travels with toby

It’s been a fairly busy year and once again I’m doing my year-end recap. In looking back at my photos it appears the year started in March as I didn’t take many photos in January and February. If Como Park had their annual orchid show in January, I did not go. What? I’m thinking that it didn’t happen or I’d have gone. I looked it up and it did happen so I’m not sure why I didn’t go. I’ll have to ensure I go in January 2024.

In March we visited The American Swedish Institute. It’s been on my list for a very long time and I’m so happy to have visited this old mansion in Minneapolis. We enjoyed wandering around the many ornately decorated rooms and also enjoyed lunch at their cafe.

We endured a storm with wet, heavy snow the last day of March. After I awakened on April 1 to the scene of tree branches touching the ground, I heard a loud noise that sounded like something breaking. I happened to be looking out my living room window and saw my crabapple tree with a huge crack. The noise was my crabapple tree breaking. Towards the end of winter last year I got involved in some photo challenges. One was about trees so I included an homage to my poor crabapple tree that had to removed because of that huge crack. I’m still mourning that tree. We did plant another crabapple but it’s going to take years before it’s as big as our previous tree.

On a warm spring day hubby and I drove around Minneapolis so that I could photograph urban art. I had been jotting down locations over the years as I happened upon them. I created a route and we followed it more or less and also found more art to photograph en route. It was such a fun day! I had intended to do the same for St. Paul, alas, I never got to it. Perhaps next spring.

In May my mother-in-law was laid to rest. The night before her burial four of us were at the family cabin and I could see that a nice sunset was materializing. But I was so surprised when I got down to the shore to see a heart-shaped pink cloud in the sky with an accompanying reflection in the water. We were all so amazed at this sight as none of us had ever seen a heart-shaped cloud. We all felt that Joyce was smiling down on us and she so loved sunsets at the cabin. My sister-in-law loved the photo so much that she created a larger photo on a framed canvas-type material and displayed it at Joyce’s memorial in July.

I’m always taking photos of flowers and nature scenes during spring, summer and fall and I have a few posts for each season. Here’s a small gallery of some of those photos.

We took another trip to Itasca to see the gorgeous Showy Lady’s Slippers at the end of June. Then a week later my daughter and I attended my nephew’s wedding in the D.C. area. We had one day to ourselves before the festivities began so we did a quick trip to D.C. We went to the U.S. Botanic Garden and the Portrait Gallery, with a lunch at Zaytinya in between. We had so much fun! The wedding was beautiful and it was a love-filled day with much joy.

Later in July I visited Como Park to see and photograph the lovely water lilies outside the conservatory. I love all the bright, bold colors of these beautiful flowers. In August we had the second annual friends reunion and another great time was had by all. While our friends were here from California(they were part of the friends reunion) we took them to the Minnesota State Fair and everyone had a great time.

Every fall I enjoy photographing the lovely colors and this year included a couple of trips to state parks. I had intended to create a post of at least one of those trips, alas, it didn’t happen. Instead, included below are some photos of those trips.

I joined the University of Minnesota Retirees Association (UMRA) a while ago but this was the year I finally got involved in a couple of groups, the hiking club and the photography club. I’ve met some nice people and enjoyed many conversations while hiking with others in the hiking club. I went on a few hikes along the Mississippi River, to Minnehaha Falls, along the Three Rivers Dakota Rail Regional Trail and a hike around Pleasant Lake located in the heart of North Oaks. I have one picture of my first hike with the group as it just happened that I offered my phone for the photo. And I have one good photo of the hike to Minnehaha Falls.

2023 was the year I decided I was going to read more. I found a group of readers here on WordPress and joined in and posted a couple of times. But then summer came and I didn’t make time to create more posts of my reading, though the reading did continue. I thought I would share all the books I read this year with a 1-5 rating for each.

The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama, 3
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak, 5
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, 3
Maus 1 by Art Spiegelman, 5
Maus 2 by Art Spiegelman, 5
March 2 by John Lewis, 4
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, 4
The Muse by Jessie Burton, 5
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich, 5
This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel, 4
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich, 3
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, 5
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, 4
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, 4
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, 4
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson, 4
Kindred by Octavia Butler, 4
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, 4
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, 4
The Hare With the Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal, 5
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, 3
While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams, 5
Rogue Justice by Stacey Abrams, 5
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, 5
The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich, 3
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, 5
The Love of a Dog by Jo Prouty, 5
The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell, 5

Finally some holiday photos.

I hope you enjoyed my galleries of photos from 2023. I leave you with a beautiful sunrise from my backyard. This is the most snow we’ve had so far and I am loving that!! Happy new year!