"I can see clearly now the rain is gone..."
It was the Saturday morning a week ago. Lightning and thunder took over the sky, and my plan of the day, which was to work my vegetable garden, would not materialize.
As soon as the rain stopped late in the morning, I changed my mind. It was actually better going out for a bike ride... my first ride of the season... and it didn't disappoint.
"... look straight ahead, nothing but blue sky..."
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Spring Awakening II
Funny that my previous post was more than a year ago, you may wonder what the heck I've been doing for the last 14 months... I asked myself the same question... (cricket chirping)
Anyhow, the continuity is still here to write about Spring although it's one year late and the temperature hit 95 degrees just two days ago. Can you believe that? 95 degrees! Approximately 35 C... 135 years of record in Minnesota was just shattered...
To start writing again, I need a plan. A plan that I can keep this going for a little longer... alright, not a little, but a bit longer, sounds good?
Where were we? Ah yes, Spring. Well then, I have too many things to say about it. First off, how about Spring surprises? No, not the usual suspects of tulips, rabbits, or creeping charlie.
Have you ever wondered looking at a plant growing every year but have no clue of what it is? No flowers. No fruits. No nothing. And the urge to uproot it was so intense that you almost feel guilty to destroy the mystery?...
Until five years later, you woke up in the morning, walked out to the garden and surprised to see something sticking out above the star-shaped-10-12-paddle leaves. Looking at it closer, my first impression was almost like an instant org--m.... yes, oh, yessssss!!! Sorry, I got carried away...
Ok, my patience pays off. After waiting for five long years, I finally saw the plant blooming. However, the mystery remains. What plant is it? I have no idea. When I looked at the flowers again couple of days later, it just clicked all of a sudden. "I have seen this flower before, but where?" I asked myself.
When a lightning strikes, you can't tell where it's coming from. It just happened so fast. And in this case, my nerve cell just connected me right back to Highway 2 in Two Harbors where my friends and I were on our way back from a canoeing trip in Boundary Water 15 years ago.
My friend, Bosco, was driving. "Look! Stop Bosco!"his girlfriend shouted. He braked. She and her sister got out of the car and ran down to the shallow ditch on the side of the road. Then turned around with their fingers pointing the plants and screaming with their mouths wide opened, "THEY... ARE... LIPINS!!!"
I was so excited to have this "nerve strike." I got right back into my house and googled "lipin." The first line came up was "Do you mean lupin? YES, LUPIN, YES!
Anyhow, the continuity is still here to write about Spring although it's one year late and the temperature hit 95 degrees just two days ago. Can you believe that? 95 degrees! Approximately 35 C... 135 years of record in Minnesota was just shattered...
To start writing again, I need a plan. A plan that I can keep this going for a little longer... alright, not a little, but a bit longer, sounds good?
Where were we? Ah yes, Spring. Well then, I have too many things to say about it. First off, how about Spring surprises? No, not the usual suspects of tulips, rabbits, or creeping charlie.
Have you ever wondered looking at a plant growing every year but have no clue of what it is? No flowers. No fruits. No nothing. And the urge to uproot it was so intense that you almost feel guilty to destroy the mystery?...
Until five years later, you woke up in the morning, walked out to the garden and surprised to see something sticking out above the star-shaped-10-12-paddle leaves. Looking at it closer, my first impression was almost like an instant org--m.... yes, oh, yessssss!!! Sorry, I got carried away...
Ok, my patience pays off. After waiting for five long years, I finally saw the plant blooming. However, the mystery remains. What plant is it? I have no idea. When I looked at the flowers again couple of days later, it just clicked all of a sudden. "I have seen this flower before, but where?" I asked myself.
When a lightning strikes, you can't tell where it's coming from. It just happened so fast. And in this case, my nerve cell just connected me right back to Highway 2 in Two Harbors where my friends and I were on our way back from a canoeing trip in Boundary Water 15 years ago.
My friend, Bosco, was driving. "Look! Stop Bosco!"his girlfriend shouted. He braked. She and her sister got out of the car and ran down to the shallow ditch on the side of the road. Then turned around with their fingers pointing the plants and screaming with their mouths wide opened, "THEY... ARE... LIPINS!!!"
I was so excited to have this "nerve strike." I got right back into my house and googled "lipin." The first line came up was "Do you mean lupin? YES, LUPIN, YES!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Spring awakening
The top 10 reasons Spring is here in Minnesota.
No. 10:
The guy was too bored to stay home on a 40-degree day, so he rather pretended dead on a frozen lake.
No. 9:
A die hard ice-fishing dude has enough of drilling for nothing.
N0. 8:
Hardcore bikers dare no more to cross the lake this way.
No. 7:
The kite-snowboarder has more fun on splashing water than gliding on snow.
No. 6:
Traffic on Calhoun Parkway in mid-March, anybody?
No. 5:
When people think it's fashionable to wears shorts with down jackets.
No. 4:
" I'm so hot that I've to be half naked on a 40-degree day."
No. 3:
" Son, don't worry, we can get through this icy and snowy trail with only two wheels!"
No. 2:
" Out of my way, folks!"
The no. 1 reason Spring is here in Minnesota:
When somebody said the bubbles could be from a fish in a pool of melting snow on the ground.
Video credit: Me
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Have you ever....
My current job brought me back to Minnesota in the fall of 2003 and the first thing I did in the first October weekend was running around Lake Calhoun once.
Then came winter and I kept my running schedule around Calhoun in a few weekends. It was so peaceful just to watch a white frozen lake. There were times I had the wild thoughts of crossing the lake with my boots on. Well, I chicken out.
Yeap, I was chicken out again in 2005.
I made a breakthrough in 2006. No, I didn't cross the lake, but I had my boots on walking a hundred yards out on Lake Calhoun to watch the Pond Hockey Tournament.
The winter of 2007 was too warm, even some white swans resisted migration and stayed on the open water instead. So it was a no go again.
The winter of 2008? What was my excuse again? I was too busy... what else could be better than that.
How about 2009? Well, you'll find out from the video, it's a mission accomplished, baby!
Then came winter and I kept my running schedule around Calhoun in a few weekends. It was so peaceful just to watch a white frozen lake. There were times I had the wild thoughts of crossing the lake with my boots on. Well, I chicken out.
Yeap, I was chicken out again in 2005.
I made a breakthrough in 2006. No, I didn't cross the lake, but I had my boots on walking a hundred yards out on Lake Calhoun to watch the Pond Hockey Tournament.
The winter of 2007 was too warm, even some white swans resisted migration and stayed on the open water instead. So it was a no go again.
The winter of 2008? What was my excuse again? I was too busy... what else could be better than that.
How about 2009? Well, you'll find out from the video, it's a mission accomplished, baby!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Random Shorts: FEAR NOT!
"What if.... "
I know, I know. Don't worry, I play it safe.
As for the title "Random Shorts," it is jut an experimental short feature from some random video footage and other digital or traditional media to express an idea or a phenomenon, abstract or concrete, or even surreal sometimes. Call it an alternative form of artwork by all means, but the materials will still be locally related.
So come back often to check out new stuff.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The blades meet the ice
Remember how we learned standing up when we were toddlers? We fell.
Remember how we learned walking? We fell too.
How about ice skating? It's no different.
I can't tell you how many times I have fallen on the ice over the years.
I don't take instructions very well, that's my ego. But when I'm so eager to learn something, I try it myself before seeking advice. That's how I got myself into trouble, especially all the bruises from try and error instead of taking classes. I was, hmmmm, probably 35 then. Yeah, I was stupid, but in the end, it pays off.
Kids in Minnesota take on ice when they are three to four years old, and they skate until the age when their legs couldn't handle it anymore, possibly at 60 to 70-some years old. I have seen a 2-year-old boy in hockey outfits playing hockey with his dad. To me, it's almost like an entitlement.
I'm a transplant and I won't be like those who pick up a hockey stick and turn into hockey stars in a pickup game, but my sheer joy to land the blades on ice is no less than their thrills on body-checking while handling a stick. And sometimes I'm daydreaming while on smooth ice, and "bong".....
"STAY OFF MY WAY!" BOOM (crash)! #@&^*!
Remember how we learned walking? We fell too.
How about ice skating? It's no different.
I can't tell you how many times I have fallen on the ice over the years.
I don't take instructions very well, that's my ego. But when I'm so eager to learn something, I try it myself before seeking advice. That's how I got myself into trouble, especially all the bruises from try and error instead of taking classes. I was, hmmmm, probably 35 then. Yeah, I was stupid, but in the end, it pays off.
Kids in Minnesota take on ice when they are three to four years old, and they skate until the age when their legs couldn't handle it anymore, possibly at 60 to 70-some years old. I have seen a 2-year-old boy in hockey outfits playing hockey with his dad. To me, it's almost like an entitlement.
I'm a transplant and I won't be like those who pick up a hockey stick and turn into hockey stars in a pickup game, but my sheer joy to land the blades on ice is no less than their thrills on body-checking while handling a stick. And sometimes I'm daydreaming while on smooth ice, and "bong".....
"STAY OFF MY WAY!" BOOM (crash)! #@&^*!
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