Playtime for Polar Bears and Sled Dogs?

You read it right. The two species demonstrated all the behaviors and postures associated with playing together, according to photographer Norbert Rosing, who captured images of polar bears romping with sled dogs every night for a week. Check out the audio slide-show -- be sure to turn your speakers on!

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.