Day 262 of Photo 365 is great architecture and great sushi in downtown Saint Paul.
Author Archives: Colleen McGuire
Scurry, scurry
Scurry here, scurry there. That seems to be my new pace during the work week, and especially on day 261 of Photo 365.
What helps you slow down?
Preseason hockey
Day 260 of Photo 365 was the first game of the preseason for the Minnesota Wild. The first game is always fun to watch. The young kids are trying to make the team so they literally fight, scratch, crawl to impress the coach. It’s a little surreal to be back in a coat and hat already, but I live in Minnesota, right? Go Wild!
Squeaky cheese
My freshman college roommate was from Wausau, Wisconsin, and she was the first person to introduce me to the small cheese nuggets known as cheese curds. “You know they are fresh if they squeak when you chew them,” she told me. And she was right.
Day 259 of Photo 365 is merely a documentary snapshot. At a gas station stop today in nowhere Wisconsin, I was struck by the cheese curd case. A nearly 20 year resident of the North has made cheese curds are just another snack at gas stations to me. But the girl who was born and raised in Kansas remembered that squeaky cheese doesn’t exist in the Great Plains. It was one of those moments that made me realize that I still have two homes in my head.
Frank Lloyd Wright
This morning we stopped at Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio in Oak Park since we were in the neighborhood. It’s been a good 20 years since I’ve been in this area, and I had forgotten that Mr. Wright built many homes around the blocks that surround his original house. Even in abstract, you can appreciate his fine lines.
This is day 258 of Photo 365.
Riot Fest
Riot Fest in Chicago has some of the best people watching I’ve experienced. Mohawks rule. On others – not me.
This is day 257 of Photo 365.
On the road again
Today on day 256 of Photo 365 we hit the road from Minnesota for Chicago and a weekend long music festival. The roads in Wisconsin were particularly lovely today.
Patti Smith
Tonight was Station to Station at the Saint Paul Union Depot, a three week roaming art and music festival, stopping at nine train stations from New York to San Francisco. The fact that Lowertown Saint Paul was included on the list was pretty cool. The fact that Patti Smith was headlining was awesome.
While walking around the Depot checking out the art, I decided to quickly ask a security guard if I could move back and forth between the staging area and the art once they scanned my ticket. He told me I needed to get a wristband in the next line, and pointed out where I needed to go. I swung around – and nearly knocked into Patti Smith. (Scream – faint – OMG) Looking one of your heroes in the eye can send you to your knees. She smiled politely and I acted as cool as I could, excusing myself and moving on.
Ms. Smith put on an awe-inspiring show, and the crowd was very much into her performance on day 255 of Photo 365.
Cathedral abstract
I will gently argue with anyone that the Cathedral of Saint Paul rivals many structures of worship in Europe. And she’s even beautiful at night, on day 254 of Photo 365.
Lowertown artist in permanent residence
Ta-coumba Aiken is an iconic Lowertown artist, known most recently for the Forever Saint Paul Lite Brite project, but also known for his large scale paintings, building murals and other public art pieces that are scattered throughout the city.
Minnesota Originals did a fascinating feature on Ta-coumba in 2011 that captures his love, spirit and sense of community. In this video you will see a quick glimpse of this mural, which overlooks a parking lot on 9th Street in downtown Saint Paul.
The women reaching up to a streaky dusk sky this evening felt warm and inviting, very much like Ta-coumba’s personality.
This is day 253 of Photo 365.
Travel Snapshots 