Mom and I were out for one of our walks the other night and because it was so windy and cold along the lake, we hiked the sandy Park Point trail past the airport and nearly to the end.
We were buffered a little bit from the wind, so it made things much warmer. There is an old lighthouse down at the end that we tried to find, but had to turn around before we would have ended up walking back in the dark. However, we did get to see the perfect sunrise.
Many of my summer memories in Duluth are filled with long days under the sun along the Lester River. Sure, there’s the main park for the picnicing and the grills, “The Deeps” for the cliff jumping and the sun bathing, and the railroad tracks for the more daring river jumps. But, the place I prefer the most is a secret little place up the road a bit where you get waterfalls, a narrow little swimming channel, and a perfect place to catch brook trout and then cook them over a side of the river campfire. All summer long, I’ve been craving a day at this place. I’ve been wanting to lay alongside the river soaking in the sun, with old time friends, with a cooler filled with ice cold Dr. Peppers and some cheese and crackers. Sure enough Tuesday proved to be the day we made that happen. Jaime, Shylan, Caleb, Corbin, and Kenneth and I all spent the entire afternoon enjoying the place and the company. The sun was shining so brightly that it illuminated the sap on the pines along the skyline to look like they were covered in white christmas lights. We found this bush with those helicopter like leaves. We pooled together thousands of them, threw them over the ledge, and watched as them spun themselves to the bottom of the ravine. What a wonderful afternoon!
I call this the eyeball tree.
It is really an interesting site. I think it’s just a regular palm tree, but despite growing up in Florida, I never remember these fruits looking like a cluster of eyeballs.
I took my little nephew over to see the tree and pick one to take home, but he just wanted to sit in the grass and be mezmorized.
There are few memories I have before the age of about three. I can remember some things, but have a hard time dating how old I actually was or whether the memory is something that ever actually happened. But, there are those things as a kid that will remain etched into your album of memories forever… mine involves wearing a little yellow foam life jacket and swinging off a rope swing over the Withlacootchie River. I’m hoping I gave my little nephew one of those moments today when my parents and I took him to the Fire Hall here in Orlando. He loves trucks… big trucks… and fire trucks seem to be getting the bulk of his attention lately. We made him firefighter for a day and gave him a close up view of those big shiny engines. He got to try on the hat, wear the firefighters jacket, sit in the drivers seat, push lots of buttons, hold the big hose, and meet all of the ever so kind firefighters at the station. You could tell he was mesmerized, and if he doesn’t remember it one day, I have plenty of pictures to help.
I’m spending some well needed vacation time down in Florida right now. I’m visiting all of my Florida family and just today got to visit my best friend of 17 years (since we were 10 years old), Amber Acocelli (Now Amber Dedmon).
She, her mom, and little sister Brittany and I got to get some delicious Mexican at this restaurant today, we spent some time playing with now 7-month old Rylan Dedmon, we went to Linda’s (now Dr. Acocelli’s) high school classroom and played with the new smartboard and watched her paint.
Here’s some pics from our visit:
We live in a world with varying cultures and customs. As I grow older and expand my horizons, I realize that we (As Americans) are so very sheltered in many ways. What I grew up thinking as the way things are supposed to be or what is “normal” is so often challenged as I read the headlines and learn more about different ways of life. Here’s a perfect example…
Reuters Photo
While our presidential candidates are busy playing political adds and recruiting folks to go knocking on neighbors doors and get voters, a Bolivian President is busy employing dozens of witch doctors who are spending their campaign efforts burning llama fetuses for good luck. President Evo Morales is hoping it will help to survive the results of a recent recall vote. In the “Witch’s Market” they set fire to the dried fetuses and wax trinkets.
It’s an offering they believe promises luck in work and love. I guess I’ve been doing it all wrong. That must be why I’m still single… I’ve been neglecting to burn the dried llama fetus in the garage. I was going to sell it on e-bay, but I guess now I’ll have to conjure up some mojo! 
Look what I found in the garden… and no I wasn’t on acid!
I must admit, IHOP is one of my favorite places to eat.I LOVE pancakes and being that IHOP stands for International House of Pancakes, it’s like being in heaven for me. I thought the Twin Ports were finally going to get an IHOP when I read the headlines of the local paper and saw “IHOP Comes to Superior,” only to find out that this IHOP was the International House of PRAYER. Obviously, someone wasn’t listening to my prayers that we get a branch of the famed little restaurant for ourselves. Everytime I’m in Minneapolis, I look to go to an IHOP, but even with directions, I’ve only managed to find one once. My mom knows how much I love pancakes, and since we can never find an IHOP she brought IHOP to me.
With fresh strawberries we had picked about a week early, she made a stick and sweet strawberry topping/syrup, and put those in between and atop of a stack of freshly made pancakes and then topped it off with a ton of whipped cream! Mmmmmmmm! I love my pancakes and I love my mom!
Pancakes A: 
Pancakes B:
See if you can tell which ones are on the menu?
Answer:
A: Made with sliced fresh banana, and crowned with cool strawberry topping with more bananans and whipped topping by IHOP.
B: Made with love by mom.
Look at us lovely ladies in red! We put the empower in the powersuits.
I met a friend down in Canal Park the other day for some coffee and the traffic to get there was UNBELIEVABLE! You couldn’t go more than a block in 5 minutes. Once through the traffic, it became obvious why Duluthians were coming out of the woodwork. They were all flocking to the bayfront to welcome a fleet of tall ships arriving in the harbor.
Watching them arrive, navigating through the crowds of bystanders, waiting in lines leading to nowhere that resembled lines for a ride at Disney was quite the excitement for anyone in Canal Park. What was more exiting was hearing the onboard cannons exploding. It was quite a shock though because, you know, cannons going off in the harbor isn’t an everyday event. The beautiful afternoon with blue skies and a warm gentle breeze was topped off with a long stroll down the lakewalk. While the weather was fantastic, the company I had was even better!
Later that evening, I came back to Canal Park to enjoy what became a warm evening. That’s a rare thing in Canal Park that after the sun goes down things remain warm. Lake Superior’s cool air usually settles in and changes things. While sitting on the veranda outside Amazing Grace, and watching breakdancers on the corner, a new fleet arrived… a slew of Brits. They were in period costumes and even had the perfect english accent. It took me back in time. Click below to see the video:
