person since the pandemic started, though my mom had. It was nice to see them, since it seemed like it had been so long. The temperature was mild, it was sunny, and there was no noticeable wind, which were all perfect for hanging out in their backyard during the start of the Fourth of July weekend.
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.
Today, my mom, puggles, and I made it to Carver Park Reserve Off-Leash Dog Park (that’s a mouthful) in Victoria, Minnesota. This dog park is actually the only dog park we knew about after getting Pugsley, and it wasn’t for quite some time that we found out about all the other dog parks in the area.
According to the Minnesota DNR’s Fall Color Finder, now is the perfect time for fall colors in Victoria. However, fall colors this year are not as spectacular as other years because of the drought we had this summer. Nevertheless, it was a nice day to visit a dog park and get some photos.
On October 9 (one day before my birthday), I visited Stillwater, Minnesota, with my mom and our puggles. This was my first trip to Stillwater, and, boy, have I been missing out! It’s a beautiful, touristy city on the St. Croix River and Minnesota-Wisconsin border.
They were also having their Stillwater Harvest Fest at Lowell Park on the river, though I did not know about this until I got there. It was crowded and, I’m sure, relatively difficult to find parking (see where we parked in the last two photos).
Here are 19 photos I took today. All but the two from the restaurant, which were taken with my Google Pixel 4a, were taken with a Canon EOS R and kit lens.
For Memorial Day, my parents and I traveled by car to visit the family of my brother’s fiancée. All but one of these photos were taken when we stayed at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at The Arch in Missouri, though I do have more photos that were taken with my iPhone. Unfortunately, I can’t open the photos taken with my iPhone on this Linux computer because they are .heic files, which this computer does not recognize. That being said, I am grateful the weather cooperated when we were at the Gateway Arch, since these are some of the best photos I’ve taken with my Canon EOS R.
Today, my mom, my puggles, and I decided to visit Charles A. Lindbergh State Park in Little Falls, Minnesota, because it was the closest state park at peak fall colors according to the DNR’s Fall Color Finder*. It was a fine state park situated near the Mississippi River. These are the photos I got. (* Update, 12/29/2020: Because of today’s political climate, I am compelled to add that I don’t agree with the political views of the historical figure for which this state park is named.)
In photography, the golden hour is defined as the first hour after sunrise and the last hour before sunset. Many photographers consider it the best time for photography, because of the pleasing, warm tones it engenders. I used to go out a few times a week at the golden hour to take pictures. More recently, I haven’t been as interested in photography, but this website is sure to change that.
This evening, I went out with my dogs, beginning an hour before sunset. These are the results.
Centennial Lakes Park is a 24-acre park and man-made pond located in Edina, Minnesota. It’s my mom’s favorite park, so we went there with our puggles, Pugsley and Missy, this evening.
