My friend Zach and I decided to head out the other night after a church function and chase a particular photo that he’d had in mind for some time: the atrium of the newly remodeled Heritage Center / State Museum with the capitol behind it.  He took the near approach, and I took the far, actually hiking across State Street to the hillside adjacent to the former Baptist home.

I wanted to get the geometry just right, where the size of the Atrium lined up closely with the apparent size of the capitol.  This choice allowed a shot where the capitol appears to sprout from the glass of the foreground building.  I only wanted them close enough to provide the needed effect – I didn’t want them exactly the same, otherwise that effect would be blown.

Zach’s idea of waiting for blue light in the sky behind was brilliant.  Particularly cool was the variety of light we had on the horizon due to the waning sunset and various things in the atmosphere.  I juiced the color a little bit, but not much.  Then, with dozens of fresh mosquito bites, it was time to head home for more “new homeowner” stuff.

It was time…my fellas and I ran out to Fort Lincoln to grab our annual Parks Pass for the truck, then took some time to run around the blockhouses for a bit.  I remember when they were so little I had to closely guard them as they went up the steep ladder to the roof.  Those days are long gone.  As they enjoyed their independence, I looked out one of the ports on the side of the blockhouse and caught this view.  Thankfully I had a camera handy so I could share!

Driving on Divide Avenue yesterday I noticed people swerving around an obstruction in the road.  I rolled up on it myself and noticed that the problem was one of those “bike lane” markings protruding into the driving lane, freshly painted and marked with a cone.  I think these are a bad idea in the first place, but they’re a real head-scratcher when found in places like this.

Aside from mixing bike traffic with motor vehicle traffic in an unsafe manner, these markings are often placed in areas where that merging can’t possible work well.  Case in point: this is a hundred feet or so down the road from the previous photo.  Traffic on Divide is pushed into two lanes to provide a left turn lane at 4th Street.  Where’s the room for the cyclist here?  This bottleneck seems dangerous to me.

If people have to cross the center line to get around the cone and paint, are they going to do the same to avoid a cyclist?  That’s better than hitting the guy on the bike, sure…but still not a desirable result on a busy street.

This is just one more example of how some of the starry-eyed “progressive” ideas of our community leaders don’t always translate into real world solutions.  If I find myself biking this area, I’ll just stay on the sidewalk, thanks.

While poking around in the trees, I came upon a picnic table which hadn’t seen a lot of love lately.  While the area nearby had been slightly maintained over the years, the immediate vicinity of this table clearly had not.  It had allowed some hearty young saplings the opportunity to reach toward the sky, regardless of what obstacle loomed overhead.  What made this noteworthy, however, was viewed from the other side of the table.

Yes, I know.  It looks like a butt.  This tree looks like it’s sitting on the edge of the board.  I saw it, others I know saw it, even my little kids saw it.  Must be the groove in the middle.  I’m not going to the point of wondering if it’s an ash tree, though.  Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

While out roaming east of town I came past this familiar landmark, an old stump in the middle of what Minnesotans would call a Lake.  It reminds me of some sort of medieval fortress or Middle Earth citadel, which prompted me to watch a little bit of Lord of the Rings last night.

I’m nothing if not curious. A friend once pointed that out as my defining quality. Naturally, I was intrigued when I came upon these trucks spraying what looks like motor oil (but clearly isn’t) all over the roads. I’ve seen it multiple times, and I have emailed Public Works to find out what it is. I’ll post their reply here.

This is some ugly stuff, but certainly it must have a legitimate purpose. We don’t have some sinister Bond villain running the Public Works department. Friends and I have surmised that it may be to neutralize the salt applied to the roads over winter (don’t get me started on that).  They aren’t being followed by street sweepers, so it’s not like they’re doing a presoak or anything.

That reminds me.  Since I followed this truck in on Highway 10 and all the way up 26th, I’ve got some brown gunk to wash off my truck. Time to get some quarters…