Local

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I had grand intentions of driving all over town today. But I didn't want to fight the snow traffic. I did go down to my local coffee shop.

*edit: Later on this night, I braved the snow and went to my hockey game. I SCORED A GOAL! I was so excited I didn't take a picture.

Winter weekend

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Joey and Norah. Learning to be good Minnesotans.

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126 years ago, a New York reporter declared Minnesota "another Siberia, unfit for human habitation." The citizens in St. Paul essentially said, "Screw you," and began a winter carnival the following year.

Clearing the ice

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A little girls hockey for me tonight.

Murder

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Crows wintering in Elliot Park. The trees are full of them.

Back Alley

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It feels all turn-of-the-century back here. My favorite alley in Minneapolis.

Hanging On

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Movie day

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I had a knitting and movie day with Jannie. The boys have nap time and we have movie time. An excellent way to spend a Monday.

Pond Hockey

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"The way hockey was meant to be played."

Lake Nokomis gets visited every year by skaters hoping to win the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships. In previous years, the organizers have had to cancel games due to warm weather. Not a problem this year. The 2000 skaters got three days worth of chilly weather.

The Twins and Des Moines

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I started Friday in front of the capitol building in St. Paul and ended it out behind the capitol building in Des Moines.

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Saturday I had some time between shoots to catch a little sunset light near downtown Minneapolis.

Frigid

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-5. I think 'frigid' is appropriate. Bone chilling? Bitterly cold? Yep.

Gigantic

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At present, I'm sitting at my computer wrapped in a down comforter. It is cold outside. At my 10 o'clock live shot it was -2 air temp. Chilly. My legs are still cold (hence the blanket). All that said, I still decided that tonight was a perfect night to try and shoot the moon. It was enormous in the sky, looming low on the horizon and full. This was tougher than I thought it would be. Partly because I couldn't feel my fingers. I'll have to give it another try in July.

Mom on facebook

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Taught my mom how to use facebook today. And how to make a e-mail signature. You should probably go to facebook right now and 'like' her fanpage. She's learning this computer stuff pretty well. She has even posted a video to youtube. Yes, she really is that awesome.

Good night

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Chinese dinner with friends followed by an hour of kicking ass at hockey.

That's a good Monday.

Make time

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On Tuesday, my friend Alison wrote about finding a heart - "a little bit of a smile hiding somewhere in your day." The idea stuck with me.

On Thursday, while driving to St. Paul I saw one. A big heart on a pedestrian overpass right over eastbound 94. I couldn't stop, but the image stuck with me.

Today, I made the time to stop.

Moon and Sunset

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Visitor

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It's cold and never seems to stop snowing, but there are many things I am enjoying about this winter. One is seeing all the animal tracks in my yard. I never knew I had so many rabbits. Their tracks crisscross my backyard. Today I was visited by a cat. He came from my neighbor's and followed the shoveled path around my house to the garage.

St. Paul

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View of downtown St. Paul from Mounds Park. As far as twins go, Minneapolis and St. Paul are definitely fraternal twins.

Winter lunch

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What an odd project I have undertaken. I am even seeing photos in my lunch. This delicious soup is my first attempt at chicken wild rice soup. So good. Apparently I am a culinary genius. I had no idea.

Damn. This soup is good. A perfect winter lunch.

Car Wash

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The act of washing one's car in the middle of winter is essentially futile. My car was covered in brown muck and road salt. I washed it. I drove home and it was covered in brown muck and road salt. But it made me feel better.

Birthday

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It may be her birthday, but Jannie still has to chase after her two-year-old twins. Watching her has taught me so much about parenthood. When I have kids, I hope to do as good a job as she does.

Icefeeshorama

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My friend organizes a grand ice fishing adventure every year. This was the 10th anniversary Icefeeshorama and my 4th time attending. It is more about eating, drinking and socializing than fishing, but I did put a hook in the water. I also played around with some long exposures. You can't ignore stars like this.

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Icefeeshorama, the next morning. I took some lovely photos of the sunrise on the ice, but I thought this was more appropriate. We started "-orama-ing" at 11 on Saturday, and didn't slow down until about 1am. I slept in a sleeping bag on a wooden board with a plastic cushion about a foot above my fishing hole. Comfy. Woke up around 8, collected my belongings and drove myself back south. Feeling good, but tired. Off to work!

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I got new tires today and spent my waiting time at Diamonds Coffee Shop nearby. I walked a couple blocks and lingered just a bit to get a couple photos I like quite a bit. I'm going to have to make a trip to have breakfast at this tiny diner. It has a ton of character.

I wish I hadn't have left my hat at home. The cold today was rough. The wind...

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Ever go to your parents house to get your ice fishing pole and come away with a car load of your old junk?

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Bye, Christmas. See you around day 334.

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Oh, Hello there.

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Rewarded. I now carry my camera everywhere and "listen to the messages" (thanks, Layne). Driving home from the grocery store I passed the parkway, looked down the row of trees and something told me to stop. I did. A little bit of time and patience gave me this.

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Book club morning. Coffee, clementines, egg bake, good friends and good conversation.

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Hello 2011. I wish I didn't have this cold. My head hurts, my nose is plugged and I have a persistant cough. But I'm eating mac and cheese and am waiting on a pot pie, so things are looking up.

I went to work today. I went home early. Before I left, I had a chance to hop outside and take a photo. I went out around sunset when I felt not completely terrible. There is an alley behind our building that I think is the most interesting alley in town. I've always told myself that I was going to get out there and explore, but I haven't. One reason I have undertaken this project is to stop telling myself to do, but instead, to go. Do. Get out there and explore.

I probably shouldn't have gone outside at all today. I wish this photo could convey the cold and wind that I felt while taking it. Time to curl up on the couch with the pot pie, some tea, and a cheesy romantic comedy.

Bring it on, 2011.