Parallel worlds and creative foundations
I became aware that there was an old world existing parallel to the present when I was about eight. We’d just moved into a brand new house built on land that not ten years earlier had belonged to a larger estate. The massive old house…
Farewell Minneapolis Avenue
My grandparents are old—in their 90s—and it is too dangerous for them to stay in this place with steep stairways and tiny spaces. So they are going to move in one month. I realized that I was putting off the visit because I knew that…
Heidelberg at dusk.
Heidelberg, Germany. + Ontario and other places visualized. (via designworklife.com)
Wandering around in the dark through tiny German villages.
Leutershausen, Germany. Have been taking a lot of night walks these last days. Loving the way the snow illuminates the darkness. + Photo and ephemera collections from Lambert.
Blizzard
This weekend, while Berlin was being blessed with a sloppy melt, Minneapolis had an old-fashioned blizzard; 24 in (61 cm) by the time it was over.
Training
Mound, Minnesota circa 1950 This is how we roll where I come from; let the babes loose in the snow and let them figure it out. And yet despite my lifelong training, I almost managed to break my head last night on the Berlin sidewalks….
New sheriffs in town
Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, 1952 I saw a ghost from my balcony on Friday evening. Dusk was underway and no one was out—except for one really short, old-fashioned ghost (you know, the huge white sheet with cutout eye holes kind). The ghost was kicking its way…
Out at the lake
Heidelberg
Before there were digital cameras, I lived in Heidelberg. I took black and white photos and developed everything in the darkroom, and I was just learning to speak German. These last few days have been interesting; seeing the same place with older eyes (and a…
Gramma on her way to Sweden, 1947.
Wold-Chamberlain Airport (now Minneapolis/St Paul International), 1947 My great grandmother was Swedish. In about 1912, she left Sweden with her 6 year old son (who is still alive) and came to the United States. According to my grandmother, her English was never very good. She…
The path to the lake.
Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota Delightful characters in this photo, especially my great aunt Millie, who always seems to be off in her own world. But what strikes me most about this image is the setting — it is the lake that I grew up on. The…
1940s Lake Party
Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota Let’s see…what do we have here? + Dancing in the backyard on a summer night + Giggling in the grass + A back porch and a wicker sofa + A late night game of cards + A GAL IN A TREE I…