My landlord came around a week or so back with the new lease (has a year gone already?!) and had his mother in tow. She was here visiting to do some gardening for him! A couple of beers later and I walked home with them and returned with a lovely bunch of peonies. Hadn't seen them before moving here. Such a beautiful flower with a lovely scent. They're pretty popular around the neighbourhood.
Whilst James was here, we went and saw the Body Worlds exhibition at the Science Center. Not sure what I thought of it ... strange combination of art and science. After seeing a few 'bodies' I forgot that they were once living! The rest of the museum had some fantastic permanent exhibits and a great kids section where you could experiment with sound, wave patterns (Bill P and Ross Lamb would get a kick out of this), weather etc. Went to the Mill City Museum in the afternoon but decided against going in - info overload. Saw the Da Vinci Code on Saturday night. It was pretty good from an action point of view.
It was great to catch up with James - having a friend visit makes me realise how much I miss everyone and especially the Australian sensibility.
Friday 9 June 2006 - James Turnbull arrived for the weekend 'on his way' to Boston (visiting me meant LA - Minneapolis - LA - Boston). So I co-opted Steve from work to take us to a baseball game. He suggested an outdoor game for a more authentic experience. I discovered that tailgating has a different meaning in the US ... pre-game bbq'ing from the back of your car in the carpark. Opted for the hot dogs and cheese curds due to absence of bbq. The rapidly declining temperature meant that only one beer was consumed and my hands were shaking so much from the cold that I was in danger of burning myself with the hot coffee. Crowd - 5,563 ... temperature around 54 degrees (12 C).
Saturday 3 June 2006 - Went to the 'Canine Carnival' with Rina. A friend of hers is the Director there. It's basically a wolf sanctuary (though they have various other creatures there too). Decided against taking Fin and Tutu - but there were plenty of other dogs there. Saw some 'cat herding' and also a lady with an assisted living dog - lovely retriever.
Friday 2 June 2006 - As part of the local community center's 'ice-cream social', the 'witch's tower' was open. It used to be a water tower and normally you can't climb it - so I made the most of the opportunity!
For those of you avidly following my mid-west adventures, you'll be glad to know that part II was pretty uneventful. I arrived at work on Tuesday morning and retrieved a phone message from the thin-lipped woman which was fairly subdued, requesting I fax through Fin's rabies certification. A very reasonable request, with which I complied. I then received a phone call to thank me. A short conversation ensued, giving a little context to part I. The fluffy rat (puppy) did not belong to the woman and, apparently its sibling had been 'taken' by an eagle a couple of weeks before - so she was duly a little freaked out by Fin's eagle-esque activities.
