The Pepper Harvest

I'd been looking forward to harvesting our "Red Beauty" bell peppers for a while, and decided recently that the time had come!

Unfortunately, a caterpillar decided to munch on this inside of this one. Ewww.

The others looked lovely, so I sliced them and (along with some sliced onions) tossed them in olive oil and salt to get them ready for the grill.

I figured they'd be a perfect compliment to some steaks and mushrooms.

The finished product looked great...

... and the taste?

Meh.

They were perfectly fine, but nothing special. This was my first foray into pepper gardening, so I was really surprised to discover that home-grown peppers taste exactly the same as store-bought peppers. (The complete opposite seems to be true of tomatoes.) And while I like the idea of growing the food I eat, our in-the-city backyard has pretty limited growing space for something that tastes the same as store-bought.

So as I review this year's blog postings six months from now to plan my 2008 garden, note to self: Forget the peppers and devote the space to something more interesting.

Enjoying the Evenings

At the start of September, the Star Tribune reported that we'll lose one hour and twenty-three minutes of daylight this month. I'll be honest, that makes me a little nervous. It's really disconcerting to think about the long, dark Minnesota winter, no matter how much I love the snow. So we'll try to make the summer last as long as possible by enjoying our favorite room -- the backyard patio -- even in the dark.

Charlotte and the Sunflowers

Charlotte has been turning up in assorted spots lately (perhaps she realized that George wasn't the right place for her?), but none so often as the corner of our driveway near the Awesome NeighborsTM garage. One recent evening, we found her sitting contentedly (okay, I'm anthropomorphizing) in the center of her web, which was strung between the garage and the sunflowers that Awesome NeighborTM Sarah planted.

In addition to providing a great photo-op, this location suits me a little better, as I'm less likely to stroll right into her web.

On a semi-related note, I finally watched the 2006 film version of "Charlotte's Web." I was sick on the couch for a couple of days, and it seemed like a nice "sick-day" kind of a movie. I went in with pretty low expectations, because a) I realize that, for me, nothing will live up to the book, and 2) Julia Roberts was the voice of Charlotte (what exactly was the logic there?). And it was fine. Very well made, but not terribly moving. No surprise there.

What was a surprise? How very very unpleasant it was to see Charlotte for so much of the film. A spider's face is fricken' creepy, I don't care how nurturing said spider is supposed to be. The nice thing about the book is that, with the exception of Garth William's few illustrations (all delightful and subtle, like this one on the book's cover), your imagination supplies the visuals. And chances are, your imagination is not going to zoom in for a tight shot on what is, let's face it, not a very snuggly creature. The movie, on the other hand, makes sure that Charlotte's face -- including multiple pairs of black beady eyes, in all their detailed CGI glory -- is right up in your face. (The many close-up shots of the rat weren't much better, although Steve Buscemi does terrific voice work as usual.) So I think I'll stick to the audiobook, wherein I can enjoy the wonderful characters without being face-to-face with them.

The Bridge, a Month Later

A couple of weeks ago, M and I took a walk across the newly reopened 10th Avenue Bridge near downtown. This was the nearest bridge to the I-35W bridge and was closed off (then opened again, then re-closed again) to "protect the dignity of the victims." I think the veracity and wisdom of that rationale are both debatable, but about a month after the collapse, the 10th Avenue Bridge was re-opened for good, with a dedicated lane for pedestrian observers.

I wasn't sure whether I wanted to see the wreckage, but I'm glad I did. Everyone processes these kinds of events differently, of course, but it seems helpful to be able to see the reality for oneself. What a reality it is, though. So sad.

Baby Jake Hosts a Twins Outing

This is Baby Jake.
In a roundabout way, Jake got me my current consulting gig. His mom, Laura N. (aka "L1" because we have quite a few Lauras in the office -- I'm L2), is a dear friend I've known from work for years. She works for the business line I'm now contracting for (let's call it "BCS") and hired me back in January to cover for her maternity leave. We shared her office for about two weeks right before Jake was born to get me up to speed on projects for her BCS clients , so I feel like I've known him for a while. :)

Flashforward a couple of months: L1's getting ready to come back to work, and my now-boss (best boss ever!) gives me a call to ask whether I was interested in renewing my contract in a different capacity: BCS communications, training and support stuff related to our upcoming merger with another division of our parent company. I was reluctant at first (I really am trying to move away from doing Corp Comm stuff), but I wanted another gig and loved the BCS folks that I got to know while covering for L1. Ultimately, I decided that sometimes what you do at work is sometimes less important that who you're working with, so I accepted and have been really happy that I did. (Granted, it's been a bit of a bumpy ride, but that's what happens pre-merger, right?)

Flashforward a few more months: L1 was the recipient of the veryveryvery good BCS Twins tickets (second row behind the dugout!) for a Labor Day weekend game and invited M and I to join her, her husband and Baby Jake. It was Jake's first time to the Dome and he did great.

In contrast to the Twins' recent lackluster performances, it was a great game. Honestly, though, from these seats, a monster truck rally would probably be interesting. :) Here's Mr. Silva, who did not disgrace himself on the mound that day.
Ladies and gentlemen: my boyfriend!

DJ Cuddles steps up to the plate. I'm wishing I had a photo of the diving catch (he truly went ass over teakettle and came up with the ball) from later in the game -- it was great!

Final score: 6-4 Twins!

Sweetcheeks shares a laugh with manager Gardy. (Can you tell how awesome these seats were? Hint: There's no zoom on that photo.)

Immediately following the game, the grounds crew started the tear-down in advance of a Gopher (that's the U of M, for all y'all non-MNers) football game that night. It was kind of strange to watch them rip up the mound dirt, given that it's piled on top of astroturf.

Thanks a bunch, Jake and L1! :)

An Addie Animal Adventure

A few years back, everyone we knew was getting married. (One summer in the late 90s, we were invited to eleven weddings.) Now, most everyone we know seems to be having kids, and that's great fun for us. It's such a kick to hang out with the Little Cowboy, the Wests' kids (how could I not adore three-year-old Jacob, who shows me where the bunnies hide in his backyard and tells me my shoes are pretty?), and the soon-to-appear-here Baby Jake -- not only because other people's kids are lots of fun, but it's also really nice to get practice being "cool Aunt Laura" since I don't see Addie very often. And, as it turns out, while we were zoo-ing it up over the weekend, Addie was having her own animal encounter. :) Thanks for posting, Mike!

Butterflies at the Zoo

As much as I loved seeing Emmet and the prairie dogs during our recent zoo excursion, my favorite exhibit was the butterfly garden. It's only open for a few months out of the year, and this was the first time I'd been there. I think I could have stayed all day!

Not only were there a ton of butterflies, but the colors in the garden were stunning.

The Zoo with the Little Cowboy

What a great Labor Day weekend! It was the perfect mix of fun activities, chilling out, and being productive. Among the highlights was hitting the Minnesota Zoo with our friends Mel and Bry, and their son, Wyatt -- aka (as far as I'm concerned) the Little Cowboy.

Mel is a dear friend of M's from his Woodbury High days, and she and I began our friendship a over a lunch-hour jaunt to Marshall Field's in search of dresses to wear to another high school friend's wedding. We've become really close with Bry as well, who was finishing law school around the time that M was starting it. They've got a really cool and laid-back parenting style, and the Cowboy's just a ton of fun. Here he is with Mel as we're heading into the zoo.


Of course, hitting the zoo means visiting Emmet, who was curled up like a cat for a snooze in a sunny spot.

The gibbons were awake, though ...

... as were the pumas ...

... and the red pandas.

The newly remodeled Minnesota Trail now features lots more space for birds, including bald eagles.

We got a great up-close look at a mama moose with her young 'un.

And the prairie dogs were having a ball! They came right up to the edge of their habitat to greet us.

Here's the Cowboy enjoying some "guck," which is any liquid -- milk, juice, water, you name it.

Oops -- spilled the guck.

His favorite part of the zoo didn't seem to be the animals, but the water misters -- a brilliant idea, especially on a hot day.

All wet!