Author Archives: Laurie Swenson

Carnivals: Always more fun with kids

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This looks like happiness to me. I think that face is worth the seven bucks for the kid bungee ride at the Bemidji Jaycees Water Carnival.

That’s my 10-year-old granddaughter, who just missed Monday’s storm when she went home with her mom (my daughter had a windshield wiper ripped off by the wind on the trip home). Jada had an armband for the rides Sunday, and on Monday we did the bungee rides and a few carnival games.

Whee! I bet that is a blast.

This is always one of her favorite rides:

And who doesn’t like bumper cars?

I haven’t done this since I was a kid myself. If carnivals had more rides like bumper cars and Ferris wheels (why don’t I see many Ferris wheels anymore at small carnivals?), I might buy an armband myself.

I’m not much for rides, though. My best friend in high school used to drag me on the Tilt-A-Whirl over and over, which just made me dizzy, and I hate scary rides. The Scrambler is about as scary as I go, and that’s pretty tame even by Jada’s standards.

One ride that makes the armband easily pay for itself is the giant slide, which kids go down over and over again. They must get a lot of exercise climbing all those steps!

I couldn’t get a very good picture of her in that lane, and she said it was the fastest one. No clue if that was accurate or not; I never saw her in any other lane!

The two little girls below were really cute in their patriotic red, white and blue outfits. I wondered if they had been in the Grand Parade earlier Sunday.

We arrived with minutes to spare for the start of the parade, and we ended up walking way past the Courthouse because Jada wanted to get candy quickly and then move on to the rides. :)

Sunday was miserably hot. One of us carried a big drink of water and the other carried a 2-liter bottle of water that we used to cool off with. At one point, Jada just dumped some over her head. There was a short break in the heat as the sun went behind a little cloud. You can see just how short of a break that was, as that was the only cloud of any size in sight.

That about sums up “I’m hot!”

Despite Monday’s storm, the carnival got back on track for Tuesday and Wednesday, ending with the traditional Fourth of July fireworks display.

I don’t know what happened — maybe they accidentally got the fireworks out of order — but the finale ended up not at the end. After the familiar burst of fireworks, another four or so bursts came along and then the display just ended. It was a little confusing, as I was wondering if the finale was a mini-finale and there was going to be a REALLY big one at the end. :)

 

This burst was one of the “bonus” ones that came at the end.

As usual, the night drew lots of people of all ages, and kids were swinging the light-up swords their parents bought them at the waterfront.

Jack Hittinger, the Pioneers’ new sports reporter, stopped over to watch the fireworks. We were laughing over the little girl behind us who kept saying “That one almost came over here!”

I love fireworks. This is my second display of the year. The first was at the Erskine Water Carnival, which has a super-awesome fireworks display for a town of fewer than 500 people.

I suppose that for many people, the Fourth was not so much a holiday but a day off from paid work to do cleanup work. But I hope those of you who were busy all day still found a little time to see a firework or two.

– Laurie

Thoughts from Bemidji’s harrowing storm

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This tree at Diamond Point Park presents a triangle.

I took a drive through parts of Bemidji today, because I hadn’t had a chance to see much of the effects of Monday night’s storm, which we at the Pioneer experienced as more of giant sheets of water rushing toward the window we were peering through, rather than trees toppling. That night, we were struggling to put a paper together, which we ended up doing in the publisher’s kitchen because we had no power at the Pioneer. I was glad to be a part of that; those seat-of-the-pants adventures that combine camaraderie and accomplishment are rare and memorable.

Then the next day, I did all my interviews downtown, learning more about what happened between the carnival and downtown, and then headed to work to finish out a 14-hour workday, so I didn’t see firsthand the extent of the damages that day either.

So today, I did a little stop-and-go driving, checking out Library Park, Diamond Point Park and Nymore.

Tree snapped off in Library park.

Yes, Diamond Point Park is closed, but that isn’t keeping people out. I saw dozens of people taking photos in the half-hour or so that I was there, some standing on the sidewalk, others walking around in the park, sidestepping the occasional branch. They were quiet, just taking in the devastation.

Seeing tree after tree just tipped over has a sort of science fiction feel.

The bench looks fine, considering the devastation next to it.

I had a nice visit with Chris Christensen and his friend Alisha Barnett. Chris, who grew up here, lives in Rochester, Minn., but also has a place between Bagley and Bemidji. Alisha is from Iowa. They just came into town today, not realizing what they would find, and headed for Diamond Point Park. That was an effective introduction to the storm’s power. Alisha said the most powerful message for her was how the trees were ripped from the ground.

Chris was shooting photos and video and planned to look around for more to see. He has started his own business, Chris Christensen Video Production (www.chrismakesmovies.com). I checked out some of his videos; they are pretty sweet.

This house and yard in Nymore looks like it was really hit hard.

The trip through Nymore was about what I expected, from what I had seen from the photos Monte had shot for the Pioneer, but it’s always different to see it firsthand. Some of the fallen trees are still lying on houses and garages; others have been cut up and stacked on the curb to be hauled away next week.

It made me think not just of damage, but of danger. These trees could have caused injuries, even death. Noemi Aylesworth told me yesterday that branches were stabbed into the ground like arrows, and were so firmly planted they were difficult to pull out.

I talked to Noemi, owner of the Cabin Coffehouse and Cafe, yesterday for my downtown story, Noemi lives in Nymore, as does her son, her daughter and her in-laws. All lost trees Monday night. Noemi said her son had a tree in his house, her daughter had a power line on her garage, and her in-laws had a tree on their garage. That is one busy family now.

Here’s a house in Nymore where trees were spared. The trees obviously had some importance, with one holding a swing and two others a hammock.

Another thing that comes to mind when I see all the trees down is the loss of favorite trees, whether in one’s yard or in a favorite place to go. Roy C. Booth is mourning the loss of his favorite tree in Library Park, a tree he would lean against to read.

Brenda Mayer, who was at the carnival with family when the storm hit, lost 30 trees at her home, including one that crashed into her living room. After they waited out the storm at Toasty Beavers, they drove home. Her dad, who lives next door, had told her, “It’s not good,” but didn’t convey the extent of the damage.

Brenda’s sister, Karen Fuller, showed up later.

“When I got there, she cried,” Karen said. She added that it felt like Brenda done what needed to be done (including calling her insurance agent and leaving a message at 8:15 a.m.) and she could finally relax and let it all out.

At Keg ‘N’ Cork, I chatted with a couple from Fargo, Chris and Ray Rohde, who were staying in a townhouse at a resort on Cass Lake. Unfortunately, they were still without power there, so they came to Bemidji to see Bemidji Woolen Mills.

“It was incredible,” Chris said of the storm. “Nothing I’d ever want to go through again.” At the resort, she said, “everyone pulled together.”

At Lake Bemidji State Park, it was a different story. “We were very, very lucky and had virtually no damage,” Sue Olin, the assistant park manager, told me Tuesday at noon. “We’ve been getting a lot of calls this morning,” she added. “We’re looking forward to a busy holiday.”

DNR foresters and firefighters were busy assessing damages on state forest roads Tuesday, said Greg Vollhaber, assistant area forester. At noon Tuesday, he said 10 foresters and three seasonal firefighters were at work, opening roads as best they could. A helicopter was also assessing damage, he said.

RandiSu Tanem, chairwoman of the water carnival, said a tree had fallen on a trailer owned by the Jaycees. They’ll have to fix it, she said, but right now they can’t afford it.

This afternoon, I stopped by the Pioneer to retrieve the cell phone I’d forgotten there last night when I charged it. While I was visiting with Kayla and Jack, we heard thunder and walked outside to see ominous clouds, but none of the green haze that was around before Monday’s storm. Bemidji, fortunately, was on the edge of it, but I read later on the Pioneer website that today’s storm knocked out power to hundreds of people in the Red Lake, Kelliher, Turtle Lake and Waskish areas.On this final day of the water carnival, the fireworks will cap off the festivities in Bemidji. I have to break with my tradition of going to opening night at the Paul Bunyan Playhouse (which I love, partly because of the after-party where I can visit with actors and other theater lovers), because I also love fireworks.

Best wishes to all those cleaning up from the storm. Be well.

– Laurie

Encourage, inspire yourself

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I left the house and wanted to remember some files off my 120 GB hard drive and onto my 1 TB external drive, so I left myself a note in Notepad on my computer screen:

TRANSFER SOME FILES TONIGHT!!!

Then, for fun, I followed with:

YOU ARE SPECIAL, LAURIE SWENSON.

And then I kept going, but became serious.

By the time I finished, I had a whole list of inspirational phrases.

And by golly, it felt good. (I just wrote “by golly” — I feel like Jack Handy.)

I read through that list a couple of times, and it made me smile a little, in the way one smiles when a friend or colleague or relative says encouraging, helpful, kind words that brighten your day.

It occurred to me that we don’t often look to ourselves for inspiration. Sure, we may do the Loreal thing of saying “I’m worth  it,” but to me that always sounds a bit hollow, like you’re announcing it outside yourself.

If you’re saying it to yourself, I guess it should say “You are” rather than “I am.”

Sure, it gets a little weird, but you know what I’m saying, don’t you?

If you’re talking to yourself, you’re already distancing from yourself a bit to make the comments, so “you” is, well, you, but, like, you2. No, not the band. That’s U2.

Look, it’s basically just being as nice to yourself as you are to the people in life to whom you are closest, the people to whom you would say glowing, encouraging things.  Except with yourself you can be more bold and direct, even over the top, because you won’t look at yourself like you’re weird. Hopefully.

We all need reassurance from time to time — reminders that we are worthy, memorable, even special human beings who bring something good to this world.  We get these from people who respect and care for us, those who make us feel warm and fuzzy and stuff. Then there are books with inspirational phrases, but I never really feel those mean much of anything. They’re not really directed toward anyone — I mean, Robert Mugave could be reading!

But if you’re saying them to yourself — heck, even if you read them to yourself out of the book, or write them down for yourself — there’s more to it. You’re actually jumping on your own bandwagon, but instead of shouting out self-praise from the parade, you’re speaking internally. I like it. It feels good. Even if it’s a little over the top.

My list included some glowing phrases, a friendly push to do more personal writing and to organize my apartment so I can try to become an eBay seller, and a reminder that I should write more blog posts …

BECAUSE YOU ARE INTERESTING AND INSIGHTFUL AND COMPELLING AND YOU WRITE WELL.

Or so I said.

I ended with “GO FORTH AND … DO STUFF.”

So try that out, won’t you? Tell yourself, as though you were another person, what a great person you are and how much you deserve. Then gently encourage yourself to take the steps to accomplish some of what you dream of.  Little dreams, big dreams, whatever.

If nothing else, maybe it will make you feel warm and fuzzy and stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘The Full Monty’ closes Paul Bunyan Playhouse season tonight

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The cast of "The Full Monty" at the Paul Bunyan Playhouse: From left, Paul R. Coate, Paul Reyburn, Dan Lundin, Ryan Parker Knox, Shaun Hamilton and Zach Curtis. (Photo: Monte Draper/Bemidji Pioneer)

There’s only one night left of delightful romp at the Paul Bunyan Playhouse in Bemidji. Tonight at 8, these guys will dance and drop their drawers for one last time in “The Full Monty,” which will also be the end of the Playhouse season and the final performance for Artistic Director Zach Curtis.

This is a beautiful ensemble production, and it was cool to see the Playhouse spice it up. Mary Knox Johnson’s pre-play chat with the audience was even part of the fun!

I noticed lots of women in the audience, some even more “seasoned” than I am. Many of these women, I imagine, would choose not to go to a stripper bar to watch the bump and grind, but this is different. It’s more playful than raunchy, and as far as I know, we’re seeing actors who don’t normally take all (or most) of their clothes off on stage.

I just noticed that tickets are sold out for the finale, but if you’re one of the lucky ones, keep your eyes open. You won’t want to miss the fun at the end. More clever than I had even expected.

On the way out Thursday night, I heard one woman tell a friend that maybe they should come back Friday to get a better look. I wonder if they did! :)

I love that this played in Bemidji to such happy, healthy crowds.

Now can we do “Rent”? That would be awesome in the beautiful Chief Theatre.

Thank you, Paul Bunyan Playhouse, for giving me a full season of delightful theater that culminated in such a stunning production.  I LOVE YOU!!! :)

 

 

What? I have a blog?

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John Middleton, Leigha Horton and Tim Hellendrung are lousy neighbors in Ben San Del's "Minnesota Middle Finger" at the Minnesota Fringe Festival. The two remaining performances are Friday and Saturday at the Theatre in the Round.

If I had written all the blog posts I meant to over the past year, I would have been a prolific blogger. There would have been posts about wonderful plays, delightful concerts, county fairs and city carnivals, and all sorts of things weird and wonderful. I might have imparted words of wisdom that I’ve since forgotten. And yeah, there probably would have been a few cat posts, but to be fair, I usually mock the cats rather than gush over how cute they are. Cats really don’t need any boosts to their self-esteem.

It’s not that I’m lazy; it’s more that I lack discipline. I procrastinate to the point that things don’t get done, which is why I added a $25 late fee to my rent payment this month after  I drove around for days with the check in my car.

I have the best of intentions. If had more oomph behind my intentions, I would be wandering around my lovely neat apartment in my size 10 jeans (I’d say 8, but let’s be realistic).

Also, I over-extend myself. At any given time, I’m helping someone or other with something or other — my parents, my kids, friends, co-workers. I’m a chronic helper, often to the detriment of stuff I need to do in my own backyard. Don’t get me wrong; I love doing it. I’m at my best when I am being helpful. If my job description was “bringing sunshine to the lives of others,” I would be all over it. But when I go home, the clouds hang over my own stuff. :)

Then there’s my computer. It beckons to me. Facebook wants to tell me everything my friends are doing. Article links link to article links. Plants vs. Zombies, Osmos and Peggle peer out from the desktop, chanting “Play meeeeeee.”

The blog posts go undone. But instead of my usual hapless whining, I’m vowing to start posting regularly, if only to post snippets from time to time. And after a busy August, I think I’ll do one of those “30 Days of” (movies, photos, whatever) Facebook things. I hate to commit to much of anything, but sometimes doing what you hate turns out good.

I don’t expect to post daily on a regular basis, but I might try to get close to that for the next week or so, since I’m spending the weekend at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, where I’m fortunate enough to be close friends with a Fringe regular whose show, “Minnesota Middle Finger,” is phenomenal. Ben San Del and I worked together as reporters together in 2003 in Crookston and I’ve followed his career from journalism into stand-up comedy, storytelling and theater.

I saw “Minnesota Middle Finger” last weekend and will see it again Saturday. It’s an incredible show with an equally incredible cast depicting three lousy neighbors stuck in a house under 100 inches of snow at what appears to be the end of the world.

I had seen John Middleton in Joseph Scrimshaw’s 2010 Fringe show “The Damn Audition,” and a few weeks ago was in Minneapolis for a Tim Minchin concert (more on my favorite comedy rocker in a future post) and caught John in “Street Scene” at the Minnesota Theater Garage. I had seen Tim Hellendrung in back-to-back Fringe shows (both of which earned him top honors as male performer in the Fringe), in 2009 as a nasal little kid in “Sideways Stories from Wayside School” and in 2010 in “Speech!” Both were perfect for their roles in “Minnesota Middle Finger” and a delight to watch. (Actually, it was reading John Middleton’s blog posts at http://minnesotaplaylist.com/magazine/column/johns-blog that made me remember how much I enjoy doing this.

I’d only seen Leigha Horton once, in “See You Next Tuesday” during last year’s Fringe. Her character was completely different from Flo in Minnesota Middle Finger, so it was harder to know what to expect, but she’s absolutely charming. And in the climactic scene, she just erupts.

I wouldn’t mind seeing this show more than once again, but I can’t. It’s on again tonight, Friday and Saturday and I won’t be back in Minneapolis until Saturday.

For last year’s Fringe, I took a week off work, but I didn’t ask for the time off in time this year, so I’m limited to back-to-back weekends, as I live four hours away. I really miss not being there during the week. The pace is a little more relaxing, the after-parties less crowded.

The Fringe is the coolest thing I have ever seen. And I’ll write more about it later. I’m off to see “The Full Monty” at the Paul Bunyan Playhouse in Bemidji. It starts in 25 minutes and I have a second-row seat. I’ve heard awesome things about this show, so it should be a way to cap off the season. I’ve loved all four of the other Playhouse plays, and I still think it’s awesome that Ryan Parker Knox is in every production this year and lists his residence on Facebook as Bemidji. :)

Wherever you are, enjoy what you’re doing …

 

Norway’s Martin Drop delightful in ‘Mere Image’

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The cast of “Mere Image,” includes (seated, from left) Liz MacGregor (Rachel) , Kevin Cease (Leonard), Sarah Einerson (Celia) and DeeJay Arens (Ernst), and (standing, from left) Joel Ward (Copacetti), Julie Quanrud (Monica), Vicki Stenerson (Tillie) and Martin Drop (Virgil). Not pictured is Steve Saari, playwright, who also played Centaurio. Bemidji Pioneer Photo/Patt Rall

As cold as it was Saturday, I warmed my heart with laughter that night at  Saarens Productions’ “Mere Image” Saturday night at the Wild Rose Theater. Steve Saari’s writing was amazing, the set was great and the performances were outstanding.

I thought Martin Drop, the 14-year-old who came from Norway to do the play, really stole the show as the young Virgil, the delightfully complex, brainy and funny 12-year-old son of Leonard (Kevin Cease) and Celia (Sarah Einerson). I think my favorite element was his helpless fury around his hapless family.

I dropped by today after the final production because I just read that he was returning to Norway tomorrow (yes, I should read the articles in my own newspaper sooner) and I wanted to tell him how much I enjoyed his performance.

Apparently, I was not alone. Kevin Cease told me flat out, “He stole the show,” invoking the quote from W.C. Fields: “Never work with animals or children.” He also said Martin, who speaks three languages, is smart like Virgil.

Martin told me that theater was not as common in Norway as it is here, so he does a lot of stand-up comedy.  I hope he ends up doing really well — he has so much talent.

I read in Pioneer entertainment writer Patt Rall’s story that Martin also stole the show at age 10 in a production of “The Nerd” at Long Lake Theater in Hubbard. I did a search for this and came up with a website in Norwegian:

http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/sainntja/article850628.ece

I can’t read it, but it has pictures of the young Martin (one with his father; I may not understand much Norwegian, but I can figure out “pappa” and “Alan Drop” under a photo), his name and “Hubbard, Minnesota.” I figure that around here, there are a few Minnesotans who can read Norwegian. :)

Links to Patt’s aticles about “Mere Image”:

http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/event/article/id/100026603/publisher_ID/3/

http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/event/article/id/100026617/publisher_ID/3/

and her blog:

http://bemidjiarts.areavoices.com/

It’s all over for “Mere Image” now. It was sad to see the set come down today. I hope the show will be staged again someday!

Unwelcome Adventure

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I had thought my 2 a.m. adventure on the way home from work would start and end with the crazy icicles on the outside of the building.

But the icicles were just a hint of the cold yet to come.

When I got home, I noticed a glow in the snow outside my door, before I could see the actual door.  I was relieved when the snowplow passed by, taking its lights away, but the relief was short-lived, as the glow was still there.

Apparently, I had not shut my door tightly when I locked it on the way to work  The door was wide open, and a 2-liter bottle of diet Pepsi was frozen and exploded in the entryway. There was dirty snow on and around the cat’s scratching post. A shrill squealing noise was coming from the living room. After a couple of minutes of frantic searching, I discovered it was coming from my exercise bike. I hit a couple of buttons and it went away.

Then it was time for heat. I have two excellent space heaters, thank goodness. I pulled my bedroom one into the entryway and turned it on. The display read 32 degrees.

I turned the one on in the living room. It also read 32 degrees, even though the living room was warmer, so I figured 32 must be the lowest it registers. The actual thermostat on the wall in the entryway only goes down to 40, so that was pointless to consult.

The living room heater read 34 almost right away, then 38, where it stayed for a while, creeping up as time passed, one degree at a time.

I had encountered my regular visitor, the stray cat I call DK (short for  Dumpster Kitty), on the way in. Obviously he had let himself in. He and my two cats were wandering about, acting a little odd — probably that shrill noise had scared them, I figured.

But after I set the living room heater and turned to the other end of the room, I saw another reason.

There was a FOURTH CAT, a smallish black short-haired cat, sitting in the corner next to my couch and looking up at me.

“Well, that’s great,” I thought. I already have one stray cat I don’t want to keep. Why not another?

And one by one, my cats came to greet her.

She and Max touched noses, and Max then climbed up on the arm of the couch to peer down at her.

Zelda came nose to nose with her, too, which surprised me a little.

It was pretty obvious the new cat was terrified, too.

Then along came DK, who growled at her. Yay — the stray cat is getting territorial with a new stray cat.

The cat did not want anything from me — not food, not treats, not petting, but she did want out. At some point, she made her way to the other end of my apartment, screaming at one, two or all three of the cats along the way, and entered my bedroom, where she sat on a cat pillow in the window and started trying to claw her way out. When I tried to befriend her so I could show her the door, she ran back the other way, down to the spare bedroom. I was about to go open the outer door and grab a broom to shoo her outside when I saw she had gotten halfway down the length of the apartment again. I maneuvered her into the entry way, walked past her, opened the door and watched her make a beeline for outside. She ended up under the neighbor’s truck, so I am hoping she is the cat I see often in their window.

It’s now 5:30 a.m. The temp in the living room is 58. The entryway warmed up to 38 half an hour ago and now has hit 44.  I’m still wearing my jacket, and I added a pair of snowpants  and an extra pair of socks. My blanket and comforter from my bedroom are warming up on the floor in front of the living-room heater. The spare bedroom that I will sleep in is the farthest part of the house away from the door and will probably be OK to sleep in.

And there’s cat puke on the top sheet.

So much for a top sheet. At least the puke was dry and easily scraped off.

On a more positive note, I am eating klub (from a mix, not homemade, so not nearly as good, but still tastes delicious). It was exactly what I’d planned to do when I got home, although it was going to happen three hours ago while sitting back with my feet up watching an episode  of “Wire in the Blood” from my Netflix Instant Watch queue.

The Cat Came Back (but not the very next day)

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A familiar “voice” made my heart go pitter-pat around 4 a.m.

After a late night at work, I was heading into my house near downtown when I heard the “meow” I’d been listening for each night for about a week. And there he was, happy Dumpster Kitty, aka Orange Kitty, ready to come back in my house for the night. And I still don’t really what to do with him — does anyone know this cat? I’m never quite sure if he’s a stray or if his people just put him out at night, not realizing he goes to my house to come in and stay warm for the night.

After some food and water and petting and meowing, DK curled up in his favorite resting spot, a cat bed tucked under a table in the living room, and I pondered where he might have been.

DK’s story is a mystery to me. I’d seen him around for quite a while, usually finding something to eat in the Dumpster in my parking lot. I felt sorry for him, so I started to give him a can of food now and then. Eventually, the can of cat food wound up outside my door. As it got colder, I felt more sorry for him, and I made him a little shelter with a tote tipped on its side with a fuzzy sweater inside and a little blanket for a “door.” And eventually, I let him in the house for a bit, then for a bit longer, and finally, he was staying overnight, while my cats gradually became used to him. My granddaughter got to meet him one weekend, too.

My cats seem enamored with DK's tail.

Zelda, my tabby, is fairly new to getting this close to DK, but Max has been nose to nose with him since close to the beginning, mostly because DK likes to rub heads with him. I initially thought it was going to be a disaster, with all the hissing and growling from Max, but I hardly ever hear anymore. And Zelda, who first hid the entire length of the apartment, later stayed only one room away, and then consented to be on opposite sides of the same room, and now is OK with being a few feet away and occasionally having very brief contact. Like, two seconds!

I took my cats to the vet last week, and the vet thought it might not be a good idea to have my indoor cats mix with an outdoor cat, specifically because of the danger of feline leukemia, which indoor cats are not generally vaccinated against. So I hemmed and hawed over what to do. Then I heard DK outside the next night … and didn’t open the door. A couple of hours later, I decided I would let him in and take him to the vet for a test/vaccination the next day. But he never came back, not that night, or the next, all through the New Year’s weekend, and to the next Wednesday.

I felt awful for not having let him in that one night, and wondered day after day what could have become of him. And suddenly, there he was, and now he’s curled up under my feet. And I’ll take him to the vet tomorrow finally, hoping the feline leukemia test will be negative.

UPDATE: Just got back from Animal Care Clinic, where DK tested negative for feline leukemia/FIV/heartwork and was then vaccinated against the same (he needs a booster in three weeks). Jan at the clinic also noticed he was neutered, which is good. He was really good there. I still can’t rule out the possibility that he has a home; he’s so well-behaved and friendly for a stray. We stopped at the Pioneer on the way home, which I think freaked him out more than the vet clinic did.

And as much as I like DK, I need to find him a home, preferably in the country where he can be an indoor-outdoor cat. He isn’t ready to be an indoor cat, and I can’t have a cat yowling miserably to go outside when I live in an apartment where it would bother other people. And city ordinance forbids cats running at large.

I’ll leave you with a few more pictures of a very happy cat:

And a few from previous visits:

This was my first Dumpster Kitty photo, zoomed in from quite a ways away. He wasn’t letting me pet him yet at this point. That pile of glop in front of him is a can of cat food I dumped on the ground next to the Dumpster.

Here is the shelter I made for the visitor, before I started letting him in.

And here is probably the prettiest picture of him. Is that adorable or what?

Cross your fingers for him being a healthy cat!

Bemidji: Bright lights, little city

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From the Friday after Thanksgiving all the way through to the end of the cold, cruel month of January, I have at least a little something to smile over when I drive past the Lake Bemidji waterfront park on the way home from work.

I snapped these photos a few hours after the First City of Lights parade last Friday, as I was heading out of town after work to return to Thanksgiving weekend festivities with family.

The photos don’t really do the scene justice, as the lights are much more vibrant than my camera (good as it is — I love my nearly 3-year-old Canon S5 IS) can capture, nor does it show the full impact, which I would have to shoot from the Mississippi River bridge.

But I think they’re still pretty in their own way, including this one that got all swirly through the window:

Er, on second thought, that only seems to make sense if it’s flipped, if that’s the car door on the right of the top photo.

And here are some more images. Have a great holiday season!