With the end of March comes the end of our first six months as residents of Nicollet Island, and it's hard to believe that so time has flown by. This weekend was so busy that there was little time for me to wander the island in search of inspiration, and it was only today (Monday), while out for a walk on the Central Avenue Bridge, inspiration presented itself. It appears our island spirit has spoken once more, and his message for the month of April is both to INSPIRE all who behold his sign from the bridge--and a call for those beholders, in turn, to go and inspire others.
Naturally, I zoomed in for a closer shot. The first thing to strike me was the colors this time around: Minnesota Vikings colors, something that may well inspire many locals to start counting the weeks until football season returns. For those new to the blog, this appears to be a sheet of plywood marooned on the southeastern shore of the island, upon which someone has painted a different message for the month of February, March, and now April. The sign is pretty much only visible while walking across the Central Avenue Bridge.The weekend was a busy one, with a great deal of time spent off the island rather than on. But then, my name is not Gilligan, and just because I live on an island doesn't mean I lead an insular existence. My lovely companion and I enjoyed a couple of dinners at restaurants visited for the first time, both of which we found wonderful.
Here is the first, where I ordered the duck, with some mild misgivings when thinking of all the feathered friends I walk amongst regularly on the island. Nevertheless, I put my conscience aside and indulged wholeheartedly, much to my epicurean delight. If you're in Minneapolis, you could do worse than have a meal at this place, found on 13th Ave. NE right off University and next to the 331 Club. The next day, after seeing a fantastic film called 'We Have A Pope' at our local Talk Cinema event, we tried another new place.
This place, found in the charming Linden Hills area, was called Tilia. I had some sort of pork concoction which was killer! Everything was delicious and we even made new friends over dinner (the couple at the next table). All of which was leading up the 5K race I was signed up to run on Sunday morning inside the Metrodome.
That's right, this is the place! Too worried about risking a parking ticket, I walked over the Stone Arch Bridge to the Metrodome on Sunday morning when it was rather cold and blustery, in only my shorts and t-shirt. Not wise. There, I entered Gate D and got my number for the World Without Genocide 5K.It was pretty cool running around inside the Metrodome--apparently 8¼ laps equals 5K. I had a few cheering sections that supplied encouragement whenever I passed them, and I somehow managed to finish in 27:30 which was very good for me. Still, it was something of a Pyrrhic victory, with my calves hurting for the rest of the day. I also had drank strong coffee the night before (another real smart move), so was awake half the night, and meanwhile hadn't eaten anything since our mid-afternoon meal at Tilia. Hence, when I got home from the race feeling very cold from the walk, I immediately had another big cup of coffee (my 3rd smart move). Within an hour, I was seeing spots and feeling very disoriented. It got so bad I couldn't see anything that was right in front of me. Fortunately, this went away after about ... hmmm, an hour? Very freaky.
After eating something I felt a lot better, just in time for a visit from a 9-year resident of the island who is in charge of the resident directory (who knew such a thing existed?). We had exchanged a few emails and he had promised to drop by to help me with a computer problem. We ended up chatting for quite some time, as he filled us in on a lot of island lore, and it was great to make yet another friend on the island.
Life flows on, in and around us—though sometimes it ebbs as well, leaving little time in which to stuff all of our living.
D.E.S.
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